Young Adult author Talia Tucker never planned to be a writer, but she fell in love it. Here, she talks about what inspires her: Conversations, culture, and K-pop. Plus, she gives us a peek at her unique writing process and shares what every writer can learn from the romance genre.
When did you first know you were a writer?
It’s hard to say because it was never necessarily my dream to be a writer like I think it is for most authors. I’ve always been more interested in television and film, and while I wrote a few fanfiction stories as a teenager, I didn’t start writing seriously until my mid-twenties. I’ve always been a creative person and knew I wanted to work in a creative field, but I was just okay at a lot of things and not great at any one of them. At some point, I realized I just needed to pick something and pursue it. Writing felt accessible. All it really takes is a computer, patience, and time. So, I started writing one day, fully expecting it to be another short-lived obsession. Instead, I kept going. Somewhere along the way, I must have fallen in love with it. Since then, writing has felt less like a choice and more like a compulsion. I haven’t been able to stop. I often get fixations like this, but writing has truly been my longest.
What part of writing is the most fun for you? What’s the most challenging?
The most fun part is coming up with ideas. I love that moment when everything starts clicking and you realize you might actually have something worth pursuing. I also love when a detail that seems random or insignificant ends up tying the whole story together in a way that feels inevitable.
The most challenging part is when you see a scene so clearly in your mind and you just can’t articulate it in a way that does it justice. It takes a lot of drafts and a lot of tweaking and rewriting, but eventually it does get there.
Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you?
My inspiration tends to come from very random places. Rules for Rule Breaking started with a comment from my best friend. She said she wanted to read a story about the two most boring people imaginable. That’s how Bobby and Winter came to be. They start out as painfully school-focused rule followers. I wanted to tell a story about regular teens figuring things out in a way that suited their personalities, which led naturally to the idea of them breaking obscure, antiquated state laws.
My second novel, Solo Stan, came from an Agust D concert. For those unfamiliar with K-pop, Agust D is also known as SUGA or Min Yoongi of BTS. The morning of the concert, I decided to upgrade my seats and sold my original tickets. Two different people bought them, and based on where the seats were, I knew they were both going alone. I became obsessed. Where were they now? Were they dating? Best friends? Married? Enemies? That curiosity turned into a story.
Ghosted (coming in November 2026) came from a joke. A friend had been ghosted after a date, and I jokingly told him he should ghost the guy back and haunt his house. It spiraled from there.
I’m inspired by conversations, history, art, music, culture, my friends, trips I’ve taken. Really, anything. I’m the kind of person who knows a ton of useless facts, and as a writer, you actually get to use a lot of them.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
I used to be a hardcore plotter. I planned everything down to chapter word counts and individual beats. Now, I work from a loose outline and figure things out as I go. Part of that shift is deadlines. I’ve learned to approach drafts with the mindset that they don’t need to be perfect, they just need to be done. I can always fix things later. I also think it comes with experience. I can feel story beats in a way I couldn’t before, and I’m much less precious about killing my darlings. If I pants my way into a corner and have to cut a lot, it doesn’t devastate me the way it used to.
Tell us about your process. Where and when do you write?
I mostly write using dictation, then go back and clean it up at the keyboard. You generally speak faster than you type, and dictation helps me get out of my own way instead of constantly editing as I go. I also make a lot of voice notes. I get my best ideas while driving, so I’ll record them and transcribe them later. I jot things down in my notes app whenever inspiration strikes, and I sometimes write directly on my phone. If it feels like I’m texting a friend, the pressure disappears, and the words come more freely. I’m sort of never not writing. But when I do sit down to focus, I start at my desk until I get tired of being upright, then move to bed with awkward T-rex arms over my keyboard. I always have water, sometimes an iced coffee, but I don’t usually snack. I like saving snacks for break time.
How do you get unstuck or motivate yourself to write?
I rely on small tricks. Dictation, writing on my phone, changing font colors, and changing locations can all help. When I’m really stuck on a plot point, I’ll ask a friend to read my draft. Usually, I just need fresh eyes or a little distance. Powering through isn’t always the solution, although sometimes it is. A lot of the time, the block has less to do with writing and more to do with my own health. It usually means I’m burnt out and need to take a few days off.
What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received?
I’m a chronic underwriter. I tend to move quickly and don’t always sit with emotional beats long enough. I was advised to slow down and consider whether I’m starting my stories in the right place. Sometimes that means backing up and beginning earlier in a character’s timeline. Readers often connect more deeply with the smaller, quieter moments than with the big flashy ones, and that advice completely changed how I approach my work.
What have you learned from teaching writing?
I’ve learned that imposter syndrome never really goes away. It doesn’t matter whether you’re just starting out, or you’ve published multiple books. Writing is not something you ever fully master, and you have to be comfortable remaining a student forever.
What do you think all writers can learn from romance writing?
There’s a lot of elitism around romance as a genre, even though it consistently outsells almost everything else. I think writing romance teaches writers not to believe they are better than their readers. Romance centers on vulnerability and emotional honesty in a way that some genres don’t, which is why readers become so invested in romance books.
There’s a little embarrassment that comes with the romance genre, whether writing it or reading it. I think it’s similar to the embarrassment of admitting you have a crush. When you really think about it, why is it embarrassing to admit you like someone? Love is universal. That’s why I’m so glad the romance community is what it is now. It’s a point of pride rather than something to stealth-read in private.
As for what romance can teach you as a writer, even if you never plan to be a romance writer, trying it as a writing exercise can be incredibly helpful. The story generally follows the emotional arc of your characters, so it challenges you to treat them as fully realized people rather than just vehicles for plot.
What are you working on now?
I can’t seem to stop writing about ghosts. I’m currently working on a few projects involving Jamaican and Korean mythical creatures and spirits, and I hope they’ll see the light of day eventually.
My young adult, paranormal revenge comedy, Ghosted, will be released on November 10, 2026. It follows an eighteen-year-old boarding school student with a bad attitude, worse manners, and a sleep paralysis demon named Steve. After being ghosted by a boy she meets at her favorite food truck, she decides to ghost him back, literally. Armed with blackmail-worthy information, an impressive amount of spite, and help from a cute girl across the quad, she sets out to scare him so badly he’ll never step foot on campus again.
About Talia Tucker
Talia Tucker (she/her) is a young adult author who has spent her life investigating how identities shift and change between geographies, time, and cultures. Her Jamaican and Korean heritages inspire her to build worlds highlighting multiracial, queer, and neurodivergent characters of color within narratives that emphasize joy, something not typically centered in marginalized stories. She enjoys writing about messy women, soft boys, family, food, and trying to navigate the world as a child of multiple cultures. You can find her on Instagram @taliatuck and on her website www.talia-tucker.com.
