Q&A with author Savannah Scott

Hey everyone! I took a short break from doing blog posts, but now I’m back and I’m so excited to feature romcom author Savannah Scott! Aka- Patty Scott. She is such a delight and you’re in for treat!

Savannah-I love your romcom series Getting Shipped! However, I just recently discovered you have some other romance series as well! Can you tell us more about those and what made you shift to romcoms?

Thank you! I’m so glad you love the Getting Shipped! Series. I started writing non-fiction as a part of my heart’s passion to support moms and women. I never imagined writing fiction professionally, even though I had written short stories in high school and college. 

In 2019 I got this idea for a character. I was driving through town, and I saw a photographer taking pictures of a series of buildings and I thought, “She’d make a fun character.” Over the coming year, I’d imagine her story unfolding. In April 2020, during the pandemic, I decided to write Kat’s story, and that became my first clean romance, Love’s Second Chance (under my real name, Patty H Scott). I ended up writing a series of five books (The Unforgettable Love Stories) and then another series of four books (The Calloway Inn Series) over the following eighteen months.

Through the process of writing each book I grew as a fiction writer. I’m diligent about improving my craft. I study and practice to improve. From book one, I knew I wanted to incorporate humor into my writing, but writing humor is next level. To be able to convey what feels funny takes a set of skills I have in real life, but I wasn’t sure would translate onto the page.

I started planning to shift into romcom and by Dec 2021, I wrote and published my first book in this Getting Shipped! series. I decided on a pen name (Savannah Scott) because romcom will cross lines that some of my clean romance readers won’t want to read. I’m really careful to protect and serve my readers as much as I’m able. I still keep all my books closed-door, but the characters and situations, and even the kisses and physical attraction between my characters in romcom goes further, so I delineated with a pen name.

What is your favorite trope to write about?

I love so many tropes. I really enjoy the banter in an enemies-to-lovers. I also enjoy the challenge of making the characters relatable and drawing readers to cheer for the characters even when they aren’t at their best. I also love writing second-chance romance (my first of those was in Battleshipped). I love characters having a backstory together and needing to overcome past hurts to make their way back to one another.

What are some of your favorite and least favorite scenes to write?

I think wrecking my characters emotionally is hard for me. I feel like my characters are real people. Having them separate, experience misunderstandings and get angry or hurt is hard. I want to skip that part of a story sometimes, but the book and characters deserve the full ARC, so I go there. Sometimes I want to over-explain the reasoning as to why they are acting so off. And I have to go back and delete the superfluous writing. Readers are smart. They want to figure out and project a little into characters. So, even though leaving things nuanced and open-ended during painful parts of a story can be hard for me, I know it’s best for the story. I just want to get to that HEA!

My favorite thing to write is banter between two characters or monologue from an outspoken character. And I love writing kissing scenes. And elderly characters or children because they can say things we all think and don’t dare say out loud. I also love writing a fresh analogy or simile. I sometimes really put myself through a mental workout trying to come up with a new way to describe something we’ve all experienced and read before. The heart falls. How do I tell that in a fresh way? The heart breaks. How do I say that without being redundant? The dialogue between characters is so fun to write for me. I actually picture or hear (hard to say how I witness it) the words and I’m like more of a scribe than a composer.

What do you love most about being an author?

Oh gosh! EVERYTHING! I love the fellowship of authors. I’ve met some of my dearest friends in the writing world. I love the bookstagram community. What a surprise and a blessing to be able to directly connect with such avid readers and have them love on my books and me, and to be able to love and support them right back. I love being able to craft stories and to see people delight in my stories. I get messages about how my book helped someone escape at the end of a long week, or how a moral in one of my stories spoke to a reader. That’s the best thing ever. Being able to create and to feel like my gift with words reaches others and makes their day better is not just a cherry on the sundae. It’s the whole dessert—complete sweetness.

How did you decide on Savannah as your pen name?

I liked the idea of having two S’s. S.Scott. So, what was that first S going to be? I came up with about five or six names I liked. I bounced them off my existing reader group and one rose to the top. Then I asked my husband, who can be somewhat chill and noncommittal until he really has an opinion. Right away he said, “Savannah,” which was the same name my readers picked. I love the name. It feels like it fits. It’s odd, though, signing books “Savannah” when my name is Patty. If a person knows me well, I sign Patty in parentheses under the pen name.

How do you juggle being a wife, mom, and writer?

Let’s be honest. I do the juggling thing really poorly at times. But I have a whole book called Slow Down, Mama: Intentional Living in a Hurried World that tells my story of going from overly busy to properly busy and how women can make room for what matters most. I don’t watch much TV. As in, an hour a week, sometimes two (This is Us, hello! … and before that it was Downton Abbey). So, at night I write when others are in front of their TVs. I also write throughout the day, grabbing time at scheduled intervals. And I keep my notes app open so I can jot thoughts or lines when they come to me throughout the day.

