Mallory Marlowe: On the Roller Coaster of Publishing a Debut Novel

Mallory Marlowe is an author and video game writer living in Los Angeles, CA. Seriously right-brained since childhood, her love of telling stories began with highly elaborate plots for her Barbie dolls and taking elementary school writing projects too seriously. She studied Writing for Film and TV at Emerson College. When she isn’t writing, she’s likely reading, stuck in L.A. traffic, or fallen down a weird internet rabbit hole. Find her on X (Twitter) and Instagram.

In this interview, Mallory discusses the process of combining romance and the paranormal with her debut contemporary romance novel, Love and Other Conspiracies, her hope for readers, and more!

Name: Mallory Marlowe
Literary agent: Jill Marr at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency
Book title: Love and Other Conspiracies
Publisher: Berkley
Release date: August 20, 2024
Genre/category: Contemporary Romance
Elevator pitch: A skeptical producer teams up with a paranormal conspiracy theorist to create a web series and save her job, but in their search for Bigfoot, aliens, and the truth, they find love instead.

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What prompted you to write this book?

I have always been a lover of all things otherworldly and unexplained, and thought that some kind of ghost hunting show would make such a fun setting for a romance book. I also love including multimedia elements in my writing, so creating something that combined those two ideas is where Love and Other Conspiracies came from.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

I first wrote Love and Other Conspiracies for NaNoWriMo in 2020. Back then, it was set in Boston and Hallie and Hayden’s show was just a podcast with some social media elements rather than a web series. Hallie’s career has gone through the most changes. She began as a game developer and at one point was an actress before finally making her a producer. Something about it wasn’t fully working, so I put it down for a bit and returned with the web series angle in early 2022. I revised it again through a fantastic mentorship program that helped it take the shape it needed to be in before querying, finding my agent, and finding Love and Other Conspiracies a home at my dream imprint.

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

The timing of everything! From the time we sold the book to release, it’ll be almost two years. So, while there’s a lot of waiting, whether it be for edits, news, publicity, etc., it all starts happening so quickly once debut year hits! It’s very much an up-and-down roller coaster, but I think the biggest thing I had to learn was patience and to take things one step at a time.

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

This book made me work for it! I started and stopped so many times before it took the shape it needed to be in. It surprised me how much a book can change but the essence of it remained the same—still always a fun love story about two weirdos and their cryptids.

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

I hope readers will find a story that is equal parts fun and heartwarming, while also taking in the message to accept yourself and the people you love as they are.

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

Keep writing and telling stories that bring you joy. There is something to learn from every project you work on and improving your craft and growing as a writer is invaluable.