Today we are very excited to share an interview with author G. F. Miller!
Read on to learn more about the author, the book, and a giveaway!
Meet the Author: G. F. Miller
G. F. Miller absolutely insists on a happy ending. Everything else is negotiable. She is living her Happily Ever After with the love of her life, three kids, two puppies, and some chickens. She cries at random times. She makes faces at herself in the mirror. She believes in the Oxford comma. And she’s always here for a dance party. Visit her at her website, gfmiller.com.
About the Book: What If You Fall for Me First
Sofia has had enough of everyone thinking she’s sooo nice. “Sweet,” “innocent,” and “goody two-shoes” are how her classmates would describe her, but there’s more to her than that. She wants everyone—especially her forever crush, Mark Chen—to see that she has other sides.
To help her level up to Official Cool Girl, Sofia enlists trendy and confident Holden—the guy who everyone else has written off as a total player and a first-class jerk. Under Holden’s guidance, Sofia learns to revamp her style, ride a skateboard, and stand up for herself. At the same time, Holden learns that when he’s alone with Sofia, it’s safe to drop the cool guy act and just be himself.
When their efforts start to pay off, Sofia is faced with a choice. Should she stick with the plan—and risk losing herself in the process—or take a chance on the person everyone says will break her heart?
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
This is a spin-off to the book Not if You Break Up with Me First. In writing that one, I ended up with oodles of imaginary friends that I just wanted to keep hanging out with! One character in particular, Holden, was behaving really badly in the first book. I wanted to get to know him a little better and find out what was going on with him. I had the sense that there was a lot of room there for a redemptive character arc.
YABC: What research did you do to write this book?
Ha ha! Research is always an odd mishmash, isn’t it? Some of my queries included:
- Is it legal to drink soda in a middle school? (Turns out, it’s a gray area.)
- Did Kevin Durant lie about his height? (This tidbit ended up in the bin with most of what I research, but it’s all part of the process.)
- What time does the sun set in Illinois on November 3? (I’m constantly looking this up for specific days of the year. Gotta keep track of whether my characters are in the dark or not!)
- I also watched a lot of YouTube haircut tutorials. (If my characters need a tutorial, chances are I do too.)
YABC: What came first, the concept, landscape, characters, or something else?
The characters definitely came first for this one! The situation each of them was in at the end of Not if You Break Up with Me First led to the concept for this book, and the story flowed naturally from there.
YABC: If you could only write one genre for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
I love writing romantic comedy, especially MG and YA! I think thoughtful, hilarious romcoms for teens are important. Figuring out relationships is one of the toughest problems we humans consistently encounter. This is especially true for tweens and teens. Boys and girls alike need stories that help them make sense of the new relational landscape they’re entering and, hopefully, help them take themselves a little less seriously.
YABC: What can readers expect to find in your books?
Real life is full of setbacks, sorrows, confusion, anxiety, and self-doubt. I hope readers can experience those things vicariously through my characters with the safety of a happy ending. My readers can expect stories with the basic message: your quirks make you lovable, mistakes are just steppingstones to your happily ever after, true love is real. I also always want readers to get to the final page of a G. F. Miller book feeling joyful and delighted, reassured that, whatever struggles they’re facing, everything will be okay in the end.
YABC: Which was the most difficult or emotional scene to narrate?
Beginnings seem to always be the toughest for me. I think I wrote at least six different versions of the first few chapters of What if You Fall for Me First, looking for the precise moment when we should step into Sofia and Holden’s stories. The timing of when we meet a person makes all the difference in how we relate to them. Are they looking and feeling their best? Mid-shame spiral? Just coming down off a Rockstar? As an author, I enjoy my godlike powers to orchestrate those meetings, but it’s also a big responsibility.
YABC: What other age group would you consider writing for?
Someday I’d love to write a book that takes place during college. That’s such a fun and unique time of life! I might even have some stories about grownups packed away somewhere in this cluttered brain. (Oh yeah, I think I see one over in that stack between “unsolicited parenting advice book” and “Those two Great British Bake-Off contestants should fall in love and get married”)
YABC: What daily thing do you see that brings you joy?
My puppers! They are wee living joy bundles with fur. Observe and be joyful:
YABC: What’s a book you’ve recently read and loved?
Where do I start??? My recent loves include:
– The Last Cuentista – MG sci-fi is too rare! This one is beautiful and engrossing.
– Hello, Universe – Yes, I’ve been binging Newberry winners. As everyone should, right?
– Bye Forever, I guess – The MG romcom space now has Jodi Meadows in it, so the world just got more fun.
– Nothing Like the Movies – Who doesn’t love Lynn Painter?! The sequel to Better Than the Movies is everything we could hope for—swoony, funny, and satisfying.
YABC: What is your favorite writing space or routine?
My life is pretty helter-skelter. I have three busy kids and a job along with a writing career. So I don’t really have the luxury of “space” or this thing called a “routine.” I write in snatches wherever and whenever I happen to be. For example, my current WIP in progress has seen action in several coffee shops, an indoor trampoline park, the auditorium during a dance competition, a random park bench, the parking lot of a high school basketball championship, a public library, and—most of all—my bedroom.
Title: What If You Fall For Me First
Author: G.F. Miller
ISBN-13: 9781665966443
On-sale date: June 10, 2025
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
*Giveaway Details*
One (1) winner will receive a copy of What If You Fall For Me First and Not If You Break Up With Me First (G.F. Miller)! ~ US ONLY!
