Sarah T. Dubb | A Divorcee Embarks on Her “Year of yes” in a Charming Rom-Com

1--What is the title of your latest release?

BIRDING WITH BENEFITS

2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?

A divorcee embarks on her “year of yes” and crosses paths with a shy but sensitive birdwatcher who changes her life in this charming rom-com.

That’s my official log line! I also sometimes say: This book is about two 40-somethings fake dating while participating in a birding contest and definitely not falling in love!

3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?

It actually never occurred to me to not set this book in Tucson. I love Arizona so much, and my initial love of writing started with nature writing, so I just knew anything I wrote would include a lot of landscapes and moments in nature. And this region is known as a birding hotspot, so it also made perfect sense to set the birding contest here!

4--Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?

Definitely! I think we would have a great time together.  I intentionally made Celeste a bit larger than life and someone who I would look up to. She’s so determined to live life on her own terms. I’d love to pick her brain.

5--What are three words that describe your hero?

Quiet, competent, thorough.

6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?

The obvious answer here would probably be that I learned a lot about birds, but in fact most of the bird and birding facts in the book are based on my years of experience enjoying the birds of southern Arizona!

I did learn a whole lot about myself as a writer, the key being that I need to be patient with myself, and trust that the magic will come out over time and with a lot of work. Sometimes while writing about John and Celeste and their focus on discovery, I realized I was also giving myself a lesson. To embrace discovery in writing and revising, I have to embrace moving forward with openness, waiting to see what parts of the story are yet to be uncovered.

7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?

Both! Generally, while I’m drafting, I’ll work on a section of the book, then go back and edit everything, add another section, go back to edit, etc. Then, I’ll finish it all and “revise,” which for me usually means “rewrite.” Sometimes, this is frustrating–I just want to get it right the first time! But I try to hold on to a sense of possibility as I go. No one sentence needs to cause too much stress because odds are I’ll come back through and change it anyway.

8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?

Potatoes in any form but especially fried. There’s even an important French fry moment in my book!

9--Describe your writing space/office!

I write everywhere. I have a small desk in my bedroom, but it’s usually covered in stuff. At home, I do most of my writing at our tall dining table, which is also the game table, craft table, and everything else table. I work best with chaos around me, so I’ll often take my laptop to busy coffee shops or parks. One of my favorite places to write is an indoor playground!

10--Who is an author you admire?

Oh, wow. Just one?! I’ve got to go with Beverly Jenkins, known in the romance world as Ms. Bev. Ms. Bev writes the most interesting, sweet, beautifully steamy historical romances that highlight ignored moments or movements in Black history in the U.S. Her books are both entertaining and painstakingly researched, and she highlights the love and joy that enabled marginalized people to survive horrific oppression. I was recently able to see her speak at the Tucson Festival of Books, and I loved her perspective on writing (“just finish the damn book!”) and tips for surviving in publishing. She is an absolute treasure to our community.

11--Is there a book that changed your life?

I’ll say Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard. I first encountered this book, which chronicles a year in Dillard’s life as she explores nature around her home in Virginia, in an EcoNarratives class in college. It really struck a chord in me and started me down a path of reading creative nonfiction based on nature and landscape and eventually writing it myself. Those threads are alive and well in Birding with Benefits.

12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)

I had been on submission (when my agent was trying to tell my book to publishers) with this book for 14 months and was actually getting ready to retire the manuscript and try something else. I had a call with my agent on a Sunday to agree to a timeline to call an end to our submission process, and I was brainstorming ideas of what to do next. Then, just four days later, I was at my job at the public library when my agent called. Knowing she would only call with important news, I took my phone into the meeting room at my library, where I needed to set up a kids’ craft program I’d be running that afternoon. While I laid out the materials for the project on big plastic tables, my agent told me we had an offer from Gallery Books! I grabbed a dry erase and started taking notes on the room’s giant white boards with the details of the offer, then snapped a picture and erased it all. Twenty minutes later, the room filled with kids, and my day carried on, even though I was going absolutely bananas on the inside because I HAD A BOOK DEAL!

13--What’s your favorite genre to read?

I read mostly romance now, but I really love scifi and fantasy as well. It’s hard for me to read contemporary romance while I’m drafting, so I read a lot of paranormal and historical romance. I used to read a ton of literary fiction and dystopian fiction, so I feel pretty well-versed in those genres even if I’m not reading them as frequently now.

14--What’s your favorite movie?

The Princess Bride. But I’m also a sucker for any movie in the Jurassic Park franchise.

15--What is your favorite season?

I like to say that Tucson has multiple springs – anytime we get a decent rain, everything will bloom a couple weeks after. So I love all of our springs!

16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?

In recent years, I’ve decided to take charge of my birthday and make sure it’s the exact day I want, so I do whatever I need to do to treat myself. Some years, that means getting everyone in my family takeout for every meal, so there are no dishes to clean up. Other years, it means going on a solo trip for a little break!

17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?

It’s hard to pick just one, but I’ll go with the book Thank you for Sharing by Rachel Runya Katz. It’s funny and sexy but also really hits on serious topics about careers, relationships, sexuality, trust, and even religion. Plus, there’s a sleepover in a museum exhibit. How can you beat that?

18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?

Anything sauce-y and noodle-y.

19--What do you do when you have free time?

I love to read! Who could have guessed? Also birding, hiking, and just admiring the world outside. But I have three kids and two jobs, so free time isn’t something I’ve got a whole lot of!

20--What can readers expect from you next?

I’m working on my second romcom, which will be out in the summer of 2025. It’s a soft enemies-to-lovers with Parent Trap vibes, and I’m having a lot of fun with it!

BIRDING WITH BENEFITS by Sarah T. Dubb

A divorcee embarks on her “year of yes” and crosses paths with a shy but sensitive birdwatcher who changes her life in this charming rom-com that is perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Ali Hazelwood.

Newly-divorced, almost-empty-nester Celeste is finally seeking adventure and putting herself first, cliches be damned. So when a friend asks Celeste to “partner” with his buddy John for an event, Celeste throws herself into the role of his temporary girlfriend. But quiet cinnamon roll John isn’t looking for love, just birds—he needs a partner for Tucson’s biggest bird-watching contest if he’s ever going to launch his own guiding business. By the time they untangle their crossed signals, they’ve become teammates…and thanks to his meddling friends, a fake couple.

Celeste can’t tell a sparrow from a swallow, but John is a great teacher, and the hours they spend hiking in the Arizona wilderness feed Celeste’s hunger for new adventures while giving John a chance to practice his dream job. As the two spend more time together, they end up watching more than just the birds, and their chemistry becomes undeniable. Since they’re both committed to the single life, Celeste suggests a status upgrade: birders with benefits, just until the contest is done. But as the bird count goes up and their time together ticks down, John and Celeste will have to decide if their benefits can last a lifetime, or if this love affair is for the birds.

Romance Comedy [Gallery Books, On Sale: June 4, 2024, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781668037836 / ]