Ali Hazelwood, LOVE ON THE BRAIN

[2:07]Zibby Owens: Hi. I'm Zibby Owens, the creator and host of the award winning podcast that you're listening to right now. Thank you so much. Called Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books. It is a daily podcast three hundred and sixty five days a year, and each day we talk to an author about all of the things related to their career, their book, their life, and more in thirty minutes or less because who has time? I am now an author myself, although I wasn't when I started this podcast, and you can get my new memoir, A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature wherever books are sold starting July 1, and my children's book, Prince is Charming. You can learn more about me at zibbyowens.com, But really, you're here to learn more about the authors, and that is what we're going to do. Also, sure to check out all the other podcasts in the ZCast Podcast Network. You can learn more at zcastnetwork.com, and definitely check out those shows as well. Also, just a quick note that submissions for the Zivvy Awards are open and will close on September 15. Go to zivvyowans.com and you will find the Zivie Awards open submissions where we celebrate all the under celebrated parts of a book, like the best spine, the best author's note, the best table of contents. And authors can nominate their own best publicists, best editors, and so on. There will be an in person award ceremony in October in New York. You will not want to miss it. Go to zibbyowens.com. Allie Hazelwood is the bestselling author of Love on the Brain. She's also the bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis, as well as a writer of peer reviewed articles about brain science in which no one makes out and the ever after is not always happy. Originally from Italy, she lived in Germany and Japan before moving to The US to pursue a PhD in neuroscience. She recently became a professor, which absolutely terrifies her. When Ellie is not at work, she can be found running, eating cake pops, or watching sci fi movies with her two feline overlords and her slightly less feline husband. Welcome, Allie. Thank you so much for coming on Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books to discuss Love on the Brain. Thank you so much for having me. Oh, it's my pleasure. Would you mind telling listeners

[4:18]Ali Hazelwood: what Love on the Brain is about? Love of the Brain is my second book, and it's a rom com about Bea, a neuroscientist who has been having a few issues in her career recently, but she gets assigned to this amazing project at NASA that is going to be life changing for her. She's going to lead a very important project that has to do with astronauts and really complicated technology. And then when she's over the moon, because she just found out that she got this project, she finds out that the person she's going to lead the project with is someone that she knows from grad school, and it's someone that she has a little bit of a past with. And, you know, the book is the story of how they kind of figure out how to work together in order to finish this project.

[5:07]Zibby Owens: Wait, what was your funny nickname for him again? Super brag or something? Or what was the sister's nickname for him? For him, the Wargas.

[5:15]Ali Hazelwood: Think I don't even remember. It's been so long since I've read that book, and now I'm like deep into my other books. Oh, I think that's what it is. Know you're like, do I am I really still talking about this? Yeah, the Wardass. Yeah, yeah.

[5:29]Zibby Owens: Amazing. I mean, aren't a lot of books where rom com where the lead woman is a neuroscientist. I love that. And you have all of this description of her in the lab and all her mom wore a wedding dress to her lap, to her. Wait, who wore the wedding dress? I'm like, No. The wedding dress was Marie Curie. Marie Curie. Yes. And her mom. So Marie Curie,

[5:51]Ali Hazelwood: has this. I mean, to be fair, it was a different time. But the story of Mercury, so the main character of the book is kind of like a Mercury fanger or she's obsessed with Mercury. And who wouldn't be? I mean, come on, she was super cool. But there is a story of Mercury, which is that she When she got married, at the time, Sophia Curie, who was her soon to be husband, was going to be the one who would buy a wedding gown because she didn't have the money. Marie Curie was like, All the money goes into science. So he was going to buy her the wedding gown and she was like, You know what? Let's not buy me a wedding gown since I have Like, how many times are you going to wear a wedding dress? Only once. Instead, buy me a gown that I can actually use in the lab. And so it's basically, she kind of like In modern days, she basically got married in her lab coat, which I kind of love. That's awesome. It's so Marie Curie, really.

