INSIDE VOICES

INSIDE VOICES

Robert Gwaltney & Jeffrey Dale Lofton introduce Andie Burke and Lindsay Hameroff

Andie Burke writes romantic comedies in between her pediatric RN shifts. She lives in Maryland with an alarming number of books, ultra-fine point pens, dehydrated houseplants, and two small humans. Her debut Fly with Me was listed as one of POPSUGAR’s Best Romance Books of 2023 and AUTOSTRADDLE’s Best Queer Books of the Year. Her latest book is Fall for Him and came out in Fall of last year. Andie has another book coming out this fall With Stars in Her Eyes.

Lindsay Hameroff is the author of Till There Was You, Never Planned on You, and other love stories that make you laugh and swoon in equal measure. Her books have been listed as most anticipated by The Nerd Daily, Zibby Magazine, and other outlets, and her debut novel was selected as one of New York Public Library's "Best New Romance Books." A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she now lives in Harrisburg, PA with her husband and two kids. If she's not writing, reading, or cleaning up cat hair, she's probably at the grocery store. 

Inside Voices/Jeffrey: How did you find your way to writing?

Andie: Storytelling has been a compulsion since I learned how to hold a pencil. I traipsed around the woods on my own (it was the 90s) while creating fictional worlds in my head. I figured out who I was as a confused teenager through being a voracious reader and finding characters whose struggles mirrored my own. As I headed into adulthood, I wasn’t quite sure how writing would fit into my life. Although I was an English literature major in college, I pivoted into nursing for graduate school. I kept writing in a variety of ways, but about ten years ago I started seriously writing adult fiction in a variety of genres and trying to figure out how to pursue it as a career. 

Lindsay: I’ve wanted to write books since childhood, but I had no idea how to break into it. I didn’t know anyone who was an author, and the dream of seeing my name in a bookstore seemed as far-fetched as becoming a movie star. But things changed during the pandemic. I had spent a decade teaching middle school English and was on maternity leave when the world shut down. Suddenly, I was home all day with two young kids and a lost sense of identity. I desperately needed something for myself and so, I revisited my first love: writing. I started drafting short humor for publications like McSweeneys, and those outlets wanted me to have a Twitter account. 2021 was an ideal time to be on Twitter because everyone was at home and hanging out online. It served as an unofficial mentorship program, where other writers coached me on how to query an agent and build my resume. When a literary agent reached out and asked if I had interest in writing a book (only the dream of my life!), I enrolled in an online novel writing workshop, where I completed my first draft of my debut novel. I sent it out six months later and have been writing ever since.

Inside Voices/Robert: Why do you write what you write?

Andie: As a reader, I always gravitated toward stories with a compelling romantic subplot. I grew up reading a lot of fantasy and mysteries, and if my parents suggested a book series to me, I would always ask if there was romance in it first. I got into reading the romance genre as an adult. I love that romance is one of the only genres that makes its readers a promise. It’s a fun challenge to find new and creative ways to help my characters reach their happily ever after. I’ve written in many genres, and no matter what kind of book I’m working on, I hope my characters help readers feel seen. 

Lindsay: I took a few classes with The Second City when I was predominantly writing humor, and an instructor imparted the writing advice I live by: write the thing you want to read. I love rom-coms and stories that are swoony, but I also want to laugh out loud. I want to fall head over heels for a fictional man, and I want a protagonist I’d befriend in real life. Most of all, I want to have fun and be smiling when I read. I also love pop culture and millennial humor, because one can never have too many jokes about these topics. So, I strive to write books that are all those things.

Inside Voices/Jeffrey: Andie, how does your medical career and writing career intersect? How does it show up in your writing?

Andie: I’ve spent over a decade working in pediatric nursing. I’ve witnessed both ecstatic and tragic pivot points in people’s lives—the kind of moments where people will forever look back and divide their life into a before and an after. I’ve seen grief and excitement and joy and anger and fear. These experiences helped me develop emotional depth in my writing. Nurses learn a lot about humanity in the hours we spend in our scrubs. And I find that my time at work affects my life outside it as well. I process what I’ve seen and felt by making up my own stories and working through my own big feelings about it while helping my characters do the same. 

Inside Voices/Robert: So, these are your second books. How was the experience of these different from your debut experience?

Andie: Hoo boy. I wish I could say I felt more confident and knowledgeable the second go-round. In reality, I feel like publishing continues to be an enigmatic, many-headed monster. I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing at any given moment. I’m lucky to have an incredibly supportive publisher, editor, and agent who help guide me through the process when I feel like I’m on the verge of being gobbled up by anxiety. 

Lindsay: So much of my debut experience consisted of learning about publishing. I had no idea what to expect or how the business worked. Every time my agent would email me, I’d say, “This sounds great! Also, what does this mean?” To my chagrin, there’s no onboarding package, so there was a huge learning curve.

By the time I was drafting my second book, I knew the ropes a bit, but I was also juggling editing and promoting my first book. Everything seemed to move faster the second time around. It felt like an endless wait for my first book to get published, and then the second completely snuck up on me.

In terms of craft, the biggest difference in writing my second book was that I trusted myself more. With my first, I was constantly seeking feedback from anyone willing to read my pages and then second-guessing all my choices. With my sophomore novel, I was selective with beta readers and followed my own instincts.

