Off The Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe - Colleen Hoover: Impostor Syndrome

Episode Date: July 6, 2021

#1 New York Times bestselling author of eleven novels including 'It Ends With Us' and 'Verity', Colleen Hoover, joins Kaitlyn to talk all about her rather “normal” and “disorganized” road to becoming a bestselling author… which all started when she wrote her first book “for fun”. She suffers from a serious case of impostor syndrome when talking about her success and shares that she thrives in chaos, doesn’t believe in writer’s block, 2020 was the most difficult year to write and some interesting insider tips on her writing process like where she gets her character names from and that she bases characters off of people she knows or knows of! This includes a revealing confession that one character is someone from the Bachelor world because she loved him while watching Bachelor in Paradise…! You can find Colleen on IG at @colleenhoover or at http://www.colleenhoover.com/ STRAIGHT TALK - Get the $45 unlimited talk, text, and data plan with no contract on America’s best networks for up to 50% less! CREDIT KARMA - Go to creditkarma.com/winmoney to sign up for free and start winning instant karma. RITUAL VITAMINS - Ritual is offering listeners 10% off during your first 3 months. Visit ritual.com/VINE to start your ritual today. OBSESSED NETWORK - If you’re serious about true crime but also love to laugh, check out “Obsessed With: Disappeared”. OXICLEAN - Go to oxiclean.com/tryme and order a free stain fighting sample. GOODY’S - To purchase, go to Amazon and use code 1VINE to receive $1 off a 4 count 6 pack! GEICO - Go to geico.com and in 15 minutes you could be saving... See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Okay, listen up if you love a good slow burn romance, and let's be real, who doesn't? You need to check out the new Audible Original of Pride and Prejudice. It's an intimate performance that literally makes you feel like you're right there swooning with Lizzie Bennett and Mr. Darcy. Marisa Abella as Elizabeth and Harris Dickinson as Darcy, I'm obsessed. So whether it is your first time with Jane Austen or your 50th, this version is such a fresh, fun listen. Go to audible.ca slash Jane Austen to dive in. Hey, everybody, you're listening to Caitlin Bristow's podcast, Off the Vine.

Take it away, Bree. Wine. Lots of wine. Hey, be on the mic, turn it up. Let's go. Hey, ramen, Pino, ready for the show. Everyone's welcome. So come on in because OTV, it's about to begin.

Hey. All right, welcome to Off the Vine. I'm your host, Caitlin Bristow, and I'm going to say it, I've turned into a, bookworm. I love to read so much now. It helps me with my anxiety. It helps me fall asleep. It helps me feel just smarter. Come off watching like a Netflix show. I feel dumber for watching, but reading a book I feel smart. Anyways, a good one to recommend is it ends with us, which is one of my favorite books of all time, as well as Verdi, which turned into my sisterhood of the traveling book adventure in Maui after I lost it on my never-ending journey to get there. And today I get to talk about both of those

incredible books, the characters and the ideas behind them, and maybe some insider info or hidden meanings with none other than the author Colleen Hoover. I am only part way through Verity, so we talk more about it ends with us. But I feel like all of my vinos are super excited about this too. And after I finish reading Verity, I'm going to bring her back on because I know I'm going to want to deep dive into her brain for that. I shared in my Facebook group that I would be chatting with her. So Colleen answers a bunch of your questions that you asked, and I'm excited for you to hear from the woman who is making so many of us lose hours of sleep while not able to put her books down and begging for more. So very excited to read another book

together. Text me your recommendations, you guys, to my number listed in the bio of my Off the Vine Instagram. And let's hear more from Colleen. Hi. Hi. Hey, how are you? I'm so good. How are you? I'm great. Great. Good. Where in the world are you? I'm in my office in East Texas. Oh, East Texas. Okay. Oh, that's amazing. Okay, I just had to like get this out of the way first off because for anyone listening, don't go to a dentist for Invisaline. Go to an orthodontist because I have been on this like what I thought was an Invisaline journey, but I was really on this other brand that I call the Craigslist of Invisaline. Like it didn't work for me and I've been on it for like, over a year, and today I had a dentist appointment with an orthodontist, and he was like, oh, yeah, you're going to have to start your, like, journey all over again. You didn't have the right, like, buttons on your teeth and the right trays and all these things.

