Artist Nikita Jobson makes the crossover to traditional publishing alongside fan fiction author Julie Soto.
and Julie Soto is the latest to join that bunch.
But when her ex-boss sabotages her by blocking out vendors, she finds herself working with grumpy florist Elliot.
‘Forget My Not’ by Julie Soto.Grand Central Publishing
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What spurred the transition from writing fanfic to writing your own completely new story?
JULIE SOTO: I’ve always wanted to write books.
I was writing musicals for a bit, doing playwriting.
How ‘Harry Potter’ and Reylo fanfic led to Julie Soto’s debut novel and her fan-art inspired cover.Debbie Soto
There’s so much dopamine involved.
I have been writing fanfiction for five years.
But I at least got enough confidence to know that I could take a stab at it.
That was the main push for me.
Your most beloved story is a Draco-Hermione one.
Ama and Elliot here are enemies to lovers.
Is there some of Draco and Hermione in them?
Was that a starting place for you?
There’s not a lot of Draco Malfoy in Elliot.
But there’s a lot of a headstrong nature and ambition in Ama that’s from Hermione.
So, I brought that into it.
Learning how to grow and evolve.
What do you think is easier writing fanfic or writing from scratch?
God, fanfic is so much easier.
It’s like if you go bowling, and you have the guardrails because you’re a child.
Those guardrails are the characters that are already fully formed.
You don’t have to spend three chapters getting to know them at the beginning.
you’re able to jump into the plot.
So it’s infinitely easier to write fanfic.
And there’s excitement in community.
You don’t have to wait for the dopamine, so you’re more easily inspired in some ways.
And I was like “Two chapters?!”
Maybe my response will change when the book is out.
For Elliot, the art and language of flowers is very important.
Was that something you were already interested in?
Or did you have to do a bunch of research?
Oh, my gosh, I don’t even like flowers.
I I grew up doing theater and I would get flowers after shows.
It’s a great gift.
You walk around after a show and you’re holding the flowers that your aunt got you.
You’re like, “Ah, good to meet you.”
You’re 12 and you feel like you’re Patti LuPone.
Those flowers would just come home and sit in a vase.
And I would stare at them and I’d say Mom, “It smells bad in here.
I don’t want to keep these flowers.
“I’ve just never been a flowers person.
So, I definitely had to do a lot of research.
I had to fall in love with flowers.
Now I’ve decided that dahlias are my favorite flower based on the research that I had done.
Elliot tattoos himself with flowers and a lot of them are rare or extinct.
So many interesting things that I never would have found interesting before.
But I definitely was biting off more than I could chew when I made him a florist.
Your cover is unique in being drawn by a fan artist you’ve worked with previously, Nikita Jobson.
Was that yours or your publisher’s idea?
I really pushed for it.
Nikita is a fan fiction artist who I’ve worked with a lot in theHarry Potterfandom.
We kind of became synonymous with each other over the years.
She would draw if she was inspired by something in one of my chapters.
Or she would draw art without context, and I would create a fanfic for it.
But we do have a connection being associated with each other.
Highlighting that this is a love language that the whole world doesn’t necessarily understand.
It’s a little community.
It’s almost like an inside joke in a way or an Easter egg, I should say.
In terms of the direction it went with the rich green and purple.
Was that something you gave them in a mood board or where did that come from?
I wasn’t I was not in on initial conversations with Forever and Nikki.
But they gave her a lot of freedom to use her own style.
They gave her license to be herself, which is just wonderful.
Was that a specific direction you or the team gave her?
Gosh, I can see it though.
Now that you say it, she’s not fully redhead but I can totally see it.
In my mind, he’s much more Adam Driver.
Ahhh, okay, I definitely get some Reylo here too.
Yeah, it was definitely more of a Reylo inspired story.
But I know that Nikki specifically is not personally attracted toAdam Driver.
I tried not to like chat with her without the art team.
I’m like, “No, dear.
It’s just that’s how I described him in the book.”
So I totally see the Snape and Lily.
You’re giving me great prep for what people are going to say when they see the cover.
