Raegan Revord visits Chicago on book tour
While Raegan Revord is best known for their acting role as Missy Cooper in CBS’s hit comedy series “Young Sheldon,” the teenage author has always had an affinity for literature.
Spending much of their childhood reading fantasy novels and launching the online book club “Read with Raegan,” Revord has long been immersed in the world of literature.
Now, having published their first book, the author is living out their lifelong dream on tour.
Revord’s debut novel, “Rules for Fake Girlfriends,” hit shelves Sept. 2. The novel is a young adult romance comedy set in the seaside town of Brighton, England.
American international student Avery Blackwell abandons her spot at Columbia University to spend freshman year at her recently deceased mother’s alma mater, the University of Brighton. While trying to connect with her mother’s campus, Avery finds herself in a fake-dating ploy with a local girl named Charlie.
The Daily spoke to Revord about their debut novel ahead of their book tour visit to The Last Chapter Book Shop in Chicago.
This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
The Daily: You wrote much of the first draft of “Rules for Fake Girlfriends” in between takes on set for “Young Sheldon.” What was that experience like, and what were some of the challenges of writing alongside acting?
Revord: It was so chaotic. I would be on set, like, literally in a scene. They would say “cut.” I’d have my computer stashed somewhere, so I’d pull it out, I’d write and then I would hide it right before we started another take. It was very funny how I feel like I almost had been prepared for that for years, because I’ve been doing school on set for so long. I did have to learn how to switch the different modes in my brain, from filming to doing school, so then I just had to change it from filming to writing.
The Daily: How did Avery and Charlie come to you as characters? What about their challenges and relationship resonated with you?
Revord: I’d had the idea for Avery for a while — not like with any plot or backstory — but literally just the character. I knew what kind of person she was, what her favorite coffee was, that she had a black cat, but I didn’t know really anything about what got her to who she was. A lot of times, whenever you read rom coms or more, happier books, that is just that: They’re happier books. You don’t see the real-life aspect of it. But in life, you do have ups and downs where you have happier moments, sad moments, moments where you’re struggling with something a bit more than others, and moments where you’re grieving. And I thought that was really important to show in this book… I think one of the ways that helped me convey that was through Avery processing her grief, through her relationship with Charlie, because she is kind of scared to love again, because of losing her mom.
The Daily: Between the whirlwind romance, fake dating trope and whimsical nature of the setting, what aspects of the plot did you ground your writing in?
Revord: It’s funny you mentioned whimsical, because it’s set in England. The city that they live in — Brighton — is very much that. It’s a very whimsical place. It’s a character of itself. Whenever you go to visit the city, it’s alive. Like every time you go, there’s something happening. Last time I went, there was a random line dancing class on the beach that my friends and I just hopped into. There was always something happening. And it felt like the perfect place to put a rom-com…
There’s the romance of it. There’s also the fun whirlwind of the scavenger hunt. I think for me, it was almost combining the two, because it could get a bit overwhelming with managing all these different topics. But throughout the book, you see the romance and the scavenger hunt get almost interwoven together. I think that made it a lot of fun. And then putting the scavenger hunt romance in Brighton did really help with the world-building, because a scavenger hunt alone is already so whimsical and so fun, and then putting it in a place that is also that just kind of added to it.
The Daily: You grew up reading and writing primarily fantasy. Were you surprised at all that your debut novel turned out to be a rom-com?
Revord: I think if you told me four years ago that my first book was a rom-com, I’d be shocked. I’ve always loved fantasy, but I read every genre, so I also don’t think I’d be entirely surprised. I love rom-coms so much, and I think right now, they’re very important. I thought (Avery and Charlie’s story) was a very important story to tell. When I started working on the book, I go through phases with my reading, and I was really in like a rom-com phase — so it was perfect timing. And it was funny, because I got to research — “research” — whenever I was writing the book, and just read and watched a bunch of rom-coms. So it was a great excuse for me to get to revisit some favorites.
The Daily: Music is a very influential part of the story. What is the importance of music in this book?
Revord: I’m a big music person. I live with headphones on. I’m always listening to music. I always have something playing, and that was a little piece of myself that I wanted to put in Avery. I also think music helped capture a feeling or scene so well. It also was a way for me to shamelessly plug some of my favorite songs. While I was writing the book, I made a Spotify playlist, and it kind of goes through, chronologically, different songs throughout the book. So it starts off with “London Calling” by The Clash. That’s the opening song. And I almost see like a shot in my brain of a camera going over New York, and you hear that song playing — like the opening frame, basically, is that. And so whenever I was writing a specific part of the book, I would have that part of the playlist going and listening to music. It really helped me be in the moment of the book, so it only felt natural to put that (playlist) in the book as well.
The Daily: Each chapter starts with a classic rom-com trope or moment. Do you have a favorite?
Revord: There’s one that I really love, and I believe it’s the beginning of chapter three or four, and it’s the “heroine is broke but has an amazing apartment.” Because, like in real life, is anyone going to be broke but have this beautiful, extravagant apartment? No. And so that was a lot of fun to be able to do. It makes me laugh, because you see that so often.
That was so much fun to write, because anytime I watch a rom-com and they mention how it’s this huge apartment, I’m like, ‘Okay, now is it?’ But I really loved that part.
The Daily: What have been the most meaningful moments from your journey as an author?
Revord: Meaningful moments to me are, like, there’s an author that I know who I’m really close with, and we’d give each other advice and stuff and that’s a meaningful moment. Also, obviously finding out that my book’s getting published, stuff like that. But then I think on this tour, specifically, it’s really just been getting to meet the people who have read my book. And getting to talk about it is such a crazy thing. I’ve wanted to be able to discuss my book for so long, and so it’s genuinely such a cool experience to be able to sit down and talk about it.
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