With her debut novel, ‘The Friendship Fling,’ Georgia Stone dares readers to let themselves dream

The following interview contains spoilers for ‘The Friendship Fling.’

When Georgia Stone originally wrote her debut novel, her only goal was to publish it. Something she decided she could do herself. Once book was released, she checked the venture off as a success, scheduled some marketing posts for her social media, and moved on. Her story, however, had other plans, bigger dreams: a traditional publishing deal. Through circumstances Georgia never even thought to hope for, her book was plucked from the independent publishing shelf, re-branded The Friendship Fling, and swept on to even more success. Leaving the author with little more to do than add some extra items to her list of career goals.

In more ways than one, The Friendship Fling is a story for anyone who has ever felt scared to take a leap of faith. Too sarcastic and cynical for her own good, Ava Monroe has built a life she is okay with. She orbits between her tightly controlled environments of home, work, and a decent amount of one-night stands, believing the world has granted her all she should ask for, with everything on her terms and comfortably within reach. That is, until Finn O’Callaghan strolls into her coffee shop and turns her life into a series of small adventures. As Ava helps Finn complete his London bucket list, there is a chance that she might fall in love with more than her city. As it did for her, Georgia Stone does more with The Friendship Fling than immerse you in the perfect summer romcom; she inspires you to discover how much bigger life can be when you dare to let yourself dream.

Georgia spoke with The FMC about the impostor syndrome, the trials of writing in dual point of view, her personal London bucket list, and more.

Congratulations on The Friendship Fling! I loved it!  How are you feeling now that release is so close? Does it feel like it's impending, or are you 100% excited?

It's weird because I self-published this book last year, so I've experienced publishing a book before, just not on this level. Now, I'll be able to go into bookstores and see it. I feel like that will be weird. But, as of right now, it kind of feels like I’m in limbo. Everything is done. I’m not getting any more emails from my publishers or anything. I’m just waiting for release, which is quite strange to be honest.

Because you're not getting any more communication, does it feel like something's wrong? My brain would automatically equate not hearing anything with the worst possible scenario. [laughter]

I did email my agent the other day, and I was like, “Can you tell me what to expect, or like not expect? Like, what am I going to get updated on or not updated on?”And she was like, “What do you mean? What are you expecting to be updated on?” [laughter] So, it’s normal, but it feels weird.

Has the time leading up to release been similar to when you self-published? Or does it feel different because it's not just you doing it anymore?

It's different because other people are involved. My only goal on my own was to publish the book. Now, with other people involved, there’s almost more pressure.

I get that. It’s scary. I bet it’s also nice not to have to do everything all by yourself. 

That is also true.

What do you think has changed the most for you as an author since your indie release?

I think something a lot of people don't like about traditional publishing is that you lose control of various things. I actually feel differently. I liked being an indie author, but I was unemployed when I self-published, so I knew I could never do it to the extent I wanted to with the money I had. It's a lot of responsibility. Now, part of the weight is off my shoulders. Now, I get to mostly focus on writing. I don't want to be a businesswoman. I want to be an author. [laughter] It's been nice not being responsible for anything, really, apart from providing words.

The dream, honestly. Take everything else away. 

Also, they’re the experts. Why would I pretend to know everything there is to know about marketing or cover design?

Exactly. Was there anything that surprised you about the switch from self-pub to indie?

Weirdly, I feel less confident now than I did when I self-published. I don't know if it's because, when I self-published, like I said, my only goal was to publish. It was within my control. Now, I feel like the goals are bigger and the stakes are higher. 

There’s more room for impostor syndrome to come and say hello.

That’s it!  To get a book deal, you need quite a lot of yeses all along the process, but I'm still like, “Well, you sure this wasn't a fluke? Are you sure you didn't confuse my book with another? [laughter]

As someone who has read your book, it deserves to be published. 

Thank you.

As more and more authors go from Indie to Traditional Publishing, is there any advice you would have for them?

The only thing that's really within your control is to have a book that is ready and a book that the market wants. I'm actually not 100% convinced that my book is what the market wants, but we'll see. All you can do is know the market. I do think that is where Indie authors shine. You have to know the market because you're directly dealing with it, one-to-one. I never expected a Trad deal. My book hadn't gone viral or anything. If the opportunity came about, then I was going to say yes, and I did.

When you're talking about writing to the market, maybe this is just me, but I like reading books that are different from things I’ve read. I mean, I still like my standard tropes, but brand-new plotlines are good too.

I think you can take more risks as an indie author, but Trad doesn't really like risk. They want you to write something that fits in a very specific space. If you want to be able to take more risks, indie is probably the best option. But, still, it does happen. I have a friend who just wrote what she wanted to write, and she got rejected by the agents because they were like, “We don't know where to put this.” And then, what do you know? She did very well as an indie author, and she got a ton of deals. So, there’s space for both. It’s just knowing where to start as a writer and where to look as a reader.

We’ve talked about the publishing process a little bit, but I also obviously want to talk about the book itself. Did you have much of a rewrite from the indie version to the traditional version, or did it stay pretty much the same? 

It stayed pretty much the same. It shrank a bit. It was almost 130,000 words as an indie book, which I will admit is quite long for a romance.

Was it hard to decide which scenes to take out?

