Zibby Publishing author alert! Zibby chats with Audrey Ingram about THE SUMMER WE RAN, a mesmerizing, smart, emotionally rich, and perfectly nostalgic story of first love, devastating secrets, shocking sabotage, political rivalry, and second chances. Audrey shares the inspiration behind Tess and Grant’s love story, the lush Virginia setting, and how her personal experiences with gardening, law, and even a serious health scare shaped her writing. From the intensity of teenage romance to the high stakes of a gubernatorial race, Zibby and Audrey dive into themes of class, resilience, and the power of storytelling to build empathy and connection.

Transcript:

Zibby: Welcome, Audrey. Thank you so much for coming on Totally Booked with Zibby to talk about the Summer We Ran, which is also Zibby Publishing titles. There you go. Congrats. 

Audrey: Thank you so much for having me. 

Zibby: I remember when this manuscript came in and we all read it and we're obsessed.

It was so good and then we got the book and we were so excited and now fast forward, here it is, we have a galley in my hands and seeing the finished coffee so exciting. 

Audrey: It's been a joy start to finish. 

Zibby: Yay. Okay. Tell listeners what the Summer We Ran is about. 

Audrey: Sure. So it is about first love's turned political rivals and it follows Tess and Grant who meet as teenagers and despite their very different backgrounds, fall deeply in love, but their summer romance ends in heartbreak and tragedy and unfortunate secrets they keep from one another and then they don't see each other again until 25 years later when they are both running for Governor of Virginia.

Zibby: Such a good plot, like it's just such a great pitch. How did you come up with this idea? 

Audrey: I think I had the idea for the premise, an unlikely love story between two opposing political candidates. But I wanted to tell a story that really wove together both of their perspectives which was a challenge for me to write a story both from the female protagonist and the male protagonist.

And it was a winding path to get there, but I'm just so happy with how the story turned out. 

Zibby: It's so good the coming of age piece of it, right? That, that when you're so vulnerable and that love and open-hearted and then broken-hearted feeling you capture so well, particularly because you frame it in and illicit affair to begin with, so to speak. Talk about why this was an unlikely alliance to begin with. 

Audrey: I think there's this kind of universal feeling of that first love that a lot of people can relate to the kind of hope and uncomfortable feeling in of yourself coming into who you are as you're falling in love with someone.

And I really wanted to tap into those feelings that we all can relate to between two people who are very different. And throughout the story, I was really trying to find themes where there are, where universally we can relate to these things and we can connect with these characters, and then it's just it's fun.

I grew up watching those shows like The West Wing and Scandal, and now I love the diplomat and that world of kind of political intrigue and scandal. It has this you can't look away feeling to it. And I thought juxtaposing this young, innocent love with then these like high stakes of an election and all of the tension that brought was a really fun way of telling a powerful love story.

Zibby: So true. So when Tess gets to this southern Virginia. Summer, right? She is the daughter of the cook who is hired at this beautiful home, and Grant is the next door neighbor. How do they meet? Tell me about that. Talk about like how you created that tension within the family allegiance to her mom versus to her love.

Because then we have that whole thing at the beginning. 

Audrey: Yeah, so I live in Virginia and I knew when I was starting to think about this story and the premise of political rivals, I wanted to set it here because in a lot of ways, this is a love note to the state of Virginia that I is my home now, and I just think it's one of the most beautiful places.

And so I wanted to transport the reader to that area. So when Tess grows up in an area of southwest Virginia, a very modest upbringing, and she is thrust into this world of opulence, these, really grand estates as you're driving through the countryside in this area of Virginia, it's one of these things where you see like a stone entrance and like a maybe a little peekaboo view of this grand estate.

And I wanted Tess to feel. Like that fish out of water coming into this area that she felt so uncomfortable and yet she was falling for this boy next door who is very immersed in this world, and how does that make her feel? How can she navigate this new world and who are her guides in this world?

And so she starts, she has her mother who has very. Nervous ideas about them being in here because it is a big deal to have this job, and it is this potential for a new life for them. And then you also have Grant's mother, who is really taking Tes in under her wing. They have this shared love for gardening and how that relationship develops.

Zibby: I loved that gardening storyline, which of course with the cover we were like, we need there to be flowers. It's all about the gardening. It's so beautiful. You must know now about gardening. Tell me, do you, are you into gardening? 'Cause I loved that relationship and how it bloomed, let's just say.

Audrey: We, my husband and I, we lived in Washington DC and wanted a change of pace, and so we moved to this area of Virginia that's about an hour outside the city and it's a very rural area. And we bought a house that was on some acreage and it ended up, the original owners had owned a nursery at it's one point in time and had used their kind of home and their gardens as their testing ground.

And so we have these. Beautiful trees and just like almost an acre of peony beds and boxwoods. And we were just in awe of it and had absolutely no idea what to do with it. And so I started learning. I started reading gardening books from my library, talking to people, going to the local gardening stores and I'll never forget the first year we moved in, I.

