Note: Text has been lightly edited for clarity and does not match audio exactly.
Margaret Hargrove: Hi, listeners. I'm Audible Editor Margaret Hargrove. I'm delighted to be here today with bestselling romance author Lucy Score to talk about her new romance, the start of a brand-new series, called Story of My Life. Welcome to Audible, Lucy.
Lucy Score: Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be talking to you today.
MH: Lucy, you've written more than 30 romance books, and your newest, Story of My Life, follows Hazel Hart, a heartbroken romance author who travels to a small town in Pennsylvania in hopes of curing her writer's block and finding her own happy ending. As a romance writer, what was it like writing a main character who is a romance writer? Are there any similarities between you and Hazel?
LS: It was so much fun to write Hazel. We share an angst over the writing process in general, and we both avoid the shower probably more often than we should. But for me it was really fun to put on the page the behind-the-scenes things. I think readers will enjoy it because I get a lot of questions about my writing process, so I didn't have to do much research for this heroine, because I live it. I also think a lot of romance authors are obviously romance readers, so it's really fun to compare your writing process to another author. I just kind of wanted to put that out there in the world and show people how much work goes into a finished product.
MH: Are you both also addicted to Wild Cherry Pepsi? I just had to ask.
LS: I'm an Olipop girl. I quit soda a couple of years ago and I experimented with the sparkling waters, and then I found Olipop two years ago and now that is my special treat every day. I love their cola, and their grape flavor takes me back to childhood. But I loved giving Hazel this, like, she's not a coffee girl, she's quirkier than that. So, yeah, I made her obsessed with Wild Cherry Pepsi.
MH: Story of My Life kicks off with Hazel experiencing writer's block. She decides to move to a small town in rural PA and fake date her sexy contractor to inspire material for her new book. Have you ever had writer's block, and if so, what did you do to get over it?
LS: Every single book [laughs]. But my writer's block's a little different. I think, in general, when we think of writer's block, we think of what Hazel has, where she doesn't have the ideas. The inspiration isn't coming to her, so there's nothing that she can muscle through to put on the page. My writer's block happens while I'm writing and it will stop me cold, but every time it does, it's because there's something wrong with either the storyline or the characters and it's my subconscious flagging me that there is a problem. And if I don't stop and take the time to figure it out there, it's just going to mess everything up moving forward.
If it's just a minor thing in a scene that's bothering me, I will go back a couple chapters and start editing what I've already written. Sometimes that jogs things loose. If it's bigger, I have to put the book down and step away from the keyboard. I have to walk away sometimes for a couple of days. I like to do things that are the exact opposite of sitting and typing, so moving around, taking a yoga class, things like that. Yeah, it's tough. A lot of times I will go upstairs to Mr. Lucy's office and lay on his floor. I spend a lot of time on the floor, and I used to think that was super weird, but now they tell me it's called grounding [laughs]. So, it's actually really healthy, guys. Lay on the floor. And I will just like word-vomit everything that's going wrong with the story, and usually in that word vomit, some kind of solution presents itself. So, I've been lucky, I haven't had the no ideas, no inspiration writer's block. But every book, I get stuck in multiple places.
"I just love when I hit a line that I remember writing that I loved ... and the narrator takes it to a new level. They put their own spin on it and they make it even funnier."
MH: Many of your stories are set in small towns, but the setting for Story of My Life, the quaint town of Story Lake, PA, is probably my favorite place you've written. As the queen of small-town romance, how do you keep them fresh and give them their own personalities? They all still feel really unique and different, like they could be real places. And was there a particular inspiration for Story Lake?
LS: I love a small-town setting because it is its own character, and just like other characters or individuals, each town is going to have its own personality, its own vibe, its own quirks, and I just love to play with that on the page. I love giving my characters a setting that really forces them to interact in very specific ways. With Story of My Life, I really wanted to create a town where everyone belonged. Like, maybe it was a little bit hard to get them to accept you at first, but once you were in, you belong, they have your back and your neighbors will fight for you. I just wanted to give readers and myself that place where we all belong. That was my motivation for this particular town. It has its own special vibe that I really enjoyed writing.
MH: I love that the mayor of Story Lake is a high school senior. That's fun.