So I spent, like, two hours at the dentist this morning with him just absolutely, like, sawing through my teeth with sandpaper, adding all these buttons. So anyways, if I sound like I can't really speak as well as usual, that's why. But anyways, I'm committed. now. I only have to do it for about six months, but I was like, I got to set that up first. So you don't think I'm like, you know, slurring at all. Anyhow, first of all, so nice to meet and see you face to face, the woman behind these incredible books. I know a lot of my listeners have said the same thing that they used to love reading or they would love the idea of reading, but your books really

brought them back into, like, loving to read. Yeah, it's, you're just, authors in general, I just feel like you guys are just magical beans that I do not understand. So I have so many questions for you. First of all, like, let's do it. Like, let's just start off with how do you even write a friggin book? Like, how did this, were you always a writer? Did you go to school? Were you always passionate about writing?

I'm sure that the answer is yes, that you're passionate about writing. But like, how do you even just start to write a book? Oh my gosh. Where do I even start with this answer? Exactly. I actually got a degree in social work and did that. that for several years. I didn't even start writing my first book until 10 years ago when I was 31. Wow. Yeah. And, you know, life has been crazy since then, but it's always been my dream when I was, I remember this. When I was four years old,

my sister came home from school because I wasn't in school yet. And she wrote our address on the wall. And I was so jealous because I had all these stories I wanted to tell and put down on paper, but I didn't know how. It was that didn't know how to read or write. And, and I think that's where my love for writing started. was out of jealousy for my sister because she learned before I did. And I was like, oh, my gosh, she's got this magic and she can use it and I can't. I mean, it's got to start somewhere. Yeah. And so, you know, I did social work for several years and writing has always been my passion,

but I didn't think I could actually, you know, make it a career and make money doing it. So I fell back on social work and actually started writing my first book for fun. You know, I didn't even try to get a publisher or an agent. And I self-published it just so my great. grandmother could read it on her Kindle that we bought her for Christmas. And four months later, it hit the New York Times. It was a whirlwind. Wow. That's crazy. So, okay, because I really like to tell me that quote that you have about if you put you in a box, what you're going to do, because that's why you self-published, right? I actually self-published at first because I just

didn't think that I wrote a real book. You know, it was a story I wrote for fun. And then when people started reading it and recommending it, I was like, oh, maybe this is the real deal. I have, I suffer from imposter syndrome terribly. But yes, I did leave a publisher at one point to go back indie because the quote that you're talking about, I think I said something like, if you try to put me in a box, I'll claw my way out because I can't write one thing, you know, and publishers, I understand they want to kind of put you in a certain genre. They were wanting me to write women's fiction.

And I was like, oh, but I have this thriller I want to write and a pair of I want to ride and that, you know, that's the thing I'm most grateful for in this career is just being able to write what I feel like writing and my readers support it. It's great. Yeah, that's incredible. I feel like that's the same thing, you know, with publishers even in like music or certain things like that. They always want you to stay in one genre and I think it's cool that you get to have your passion and not have any limits when writing. Like you get to just do exactly what you want to do. And it's interesting that, you know, you have imposter syndrome. And I know so many people out there suffer from the same thing, and I'm sure so many of my listeners do,

like in your mind, when something shifted and your book, you know, did well, what would you say to people who are struggling to, like, find their passion and they're scared and they think there's someone better than them out there at it when you felt the same way, but you wrote a New York's best time selling book? You know, I still struggle with this. So I don't know that I can give advice other than just, you know, do what makes you happy. Writing books made me happy. And there It was an audience out there who read them and, you know, everything that that has come after that has just been icing on the cake. It's, it's been a crazy ride.

But I still, you know, the books are going insane right now. And it ends with us, this hit bestsellers list for like three months in a row. And I'm just over here like hiding in a corner like they're going to come knock on my door and tell me it was a mistake any day now. That's what I call the fraud police. They come on and they tell you that it's a big joke and they're not. It's, you don't deserve it, but you do. Like, your writing is, I mean, brilliant, and your storytelling is brilliant.

