Finding a purpose in pain can be one of the most meaningful ways to heal and Darien-based author Carola Lovering did just that with her first novel Tell Me Lies.
After graduating college with a degree in English, Lovering knew that she wanted to pursue a career in the literary world. After landing a job in public relations, she realized that she was yearning for something that would tap more into her creative side. She started to slowly build her writing portfolio and pivot toward copywriting.
But while her professional life was on the track, Lovering says she was struggling in “the wake of a toxic relationship from college that had recently ended.”
At the suggestion of a friend, Lovering began to channel her anger and confusion into her writing and quickly saw how cathartic it was to put unresolved feelings down on paper. “When I started writing, I knew that what I was doing just felt right, like nothing I had ever done before,” says Lovering. “I was more inspired than I’d ever been.”
After working on her first novel for several years, Lovering experienced the rejection many new authors face. But she persisted and eventually landed an agent, an editor and a book deal for Tell Me Lies. When the book was published in 2018, Lovering was still working another job and teaching yoga on the side. Once her agent asked her about a second book, it hit her that this was something she could really do full time.
In August of 2019, Lovering received an email from Karah Preiss, cofounder of Belletrist (a popular online reading community turned production company), who said that she read and loved Tell Me Lies. Later that month, Lovering learned that Belletrist and Rebelle Media were interested in turning the book into a television series.
“That fall of 2019, Belletrist officially optioned the book. They had a first-look deal with Hulu at the time, so that’s why the project went there,” recounts Lovering.
Her second book, Too Good to Be True, was released in 2021 and was soon followed by Can’t Look Away in 2022. Her latest novel, Bye, Baby, is set to be released in March 2024. This novel draws on Lovering’s personal experiences, but in a very different way than her debut novel.
The story is told from the dual perspectives of two friends as their friendship evolves and changes over time. It taps into all the layered aspects of female friendship, while keeping the reader on their toes with an interwoven element of deep-seeded drama and uncertainty. While this story is not based on any real-life relationship, Lovering is hopeful readers will be able relate, as many of us have had complicated friendships that have transformed as we have gotten older.
Lovering is looking forward to an upcoming book signing for Bye, Baby at Darien’s Barrett Bookstore on March 5.