Alice Feeney Is Barely Famous

Summary

Barely Famous Podcast: Alice Feeney Is Barely Famous – Summary

Released on January 17, 2025

In this captivating episode of the Barely Famous podcast hosted by Kale Lowry, author Emily Henry takes center stage to discuss her latest work, creative processes, and her journey from journalism to bestselling novelist. The conversation delves deep into Henry's experiences, inspirations, and the intricate details of her new book, "Beautiful Ugly."

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Introduction and Book Launch

Alice Feeney warmly welcomes Emily Henry to the podcast, expressing excitement about Henry's debut appearance. Henry shares her enthusiasm for participating in the podcast, emphasizing how it felt like a "family" being part of such a creative community.

[00:35] Emily Henry: "I just think it's a great podcast. I listened. It's the first podcast I've listened to all the way through. I was hooked."

The discussion swiftly moves to Henry's newest novel, "Beautiful Ugly," which has already sold out upon its release, signaling a highly anticipated addition to her bibliography.

[01:21] Emily Henry: "I'm so excited. This book was so long in the making and I loved writing this one."

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Book Design and Global Consistency

Henry elaborates on the unique design choice for "Beautiful Ugly," opting for a uniform cover across all 40 countries—a departure from the norm where different regions often receive varied editions.

[02:12] Emily Henry: "I asked for it to be the same cover everywhere this time because I just fell in love with it. It was designed for the American cover and I thought it was so perfect for the book."

This decision facilitates a unified global conversation among readers, allowing them to discuss a shared visual representation of the story.

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Inspiration and Writing Location: Scotland

A significant portion of the conversation highlights Henry's love for Scotland, a recurrent setting in her novels. She describes Scotland not just as a backdrop but as a "magical" place that profoundly influences her storytelling.

[40:08] Emily Henry: "I think the honest truth is because I go there every year. I'm just obsessed with the place."

Henry recounts personal anecdotes, such as surviving a snowstorm in a rural Scottish house, which later inspired scenes in her books. This deep connection to Scotland adds authenticity and depth to her narratives.

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Transition from Journalism to Novel Writing

Henry shares her transformative journey from working in the bustling newsroom of the BBC in London to the solitary environment of her writing shed. This shift marked a decade-long pursuit of her passion for writing, characterized by perseverance through numerous rejections.

[10:20] Emily Henry: "I went from working in the middle of the world's busiest newsroom at the BBC in London to working all day in my shed with my dog."

She reflects on the emotional resilience required to navigate multiple rejection letters, ultimately leading to the success of her seventh published book.

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Creative Process and Overcoming Writing Challenges

Henry provides an intimate look into her meticulous writing process, including the use of whiteboards and "board days" to organize her thoughts and plot developments. She discusses ambitious projects like "his and hers," which she describes as her "best behaved" book due to its smooth writing process.

[16:01] Emily Henry: "It was at least something. Just the starting point was there."

Henry also touches on her struggles with "badly behaved" manuscripts, illustrating how critical revisions and substantial deletions can revitalize a story, as seen with her novel "Rock Paper Scissors."

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Engagement with Readers and Social Media Impact

The conversation emphasizes the pivotal role of social media platforms like BookTok and Instagram in promoting literary works and fostering reader engagement. Henry expresses her joy in seeing readers share aesthetically pleasing photos of her books and the sense of community this creates.

[26:10] Emily Henry: "I love that on Insta. Instagram is the one I do do a little bit. I like Instagram. Pretty pictures."

She also recounts memorable interactions with fans, such as a 12-year-old reader who inspired changes to the ending of "Beautiful Ugly," showcasing the profound impact of reader feedback on her work.

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Screen Adaptations and Creative Collaborations

Henry excitedly discusses the adaptation of her novel "his and hers" into a Netflix film, sharing behind-the-scenes experiences on set. She praises the cast, particularly John Bernthal, and highlights the faithful representation of her characters and settings in the adaptation process.

[34:00] Emily Henry: "I've just seen Jack come to life and to see all these scenes where he's saying Things that I wrote... it was a real joy to listen to and I think readers are going to enjoy that version too."

Henry also teases future projects and the meticulous care she takes in selecting collaborators who respect and preserve the essence of her storytelling.

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Advice for Aspiring Writers

Toward the episode's conclusion, Henry imparts valuable advice to budding authors. She underscores the importance of perseverance, continual reading, and writing as foundational elements for success in the literary world.

[66:04] Emily Henry: "Read a lot, write a lot, and never give up, because if you don't give up, you can't fail."

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Final Thoughts and Conclusion

The episode wraps up with Henry expressing her gratitude towards her readers and the supportive publishing team. Feeney congratulates Henry on her achievements, and the two share a lighthearted exchange about personal interests and future projects.

Henry emphasizes the communal aspect of writing, acknowledging that authors are nothing without their readers and cherishing the connections formed through shared stories.

[70:29] Emily Henry: "You could have a podcast on the Isle of Amberly. Perfect."

The episode concludes on a high note, celebrating Emily Henry’s accomplishments and offering listeners an inspiring glimpse into the life and mind of a successful contemporary author.

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Notable Quotes with Speaker Attribution and Timestamps:

• Emily Henry [01:21]: "I'm so excited. This book was so long in the making and I loved writing this one."
• Emily Henry [02:12]: "I asked for it to be the same cover everywhere this time because I just fell in love with it."
• Emily Henry [10:20]: "I went from working in the middle of the world's busiest newsroom at the BBC in London to working all day in my shed with my dog."
• Emily Henry [26:10]: "I love that on Insta. Instagram is the one I do do a little bit. I like Instagram. Pretty pictures."
• Emily Henry [66:04]: "Read a lot, write a lot, and never give up, because if you don't give up, you can't fail."

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Conclusion

This episode of Barely Famous offers an in-depth exploration of Emily Henry's literary journey, creative ethos, and the intricate interplay between author and reader in the digital age. Listeners gain valuable insights into the dedication and passion required to succeed in the competitive world of writing, all while celebrating the magic that books bring into our lives.

Transcript

[Alice Feeney]

Welcome to the Shit Show.

[Kale Lowry]

Things are going to get weird.

[Alice Feeney]

It's your fave villain, Kale Lowry, and.

[Kale Lowry]

You'Re listening to Barely Fam.

[Alice Feeney]

All right, Alice, welcome to Barely Famous Podcast. Thank you for being here.

[Emily Henry]

Thank you so much for having me.

[Alice Feeney]

And you said this was your first podcast. Yes, this is your first podcast. I'm very excited about that. I have been so immersed into the book world that I'm so excited that you agreed to come on.

[Emily Henry]

I just think it's a great podcast. I listened. It's the first podcast I've listened to all the way through. I was hooked. I thought I have been missing out. I'm basically an old lady trapped in a slightly younger woman's body. And this. What have I been doing all this time? This is the place to be.

[Alice Feeney]

It's better late than never, right?

[Emily Henry]

Definitely.

[Alice Feeney]

So we're here to talk about Beautiful Ugly, your new book. And if you're gonna get this on Amazon, you're gonna have to pre order it for the next launch because it's sold out.

[Emily Henry]

Yes, it's sold out already. I can't believe it.

[Alice Feeney]

It's launch day.

[Emily Henry]

Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

One day in.

[Emily Henry]

What an amazing problem to have. What a lovely.

[Alice Feeney]

How do you feel?

[Emily Henry]

I'm so excited. This book was so long in the making and I loved writing this one. You know, I've written seven. I've had seven books published now. I've written a. Have not been published. But for it to finally be out in the world just feels like magic. And I love that readers can finally enjoy this story about Grady Greene.

[Alice Feeney]

Honestly, though, the. I, even if I didn't have you here today, I would have bought this book solely for the COVID because the COVID is stunning and it has, like, a little. A little shimmer to it. I absolutely love it. I love the little, like, rip through here. I think it's so good.

[Emily Henry]

They've done such a terrific job. I love it and I love that this is the first time I had the same cover everywhere. So the same cover in America will be in England, it's in Australia, it's in India, Everywhere it's the same cover coming out.

[Alice Feeney]

So why do you know what the. What the reasoning is for different covers in different countries?

[Emily Henry]

I asked for it to be the same cover everywhere this time because I just fell in love with it. It was designed for the American cover and I thought it was so perfect for the book. So beautiful. So not ugly at all, actually, for a book called Beautiful Ugly, Just Beautiful. And I thought it'd be fun to have the same cover everywhere this time around. And I love actually seeing all the different covers in different countries. We're in 40 countries now. And it's. It's so fun, you know, a box arrives at the house and I open it like a kid at Christmas. Oh, my goodness, which one is this? But it's also really fun, I think, because so many readers now are on social media and they'll all say, oh, no, I wish I could get this cover. I wish I could get the other other cover. Or if only I could have the British version. And this time everyone can enjoy the same one and we can all share and talk about the same book.

[Alice Feeney]

There is something special too, though, about collecting the same book from different countries. I just never understood what the reasoning was. Or is there no rhyme or reason? They just do it.

[Emily Henry]

I think people just do it. I think they fall in love with a story and they want every different edition of the same story. And. And why not? It is fun seeing them all on the shelf together.