LS: I love that. I love the stories of towns who elect animals as their mayor, and I was like, "Ooh, that would be fun." And then I was like, "No, what if it's this really socially conscious genius kid who takes his role very seriously, but he's so, so young and so enthusiastic." So, that's where Darius came from. I just loved him, and he doesn't mean to be sneaky, but he definitely overexaggerated how great the condition of the heroine's house that she buys online is. He’s like, "Isn't it great? Look how good I made it look online." [laughs]
MH: Yes. Not only the mayor, but he's also a real estate agent.
LS: Yes. He's done it all. Usually, when we see these genius young people in media, they're usually doing something like they're lawyers or they're doctors, they're out there doing this big thing, and Darius is an entrepreneur. So, I had a lot of fun with that.
MH: Cool. Your author's note says this series is my love letter to every reader who has said they wanted to move to a fictional town. Of all the small towns you've written, which one would you want to move to and live in?
LS: Ooh. I think it would be a toss-up between Story Lake and my Blue Moon series. I'm a hippie at heart. My desk is covered in crystals, and Blue Moon was kind of settled by hippies. So, they have that tie-dye, granola, crunchy vibe happening there, and I love that feeling. But Story Lake, I'm writing Book 2 right now, so I'm really in that zone. It's just a group of people that are really pulling together to accomplish something, and I like the idea of unity and community right now.
MH: Lila Winters and Sebastian York narrate Story of My Life. They also perform the three books in your hugely popular Knockemout series. What is it about their performance that keeps you coming back to them to narrate your love stories?
LS: I love them. They are, first of all, they're both amazing performers. Lila just gets me, she gets what I'm trying to do on the page, and then she builds on that with her performance. Sebastian, he is a reader favorite. His voice is so expressive. So just purely from a listening standpoint, they're amazing. They're both also incredible professionals. They take deadlines very seriously. Their production quality is amazing. And best of all, my team has a really wonderful relationship with both of them, so they're like family now. We spend a lot of time on these audiobooks, so getting along and appreciating each other is important to me, and we really do appreciate everything about Lila and Sebastian.
MH: What is that relationship like? What is your process when you're prepping them to narrate a new novel? Do you discuss anything with them ahead of time before they record?
LS: I don't. I keep what I call a book bible. It is this gigantic spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel, and every character who appears on the page is in this spreadsheet, along with a description of their voice, how I hear it in my head, their age, physical description, personalities, pets, everything. I turn that over to the narrators and I just trust them. I wrote the book, that was my contribution, and now they are layering their performance on top, and I don't want to get in the way of that. We have a really good kind of artistic respect for each other, so I don't really get in the way of them. My brother, he works for us and he handles all of the production end of things with the narrators, and he obviously knows me really well also. So, just having people who get me and where I'm coming from without me having to tell them has been amazing.
"Enemies-to-lovers has my heart. That is my jam. I love writing it, reading it, listening to it. I just think the conflict is so much fun."
MH: What is it like hearing your work performed in audio? Do you listen to the books when they come out?
LS: I do. I listen. So, when I listen to them, I have been done writing for many, many, many months, sometimes even up to a year. By that point, I have moved on to another book, so I get to kind of experience it with fresh ears, if you will. I'm not sitting there critiquing my own work. I don't think I could listen to it as soon as I finished it, but having that distance really helps me to appreciate it and enjoy it as a listener. So, yeah, I try to listen to all of them and I just love when I hit a line that I remember writing that I loved, like a funny bit of dialogue or something, and I love when we hit that and the narrator takes it to a new level. They put their own spin on it and they make it even funnier. That's my favorite part, where I just find this little nugget where they improved what I gave them, and I just think that's so cool.
MH: So, you're very hands-on with your audio. You independently publish your audiobooks exclusively for Audible. What do you like about publishing as an indie author?
LS: Besides the money? [laughs] Besides the financial benefits, I like having as much creative control over the process as possible. I also love working with the Audible team. We have a great relationship with them. We've met some of you guys and, I mean, I love how you guys are so passionate about what you do, because that's my team as well. So, it's just such a pleasure to work with people who love what they're doing. And that's been my experience with Audible, so I've really enjoyed it.
MH: Can you tell us a little bit about your path to publishing your first romance novel?
