Drew Taylor Interview

CJ: Merry Christmas, humans! December is always a special month, and in honor of the holiday season, I’ve got a super special guest I can’t wait to introduce you to. Please welcome Drew Taylor, rising-star of contemporary romance! Welcome to the blog, Drew!

DT: Rising star, huh? Don’t make my head too big, CJ! *laughs* Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview with me. 

CJ: Drew is the perfect guest for this month, as her debut novel, The Politics of Christmas, centers on a sweet holiday romance. But before we get into that, Drew, would you like to introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your writing journey?

DT: Of course! I’m a twenty-something southern lady from a little one-red light town in Mississippi called Poplarville, though recently moved to Alaska for a teaching position. It made sense for my first book to take place in a town mimicked off where I grew up (Dasher Valley in the book!). I’ve always loved writing and telling stories, but I didn’t start writing with the intentions of publishing until COVID-19 lockdowns. I had just graduated from college with my B.S. in political science in December of 2019 and was hunting a teaching position in the secondary history classroom. I began working on my master’s in teaching at that time too. When everything shut down, I realized I would be unemployed from January at least until the school year began again in August. How to fill the time? Do something I hadn’t done in a while due to focusing on school—WRITE. I began with writing a Christian dystopian story, but that felt too real and close to home to continue working on. By this time, I had joined the #bookstagram community and was following several romance authors, one of them being Leah Brunner. She posted something about how she up and decided to write a romance story because as she read others, she thought to herself, “I can do that.” Long story short: I followed her lead and begin writing my own! TPOC was born. :) It didn’t start nearly where it ended—a totally different story—but I love what it became. (see next question)

CJ: Why was it important to you to incorporate Christmas into your debut novel?

DT: Um, it’s literally the most wonderful time of the year! Ha, I’m a Christmas fanatic. My love for the season and all it represents—the birth of my Savior Jesus Christ—is consuming. I wait impatiently every year for it to roll around. I chose to include Christmas in my debut because I felt like I needed to be reminded of the ever-present joy the Christmas season brings as I was writing the book in the midst of the pandemic. Now that we are mostly on the other side of the craziness, the book serves as a reminder that hope can be created even in the darkest of times. We don’t ever have to give in to the hate, darkness, and evil that penetrates this fallen world. 

CJ: One aspect of TPOC that I found fascinating was the political career of the main character. What drove you to feature politics in your writing?

DT: As mentioned earlier, I majored in political science. It’s embarrising how many times I changed my major in college, but once I landed on PS, I couldn’t go back. I fell in love with the workings of politics. No, not politicians, but the actual science of politics. Aristotle, an ancient Greek philospher, once related the study of politics to the study of the human soul. He wasn’t wrong. Studying politics involves studying psychology, sociology, history, language, rhetoric, science, religion, and so many other humanities. I knew I wanted to incorporate that side of me into my writing, so that’s how the female lead in TPOC was created. Stella Harper is what I imagined I would have become if I would have chose to jump into the political arena straight out of high school. She’s brave, smart, witty, and knows what she wants and goes after it (until she doesn’t—Enter: Lucas *evil author laugh*). 

CJ: Now that you’ve published your first book, what was your favorite part of the process?

DT: Wow, that’s a difficult question. I guess on the creative side of things, my favorite part was developing the romance between the two characters. I am kinda obsessed with the idea of love. As a single woman, I yearn for the day I meet my husband, fall in love, get married, and have lots of babies. I guess writing romance books is an outlet for me to share those deeply rooted desires. On the networking side of publishing, my favorite things, hands down, has been meeting so many awesome people through social media. From other authors to avid readers, I have made SO MANY new friends who share similar passions. From the technical/publishing perspective, I most enjoyed all the editing. I looooove editing and making a story shine brighter. Maybe I’ll quit teaching and open my own freelance editing business one day? 

CJ: Now, I’ve been attempting to incorporate more romance into my upcoming projects, but it definitely doesn’t come naturally to me. Drew, what would be your top tip for writing romance?

DT: I think the term “romance” can be fluid. It looks like so many different things to different people. Maybe it’s the swift touch of your crush’s finger brushing against the backside of your hand. Maybe it’s the way your crush knows your favorite ice cream flavor and shows up at your doorstep with a tub of it because you had a bad day. One thing I always say is that romance MUST go beyond the physical. You can’t ignore the physical, but there must be more to the story. In my opinion, the best romances are ones where the reader swoons over the CONNECTION between the characters, not just the fun smirks, light touches, and sweet kisses. Simply put, you have to make sure the reader believes that your characters are in love and not just acting out of lustful desire. For me, as a Christian, it’s important that my characters understand where True Love originates from—Jesus. Even if I write a non-believing character (like my female lead in The Designated Friend), they understand that love is deeper than anything physical. 

CJ: Now for a fun question- what are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?

DT: I love baking! Pumpkin pies, gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies, homemade hot chocolate, you name it. Decorating the tree is my favorite past time. I love going to Christmas Eve services at church where everyone holds a lighted candle, the lights go out, and we collectively lift our voices in Christmas hymns. This wil be my first Christmas away from my family, and while I am super bummed about that, I am excited to see the snow Alaska will offer during the Christmas season (hello, snowman building!). 

CJ: Where can people find you?

DT: All of my socials (Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok) are @drewtaylorwrites :) My website is www.drewtaylorwrites.com. My books The Politics of Christmas (book one in The Politics Of… series) and The Designated Friend (book one in the Love in the ‘Sip series) can be purchased from Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats and are free through Kindle Unlimited (KU). I also have an Etsy shop (DrewTaylorWrites) where particularly devoted people can purchase a signed copy that comes with a book boyfriend sticker and a quote bookmark!