Interview with Birdie Song, Author of The Guy from the Wedding

Author Birdie Song is joining us today for an interview. Her latest novel, The Guy from the Wedding, offers readers a romance set in Australia. I enjoyed learning how this author allowed the characters to take her story in a new direction.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Title: The Guy from the Wedding

Author: Birdie Song

Genre: Sweet romance, small town romance, Australian romance, multicultural romance

BLURB:

Wedding bells are ringing … but not for them.

Katrina Lee just can’t catch a break. She’s single, failing to mingle, and spending precious weekends surrounded by blissfully happy newlyweds-to-be. It’s just an occupational hazard of working for The Wedding Elves. Another hazard? Her sister’s new business partner, whose first job as co-owner seems to be putting her off guys for good.

Liam Donovan left Melbourne, determined to start a new life in Perth. He never dreamed this would mean working with the sour-faced woman he met at an old friend’s wedding, let alone falling for her. Now he’s caught between the man-in-charge he wants to be and the pathetic loser he swore to leave behind.

The Guy from the Wedding is a sweet enemies-to-lovers workplace romance, set in the world of Somerville Downs.

INTERVIEW:

Welcome! It is my pleasure to feature your novel.

What was the inspiration behind your latest release?

The Guy from the Wedding started as a web serial on my blog back in 2021. I got as far as the main characters meeting at a wedding, definitely not getting along, and then … I blanked. The story sat virtually untouched for a couple of years.

One advice fiction writers get is to “spend time” with their characters, often through drafting, but sometimes by meditating on them, having imaginary conversations with them, just to get a feel for what they’re like as people. So for a long time, I’d draft and imagine, and even took one of them out for coffee (just me hacking away at my laptop in a local café lol) to try and understand their stories.

Eventually, I found the problem. I was too focused on writing a lighthearted enemies-to-lovers romcom, when this book actually wanted to explore how we inadvertently hurt the ones we love when we don’t fully process the hurt done to us. The couple in this book very much want to reinvent themselves in the wake of toxic relationships, but they’ll need to confront their own shortcomings and insecurities before they’re worthy of love.

Have you ever traveled when researching information for a book?

I have! For this book in particular, I left my writing cave to visit two places: a mini-golf course and a heritage hotel in the south-west rural region of my state. Although some places get named in the book, these two didn’t, but anyone who’s been to these places around Perth and Western Australia will probably recognise the locations and inspiration in this book.

I enjoy travelling, but writing books set in my home city means I can’t skip town very often. There are three more books to go in the Somerville Downs series, and I’m thinking maybe my next one should be set somewhere else in the world I’d like to research in person.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Finishing The Guy from the Wedding has been my personal mountain so far. Putting myself in my characters’ shoes so I could write them – not gonna lie, that was hard. Painful at times (even though this book doesn’t delve into anything dark on the page), because of the messy human emotions involved.

I hope this means I’ve produced something readers can feel and love. Life has a way of blunting our emotions sometimes, making it seem unsafe to have feelings. Maybe that’s why we turn to romance, so we can feel our feelings and know it’ll be all right in the end.

Besides that, this book is the longest story I’ve ever written, and I had to hold a lot in my head at once. It’s only a short novel, but I usually prefer to write (and read) novellas. Romance, to me, is a chocolate bon bon, not a three tier Queen Sylvia mudcake!

What does literary success mean to you?

To earn a liveable income through work that brings joy to both myself and other people. I don’t need to make millions, just enough to live comfortably and support my family and community. That’s how I’d define success in general, not just literary success.

What project are you currently working on?

At the moment, I’m taking a break to spend time with family and friends over the holidays. Oh, and to catch up on life admin. When I’m waist-deep in work, my home gets progressively more cluttered and untidy with every passing day. So, I owe it to my very supportive family to do my share of chores.

In the new year, I plan to start on book 6 in the Somerville Downs series, The Guy from the Bakery.

AUTHOR BIO:

Birdie Song is an Asian-Australian writer from Perth, Western Australia on Whadjuk-Noongar country. She pens sweet stories featuring hopeful characters and optimistic endings (spoiler alert!). She believes love is more important than labels, integrity is a person’s most attractive quality, and that no one should be judged for putting pineapple on a pizza. When not writing, she tends to a veggie garden and reads a variety of books, hoping to one day understand the meaning of life.