[6:57]Zibby Owens: I love that, you know, at the time of this recording, I'm like reading this about Marie Curie and then like looking at the J. Lo, Ben Affleck wedding pictures, you know, on Instagram. And I'm like, how different? Wait,

[7:09]Ali Hazelwood: did they get married? Yes. Oh my god. Are you kidding me? I miss that. Oh, it just happened. It just happened. And sorry for the timeliness. Oh, I'm so glad they did it. I'm so glad. I want this for them. I want this for them. Yes. Well, you're going to go on a deep dive and I'm so excited. I don't know why I missed it. I've been very deep in K drama, so I haven't been on social media a whole lot, but I'm glad. I'm so happy for them. Yes. Yes. It's a second chance romance that we all want to see in the world.

[7:42]Zibby Owens: It's like another rom com, right? Oh, yeah. Twenty years later, here we go. I love this. They're older. They're wiser. They're both still super attractive.

[7:51]Ali Hazelwood: And this is happening.

[7:54]Zibby Owens: I'm glad. Yes, it's well, now you can write a book about that. You know, that is like a

[8:01]Ali Hazelwood: so how did you get into writing? Well, how did you get into writing in general, but particularly writing rom coms? Right. So I wasn't I never really wrote fiction growing up. You know, I would write for school and, you know, for essays and stuff like that. But then I think in 2017, around 2017, I actually saw a movie of the movies at the cinema. It was Star Trek Beyond. And I had always been a lot into Star Trek when I was a kid. Then, you know, growing up, like there had been school and other things that kind of like I had to kind of let go of my fangirlist spirit. But when I went to the movies, I was in the last year of my Ph. D. And I saw, you know, Spock again. I was like, Oh my God, I am obsessed again. That was like how I got into fandom and fan fiction. Think part of the reason why I was never into fandom before and fan fiction stuff was that, you know, I didn't grow up speaking English. So there was a big part of the Internet that was just kind of like off limits to me because I couldn't understand what was going on. But, you know Wait, where did you grow up? I grew up in Italy. Right. Okay. So, I grew up speaking Italian. And up until high school, like we- I come from the very North of Italy, so the second language in our schools is German because we're so close to Austria. English just wasn't really a thing for me for a long time. And then, you know, in high school, I started studying English and then, you know, I started doing some programs abroad and I started learning it. And anyway, fast forward, I mean, my late twenties, I think, I am finishing up my PhD. I see this movie and I'm like, I need to know more about like what is going on. Wait, what was your PhD in? My PhD was in neuroscience. Oh my gosh. Okay. All right, keep going. Then it was here in The US. Yeah, no, so totally unrelated to Star Trek. I like, this was just I I just bring it up because I think it was this- I think I really needed a distraction at the time. Like, I had been hyper focused on my work and my school and, you know, just my research for so long. And I kind of rediscovered that there was this amazing thing that I loved, which was, you know, fannish spaces and, you know, sci fi and love stories. And so I kind of went back to that. And that's how I discovered fan fiction. And first I was just reading it. And then I started getting some ideas for, you know, fanfic writing. And I started, you know, slowly posting stories. First, really short stories about, you know, these Star Trek characters in weird scenarios, mostly like very romantic in tone. So, like, I had a bunch of ships, a bunch of characters that I wanted to be together and stuff. And then, you know, that's kind of how I started writing. I wrote fan fiction for, I think, three, four years. And then I met like my agent, Thao Lei, who is amazing. She actually reads fan fiction and she found some of my fan fiction. And I had written a note at the end of one of my fics saying, If you are interested in this story, please download it because I might pull it one day. I might decide that I want to, you know, try to publish it. So just make sure that you download it if you want to have it because it might not be here. And she saw this note and she was like, You know, it sounds like you're interested in publishing. Why don't we work together, basically? And that was, you know, that was amazing. She's the one who kind of taught me how to write a rom com. She helped me so much. She's amazing. And that's how, you know, the books started happening. So it basically was just your agent being like, transition from fan fiction into this. My agent is amazing. And not just that, like she she's such a she's not she's not just doing it with me. She's done it with other people, too. Like, she's taken a lot of like artists and she does both illustrated books and like, you know, graphic novels and like regular books and like, you know, just writing. And she just she's also very into funnish spaces and fandom. She's like a nerd. I love her. I just I like her as a person. As I remember, we have so many things in common, but she has I know with several people, you know, she just reads some fiction and if she sees potential and if she sees interest in someone, you know, being traditionally published, she doesn't like barge in and say, You should stop writing fan fiction because you're just wasting your talent. You should come and try to publish. She's just, you know, if she sees interest, she helps you. Got it. She's amazing. Wait, who is this? Who is this amazing agent? Her name is Tawley. She is with the Sandra Dijkstra. I can't even get the name. Literary agency. I'm actually very excited because I'm going to Comic Con this this week. And so that will be in San Diego and that's where she lives. So, I'm going get to like hug her. Aw.

