“And Action!”: Behind the scenes of Ava Wilder’s newest novel, ‘Will They Or Won’t They.’

The following interview contains minor spoilers for Will They Or Won’t They.

For Ava Wilder, there has always been prestige and magic in the entertainment industry—a sentiment the author shares with many people. Whether you wish to be part of it in some capacity, are a casual outlier or simply feel drawn to the tragedy and romance often found in the cinematic bend, there is something for everyone. Hollywood itself is layered. Fame comes with a level of fiction. If the real-world narratives do not hold your attention (or your timeline has hit a dry spell), there is an entire sub-section of stories for you to peruse. There are cautionary tales and inspiring transformations, but the most popular category in this genre is romance. From self-insert fan fiction to Oscar-nominated films and everything in between, it seems we cannot get enough. This is a good thing for Ava, as she has found her niche in the in-between.

Will They Or Won't They, Wilder's recently released second novel, is a grounded tale of second chances in which the idea of celebrity plays a minor role. You could place Wilder's leads, Lilah Hunter and Shane McCarthy, in any setting, and their well-developed character arcs would shine. The backdrop of Hollywood serves only to make their light–and their author's talent- all the brighter as she weaves a relatable, engaging, tension-wrought story readers won't want to put down. The book focuses on Lilah, a strong-willed, hardworking, classically trained actress who meets her all-around match in Shane, a happy-go-lucky, charismatic bartender who just happened to make it to a chemistry read for a network TV show. At least he was her match nine years ago. After their first wrap party, things quickly deteriorated between the two actors, culminating in Lilah's eventual departure after season five. Now, it's four years on, and she and Shane can still barely be in the same room, which is a problem since Lilah is returning for the final season, and their characters are still madly in love.

In between stops on her book tour, Ava hopped on a Zoom to chat with The FMC about how writing this book differed from the last, the importance of a fulfilling ending, paying homage to the 2005 Pride & Prejudice, and more.

First, congratulations on Will They Or Won’t They. What a special book. It is incredible, and you should be very proud of it.

Thank you so much.

Where did the idea come from?

It came from a few places. Obviously, I write Celebrity Romance novels. Co-star romance is a huge sub-genre of that niche because we see it in reality. Falling with someone you're pretending to be in love with is not that far out of the question. It's how a lot of actors meet their partners. I’ve always been interested in using a long-running TV show as a setting because it’s the ultimate forced proximity. There are so many examples from pop culture of actors who are cast together and then get together but eventually break up and have to keep working together. It makes for such an awkward situation that it was too juicy of a premise and dynamic not to explore.

Because the dedication of this book both ingratiates and apologizes to your friends and family, how was the writing process for this book different from your first?

Writing this novel was really, really difficult. I wrote the first one for fun. I just wanted to see if I could do it. There was so much outside pressure with Will They Or Won’t They. For starters, what you have read was not my first idea for a second book. I was putting a lot of pressure on myself for this to be the one that stuck around, but I was also scared to get too emotionally invested in it in case it got shot down. On top of that, I started writing it as the initial feedback on my first book, How To Fake It In Hollywood, started to roll in, which was tough. It was hard to see the good reviews as well as the bad ones because both were psyching me out in different ways. [laughter]

I can imagine. I think both kinds would psych me out in equal measure too.

The sophomore slump is a real thing. Writers struggle with it. For the first time, you’re writing a book on a deadline and writing a book you know other people will read. It's hard to keep those voices out of your head and listen to yourself. You start to question your choices and start to imagine audiences' reactions to certain things, like, “Oh, man, people are really going to hate this part,” or, “What if they don't like this novel as much as my first one?” There are all sorts of different worries. It’s a whole new world.

I have not read How To Fake It In Hollywood yet, but my friends that have and loved it have done nothing but sing this one's praises, so I would say you ended up with an excellent final product. I don’t know if that’s helpful or not. [laughter] As for what I have read, I was so caught up in the prologue for Will They Or Won’t They when I first started that I forgot it was a prologue. I was shocked when I got to the first chapter. Were there any other beginnings or meet cutes you drafted before landing on the one in the novel?

