Romance Authors
Taylor Jenkins Reid Teases Next Book & How It’ll Be the Opposite of ‘Atmosphere’
On June 4, Taylor Jenkins Reid spoke at the Symphony Space in New York City to talk about her newest release, Atmosphere: A Love Story. From the real-life astronauts who helped her craft the story to the deeper meaning behind some of her characters’ names, Reid broke down Joan and Vanessa’s love story from its inception to writing its last line (or, as she put it, the whole point of the story).
In conversation with Tamara Fuentes (Cosmopolitan‘s Entertainment Editor), Reid was asked if she could tell the audience anything about her next book. As readers know, Reid lets her characters inspire her stories. Therefore, this question was not so much if she could share what the next book will be about, but who it will be about. In response, Reid confessed, “Well, I’m not supposed to.” However, she quickly added, “I do run my mouth.”
While Reid made it clear that she is excited to delve into many things in the future, from a “more traditional” romance to a bona fide rom-com, she proudly stated, “I think it would be cool to write a western,” before quickly joking, “I don’t know anything about them, and I haven’t read one.” In all seriousness, Reid teased her next book by answering, “I always wanted to do the opposite of what I did before.”
Atmosphere is the story of Joan Goodwin, one of the first female astronauts hired at NASA. The story finds Joan working as CAPCOM, the lone person in Mission Control who can be heard by the people up in space. When something on her team’s space shuttle goes catastrophically wrong, Joan is faced with the knowledge that everyone on the ship is at risk of not making it home alive, including the person she is devastatingly in love with.
After spending so much time with Joan, the author characterized her as “a very well-behaved woman,” continuing, “She does the right thing. She cares so much, and she’s so sincere.” In the name of crafting the opposite of Joan, Reid teased, “I think we’re going to spend time with some girls who always do the wrong thing.”
Tied together by decades of fictional pop culture, locations, and characters (we’re looking at you, Mick Riva), Reid’s most well-known books, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones & The Six, Malibu Rising, and Carrie Soto Is Back, share the same universe. Reid announced before Atmosphere that the story would be a departure from the interconnected timeline of her four previous books. On June 5, Reid made it clear that her next book would not be connected to Atmosphere.
“With Atmosphere, it doesn’t feel like there’s any need,” she confirmed. “I really do go by what feels natural for the story, and I just go on instinct.” Reid also shared that she isn’t the only person against more interconnected stories. “I will tell you that if I were to put an Easter egg of someone in Atmosphere in another book, my lawyer would kill me.”
Turns out, Reid learned from her first TV show adaptation, Daisy Jones & The Six, that individual characters can’t exist in two separate adaptations. As she puts it, “I can’t go around selling all these adaptations and then be like ‘Oh, you guys have to share Carrie Soto.'”
While we won’t be seeing Daisy Jones, Carrie Soto, or any of the astronauts from Atmosphere in Reid’s next book, it’s safe to say that at the rate she’s going, her next book is bound to be the best one yet.
Atmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Jenkins Reid is available now.