[Alice Feeney]

I absolutely love that. And so do you get a say in how this gets designed? Because I've talked to other authors on the podcast and they say they have nothing to do with the COVID but you get. You sort of got to say, right? Like, you were like, I want the same thing across the board.

[Emily Henry]

I said I wanted the same thing. Time. And I said, please, could we have foil? I think I'm secretly a magpie. I like shiny things, and not only did they give me foil, they gave me holographic foil. I think it's the best thing ever. I love my publishers, so it's so pretty. And there are other pretty things inside as well. I drew a map when I handed the book in. Every year, I like to surprise them with something. Sometimes I have little illustrations. This year I had a map. And even my editor was, you know, very nice on the phone. But she said, just to clarify, you want a map at the start of a thriller because normally you might find them in fantasy books. And I thought, yes, why not? I want. I want everyone to picture the Isle of Amberly. So they said, yes, but then they called me back and said, we'll do it, but we'll get a professional artist to do it. Okay, so it's like my version, but that's okay. My version is not nearly as good as the beautiful version inside the book. So I think it was a good call.

[Alice Feeney]

That's so funny, because when my friend who you were commenting on had tapped, this is Emily's copy, and she tabbed it All. And she's like, if she could sign this one. She opened it and she said, said, is this fantasy? And I said, I don't think so. I don't think Alice writes fantasy that I'm aware of.

[Emily Henry]

No, no, I, no, I don't. They're all quite dark and twisty. I think I write sometimes. The books are quite different from each other. Daisy Darker, for example, felt very different to this book. I think if people enjoyed Rock Paper Scissors, I was just about to say that I hope they'll like this one.

[Alice Feeney]

I don't know if you have this same experience when you read, but sometimes like you'll remember the story, but maybe not always the characters names. And so I was like, oh, wait a minute. So when I started reading it, I was like, okay, if I thought maybe hen I forgot Henry's name. And I was like, wait, is this the same cabin from Rock Paper Scissors? And then with the red jacket. So I was like, hold on. So I had to go back and see. But it's not the same. But if you like Rock Paper Scissors, you will love Beautiful ugly.

[Kale Lowry]

You will. Absolutely.

[Emily Henry]

They've definitely got a few things in common. We've got Scotland again. We've got. It's about a writer again who disappears to, to Scotland. And of course there's, there's a dog. And I always feel very sorry for my mother in law who is one of number one fans because I keep writing about unhappy marriages and I'm actually very happily married. But when, when I write about authors who have a black Labrador and I have a black Labrador who go to Scotland to write and I go to Scotland to write.

[Alice Feeney]

Right.

[Emily Henry]

I know that as soon as it's UK publication day, she'll be on the phone saying, is my son okay? So. So yes, it's always, it's always fun when people think, is she the character in this book? But no, I'm not. I'm not Grady Green.

[Alice Feeney]

But maybe some parts of you are in the characters.

[Emily Henry]

Oh yes, there are definitely a few bits of me sprinkled between the pages in this one in a way that I almost didn't realize when I was writing it.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah.

[Emily Henry]

And it was actually only when we were doing the audiobook, which came so much later, after the edits, a few months had gone by. I was working on another book by then and I was listening to Richard Armitage narrate the audiobook and he did a terrific job, by the way.

[Alice Feeney]

Sure.

[Emily Henry]

There are parts where I feel like we've got a cast of 20 people. Because Richard can be an elderly Scottish woman, Richard can be a 40 year old man, Richard can be an East End pub landlord. And you think you're listening to. He's terrific. And he sounds like he's having fun when he's doing it. But there are a few bits when I was listening to the audiobook where I thought, crikey, yeah, that, that's very similar to things that have happened to me as an author. I wonder where I got that idea from. So there are a few bits like that.

[Alice Feeney]

When you walked into, you know, the space to podcast, you said something along the lines of not having an Uber in your head. Right. Like, you just don't do Uber.

[Emily Henry]

I don't do Uber.

[Alice Feeney]

No, there is no Uber on Amberly.

[Emily Henry]

No. I think Amberly sounds a perfect place and unfortunately it's just in my head, but it's. It's this place where you're a little bit cut off, but in a nice way. I think not everybody in the book would agree with me.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah, I mean, it probably sounds like my worst nightmare, not having Uber when I need it. I like the idea of like the quiet, secluded place, but it also the whole plot, or I guess the setting is not too far off.

[Kale Lowry]

Right.

[Alice Feeney]

Like, it doesn't sound so outlandish that it couldn't be true, which is what I like about it.

[Emily Henry]

And there are tiny islands in the Scottish Hebrides that are a little bit like Amberley, where some of the ideas came from, where there really is just a ferry twice a week. And if you miss it or if there's a storm, you're not getting on and off the island. And the same with the doctor. I remember reading about this tiny island where the doctor only visits on Tuesdays. Imagine that you can only get ill on a Tuesday or you're going to be in big trouble.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah.

[Emily Henry]

But I love these tiny places where there's this real sense of community. But if it's not something you're used to or if you're someone who's quite private, it could be your worst night nightmare. Because rural community based places that are in the middle of nowhere are sometimes not the isolated havens that you think they are. Everyone knows everyone and everyone knows everyone else's business and everyone probably knows more about you than you realize.

[Alice Feeney]

And I think in the book, if I remember correctly, is 25 people on the island.

[Emily Henry]

Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah, I could not imagine, like, it sounds good in theory, but then when you need something and you have to walk 2 miles or 1 mile to get to the nearest road to be picked up to even get to a ferry. I don't know. It sounds like the perfect plot and the perfect setting for a thriller, which it is.

[Emily Henry]

Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

So I love that.

[Emily Henry]

Oh, thank you.

[Kale Lowry]

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[Alice Feeney]

So you worked as a journalist before becoming an author. So what was that transition like?

[Emily Henry]

It was really interesting and very different. So I went from working in the middle of the world's busiest newsroom at the BBC in London to working all day in my shed with my dog. So I had so many people that I was working with hundreds of people within the newsroom to just me and my dog. It was very different. But I dreamed of being an author for so long. It took me a really long time. I spent almost 10 years writing books, sending them off, collecting multiple rejection letters. I just could not get an agent. And sometimes the rejection letters would be really lovely, very polite no's.

[Kale Lowry]

How do you. Okay, I was gonna say, what do you.

[Alice Feeney]

What is. What does lovely mean? Because I feel like a no is kind of terrifying.

[Emily Henry]

Sometimes they would say that they liked the book but it wasn't quite right for them, or they enjoyed it, but it wasn't the right book. Try and launch a new author, and could I maybe send them my next book? And my favorite ever rejection came from a really lovely agent who I did not know who I had submitted one book to, who wrote me this, I think, lovely rejection letter. But at the end, she said, I think you can do better. And I remember feeling a little bit beaten up because, you know, rejection is hard. But also I thought, well, how do you know? You don't know me.

[Alice Feeney]

You don't know me.

[Emily Henry]

Maybe this is as good as I've got. I've been trying for years, years to do this. But something about that particular letter made me think, yeah, I can, and I will, and then I'll send another book to you. And by the time I actually managed to get published, she had retired. That's how long it took me. But she was so kind, and she remembered me. And she actually got in touch when I did my first deal to say, I thought you'd do this one day. So. So it's funny how rejection sometimes can be a good thing. You know, it just. It makes you want to try even harder to get that thing that you've always dreamed of. Eventually, I wrote a book called Sometimes I Lie. And then everything changed. Everything changed.

[Alice Feeney]

I just read it not too long ago. But that is so interesting because I just feel like after a couple of no's, I would have just said, okay, I guess this isn't for me. But for some reason, for you, it just propelled you to work even harder.

[Emily Henry]

I think I've just always had this slight obsession with stories.

[Alice Feeney]

Okay.

[Emily Henry]

Even as a child, you know, if the real world felt too loud or too dark, I would hide inside a book and I would read a book. And I think for me, even though now I'm a lot older, I'm the same in that way. I still hide inside a story if I think the world is too loud. And for me, the world is always a little bit too loud, especially now. So I've gone from hiding inside books by reading them to reading them and writing them. But it's the same with all forms of escapism in terms of stories. I love watching TV shows, I love watching movies. And I think we all need that sometimes just to disappear down the rabbit hole to get away from reality.

[Alice Feeney]

And that's not too far off from Grady Green, because Grady Green says that he pushed away. He basically pushed away all these relationships.

[Emily Henry]

Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

Because he was writing.

[Emily Henry]

Yes. Obsessed with his books. And I've definitely gone through phases in my career. This is book seven for me. And I've just turned it in book eight, which was really scary. It's always so scary handing in a new book. But I remember with his and hers in particular, I spent nearly a year writing a book. And then. And I loved the book. And then I decided that I couldn't let anybody read it. There was something wrong with it and I didn't know what was wrong with it. But I'm very secretive as an author. I don't tell anyone, even my agents, my publishers. Nobody knows what I'm writing till I finish the book. So I sent an email to my agent. I remember I was in Wales. I was in a horrible Airbnb. It stank of damp. There was a terrible storm. There were dead seals on the beach. It was a really horrible trip. And then I sat in the window of this horrible Airbnb writing an email to my agent saying, I'm so sor. Feel like I've let you and everyone down. I can't send the book in. And he said, just send it. I'm sure it's not as bad as you think. And I said, no, there's something wrong, but don't worry, I'm going to write another one. And he said, let me talk to your publishers. We can push back the deadline. It's going to be fine. I said, no, no, no. The whole book is in my head. I just need to write it. I can do it in three months. And I always do three drafts before anyone reads it. So I did three drafts in three months and I hit send, which is as terrifying now as it was then. And everyone loved the book. And that book was his and hers, which is my best behaved book.

