EXETER — Local author Rebekah Weatherspoon has made her debut in the teen romance genre with “Her Good Side”, a novel the New York Times named one of the “Best Romance Books of the Year.”
Weatherspoon hopes her new novel will give young readers a “fun,” “hopeful,” “joyful,” and “humorous” experience.
The 296-page book tells a story about two teenagers, Bethany and Jacob, who are a little unlucky when it comes to the love department. Bethany is popular and athletic but not so good with the boys. Jacob, on the other hand, is a shy photography nerd. When Jacob’s “glow-up” over the summer makes him the center of every girl’s attention, he isn’t prepared for it.
“So, the two of them kind of hatch a fake dating scheme to help each other figure out the ins and outs of relationship,” said Weatherspoon. “What happens when there’s a fake dating scheme? They fall for each other.”
Weatherspoon, who graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 2001, recently returned to Exeter to publicize the book at Water Street Book Store.
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Weatherspoon on writing romance: ‘I just love the idea of love’
Weatherspoon is no stranger to the world of publishing. Her first novel “Better Off Red” was published in 2011 and was the first part of her Vampire Sorority Sisters trilogy. Some of her other novels include “At Her Feet,” “Soul to Keep” and “Xeni.”
“Her Good Side” is Weatherspoon’s 29th novel but the first in the teen romance genre – others have been adult romance.
She said she fell into writing “by accident,” persuaded by her friends.
“Some people have this vision that they’ve always wanted to be a writer,” she said. “I was always journaling, but I didn’t set out to be a writer. I thought I was going to be a lawyer. At one point, I thought I was going to be a teacher.”
Weatherspoon attended the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to major in European literature before moving to Los Angeles in 2006.
“I think there’s some beauty in not knowing what you’re doing,” she said, referring to writing her first manuscript. “I think I kinda just went for it, and it stuck, you know, luckily.”
Weatherspoon has won a number of awards for her writing, including the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Erotica in 2017. She balances her life between the East and West coasts – visiting the former during the fall and escaping to the latter in the winter.
Weatherspoon’s work often combines romance and erotica and highlights Black women as protagonists, many of whom are LGBTQ and/or plus-size. But one thing remains similar – they’re all in the romance genre. She calls writing them “her happy place.”
“I think I’ve just love the idea of love,” she said. “I think I’ve always been someone who’s just been really into romance media since I was a little kid. My mom always used to show us romantic foreign films like the BBC dramatic miniseries that are very romance-heavy. I just always love love stories, so it seems kind of almost like a no-brainer (when it comes to writing).”
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Why Weatherspoon wanted to write a teen rom-com
Weatherspoon said she had always wanted to write for teens. So, she put her headphones on, tuned to Beyonce’s “Renaissance” album and some Rihanna music and started writing.
“Growing up, the teen media that I was consuming was really important to me… I wanted to be able to contribute to that,” she said. “I just focused a lot on what I was like when I was that age and the kind of books I would want to read.”
After 29 romance novels, Weatherspoon isn’t running out of any ideas just yet. She’s also working on two novels at the moment and hoping to venture into the realms of horror and thriller.
For “Her Good Side,” Weatherspoon said she “tapped into what the younger version of myself needed and wanted,” researching the lives of teenagers in the present day and putting a spotlight on the different struggles of the generation.
“I hope the first thing people take away from it is just being entertained,” she said. “…with this being a rom-com, I just want those expectations met so that they feel like they got a sweet teen rom-com, and they felt the genuine friendship and love between these characters growing, then the story ends with them in a good place.”
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‘Her Good Side’ a hit at Water Street Bookstore
Within days of Weatherspoon’s book signing event, Water Street Bookstore at 125 Water Street had sold dozens of copies of “Her Good Side.” Owner Dan Chartrand said it is important to the community of book readers and booksellers to highlight Exeter-raised authors.
“My favorite thing about owning this bookstore is that there are so many great authors that have come out of Exeter over the years, and Rebekah (Weatherspoon) is definitely one of those,” he said. “We take a lot of pride in the folks that succeed as writers on a national level.”