Interview with J.T. Tierney, Author of Love, Literally

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Love, Literally?

In the early fall of 2020, the pandemic’s first year, I had the idea for a novel about a group of college students who got an AirBnB for the semester in Colorado—a fun place to do their online courses. Gradually, the story’s focus switched to their parents, who steal their idea of decamping from Boston to a nice locale with a group of friends. Over time, the characters took up residence in my heart and head. It didn’t start out as a love story. But it became one.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

I prefer to read literary fiction. I can’t say there’s any particular genre I like to write, as I’ve only written two books—this love story and a historical novel about Irish immigrants who settle in Denver in the 1890s. Very different books. Equally fun to write.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

In my queue to read are: Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog; Kate Christensen’s Welcome Home, Stranger; Dolly Alderton’s Good Material; Mary Ellen Taylor’s The Promise of Tomorrow; and Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Forever, Interrupted.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

There’s a scene about 40 percent into the book where Hallie and Quinn take the dog for a fall hike at Morris Island, an area that showcases the different habitats of the Cape Cod shoreline. It was a fun scene to write because it’s full of wordplay between the characters and lots of descriptive scenery.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

Not so much quirky as pathetic or pathological: when I’m really in the thick of writing a book, I can sit and work on it for 12 or 14 hours at a stretch. I gotta get a life!

J.T. Tierney is the author of the new book Love, Literally

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