And I just feel like it must take so much discipline to write a book. Like, do you just start out with this idea and just start writing? Or what is that, like, process time-wise? Everything from start to finish. Like, how much discipline does that take? You know, it's different with every book. Some of them are harder to write than others. Verity came really quick and easy for me because I was just so,

into the story. That was probably the fastest one I've written so far. But they usually take me about six months to a year to ride. I can put out one to two books a year. That's my max. But I am not a disciplined person. I'm not organized. I don't have a calendar. Like I wake up and I do what I feel like doing because I want this to continue to feel like a hobby for me and not a job. And I'm just very, very lucky that I get to pay my bills from my hobby. But I think that's what's worked for me is I don't put rules on myself. You know, if I wake up and feel like writing, I'll write and I might write for an entire week straight. I might go six months without writing. I like that. I am a hot mess. But that works for you. It does. I too. I always say it. I function

in chaos. I am not the most organized person in the world. I'm like, I get overwhelmed by a calendar and structure. I like doing the same thing as you. And that's called listening to your body, right? like that's important that you can do that and it's okay to be a hot mess express because clearly that's working for you i also i owe a lot to like you know my husband and my team like they totally sane and support me and everything i do and yeah it's just i feel very lucky it's it's important to have a good team because that's you know you you are the creative writer and that's what you do and you can't be both you can't be creative and write all this and incredible material and be organized.

Then you'd be like this crazy, like, alien human being. I feel like that's why you have a team, right, to support you. So that's incredible. I always want to know when writers... Do you know who Kelly Oxford is? Okay, she's Canadian, but I know she likes to write and she's actually done like some film and stuff, but she will just go, you know, get herself a really nice hotel and shut off and like do certain things and she can't write in her own home. Do you have a place that you like to go to write or do you

feel comfortable in your own home writing? So I live a mile from where I'm recording this right now. I built an office a mile from my house just so I could get out of my house. Yeah. Yeah. I have three teenage boys and a husband and they all love to ask questions. And so when I try to ride at home, like when I'm riding, I need to zone in on that ride. and shut off everything else. But it's very hard to do that. You know, when you've got a rotating door of teenagers coming in,

you know, just, and I love them to death, but I cannot work in that environment. And so I was like, I need a different spot. And so I have an office here and the two girls that work for me. We're here,

you know, five days a week. And I'm here sometimes in the middle of the night, riding it just whenever, you know, creativity sparks, I come here and I let it out. Is there something?

that sparks your creativity because like for me it would be wine or something like I mean I'll last to the middle of the night if I'm doing that but do you have something that sparks your creativity other art really like when I'm listening to a song or watching TV like sometimes it's very hard for me to get through an entire movie because you know I'll be halfway through and that something will spark an idea and I'll just have to turn it off and go right so yeah it's usually when I'm enjoying other other stuff is when I'm like oh now I'm in the mood to go work and so I don't finish a lot of things that have you ever speaking of not finishing things have you ever not like started a book and not finished writing it yeah so last year was tough for me last year I was not feeling inspired to write I started about 10 different stories and finally around December one of them stuck but that's the first year that I haven't like known what I was going to write next as 2020 man I just wasn't feeling very inspired at all right TV yeah I don't know who did feel inspired during 2020. If anyone out there has been inspired during that time, let me know because I don't know. I just can't see it happening. But I wanted to ask you about

the Bookworm Box charity subscription service that you founded because that sounds incredible. Yeah. So that was an idea my sisters and I had about six years ago. We started a subscription box. We just asked some authors to donate some books. And we were doing it out of my living room. And we didn't know if it was going to be anything. And so when we launched, the second we went live, we sold out of like several hundred boxes in four minutes and raised $12,000 for charity. Yeah. So we were like, wow, this is something. And so we ended up doing it every month.

And it got bigger and bigger until we had to open an actual brick and mortar store just so we would have somewhere to house all of this stuff for the subscription boxes we were sending out. So now we have a physical bookstore and all of the money from the subscription box. and the physical bookstore go to charity on 100% of our profit. And so far we've donated, I think, one and a half million dollars to different charities. It's been great. Incredible. That is, that's got to make you feel pretty good because I also love that, again, we all have these imposter feelings or the fraud police.

And then when you do something that you're passionate about, you take away that idea of like what success looks like. Yeah. And it's something that you love to do. I always find when people do that, that's when the success comes. If that's, you know, one and a half million to charity or if it's, you raised a thousand dollars and just doing something that you love, I just think is the most important thing to realize in life.

