Readers, let me tell you something: I was over the moon when Maya Rodale agreed to let me interview her for my course, “I’ll Have What She’s Having: The Legacy of the Romantic Comedy,” and for the Bruja Professor. I love teaching her book, Lady Claire is All That, part of her Keeping Up with the Cavendishes series. In case you didn’t get the hint from the title, the book is based on the teen classic rom-com She’s All That. It’s a delightful historical romp that introduces students to romance novels, fan fiction and adaptations, and the joys of historical romance. Maya was kind enough to chat with me about this book, romance, and the yucks and yums of the rom-com genre. SWOON!
1. In my classes, we talk about the yucks and the yums of various genres. What do you love or think is yummy about romantic comedies?
I love that romantic comedies put me in an emotional space of love, laughter and optimism. I love that they are unabashedly and unapologetically about having a good-hearted good time.
2. What parts of the genre feel yucky to you? Anything you would change about them?
We can look back at Rom Coms from earlier times and be squeamish or even horrified by what we thought was romantic, or the dynamics between people or whatever. I think of the movie Knocked Up, which I really enjoyed at the time but now I have questions....
On a personal note, while I love grand romantic gestures in rom-coms, I would be horrified if that happened to me IRL.
3. I have to ask: What’s your favorite romantic comedy? Why?
My favorite romantic comedy is my favorite movie—Roman Holiday. I love it because you can really see the heroine’s journey of self-discovery happening through the romance. I love her rebellion against what is expected of her. I love her joy and pleasure she finds all day. I love that her hero is thrilled to be there, holding her hand. The whole story is kind, it’s funny, it’s magical and you can feel it. Book #2 in the Keeping Up with the Cavendishes series, Chasing Lady Amelia, is based on it.
4. What inspired you to write a retelling of She’s All That set in Regency England? What is it about that movie that captured your imagination?
Confession: I don’t think I had seen the movie before I decided to write a Regency version of it! Of course I was familiar with it, being a teen in the 90s, but for whatever reason, I had yet to see it. But watching it is the best kind of “work” and “research” that I do. The entire Keeping Up With the Cavendishes series is based on rom-coms and your next question will allow me to answer why I picked this movie...
5. Tell us a little more about the inspiration behind Lady Claire is All That. What romcom tropes and themes did you want to play with? How did the Regency setting change the original high school-set story?
First, I think the Regency is so very high school!
I knew I wanted to write a very smart heroine based on Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer. Readers were asking for her ever since my novel, The Wicked Wallflower, which drew a lot of inspiration from the work of Charles Babbage and the computer he invented.
I also knew I wanted to write a “dumb” hero. So many romance heroes are the tallest, the smartest, the richest, the hottest, etc. and I was a little bored of writing that. I wanted the challenge of writing a hero who wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but who still had a lot to offer.
And I had major feminist angst about the whole “makeover” plot and “make her popular” plot that I wanted to play with.
She’s All That provided the perfect framework to play with all those ideas.
6. I talk with my students about how many romance authors were inspired to become writers, in part, because of the 80s/90s/00s romantic comedies they grew up watching. Was that the case for you?
Sure! I LOVE those movies and then they stopped making them, so I turned to romance novels instead. And when I read those faster than they could be published, I had to start writing my own ☺
7. I also discuss with students how fanfic has really changed the way we think of stories, AND YET, in many ways, most writers are writing fanfic, trying to capture the essence of stories they love. Is that the case for you?
Absolutely. I used to play guitar, and I would try writing songs that sounded like an artist I loved and...my songs always came out wildly different. But it was a wonderful creative exercise. What do I like about it? What emotional notes are being hit, and in what order? What are the ingredients here?
FanFic is the same, I think. The fourth book in the Keeping Up With the Cavendishes series, It’s Hard Out Here For a Duke, is essentially fanfic to the Meredith and Derek relationship on in season 1 and 2 of Grey’s Anatomy. I actually used the name Meredith Green as a placeholder in Book #1 and it went to press before I could change it so...I was stuck with it!
8. As you already know, there are A LOT of stigmas associated with the romance genre in genre, and the romantic comedy specifically. Why do you think that is?
Well, I wrote a whole book about this. ☺
Short answer: I think culturally we have anxiety about women and other marginalized groups unapologetically experiencing love, pleasure and empowerment—and then being rewarded with a happy ever after. Romance novels and romantic comedies are all about that, unapologetically so.
9. What do you think romantic comedies can teach people about life, love, and relationships (you can discuss both the good and bad here)?
A really good romantic comedy shows how the love inspires or agitates someone to really blossom and become their truest version of themselves. I love that.
I could write A LOT here about how they teach us a script and a language for courtship, romance and love. Or what to look for in a partner. How a partner should treat someone they love. How we get to vicariously experience emotional highs and lows and practice feeling emotionally vulnerable. How we can overvalue grand gestures.
Most of all, I think they remind us that love and life can be fun and funny and full of heart and emotion and we can take pleasure in that. That is no small thing.
10. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
What a great list of questions, thank you!
11. Where can people find you to learn more about your work?
The best place to find me is www.mayarodale.com. I’m also on Threads and Instagram as @mayarodale and on Substack.
My most “rom com” romance novels are: Lady Claire is All That, Lady Bridget’s Diary, The Wicked Wallflower, Seducing Mr. Knightly and the contemporary When Jane Met Duke. And in Dangerous Books For Girls: The Bad Reputation of Romance Novels, Explained I talk about why it all matters.
Guest Contributor Bio
Maya Rodale is the best-selling and award-winning author of funny, feminist fiction including historical romance, YA and historical fiction. Reviewers and readers have noted her “signature wit and banter” (Entertainment Weekly) and declared her novels to be “endlessly entertaining” (Booklist), “funny, heartfelt and lovingly crafted” (Library Journal), “certain to delight” (Publisher’s Weekly), “energetic and bold” (Kirkus), and “absolutely a ton of fun to read” (Smart Bitches, Trashy Books).
A champion of the romance genre and its readers, she is also the author of Dangerous Books For Girls: The Bad Reputation of Romance Novels, Explained. Maya has reviewed romance for NPR Books and has appeared in Bustle, Glamour, Shondaland, Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post and PBS. She began reading romance novels in college at her mother’s insistence and has never been allowed to forget it.
Images of Lady Claire Is All That book cover and She’s All That movie poster.
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