As a student who didn’t get a prom thanks to the COVID pandemic, I was worried about reading RaeChell Garrett’s YA rom-com debut novel “Promposal.” I tend to be bitter at anything related to prom since it reminds me I didn’t have the chance to go or not. After reading that her debut was a snappy YA rom-com debut centering a determined high school senior, I was hooked.
Garrett has written everything from marketing plans to health insurance benefit schedules, but she much prefers writing novels about the ups and downs of carefree girls finding their way in the world, according to her author biography. She lives in Michigan where she’s likely to be found trying a new recipe, talking sports with her husband or philosophizing about life with her two teenagers.
“Promposal” follows high school senior Autumn Reeves who has been waitlisted at her dream school. Determined to move to the top of the list, she must find a way to stand out. When a promposal she planned for a friend has half the senior class asking for her help, a brilliant business idea that will look great on her application is born: Promposal Queen.
Autumn has no clue how to start a business, so she joins her high school’s Young Black Entrepreneurs group and finds herself face-to-face with Mekhi Winston, the boy whose unexpected freshman-year kiss — a kiss that meant everything to her and nothing to him — cost Autumn her best friend. He’s the only person with the experience to help her, but how can she possibly trust him?
With her dreams on the line, Autumn’s willing to risk it. After all, Mekhi could be a good business partner without being a guy she would ever let near her heart again. But when working with Mekhi jeopardizes her only chance at rekindling a friendship with her ex-best-friend and long-buried secrets threaten to ruin her Promposal Queen business, another broken heart may be the least of her worries — her entire future is on the line.
Your biography focuses on how you have a diverse writing portfolio since you’ve written “marketing plans to health insurance benefit schedules.” What specifically about writing about “carefree girls falling in love” drew you to become a rom-com writer? What about the genre appeals to you?
Relationships (romantic or platonic) in general are what I love to read about most in any genre. I will skim the life-changing fight scene to get to the accidental kiss at the end of the chapter any day. That said, everything I write always comes back to feelings no matter how I try to steer it. As far as the carefree part, that more stems from writing what I know and wanting to see girls like many of the ones I grew up with (black and loved and supported by family) as the object of affection — not as a wish-fulfilling fantasy or an aspiration, but as my actual reality. A reality I wouldn’t exist without.
How did your experience in marketing coincide with your experience as an author when writing Autumn’s point of view?
There’s pretty much zero connection. Marketing is a bit more scientific, dealing with research, statistics, buying patterns and things like that, while Autumn, self-admittedly, is a creative force. It’s why she so desperately needs Mekhi’s help. If I had to imagine her entrepreneurial future, hiring someone to market and promote her while she creates is the first thing she’ll check off her list.
If you had to pick an album to describe the type of relationship Autumn and Mekhi have, what would it be and why?
I haven’t had a no-skips album in so long, I’d be hard pressed to find one that gives the Autumn and Mekhi vibe all the way through. Instead, here’s a song: “Say So” by Doja Cat. It’s basically a girl asking a guy to come out of his shell and ask for what he wants from her. If he would just say he wants her, he could have her. That’s definitely the vibe between the two of them, especially once Autumn is honest with herself about her feelings.
There are so many of the lyrics that I feel fit them perfectly, like “He ain’t never even been impressed like this/ Prolly why I got him quiet on the set like zip.” While Doja’s guy is seemingly impressed by her physicality, Mekhi is impressed by Autumn’s brain and belief in herself, yet it renders the same result — speechlessness.
What are some fond high school and prom memories you have?
Prom is a big deal in the community where I grew up. The best part was never the prom itself, but the attendee’s presentation. The event we made of everyone showing up expressing themselves through what they wore, their date, the car they were driving, their hairstyle etc., would seriously give the Met Gala red carpet a run for its money.
What is the craziest promposal you think is or have seen?
I’m not sure about the craziest, but the most eye opening (and perhaps eyebrow-raising) was a boy who promposed with hundreds of dollars’ worth of fashions — mostly shoes — for his intended. Seeing that made me a lot more comfortable with all of Autumn’s intricate planning.
Now that your debut novel is out in the world, is there anything you’d like to add to tell your readers, or anyone, interested in reading “Promposal?”
Never stop dreaming. Always believe in you.
Thank you so much for answering my questions, RaeChell! “Promposal” is such a delightful book that I hope readers will enjoy it as much as I did. I’d like to thank Shivani Annirood and Hannah Klein from the Hachette Book Group for sending me an ARC of RaeChell’s book and helping me through this interview process. Without the amazing support from the two of them, I wouldn’t have been able to have this great opportunity to interview RaeChell.
Be sure to follow RaeChell on Instagram and Twitter and visit her website.