So I love that you did that and I love that you donated that much to charity. I'm, that's congratulations. Thank you. Okay. I have to tell you before we get into the books that I am only halfway through Barity right now because you saw on social media the power of your, you know, writing and everything and these books that you've created, people are so invested. And like, I've never had so many people tell me that Verity's the best book they've ever read and like that I have to read it. And so you sent me

one. And then I'm on this plane. And everyone has already heard the story of what happened to me in Hawaii because I did a whole podcast on it. But in that nightmare, I lost the book you sent me and I was so sad about it and that I went on Instagram and I said, you know, to anyone out there, if you have the book, you're in Maui, could you drop it off? I'll do a trade. You can have a bottle of wine and some scrunchies and I'll take the book and then we can do this thing where we pass along Verity and we'll all sign it and send it to the next person and we'll talk about it in the Facebook group. And it was so, I had so many people. I didn't even know I had that many people follow me that were in Maui. Reach out. Say they would bring it to me. They're like, you have

to read it. I will get it to you. So this one girl, Ashley, brought it to me. And now it's, it's a whole thing. So I can't have any spoilers yet because I'm not at the ending yet. Oh, dear. I know. I loved that story. I loved it. And you know, the whole time when I was watching your stories, I was like, no one in Maui has that book. Like, she's still going to get this book. And then all of a sudden you had it. It was crazy. Not only did someone bring me at the hotel went and got it for me as well. Yeah, that's crazy. So now my best friend, and business partner, Cleo has one and I have one and I'm going to pass it along and it's going to be a little traveling book with a story. So that's just, it's just so cool. You know, that sometimes

the internet really surprises me with its like ability to connect with other people. Sometimes I look at it like, oh gosh, the internet scares me. And other times I look at it as this magical place where you can connect and share books and, you know, it's, there's some silver lining to it. Absolutely. I always say like If it weren't for social media, I would not have a career in writing. Yeah, there you go. A lot of people, too, like, if they're just getting started in their own, like, path for being an entrepreneur or doing something that they love to do, social media is the best thing to get on and connect and reach out. And, you know, it's, it really is a cool thing if you use it in the right way. Okay, so I've got some questions from our listeners.

We call them Vino's. So, okay, they do relate to both books, but again, we deleted some of them because I was like, like to my producer, I'm like, I can't see. So, okay, for those of you listening to who haven't read or don't read books, I think these books are truly ones that you guys should all try. All of your books have the most incredible reviews. And people, again, state that even, they thank you for getting them back into reading. And really, like, it's changed my life because it helps my anxiety. And it helps me sleep better at night. And I feel just better after reading, you know, Instead of, I love watching TV, of course.

But after I read, I just feel like in a peaceful place, even if the storyline's crazy. So, because some of them are some intense emotional roller coasters. And you just can't put it down. That's my outlet, though, is writing them. So I totally get it. Okay, wait, I just thought of this question. Like, do you get attached to the characters?

Like, do you get sad when you end the book and they're not there anymore? I do. I get attached to them. My mom gets attached to them because she reads. the books as I write them, but I'm also kind of ready to move on when the book is over. You know, a lot of times people are like, oh, we want to, we want to follow up. And I'm like, they've been through too much. If I have to write a part two to this, I'm going to have to, you know, create more drama

for them. They've been through enough. And I think that's because I get attached to them. Like, I don't want to hurt them even more. Totally. It's like you get closure at the end of the book, and you don't have to do that anymore. Shira asks, who is your favorite character out of those two books? Verity, and it ends with us.

Oh, that's a hard one. Obviously, Lily, you know, holds a place in my heart. I fashioned that story after my mother. But I had so much fun writing Verity's manuscript. So I don't know what that says about me because they are two opposite people. They are. But, but I mean, that's the beauty of it is there are two opposite people, right? It's two different books. And that's what when I first read it ends with us. I was sobbing. And then moving over to Verity, I just. I was like still thinking about Lily and then once I got a few pages in, I was like, Lily, who? I was so into the next one. She also asked, which was your favorite book to do research on? And what was the most unexpected thing you found doing your research? I usually do research after I write a book because I like to go in like with a fresh slate and go at it from my character's perspective. I feel like if I do too much research, I'll start writing from whatever research I'm pulling from.