Planted a bunch of mint 'cause I love mint and it took over the entire bed. And so I've made every novice gardening mistake that everybody makes. But it is this trial and error and it's something where you can really see the fruits of your labor. And I find it so rewarding and it is something that really transcends class.

There's this. Theme of class and how you navigate different situations throughout the book. And in my experience, you go to a gardening shop and there are people who are growing their food. Then there are people who are, live at these beautiful estates and they do it as a hobby and it really is something that is a connector and everyone loves chatting at our gardening shop about whether you're gonna plant before or after Mother's day when the first frost is gonna come.

It's a way to connect people and I think that was something I really wanted to. Explore in the story. Those connections. 

Zibby: As we're talking, it's a little before the launch and the daffodils have now peeked their heads out all over here in Central Park in New York. And I always look and I'm like, oh my gosh.

Like they just lie dormant all year and then they have their moment and then they go away. And it's something so reassuring that like these beautiful things come back time and time again. No matter how much hard stuff comes in between the blooms. Yeah, it's very reassuring. Keep thoughts for the morning.

There you go. So it's not all roses at the estate and in this relationship. And there are some tough, very disturbing things that happen. We won't go into it because they become, plot elements, but. It's not always easy. Things are not always as beautiful as they seem. A big house does not mean things are perfect.

Talk a little bit about that and what we think about other people and what might be going on behind the scenes and how it feels. Adding this like sort of heaviness to something that could seem pretty idyllic. 

Audrey: Yeah I think that's so true. And I think in my personal experience, I have lived some very heavy moments in my life.

I think I've yet to meet someone who hasn't also lived some heavy moments in our lives, and a lot of times we try to just focus on the positive. And I think that's a great mindset to have. We have to focus on the positive, but it doesn't negate the tragedy sometimes. That we have had and how that has shaped who we become, how we view the world, and how we interact with others.

And I think more than anything, this book is about the ways in which stories are bridges. 

We may be very. Different from someone. We may disagree with them fundamentally, but hearing their story creates a bridge to us understanding who they are. And oftentimes it is those really hard, difficult moments in life that give us an understanding and just who someone is, why they feel some way, what their outlook is.

And hearing those stories, I think creates an empathy and an understanding and a connection in life that is so critical and in my opinion, needed at this time. 

Zibby: You're so right. We should do a prompt, tell me about your heaviest moments, right? 

Audrey: Yeah. 

Zibby: Because that will tell you so much about a person doesn't mean sad.

Heavy is such an interesting choice of words of yours, I don't know. I think that will bring it in an instant closeness. Because we all, as you said, have these moments. 

Audrey: It does. And as a reader you bond with a character. Who has been through something heavy because you hopefully want to see them come out of that.

And I think that's so true in life as well. We are, we crave stories of resilience and hope. And I think that comes from a heaviness. 

Zibby: So true. Then you fast forward to, you have another story, another timeline, storyline with the election and all of that. How much research did you have to do?

How much did you know before? Maybe proximity to dc you know, like everything. Anyway, what did you, were there surprising things you found along the way and I just tell me a little bit about that. 

Audrey: Yeah, I was, I have my entire life been a political junkie. I thought it was fascinating. I worked on a gubernatorial campaign and so I was fascinated by it and then also fascinated by all the drama behind the scenes of the campaign.

So I did have that background coming into it and for a long time thought maybe I'll get into politics, and it wasn't until I moved to DC and lived in DC that I like a lot of the country became totally disillusioned with the reality of politics. But that kind of background of an election and candidates I still find fascinating and I still have hope for a different political dynamic at some point in the future.

Zibby: It's not too late. You could still run. 

Audrey: Yeah. 

Zibby: The summer we ran could be about you this summer. You never know. Plot twist. Audrey Ingram for a district whatever. 

Audrey: I think I like novelist a little bit better. Although I have lived a thousand lives. I've had many titles. One of my, this is my favorite by far.

Zibby: So you started as a lawyer. Tell us about your whole career. 

Audrey: Sure. So I was an attorney in Washington DC for many years. And then when the pandemic hit, a lot of families was really struggling juggling childcare. I had three young kids at the time. I. My law firm was really wonderful and gave me a leave of absence, and I was one of these super commuters.

I still, even though we lived out here in Virginia, I was commuting into DC so I was used to waking up very early in the morning and I loved staying at home with my kids. I loved being a stay at home mom, but I. Found I needed a little, something more, something that was just of my own. And so I couldn't turn my brain off from waking up those early morning hours.

And that's when I started writing my first novel and I, finished it and got an agent and got it published and it was really just a dream. I. It never went back. Never went back to practicing law. 

Zibby: Tell us about that novel that, I mean that you say it so offhand and then I got an Asian guy public.

