Authors Tarryn Fisher, Colleen Hoover, and Christine Brae just get us the way good writers do. If you’ve read their books The Opportunist, Maybe Someday, and The Light in the Wound respectively, you’d know they’re bestselling authors with good reason.
When it comes to love, these three have penned romances that are hard to leave as if their novels are our very own stories. Speaking of books, Tarryn, Colleen, and Christine are here in Manila to sign your own copies of their titles at the Manila International Book Fair this Saturday.
We got them to talk about love, beyond their books and back to their realities.
You’ve all written about love. If you had to compare love to something, what would it be?
Tarryn Fisher (T): A black hole. A never-ending black hole that sucks you in—no answers, there’s nothing concrete. Sometimes, there’s no light.
Colleen (CH): I would compare it to religion. Everyone experiences it in a different way, and no one really has the answers.
Christine Brae (CB): I would compare it to insanity.
What’s one love-related cliché that you just can’t help but cringe at?
CH: Soul mates. I don’t believe in soul mates at all. I believe that people connect, and I believe that [some] people connect more than others. The traditional cliché of soul mates that there’s only one person you fall in love with—I don’t believe in that at all.
T: I’m checking the hashtag #love to see the gross love quotes. (Browses her Instagram feed) Let’s read some quotes. What about you, Christine?
CB: I don’t think love is forever. I think we grew up in this culture—especially the Filipino culture—where our parents and grandparents have been together for the longest time, and we try to emulate that. But you know, we suffer through it and we turn into martyrs ‘cause of [trying to copy that].
T: Okay, I have mine. I think it’s the “love will save you” quote. Love can’t save you. Love will make you mental. Love destroys you. When does love ever save you? Other loves can save you, but not romantic love.
What’s the best romantic novel ever written?
What’s the best romantic novel ever written?
T and CH: The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons.
T: The love here is unconditional. There aren’t a lot of novels where love was unconditional. He loved her so much, he fought for her in over a span of 20 years. He was just always there when she needed him. What was beautiful about that novel is that the protagonists’ love isn’t as flawed as much as the world. The world is attacking this love—unlike others where love attacks itself.
What’s the most memorable romantic moment that ever happened to you in real life?
CH: It was my husband and my anniversary, and I was at a book signing in another state. I walked out of the lobby, and there was a big bouquet of flowers at the front desk. Someone next to me was telling me how sweet of my husband to send me those. He doesn’t do that, but it turns out he did. I’m still convinced my sister did it.
T: I worked in a tanning salon when I was 18. It was right next door to a biker bar. At night, I would have to lock up the tanning salon, and leave and walk to my car. It was late enough that the bar would be busy. There would always be rough guys who were drunk. My boyfriend really got upset about it, telling me my shift wasn’t safe.
So what he would do is every single night, he would drive into the parking lot and just sit there until I left. I’ve had other things like flowers, but to me, that was a memorable sacrifice.
CB: I was in Paris, and I was supposed to meet somebody. He asked me if I was going to take a cab to meet him, and I said yes. So he told me to tell the cab driver to take me to this street, and drop me off there. I had work, so he was just waiting for me that time. I got in the cab, and I didn’t know where I was going—it’s Paris! I got dropped off in the middle of a street, so I just kept walking even if I felt a bit lost. I went across the street, and there he was. I said, “You found me!” And he said, “I’ll always find you.”
Tarryn Fisher, Colleen Hoover, and Christine Brae will hold a meet-and-greet session at the Manila International Book Fair this Saturday, Sept. 16, 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Meeting Room 2 in the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City.
Photos by Chissai Bautista