And so there's there's been books like maybe someday that I needed a character who couldn't hear to go back and read it and make sure I got that character right. Yeah. Things like that. And so with it is with us. It was basically, you know, I wanted my mom's opinion because a lot of that was her story. And that was probably the hardest research is giving her that book and, you know, like how is she going to take it? How is she going to react to it? Um, what advice is she going to give me? And she called me and couldn't even speak. She was crying so

hard after she read it. Oh. Yeah. Like she had to hang up and then text me what she thought of it. But, um, wow. It really moved her. Oh, actually for the, for people who are listening that may not know the, you know, everything about the book. Could you just explain it ends with us? Just like general story. Yeah. So it ends with us as about Lily. And, um, you know, it kind of goes back and forth between her past with her parents are an abusive relationship, and then her present where she meets a guy named Ryle. And, you know, I kind of fashioned this story after my mother's experience with my father. They divorced when I was too, but there was some physical abuse that went on in that relationship. And I don't want to give too much away about the story, but it's basically covering

that and her journey. And there are so many women that have gone through this. So many women I know that have gone through this that I feel like it's so easy to. to sit there and say, why didn't she leave? And I used to think that about my mother. Like, I was like, she's such a strong woman. How did she get herself in this, in this situation? And I really wrote it to kind of put myself in her shoes. And man, it made me understand her so much more. Wow. Wow. That's powerful. That's, I found myself actually this, I don't know what this says about me, but I found myself rooting for Ryle at times. Like, a little bit. I was like, like he just seemed like

I don't know like he loved so much and like something was stronger than him I guess it made me feel sad for him like that something was stronger than him but again we don't want to give way too much but that's just the best that's a book I actually would go back and read again which is crazy

I've never said that about a book in my life oh wow yeah I don't I don't reread often oh your mom must be just so proud of that like that just must have been a really special moment for her yeah yeah it is Anna Cummins has a few questions. So I'll pick a few. What book absolutely broke you while writing?

Okay, so I'm an emotional person. I know that I write books that are very emotional, but I always try to explain it. It takes a lot to make me cry. Yeah. And I think that's why my books are emotional, because it takes a lot for me to feel them. And so I just kind of keep pushing it and pushing it. And then when I finally start to feel something,

that's when everyone else is bawling, you know. And so there's not a lot of them. It ends with us obviously means the most to me. It affected me the most. It was the most eye-opening writing experience I had. But I don't really get too emotional with them, to be honest with you. No, that's interesting, though, that you say that. I would have never thought that, but you push yourself to that.

limit of feeling something that for a sensitive folk over here, I'm like bawling over everything. Yeah. I mean, I used to be an investigator for child protective services. I used to work for hospice. So I've learned how to shut it off. You know, like I could go home at five o'clock and, you know, I have to because I had kids and kind of had to shut it off and play mom and forget about, try to forget about, you know, what happened to your day. And I do that when I write. But also, I try to put humor every now and then in my books. Like, because when I'm writing, if it's a very heavy scene, I like to end it on a funny note and then pick it up the next day. So that's why you're crying one minute and then the characters will do something that

make you laugh. And you're like, why? Yeah. That's funny. Morgan asks, she wants to know details about the movie adaptation. Of it ends with us. She said someone signed it. Yeah. So Justin Baldoni owns the movie rights to that. He did clouds and five feet apart. he's raphael from jane the version they're working on the script right now you know COVID in 2020 just kind of put everything a little behind but that is still in the works

they're supposed to send me the script soon so that I can read it and I'm so excited about it but that is incredible if that was a movie I would be like I'd like be one of those losers who slept out in a tent outside of like the movie I was like the first one in and got my seat like when it opened that would be so cool like when would do you know if it happens or if i mean when it happens when it would be out no i have no idea

yeah it's kind of hard to say i and i don't want to bother them too much so i'm just kind of letting them do their thing and i get the updates as they give them to me because otherwise i would be messaging them every day like update update yeah i would be the same way marianne berson asks verity was so good does she have other books that are similar or the most similar or she wants a new read? So most of mine are contemporary romances, but if you want like darker like Verity, I would say too late,

which was just a fun book I wrote over a five-year period, a chapter at a time on Wapad. I would just, you know, give it to the readers for free. That was a really fun experience. And I just have one release called Layla. It's a paranormal romance that's,

I don't know that it's like Verity, but it's less like my others. So, but I am hoping to write a psychological thriller again soon. That was really my favorite writing experience. I'm just waiting on an idea that could follow up parity. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Are all those books behind you, yours? Yeah, those are foreign editions. My books have been translated to a lot of different languages. And so I bought these shelves. They're shelves. People think I just stacked them up like that. Yeah. Yeah. I bought them. I ordered them online and forgot about the shelves for like a year and a half. And then they showed up out of the

lewd so I was really excited but yeah they're stacked up like DNA strands that's those are all your books in different languages and stuff oh wow that's just like I would just sit there and stare at those and be like I'm the shit I am the shit okay well these aren't questions but I just wanted to share these with you because they're just giving you praise so I'm going to puff your tires even more Karen said, I don't have any questions. I'm just so, so excited for this one. It ends with us and Verity are two of my favorite books. And after I read Verity, I couldn't stop thinking about it for days because I kept having theories for what actually was the truth.

