This post was originally published on Audible.com.
Annabel Monaghan is officially throwing down the gauntlet in the very unofficial competition to be queen of the summer romance novel (in which, let’s be honest, the real winners are us listeners). Dolly All the Time charms you instantly—as does Julia Whelan’s narration—in this pitch-perfect tale about a single mom who agrees to a fake dating arrangement to help support her family. Annabel shares a bit about her writing process, her inspiration for Dolly, and the type of summer she’s nostalgic for.
Katie O'Connor: I loved Dolly All the Time. And I’ve heard that you’re a pantser. I guess my question is just: how? Do you have any idea of where you’re going when you start? What was the originating idea for Dolly?
Annabel Monaghan: I am a major pantser! I start with a person in a situation—a romance writer who’s never been in love or a professional organizer whose life is a mess—and then I start writing. Dolly started with a visit to Newport, RI, where I toured all the mansions and heard the stories of family fortunes being built and lost. I started thinking about the pressure that last generation must have been under and how much pressure all of us are under for one reason or another. That’s when Stewart Whitfield and Dolly Brick sprung to mind—a rich guy and a single mom who are both the go-to person in their families.
Your books always put me in the right head space for summer. They sort of kick off the season for me. What appeals to you about writing stories set in these specific three months? And do you think having that tight timeline helps when you’re writing?
I do love writing summer stories, mainly because I like all the sensual details of the sea air on your face, the salt on your skin, the hot sand under your feet. I like the tight timeline because a lot can happen in a summer, especially if you’re trying to take some time off, but I also like letting some pass, like it did in the later part of Dolly. It’s good to let people marinate on their feelings for a bit so we know they’re real.
Dolly is 39. She has a teenage son. She doesn’t want more kids. It can be rare to find this type of heroine in romance. Did you come into this book wanting to write more of a second-chance story? Or if not, how did Dolly evolve during the writing process?
I saw her as the world’s most hard-working mom, and I couldn’t imagine she’d have the headspace for a baby. And then Stewart walked in being a little softer than I anticipated and I could tell he wanted to be a father. It’s a problem for sure, but I didn’t want Dolly to compromise on this for love. It was really important to me that she stand her ground.
We’ve got some great tropes in Dolly. Fake dating. Small town. What are your favorite tropes as a romance fan, and are they different compared to what you gravitate toward as an author?
Fake dating is my favorite trope, hands down. If I even catch a whiff of it on a book cover or a movie trailer, I am powerless against it. It is the most unrealistic of all the tropes, but it lends itself so beautifully to unexpected situations and casual touches. It was as much fun to write as it is to read!
"I do love writing summer stories, mainly because I like all the sensual details of the sea air on your face, the salt on your skin, the hot sand under your feet."
The Notebook comes up a lot in your book It’s a Love Story. Dolly All the Time has strong Pretty Woman vibes. What would you say are the fictional romances that have shaped you both as a person and as an author?
Ahhhh! I love this question. Definitely The Notebook, and also Pride and Prejudice. It’s the yearning that gets me. Noah building that house and Elizabeth wandering the moors. It’s that pre-cell-phone era, when you couldn’t find out where someone was and what they were thinking. That really strikes a chord with me.
Your books evoke such nostalgia in me. Just an ache for a slower-paced summer, riding my bike to the local fish store like in Dolly or to that bakery in It’s a Love Story. What are some things that you’re nostalgic for?
I’m nostalgic for the summers when I was a kid with a bus pass and no phone. I grew up in Los Angeles, and I’d take the Wilshire Boulevard bus to the beach and spend the day there with whoever happened to be around. There was no way of knowing back then, so every day was its own kind of surprise.
In other interviews you’ve discussed breaking out as a writer later in life. I know you had a column for several years, and I saw in your bio you have your MBA. Can you talk about your publishing journey? Was writing novels something that was on your mind in your 20s or 30s?
Writing novels was always on my mind but it took me a long time to try. I worked in banking for a while and then I was home with three kids, which also kept me pretty busy. I didn’t sit down and write anything until I was 37! I wrote two young adult novels and then my column, but it wasn’t until COVID time when I really felt like I had nothing to lose and I wrote Nora Goes Off Script. I was 50, and everything changed!
Of all your heroines, is there one that you feel the most connected to?
Definitely Ali from Summer Romance. I put a lot of my grief for my mom into that book, and also my experience of having left the workforce to care for my kids and my strange sense of identity at that time.
"It’s good to let people marinate on their feelings for a bit so we know they’re real."
You have worked with some really incredible narrators: Hillary Huber, Brittany Pressley, Kristen DiMercurio, and now Julia Whelan. Are you involved in the casting process at all?
I’ve been so lucky! I think my contract says I get three choices, and they send me little snippets to choose from. They have all been amazing. Fun fact: I’ve known Hillary Huber for 35 years. She and my sister are married to brothers, and we have Thanksgiving together!
Why was Julia the right Dolly? What does it mean to you to hear your work performed? How do you think listening to a romance can elevate the experience for a fan of your work?
I think that expression “Go big, or go home” applies here. There was a lot of excitement around Dolly and my publisher decided to go with the gold standard. There is so much heart and feeling in romance, and these great narrators bring the love and the hurt to life in a really poignant way. I haven’t listened yet, but my editor tells me that Julia gets all my jokes and delivers them perfectly. Yay!
What’s next for you?
I’m still working on my 2027 novel. It’s about a college senior who falls in love with a guy on the slow train to Montauk, but when they arrive, her very best friend runs into his arms. The story then picks up when they’re all 38.
