The Everygirl Book Club hosts an interview with author Rachel Lynn Solomon ahead of her novel Extracurricular, about former pop star Ramona Wilder starting college and developing chemistry with her psychology professor, Nick, while trying to escape a toxic, objectifying career and heal from an emotionally abusive mother. Solomon discusses the books that made her want to write (especially Meg Cabot’s The Princess Diaries), her chaotic “Mad Libs” drafting process across YA and adult, and why adult romance allows broader life questions and more explicit content while still modeling healthy desire, consent, and communication for teens. She explains her draw to entertainment settings, researching authentic Los Angeles details, crafting a charged meet-cute, and balancing the professor-student power dynamic by giving Ramona agency.
00:00 Meet Rachel Lynn Solomon
02:46 Drafting Process
03:55 YA Versus Adult Romance
06:23 Fanfic Reader Origins
09:47 Why Entertainment Settings
14:10 Writing Extracurricular
23:53 Strangers And Meet Cutes
28:17 Fame Persona vs Person
30:40 Balancing Pop and Trauma
34:04 Girlhood and Fandom
39:12 Parasocial Loneliness
44:23 Tropes as Marketing
50:22 Therapy is Sexy
53:10 Book Recs and Farewell
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Business Or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Isn't It Obvious? by Rachel Runya Katz
Fifty Shades Of Grey by E. L. James
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Warriors Series by Erin Hunter
The Heartbreak Hotel by Ellen O'Clover
If Not You by Ellen O'Clover
Just a Highland Fling by Naina Kumar
Taylor Swift
Olivia Rodrigo
Charli XCX
The Smiths
The Cure
One Direction
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