I don't know what that means, but okay. Marnie says, tell her that this book is one of my faves of all time and made me fall in love with reading again last summer. I've read 85 books since then. Oh, wow. That's insane. You know, I get that a lot of people, and I'm sure all all. do just of people saying they fell in love with reading again. But I'm not a big reader either. I've never was. I have ADD. And I think what it is with my books is I'm not a literary writer. I don't, if I have to

look up a word in a the source, I just won't use it. Yeah. And I want the reading, you know, I want it to be easy and to flow. And I think that's why it kind of appeals to people who claim not to be readers, because I focus more on story and dialogue than description because I start when my ADD kicks in as I'm writing I'm like okay if I was reading this I would be bored I need to change it up that's that's so true because I do your books are still so deep and like but but so easy to read I feel like it's not like I'm reading like a kid's book and it's like oh this is easy I'm reading like deep intense meaningful powerful stories but I just can't wait to turn the page that's why I don't know if you like to read on a Kindle, or if you, I just love the turning the pages for me, just does something weird to me.

I'll read anyway. I've, I've just recently gotten into audiobooks, but I, you know, Kindle, I usually read on my phone, paperback. Anyway, I'll take it. Do you do your audiobooks, like you record them with your voice? Oh, heck no. Oh. I'm from East Texas. Every one of my characters would have to have, like, some kind of southern accent.

no I so you know how it is when you listen back like I don't know if you listen to your podcast no like I sound like that that's what it would be like but I can't even listen to audio books that other people read of mine because I'm like I wrote that sentence you know it's just that's yeah we're also critical of our own we are of our own work which is funny I I actually this is I always say this on the pod and it's one of the weirdest traits about myself but I like the sound of my own voice in the moment then when I hear it back not so much but like in the moment I'm like Good voice, yeah. You know, this is the first one I've recorded with headphones on, and I'm like, oh, this is a different experience. I like it. It's nice. But if I go and listen to this, I'm going to be like, oh, Lord. See, I think you got a great voice.

Before we get into this game, I have, let's just do a little confession, because I make everyone on the pod do that. I'm trying to think, yeah, I actually went to yoga yesterday. last night for the first time in a couple years. I used to do yoga all the time. And this is actually really embarrassing. This is a great confession. So lately I've just been finding little gray hairs. And now that I've gone back dark, I was blonde before I can see them more. And so I bought this spray. And it's like a dark root spray. And I just spray it like quickly like hairspray almost. And it just darkens up the roots. And even if my roots are

growing in like a little light brown. I'll just spray it in with this darker spray. And so I did hot yoga yesterday last night for the present. And I'm like, yeah, I was like doing the downward dog and I'm like, my eyes are burning. It must be just sweat. And I'm laying there and like I get out and I'm like, people are like smiling and waving. And I'm like, oh no, seriously. Yeah, great class. Great class. I like go look in the mirror when I got in the in the change room. And I just had like black streaks coming down from my head of hair dye spray. Oh my gosh. It was so embarrassing. Like, I was like the nerd that walked out being like, great class, huh? And they're like smiling at me. And I'm like, yeah, you felt that too. Like, my light is your light. Like I just was like in this zen piece of mind and they're really just laughing at me. I actually bought some of that spray recently because I had to have my hair done in forever. But it doesn't work as well on lighter hair. Yeah. I didn't notice the difference at all. I could see that. I feel like it really like the dark one really sets in and also doesn't, you know what?

doesn't stay through the sweat. So there's that. Hot take. What is your confession? Okay. So my confession is book related. And since you are so into the whole Bachelor franchise, I'm almost embarrassed to admit this. But sometimes I use real people to influence the characters that I'm creating. Yeah. And I have a book called All Your Perfects. And I was watching Bachelor in Paradise while I was outlining that book. And I just thought, Welles Adam. was the greatest and I named a character after him. His name is Graham Wells and he's the main character in a book. That's awesome. Oh my gosh. That's so funny. Yeah. So when I was writing that book, I had him in mind. I was like, okay, I'm going to use him for inspiration. Oh, now I've got to

read that book and then I'll just picture him. Whenever I'm reading, I always like picture obviously what these people look like and Lily for example like I just will have before I continue with the story I will like make sure I have a clear I'll like make her have an eye color a hair color like all these

things and before I keep reading just so I can like picture her in my head and I feel like that's probably such a thing that writers do is either base it off someone or have an idea of someone in their head you know that's odd that you say that because with that book

