Whenever I meet someone who has an encyclopedic knowledge of popular television, it’s like finding a kindred spirit. I felt this immediately when my path first crossed with Adrienne Gunn several years ago through the Chicago live lit/storytelling community. We bonded over our shared love of pop culture — and I knew she wouldn’t judge me for being able to name every Real World cast member from Seasons 1 through 12 from memory.
Gunn’s love of reality television inspired her debut novel Fan Favorite, a romantic comedy about a Chicago woman exhausted by the dating scene who decides to go on a Bachelor-esque dating show in an attempt to win back her high school boyfriend. Using the world of reality television as a backdrop, Gunn explores the power that pop culture has in shaping our beliefs about love, success, and friendship, and often makes you laugh out loud.
Fan Favorite comes out on June 24 from Grand Central Publishing. In anticipation of Gunn’s publishing debut, we moved our ongoing text thread over to a shared Google Doc where we could dish further.
Fan Favorite’s main character Edie Pepper lives in Roscoe Village. Were there any other Chicago references that you wished you could include in your book that didn’t make it in? For example, I can totally envision Edie and her best friend Lauren going to Roscoe’s Tavern for RuPaul’s Drag Race viewing parties.
They would totally do that! Sadly, most of the book takes place in Los Angeles and even though I wanted to set a big reality TV date here, the book’s narrative got in the way. But two of the main characters grew up on the North Shore, and I had this big middle school dance chapter featuring a dance-off to En Vogue’s “Never Gonna Get It” and it felt so perfectly Midwestern to me! Sadly it got cut for space and I still mourn to this day. Should I release it on my Substack??
Absolutely! That brings back flashbacks of my North Shore middle school’s annual talent show; a girl in my class performed a dance routine with her sisters to “Back to Life” by Soul II Soul and it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. Those are some formative memories!
The dialogue in Fan Favorite is so witty, but what especially surprised me with their hilarity were the moments of physical comedy, which can be hard to pull off on the page. You and I have talked about how we’re both big fans of the series The Studio, which often punctuates its smart satire with a perfectly timed pratfall by Seth Rogen’s character. Who are your comedy heroes that have had the biggest influence on you?
I think it will probably surprise no one that Bridget Jones — and her author Helen Fielding — had a huge influence on this book. When I would tell people what it was about, I’d say, it’s like if Bridget Jones went on The Bachelor and I would see people’s eyes light up immediately. I’m also an absolute maniac for Veep, which I watch every single night. I love the way they do physical comedy — for the Veep-heads out there, you can find me saying “Rebranded!” and kicking out my hip and posing multiple times a week. There’s also a Veep moment that lives rent-free in my brain where, after the tied election — there can’t be spoilers for a show that ended in 2019 can there? — the janitors just brutally rip a Selena Meyer campaign poster in half and shove it in the trash, and it’s making me laugh right now just thinking about it. I also really love juxtaposition, and I think The Office does that so well. And I also love how The Office is hilarious, but also sweet, and rooted in relationships.
What kind of research did you do while writing Fan Favorite? Do you have a favorite season of a reality series or a breakout star that you turned to for inspiration?
Besides my lifetime of reality TV watching (lol), I read a memoir from one of The Bachelor’s favorite villains, Courtney Robertson and I did a lot of research into television production generally. I had some baseline knowledge producing videos for my day job. I knew the camera op says “rolling” and then sound says “speeding” and then the shoot can begin, things like that. But I created cheat sheets for who’s on set, what are their titles, roles, etc., and into budgets and season length, advertising spends, etc., etc. I also listen to an embarrassing amount of recap podcasts for shows I watch, so, honestly, my day-to-day consumption was informing this book at every turn. In terms of favorite shows or seasons, I have to say the Reality Von Tease season of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is absolutely epic for me in the way the snake starts eating its tail.
I’m glad you brought up Real Housewives, because when it comes to pop culture obsessions, I lean toward the Star Wars universe and you lean towards the Bravoverse. If you had to sum up your writing process with a Real Housewife-style tagline, what would it be?
Omg this is so hard!!! How’s “I might be funny, but you’re the real clown.” HAHAHAHA, I guess in my Housewives universe I’m a real bitch, lol.
It is hard! Can I pick this for you? “Life put me in the corner, so I wrote my way to the shelf.”
GIRL. This is perfection! Can I just start saying this? I need to make one of those turn-and-deliver-the-line videos. In a gown!
You definitely should! I’ve asked a lot of TV-related questions, but now I’d love to turn to books. What are some of the books that first made you fall in love with reading, and want to become a writer?
When I was a kid, my mom used to take me to the Waldenbooks at the mall and let me buy like five books at a time, and it was the most indulgent, wonderful thing. So I would tear through Judy Blume, The Babysitters Club, Sweet Valley High, R.L. Stine, V.C. Andrews — I loved it all. I think those series really put me on my path. Today I really love books about women, about families, and about friendship. Recently I loved Margo’s Got Money Troubles — I was absolutely obsessed with what Rufi Thorpe did with point of view and how much I cared about Margo!
I can relate to that; there was no day more joyful than Scholastic Book Fair Day! Your Substack newsletter is called Where the F*ck’s My Happy Ending?! and unpacks the reality of shifting expectations of life as a single working mom. I know that writing a novel has been a lifelong dream of yours. Does publication feel like a happy ending, or to borrow from the popular meme, is there a distance between expectations versus reality?
One of the things I’m most interested in is how I’ve internalized all these ideas about how things are supposed to be or how they’re supposed to feel from all the media I’ve consumed. And so achieving this lifelong dream is so incredibly exciting, but also overwhelming and strange because it’s not like summarized in one neat scene with the perfect musical score. I’m like, what’s a book launch? It’s Carrie Bradshaw coming down the stairs in that flapper dress and Samantha’s wearing a beekeeper veil. Shockingly, this process has not been nearly as glamorous! But I went back to therapy so I could practice being present! I’ll let you know if it worked.
You are currently working on your next novel, about an aging pop star going on a reunion tour. If you had to choose, which early aughts pop princess do you most personally identify with?
Oh, this is a good one! Can I give you a real throwback and say Aubrey O’Day from Making the Band / Danity Kane? I’ve always liked Aubrey’s work ethic, lol. A BOOM KACK! A BOOM KACK KACK!
You absolutely can, and truly the perfect way to end this is with A BOOM KACK KACK!