Kayla Olson: On the Joy of Collaborating With an Editor

Kayla Olson is the author of two books for young adults and The Reunion. Whether writing at her desk or curled up with a good book, she can most often be found with a fresh cup of coffee and at least one cat. Visit her at KaylaOlson.com or follow her on X (Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

In this interview, Kayla discusses how selling a book on proposal changed the way she approached the writing process for her new romance novel, The Lodge, her hope for readers, and more.

Name: Kayla Olson
Literary agent: Holly Root and Taylor Haggerty of Root Literary
Book title: The Lodge
Publisher: Atria/Simon & Schuster
Release date: January 7, 2025
Genre/category: Contemporary Romance
Previous titles: The Reunion
Elevator pitch: From the author of The Reunion, a cozy rom-com about a writer who decamps to a Vermont lodge for work but finds herself distracted by the charming ski instructor next door.

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What prompted you to write this book?

After writing The Reunion, I thought it would be fun to do another book with a celebrity aspect to it—only this time, instead of Hollywood stars, I decided to include a fictional boy band! I never quite outgrew my boy band era, so I had a blast writing this. I also tend to be very inspired by the setting for any given book, and it felt like a lot of fun to write a book set at a luxurious ski resort … it was a goal of mine to basically just write the coziest thing ever, and I had a ton of fun bringing that setting/mood to the page.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

It’s gotten harder over the years to pinpoint exactly how long any one project takes, since my best ideas usually hit right in the middle of deadlines where I’m already working on something else. This one I think took right around two years? We sold this project on proposal, so I wrote the sample pages months before I wrote the rest of the book. We had a couple of intense rounds of revision after that—while the main story arc stayed mostly the same, I did a lot of surgery on the subplots. Alix’s sister, Lauren, didn’t even exist until the second draft! I do also remember making one big change to how the main plot wrapped up, but that’s super spoilery. I will say it’s definitely for the better—once my editor suggested I make the change, it felt like Alix’s entire emotional arc fell neatly into place.

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

The Lodge was the first time I sold a book to a publisher before I’d written a full first draft, so that was definitely a learning curve in some regards! Every project I worked on before, I had spent months writing and revising until I had full, polished drafts. Three of those projects sold—The Sandcastle Empire, This Splintered Silence, and The Reunion—but several are still in the drawer even after months (years!) of work. Knowing upfront that The Lodge would be on bookstore shelves at the end of the process felt extremely motivating! On the flip side, it was a learning curve not to have all the time in the world to write the first draft, or the second draft, or any of the other drafts that followed. I’m a pretty disciplined writer, so I always set deadlines for myself anyway, but it was just a different feeling knowing my editor was waiting for my work so early on … fortunately she’s brilliant and has proven to be a safe place for my writing at every stage of the process.

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

One thing I had never experienced before, but was pleasantly surprised to discover, was how great it felt to be able to collaborate with my editor, right from the start, about what the book would be—instead of meandering through several drafts on my own trying to get things just right, Kaitlin helped give this book a strong foundation right from the start. (Thank you, Kaitlin!)

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

I hope readers will get a lovely dose of delight and joy out of The Lodge—that it will feel as cozy as snuggling up under a strand of twinkle lights with a warm blanket and a mug of hot cocoa.

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

Enjoy the process—enjoy creating! Do it because you love it, not because you want to be loved for it. You can only control the words on the page, so have fun with them and focus on doing the very best you can. Don’t be afraid to start over if something isn’t sparking excitement for you … but also don’t be afraid when things just get tedious, because they will inevitably get tedious with every single project eventually.