I did, but with most books, they're just blurs. Like, I get in trouble from my editors because they're like, you did not describe this person at all. What did they look like? And I'm like, I don't know, whatever the reader wants them to look like. You know, because we all envision people differently, and I don't want to tell you someone looks like

a certain way when you're wanting them to look a different way. And so it's very hard for me to physically describe characters in my books. Oh, that's so interesting. These are just some quick rapid fire questions for you, but who is your favorite author? Tiffany de Bartolo.

I don't know how to pronounce her last name. She wrote How to Kill a Rock Star and a God-shaped hole and sorrow and I just, they're my favorite books. Oh, okay. I'm writing that one down. Okay. Do you believe in writer's block? No, I believe in creative lulls. I like, oh, that sounds nice.

Yeah, that makes sense. What was the best money you ever spent as a writer? As a writer, paying my dad back for our trailer house. When I wrote my first book, I lived in a single wide. We were living paycheck to paycheck. And when that book took off, like, we had borrowed the money from my stepdad. And I got to go write him a check for the whole cost of the house. Wow.

Wow. Oh, I love that. Just gave me goosebumps. That's incredible. How cool. Wow. Okay. How do you select the names of your characters? Well, now we know Wells, but how else do you select them? I steal them from readers and baby name books. Ah, baby name books. Yeah. Smart. If you didn't write, what would you do for work? I would love to direct a movie. I could see you doing that. I don't know if I'm organized enough, but I I would love to do that because I'm so critical when I watch movies. I'm like, I really want to give this shot. Wait, why don't you make that your next bucket list thing? Like, you could start small and do it for fun and then you'll be like the next big time director.

Yeah, I don't know. That just is really daunting, like more of a pipe dream than anything. But then also being in New York Times bestselling author was a pipe dream. Totally. See, you can do anything. Have you ever edited something out of a book and then later, regretted it? Yeah, I do do that. And I also leave stuff in books that I later regret. Really? Yeah. That sounds like normal. Like, I mean, I do that with podcasting or certain things you do.

Or like, maybe I had a few glasses of wine and posted something on Instagram. I might regret that later. Well, and also, you know, I started writing back when Facebook just, well, I just got Facebook. It was so different back then, like 2011. And it doesn't sound that long ago, but from, all the stuff we've learned from the Me Too movement and everything, there are things that I wrote back then that I'm like, they make me cringe now. You know, I've learned so much through social media and learning from other people. And, you know, if I could go back and rewrite everything, I probably would. Well, then you wouldn't be where you are today. This is true. No regrets. Yeah, it would change your whole trajectory and we don't want that. But that's, I mean, we've all learned

and grown in some way. Oh, yeah, absolutely. I cringe at a lot of things I used to do. back my 20s. Okay. And then if you could be written as any character in a novel, who would it be? Or have you secretly written yourself in somewhere? I haven't. I haven't. I find myself very boring. Yeah, right. I find your mind so interesting. I mean, like, I've been with my husband since I was 16. We have no drama. Like, you know, like, it's just, oh yeah, I have the best husband in the world. sorry everyone else yeah you're like I win this one 16 and you guys have obviously people change so much through you know their late teens their 20s and I love hearing stories about when people have just grown together and become stronger and there's no drama that's incredible because I get a lot

of questions about our marriage and giving advice and people who get divorced and feel disappointed in themselves and I'm like look we are lucky because everyone grows as they age and we got lucky that we grew in the same direction and that we didn't grow apart. And so we've grown together and we've become stronger together. And if that doesn't happen to you, that's not your fault. It's not your partner's fault. Sometimes you change, especially in your 20s, man. So change so much. So I don't know that I have like a secret for our marriage other than I got very lucky with the partner that I found. Yeah. And obviously he feels the same way. And you both just seem to stay on the same page.

You better. I mean, that many years together, I'm sure you would say the same. That's really cool. I love those stories. I just think it's obviously rare when people can grow together and not apart. And it's, I don't know, there's something so romantic about it where I'm like, that's so sweet. Clearly a child of divorce over here. Okay.

What is your favorite childhood book? Oh, the giving tree. Anything shell silverstein, shell silverstein, really. Okay. And if you could be any animal, what would you be in why? I'd be a bird. Yeah. I just fly everywhere.