Inside Voices/Jeffrey: Both of your second books have characters that appeared in your first books. How did you expand upon their smaller role in your first books to flesh them out to have their own stories?

Andie: My second book was easier to write because Derek, one of the main characters in Fall for Him, has been a real person to me for a couple books now. So much of my writing process feels more like transcribing an extended hallucination rather than an intentional plot development process. I knew I wanted Derek to have a happily ever after, and then I just wrote down the story as I saw it play out in my imagination. I’m realizing this is probably a terribly unsatisfying answer. I have no idea where the story comes from. I knew Derek was a bit of a control freak, so obviously he needed to be bombarded with as much chaotic hilarity as I could fit between the covers. (Pun intended) 

Lindsay: The main character in my second book was a side character in my first. When it came time to pitch book two, I had this kooky idea about a wedding planner who shared a matching tattoo with the groom. My editor said, I like this idea, but can the main character be Ali, the best friend from your first book? Ali was a chef, not a wedding planner, so I had to do some brainstorming to figure out how to make that work. But once I did, the rest of the story flowed.

In some ways, it was easier to write a character I already knew. To expand on her, I asked myself questions about her origin. Ali is really funny–in my first book, she provides comic relief in nearly every scene. But as the main character in her own story, she needed more depth. So, I found myself wondering, what self-doubts and fears is she masking with that trademark humor? What kind of relationship does she have with her family? What drives her decision-making? And most importantly, what was keeping her from finding love in the first book? In a way, it was like solving a mystery by working backwards and that was a lot of fun. 

Inside Voices/Robert: How do you keep the experience of writing, especially with a deadline, a fun process?

Andie: I always try to find ways to lose myself in the story. If I slow down or get stuck, I follow the authorial dopamine to a chapter or scene that will energize me. I don’t always write perfectly chronologically. I don’t sit down at my laptop every day. I do a lot of “writing” in my head on the days I’m not putting words on a page. When I can, I give myself a few days in a row to binge-write. During times like this, I end up getting proof-of-life check-in texts from family members. Nothing’s more fun for me than getting to completely immerse myself in the drafting process without tons of distractions. It propels my momentum forward in the best way.  

Lindsay: Writing on a deadline is hard! I try to keep myself organized with a daily word count. Sometimes it’s helpful, but other times, it just makes the whole thing feel like a chore. I’ll find myself checking my word count constantly to see if I’m “finished” yet, the same way I check my watch during a workout class.

To stay energized, I’ll write off-topic. If there’s a scene I’m excited about but comes later in the book, I’ll spend 30 minutes writing it. I may have to rewrite it later or scrap it all together, but at least the muscle gets stretched in a fun way. I’ll also pull writing prompts off the internet and write from those, just for fun. I also find that my mood plays a huge role in whether the writing feels enjoyable. Sometimes I’ll go watch an episode of a sitcom that makes me laugh because I find the words come easier when I’m happy.  

Inside Voices/Jeffrey: Why do women like men written by women?

Andie: I was raised Southern Baptist, and when I was a little girl, I was taught that I was responsible for the thoughts and behavior of the men around me. My greatest imperative was to find a good Christian man to marry. My greatest danger was for a bad man to take my purity before marriage. Ugh, I know. This might be an odd way to start this answer, but I think it speaks to the underlying tension in the way young girls are socialized with regards to men. Men are simultaneously saviors and threats. As we grow into womanhood, too many of us encounter Wickhams or Willoughbys masquerading as—or even perhaps believing themselves to be—our heroes. (Please forgive the Austen reference). We don’t need saviors. We certainly don’t need threats. Usually, we don’t even need heroes, exactly. A good man written by women often feels safest because in the end, they simply are who they seem to be.

Lindsay: Men written by women, especially in a novel that has dual POV, offers female readers something they’ve always wanted: the ability to know what men are thinking. It also grants readers access to the depth of a man’s feelings, his insecurities, and his vulnerabilities. A man written by a woman is an open book and that makes him so much more endearing. 

It’s grim to say this, but men written by women are also safe. The hard truth is that in real life, women need to be on constant alert around men. But a fictional man is not going to hurt you. I think morally gray men are popular in romance because women want a pathway to exploring fantasies without risking real danger. 

Plus, fictional men spend a lot less time on the toilet.  

Inside Voices/Robert: Lindsay, I heard you say something about Romance not getting its due. Would you both comment on Romance stories’ place in the literary pantheon?

Lindsay: I don’t think it’s any secret that romance is viewed as an “unserious” genre. It’s not a widely respected form of literature, which is laughable because it is the most popular and highest selling genre in the industry. Rebecca Yarros’ books have sold 55 million copies worldwide, and yet a recent article described her writing as “dragon smut.” The lack of respect for successful romance writers is wild.

I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that the primary producer and consumer of romance is women. Unfortunately, it seems that anything that is primarily for and by women is not taken seriously. 

Inside Voices/Robert: What’s next for you?

Andie: My third book With Stars in Her Eyes comes out September 16 of this year. It’s a sapphic romance set in a quirk indie bookstore wherein an incognito rockstar meets an astrophotographer. It’s set in the same world as my first two, but all three books can be read as standalones. I’ll be doing some fun events at bookstores for that book release. Can’t wait! 

Lindsay: My third book, Rewrite the Stars, comes out July 7, 2026. It features all new characters and leans a bit more contemporary romance than rom-com. It’s also set in Pennsylvania! I’m really excited about it.