Going Off Script released yesterday, and I am excited to celebrate with Jen Wilde on the blog today!
Q&A with Jen Wilde
Tell us a little bit about Going Off Script. What inspired the story?
This story started forming in my mind after one of my favorite queer female characters was killed on a show I love. It was also very much inspired by the #BuryYourGays movement that began on social media, started by fans after a number of queer female characters were killed on different tv shows all around the same time. My love for television and writing definitely inspired the story too, and I thought putting the main character, Bex, in a writers room as her lesbian character is being erased right in front of her would look at the trend of killing queer characters from a different angle, and make her decision to launch a movement against her own boss that much more high stakes.
What is the fictional show in the book, Silver Falls, about? Is it based on any real TV shows?
Silver Falls is about a group of werewolves trying to survive after hunters track them down. It’s inspired by shows like Supernatural,Teen Wolfand True Blood, and if it was a real show it would probably be on the CW right after Riverdale. After writing about it and even including some script pages in Going Off Script, I really wish it was a real show because it would be so much fun!
You’ve written several books now. How has the writing process changed (or stayed the same) between each of your books?
When I first started out, my process was much messier than it is now. I’m talking pages and pages of notes, scraps of paper and pens everywhere as I tried to organise my thoughts and ideas. I’m more organised now and do all my planning on my laptop instead of in piles of notebooks, but I still spend weeks just working on the outline before I even start writing. I’m definitely more of a plotter than a pantser, that’s for sure!
Since Going Off Script takes place on the set of a TV show, I have to ask—what are your favorite shows to watch
Oh god, I have so many! Old faves include Seinfeld, Dawson’s Creek, and Charmed. More current faves are Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Broad City, The Bold Type, Bob’s Burgers, and Schitt’s Creek. Recently I’ve binged Dead To Me, Russian Doll and Special on Netflix and they were all amazing too! I usually gravitate towards shows that will make me laugh, or that have positive queer storylines.
What’s up next? Can you share anything with us about your current writing projects?
At the moment I’m working on a couple of different ideas for my next book, but it’s all top secret for now!
Release Date: May 21, 2019
Find it here: Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble
A TV writer’s room intern must join forces with her crush to keep her boss from ruining a lesbian character in this diverse contemporary YA romance from the author of Queens of Geek.
Seventeen-year-old Bex is thrilled when she gets an internship on her favorite tv show, Silver Falls. Unfortunately, the internship isn’t quite what she expected… instead of sitting in a crowded writer’s room volleying ideas back and forth, Production Interns are stuck picking up the coffee.
Determined to prove her worth as a writer, Bex drafts her own script and shares it with the head writer―who promptly reworks it and passes it off as his own! Bex is understandably furious, yet…maybe this is just how the industry works? But when they rewrite her proudly lesbian character as straight, that’s the last straw! It’s time for Bex and her crush to fight back.
Jen Wilde’s newest novel is both a fun, diverse love story and a very relevant, modern take on the portrayal of LGBT characters in media.
About Jen
Jen Wilde is a writer, geek and fangirl with a penchant for coffee, books and pugs. She writes YA stories about zombies (AS THEY RISE), witches (ECHO OF THE WITCH) and fangirls (QUEENS OF GEEK). Her debut series reached over three million reads online and became an Amazon bestseller. Her next book, THE BRIGHTSIDERS, comes out May 2018, and GOING OFF-SCRIPT releases Summer 2019.
When she’s not writing, Jen loves binge-watching her favorite shows on Netflix, eating pizza, traveling to far away places and going to conventions in Marty McFly cosplay.