[Alice Feeney]

What is best behaved?

[Emily Henry]

It just wrote itself. I just sat in the shed with my dog. I had no social life whatsoever for three months, but I got the book done. And I think those are my Grady Green moments. When everything else just stops. Life stops. The house turns into a giant mess. My hair. I've got naturally very curly hair. In situations like that, it grows sideways. There'll be Robins nesting in. In the background. So I understand Gray's obsession with when you get a story in your head and you have to write it. So that was definitely his and hers for me. And the badly behaved book, the one I couldn't figure out how to fix, I came back to it maybe a year later and I could see what was wrong finally, but I didn't know how to fix it. So I wrote a book called Rock Paper Scissors. Then I came back to the Naughty One again and I read it again and now I knew how to fix it. And the solution was actually very simple. I just needed to delete 80,000 words.

[Alice Feeney]

So simple, no big deal. Just 90% of the book.

[Emily Henry]

Yeah, I mean, my books tend to be about 80, 85. So I had 5,000 left. So that felt quite positive.

[Kale Lowry]

Something to work with.

[Emily Henry]

It was at least something. Just the starting point was there. And I wrote the book again. Same book, same story, same characters, but this time it worked. And that was Daisy Darker. So all of the books have behaved differently, but sometimes you do, I think as an author, get a little bit obsess with the story, the characters. I mean, I hear them in my head. They're talking to me now without wishing to sound too crazy, but yeah, you remember them. They feel like family because in some ways I spend more time with the characters than I do with anyone real in my life. Sure, they're there all the time. They wake me up at 3am and.

[Alice Feeney]

You'Re like, hold on, I have to type this really quick or it's going to be out of my brain. When you said that, the badly behaved one, when you said. Then you wrote Rock Paper Scissors, I thought you were going to say that Rock Paper Scissors was the badly behaved one. Rock Paper Scissors is one of my favorite thriller suspense novels because it is so different than any other one that I've read.

[Emily Henry]

Thank you.

[Alice Feeney]

And it was our Book Club of the Month pick in, I think November was last year. Was obsessed with the ending because I do not like books that explain everything at the end and give you a play by play of what it is that happened. It's like. Like you're supposed to figure that out on your own. Like kind of deduce down what you want. And so I. Some people love it and some people hate it.

[Kale Lowry]

I loved it.

[Alice Feeney]

I ate it up. It was so good.

[Emily Henry]

Thank you. It was. It was another one where I submitted the book and this time I had little drawings at the top of the chapters. Do you remember? Yeah.

[Kale Lowry]

Like the little sketches.

[Emily Henry]

Yes. Every Character had their own.

[Alice Feeney]

I brought it with me.

[Emily Henry]

Their own little drawing at the top. Again, not normal for a thriller, but I like to do things a little bit differently.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah. No, and I love. I mean the same thing for this because you have the little map and I love it. I got the PR box from Beautiful Ugly, and I about died because it has, like the painting with the. The. Not the painting. The pottery.

[Emily Henry]

The pottery and the bob. Myrtle tea. I love my team. They come up with all these brilliant, fun things. It's like Christmas. They send me these gifts. They sent me a. A Magic 8 ball because that was in the book, too. I feel like I must add, you know, if there's something I want as a present, I need to put it in the next book so that the lovely team will get it for you. Make up something for a press kit and send me one. Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

That's so funny. So for when you're des. The first book that you wrote, did you ever come back to it and publish it? The first book that you wrote, did it ever get published or would you ever go back to it to try to publish?

[Emily Henry]

No, it's terrible. I mean, thank goodness it didn't get published.

[Alice Feeney]

I just think that's so funny, though. I was. I Talked to Frida McFadden a couple weeks ago, and she was telling me about how she had to redo an entire book she started. It was called Suicide Med, and then she changed it years and years and years and years later.

[Emily Henry]

Now, I told you, I've only listened to one podcast.

[Alice Feeney]

That was the one.

[Emily Henry]

That is the one.

[Alice Feeney]

So where she's talking about the but eye.

[Emily Henry]

I've. The the but. I. I mean, I. I had to pause it and think, did I misunderstand? No, you didn't. I mean, I just thought that was the best writer story I've ever heard. Ever. I loved that. I love that. You know, all. All respect to her. That's fantastic. It's. So maybe I didn't have a butye in my first book. I sort of wish I did because it's a brilliant story, isn't it?

[Alice Feeney]

It's good for a story.

[Emily Henry]

Yes. No, it was. It was a bit too happy, if I'm honest.

[Alice Feeney]

Okay.

[Emily Henry]

I think that I'm. I. I think I prefer writing and reading and watching quite dark and twisty stories. I think I was scared of doing that.

[Alice Feeney]

Okay.

[Emily Henry]

And I think I was scared that perhaps I wasn't clever enough to do that. So in all way. Well, I think when you're growing up, for me, I Imagined authors as these supreme magical beings.

[Alice Feeney]

That's how I feel.

[Emily Henry]

You know, there are these magicians of words. And so although it was something would have loved to have become, I couldn't imagine how someone like me could be. And even, you know, people would say I. Even when I wanted to work for the BBC, people would say, you'll never work at the BBC. Someone. How would someone like you work at the BBC? So it was there were these dreams of mine that seemed so difficult to achieve, and yet, I don't know. I think. I think there's something about me when someone tells me I can't do something, it makes me really, really want to do it even more. And I felt like that about Journal, and I felt like that about becoming an author. But I was just always scared that I wasn't good enough. And even just now, you know, very recently, I submitted book eight. You would think that I might have more confidence now, but I don't. When I send that novel in for the first time, it's pure terror that I experience that I'm scared that it isn't good enough or that I might let people down. Because, let's face it, there are lots of brilliant books in the world. I don't want to inflict a bad one on anybody. So.

[Alice Feeney]

No, no, I don't think anyone would think that your books are bad. I also, I mean, they spe for themselves. You go on Barnes Noble and I think you said that was. It's listed as a bestseller already.

[Emily Henry]

Yes. Which is incredible. Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

I've never seen so far in my, you know, reading journey. I have never seen on published day the book be out of stock on Amazon.

[Emily Henry]

Yeah. It is incredible. It's. It blows my mind to know that there are so many people around the world reading books that I've written in my shed.

[Alice Feeney]

My hair stylist was like, I cannot wait to talk about Rock Paper Scissors with you. We have to talk about the ending. When I see you like that. We're having conversations about your book. Book.

[Emily Henry]

I guess I spend so much time on my own.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah.

[Emily Henry]

That I don't always understand what is going on in the outside world to do with the books. I really do only come out for two or three weeks to do tour once a year, and then I go back to the shed again. I'm a bit of a hermit. I suppose I am a bit like Grady Green in that way too. But it's always a surprise, you know, when we go to events and there are so many people. I remember we went to an event in St. Louis a couple of years ago. And we arrived, and my lovely publicist, Claire, who is here today, said to the lady when we arrived, is anyone here yet? I said, yes, don't worry. We've already got 20 people. And I thought, oh, thank goodness. You know, everyone. As authors, you're always scared of turning up to an event, and either nobody's there, or one man and his dog is there, or someone turns up and it turns out, really, they wanted to meet Ruth Ware, and they thought I was her. And they're disappointed. It's never happened yet, but it might. You never know till you never know.

[Kale Lowry]

The book.

[Emily Henry]

No, no, no. I don't think she. She did, but we got lots of other lovely comments. But this event where they said there's 20 people, I was so relieved. And it turned out I hadn't heard her. She said, there's already 220 people. And so when we walked in, I was so confused. I thought maybe they turned up for another author and that they'd be disappointed it was me. But then they all held up my books and they really were there to see me. And. And this. This year we've got events where there are over 400 people coming along. And I just. I think it's amazing.

[Alice Feeney]

Oh, I bought tickets for your event as soon as I saw it.

[Emily Henry]

I just can't believe it.

[Alice Feeney]

I said, oh, I'm. We're going.

[Emily Henry]

I still sometimes think maybe this is a. A dream. Nope.

[Alice Feeney]

Somebody needs to pinch you, because it's very real.

[Emily Henry]

It's very real. I. I always remember with Sometimes I Lie. My first book that was published.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah.

[Emily Henry]

The first ever newspaper review of the book got the names in a muddle. So the book was about a character called Amber Reynolds who is in a coma. But the newspaper review, the first one I'd ever seen of my writing, didn't say Amber Reynolds. It said, this book is by Amber Reynolds and it's about Alice Feeney who is in a coma. And I think since then, I've wondered, am I. Am I just making. Am I lying in a hospital room somewhere with machines keeping me? Because how else did I get an agent and publishers and all these wonderful things?

[Alice Feeney]

They mixed up the names. Yes.

[Emily Henry]

Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

Did you clip out the article? Did you have that? Oh, yes. You framed it.