I get really restless. I want to go a lot. I say that, but I really am a homebody. But I would like the option. Yeah, I would like wings. And if I wanted to use, oh, my good. And if you didn't want to, you could still. No, you need fingers, though, because we need you to write.

I'd have a beak. I could just back. There you go. And are you currently working on any book? So I just finished a book and turned it in. It's called Reminders of Him. And it releases in January. Okay.

I have been entertaining the whole month of June. I've had company for the entire month. And so July, I'm buckling down and focusing. I'm going to start another book that I'm probably. going to self-publish. So if it works out and I write one, then hopefully it will come out this year. But that's if everything goes perfect. And I don't know that that's going to happen. Well, you never know, right? Never know. Wait, what did you say it was going to be called? Reminders of him is the one I just

finished. Oh, can you tell us a little bit about that one? Not really. I don't know what I'm allowed to share. I just know it's a contemporary romance novel. It's about a a woman who went to prison very young because she made a mistake and she gets out and she wants to write her wrongs. And there are people that are making it difficult for her. And it's, you know, a romance with someone from the past. And so, yeah, it's, it's kind of sad. Okay. Well, that's, I'm already, like, you didn't have to explain anything. And I was already like, I'm reading it. I mean, I'm in. I started a book club, what was it, like, two years ago with some girlfriends, and we called ourselves the dirty bookers, and we read one book in like

two years, and then it crumbled and we didn't read another. Now I'm like, man, I wish I had your books back in that day. We'd have a lot to talk about. I'm the worst member of our book club. Like, I swear, everyone reads the books but me. But that's, you don't have to. You don't have to read the books. That's, you're the one writing them. That's enough work. Tell everybody that's listening where they can find you, Instagram, like anything else, where they can find your bookworm box? Yeah, so if you just go to any of my social media pages, it's Colleen Hoover, website's Colleenhoover.com. And I have links to the bookworm box on my website. We also have a book signing every year, and the money from that goes to charity. And that's

called Book Bonanza. And it will be next summer 2022 in Great Bind, Texas. And we're going to have some amazing authors there like eel james 50 shades of gray um so yeah pretty much i am one of those people who when a new social media app comes out i get on and i take my name and so i am calling hoover everywhere wait do you tic talk yeah so i had ticot back when it was like musically or something so i've had my name for years but i'm terrible at it like i i don't know why but somehow my account Like, I did a video the other day that was just a normal video about someone else's book, and it got taken down for childborn. What? Yes, every one of my videos, I swear, it's like the last three or four videos I've done, like, they'll mute them and then remove them.

And I'm like, I need a contact at TikTok or something. Yeah, you do. Anyone listening that has a contact at TikTok, let's get this sorted. That's very interesting and unfortunate. Okay, so Colleen Hoover on everything. You are just brilliant, and I am going to have to have another, like, podcast with you or even a segment just to talk about Verity when I finish it because... Oh, I would love that. I can't wait for you to finish.

Yeah, because this is... I mean, I was supposed to be done it by this time, but, like, last night, for example, I felt drunk from reading and I didn't drink. I was reading, and my eyes were, like, rolling into the back of my head, and I was, like, in a state where I was asleep, but I was still just trying to get into the pages because I was so into it. You don't consume anything you've read. You have no idea what you just read. I do that all the time. Mindy, my producer, she goes, oh, so you were tired. Yes, I was tired and I was trying to stay awake to read it, but I would love to have you.

Well, you just got back from vacation. It takes several days to get over that. And that's a five-hour time change from Hawaii, so I forgive myself. But I would definitely love to talk to you about that because I wanted to today, and I know people are so interested to hear more on that. So we'll do a part to a segment about Verdi and, um, discuss that because I can't wait to finish that book. I would love that. Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for your time and just congratulations and I, everybody loves your work. So please keep writing and but whenever it's convenient for you and whenever you feel in the

own, because we will always read them. Thank you so much. This was so much fun. Oh, good. We'll do it again. I promise. Probably after every book, I'll be like, I need to pick your brain. I'm here. Let's do it. Okay. I love it. Thank you so much, Colleen. We'll talk to you soon. Thank you. Bye. Okay, bye. I'm Caitlin Bresto. I'll see you next Tuesday. Thanks for listening to Off the Vine with Caitlin Bristow. Get new episodes every Tuesday exclusively on Podcast 1.com, the Podcast One app, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts.