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Author bio: Originally from Scotland, but raised largely in South Dakota, Olivia Vaughn is an author of queer contemporary romances who joined the Stars program at age 15 and is a current Wattpad Creator. A second-year student of the UT public school system, she spends her time focusing on her double Business major and Spanish minor, hosting her own radio show, and managing live concert events in Deep Ellum. (And losing any and all boardgames.)
Story title: Boys of West Denton Logline: Initially looking for nothing more than a feelings-free summer fling before college, reckless Harris McCammon and anxious Seb Krause might have stumbled into more than they bargained for.
Premise/Blurb: When a graduation party takes a risky turn, Harrison McCammon finds himself in the passenger seat of Sebastian Krause's truck. When the two virtual strangers agree to begin a friends with benefits kind of situation, neither expect anything more than maybe a fun situationship before they leave for college. But as their casual entanglement turns into something slightly more, the two of them are forced to push down their real thoughts on this non-relationship. Add in sketchy ex-boyfriends, concerned parents, and a small dash of existential dread, there's no such thing as no strings attached.
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What inspired you to write this book?
"Boys of West Denton" kind of just popped up in my head, a weird Frankenstein amalgamation of ideas I never would have written about otherwise. When I have a book idea like that, it usually starts with one single idea that I think is cute. Then I do this whole little magpie thing where I go "Well, I love this and this and this and this idea. Let's mash them all together." BOWD, specifically, came to me last year, when I was having some undiagnosable health complications that appeared right as I started watching "House M.D." for the first time (UNWISE DECISION), and I saw the movie "Kings of Summer." Suddenly, I couldn't stop thinking about these two friends---barely 18, just graduated high school, just like me---who spend their summers running around a green forest, jumping into off ledges into lakes together, and trying to avoid their feelings for one another. I was in a weird situationship at the time, so add a dash of that and my weird medical mishaps, and it was all just there.
What was the inspiration behind the main character and their love interest?
Characters typically pop up into my head fully-formed, I don't know why. Whenever I meet someone new in real life, I try to figure out who I already know that they remind me of. It's the same when these book characters come up out of nowhere. I take these little tidbits of people that I've seen from afar and tucked away over the years, and they all just kind of come up out of the blue again, folded into these characters. Harris, one of the MCs, has my dorky bouncy social butterfly-ness, and he also deals with some of the same SA issues I've been facing since high school. Seb, the other MC/RI, shares my unhealthy academic drive and socially anxious tendencies, as well as contends with home life issues that I've faced. My characters usually relate to my real life struggles, but because they're half me, half a compilation of seemingly every person I've ever met, they react to them in slightly different ways. Oh---and for names, I just think of what kind of parents raised them, and what those people would have thought was cute. (Always think of what kind of parents they were raised by. Makes life easier.)
Do you have any favorite romance authors on, or off, Wattpad that inspired you to write romance stories? Feel free to name up to three people and some of their favorite books!
When I was 12, I (a mega fantasy reader kid) (we're talking Eragon fanart here) read "Fangirl" by Rainbow Rowell. That got me really hooked to contemporary romance, particularly for the YA demographic, and I've felt seen by so many queer romance writers over the year. I think out of a lot of my favs, thinking about Cameron Lund's books gets me excited to write. On Wattpad, I look to @writing00introvert --- if she proposed to me, she knows I'd say yes. Philline's writing is spectacular; I yearn to yearn like she yearns, and I would live for just five minutes of seeing the world through her eyes.
What were some of the most challenging elements you came across while writing the story? How did you overcome them?
Not gonna lie, I HATED this story at first. I understood who Harris was, but I didn't understand why he does what he does at first. That works though, because he doesn't either. Same with Seb. I knew who they were, but I wasn't relating to them enough to feel like I could tell their stories, or speak in their voices. This is why I changed a lot of my initial plot ideas to include dealing with my own personal struggles---because I know how someone reacts to those. I also chose to see this story as "not important," and wanted to treat it as more of a challenge of writing more atmospherically and uncovering my voice. It's not perfect, but it was a big step forward, which I'm pleased with.
Is there a chapter or scene that you didn't make the final cut? If so, describe those here and share with us why they weren't kept.
Actually, I had to think of more scenes to include! A lot of Seb and Harris' story feels private to them, honestly, and I didn't want to feel I was exploiting two barely legal teens as they discovered more about having an *intimate* adult relationship. BOWD sits at just under 69K (about 310 pages, if it were a paperback), and I wish it was just a smidgen longer. All we're missing here is just a lot of quality time and stupid jokes! All fluff, no plot. Just silent yearning and teens being stupid.
What is the key message you hope your readers will take away from your story?
It's okay to be vulnerable. You have people in your life who love you, who want you to open up to them so that they can be there for you. It's not silly to want to cultivate those relationships, it's healthy.
Do you have any advice you can share with aspiring writers of romance?
Read! Read as much as you can. Try different tropes, different genres, everything. Read outside of romance too---or try to find different non-romantic character relationships/dynamics you like. Also, don't be afraid to try emulating your favourite authors, or at least the ones who stand out to you. Experiment. Mess around. Look to others to see who you want to be. Personally, I'm a messy person, and a messy writer. Creativity can be messy. You get to make mistakes. Don't shy away from opportunities to learn about yourself. You deserve to create, you deserve to grow, and you deserve to have fun.
If you had to choose your favorite romance trope, what would it be and why?
Academic rivals to lovers! Enemies to lovers can be a bit questionable for me at times (I am a girlie who holds grudges), and sometimes, friends to lovers (my second fav) just doesn't have enough realistic tension. With academic rivals, you have this mutual respect for this other person, as well as a burning desire to crush them no matter what. It's so obsessive. Like, please, stop, I love it, more. Bonus points if they share notes or help each other out on an assignment.