Originally the prologue was not a prologue. The book jumped into the present, and Lilah and Shane hating each other. The scene that is now the prologue was actually at the end of the book. It wasn’t working there. In my last round of revisions, my editor was like, “What if you took that scene and put it in the beginning?” It was perfect. My editor was such a champion of the flashback scenes. She really felt like the audience needed to see their first kiss and their first night together. From the beginning, I was very resistant to that because of what is now the prologue. I was like, “We already see them meeting. There's not room for two flashbacks that close together.” As soon as their first introduction transitioned to the beginning of the book, there was room for so much more. It really brought everything together.

It's great. It's so cute. Plus, going straight from their natural chemistry to them hating each other is jolting. As someone that lives in Los Angeles, I'm shocked that you don't live here as well. The setting in this book is absolutely perfect. I've read so many books where people have no geographical grasp of the city. Since you live in Oklahoma City, what draws you to Celebrity Romance, and therefore LA as the setting for your stories?

Ever since I was a kid, I have been super interested in celebrity gossip and the behind-the-scenes of Hollywood. It's always been fascinating to me. My favorite movies and TV shows growing up were fictionalized industry stories. I always wanted to work in entertainment in some capacity. But I've never lived in LA. I haven't even spent much time there. My sister-in-law lives there, though and has to put up with all of my probing questions [laughter]. With my first book, I was more concerned about the setting seeming accurate, so the city is more present in that one. As I wrote How To Fake It In Hollywood, I was really peppering her with all of these questions. I was a little more relaxed with this one, so I'm glad to hear that it still felt accurate enough.

At one point, Lilah mentioned she lives in Beachwood Canyon, which is almost a sub–neighborhood unless you're a Harry Styles fan. I was shocked. [laughter] In addition, my friends and I clocked a few little pop culture nods. Just to see if we were right about a couple that were more ambiguous, I have to ask: Are you a fan of the 2005 Pride & Prejudice?

Yes! That was on purpose. Originally, I wrote that he ‘flexed his hand,’ and then I changed it to ‘shook it.’ I stopped myself from outright saying “hand flex” and making it slightly more subtle. But it was definitely an homage.

I read that line and instantly was like, Oh, okay. Mr. Darcy vibes.” [laughter] And then: What about Fleabag?

Oh? Maybe, subconsciously. What part?

At one point, Lilah retreats into herself, and Shane says, “Where’d you go?” It was just very Hot Priest coded.

That wasn't intentional. But I'm happy to have that connection there. I love Fleabag.

One of my favorite lines in the novel is, “It will always be the perfect experience because it never happened.” Do you have anything in your life that you hold that sentiment for?

I think Lilah's view is a little bit flawed. In the story's context, Lilah and Shane view their relationship as cut off before it had a chance to become something real. They both are very haunted by what could have been. But I wouldn’t say that’s my view. In retrospect, how things have turned out for me has been for the best. All of my experiences that felt negative at the time ultimately led to something better than I expected. I think it's easy to idealize things that didn't work out. But I try not to dwell on those things. In general, I think I am where I should be.

Without giving too much away, was there a version of the book that ended earlier in the story?

No. It always ended where it does now. With this story, I felt like readers deserved to travel that far with the characters. Lilah spends the whole book justifying why they can’t be in a relationship. I wanted to see them face those hurdles as a couple. It’s a classic third-act breakup that lets the audience see how the characters have grown.

Speaking of growth, the characters in this book are so fully fleshed out and have grown so much over the novel’s nine-year time span. Did that make writing within the dual timelines easier or more difficult?

It was really hard, honestly. My first book was a single timeline. I was getting to know the characters as they were getting to know each other. Writing a book that starts with characters that have nine years of history was overwhelming. I had to figure out how to build that dynamic. It definitely took a few drafts. There was a lot of tinkering with the present timeline and the flashbacks to make things more dramatic. It was so difficult because when you change something in a flashback, you have to change how they talk about it in the present. There was a lot of back and forth. I had to keep reminding myself that part of writing a couple with so much history is that not all of it is going to be on the page. Some of it has to be implied.

You did a great job with that balance. The perfect amount is included. Lastly, since this is The Female Main Character, which FMC archetype do you most relate to?

Probably a combination of ‘The Nerd’ and ‘The Bitch.’

Those are the two I have gotten from other authors, so there's a common theme occurring.

Since you’re talking to authors, I feel like a lot of us are going to identify with ‘The Nerd.’ [laughter]