From the bestselling author of ‘The Kissing Booth’ series comes Do You Ship It by BETH REEKLES, a fandom-centric romcom about self-confidence and the power of finding the people who just get you. We caught up with the author to discuss everything from her writing career through to fandoms.
You’ve had an incredibly successful writing career which began on Wattpad – how has it felt to see your work grow from Wattpad to published books?
Looking back now it’s still totally surreal! Sharing my work on Wattpad was initially just something fun and for the sense of community since I didn’t have anybody in real life who shared my love of writing, but I never imagined it would take off like this – or that I’d have such a brilliant network of other writers to be friends with! I’m so grateful to 15 year old me for taking that leap to share her writing, however anonymously.
Do You Ship It explores fandom culture in such a fun and relatable way. What inspired you to write a fandom-centric romcom?
I’ve always been really into fandom – I was on tumblr during the ‘SuperWhoLock’ era, and at university I got really into writing fanfiction. When I was at school though, the people I hung out with didn’t share my interests, and fandom – and the Wattpad community – made me feel like part of something. It’s been so much fun to share that love of fandom and the fangirl experience through Cerys’s eyes in DYSI, and to sneak a few classic fanfiction references in for my fellow fangirls reading it!
Did you draw inspiration from any real-life fandoms when writing this book?
I think generally ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Game of Thrones’, as those are two fantasy fandoms that I’m a part of – but also Once Upon a Time! I remember seeing a gif on tumblr of Captain Hook/Killian Jones and the main character, Emma Swan, that had me all-in before I’d even watched a second of the show! I loved leveraging that in Cerys’s experience when she first finds a way into the fandom through a romance storyline.
The book looks at fanfiction, conventions, and cosplay. Did you do any fun research while writing?
Actually I didn’t do much research haha, as it drew more from my own fangirl experiences! I’ve never particularly cosplayed, but I love watching TikToks of people showing their whole process to build a look, so that was the only element of Cerys’s fangirl experience I couldn’t ‘directly’ relate to quite so much!
What’s your favourite trope in romance novels and why?
Enemies to lovers every time. The ‘who hurt you’ trope is particularly excellent! I just love when characters are their worst selves and still fall for each other, and the friction and banter is always so good!
What genres or authors do you look to for inspiration, and how have they influenced your writing?
I really love B K Borison’s romance books – she’s such a master of the genre! Ali Hazelwood’s books always blow me away and I love how she incorporates women in STEM and a certain unashamed nerdiness to things. I think they’re both especially great at playing with tropes – subverting them, leaning into them, doing something a little unexpected while still making it feel familiar!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Beth Reekles is the author of the bestselling YA series ‘The Kissing Booth’ (Now a hit trilogy on Netflix) alongside several other rom-com novels. Her 14th book The Reunion was Waterstones Welsh Book of the Month in June 2024.
A self-confessed nerd and rom-com fan, she is now a full-time author living in South Wales, and shares movie reviews on her Instagram.
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