Where does the book beach read take place?
For a non-spoiler version of the plot synopsis, see The Bibliofile's review of Beach Read by Emily Henry.
January Andrews is a chick lit novelist whose life is a bit of a wreck following the death of her father, Walt. At the funeral, she meets Sonya, his mistress, revealing that he had been cheating on his mother the whole time and shattering her idea of their happy marriage. January is also now semi-homeless and single, because her (now ex) boyfriend Jacques couldn't deal with her emotional fallout. As a result of it all, January is disillusioned about love, which has made it hard for her to write about romance.
Sonya also gives January a letter from her father and the key to his secret love nest, a lake house in North Bear Shores, Michigan. January moves there to write, and her neighbor turn out to be the handsome but grumpy Augustus Everett ("Gus" or "SEG"), a former college rival. In college, they both competed for the same writing prizes, and he made fun of her upbeat writing. He was also a womanizer and commitment-phobe. Now, he writes literary fiction.
When January confides in him about her writer's block, they come up with a challenge. Gus will write a happily-ever-after, and January will try her hand at literary fiction. Whoever sells their book first, wins. The loser has to help promote the other's book. They also agree to educate each other on their respective genres. January and Gus each work on their books during the week, hang out at night, and on weekends they each get one day to plan an "educational" activity for the other. Gus takes January on a series of interviews and visits regarding a cult called New Eden that was once located in the area. January takes Gus to things like a beach day, a carnival, a rom-com movie marathon, and other romantic fodder.
As they get to know each other, January tells Gus about her mother's cancer, her father's betrayal, her her ex and so forth. Gus is more guarded but, with some help from Gus's aunt Pete, January eventually learns about Gus's abusive father, the death of his mother and how his ex-wife Naomi left him for his best friend, Parker.
Things heat up romantically between January and Gus, but January also recognizes that he has deep trust issues that need to be addressed. When January finally confronts Gus about his behavior, he admits that he's been crazy about her since college and has been scared of his feelings because he's still such a mess right now. Their romantic relationship continues to grow and January finally finishes her book. However, Naomi then shows up looking for Gus, and afterwards he is nowhere to be found.
Sonya also shows up, demanding to talk to January. She explains how Walt was her first boyfriend back in high school, and they had initially reconnected when January's parents were separated. Walt had been planning on moving to North Bear Shores until January's mother was diagnosed with cancer, which ended things. However, Sonya and Walt later rekindled their now-illicit romance, but again it petered off when January's mother finally got better. Sonya also urges January to finally read the letter he left her. It leads January to a stack of letters from her father, one written on each of her birthdays, as well as the keys to a boat that is named after her.
When Gus reappears, he tells January that Naomi has split up with Parker and wants to get back together. However, he knows he wants to be with January. Nine months later, January receives the advanced copies of her book, and Gus's book has been completed as well. When Gus's advanced copy comes in, January sees that it is dedicated to her, and she tells him she loves him.
Right now, I have no plans to write sequels for either book. If the right story occurred to me, I’d love to revisit any of those characters, but I think it would be doing them and readers a disservice to dive into additional books without a good reason.
Things tend to move very slowly on that front, and even once they are moving, there are specific guidelines for when you’re able to share that information. To be the first to hear any news, I recommend subscribing to my Grocery List.
Not a question, but I see this comment often enough that I figured I’d include it because a lot of you are really missing out. Please take this opportunity to google image search Lake Michigan!
No. The setting of Beach Read is very much an amalgam of my favorite western Michigan beach towns. There are elements of Saugatuck, Holland, Grand Haven, and others incorporated into North Bear Shores. The same goes for Sunshine Falls: it’s a fictional place based on several little mountain towns.
My next romantic comedy, Happy Place, comes out in the U.S. on April 25, 2023!
There are three tips that are my mainstays. As far as how to develop your writing, there really is no shortcut. To be a good writer, you should read as much as possible. Read things you like, read things you hate, and try to figure out what makes the difference. After that, you write. Even if you hate what you’re making, even if you doubt yourself, you write as much as you can, and you watch the gap between your taste and your ability shrink.
At first, a lot of us are prone to imitating the writers we admire, but as you write more, you’ll discover your own voice. Give yourself that time.
I’m a huge believer in finishing things. For many writers, starting a project is the fun, exciting part, but as we get further along, plots come undone, threads tangle, and fear sets in. There is no right way to write a book, but I’ve learned that for myself, committing to finishing a draft—even if a very bad one—is key. It is always easier for me to fix a book than it is to create one out of nothing. I recommend finishing the things you start, if for no other reason than to show yourself that you can.
The third piece of advice I have is a bit more amorphous, but in my opinion, the most important of all: Write what only you can write. Write what you want, regardless of whether you see anyone else doing the same thing. Don’t let yourself be caught up in trends (or frightened off by them, for that matter). Write what you are excited about and over time, learn to trust yourself and your vision. This is not, necessarily, a recipe for success in a traditional sense, but for the sake of your work, I believe it is vitally important that you disregard what other people say a book “should be” and make instead what you want.
I often think about my favorite television shows, many of which were canceled prematurely. Yes, if you make something exceptional or strange or unique to you, there is a chance it won’t find quite as wide an audience, but that doesn’t mean that thing doesn’t deserve to be made. Success in publishing is entirely separate from success in writing itself. Keep that in mind as you continue on your journey. No one else can tell you the value of your work, least of all someone who doesn’t understand it. Trust yourself.
Unfortunately, I’m not able to read any unpublished work at this time. If you’re a publishing author looking for a blurb, feel free to contact my agent. Please know that though I’m always honored to be asked, I often can’t deliver blurbs within the given time constraints.
If you want to traditionally publish a novel (as opposed to self-publishing, which I have no expertise in), your first step is to sign with an agent. This can be a long, challenging process, so try not to be discouraged.
Start by researching agents who might be a good fit for your (finished) novel. You can do this by looking up comparable authors and finding out who their agents are. Once you have a long list of potential agents, research each of them and their respective agencies. Verify that the agent in question is, in fact, accepting new clients. Look for interviews with the agents or read their social media posts to see if they might be looking for a book like yours. Check their websites as well to see what they would like to see included in your pitch email. (Some agents prefer only a short query letter; some would like you to paste the first five or ten pages into the body of the email; some may ask for a one or ten-page synopsis; etc.)
Next, you write a query letter to pitch your novel. Jane Friedman offers a great resource on that here.
From there, you will send the query (plus any other content the agent in question has requested) through their preferred email address or contact form. Be sure to personalize each query to the agent in question, and let them know why you think your book might be a good fit for them. Do not mass email agents. Every message should be sent individually and addressed to the correct person. It’s also wise to only send out a handful of queries at a time, because if you receive no requests to read the full manuscript, you’ll likely want to rework the query before sending it to anyone else.
The setting of Beach Read is very much an amalgam of my favorite western Michigan beach towns. There are elements of Saugatuck, Holland, Grand Haven, and others incorporated into North Bear Shores. The same goes for Sunshine Falls: it's a fictional place based on several little mountain towns.