LS: It was a bumpy road. I have been a reader forever, forever, and romance was always my favorite genre to write. So, I forget how old I was, this was I think back in 2013, I was laid off from my job as an editorial assistant with a newspaper. And so I spent that next year writing freelance articles, and I decided I was going to write the Great American Novel, but instead of a novel, it was a novella, and it wasn't great. So, indie publishing, I had just learned about it, so I put my novella up on KDP and it sold 35 copies on Amazon, and that was it. I was like, "Oh, no, now I have to go get a real job again." So, I did, I went off and got a real job. The dream was dead.
A few months later, I got an email from another author who had started her own publishing label. She and another author were running it, and she said, "I read your novella. Would you be interested in turning it into a novel and letting us republish it?" I was like, "Oh, okay, sure." So, I took probably six months more to turn my novella into a novel, and they published it in March of 2015. So this is almost my 10-year anniversary. Next month will be. And they knew what they were doing, and it did well. They did my first five books. I learned a lot from them in the process. So, after that fifth book I set out on my own. I've never looked back. After my second book, I was able to go full-time as an author. It's been a crazy journey and I am very appreciative of it, because I am unemployable at this point [laughs].
MH: Well, Amazon MGM Studios is developing Things We Never Got Over, the first book in the Knockemout series, into a TV show. How exciting is that? Are there any updates you can share with us?
LS: I am so excited about it. This is my first TV project, so I'm very new to everything, and apparently there's this whole you-can't-talk-about-anything stage that lasts forever. As an author, I'm used to just blabbing to readers updates constantly. To not be able to share anything, it's very new to me. I kind of call this the silent-treatment phase. So, we're deep in the silent treatment. I can say that there are things happening and I am excited about the things that are happening. I also really hope to have some kind of embarrassing walk-on role. I want to fall in some water or something in the background, and I want it to be like a Where's Waldo? Where's Lucy? kind of thing. But yeah, it's happening. Things are in motion.
MH: That'll be fun. I can't wait to see it. You recently announced the title of Book 2 in the Story Lake series. It's called Mistakes Were Made and it'll be coming out March 2026. Can you give us any hints or share which characters might be featured in Mistakes Were Made? I have my own theory on who I think might be featured, but I'll let you share what you feel comfortable sharing.
LS: I'm writing it right now, and I'm loving it. I'm in the stage of writing where it's going well and I love everything about the story and I don't want to do anything else. So, this is how much I love Audible, by putting pause on writing today so we could chat. Mistakes Were Made is about Zoe, the literary agent and best friend from Book 1. She's a hot mess and she's this big city girl who can't wait to get out of this small town to get back to her city life. And the hero is Gage, the youngest brother of the Bishop brothers. He is basically your perfect small-town hero. He has a law career that he balances with working with his family's contracting business. So, he's very dedicated to his town and his family, and this woman blows into his life and kind of messes up everything that he thought he wanted. They're about as opposites as opposites get, and I'm really loving writing it. I'm just over 100,000 words so far.
MH: Okay, my guess was right, so I'll give myself a little pat on the back.
LS: Good job.
MH: That'll be exciting. Speaking of opposites attract, you've written the gamut of romance tropes—enemies-to-lovers, second chance, fake dating. What are your favorite tropes to write and what are your favorite tropes to listen to?
LS: I mean, enemies-to-lovers has my heart. That is my jam. I love writing it, reading it, listening to it. I just think the conflict is so much fun. If there's no reason why they can't be together, then I just am not as interested in the story. But when there are so many reasons and they can't stand each other, then I'm hooked. I think my favorite thing in audiobooks is—it's like a micro-trope—I love the banter, like the sexy, funny back-and-forth between hero and heroine. I just love having that in my ears. Just everything comes to life like that. And so I love a good enemies-to-lovers with that really sparky banter.
MH: Well, since you love enemies-to-lovers and banter so much, is there anything that you're listening to right now that you're loving?
LS: Ah, yes. So, right now I'm listening to Stephanie Archer's The Fake Out, which is a fake-dating hockey story. And it's amazing. I love it. It's really well-written and the narrators are fantastic. I also just finished Tropic Angel by Nate Van Coops. It is, oh gosh, what would the genre be? Like tropic adventure, pilot mystery. Mr. Lucy and I listened to it on road trips and just finished it, and it was fantastic.
MH: Well, Lucy, thank you so much for your time today, and thank you for sharing so many wonderful insights about Story of My Life and your brand-new series, Story Lake. Listeners, you can find Story of My Life by Lucy Score on Audible now. Thanks, Lucy.
LS: Thank you, Margaret.