[13:04]Zibby Owens: I'm so excited. I was just with Evangeline Lilly, who is from Ant Man and the Wasp, and she was at my book fair and she's going to be at Comic Con this week. Oh,

[13:13]Ali Hazelwood: there's going to be so many cool people. Like, I am just going to, like, pace around hoping to meet Oscar Eisai. I think You're that's what I'm going to so funny.

[13:24]Zibby Owens: I have to say you would not know or assume any of this backstory about you from reading this book. I mean, yes, there must I knew there was some neuroscience background, but it could have just been research, right? You could have just like Googled extensively or interviewed people. But you have the most amazing background. It's really awesome. I mean, and

[13:49]Ali Hazelwood: yeah, you just it just goes to show. It's like you just never know. You just never know. It's like You really don't. You really have no idea. Like, I never would have thought five years ago that I would be doing this. I mean, this is amazing. I'm super grateful, but I never would have pictured it. You really never know. Oh my gosh. But you're really you have a great voice.

[14:06]Zibby Owens: Like you're from the very beginning. Like, I did not want to stop reading, right? You're you're it's super relatable and conversational and funny

[14:16]Ali Hazelwood: and like current in all the, you know, slang and everything. You know I mean? It's like, especially that you don't have English as a first language. I mean, that's like shame on all of us who are native born Americans who like cannot write books or Oh, cannot I get so much help, though. Like, I get, you know, I have a lot of friends that I actually met from my fan fiction days and they helped me so much. They're like, This is not English. This is not a real word. You made it up, stuff like that. And then I have, of course, my editor at Berkeley, who also helps me so much. I have to be honest, I get the first version of anything that I write is like, Oh my God. It has to be in the vault, locked. It cannot be seen by any. Do

[15:03]Zibby Owens: you also have a sister you're close to or just a best friend or who do you call it to in the morning? Well, so I have a sister and we are fairly close, but

[15:11]Ali Hazelwood: I have a bunch of really, really good friends. So my best friend, that's my best friend, Kate. Actually, my first book was dedicated to her, whom I met through fandom. She is my like, she is my fangirl twin soul. Like, in whenever I get excited about something, she's the one that I go to. Like, for me, it's just, I know it sounds I also go to her when I have problems, when I want to cry and stuff like that. But like, for me, just like the whole getting excited about things is so important. I really just want to have someone to share this with. And like, she's the one that I can go to. Like, for example, I recently got into K drama so hard and she was like, You know what? If you like them so much, I'll check them out. Anyway, she's What? Okay, this is embarrassing.

[15:55]Zibby Owens: What is K drama? I am ready.

[15:58]Ali Hazelwood: I am ready to talk about them. So K dramas are basically- They're basically like these mini series. They usually have 16 to 20 episodes and there are a bunch of genres of them and they are, you know, produced and written in Korea. And you might have heard of Squid Game. Think it was the Yes, yes. Biggest Right. It's basically like Squid Game, but you know, the ones I like are usually more romantic in tone. Have like a bunch of love stories. They're just like, it's just such an incredible storytelling medium. They just like, they are, you know, different from, you know, US TV shows, of course, because they come from the product of a different culture. And I just I really, really enjoy them. And there are so many. That's what I spend my life doing right now. I just watch them all the time. Pleasure. Okay. It's not even guilty. Like, I'm like, whatever. It's like, I embrace it. Yeah. Okay. Outward pleasure.

[16:59]Zibby Owens: Okay. Well, I won't feel as bad not knowing about K drama, and you won't feel as bad not knowing about JLo and Ben Affleck. Yes. Now we're now we're even.

[17:10]Ali Hazelwood: No, but to be honest, I didn't know what K drama was two months ago. Like, so I'm I was right there with you. It was like, you know, Christina Lauren, Christina Lauren, the authors. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Lo was the one who introduced me. She was like, You have to watch this one. And I was like, I will. And I did. And now this is my life. And like, Lo has abandoned me. Like, Lo has now other passions. And I am still here obsessed. I just interviewed her. I was just I just did an event with her for The Gloss. So, yeah. Isn't she amazing? The Gloss Book Club. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Amazing.

