What is the title of your latest release?
PICKLE PERFECT
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A tropical vacation in Costa Rica takes an unexpected turn when Lulu’s rival - her sexy ex-boyfriend - turns out to be the adventure tour’s pickleball pro.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
My family and I lived in Costa Rica for five years recently while I taught at an international high school. Every weekend, we would go on adventures: the same ziplining, waterfall rappelling, white-water rafting trips that Lulu and Tyler experience. I love the flora and fauna and communities of Costa Rica and want to share my delight.
Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Probably not with Lulu—she’s a little too organized for me. I’d always be disappointing her when I showed up late to meet her for lunch. She’d have already finished her Cobb salad.
I’d be much more likely to hang out with Gwendy, the hilarious, menopausal, wise-cracking wonder-woman. She’s always up for a spontaneous adventure. I have friendships with several Gwendies in my real life!
What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Responsible, vulnerable, klutzy, unaware how funny she is. (Yep. I can count to three. But I needed all of those.)
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I’m always learning more about the craft of romance writing. It’s one thing for my female protagonist to understand more about herself through the relationship. In Pickle Perfect, Tyler is a fully drawn character too. He is an equal partner on the self-learning curve.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
Generally, I try and power through about 3-5 pages a day until I have a chapter, at which point, I sometimes go back to edit. But sometimes I wait for the whole book to come out of me before returning to page one!
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Lobster. However, I think I like lobster because it’s a vehicle for butter. And really good chocolate. Maybe a chocolate covered lobster dipped in melted butter. Mmm. I’ll be right back. I need to make a quick stop in my secret candy drawer.
Describe your writing space/office!
I work in my bedroom. My desk is set up in front of a picture window that looks out onto a quiet little lake. Really it is paradise, and I love to write when the rain is slashing across the lake and the sky is grey. Which is often…because I live in the Pacific Northwest. The other perk of my workspace is that it is very near my secret candy drawer.
Who is an author you admire?
I’m going to say both Miranda July (All Fours) and Taylor Jenkins Reid (Daisy Jones and the Six). I like the way these two authors wrote fictions that were so detailed and realistic that I was wholly convinced I was reading non-fiction. I also want to add in Kira Jane Buxton for the quirky humor and Kate Quinn, for the immersive historical writing.
Is there a book that changed your life?
Rather there was a series of books…by young adult fantasy author Zilpha Keatley-Snyder. Recently, I found an “after-care” note from our family doctor. My parents had taken me in because they were concerned because “Ilana spends a lot of time in her room alone reading books.” I was obsessed! I would lose myself in an author’s worlds. I wrote Ms. Keatley Snyder, and told her I wanted to be a writer when I grew up and received a handwritten note in return. She said, “If you want to be a writer, you will be. You already are.”
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I was in my classroom in Costa Rica, (I taught at international schools for several years) and I had a prep period in between my high school English classes. My agent called with the news that Berkley Publishing had made a two-book offer (PICKLEBALLERS and PICKLE PERFECT, and I was so excited I shrieked and jumped up and down, laughing. A student from the classroom next door popped in to check on me because the teacher in the next room was concerned!
Immediately after, I called everybody in my family and shared the news. I could hardly teach the rest of the day, but my students shared in my excitement, and I’m sure they didn’t mind a little brain break!
What’s your favorite genre to read?
I love sci fi, especially anything about AI or time travel. I’ve been on a kick lately reading Kazuo Ishiguro and Emily St. John Mandel. Before I wrote romance, I wrote YA sci-fi!
What’s your favorite movie?
I adore broad, screwball comedies like Bridesmaids, The Hangover, and Date Night. If I can laugh til my stomach hurts, it’s been a great night. I’m the person on airplane who wakes you up by accident when I snort with uncontrollable giggles. Sorry.
What is your favorite season?
Summer. Hands down. I’m happiest out in nature, hiking, swimming the lake, or playing pickleball. Also, I was a teacher for a long time, and can I tell you that the siren call of summertime kept me going through some challenging parent-teacher meetings.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I’m an extrovert, so for my birthday I love to throw myself a big party, have friends over, eat tons of brownies, and burn meat on the barbecue. This year was my 60th, so my friends were super indulgent and participated diligently in drunken karaoke.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I’m in the middle of listening to the audiobook for The Husbands by Holly Gramazio. I usually don’t recommend books midway through, but this is so entertaining I’m going to go out on a limb. It reminds me of books by Liane Moriarty, who manages to hit all the right buttons every time.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Thai food. I love the mix of flavors: spicy, salty, sour, sweet, and even bitter. The subtle blend of tastes is like a party in my mouth.
What do you do when you have free time?
Get outside and hike. But also, I play the guitar and piano, and I write folk/rock music and sing. Lately I’ve been playing original music at local open mic nights, and I hope to record some of my music this year for fun.
What can readers expect from you next?
I’m a multi-tasker and a genre surfer (or attention challenged), so I am working on three books concurrently – A romcom, a humorous non-fiction, and a comic romantasy. Oh, and a dystopia. (So, four.) I am hoping (cross your fingers for me) that my new work(s?) will be just the palette-pleaser(s?) readers are looking for!
A second chance at love crashes one woman’s tropical pickleball vacation and serves up an adorkably swoony romantic comedy.
Lulu Gardner only takes predictable shots. After faulting on tennis stardom at eighteen, Lulu, now a thirtysomething single parent, is in control of her game. But when an unanticipated blunder threatens her teaching job, Lulu’s stable, well-planned—okay, boring—world spins out. And somehow, her godparents convince her to join them for a “de-stressing” destination pickleball vacation in Costa Rica. Maybe an all-inclusive picklecation is just the pick-me-up she needs to loosen her grip.
Or it would have been if she wasn’t backhanded by the sight of her high school fling Tyler Demming on the beachside courts. Fresh off the pickleball pro tour, the reigning bad boy of paddle sports is as studly and snarky as ever. Even though his public image took a hit with a ballsy publicity stunt, Tyler seems to be the big shot he’s always been.
But Lulu’s had years to steel herself against his rugged good looks and hypnotic charm. Despite the changes she sees in Tyler since their teenage days, Lulu will have no problem keeping her head in the game and her heart on the sidelines. Or so she tells herself….
Romance Sports | Romance Comedy [Berkley, On Sale: October 28, 2025, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593642252 / eISBN: 9780593642269]
A.J. (she/they) is a magpie of plots, bad ideas, and spite. She is a queer speculative fiction writer and the author of the acclaimed Hell’s Library fantasy series. Her writing has appeared in Uncanny Magazine and various anthologies, and she's an alumni of Viable Paradise workshop.
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