Author Interview: Finally Fritz by Marisa Kanter
Finally Fritz releases tomorrow and to celebrate we got to ask author Marisa Kanter a few questions! This new queer YA contemporary romance is perfect for fans of fake dating and instagram fashion culture, I think you’ll enjoy this one, see below for more details!
Finally Fitz
by Marisa KanterPublished by: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
on April 23, 2024
Genres: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA+, Young Adult
Pages: 399
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Ava “Fitz” Fitzgerald has worked hard to create the picture-perfect life she’s always wanted. She spent her junior year transforming her passion for sustainable fashion and upcycling into a viral online platform, maintaining a 4.0 GPA, and spending every free second with her soon-to-graduate girlfriend, Danica. And this summer she plans to take it all to the next level by attending a prestigious summer fashion program in New York City and convincing Dani that they can survive a year of long distance.
But when Dani dumps her before classes even start, accusing Fitz of being more invested in growing her online persona than deepening their relationship, she’s left not only heartbroken, but also creatively blocked.
Fitz will do anything to win Dani back, even if that means taking a break from the platform that she’s worked so hard to build. But just as she decides to go all-in on a hiatus, a chance encounter reunites her with Levi Berkowitz, her childhood best friend that she hasn’t seen since elementary school. Levi is struggling with heartbreak of his own, and this cosmic coincidence sparks a new use for her social media savvy. Fitz offers to help Levi craft a fake relationship online to make his person jealous…if in return he can pretend to be her boyfriend in front of Dani to make her jealous. If all goes according to plan, by the end of the summer they’ll both be reunited with their perfect partners and get to rekindle their friendship in the process.
Sometimes even the most carefully designed plans can come apart at the seams, though. And when real history leads to not-so-fake feelings, Fitz will have to decide if she’s finally willing to let go of what she thought was picture-perfect and choose what might actually be right for her.
Author Interview: Marisa Kanter
1. When you started Finally Fitz, what parts did you know you had to include?
Elements of this book that existed from the get-go are the fashion, the plants, the
sister love story at its core, and New York City. I knew early on that I wanted to
write a character arc about a teenage girl unlearning perfectionism and
recognizing the impact this has been having on her mental health. In terms of
capturing New York, I knew from the earliest days of this project that the meet-
cute would take place on the subway and that there would be a scene on the
High Line—one of my absolute favorite spots in Manhattan.
2. If your characters from What I Like About You were dropped into the world of Finally Fitz, what would happen?
This is such a fun question, because I do think of all my books as being set in the
same universe. Halle and Nash from What I Like About You would’ve just
finished their freshmen year at NYU before Fitz comes to New York for the
summer. Likely, they’d return home for the summer so there paths wouldn’t cross
with Fitz . . . but it’s not out of the question that they could’ve been on the same
subway train as Levi, in Washington Square Park at the same time, at the same
café. It’s a New York story, people’s paths converging over and over and being
completely oblivious to it.
3. What was it like writing book 3 versus your first book?
So different! What I Like About You is a book that I wrote first and foremost for
myself. I didn’t know if it would be published. Of course, I hoped! But there’s
something magical about writing just for the love of it (and for the hope of it all!)
that’s difficult to recapture once you make the decision to pursue it as a career.
My relationship to writing shifted a lot between What I Like About You and Finally
Fitz. I struggled to get a first draft finished, thought at one point that I would never
finish. But I could not be more proud of the result, or more grateful that I get to
tell stories for a living.
About Marisa Kanter
Marisa Kanter is a young adult author, amateur baker, and reality television enthusiast. She is the author of What I Like About You, As If on Cue, and Finally Fitz. Born and raised in the suburbs of Boston, her obsession with books led her to New York City, where she worked in the publishing industry to help books find their perfect readers. She currently lives in Los Angeles, writing love stories by day and crocheting her wardrobe by night. Follow her at MarisaKanter.com.
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