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[20:36]Ali Hazelwood: Yes, yes, yes, yes. That was the first one. That was the first one. New York Times bestselling author. That must have felt amazing. That was so cool. So unexpected to. It was just a bunch of like really cool coincidence and things that happened and like that made it happen. It was just the coolest thing ever. Wait, what made it happen? Well, so book talk mostly. There were these book talk influencers who just So my book was a book of the month club pick. And so there are a bunch of influencers who are just kind of associated with book of the month and they get their books first or something. And so it just the book ended up in the hands of these amazing people who made all these amazing videos about it. And that's what I say, like a bunch of little things that happened and like a confluence of marvelous things. And then, you know. So, my next book, I am going to be honest with you. I don't know how much I can say because we are so deep in edits. I don't know how much is going to change about it. As of right now, the title is Love Theoretically with a comma between love and theoretically. Think I want the comma. I don't know if my editor has problem. I like the comma.

[21:48]Zibby Owens: I'm

[21:49]Ali Hazelwood: going to I'm going to like I'm going to email her once we get off and we're like, Okay, so it totally changes the meeting. Thank you. It's like it was supposed to be a pun on love, actually, you know, the love directly because the main character is a theoretical physicist. So I was like, I was so proud of this title. I like it lot. Yeah. I am really bad at titles. So whenever I get something that is vaguely punny, I'm like, Okay, I'm a genius. No one talk to me. I am the best person in the world. Anyway, I hope that there will be a comma, and I hope that that will be the title, but still undecided. As of right now, it's the story of a theoretical physicist who ends up at odds with an experimental physicist, there is a little bit of a rivalry between them, theorists and experimentalists. And that is compounded by the fact that she has been fake dating his brother. So it's kind of like, like to think of it as my fake dating book with a twist in the sense that the girl doesn't get doesn't end up with the guy she's fake dating, but she ends up with the guy that with the brother of the guy that she's fake dating. Interesting. Love I hope it works. I don't even know. Oh my gosh. I love it. Still dipping at it.

[23:07]Zibby Owens: No. It's awesome. Aside from using all of your PhD stuff in your fiction, Are you doing research or teaching or anything related

[23:18]Ali Hazelwood: like just to that? As of right now, yeah, I am planning to take a year off next year. So the next academic year, but as of right now, yeah. So I am a professor and yeah, I do research and I teach and my students hate me because I teach neuroanatomy. It's everyone's least favorite subject because there's a lot to memorize. Wow. And where do you teach anatomy? I am like, is it Okay if I don't say the university where I teach? Yes. Is it in The United States or not? It is. Yes, I'm here. I'm in the South Of The United States. Yeah, I'm just like trying to keep my tune. That's fine. That's totally fine. Thank you. Your students know that you have this like secret life of a novelist. I haven't told them and, you know, I use a pen name, so I haven't told them. However, you know, my picture is at the end of the book, so it's possible that someone knows but hasn't said anything. So your real name is not Ali? My real name, my last name is not Hazelwood. But your first It's, name is

[24:17]Zibby Owens: well, it's a nickname. Yeah. It's a nickname. Okay. I won't pry too much.

[24:23]Ali Hazelwood: Wow. I mean, it's possible that they know. I feel like you would know if they knew. Feel like they would- Right. I know. Right. I feel like if one of my professors wrote a book and I got to the end of the book and saw the picture, think I would go to them and be like, Hey, you wrote a book, but I don't know. I don't know.

[24:40]Zibby Owens: Wow. I actually think that's amazing that you're not marketing to them. I feel like that's the first thing I would do. It's like, Okay, here's my core audience. Like, at least I can sell to all my students. And you're like, No, no,

[24:51]Ali Hazelwood: I'll just sell to all these other millions of people over here. My poor students. I know. I mean, if I would I mean, they're college students, so I would feel bad. They already, you know, pay my salary through their tuition. So I would feel like I would want to give them free books, actually.

