1–What is the title of your latest release?
2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
When talent manager’s assistant Luna comes out as bi at 24, she tries to “make up for lost time” by trying to seduce an ambiguously gay A-list actress client.
3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I knew the story had to exist in Hollywood, so LA was really the only place to set it. Otherwise, I’m from LA and I felt like I could really capture a version of LA that wasn’t commonly seen in media – a bit less polished, a bit more artsy, really finding the romantic in the mundane and strange.
4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Yeah, for sure! Luna’s knowledgeable, kind, and geeks out on stuff in a way that’s very similar to me. But I think we’d have to take turns having anxiety spirals.
5–What are three words that describe your hero?
Passionate, determined, confused
6–What’s something you learned while writing this book?
Honestly, as this was my first rom-com I ever wrote, EVERYTHING. I learned about romance beats, how to make sexual tension really drive a story forward versus suspense (I usually write thrillers), how to create conflict in a story about people living their lives, how to adapt my smutty fanfiction skills into something palpable for mainstream romance, to name a few examples.
7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I try to wait until I’m totally done. I’ll mark big issues I anticipate in future drafts and may fix a typo or two, but that’s usually it.
8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Mozzarella sticks.
9–Describe your writing space/office!
It’s the one room in my place that I really went kind of nuts on. I’d say it has a pretty minimalist base, but there are a ton of pops of color. My wall of bookshelves has one set that’s colored coded in a rainbow pattern and is otherwise filled with every book I’ve ever owned. My desktop is one of those red-pink Macs, my “Zoom wall” is covered in 1) my undergrad and graduate degrees, 2) a collage of photos of my friends and family 3) a 2018 signed My Chemical Romance poster, 4) a tiny New York fire escape shelf, 5) copies of Sizzle Reel and my next release, Time Out, and 5) a very large photo of 90s Jodie Foster that can only be called my version of being a monarchist and having a decorative photo of Queen Elizabeth on my mantel. And then just, dog toys everywhere.
10–Who is an author you admire?
This may be kind of a cop out since she’s my actual mentor, but Rachel Lynn Solomon. We met in 2016 where she mentored me with a YA Contemporary that never ended up getting an agent, and she quickly became one of my closest writer friends. She was published in 2018 in YA, had her first adult book published in 2021, and has since become a New York Times Bestselling author among other really awesome things. She taught me the mechanics of what makes a good romance, but also how to regulate mental health with promo schedules, what is and isn’t normal for publishers to do, and has encouraged me as I entered the romance space myself. She’s the definition of generous and humble and talented and I love talking to her about anything and everything from sex positivity to TV to having a chihuahua.
11–Is there a book that changed your life?
Totally different from the genre I write now, but Sadie by Courtney Summers really changed the way I view writing complex female characters, balancing that deep character work with suspense and surprise in a narrative, and incorporating theme. I don’t think I’ve yet to write anything that really incorporates all those elements, but craft-wise, I’m always looking up to Sadie as something to strive for. It’s one of those books that unabashedly stares at the darkness of the world without sugarcoating, and I’ve been haunted by it ever since. I was a huge true crime fan prior, and it was the first piece of media that really made me sit back and consider the larger story and impact the genre has on us. Just a solid, solid read.
12–Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)
When it came to Sizzle Reel, we initially started with an exclusive with one editor (who, fun fact, was actually my former literary agent who moved to editorial). About a month passed, and I got the news that that editor wasn’t going to buy the book while shopping with my mom in IKEA to prepare for my move out of my parents’ house. It was this oddly visceral moment where I was fighting back tears thinking “that was my most commercial work; if no one wants that, where do I go?” But my agent wasn’t perturbed, thank god, and we went on a wider submission at the beginning of June. I didn’t really know many of the names on the list, so I didn’t have a particular dream editor.
Mid-July, I’m still working on my move. In this case, on my knees in the front doorway of my parents’ house trying to assemble a desk chair. I get a text and see it’s from my agent — an editor loves Sizzle Reel and she thinks that she’s going to offer. Within a day or so, we got our formal offer — and it was beyond my wildest dreams. After we had our initial meet and greet call with this editor, I fell in love. It was such a joy to accept Vintage Anchor and Caitlin Landuyt’s offer.
