for those reading stateside, good morning! for our friends in europe and beyond, I hope you’re not too far into your afternoon to have had the sunday scaries set in just yet. here in the west village, I have my friend Jenna’s soft girl fall playlist going up on my frame TV and a cup of coffee at my side as I ease into the morning and write to you on one of my favorite days of the year to be a new yorker: MARATHON SUNDAY!! I’m obsessed with the energy that pervades the city as the NYC marathon unfolds, especially on a sunny, unseasonably warm (it’s going to be 62°!) bluebird day like today.
for those who don’t find lacing up their sneakers and pounding the pavement cathartic, the idea of conquering 26.2 miles seems unfathomable. but I promise, once you get bit by the running bug, it’s a challenge you can’t get out of your head until you cross that finish line. I ran the NYC marathon with my bestie Lianna back in 2017 during the days when we were living, training, and working together. it was such a special time that I look back on with deep fondness. I followed up running new york with paris in 2019, and then pivoted to training for two consecutive years of the Serengeti Girls Run (three straight days of half marathons) before largely hanging up my running hat. while I have a feeling I’m not quite done training for long-distance races completely, only time will tell. for now, I’ll be out cheering on colleagues, friends, and strangers as they push themselves to accomplish an inspiring feat of endurance.
if you’re also going to be spectating in person or perhaps tuning into the TV coverage of the race today, I hope that the wide swath of ages, body types, and ability levels running the marathon shows you that you too, could do it if you wanted. if you have even the slightest desire to do a 5k, 10k, half marathon, or full marathon, my advice is to GO FOR IT. teaching yourself the self-discipline to prepare for races is just a fraction of the equation; so much more of the process is training your mind to overcome your limiting beliefs. you teach yourself to keep going one step at a time, in turn, surpassing mileage milestones and paces you didn’t think you could hit. the human body is an incredible machine if we allow it to work for us, but even more than that, your mind has stamina superpowers just waiting to be tapped into.
in an effort to keep this sunday series even somewhat brief, I’m not going to delve into an entire weekly R.E.P.O.R.T. (reading, eating, playing, obsessing, recommending, and treating), but I’ll instead end my intro with some notes about patience. the virtuous and elusive skill of letting the things we desire most happen when and how the universe knows they need to versus on our own arbitrary timelines is a practice I’m very much in the thick of. I loved the below quote from Brianna Wiest as a reminder that if you didn’t get that thing you wanted, it’s because it’s just not time yet.
meet Genevieve Wheeler
back in April, I found myself at a book launch in Brooklyn for a debut author named Genevieve Wheeler. the premise of her book (more on that below!) drew me right in, and I knew I needed to get my hands on a signed copy. in the ensuing months, it’s been such a treat to discuss this novel with close friends of mine, with several (hi, Sarah Lyon and
!) even sharing that it was one of their favorite reads of the year. I brought ADELAIDE along with me on a trip to Scotland, and I cherish thinking about how Genevieve’s words came along on that adventure.Kayla Douglas: Genevieve, you're an American living in London. How does being an expat influence the lens through which you tell stories today?
Genevieve Wheeler: I grew up all over – bopping between France, the US, and the UK as a child – but it wasn’t until I moved to London as an adult that I truly felt “at home.” I’m so in love with this city – enchanted by it in a way only an expat can be, I think – and I love capturing that starry-eyed feeling in my writing, that sensation of a city becoming its very own character in your life.
KD: Your debut novel, ADELAIDE, was heavily inspired by your first-hand experiences. At what point did you realize your path was planting the seeds for a work of fiction?
GW: Originally, I wanted to write this story because I thought my experience – with mental illness, with perpetually unavailable men, with female friendship and expat adventures – was unique and singular, and it seemed like it would be an interesting, even therapeutic exercise to explore that through fiction. Once ADELAIDE started making her way out into the world, though, I learned that my experience was more universal than I’d thought. I have a lot in common with Adelaide, but I don’t think I’d realized how much Adelaide also has in common with other women, particularly in their twenties.
KD: How did you approach applying discipline to your writing practice while balancing a full-time job and, all the while, staying sane as you wrote, pitched, polished, and published ADELAIDE?
GW: I started ADELAIDE in March of 2020 – just before the world shut down – and finished the final draft with my editor in 2021, so it was largely written and edited during the pandemic. I wasn’t working round-the-clock hours at a hospital, caring for a sick parent, home-schooling children, etc., so I was able to pour almost all of my free time into perfecting this manuscript (and occasionally having dance parties with my roommates). That said, I wouldn’t describe myself as especially disciplined (or sane!) – writing very much comes in ebbs and flows for me. I just try my best to carve out time to write when inspiration strikes.
KD: Many of us have had our own Rory Hughes. Was the process of constructing and getting into Rory's head cathartic?
GW: Oh, a hundred percent. I wrote Rory Hughes in an effort to encapsulate – and, in some ways, better understand – the modern f*ckboy (e.g. that emotionally unavailable guy you just can’t shake). Attempting to climb into that kind of person’s psyche was both cathartic and enlightening – f*ckboys aren’t formed in a vacuum, after all, and dissecting the reasons why someone might struggle with relationships and commitment was an eye-opening experience. It doesn’t justify sh*tty behavior, of course, but I think understanding is hugely important for gaining closure, and that’s what I found writing Rory.
KD: Your debut explores grief and mental health while capturing the timeless nature of what it’s like to be young and in love—with your friends, with your city, and with a person who cannot, will not, love you back. What do you hope readers take away from ADELAIDE?
GW: ADELAIDE definitely tackles some dark themes – grief, mental illness, and unrequited love among them – but I’d like to think readers can also find bits of light and joy in its pages. And I hope, above all else, they remember that “everything is going to be okay,” as the last line of the novel reads.
KD: Your debut has been out in the world for a little over six months now. What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you embarked on your author journey?
GW: I’ve certainly learned a lot throughout this process, but I don’t know that there’s anything I wish I’d known at the start if I’m honest. There’s something exciting about going in somewhat blind, about being shepherded through the world of publishing by my incredibly thoughtful (and patient! And brilliant!) agent and editor, taking each day as it comes.
KD: Tell us about the most recent work of fiction that left you with a book hangover.
GW: I read SHARK HEART by Emily Habeck a few months ago, and I still think about it near-daily. The plot is wild – it’s literally about a man who finds out he’s mutating into a great white shark – but it’s such a beautiful exploration of what it means to be alive and human and in love; I can’t recommend it enough.
KD: What book is on your TBR that you're most excited to pick up?
GW: MIDNIGHT IS THE DARKEST HOUR by Ashley Winstead and LOVE INTEREST by Clare Gilmore are two (very different) recent releases I cannot wait to read. One is a Southern-gothic thriller, the other’s a romantic comedy set in the world of New York media, and both seem utterly un-put-downable.
KD: The Sunday Series was conceptualized as a love letter to my favorite day of the week. If we were with you in London on Sunday, where would you take us to spend the afternoon?
GW: Oh, I love this question! I think we’d spend the first half of the afternoon braving the crowds at Columbia Road Flower Market in East London, iced coffees and fresh orchids in hand, followed by a delectable Sunday roast – either at a swanky spot, like The Grill at The Dorchester or at a cozy pub, like The Hemingway.
KD: What's next in your journey as a writer?
GW: I just (literally, just!) finished the third draft of my second book – I can’t reveal too much about it quite yet, but I can say that it’s about two best friends and set in Paris, and I hope readers of ADELAIDE find something to love in this story, too.
KD: Where can readers order ADELAIDE?
GW: Anywhere books are sold, from Bookshop.org to Target to your local indie bookstore!