[25:11]Zibby Owens: My gosh. That's wow. That is really funny. What an interesting life. So when you're not when you're not going to Comic Con, watching K dramas, writing, teaching, or researching, do you have time to do anything else? I mean, again,

[25:27]Ali Hazelwood: the K drama is truly my the source one. I cannot overstate how much time I spend watching them. Okay. I crochet. I love crochet. Oh, I'm so happy to do all this. Yeah. Yeah. That's my this is my my crochet project. Have two cats. I have my cat He's here. Aw. He's very cute. And the other one is elsewhere. I don't know. That's it, really. This is My bio that I have to change says that I run-in my spare time, but the truth is that I have been working out very little in the past two years.

[26:06]Zibby Owens: But let's pretend that I'm a very sporty person. I literally worked out for the first time this morning in so, so long. And I was like, This is pathetic. And then I would say to myself, well, I should at least do twenty five minutes. Like, come on, twenty five minutes. And then I'm like, that doesn't count. And then I'm thinking, this is more than I've done in weeks. Of course it counts.

[26:27]Ali Hazelwood: Know. I know. I know. Same. Like, It's one of those things where when you fall off the wagon, it's so hard to go because it's painful. Also, you're like, I used to run five miles. Not even like Me too. Now it's like, Oh my God, I ran for four minutes and this is I am dying. So it's just very hard to compare yourself with what you used to do. It's very humbling. It

[26:54]Zibby Owens: is. It is so humbling. I might as well just stay sitting down. Exactly. Face the pain.

[27:00]Ali Hazelwood: And keep my dignity.

[27:02]Zibby Owens: Yeah. You know, stay with my head above on Zoom and, you know. Anyway, well, at least I'm not alone in that. Thank you.

[27:10]Ali Hazelwood: Never alone. You're never alone.

[27:12]Zibby Owens: Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

[27:15]Ali Hazelwood: I guess my advice is that, you know, it's kind of always the same and kind of like, I don't know, maybe try it a little bit, but just find a very good support network. It's a very tough business. You know, it's harsh sometimes. You get a very honest feedback from both corners. And it's, I don't know, I doubt myself a lot. I'm sure other people, like, I'm sure every author doubts themselves. Just having a bunch of friends that you can talk to and that are there to support you and that, you know, love you despite or like they are there. They're your friends regardless of what you write, you know, they make you feel like you're a person and not just a writer. That is very valuable. And they help you deal with rejections and the failures because there are so many. So yeah, just find a very good support network that you can trust. But I guess that's the advice for everything in life. It's not. That is not what I usually hear, so don't worry. Do you currently have love on your brain right now? I mean, I have my husband and my cats. No, I do love my husband very much, even though he's very annoying sometimes. But yeah, he's very cute and I love him. Yeah. I guess I do. And then but I love my cats more. Sorry. That's okay. I won't tell him. Alright. He knows. He knows.

[28:38]Zibby Owens: Or whatever your real name is. This is so much fun. And I'm so impressed. I love this whole neuroscience, like science rom com sort of subgenre that you've created here. I think it's so cool, especially to have role models of super smart women. I mean, I have to be honest, I didn't create like,

[28:57]Ali Hazelwood: you know, Sherry Thomas and Helen Hong were, you know, writing them way before. But, you know, I'm just glad to be part of their tradition.

[29:07]Zibby Owens: Okay, fine. Well, I know you, so I'm talking to you. I'll tell them the same thing if we ever speak. But, you know, for now, I'm saying it to you. Okay. Okay. Either way, I think it's amazing. I think it's great to give really smart women as role models and for protagonists so that we can learn a little bit as we go anyway. So it's awesome. Well, thank you so much. You're so welcome. All right. Well, good luck and take care. And you. Keep going on that comma.

[29:37]Ali Hazelwood: Keegan Yes. I will fight for the comma. Will doubt on the comma. Yeah, there you go. I'm writing my editor right now. Okay. You can CC me if you want. Okay.

[29:47]Zibby Owens: You so much. Bye bye. Take

[29:50]Zibby Owens: Thanks for listening to this episode of Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram Zibby Owens and at moms don't have time to read books. Also sign up for my newsletter at zibbyowens.com and sign up for my virtual book club and meet lots of authors on Zoom every other week. Thanks so much to Steve and Ryan at Texture Sound for the sound editing, and thank you to Morning Moon Productions for providing this fantastic intro and outro music.