[Emily Henry]

I kept it. Anyway, it was the first one. Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

That's really. I mean, that's just as good as Frida's story about the butterfly eye.

[Emily Henry]

Is it? Okay, good. I've got to. I still jealous of the. Butye but you know, you can.

[Alice Feeney]

You should film something for Tik Tok or Instagram about.

[Kale Lowry]

About that.

[Emily Henry]

My first ever.

[Alice Feeney]

Because that is funny. I mean, at least it made it in the article, right?

[Emily Henry]

Yes, exactly.

[Alice Feeney]

And that's what's most important is like we're featuring the work.

[Emily Henry]

All publicity is, is good publicity according to my publicist. So here we are.

[Alice Feeney]

She's like, this is good.

[Emily Henry]

This is fine.

[Kale Lowry]

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[Emily Henry]

Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

Okay. So is Tick Tock big over there?

[Emily Henry]

Well, now you know how we've been talking about Uber.

[Alice Feeney]

Yes.

[Emily Henry]

Podcasts. Tick Tock is a bit of a mystery to me as well. Oh, it is. I understand what it is. It's videos on the phone.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah.

[Emily Henry]

I did look at it once. It made my brain melt a little bit.

[Alice Feeney]

I thought, yeah, it'll definitely change the way that you think about, like shorten your attention span.

[Emily Henry]

Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

But I only bring it up because I think that Book Talk partially inspired me to read. And so I just was gonna want. I was gonna ask you about how.

[Emily Henry]

I. I love that on Insta. Instagram is the one I do do a little bit. I like Instagram. Pretty pictures. I'm there for it all day long.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah.

[Emily Henry]

But sometimes people will tag things on Instagram and they'll say that it's on Booktok as well. And yeah, I know that Rock Paper Scissors was a book of Booktok, which sounds very fun.

[Alice Feeney]

Yes. It went viral.

[Emily Henry]

That's. That's incredible, isn't it? Again, amazing things happen.

[Alice Feeney]

I have for my book club this Book Talk sticker that I, I did that. I. That's my Book Talk sticker. I'm obsessed because I'll go look for recommendations and if it's on Book Talk, then you. It has to be good. Right. If you thought that Booktop Book Talk contributed to, you know, maybe new author success or, or anything like that. I know that Barnes and Noble is opening a bunch of new stores by the end of this year and I thought that maybe. I don't know this for sure, but maybe Book Talk contribute to that a little bit.

[Emily Henry]

I think all reading is good reading. Yeah, absolutely. Sometimes I think there can be some snob in this business and I think if people are reading to me, that's fantastic. And however they can hear about books and however we can spread the word about books is. Is also fantastic. And I love that I have a lot of young readers who are much cleverer all this technical stuff than I am, but sometimes very young. I was. I had an event in Macedonia last year and There was a 12 year old in the audience with all of my books and came up to sign them at the end of the event. And I did wonder if 12 was a little bit. A smidgen. A smidgen young perhaps to be reading my books. But then it reminded me that I used to read Stephen King at that age and yeah, I think I sort of turned out okay.

[Alice Feeney]

I think you turned out okay.

[Emily Henry]

But yes. It was interesting. Meeting that 12 year old actually changed the ending of this book.

[Alice Feeney]

Really?

[Emily Henry]

Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

In what way?

[Emily Henry]

I really loved her. I loved her energy. I loved how enthusiastic, enthusiastic she was about all reading. It makes me really happy when children are reading. I get so scared that everyone is living inside screen screens these days, including me. I spend too long looking at screens for everything. So to see this kid who is so into her books and so eloquent about stories and what they meant to her and how they had helped her and changed her life just made me so happy. And I was worried she might misinterpret how I wanted the ending to be read. How I wanted people to feel about the women on the island. Did you see me pause there to try and avoid spoilers?

[Alice Feeney]

No spoilers here.

[Emily Henry]

It's so tricksy because I know what happens. But yeah, so I did. I tweaked the ending a little bit because of meeting a reader who I'm mentioning because she was talking about Tick tock. So clearly it's a, it's a, it's a big thing for young readers, especially out there. And I think anything that spreads the word about good books is a great thing.

[Alice Feeney]

It would be cool if 10 years from now you see her writing her own books.

[Emily Henry]

Yes. Wouldn't it?

[Alice Feeney]

And maybe you were the inspiration behind her.

[Emily Henry]

I just, I, I find it so fascinating meeting people. You know, we had our, our first event last night and one of the readers who came along made me a hat to match the book. She knitted an actual beautiful ugly hat in the same colors and things like that just blow my mind. Or sometimes people turn up with lucky KitKats to the events. Which is just. I've had Kit Kats from every country and they really. They all taste different.

[Alice Feeney]

So you eat them.

[Emily Henry]

They all taste good. Oh yes.

[Alice Feeney]

She's like, I'm eating all the kit.

[Emily Henry]

All of the Kit Kats. Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

I absolutely love this though. Like, I think that you are inspiring young readers. I, I can't. I don't know that 12 is too young. I'd probably. I have an 11 year old. I have a 15 year old. I, I would let them read them.

[Emily Henry]

Yeah. Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

I don't think my 11 year old is there yet. He's more so into Diary of a Wimpy Kid right now. So he, It's.

[Emily Henry]

We met the author last night. That's where we were. Yes. That was so. That was so fun. It's his bookshop that we visited.

[Alice Feeney]

Are you serious? I'll have to go to One of bring my son Lincoln to one of his, you know, events I didn't even know he was having. But he is the entire. The entire collection of that. My older son is more into thrillers and he's tried to dabble in other genres, but he's more like suspense thriller. I would absolutely let him read these. I think they would be. He's 15. He's a little bit older.

[Emily Henry]

Yeah, I think. I think you're fine. I think the darkest book is probably for me is his and hers.

[Alice Feeney]

Okay.

[Emily Henry]

That's the only one, I think that got an 18 rating in certain places. I actually forgot how dark that book we went. I read it recently before we went to the filming to see Netflix making it. And as I was reading it again, having not looked at it for years, I was thinking, oh, my goodness, some of this is really messed up. Who wrote this? Oh, yeah, I did. Yeah. So I think it was really interesting, the crew's reaction when they met me because they've been working on this for years too. And I think they imagined this dark, strange British woman who was writing all these dark, twisty things about people getting murdered in very horrendous ways and people having the word liar stapled on their chests. I mean, it's really messed up stuff. And that there was a set, there's a scene where there's a box of Tic tacs. And I don't think it's too much of a spoiler inside. They weren't Tic Tacs, they were human nails. I. Who wrote this? I was genuinely a bit shocked, but yeah. So I think that's the only one where I would think that I wouldn't want maybe a 12 year old to read that one. But they can watch it on Netflix. I'm sure it'll be fine.

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[Alice Feeney]

Are we allowed to talk about the Netflix?

[Emily Henry]

Oh, yes.

[Kale Lowry]

Okay.

[Alice Feeney]

So his and hers is going to be a Netflix movie or show?

[Emily Henry]

Movie show. This summer. It'll be out. This filming is all done and it'll be on our screens this summer, which is just incredibly exciting. I still can't quite believe that's true either.

[Alice Feeney]

I can't believe. That's incredible. And I, I also just think that it's so nice to see all of the, you know, Hulu, Netflix likes wanting to do the adaptations to books now because so many people are reading these books. We want to see them on our screens.

[Emily Henry]

Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

And sometimes you read books and you're like, I really liked this, but it could be better on, On a screen.

[Emily Henry]

Yes. And I, you know what I mean? I, I love it. I mean, I love reading books like this. I love watching TV shows like this. I love watching films like this. I feel like I can't get enough. And I think there are lots of other people out there who feel the same. You know, we've got this desire for some reason, we're all obsessed with these dark, twisty stories and we love playing the game of who did it and trying to solve the mystery. So, no, it's been a fantastic experience. A few of my books have been optioned, but that's the first one. This is the first one that's actually been filmed and I got to visit the set and my characters who've lived inside my head for years came to life and we're talking and talking.

[Alice Feeney]

His and hers is the first one that you published.

[Emily Henry]

It was book number three.

[Alice Feeney]

Book number three.

[Emily Henry]

Book number three. It was the well behaved one that was three months in the making.

[Alice Feeney]

And you were like, that's why I got first.

[Emily Henry]

Yes, because it was such a well behaved, behaved book child. No, it's fantastic. And the, the TV show is actually very true to the book. They've done the most incredible job. I think the scripts are fantastic. There's a twist or two in there that I wish I'd written. I sort of want to go back and do it another version because it's so clever what they've done. And the whole cast were just fantastic. John Bernthal, who was in the Walking Dead, and more recently the Bear, he's Jack Harper. And I confess, my eyes leaked a little bit the first time he was walking towards me, me, because for me now he is forever Jack.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah.

[Emily Henry]

And so to see Jack come to life and to see all these scenes where he's saying Things that I wrote and, oh, it was just. There's nothing like it. They were so sweet to me. It's my birthday. While we were there, they made a birthday cake. They all sang Happy Birthday. I really loved the school uniforms in the show for the school that's called St. Hilary's and I told the costume designer, the uniform is so similar to how it was in my head. So they made me a uniform uniform to fit me. I've got my own St. Hilary's School uniform to take home. No, I loved it. And they gave me a friendship, a friendship bracelet when I first arrived, which for anyone who's read the book, is actually a bad sign. But I'm still here. I'm still here.

