Actor, producer, and book club creator Raegan Revord is best known for their role on Young Sheldon as the beloved Missy Cooper. At just 14, Revord signed a two-book deal, and the now 17-year-old child star is releasing their debut YA novel, Rules for Fake Girlfriends. The sapphic rom-com follows Avery Blackwell, a Columbia-bound freshman who reroutes her plans to study at her late mother’s seaside alma mater in England. When Avery agrees to a fake dating scheme with a girl who offers to help solve a decades-old scavenger hunt that her mother left behind, she embarks on a journey through queer girlhood, campus legend, and the stages of grief. Revord spoke with PW from New York City about how their acting career cultivated their view of coming-of-age arcs, the balance between adventure, grief, and romance, and how they’ve reimagined rom-com tropes.
How did playing the role of Missy Cooper shape your understanding of coming-of-age arcs?
I feel like I was growing up with Missy. We were following the same path, which is crazy because it wasn’t planned. Something would happen to her and then to me. I feel like her arc was very age-accurate and relatable. The writers did so well with Missy’s story. It made me a bit biased toward other coming-of-age arcs because hers felt so real—someone I could see out in the world. Now when I watch other stories, I analyze their arcs more because of what I learned with Missy.
And what made you pivot from acting to writing?
I’ve wanted to be an author since I was about five. I loved writing books in school during lunch and recess, and I would bring them home to my parents. I have teachers and librarians in my family, so the love of reading was always there. I got a book agent around 12 and started taking writing seriously. I shared my ideas with the agent, and now my book is coming out, which is hard to believe.
One aspect of Rules that stood apart was the theme of performance in love, especially in connection to queerness. What inspired you to explore those dynamics?
Growing up, there wasn’t much exposure to queer media, which is surprising because I was born in 2008. Now, there are many diverse stories. I always wanted to write something where people could see themselves because I didn’t have that in books. One of my favorite shows and graphic novels is Heartstopper. I love that series so much, and the way they show queer love as such an innocent thing is so beautiful. I wanted to do something like that. In my book, it’s very much a found family kind of trope, and like in Heartstopper, everyone in the friend group is a little queer.
Speaking of tropes, were there any you knew you wanted to include or avoid?
I found a loophole where I could make fun of all the tropes. Every chapter starts with a rom-com rule, and then the chapter contradicts it. I’m such a fan of meet-cutes, and I knew I needed to include a good one. There’s also a miscommunication trope, which some people dislike, but I find funny and wanted to include. The only trope not in the book is “only one bed.”
What did your research look like?
I watched a lot of ’90s rom-coms to study how stories used tropes and how audiences reacted to them. If people disliked certain tropes, I’d try to make fun of those.
The scavenger hunt that Avery’s mom leaves behind is a clever narrative device. What drew you to that?
My school had scavenger hunts when I was little, and I loved them. Avery and her mom aren’t close, so I wanted them to have something to bring them together. They bond over rom-coms and I wanted another shared activity, and my brain for some reason went back to scavenger hunts.
Balancing the scavenger hunt adventure with the romance must have been tricky.
It was the hardest part of the book to write—figuring out all the clues and interweaving them with the romance plot. I wrote in a Google Doc, and I would have a little comment at each clue because I would keep forgetting. Sometimes I wanted to focus on just the romance, but my editor reminded me that the scavenger hunt was important. I made the romance follow the scavenger hunt so they intertwine.
Rules also balances the lightness of a rom-com with Avery’s grief. What challenges did you face in writing that tension?
I wanted to tell a realistic story where life isn’t just a rom-com; there are sad, heavier moments. Avery lost her mom, which is why she goes to Brighton, to learn about her mom’s life. There are points where Avery will be somewhere and it hits her that she is in the same place that her mom was, and at the same age. With grief, you can be fine, then a memory hits and you miss them again.
Brighton becomes its own character. What about this place or being abroad felt right?
Setting it in England was a bit biased. I always wanted to write something there. I was looking at locations and at one point, Avery was going to live in London, but I realized a scavenger hunt wouldn’t work in London, but in a coastal town. I remembered that I knew people in Brighton, and I went there to research, but before that, I went onto Google Street View to outline the city. But you know how people say studying abroad makes you a different person? That’s what this was. Overseas felt like it was a reset for Avery.
You’ve built a large reading community through your book club Read with Raegan. How has being a reader shaped your instincts as a writer?
I’ve grown up reading. I joke about how I’ve been reading since I left the hospital holding a book. I already knew lots of tropes, especially in rom-coms, and knew what I liked and didn’t like. Because I interview authors through my book club I could go to them and ask for advice on writer’s block or challenges. It wasn’t like I was figuring everything out alone. One great thing that came from my book club was community and support.
What’s next for you?
After promotion for Rules calms down, I’ll turn to my next book idea, which I was actually working on before Rules. It’s a YA fantasy. After I read all those rom-coms, I had to switch to fantasy.
