I am so freaking excited to have Bethany Chase on the blog today! Her recent release, RESULTS MAY VARY, released in August and I really loved it (Read my review)! It was addictive, emotional, and so well-written; I simply could NOT put it down.
I’m all about sharing the love, so I want to give away a paperback advance reader copy (ARC) of Results May Vary to one of my readers. Details on how to enter are listed below the Q&A! Good luck!
Megan: For my readers who maybe haven’t read it, can you give them a little idea of what RESULTS MAY VARY is about?
Bethany: It’s the story of a woman who discovers her husband, who is her high school sweetheart, has been having an affair with a man—and she must then decide whether to rebuild their marriage and how.
Megan: What led you to write about Caroline and Adam’s story?
Bethany: A good friend of mine was studying abroad several years ago, when a mutual friend of hers with some of the people on her grad program came out to visit them. The guy was engaged to a woman back home, yet at the end of the night when they’d all been out drinking together, he waited until everyone had gone home and then made a pass at my friend’s gay roommate. I remember hearing the story and feeling so sad, both for this man who for whatever reasons did not feel able to live openly as his authentic self, and also for the woman he was locking in the closet with him, who was unaware of this aspect of him.
Megan: RESULTS MAY VARY deals with infidelity. What made you write about infidelity with someone of the same sex versus someone of the opposite sex? Do you think it makes a difference?
Bethany: I do think it makes a difference, yeah. It’s not just the pain of the infidelity itself, it’s the confusion and uncertainty over this very important element of your partner that you never knew. I think it would make anyone question where this previously unknown attraction was coming from, and whether it had been there all along.
Megan: Caroline has to make a pretty big decision: stay with her husband or move on. In women’s fiction, heroines have to make painful choices like that. The culmination to the final decision and “a-ha” moment can sometimes cause frustration in readers when the heroine makes poor decisions or is wishy-washy. How did you toe the line between making her journey seem realistic and relatable, while making the reader understand her?
Bethany: Great question! I tried to show Caroline really considering both sides of the decision, which I think most people would in that situation. It’s easy to say that infidelity is a deal-breaker until the person you’ve built your life around has done it, and your choices are to find a way to rebuild or to reconstruct a completely different life for yourself from scratch.
Megan: RESULTS MAY VARY focuses on Caroline’s side of the story. But Adam is also going through a lot emotionally. I’m curious, when you wrote the book, did you write Adam’s side of the story and backstory so that you knew what was happening? Why did you decide to let Caroline tell the whole story?
Bethany: Actually, my original idea for the story was to have Adam and Caroline alternate narration! I was very interested in his story, of someone who’s passed—untruthfully—for straight for his entire life and is struggling to make sense of his identity and his heart and decide who he really is and what he wants. But the first people I talked to about the book felt that it was too much of a reach for me, a straight woman, to write from the perspective of a conflicted bisexual man—and that was completely right.
Megan: I really liked reading about Caroline’s job in the art industry and Farren’s artwork. You’re an interior designer by day, right? What kind of research did you have to do about the art curation and the art industry?
Bethany: I studied art history extensively in college, and briefly considered it as a career, which was the origin of that being Caroline’s job. One of my good friends is an art history PhD and a museum studies professor, so she gave me a lot of extremely useful information that set up the entire Farren/Diana subplot. I could hardly even believe that such usable material, in terms of goals and struggle and tension, had fallen right into my lap. But yes, I do work in the interior design industry, and the incredible creativity of my colleagues was the direct inspiration for Farren and her artwork.
Megan: In your debut, The One That Got Away, the focus is on a woman about to get married when her “one that got away” shows up, which catapults her into an emotional journey (very poorly abbreviated synopsis, by the way. Read the book, everyone). Can you describe that book in a couple sentences?
Bethany: That sounds about right! The main character is an architect in Austin, Texas, who is hired by a former one-night-stand to renovate his house after he moves back to town. It’s a story about digging deep to stand up for what you really want.
Megan: Both of your novels have wonderful first lines. Did you have those opening sentences floating around in your head before you started to write or did they come as you got further into your manuscript?
Bethany: Thank you for the compliment! I love, love, love the opening paragraphs of books… there’s nothing quite like the spine tingle you get when you crack open that first page and read something that sets the tone for an intriguing story. With RESULTS MAY VARY, the opening came during my self-editing process; I felt the first version was too bitter, so I went for a more contemplative tone instead. And with The One That Got Away, that opening actually came to me when I was writing my query letter to send to agents! I was trying to appeal to that universal experience of that one person from your past that you always wonder about, and I thought, “Hmm, this line is good enough to make it into the actual book.”
Megan: I follow you on Goodreads, so I know that are also a huge reader. Do you have any books you’ve read (they don’t have to be new release) that absolutely blew you away?
Bethany: Hands down, my favorite book this year has been Melissa DeCarlo’s The Art of Crash Landing. Speaking of openings, that book has a terrific one—she grabs you from the first few sentences with a confident, distinct, wryly funny voice that is impossible to ignore. The writing is outstanding, and it summons a whole spectrum of emotions: frustration, humor (incredible humor), compassion and grief. She has a way of highlighting a single small detail that hits you with the kind of feels that other authors manufacture an entire scene for. I can’t recommend the book highly enough, especially to anyone who loves Joshilyn Jackson—Melissa certainly has her own voice, but she reminds me of Joshilyn in a lot of great ways.
Megan: I’m very excited to read whatever you have coming up next. Are you working on anything right now that you can talk about?
Bethany: Yes! I currently working on my third book. It’s about best friends who fall in love with the same man seven years apart, so it’s a dual narrative, split between the past and the present. It’s a new concept for me while still addressing the kinds of complex relationships I love to write about.
Lightning Round:
Tacos or Pizza?
Sophie’s choice.
Coffee or Wine?
See above.
Harry Potter or The Hunger Games?
Potter forever!
Any hidden talents?
I’m a legitimately good singer! If you go to karaoke with me, expect to have to forcibly pry the mic out of my hand.
Besides reading, what’s something else you enjoy?
Board games and card games. With alcohol.
Something about yourself that would surprise people.
I am an avid Fantasy Football fan. Which means I’ve just embarked upon a four-month nightmare of dashed hope, anguish, regret and recriminations. I can’t wait.
Thanks again, Bethany! I cannot wait to read what’s coming from you in the future!
If you haven’t read Bethany’s books, I recommend them both. Enter the giveaway below to win an advance reader copy (ARC) or her latest, Results May Vary.
My Reviews of Bethany Chase’s Books:
GIVEAWAY:
One (1) reader will win a paperback ARC of Results May Vary.
Open Internationally.
Void where prohibited by law. Must be 18 years old to enter.
By entering you agree to these terms & conditions.
