Krista and Becca Ritchie: On Friendships in Romance
New York Times bestselling authors Krista and Becca Ritchie discuss the inspiration behind their new contemporary romance, Ricochet.
Krista and Becca Ritchie are New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors and identical twins—one a science nerd, the other a comic book geek—but with their shared passion for writing, they combined their mental powers as kids and have never stopped telling stories. They love superheroes, flawed characters, and soulmate love. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
In this post, Krista and Becca discuss the inspiration behind their new contemporary romance, Ricochet, their advice for other writers, and more!
Name: Krista & Becca Ritchie
Literary agent: Kimberly Brower at Brower Literary & Management
Book title: Ricochet
Publisher: Berkley Romance
Release date: October 18, 2022
Genre/category: Contemporary Romance/New Adult Romance
Previous titles: Addicted to You (Addicted series)
Elevator pitch for the book: Lily & Lo are childhood best friends who pretend to be in a relationship to keep their biggest secret from their wealthy families. When a mysterious guy enters their life at a college Halloween party, he won’t go away—and what he knows about them will turn their worlds upside down.
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What prompted you to write this book?
We absolutely love writing emotional, soul-deep romances, and we’re big, big fans of childhood friends-to-lovers stories and tight-knit friendship groups from TV shows like One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl. For the Addicted series, we were also really inspired to write realistic portrayals of addiction—most especially sex addiction—after watching the movie Shame. Only, we wanted to tackle the subject from a woman’s point of view.
So, Lily Calloway is addicted to sex, and her best friend Loren is addicted to alcohol. Their battles with addiction and the love they share are intertwined in this messy, somewhat toxic relationship, and how they grow together is the core of the Addicted series.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
We were in college while we were writing about college-aged characters in Addicted to You and its sequel Ricochet. We still remember those nights in our college apartment trying to finish Ricochet so readers wouldn’t have to wait long for the next book!
It was so exciting, and we’d worked on so many stories together prior that hadn’t been published, but this was one concept that seemed to spill out the fastest. So, it wasn’t a long process, but the biggest change was also incorporating Loren Hale’s addiction (alcoholism) as a way for readers to relate and understand Lily’s addiction (sex) better.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
Addicted to You was our first novel that was published, and the enduring nature of the Addicted series still surprises us in the best way. Lily & Lo’s love story has proven to be timeless, and to see new generations of readers loving this group of flawed characters and rooting for them and their relationships and their growth is such a beautiful thing to us.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
While writing Ricochet, we were surprised with how deeply we fell in love with the side characters, who became such central figures to Lily & Lo’s life, and those relationships and bonds turned out to be just as meaningful as the main romance.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
We hope that these books, the characters, and the sisterhood within them can be a source of comfort for readers when they need it most. These characters have helped us in our lives, and we truly hope they can help others, too.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Never stop writing. It’s the oldest advice we’ve ever been given, and it’s the simplest and truest to us. Just keep writing because one day you might write something that speaks to someone else, and it’d be a shame if it was never written.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
