Jillian Dodd: I Have a Chaotic Style of Writing

Jillian Dodd is an independent USA Today and Amazon Top 5 bestselling author. She writes fun, binge-able romance series with characters her readers fall in love with—from the boy next door in the That Boy series, to the daughter of a famous actress in The Keatyn Chronicles, to a spy who might save the world in the Spy Girl series; London Prep a prep school series about a drama filled three-week exchange; and the “Sex in the City”-ish chick-lit series, Kitty Valentine.

Her newest series, Eastbrooke Academy, is a friends-to-lovers, enemies-to-lovers, royalty romance. Ever wonder where the kids of the rich and famous go to school? Eastbrooke Academy isn’t a regular school. It’s an elite boarding school filled with the children of the outrageously rich, where drama is in excess and rules don’t apply.

Dodd is married to her college sweetheart, adores writing big fat happily ever afters, wears a lot of pink, buys way too many shoes, loves to travel, and is distracted by anything covered in glitter. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Jillian Dodd

In this post, Jillian discusses the meticulous research she conducted for her new YA romance novel, Popularity Isn’t Easy, her advice for writers, and more!

Name: Jillian Dodd
Literary agent: Flavia Viotti, Bookcase Literary Agency
Book title: Popularity Isn’t Easy
Publisher: Swoonworthy Books
Release date: September 19, 2023
Genre/category: Young Adult Contemporary Romance
Previous titles: That Boy® series; The Keatyn Chronicles®; Spy Girl® series; London Prep® series; Kitty Valentine® series; Eastbrooke Academy series; Love series; Girl off the Grid.
Elevator pitch for the series: Eastbrooke Academy is an elite boarding school, filled with the children of the outrageously rich, where drama is in excess and rules don’t apply. Aubrey Lane Arrington is a legacy. Destined to go there. And she wanted to until her best friend, Branson, who also attends, broke her heart and their friendship over the summer when he kissed another girl instead of her. And now the normally good girl has a plan—to get kicked out.

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What prompted you to write this book and how long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

This is book two in the Eastbrooke Academy series, and I’ve been planning this series for over six years. It’s a spin-off of 13-book series, The Keatyn Chronicles, and there are so many great characters in that series that I thought were deserving of their own stories.

Readers have asked for her mom’s story. Stories for her younger siblings. Love stories for some beloved side characters. I considered and wrote ideas for all of those, but because there is so much crossover in all my series, it made sense to write about the next generation of Keatyn’s children back at the boarding school where her own love story started.

The fun part was that I could really play with the progressiveness of the school to make it different, but still keep many of their long-standing traditions. Because I typically write intricate, long series, with lengthy character arcs, I definitely have to be in love with the characters and setting, because I know we’re going to be together in this process for many years. This story is told from Keatyn’s daughter’s POV and she’s so much different than her mom and I’ve been loving writing her.

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

You would think since I write sort of reality TV like fiction that it would be easy to make stuff up, but everything I write is meticulously researched—so my made-up stuff is based on real-life facts. For this book, I studied the super and mega yachts of the very wealthy in great detail, as this entire book is set on the yacht owned by one of the students. I even drew out rough floor plans of where everything is on my yacht. And I’ve learned that I’d really like to go on one. #research #bucketlist

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

I have a chaotic style of writing. I write scenes out of order and as they come into my head. Once that’s done, I go back and plot out the book. While writing this book specifically, I also wrote the ending scenes for the next three books in the series. Which was definitely a surprise!

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

For me personally, books have always been an amazing way to live different lives. Through books, I’ve saved the world, recovered stolen art, dated many different types of men, gone to boarding school, traveled the world, and lived epic love stories.

I hope readers find themselves lost in the worlds I create. I want them to fall in love with my characters—feel their heartbreak and joy. I want them to feel like they are living in the story with my characters.

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

Pretty much anytime I tell someone that I write books, they tell me they’ve always wanted to and go on to tell me about their amazing ideas. My advice is always the same — you should write it! Ideas are great, but a book won’t come to fruition unless you actually take the time to write it. To craft the story. So, my advice is to write!

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