As a fan of your books, I particularly love your multifaceted characters and dialogue. As a writer, what part of building a story is your favorite? Exploring the characters, writing the dialogue, or something else?
Oh man, I kind of want to say all the above? I love writing dialogue in particular because I think a lot of characterization comes through in the way characters talk and the way they interact with each other. There’s something so satisfying about figuring out how they’re going to reveal something, how they might flirt, how they might respond in a way that’s opposite from the way they truly feel. It’s really fun!
How would you describe your two main characters in THE ART OF CATCHING FEELINGS to readers?
Daphne Brink is caring and funny and sweet but has a hang-up about not being particularly special – her ex-husband took her for granted, her freelance writer job doesn’t fulfill her, even her fledgling bookstagram account gets no traction. She has a hard time seeing that generous heart is part of what does make her special.
Chris Kepler is a hard worker and a good teammate – he’s devoted his life to putting his head down and executing what he needs to on the field. But after his brother dies, he struggles to find the same joy and success in this thing he used to do so well. He also has a generous heart and needs to learn to open it up to grief and pain and love.
Since you made one of your main characters a baseball player, are you a baseball fan? If not, what inspired you?
I am a huge baseball fan! My team is the Tampa Bay Rays. I find baseball so romantic – when this idea first came to me, I basically started writing right away, which is not usual for me! I just couldn’t wait to live inside my fictional baseball season.
In your book, THE ART OF CATCHING FEELINGS, there’s crucial info that one character sort of fell into hiding from the other character. How would you say the tension builds from having to keep this secret? Normally this sort of scenario tends to make me, as a reader, a bit anxious. Do you generally enjoy writing stories with misunderstandings between characters?
I did feel a bit anxious writing this book, and even when I go back to reread, not gonna lie! It’s so tense, waiting for that other shoe to drop. You know it’s coming; you just don’t know when or how. As a writer (and a reader!) that’s exactly the kind of tension I love, though. I personally have a lot of sympathy for what Daphne was going through and why she would’ve gotten herself into this position, which she knows is bad . . . she just also knows she’s falling for Chris, and so she doesn’t know what to do. I know miscommunication is not everyone’s favorite trope, but I find it very human – we miscommunicate all the time, hurt each other all the time. And in a fictional narrative, I think it can add so much when executed right.
If you could pick one of your books to recommend to a reader unfamiliar with your work, which one would you pick? And why?
That’s hard, because when faced with this situation I often try to figure out the person’s vibe to see if they’d be more into the true crime references like in LOVE IN THE TIME OF SERIAL KILLERS, if they’d enjoy a sports romance like THE ART OF CATCHING FEELINGS, etc. But I guess my default is usually WITH LOVE, FROM COLD WORLD, because I have such a soft spot for Asa and Lauren. For personal reasons I’m especially proud of that book.
Other authors I’ve interviewed have told me that the kinds of books they enjoy reading are different from the kind of books they enjoy writing. What do you like to read? Favorite books? Favorite author?
I like to say I read promiscuously! I’ll read anything! Everything! Some of my favorites: romance, of course (a VERY abbreviated list of autobuy authors because I have so many: Anita Kelly, Nikki Payne, Kate Clayborn); literary fiction (I’m a Sally Rooney girl, I love Tana French); cozy mysteries (I just finished the first three books in Mia Manansala’s series); thrillers (Alyssa Cole is writing some of my favorites right now); celebrity memoirs especially on audio (Jessica Simpson, Jenette McCurdy, Gabrielle Union, Anthony Kiedis); funny essay collections (David Sedaris, Samantha Irby); nonfiction including true crime (Bad Blood about Theranos, How the Word is Passed); I’ll stop now because I could go on forever but yeah, I’ll read anything.
Have you ever thought of writing in another genre or subgenre?
I actually just finished working on a short mystery for Amazon Originals! It was a fun challenge and I’d definitely be open to doing more of that kind of thing in the future – mysteries with a romantic storyline or romance with a bit of a mystery to them or whatever.
What are you currently working on?
I’m editing my 2025 romance, which I’m very excited about! I don’t know how much I can say about it just yet but I’ve been referring to it in my head as “John’s Book” – because it’s about John, one of Asa’s housemates in Cold World!
A professional baseball player and his heckler prove that true love is worth going to bat for in the next swoony romance by USA Today bestselling author Alicia Thompson.
Daphne Brink doesn’t follow baseball, but watching “America’s Snoozefest” certainly beats sitting at home in the days after she signs her divorce papers. After one too many ballpark beers, she heckles Carolina Battery player Chris Kepler, who quickly proves there might actually be a little crying in baseball. Horrified, Daphne reaches out to Chris on social media to apologize . . . but forgets to identify herself as his heckler in her message.
Chris doesn’t usually respond to random fans on social media, but he’s grieving and fragile after an emotionally turbulent few months. When a DM from “Duckie” catches his eye, he impulsively messages back. Duckie is sweet, funny, and seems to understand him in a way no one else does.
Daphne isn’t sure how much longer she can keep lying to Chris, especially as she starts working with the team in real life and their feelings for each other deepen. When he finds out the truth, will it be three strikes, she’s out?
Romance Contemporary [Berkley, On Sale: June 18, 2024, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593640937 / ]
Alicia Thompson is a writer, reader, and Paramore superfan. As a teen, she appeared in an episode of 48 Hours in the audience of a local murder trial, where she broke the fourth wall by looking directly into the camera. She currently lives in Florida with her husband and two children.
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