Jilly Gagnon is a huge fan of books that push the boundaries of genre, so that is part of the inspiration behind "What If It's You?"
What was your inspiration behind your most recent book?
I'm a huge fan of books that push the boundaries of genre, or dip their toes into a few genres at once, so that was in the back of my mind when I started thinking about this book. From a romantic standpoint, I kept returning to one idea: "How could I write a love story that celebrates long-term love, too?" I love a meet-cute as much as any reader, and the experience of falling in love is magical, but I don't see many romcoms that explore the next phase of a relationship — the staying in love. Letting my main character, Laurel, actually live out her "one that got away" scenario gave me the best of both worlds. Her lives with both Ollie and Drew are simultaneously long-established (in each of the universes she enters, she's been with one of the men for about five years) and feel brand new, since switching between worlds helps her to see sides of both men that she'd either never seen, or started to take for granted.
What does Reading Rainbow mean to you?
The incredible thing about books is that they allow you to imagine yourself into a world totally unlike your own — different experiences, different choices, different identities. Books are an opportunity to find a deeper understanding of people and things that you might never be able to experience firsthand, which is why reading across a spectrum of diverse voices, experiences, and identities — both in the characters and the writers producing them — is absolutely vital.
Why do you feel representation of a variety of people is so important when it comes to writing books?
Put very simply, the world is a varied and diverse place, and any book that doesn't try to account for the huge variety of people and experiences out there just won't ring true. As a writer, I always strive for a degree of authenticity, even when I'm dreaming up something outlandish (like a multiverse, say). Books where all the characters look and think and feel the same is a fundamental failure of authenticity, as far as I'm concerned.
Tell us a little more about the book and why you decided to write it.
As much as romance loves the idea of the "one true love," I think a lot of people have experienced moments of doubt in their real lives. Fear of commitment, wondering about the road not taken — they're feelings so many people can relate to. With "What If It's You?," I wanted to give Laurel a chance to wrestle with those very real, very human experiences in a way most of us can't: by actually living her "what if?" in an alternate universe. Thanks to a revolutionary new application of quantum computing at her high-tech job, she's able to experience what life might be like if, instead of staying with her current boyfriend, she'd said yes when her work crush asked her out. The only problem is that the program almost immediately starts glitching, meaning she might not get a say in which life — and person — is a better fit... or worse, she might get winked out of existence like some faulty line of code.
What can fans expect from your book?
I always inject a lot of humor into my stories, and it's definitely a huge element of "What If It's You?" There's plenty of romance, including some spice, and I really love digging deeper into my characters' motivations, more complex emotions, and flaws. Fans can expect a thoughtful, honest take on what true love means, the ways it develops over time, and the ways it can change you — and your person — both for the better and for the worse.
What's up next for you in the bookish world?
I'm really excited about my next book, which I'm writing with my best friend in the world, Lana Harper. Without giving too much away, it's a story of two sisters whose "witchcraft" skills land them an incredible gig at a massive country mansion... and then land them in the middle of a massive inheritance scheme where, for the first time, they're the ones being conned.
