Exclusive: For Her Consideration by Amy Spalding Cover Reveal

We are so excited to bring you the beautiful cover of  For Her Consideration by Amy Spalding! First, a Q&A with Amy Spalding herself. 

What was your inspiration behind FOR HER CONSIDERATION?

I’ve worked in Hollywood for nearly twenty years, and I was scheduling a few things over email with a celebrity—or should I say, I was scheduling a few things over email with an email account of a celebrity. There was something about the messages where I suspected that someone at her agent or manager’s office was actually communicating with me, and I wondered what that must be like to have that job. Almost as soon as I had that thought, I started to imagine Nina, someone who wrote as other people for a living. Suddenly I knew she’d had a toxic breakup before, that it made her withdraw, and also (obviously!) that she was bound to fall for a celebrity she was writing as. 

Why does Hollywood make a great setting for a love story? 

I just love all the fun, insidery stuff about the industry. There’s the public-facing part of Hollywood with the glitz and the glamour and the red carpets and the awards speeches. But there are also lots of emails and meetings and conference calls and Excel spreadsheets, and that’s mainly been the side I’ve found myself on. There’s something about people who sort of straddle both worlds that I find endlessly interesting—and I don’t think I’m alone there! The glamour of Hollywood is always a draw, but the ins and outs of the real side of it can be so interesting to drop in on, and I’ve always loved stories that give you a little of both.

You’ve written YA in the past, and this is your first adult romance! What is difference between writing for the two genres? Why did you decide to enter the adult romance space?

I know that everyone expects me to say “the sex scenes!” but honestly to me the biggest difference is writing characters who have lots of life experience. In YA, you’re often writing someone going through something for the first time: first love, first heartache, first time realizing your parents are human and not all-powerful beings. Writing Nina, in her early thirties, meant that I was writing someone who’d already had heartaches and jobs and disappointments and triumphs—just like everyone in her world. It was a lot of fun to think of the lives these characters had already led, but also what would be exciting and still seem new to them now. Also, the sex scenes!

What does Queer representation in romance mean to you?

I am truly so excited to be publishing my first adult romance in a world where more and more queer people are getting the opportunity to tell love stories. I just saw the trailer for the new Billy Eichner movie, Bros, and I loved how his character spoke of queer love stories not being the exact same as straight ones but with queer characters, that there are things about queer love and life and culture that are unique. It’s amazing to me that there are so many incredible stories from so many incredible writers and creators, pardon the pun, coming out now. Also I just love queer people getting happy endings! I feel really honored to be even a small part of that.

Describe Nina and Ari in three words.

Nina: Empathetic, witty, loyal.

Ari: Bossy, tender, (secretly) goofy. (Sorry, I cheated.)

What do you hope people take away from the novel?

I hope anyone who’s ever felt unlovable or unworthy can see how open and hopeful our future relationships can still be. I also want to leave people with the beauty and power of friendship and chosen families, and how huge a force they can be in our lives right alongside romance.

What’s one of your favorite quotes from FOR HER CONSIDERATION?

I knew that Ari, the woman who sent me be here tonight texts, was waiting for me, and that it was possible that everything I’d wanted was about to happen.