April 4, 2023

Never Judge a Love Story By Its Cover

Curtis Sittenfeld on writing a story about an ordinary female comedy writer dating a smoking hot male celebrity

Never Judge a Love Story By Its Cover

Curtis Sittenfeld on writing a story about an ordinary female comedy writer dating a smoking hot male celebrity

This time around, I knew that, above all, I wanted the novel I wrote to be fun. Itโ€™s no secret that the last few years have been globally and personally hard, and I wanted to write a book that would, both for me as a writer and you as readers, be some small joyous escape from that. So is it any surprise that I decided to write about two people falling in love? Because, seriously, whatโ€™s more fun than romantic chemistry and flirting and crushes and emails and texts that you overanalyze and first kisses that are so enticing that youโ€™re willing to surmount all the awkwardness it takes to get to them?

I also decided with this novel to make use of the fact that Iโ€™ve spent a lot of my life reading People magazine. Some call it celebrity gossip, but I think of it as a study of the human condition. In addition, my family had watched a ton of Saturday Night Live during the pandemic, and I know I wasnโ€™t the only one to notice that pattern where a talented but maybe rather ordinary-looking comedy dude on the show dates a female guest whoโ€™s an incredibly talented, incredibly gorgeous, incredibly famous celebrity. And good for such dudes, but why doesnโ€™t the phenomenon ever seem to happen in reverse, where an ordinary female comedy writer dates a smoking hot male celebrity?

In Romantic Comedy, Sally Milz, a writer on a show much like SNL, creates a sketch asking this very question. And that week, it just so happens that the guest host and musical guest is a smoking hot male celebrity, a pop singer named Noah Brewster who also turns out to be warm, charming, down-to-earthโ€ฆand maybe even into Sally, if only she can get over herself and believe that such a thing is possible.

I loved writing the dialogue, and eventually the emails, for Sally and Noah as the sparks fly and they get to know each other. I loved researching the world of late night TV comedy. And now I love getting to share Romantic Comedy with all of you. I hope you love it, too.