I am pretty diligent about planning and figuring out priorities, and I give myself buckets of grace. It’s okay to eat spaghetti or quesadillas and salad for dinner. It’s okay to send my husband out for tacos. It’s okay to wipe the counters and sweep and not do a deep-clean. Something must give. What won’t give: motherhood and connecting with my husband. Those things trump everything else. They may take a back burner certain days, but on the whole, I put my significant relationships ahead of my writing.

While reading through your blog I learned that you have a passion for moms and pouring into their hearts. As a mom myself (of 2 boys) this is something I know we all need. Tell us how this came about!

I love motherhood. The Army used to have an ad: the toughest job you’ll ever love. Move over Army, motherhood already has that title.

Over time, as I grew as a mom and faced some serious hardships in our journey, I felt the call to minister to moms. So, I started Slow Down Mama. My first book actually was a co-authored book about parenthood which never got published. I wrote that book during a two-year collaboration with a prominent expert in parenthood. (Long, long story.) In the meantime, I wrote a shorter book equipping parents with principles for raising teens.

Then I realized my call was more about supporting mama hearts than giving practical how-to input. I shifted and before the pandemic I had been speaking about once a month to mom groups and leading occasional retreats for women. In this arm of my life, I have my blog and my three published parenting books plus my freebie on how to avoid power struggles.

I just love pouring into moms, but I never wanted to compete to be the next mom guru. I’m happy with the level I sustain in that area of my life. Now I pour most of my energy into writing romcom. But I still do have SlowDownMama.com which is being built with my old content and new content and the Slow Down Mama Patty Scott Instagram page too.

Do you have any quirky habits when you are in “the zone” writing a book?

I’m a really fast writer (according to other writers), pumping out a book every other month. I think my biggest quirk is that I go a few weeks without writing at all for each book. Most writers try to achieve certain word count goals and write daily. I need some time off where I don’t write at all before I can really set myself to the task of writing a story. This is the time my brain is forming the story and I’m not even aware of what’s going on.

I also get away for one long weekend during the writing of each book (not as consistently now as I used to). I go to a cabin or hotel and just write, write, write, write, write. I eat, sleep and take walks (or use the elliptical in the hotel gym) but mainly I immerse myself in writing for a full two and a half days. These getaways have been key to me publishing as quickly as I have. Though, with romcom, I’m thinking I’ll be releasing every three months, not every two. I just want to give each story the attention and work it deserves to be the best I can make it.

What are you currently reading/listening to/watching?

I’m still watching the final chapter of This Is Us. Gah. I hate that the show is ending. If you’re a fan, you feel this with me. I also am watching the original Gilmore Girls slowly, like one episode a week or every other week. I finish reading a book every other day or so. So, what I’m reading changes quickly. For Laura’s character I watched a few seasons of the Bachelor and Bachelorette (because she loved the show … and then I was just intrigued). For an upcoming book, my main character is super-into tabloids and Hollywood gossip, so I’ll submit myself to that stuff. I’ll be reading BuzzFeed and ENews for a while to get a feel for Shannon’s obsession with all things famous and trendy.

For my own personal reading, I really love romcom but also women’s fiction and contemporary romance.

In clean romance, I recently enjoyed Meet Me in the Margins and Sweet Right Here. I’m about to read The Next Worst Thing by Sara Jane Woodley because it was highly recommended by a friend. I’m listening to a British romance called Just Haven’t Met You Yet by Sophie Cousens. Like most British romance, it’s more descriptive and women’s-fictiony than American romances tend to be. And I just finished the Annika Martin Billionaires of Manhattan series on audio. I have been fan-girling over the narrators of that series. Neva Nevarre, here’s looking at you. And Jason Clarke’s voice makes me swoon. Those stories have more steam to them than the books I write. Annika is insanely talented as an author, and I adore her romcoms. She is funny and has such a way with words.

What is one word someone would use to sum you up?

Encouraging. It’s the word others have used when I asked them, so I’ll take their word for it. I’m fun, but serious too. My life is about building people up and caring deeply about what others are experiencing, and then shining hope into those places that feel broken or hurting so they are a bit more bearable.

It has got to be the most amazing feeling to finish a book! How do you celebrate?

I wish I celebrated more. I usually celebrate by loosely plotting the next book! Honestly, I do an inner happy dance, and then I usually text one of my closest author friends, Kiki Oliphant (Emma St Clair) and tell her something like DOOONNNNNEEEE! And then I move forward. The next story is like a dog scratching at the door to get in, so I have to open that door. I want to. That way I can play with the dog! This question made me realize I want to do a better job at pausing to really celebrate.

