What Sarah Adams Taught Me

Last week I dragged my book bestie up to Franklin, Indiana to see Sarah Adams and Chloe Liese in conversation about Sarah’s newest book, Beg, Borrow, or Steal.

I love this series — set in small town Rome, Kentucky, all the characters are quirky and fun, the emotions tug all the heartstrings, and the couples all grow together in the most beautiful ways. I’m probably biased because I’m a Kentucky girl myself, but it’s so nice to see my state represented as a lovely, fun, nice place to live (which it is) and not as a backwater full of toothless rednecks (which it can be.)

But while it was great to be in a room full of romance fans, all hanging on Sarah’s every word about her newest book, I was especially inspired by some of the comments she made about the writing process. Here are three things she said that I found so profound:

• Her least favorite part of the writing process is drafting. When you’re editing, you’re polishing up the things you’ve already written, making sure everything flows and focusing on how to make your prose as strong as possible. When you’re drafting, sometimes you don’t even know where your own story is going; every word on the page is slow, painful progress forward. I’ve been nervous about editing my work (what if it’s all terrible?!) but this gives me some hope that maybe, once the draft is written, the rest will fall into place relatively easily.
• Books aren’t meant to be written alone. I loved this bit of advice — surround yourself with smart editors and writing friends and beta readers, all of whom will give valuable feedback to make your book even stronger. This was really important to me, as I struggle sometimes with asking for help, or feel like a fraud when I’m talking through the plot points of my book with a friend (shouldn’t I already know what comes next?!) Hearing a writer I admire say with pride that she does the same thing was huge.
• It’s hardest to write characters that are least like yourself. This was such a relief to hear! It’s really important to me that each character has their own unique voice and perspective on life, especially when writing a series; however, there are some characters whose words fall straight out of their mouth onto the page, and there are some who drive me nuts. Sarah’s advice for dealing with this was twofold: find people in your life who are like that character and ask them to explain their perspective, and find things about the character that you do have in common with them so you can relate to them as you write.

Knowing that even one of my favorite authors struggles with some of the same things I do, and hearing her tricks for working through the hard parts of writing — it was such a lovely experience, and one I definitely want to repeat. Here’s to more author signings in 2025!