Author's Note is a short segment where we interview authors in hopes of introducing you to your new favorite book!
This week, we had the pleasure of asking Ali Hazelwood, the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis (2021, Berkley Books), a few questions about her latest STEMinist romance, Love on the Brain, which is available August 23.
Can you describe Love on the Brain in a tweet?
Ali: I [28F] am a neuroscientist, and I just found out that NASA chose me to be the leader of a very important project. Unfortunately, the leader [33M] of the engineering side is my grad school nemesis. If I egg his office, AITA?
What are 5 emojis that sum up your book?
Ali: ❤️🩹 🐱 🧠 🍆 💌
Write a short Tinder bio from your main character’s perspective.
Ali: Bee K., 28. I’m fairly sure love is an unstable isotope constantly undergoing spontaneous nuclear decay, and all human relationships are doomed to fail. I only made this profile because my sister forced me; please do not swipe right. (Unless you have cats. Do you have cats? Feel free to send cat pics.)
Name five songs that encapsulate the vibes of Love on the Brain.
Ali: "Gorgeous" by Taylor Swift, "Paper Rings" by Taylor Swift, "Delicate" by Taylor Swift, "Love, Maybe" by MeloMance (but I love Kim Se-jeong’s versions)
And (wait for it...)
"Love on the Brain" by Rihanna.
(I had to.)
Share the wildest thing you Googled for this story.
Ali: How to express anal glands.
What's one quote from Love on the Brain that will leave us wanting more?
“Are you going to kiss me?”
No idea where that came from. But I’m not sorry it’s out there.
His smile doesn’t falter, but he shakes his head. “I don’t think so,” he says quietly. Strands of purple hair brush against his forehead. His cheeks. We are close, so close. He smells so good.
“Why?”
“Because I’m not sure you want me to kiss you.”
And last but not least, share something interesting that happened behind-the-scenes while writing this book.
Ali: We rescued my orange cat (Hux) in the Summer of 2020, right when I was writing the book. A few weeks later, I was writing in bed (this is why my back hurts all the time btw), and my cat decided to come curl up on my butt and take a nap. It was truly a watershed moment in our relationship. That day, we bonded like never before (and I got sciatica).