And finally, for those who aren’t familiar with your Getting Shipped! series, tell us more about those books and what we can expect in the future!!

Getting Shipped! is my favorite project to date. Even though I love my non-fiction and my clean romance, I feel like I came home as a writer in this series and in writing romcom. Romcom is my lane.

In the Getting Shipped! series, each book is a stand-alone, even though they build in order and chronological progression and characters overlap.

We have: Courtshipped, the prequel novella, which was written second, not first, and is available through March 2023 through the Prolific Works Sweet and Swoony promo. That book is set in an Italian restaurant, so come hungry and prepared to either eat out or cook as you read. It’s an insta-love story, but everyone says even though they may not be a fan of insta-love, they have loved the story. I mean, hot Italian, funny pug dog, outspoken best friend, all set in Covington KY … it’s a must.

The first published book in the series is Friendshipped. It’s a Friends-to-Lovers story and is a slow-burn. There are a lot of laugh-out-loud scenes in the book. It was my first book to write coming out of clean romance, so it’s cleaner than the others in the series in terms of heat. But there’s tension and we really get to meet the community in the sweet fictional small town of Bordeaux, Ohio (pronounced Bored-Ox). I love Lexi and Trevor’s extended friendships and all the small-town elements in the story. Lexi joins a dating app, and her dates are comedic tragedies. The romance between Lexi and Trevor is sweet. Cinnamon rolls, nights laying on a blanket watching stars, living next door to one another, working together …

The next book is Battleshipped. It’s a second chance romance with an enemies-to-lovers flavor. Rob and Laura were high school sweethearts until Rob broke things off to go to college (on the worst day of Laura’s life). Now Rob’s been back two years (six years after their breakup) and he wants to repair the damage and win Laura back. This book takes on the theme of forgiveness and working to earn back trust while still bringing the laughs and, of course, we’re still in Bordeaux, getting to enjoy that small town more with each book.

Townshipped will be out early to mid-June. It’s Aiden’s story. He’s the older brother to Trevor (from book one). Aiden’s a single IT consultant who lives on a small farm he bought about five years ago. People always teased Aiden that it wasn’t like a woman was just going to land on his doorstep and fall in love with him … so, just as you might imagine, THAT happens! Mallory grew up in upper crust of Boston society, but never quite took on the trappings of her status. She was engaged to Buck. Two weeks before the wedding she finally realizes she can’t go through with marrying a man she likes but doesn’t love. Mallory takes her honeymoon alone to get away from the aftermath of her announcement … and somehow, she ends up, you guessed it, on Aiden’s doorstep.

There will be at least two more stories in this series after Townshipped. One will be Shannon and Duke’s story. Duke is one of Aiden’s best friends, and he helps run the local garage with his dad. He’s a fun-loving man with a streak of roguishness in him. Duke’s secretly in love with Shannon who is his other best friend, Chris’ little sister. Shannon is one of the core group of friends in the series. She has had a thing for Duke forever, but she hasn’t even told her closest friends, despite them all suspecting it. So, this is a brother’s best friend romance. And it will be out August or September 2022.

The last book I have planned in the series right now is Jayme’s story. She’s the last woman in the core group of friends in Bordeaux. She is a fantasy romance author who also writes fortunes for fortune cookies for a living. Jayme’s a sweet, upbeat person who sees romance around every corner, only she doesn’t want it for herself after having been seriously burned in a past relationship. Jayme plans to rock the old-maid thing in her older years. When the new doctor moves into town, he needs a tutor for his learning-challenged daughter. Jayme takes the job. This doctor is shut off, dour and detached due to some backstory we’ll see unfold. Enter Jayme’s sunshine to his grump. This is also a bit of an age-gap romance.

I have thoughts of doing a Christmas novella set in Bordeaux too. I’ve had readers request certain pairings of other side characters. I will only write that novella if the characters come knocking for one. I don’t plot stories. Stories come to me.

Beyond Bordeaux (after Getting Shipped! has sailed off into the horizon) I have ideas for some fairy-tale retelling romcoms, some vacation-themed romcoms … and more. We’ll see what’s next after Getting Shipped!

Thank you so much for all these sweet questions, for loving my books, and for supporting me as an author.

Wow! You have so much in the works Savannah and I can’t thank you enough for taking the time for this interview. I just want to say that I admire you for pouring into mamma’s. I had women pour into me during some of my toughest years when my kids were young and I can’t tell you how much that blessed my life. So from moms everywhere I’d like to say THANK YOU!

You guys, I’ve read the first two in the Getting Shipped! series and they are ADORABLE 😍- my review will be up soon for Battleshipped. To keep up with Savannah/Patty follow her on IG here.