It was actually pretty easy. Ava goes on a bunch of dates that don’t benefit the central romance, so they were moved off-page. It cut the book down by a few 1000 words. The rest was just trimming line by line, and my editors suggesting things. It didn’t mean I always listened. There were some scenes I was petty about for no reason. I was like, “No, I'm keeping this.” Sometimes I would say that first, and then right at the end, “I'd be like, No, you're right.” Ultimately, it wasn’t that difficult.

When it comes to Ava and Finn, which one was harder to develop as a character?

Finn, because I'm very similar to Ava. She came to me fully formed. Obviously, there are some differences. But with Finn, I was like, “Who are you? Like, what's going on in your head?” I had to think a lot harder about him. I almost didn't write in dual POV, because I didn’t know how to be a man, [laughter]. In the end, he doesn't have that many chapters. I think only about 25% of the book is from his point of view. 

One of the joys of romance is that you don't have to write like an actual man. You can write like an ideal one.

Right! So like…basically a woman. [laughter]

Literally. Because you favored Ava’s perspective, were there any scenes that you considered writing in Finn’s POV, but ultimately shied away from? 

I don't like writing spice from a man’s point of view. Everything up to a certain point can happen, but then I’m switching. In books that I've written since I've gotten a bit braver with it, but I still don't love it. 

Is it weird to have other books written and then have to promote one you wrote I’m sure what feels like forever ago?

It does. I was going to self-publish a second book in September or October last year. I was ready to start talking about it online when I got my book deal. I remember I'd set up a bunch of posts on Instagram–like a title reveal, the characters, all that– literally, two days before I got my book deal, and then I couldn’t do anything with it. So I’ve been ready for a while. My book deal is for two books, and they have both been written since before I got it.

Well, that has to feel nice.

It does. I don’t feel as pressured by having to turn in a second story. I’m still writing, but basically without a deadline.

Another thing I want to talk about is Josie. I love Josie. I love the very natural, casual representation of disability she brings to the story. It’s not a plot point. It's just an added layer to who she is and to Ava’s life. How did she come about as a character

Weirdly, also came to me fairly fully formed. I knew there was a dog. First of all, there's a dog. And I was like, “It's a guide dog.” And then, because of that, there was Josie.

Characters that have a disability, and it's not a plot point, are rare. I loved her from the second she was on the page, but as soon as I realized there was no reason she needed to be visually impaired, I loved her even more. I also love that you don’t explicitly say that she is.

It’s funny you say that because I  know you shouldn't check reviews, but I remember seeing one review that was basically like “Why didn't they say that Josie is blind? Like, explicitly.”

What?!

Yes. You’re introduced to Josie from Ava’s perspective. If you were introducing your best friend to someone, you wouldn’t be like “This is my best friend, Josie. She's blind.” She has a guide dog. She's using a screen reader. You can figure it out from context.

That’s crazy. I have cerebral palsy. None of my friends are like, “This is Sydney. She has cerebral palsy.” People don't usually even ask. They just pick up on it. I think the way you handled it was authentic. It took me two seconds to be like, “Oh, she's visually impaired.”I can't believe somebody said that. Wild.

Truly. It’s good to know not everyone feels that way. [laughter]

The catalyst of The Friendship Fling is Finn’s London Bucket List. What are some must-dos on your personal London Bucket List?

I did put one of my favorite places in the book. It’s the boat bar.

I really was hoping that was a real place!

I love that. I moved to London for university, and my residence was really close to that boat bar, so I associate that bar with moving to London. If I hadn't moved to London, I wouldn't have written this book. So having it in there is quite special to me. Other than that, any of the parks on a nice day. London's a very green city, which I don't think people realize. There are a lot of parks. I’m trying to think of some other spots.

I love getting local perspectives on things to do, because that's how you find the best places. I did study abroad there in college, and then I lived there for six months in 2023. I absolutely loved it. I miss it. The boat bar is definitely on my list for whenever I manage to get back. How about this: how did you pick the items that were going to be on Finn's bucket list? Was it plot first, location second, or vice versa?

Well, actually, the list wasn't in my original draft. It took ages for me to suddenly be like, “Oh, wait. They need a reason to be hanging out.” At first,  the book was literally just going to be like, Ava and Finn in the coffee shop. That was where their interactions were only going to be. When I decided to branch out, I needed some easy things to do. I wanted to combine things that people who are not familiar with London would recognize and see as touristy. But then, I also wanted London locals to recognize lesser-known things. I wanted to portray a realistic London, rather than the twee and quaint city that books and movies tend to capture. Obviously, there are some really cute places with cobblestone streets, but that’s just a part of the whole.

As somebody who loves it and goes over there all the time, I would say: mission accomplished. To me, it felt very realistic. Lastly, and just for fun,  if you could write the story of your own life, if you had complete control, which trope would you include?

Do you want me to answer realistically or like what I would want? [laughter]

The sky’s the limit. Wildest dream trope.

There's a part of me that wants enemies to lovers, but I think I would just hate the enemy like they would stay my enemy. In reality, it would probably be like Grumpy/Sunshine, where I'm the Grump. I like the idea of rivals to lovers. don't know why I would be rivaling like a man. I don't want to. I want a man as my rival. [Laughter] Maybe he's just someone I have beef with in the publishing world, not that I do at the moment.

There you go. You're gonna manifest this happening.

While I would love it, I think my true choice would be Grumpy/Sunshine.

I mean, it's great. It always hits.

It does. Always and forever.