[Alice Feeney]

It's just for.

[Kale Lowry]

It's just for showbiz.

[Emily Henry]

It's just. It's just a nice little touch. So, no, I've had such a fantastic experience and I can't wait for people to see it.

[Alice Feeney]

So when you get optioned for a movie or a TV show, do you end up getting to choose whether it's a movie or TV show? Or is that sort of up to, like, the director based on the script? Because I did have Colleen Hoover on and she was telling me how, you know, if she got a movie for one of her books, you know, you go from 300 pages to a 100 page script for a movie. And so it's a little bit different where I. And I don't know this for sure because she didn't say that, but for a TV show, you have a little bit more time.

[Emily Henry]

Yes, it's almost the other way around. You're almost trying to expand the story in certain ways, but also find neat little ways to break it into, say, six or eight episodes. Okay. And I think my books lend themselves quite well to that because I like having lots of twists. So there are twists to choose from in terms of, you know, having a nice cliffhanger to end an episode on, hopefully so that people want to watch the next one straight away. But how it's always worked for me is that the new book will go out to the industry before it gets published, and then I've been very lucky. Touchwood. We always seem to have quite a few people interested. So I'll meet with different people and sometimes they might want to make a movie or they might want to make a TV show, but I'll always base it more on the people, the producer or the. Sometimes it's been an actor who has come forward with the offer. And for me, I just want Them to love the book and look after it the same way that I would. You know, the books are my children. I always want them to be in safe hands. So I've only ever said yes to people who I think are going to do a good job of it. And they, they all have. You know, everyone I've worked with has just been so fantastic. We've got, we've got his and hers coming out this summer, but we've also got. Sometimes I lie in the pipeline.

[Alice Feeney]

I thought, I don't know if I heard that or not.

[Emily Henry]

I think, I think this, I think there has. I always worry about what secret was.

[Alice Feeney]

That's why I look there, because I don't know. If it's not out yet, we won't know.

[Emily Henry]

It's okay. It's okay. So I think we've had a press release about the early stages of that. So it's a producer called Tommy Harper who did Top Gun, Maverick.

[Alice Feeney]

Oh, and I did hear this.

[Emily Henry]

And Wednesday and he just did Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. And, and he's working with a couple of people in UK as well. And so that's going out soon. So there are other things I can't say about it. Of course, again, amazing scripts and all of these people have been honestly such fun to work with. It's been a really pleasant experience for me. So I'm all for adaptations.

[Alice Feeney]

So you said that the manuscript goes out to these. The people.

[Emily Henry]

Goes out to lots of different people and if producers or actors before it hits the public. Yes. Yeah. Oh, wow.

[Alice Feeney]

I always wondered that part because I don't know know, you know, if sometimes the book will come out and then a show or movie won't come out for years and years. So I didn't know if it would, you know, they pick it up after all the buzz that it gets.

[Emily Henry]

There are so many secrets. Nobody told me before I became an author that you had to keep so many secrets. So there is lovely, beautiful, ugly screen shaped news as well that I'm not allowed to share yet, for example. But yes, I'm sure one day we're going to see Grady Green on screen too. And I can't wait if you need.

[Alice Feeney]

A camp, anyone to make a cameo, I'm available. Available.

[Emily Henry]

Excellent.

[Alice Feeney]

So I can be, I can be anybody you want in this book.

[Emily Henry]

You could have a podcast.

[Alice Feeney]

Perfect.

[Emily Henry]

You could have a podcast on the. On the Isle of Amberly.

[Alice Feeney]

Perfect.

[Kale Lowry]

I love that idea.

[Alice Feeney]

That's so funny. So I know who you are was written and well, let me not say written but it was published in 2019. Will we see that on our big screens anywhere?

[Emily Henry]

I don't think so. I've always said no.

[Alice Feeney]

Okay.

[Emily Henry]

I don't really know why. I just never particularly wanted to see that story on screen. Okay. And the only other book that I've always said no to in terms of screen adaptations so far is Daisy Darker. I think because I love her too.

[Alice Feeney]

Much, you don't want to share her with the screen.

[Emily Henry]

Daisy honestly felt like family to me. And I remember when we went to the printers, I cried, partly because it's such a beautiful book and I was so happy to see it finally published, but also because it. If you're at the printers, you can't do any more edits. You know, it's too late. So I was really saying goodbye to Daisy after five years of writing her finally, and. And I felt really sad about it. So I think one day, I hope, Daisy Darker would be made into a TV show or a movie, but it would have to be set in the uk. It would have to be true. Very truish, I think, to the story. Whereas for some of my books, I think it's more about the characters and the story, and you could almost set it anywhere if you wanted to. With beautiful, Ugly. For me, Scotland almost played a character in itself.

[Alice Feeney]

Why Scotland?

[Emily Henry]

I think the honest truth is because I go there every year. I'm just obsessed with the place. I think if there's a more beautiful place in the world, I've yet to find it. It's so unspoiled. It's so rugged and beautiful and perfect, and you can walk for miles and miles for hours with your dog. I am so much like Grady. Every time I say something to you about the book, I think, oh, gosh, yes, we have that in common, too. But, yeah, I think it's just this magical, magical place for me. And I've had so many happy things happen to me in Scotland that I now feel like it's just linked to my writing. You know, I finished writing. Sometimes I lie in Scotland. And then I finally got an agent. I remember being up in Scotland in a terrible snowstorm. We really shouldn't have traveled. It was so unsafe. Nobody else was on the roads. We drove for eight hours from London up to Scotland. We ended up arriving at this very rural house that we'd rented that was honestly so creepy. And in the middle of nowhere, we went inside the house. There was no water. The pipes were frozen because of the storm. There was no power. There was nothing. We thought maybe we should get back in the car. The car then was totally snowed in, couldn't leave. So we thought, we'll make the most of it. You know, we'll. We'll light a fire, we'll open some wine.

[Alice Feeney]

Sounds like Rock, paper, Scissors.

[Emily Henry]

Yes. And then just before bedtime, there was a face in the window. And I've never screamed so loud. We were not nowhere near anyone. We were in the middle of a valley. And in real life, it was just a caretaker who came to check that we were okay because everyone thought we were crazy, still going to this house when there was a terrible storm.

[Alice Feeney]

But why did they go to the window?

[Emily Henry]

Why exactly? Because apparently. Apparently he said. He apparently said, oh, I knocked on the door and you didn't hear me, but I felt like I was in a horror film. But, you know, then my imagination turned it into Rock, paper, Scissors. So, again, Scotland delivered this amazing story for me. And I've had so many happy experiences like that. I feel like it inspires stories in my head. I feel like I get so much writing done when I'm there. It's like the speed increases by double. So, no, I'm just in love with the place. So if I sit for a year writing about it, it means I get to be there even when I'm not. I think that's. That's part of it, too.

[Alice Feeney]

I've never been to Scotland, but I would.

[Kale Lowry]

Absolutely.

[Alice Feeney]

Now I want to go. Now I want to go. Yeah, we have to go.

[Kale Lowry]

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[Alice Feeney]

And then. I know who you are. Did I say I know who you are?

[Emily Henry]

Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

Okay. Daisy Darker, you said you don't really want to bring on screen. Right. Right now. That's okay. I. I'm excited for Rock Paper Scissors.

[Emily Henry]

Is that gonna come out one day, I hope.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah.

[Emily Henry]

It's very slow. I feel like, what is the book? No. Oh, no. The book's super fast. That was a. I enjoyed that one. I feel like because I worked in journalism for so long working for the BBC in the newsroom, everything is fast. A story breaks in the morning. I've got it on air by lunchtime.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah.

[Emily Henry]

Publishing. I write the book. Sometimes it isn't out for a year or a year and a half later.

[Alice Feeney]

And you've already finished the next.

[Emily Henry]

I'm already. I've already finished the next one. I'm onto the two books ahead, and television, in my experience so far, takes even longer. But I'm kind of. I've made peace with that now because now I've seen them actually film my TV show. I'm like, it is worth the wait, guys. It's worth the wait.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah.

[Emily Henry]

I'm so excited. Let's do it again.

[Alice Feeney]

And you've already finished the next one after this?

[Emily Henry]

Yes, I have.

[Alice Feeney]

Is that year. Publishing date.

[Emily Henry]

I think it will probably end up being this time next year.

[Alice Feeney]

Okay.

[Emily Henry]

So not. Not too long to wait.

[Alice Feeney]

I think the years go by really fast. I mean, I don't know if it's because I have seven kids or what it is, but I feel like the years just go by so fast, dude.

[Emily Henry]

Don't they? I. I mean, everything I think just keeps coming around so quickly. Suddenly it's birthdays and Christmases and Halloween. It's like, we just did this five minutes ago. Yeah. Yeah.

[Alice Feeney]

Would you ever do a book about. About your life or a character sort of like your life working for the BBC, like, have a main character that worked for.

[Emily Henry]

I'm just not that interesting in real life. I just, you know, sometimes people say, why don't you narrate your own audiobooks. I'm like, oh, gosh, I don't like the sound of my own voice.

[Alice Feeney]

Do you pick who, who narrates them or do they. Do you do. Interesting.

