By Jess Scaffidi Saggio, Lucy Powell, Katie Farr, Ayman Sabir and Iona Fleming
Following the story of a young literature professor, Eileen (Elsy), who suddenly finds herself trapped in her favourite storybook town of Eloraton, Ashley Poston’s A Novel Love Story is a heartwarming slice-of-life love letter to romance readers. Readers have often categorised Poston’s work as falling into the romantasy genre, with A Novel Love Story dubbed by some as a ‘paranormal romance’ and even a ‘ghost story’. When asked how Poston feels about these categorisations, she said if it helps readers find her books, then she is happy with “however is easiest to categorise [her] novels.” Besides, Poston suggested that given the tropes present in A Novel Love Story, there may not exist a genre that works, and she added that she really doesn’t think “there’s a ‘contemporary portal romance’ genre yet!”
The idea for A Novel Love Story came from Poston combining the two things she loves the most: “romance tropes and portal fantasies.” Poston wanted the novel to feel “like a warm blanket”, creating that “comforting and familiar” feeling that she loves in her own favourite romance novels. The challenge was trying to “capture that feeling.” For Poston, “it has a lot to do with nostalgia – how you felt when you first encountered your favourite trope, the circumstances, the feel of the paper on your fingers.” This cosiness is perfectly captured through her descriptions of the mystical Eloraton, depictions of the town’s lively characters, and, of course, the charming romance between Elsy and her love interest, Anders.
Poston also has an interesting perspective, having previously worked in the publishing industry, designing and implementing marketing strategies for novels, as well as experiencing the industry from a writer’s point of view. Working in publishing was Poston’s “dream”, and she “loved [her] time” in the industry, although she now writes full-time. When it comes to being an author, Poston finds her inside knowledge can be “a double-edged sword.” While “knowing how some decisions are made and why they’re made helps [Poston] conceptualize both good and bad news”, understanding why the answer might be a no when receiving a rejection is “not always comforting.”
Regarding breaking into the publishing industry, Poston states that she “wish[es] [she] could say there is one set path” but, in reality, she “sort of threw rocks at a window until someone came to see what the noise was.” Landing her own role in publishing began with taking marketing courses at university and interning at Penguin Random House. Poston taught herself graphic design and the Adobe suite, and worked as a freelance designer “designing covers, bookmarks, business cards, [and] booklets” until she applied to a major publisher.
In terms of her writing, Poston says that “it wasn’t a sort of meteoric rise that everyone romanticises. I didn’t query one agent, immediately sign with them, and then have an eight-house auction for a seven-figure deal.” Poston is now a bestselling author, with her novel The Dead Romantics being a Good Morning America Book Club pick. On gaining this success, Poston says “it took a lot of work. Years of it.” However, she explains that she is grateful for this foundation to her writing career; “[b]ecause of it, I know what I’m good at, and I know how I write, and I know how I fail. They are things that are immeasurably important.”
A Novel Love Story is also reminiscent of plenty of romance fanfiction, and the tropes used therein. Poston said that she used to write a lot of fanfictions as her writing “foundation.” It was through fanfiction that Poston learned the tropes she loved and the kind of characters she enjoyed writing. She shared that “every one of [her] books” has “fandom influence[s]”, as her love for fanfiction and her love for novel writing are inseparable.
As an author with several romance novels already under her belt, like The Seven Year Slip and her debut, Geekerella, Poston’s view on writing when it came to A Novel Love Story was that “writing something new [was] always difficult and scary.” Her method of writing her debut compared to writing her other works, including A Novel Love Story, was completely different, requiring the use of a “different set of skills”. “The way I wrote, how I wrote, when I wrote… It took a while, but I learned that every new story you write is going to be different than the one you wrote before.”
Speaking of her plans for a future novel, Poston was able to share that next summer she will be releasing “another magical romance” called Sounds Like Love, which follows “an overworked songwriter and a bitter musician who find themselves with an inexplicable telepathic connection.” The only way to break their bond? Finishing the song that’s been stuck in both of their heads! Poston described the upcoming release as her “ode to joy”, and that only makes us all the more excited to read it. Keep your eyes peeled for its expected release on 17 June 2025!