Author Chat with Rachael Lippincott & Alyson Derrick (She Gets The Girl)!

She’s All That meets What If It’s Us in this swoon-worthy hate-to-love YA romantic comedy from #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Five Feet Apart Rachael Lippincott and debut writer Alyson Derrick.

Alex Blackwood is a little bit headstrong, with a dash of chaos and a whole lot of flirt. She knows how to get the girl. Keeping her on the other hand…not so much. Molly Parker has everything in her life totally in control, except for her complete awkwardness with just about anyone besides her mom. She knows she’s in love with the impossibly cool Cora Myers. She just…hasn’t actually talked to her yet.

Alex and Molly don’t belong on the same planet, let alone the same college campus. But when Alex, fresh off a bad (but hopefully not permanent) breakup, discovers Molly’s hidden crush as their paths cross the night before classes start, they realize they might have a common interest after all. Because maybe if Alex volunteers to help Molly learn how to get her dream girl to fall for her, she can prove to her ex that she’s not a selfish flirt. That she’s ready for an actual commitment. And while Alex is the last person Molly would ever think she could trust, she can’t deny Alex knows what she’s doing with girls, unlike her.

As the two embark on their five-step plans to get their girls to fall for them, though, they both begin to wonder if maybe they’re the ones falling…for each other.

YABC:  What gave you the inspiration to write this book?

A: She Gets the Girl was inspired by our own love story. We spiced it up a little of course. We made the characters extreme opposites and wrote some juicier scenes than what actually happened in real life, but the bones of our story are still there. One of us helping the other land the girl of her dreams and instead falling in love with each other. We may not ever write a book that hits as close to our hearts as this one did. 

YABC: Who is your favorite character in the book?

R: Without a doubt, Jim, the grumpy food truck owner. He’s based off of a real person that we knew from back when we co-owned a food truck for a few years after college. Heart of gold, absolute chaos, HIGHLY entertaining.

YABC: Which came first, the title or the novel?

R: The novel! But the title followed shortly after, and it was the one thing we wouldn’t budge on. When I was a teen, it was so hard to find sapphic books in the bookstore, and I’d often have to come in with a list if I wanted to actually find anything. We wanted readers to be able to know what it’s about just from the title. 

YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?

A: THEIR HANDS! Nothing quite like a casual hand graze to get the heart pumping.

YABC: What’s a book you’ve recently read and loved?

R: I finally hopped on the Heartstopper train and instantly fell in love with the series. Poured through all four books in a few days. They are SO cute, and perfectly capture the experience of first love, and the scary, magical, butterfly-filled moments that come with it.

A: I just read Lying by Sam Harris and I think it’s a book basically every person could benefit from. It’s a very quick read that it explains why you should almost never lie in any situation. 

YABC:   Which was the most difficult or emotional scene to narrate?

A: For me it was Molly’s big scene with her mom toward the end. There are a lot of complicated feelings from both of them around internalized racism and I wanted to show that they were all valid. There’s a reason why Molly’s mom has these negative feelings toward people of her own race. She can’t just flip a switch and make it all go away, but she needs to understand how that has affected Molly. There was a lot of revising and rewriting with that particular scene. 

YABC:      What would you say is your superpower?

A: Ugh. Before I got pregnant it was pull-ups! I don’t know what I have in my genes, but I have always been able to bust out a string of pull-ups. And now for the first time in my life…I can’t do a single one. I just hope my two older brothers aren’t too disappointed in me when I break the news to them.

R: I can fall asleep at any time, anywhere. We always joke that I have “carcolepsy” because I will pass out the moment the car hits the highway. I’m probably the worst possible road trip companion, even if I do bring good snacks.

YABC:   What advice do you have for new writers? 

A: I heard this quote from Nina LaCour once about how you should write what makes you feel uncomfortable. That might be the most useful piece of advice I would pass on. That and use your resources! Networking is a big part of the writing industry. 

R: It’s cliché, but KEEP WRITING. Keep putting words on the page, and running with the stories and ideas that inspire you. I think this industry, and writing in general, can be really hard and there are times where it feels like you can’t keep going. But lean into the passion of it, lean into the WHY. Make a Pinterest board, put together a new playlist, blow the dust off your keyboard, and let yourself be swept up in the magic of it all.