[Emily Henry]

I think I'm a bit of a control freak in some ways because they are my children.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah.

[Emily Henry]

You know, I really care about them all deeply and I get so scared, you know, when it's publication date, for example, because it's like I'm sending my children out into the world for the first time by themselves. And I just hope everyone's going to be kind to them and take care of them. And if anyone isn't kind to them, I hope they're strong enough to take care of themselves. Well, those strange sort of feelings, you know, that you might have about sending a child out to school for the first time or something.

[Alice Feeney]

But I think that's pretty normal though, because you just never know how people are gonna, you know, feel about them. You don't go on Goodreads though, right? No, you shouldn't.

[Emily Henry]

No, I try to. The only. I read. I read reviews when they're good and people send them to me. So my team, my family, my friends will send me the good ones. Yeah. And I think you've got to be quite. You've got to just kind of roll with the punches a little bit with that. It's not possible to write a book that everyone is going to love. It's simply not possible. And I remember even, even in year one, I learned very early on, don't read reviews. But also I learned not to pay too much attention to reviews. I. I remember my favorite Amazon review is a five star review on Amazon. And then the description just says, great. And below that it says, this is the best dog brush I've ever used on my husky. It gets rid of all the dead fur. I just thought, well, I'll take it. That's still a five star review. I, I still wor. Somewhere there is a really brilliant dog brush out there with a one star review that says this book sucks. But you know, because clearly they got them in a muddle. So. No, the reviews I mostly care about, honestly, cross my heart, are reader reviews. When people post a review on Instagram or something like that and they tag me in it. I read all of those. I look at the beautiful pictures they take of my books all around the world and it brings me so much joy. Joy. When a reader has genuinely loved reading one of my books. When, when they, when they get it, you know, that's it's the best feeling in the world.

[Alice Feeney]

My. I'll call her my co host for book club. I mean she ate it. She texted me, she's like, this is so good, thank you. And I was like, I'm sure she'll love that. And I'll tell her that you said that. When you start writing, do you plan your twists out ahead of time, sort of before you have the full story or do the twists come as you go?

[Emily Henry]

Most of it is there, so I tend to think about the books for one or two years before I start. So even when I'm working on one book, my head is already planning the next one. It's always very noisy up here. There's always voices all the time. I wish they'd shush. And unfortunately a lot of. One of my good ideas tend to happen at 3am in the morning. And we've established I'm not great at technology. So I sometimes forget how to make the phone go into silent. So my poor husband at 3am Will just hear. Because sometimes, you know, you think you might forget the idea if you don't write it down. So I tend to put it all together in pieces like that. Then I have a giant board, giant white board. I, I think because I'm so old fashioned and not down with the kids at all, for years I did everything on an actual giant cardboard board which would have tiny little bits of different colored card stickers stuck to it with blue tack. Do you have blue tack in America? It's like, it's like chewing gum, but it's. But it's for sticking things.

[Kale Lowry]

I don't know that we call it that.

[Alice Feeney]

I'm not sure. But I remember I used to still think kids take it from my first grade classroom.

[Emily Henry]

Yes, exactly.

[Alice Feeney]

Because I wanted, I just wanted it for whatever reason.

[Emily Henry]

So I did it like a child basically putting together a sticky board. And then one year my husband said this is ridiculous. You're actually, you're actually like a professional author now. I think we need to up your game. So I have the same thing, but it's a white board with magnets and still the same different colored cards. But it looks slightly better. I suppose. It doesn't look like my 9 year old niece's artwork project.

[Alice Feeney]

I just watched A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson. She has the show on Netflix and one of the main characters is trying to solve the crime and she has like a marker that she's like drawing on the wall with like pictures and arrows and sort of like what you're describing.

[Emily Henry]

Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

And just looks to us like a mess. But to her it made sense.

[Emily Henry]

Exactly. I, I think I need to see the whole book in one place.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah.

[Emily Henry]

So I need to see all the chapters, all the characters and just see it all together. And then once I've got the board, I even call it board day. Once I've got this is like a special day because it's, it's like me committing to writing the book. I've never done the board and then not written the book. So that's when I'm sure it's a book. It's something I want to write, something I want to commit at least a year of my life to. And then I have all these str. Or traditions. So after board day, I'm telling you far too it's because it feels like we're just having a nice fun chat. I forget that anyone else is going to hear all my madness later on.

[Alice Feeney]

I love it though because there, there are people that listen that are like, we want to write a book, what do we do?

[Emily Henry]

Well, you need a board. You need a board day. And then I normally treat myself to a very nice bottle of champagne and I write the book number and the date and I put it in the, the fridge straight after board day. And then I'm not allowed to drink the champagne until my agent has read the book once I finished it and says it's good. So for the following year I will open the fridge several times a day and see the champagne and think, not yet, not yet. So it's so special when I get the phone call from my agent to say, I've read it, it's good, you've done it, well done.

[Alice Feeney]

And, and you can drink it.

[Emily Henry]

Then I drink the champagne and then we start all over again. And I love that sooner or later, later there's another board day. Isn't my life fun?

[Alice Feeney]

No, I actually love it because I'm like, this is. And you have like the writing shed. I love that.

[Emily Henry]

I think everyone has their little quirks and I have the, the jar of lucky KitKats on my desk as well. So if, if it's a slow writing day, if it's taking me a while to get to my 2,000 words, then I have a lucky KitKat. And I always, I always, whenever I come to America, I remember that here you have six finger KitKats because at home there's only two finger Kit Kats.

[Alice Feeney]

Okay.

[Emily Henry]

I didn't know that the ones here would not fit in my special lucky kitkat. Jar. But I always wonder, if I lived in America with the giant KitKats, I could probably write two books a year. I'd probably speed up.

[Alice Feeney]

I should get you in America. Everything I feel like is bigger. So we could also get you a bigger jar so the six finger ones would be able to fit in.

[Emily Henry]

Yes, I'm sure, though there is a jar out there there that we could use to accommodate this.

[Alice Feeney]

We could definitely do that. I don't know that you'll be able to get it back on your plane.

[Emily Henry]

But you have such different confectionary here. It always amazes me. And on the, on the film set for his and hers, they had this, this area every, every day, wherever we were, whether we were on set, called Crafty, with all these different amazing snacks.

[Alice Feeney]

Just everything, everything you could do.

[Emily Henry]

So Jessica Chastain is producing the show and she was rather partial to something I'd never heard of before, which was a lollipop with bubble gum in the middle.

[Alice Feeney]

You don't have that?

[Emily Henry]

No, I've never heard of such a thing. That's what she called it. That's what it was. Because when she first said it, it sounded a little bit rude, if I'm honest. I didn't know what was going on. You know, if someone says they want one of those, I just think, crikey, I thought we're here to film a show. But no. And so she was explaining to me that that's what they are and it's a thing thing. And she, she loved these things. And I, I don't know what my face did. I think my face sometimes does things I don't know it's doing. And she understood that I wasn't that impressed with this particular lollipop. Lollipop with bubble gum in the middle. And she said, what? What's wrong with that? And I said, well, either it should either be a lollipop or it should be bubblegum. And I told her the story of the. The time I nearly divorced my husband, who I've been with for 20, 20 years because of a Yorkie bar. Do you have Yorkie bars here? No. No. See, this is the problem. You have all these different things and we have different things at home, but at home we have this thing called a Yorkie bar. Now when I was a child, the advert, the TV advert for it said, these are not for girls. Which again, when someone says, I can't do something, I can't, I wanted it. So I always wanted the Yorkie bar. But then they messed it up by having a special version which had raisins inside it, you know, And I think chocolate should be chocolate raisins. I've got no problem with them, but they should just be raisins. And I felt really sad that first day I met Jessica Chastain, that instead of having a deep and meaningful conversation with her, I spent most of it talking about raisins and chocolate and lollipops and bubblegum bits in the middle. But we got to know each other the next day on set a bit better, so it was all good.

[Alice Feeney]

I'm sure she'll remember that forever too. But I just have to ask then. Do you know what a Tootsie Pop is?

[Emily Henry]

Oh, my goodness. Again, I'm worried. It sounds so rude, doesn't it? I mean, what on earth could that be?

[Alice Feeney]

In my opinion, they're better than a Blow Pop. They have a Tootsie Roll, which is chewy chocolate in the middle, and then a lollipop on the outside.

[Emily Henry]

Right.

[Alice Feeney]

And they're so good.

[Emily Henry]

Okay, well, I'm gonna make it my mission to find one while I'm here.

[Alice Feeney]

I'm gonna have to. I'm gonna bring one to your event, and I'll sneak it to. If I see Claire, I'll sneak it to Claire so she can get amazing.

[Emily Henry]

That can be my thing to look forward to.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah, but you have to practice. Promise you're gonna try it.

[Emily Henry]

I will.

[Kale Lowry]

You don't have to try it today.

[Alice Feeney]

But you'll have to try it another, you know, whenever you're out of your event. But I would argue that a Tootsie Pop is better than a Blow Pop because the. The thing about the Blow Pops is that the gum gets really hard really fast.

[Emily Henry]

All these things I never knew.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah.

[Emily Henry]

Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

I'm worried that you've missed out a little bit.

[Emily Henry]

I think. I think I could have this very sheltered life I've had in Britain where we don't have these magical things that are here.