13–What’s your favorite genre to read?
While I’m pretty genre agnostic and will read anything with a good story, I’m partial to thrillers. Anything that will leave me breathless, have me guessing, get me surprised and pumped. Of course, great character work should go hand in hand with the best suspense. When it does, those books stick with me (see: my answer to 11).
14–What’s your favorite movie?
It changes, but lately I think Rocketman.
15–What is your favorite season?
Fall
16–How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Lately I’ve been trying to travel during my birthday. Last year, I went to Amsterdam to visit one of my good friends and we ended up going around the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and I had the time of my life. This year, I’m going to be in New Orleans with another set of friends and I’m stoked.
17–What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I don’t think this is what is meant, but: TV show – Daisy Jones and the Six, Movie – Tetris Book – Seven Faceless Saints by M. K. Lobb, Podcast – You’re Wrong About
18–What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Mexican
19–What do you do when you have free time?
Watch TV/movies, hang with my dog, browse bookstores.
20–What can readers expect from you next?
In the immediate sense, my YA debut, TIME OUT, which I wrote with actor Sean Hayes and producer Todd Milliner is out May 30th and can be preordered at your favorite retailer. Then, I’ll have my second adult romcom release in 2024. We haven’t released any details yet, but it’s sapphic and takes place in film school.
SIZZLE REEL by Carlyn Greenwald
An unputdownable queer coming-of-age rom-com about life and love in Hollywood. • “Both an irresistible love story and a riveting exploration of Hollywood dynamics.” —Rachel Lynn Solomon, New York Times bestselling author of The Ex Talk
For aspiring cinematographer Luna Roth, coming out as bisexual at twenty-four is proving more difficult than she anticipated. Sure, her best friend and fellow queer Romy is thrilled for her—but she has no interest in coming out to her backwards parents, she wouldn’t know how to flirt with a girl if one fell at her feet, and she has no sexual history to build off. Not to mention she really needs to focus her energy on escaping her emotionally-abusive-but-that’s-Hollywood talent manager boss and actually get working under a real director of photography anyway.
When she meets twenty-eight-year-old A-list actress Valeria Sullivan around the office, Luna thinks she’s found her solution. She’ll use Valeria’s interest in her cinematography to get a PA job on the set of Valeria’s directorial debut—and if Valeria is as gay as Luna suspects, and she happens to be Luna’s route to losing her virginity, too . . . well, that’s just an added bonus. Enlisting Romy’s help, Luna starts the juggling act of her life—impress Valeria’s DP to get another job after this one, get as close to Valeria as possible, and help Romy with her own career moves.
But when Valeria begins to reciprocate romantic interest in Luna, the act begins to crumble—straining her relationship with Romy and leaving her job prospects precarious. Now Luna has to figure out if she can she fulfill her dreams as a filmmaker, keep her best friend, and get the girl. . . or if she’s destined to end up on the cutting room floor.
Romance LGBTQ [Vintage, On Sale: April 18, 2023, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593468197 / ]
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About Carlyn Greenwald
Carlyn Greenwald is a YA and Adult Romance and Thriller author and screenwriter hailing from Manhattan Beach, California. She graduated from USC in 2018 with a degree in English and Film as well as minors in Screenwriting and Forensics and Criminality. She’s worked development gigs at companies including Illumination Entertainment, Mandeville Films, Vertigo Entertainment, and 141 Entertainment. She currently works as Content Development Coordinator at boutique book packager Cake Creative/Electric Postcard Entertainment. Her Adult debut, SIZZLE REEL, will be published by Vintage Books April 18, 2023. Her YA debut, TIME OUT, co-written with actor and producer Sean Hayes and producer Todd Milliner, will be published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers May 30, 2023. When not writing, she’s scouring theme park YouTube, playing video games, and hanging with her dogs.
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