[Alice Feeney]

The T pop is good, though.

[Emily Henry]

Okay. I'm gonna it a whirl.

[Kale Lowry]

All right, let's talk about hair, because I want my hair to come. I just cut it all off, but I don't know what to do because I'm, like, in the process of trying to grow it healthier, but also I sort of like it short. Pros makes beauty personal with truly custom hair care and skin care formulas that wouldn't exist without you. Right. They couldn't. Each and every bottle is made to order based on an in depth consultation that covers everything from your Beauty goals to the weather and the water where you live. I just got online. I did their little survey, their questionnaire online and they have millions of possible formulas. I got the one tailored to me. I can post a picture on the killer Instagram story. So you guys know what my formula is. But the one that you get is only for you. It's uniquely yours. Pros only uses naturally powerful and proven effective ingredients, selecting from over 185 clean ingredients to target your specific concerns and goals. I want my hair to be strong and healthy. And if it's not, I want to keep it short so that I can, I can make it basically get it to where I want it to be before I grow it out, right? Because I think before I was growing my hair out and then it would snap off because it wasn't strong. So I just let them know in the little survey and I absolutely love taking the little quiz. Honestly, you guys can see your healthiest hair in just four weeks, backed by more than 500,000-star product reviews and a clinical study that proves personalization works better. So with the Pros promise, if you don't love your first order, it's on Pros. So there's never been a better time to switch to custom. And BROS is so confident that you'll love your results this year that they're offering an exclusive trial offer. 50 off your first hair care subscription order at prose.com famous that's P-R-O S E.com famous for your free consultation. And 50 off your custom routine. Pros.com famous how do you name your characters?

[Emily Henry]

Oh, well, it's always. It's always different. Some. Sometimes I just know their name. So with. With sometimes I lie. I remember waking up again between three and four, which I think is my magical witching hour. And I just knew three things I was. I had this story in my head that I woke up with and I thought, I've got to write it down straight away. I'm going to forget. And so I had this very cheap, strange little board from a shop called Woolworths that we used to have in the UK which mostly sold sweets. I'm obsessed with talking about sweets today, but I remember writing on it in my sort of half asleep, dazed state that the main character's name was Amber Reynolds. I just knew it for my dream. And there were three things I had to remember about her. That number one, she was in a coma. Number two, her husband didn't love her anymore. And number three, sometimes she lies. And that Became the book. I mean, that became the opening and it was the crux of the story. So I literally woke up with that name in my head for Grady Green. I think I just really, really like names with a smidgen of alliteration. So I've, you know, I've had a Priya Patel in his and hers. Or, yeah, Grady Green in. In this particular book. And I have a future book. So a book that won't be out next year, a book that will be out the year after. Two of the main characters in that are actually names of people who came to a book signing at a tiny little bookshop in Cornwall in England. You know, because I see all these names when I'm signing books for people in the queue after events, and sometimes people have these amazing, beautiful names that I've never heard of before. And I remember meeting this very sweet girl at this bookshop a few years ago when we were promoting Daisy Darker. And I just stopped what I was doing. And that's not a good idea when you've got a long queue of people waiting for signatures. I said, oh, my goodness, that's just the most amazing name I've ever heard. Would you mind if I used that in a book? Because she was a fan, she had all the books. I knew she would read it one day.

[Alice Feeney]

She's gonna freak out.

[Emily Henry]

And it's an unusual name, so it would be a huge coincidence if. If I'd chosen it any other way. And she said, I'd be so thrilled if you did that. And she left the queue and then she ran back. She said, by the way, just in case my sister's called and I won't say what it is, this other name. And my goodness, their parents were really on it. They were two fantastic names. And I said, I'm going to use them both one day. I don't know when, but I will. And I. I have. So in a couple of years time. That very sweet guy met in a cute few years years ago in line in a bookshop in Cornwall. We'll see her name in one of the books.

[Alice Feeney]

That is amazing.

[Emily Henry]

So, yes, people should come to the events because you might end up in a book. You never know. You never know.

[Alice Feeney]

That's incredible. And she. They're gonna love that. You just made their whole year. I'm sure when that book comes out, they're gonna be so excited.

[Emily Henry]

I mean, I'm not always nice about it. We renovated a very old thatched cottage a few years ago and we had an awful plumber. I really really did not like this man. He, you know, we, we turned on the, the new system for the first time, time and that the walls actually were crying. You know, there was water running out everywhere, floods everywhere. And he was such a, he was such a, he was not a good person. He was, he was not a goodie. So I murdered him in a book. And I felt so much better.

[Alice Feeney]

That's the best thing I ever heard.

[Emily Henry]

I felt so much better afterwards. Suddenly I, you know, he was all forgiven and I felt, I felt better again. And he'll say, karma, he'll never read it, so it's fine. So I get the names from.

[Alice Feeney]

He might have to read hearing this podcast.

[Emily Henry]

He might, he might. I get the names from all over the place. Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

I mean, I think that's funny. Do you get any inspiration from any other authors or have you ever.

[Emily Henry]

Oh, yes. I mean, too many to mention, probably. But as a child, I was a bit obsessed with Stephen King books. I was, I was good at school, academically, really bad at sport. Could not catch a ball. Still can't. You know, we do netball and someone throw ball just hit me, I couldn't catch it.

[Alice Feeney]

What is netball?

[Emily Henry]

Oh, my goodness. Goodness. All these things are different. No, you throw, you throw the ball and if you're not me, you catch it and then you. It's a bit like basketball. As in there's a net and you throw it. Yeah, there you go.

[Alice Feeney]

Is that only in the uk?

[Emily Henry]

I don't think so. I didn't, I didn't used to think so. But when you catch the ball, you have to stand still. But even that wasn't a problem for me because I could never catch it. So no good at sports. Really slow at running and I'm quite short. I find it really comical that my feet actually don't touch the ground here.

[Alice Feeney]

Oh, wow.

[Emily Henry]

Yeah. No, they really don't. I'm very, I'm really short, so I'm sitting. I feel like a child or like an Oompa Loompa. I'm from, from Willy Wonka Land. No, but, so, you know, they'll see things like the hurdles at school. I can't jump over things. For goodness sakes. Got little stumpy legs here. So, no, no good at sport, but good academically. So we'd have these prize givings at the end of the school year, year. Nothing for the sports side. But I, I could, I could write, I could do English and I could add things up in math. So I, I, I'd win at that. And I'd get like a. The. The prize you would get would be book tokens.

[Alice Feeney]

Okay.

[Emily Henry]

And then you could choose your. Your. Your book. And then you'd go up on stage, meet a local celebrity, shake their hands. You know, the head headmaster would read something out about. You'd get your book. All the other kids would go up on stage, collect a giant atlas or a special encyclopedia. Encyclopedia. I spend my vouchers on as many Stephen King paperbacks as I could.

[Alice Feeney]

Have you ever met him?

[Emily Henry]

No. I was so loved to meet him. I think he's like, I have so many heroes, but he's my number one hero. And I think I'm a writer because of him. I think me disappearing inside of his stories when I was a little girl is what made me fall in love with stories so much. So. No, I think I owe him so many things. But also his book on writing, that's my go to.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah.

[Emily Henry]

You know, if I'm having a badly behaved book, I. I have no idea how many times I have read the book. As in read the physical book, but also listen to the audiobook because he narrates it himself. So I feel like sometimes Stephen King is in my shed with me, guiding me. If I get stuck reminding me that I have written a few books before, and of course we can write another one, and this is how we do it. So there have been lots of authority authors, and there are authors around, you know, who every year, I'm so excited to read their books. Lisa Jewell is a big favorite of mine. We share an agent. So one. One of the best perks of my job now is that I get sent her books early every year. I'm, like, so excited for that. I mean, that's enough for me to want to carry on being an author forever. So I get to read her books early every year. So, no, I'm a huge fan of lots of authors, and I read a lot still.

[Alice Feeney]

Frida also told me that she, like, she was listening at the time of the interview, she was listening to a Steven King book. So that's funny that you guys both really like.

[Emily Henry]

Yes. And I. His. I listened to Holly quite recently as well.

[Alice Feeney]

Holly Jackson.

[Emily Henry]

He had a book called Holly Yes. Yeah. Which was fantastic. I think audiobooks these days have come on in such an incredible way. The Beautiful. The Beautiful Ugly audiobook has all these amazing sound effects.

[Alice Feeney]

I love that.

[Emily Henry]

That really bring the story to life. So there's a crackle of a walkie talkie, or there are the sounds of the waves.

[Alice Feeney]

Creepy music to everything. Yeah, it's really does. And the thing is, I sometimes, and I don't, I can't speak for all readers, but sometimes I'm in the car a lot. So I was telling you before we started podcasting it, you know, I, I drive to New York several times a month and so sometimes I'll start a book, like a physical copy or on my Kindle. And then I, you know, if I'm in the car for three hours, I'll listen to the same book. So I'll buy the physical book, but I'll also buy the audio.

[Emily Henry]

Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

And so when, sometimes when you do that and you hear the sound effects and everything, it is either exactly what you thought it, what you pictured for the physical book when you're reading it, or it'll change it a little bit. And so then you have like an even better idea because of the sound effects that are in an audiobook.

[Emily Henry]

It's really fun, isn't it? And I just think, again, anything that's getting people into reading and stories in whatever format is, yeah, it's fantastic. And Richard Armitage narrates this one. You know, I would forget listening to it, that it was, it was just him doing about 20 different voices. So we've got Richard Armitage and we've got Tuppence Middleton. But Richard, in all of his chapters, you'll hear about 10 different versions. Richard can be a 40 year old man, he can be an elderly woman from Scotland, he can be the East End pub landlord. And I was like, how is he doing? He sounds like he's having such fun in it. So it was a real joy to listen to and I think readers are going to enjoy that version too.

[Alice Feeney]

Good. I did try to get it before. I didn't try to get it. I went to go download it, but it wasn't out yet because I forgot that today is publication day.

[Emily Henry]

Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

So I was like, okay.

[Emily Henry]

But reading it, just reading it, I think is also, I. I mean, that's my favorite way, reading about. Because then you get your own version, don't you?

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah.

[Emily Henry]

You picture it all in, in your own head.

[Alice Feeney]

Yes.

[Emily Henry]

How it's going to look and who they are and what they sound like.

[Alice Feeney]

And because I was telling you earlier, my son and I watched A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, which is ya. It was like right up his alley. But he was, I didn't read it. I had only seen the show and he was telling me, oh, that, you know, that wasn't the way that I pictured it in my head or you know, something like that. And so I think audio is a little bit different because you can still picture it in your head the way you want, but it's still like a fun, fun way to. To do it. Rapid fire, really quick. Is that. Would that be fine?

[Emily Henry]

Oh, yes.

[Alice Feeney]

Okay.

[Emily Henry]

I don't know what that is, but let's do it.

[Alice Feeney]

But what is the best piece of advice that you received as a writer? I think you can do better from that lady.

[Emily Henry]

Yeah, I think it probably. Probably was. I mean, when people ask me, you know, what should I do if I want to become a writer? I always say, read a lot, write a lot, and never give up, because if you don't give up, you can't fail. And I think that's probably, you know, what I was telling myself at the time during. During those almost 10 years of keep writing books and keep collecting the rejection letters. So, yeah, I think the best piece of advice I did get was you can do better.

[Alice Feeney]

I love that. Coffee or tea while writing?

[Emily Henry]

Neither.

[Alice Feeney]

Neither.

[Emily Henry]

I don't drink hot drinks.

[Alice Feeney]

Oh, okay.

[Emily Henry]

I don't know.

[Alice Feeney]

Iced coffee and iced tea. Oh, neither. Okay.

[Emily Henry]

No. I don't know why. I think I'm a bit of a child in that way too. Something fizzy.

[Alice Feeney]

Oh, same.

[Emily Henry]

Yeah.

[Alice Feeney]

I do love a good Coke. What's the Coke like in England?

[Emily Henry]

Okay. I think it will taste the same, doesn't it? There's different.

[Alice Feeney]

Absolutely not.

[Emily Henry]

Oh, no. Okay.

[Alice Feeney]

The best Coke you can ever get on the planet is in Disney World in Florida.

[Emily Henry]

Oh.

[Alice Feeney]

And then I would say second TO that is McDonald's Coke.

[Emily Henry]

I did not know this.

[Alice Feeney]

In America.

[Emily Henry]

I did not know this.

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah, I think they do add a little bit extra syrup. I don't know that for sure. Don't sue me. But I would guess that they add a little razzle dazzle to it.

[Emily Henry]

I like a lemonade. Ooh.

[Alice Feeney]

Okay.

[Kale Lowry]

I love. With pulp or without pulp?

[Emily Henry]

With either, actually. I like both, but maybe without.

[Alice Feeney]

I love.

[Emily Henry]

And a straw. I like a straw.

[Alice Feeney]

Okay. But no, I don't like a straw with soda because I feel like the paper straws specifically, that are better for the environment, they take the fizz out of the drink.

[Emily Henry]

Yes. And then they go a bit soggy, don't they?

[Alice Feeney]

Yeah.

[Emily Henry]

You know, because you got to drink it quickly. Got to just get on with that. Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

What is one thing that you cannot right. Without?

[Emily Henry]

My dog. Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

Which is also. There's a dog in Beautiful Ugly. There's also a dog in Rock Paper Scissors. I don't remember a dog. And Sometimes I lie.

[Emily Henry]

No, I don't think I. I don't think I was doing the dog thing at that stage. There's always a dog now because I spend all day with my dog and so he's sitting on my feet and I really wanted to call our. Our dog now is. Is 2 years old, so he's still a bit of a big puppy. And he's called Boots Columbo. No, but it's funny because in my next book, I called the dog in my next book what I really wanted to call Boots. So in the next book. There you go. There's a bit of a hint of the book that's to come. There's a. There's a dog in the next book called Sunday. And I. I really wanted to call my dog Sunday, but my husband pointed out that we might be up in the woods or up a mountain one day going Sunday, Sunday. And someone would think, what weirdos. It's Friday. So I wasn't allowed to called Boots Sunday. So I caught a dog in a book Sunday instead.

[Alice Feeney]

I actually know some. Someone who named their child Sunday.

[Emily Henry]

I think it's a lovely name. I think Sunday is my favorite day of the week. I think Sunday's a great day, so. And dogs are great.

[Alice Feeney]

Chill day. Okay. And where is your favorite place to write?

[Emily Henry]

Scotland.

[Alice Feeney]

Scotland.

[Emily Henry]

Or the shed.

[Alice Feeney]

Or the. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Which there. Is it a shed here? Yeah. Not a shed, but there's. He's always writing a cabin. And same for Henry Winter in Rock, Paper, Scissors.

[Emily Henry]

Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

Right.

[Emily Henry]

Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

He likes the.

[Emily Henry]

Yes, I think I definitely. Whenever I write about writers, I guess they do tend to have more in common with me in that way. I know that some writers like to write in cafes, and I think they are an alien species to me. I. Yeah, I need quiet and. Yeah, the shed. Somewhere remote. Somewhere in the corner of Scotland with no phone signal. Perfect. My idea of heaven.

[Alice Feeney]

My worst nightmare.

[Emily Henry]

Yeah. Yeah. We. We'd have to meet somewhere in the middle, wouldn't we? Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

And so where can people get beautiful, ugly or any of your books?

[Emily Henry]

I think beautiful ugly is everywhere today. It seems to be everywhere. I keep, you know, I keep opening up Instagram. I see more and more beautiful pictures taken by readers, which makes me honestly so giddy with joy, actually, to see people reading it and enjoying it. So I think it's out everywhere that you can buy books to today. Sold out temporarily, I think, because so many people have ordered it from Amazon. But it'll be back in stock soon, I'm sure. So. No, I'M I'm just so grateful to everyone who's been talking about the book, spreading the news about the book, and it's finally out. Hooray. Hooray.

[Alice Feeney]

Congratulations.

[Emily Henry]

Thank you so much.

[Alice Feeney]

And where can people find you on social media?

[Emily Henry]

Oh, Instagram is the best one for me. That's my happy place. I always try and see all the pictures that I'm tagged in and I really love seeing them. And people, people go to such incredible lengths to take beautiful pictures of the book.

[Alice Feeney]

And they do.

[Emily Henry]

It's.

[Alice Feeney]

I saw the collage you posted of all the. I think that you posted it.

[Emily Henry]

Yes.

[Alice Feeney]

It was a collage of every single one that you probably have had seen. Or maybe they didn't fit all in there, but I was like, wow, that's incredible.

[Emily Henry]

Yes. I just, I really love seeing them. So if I see ones that I love, I save them onto my phone. I thought, I want to celebrate this and I, I want my readers to know that I am looking at this stuff and I really appreciate it. So, no, I think, you know, writers are nothing without readers and I, I have the best one. So I'm so grateful.

[Alice Feeney]

Well, thank you. And I will see you at your event later tonight at Barnes and Noble.

[Emily Henry]

Thank you so much for talking to me and I can't wait to see you again later. It's been so much fun. Yes. Thank you.

[E]

The single I'm Caitlin Bristowe, host of off the vine podcast, where I get real, well, maybe a little too real sometimes with my friends and celeb guests from Bachelor franchise and beyond. I'm talking guests like Jonathan Van Ness.

[Emily Henry]

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[E]

Nikki Glaser, Wells Adams, Elise Myers.

[Emily Henry]

Just like in this, like, business jacket.

[Alice Feeney]

Like, I would love some tacos.

[E]

Heidi D'Amelio, Big Brother's Taylor Hale. I have to bring it up because it happened and we're going to get through it. What I do and so many more. So come hang out with us, hear ridiculous confessions and get a little vulnerable. Because you know what? We're all just floating on this weird little planet together. Follow rate and review off the Vine Podcast Wherever you listen to your podcasts.

[Emily Henry]

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[Alice Feeney]

They've got something for everyone and it's totally free.

[Emily Henry]

You can binge laugh out loud sitcoms.

[Alice Feeney]

Like Frasier and rewatch cult classics like.

[Emily Henry]

Higher Learning, whether you're in the mood to solve a little crime before bedtime with NCIS or Tracker or curl up with a surefire hit like Forrest Gump. Run, Forrest. Pluto TV has thousands of movies and shows, all for free. Pluto TV stream now pay Never.