That is hard. That is not the journey. Like I just decided to stay home and in my spare time wrote a novel. Like normally it's like I, this is my 50th submission and dah. So anyway, tell me more about that and how you came, like what that plot was and how we got to here. 

Audrey: Yeah, so I wrote the first book, I guess starting in 2021.

And when that book, when I was querying it and trying to find an agent was when I wrote the summer we ran because I needed something else to put my brain to focus on because it is agony waiting. So it was not just a. I wrote my first book and got an agent, and got a publisher. The way I said before, it was a lot of waiting, sending out emails, crossing your fingers, and hoping.

And so I was always working on a different project, bouncing back and forth, which was great for my sanity, but it did take a while, so I guess it took six to nine months to get an agent, and then the publishing deal came quickly after getting the agent that, that was, I felt like very lucky for that to have happened so quickly.

But it's been, it was scary. It was scary to leave behind a very stable career, especially when you have three kids and I'm very grateful that I have, a husband who has supported me through that, but it was not without risk. I'm very happy I did it. 

Zibby: Wow. Do you miss the structure of, corporate.

Attorney life is very much one thing. It's very different than the life of novelists, although I will say so many authors on this show have at one point been lawyers. I feel like if there's one career that leads mo more to writing it, that is the most common path from a non-traditional writing background.

Audrey: Yeah, it's so fascinating to lawyer and journalist. I hear those a lot. I feel like in a lot of ways I've had to rewire my brain because when you're an attorney and I worked at a big law firm, you, efficiency is king. You are literally accounting for your time in six minute increments and. As I'm sure the process of writing a novel, at least for me, is so inefficient.

There are days when I won't have written any words, but I will have figured out a plot point, but I won't see that kind of word count on the page. Jump up. And I had to really. Be kind to myself and say this is efficiency. In a creative concept in writing a book, you are moving it forward.

But it was a huge change for me and the timing of, publishing a book takes a long time. There were a lot of moving pieces and I was used to things moving so much quicker, and so it was a big adjustment for me. It was such a necessary adjustment. I think I would have burned out at the pace I was going.

It wasn't the law wasn't kind to who my kind of, I feel like my core is. I like a slower pace. I've been, I'm enjoying this. I'm embracing it now. So it has been very good for me, but it took a while to get there. 

Zibby: And we don't have to talk about this so we can change to the subject, but I know you've gone through a big health hurdle recently yourself.

Audrey: Yeah. 

Zibby: How have you and what happened and how do you feel now? Even like doing publicity or we can skip it. 

Audrey: No, we don't have to skip it. It has been a doozy of a year. I, this fall had a tear in the artery, giving the blood flow into my brain, and I developed a blood clot in my brain and talk about a mind shift because it was an inoperable blood clot.

And so the treatment was really to take, to be, I was hospitalized for a long time and then I was sent home and basically told, don't lift anything heavier than a fork. Take your blood thinners every day and just wait three months and hopefully the clot and the chair and everything will heal.

And you will heal. But the way you heal is by doing nothing. Which for someone like me was really hard. I think. At first, I was like, oh, I can watch Netflix and lay in my bed for a little while. That certainly wasn't it. I was in a lot of pain. You have these like really debilitating headaches and a lot of physical manifestations of this, but it was, not feeling like a useful member of your family.

I couldn't lift the laundry basket. I couldn't unload the dishwasher. I couldn't. Pick up my 7-year-old son. There was a lot that was really difficult and the idea that to heal you have to rest was hard for me to grasp and because I'm always used to, to achieving something you need to be doing. But I did, I healed. I am every day getting a little bit better. I am feeling really good. I still struggle some days and I have to tell myself that's okay. I can rest. I, my productivity is not where it used to be, but that's also okay too. I'm here and I think that's the most important thing is that I'm here.

And I think when you face something like that, where. You're told time and time again by so many doctors that most people do not survive these. You are so lucky to have had it discovered and to be able to treat it. You are really confronted with. What you want your life to be, how lucky you feel, the people that surround you.

So there was a lot of as challenging and terrible as it was a, there was a lot that was really eye-opening and an incredible learning experience for me. 

Zibby: Audrey, I'm so sorry. That is so hard. It's like you were on bedrest with no fun baby at the end. 

Audrey: Yes. There was no baby at the end.

Zibby: Oh my gosh. And all the fear. How do you, the fear, how do you hold that lack of predictability too? 

Audrey: Yeah. 

Zibby: That 'cause the downside is so huge. How did you cope with that? 

Audrey: Yeah, I think that the fear and the anxiety is something I'm still really grappling with and learning how to trust your body because for so long, I was told I really, this was all happening over the holidays.

We couldn't travel because I couldn't ever be more than about 10 or 15 minutes away from a hospital because the stroke. To death risk is so high and you have to get in so quickly, and so you're constantly monitoring yourself and it's very hard to turn that off, that fear, and I think when you're a mother as well, your mind very quickly starts spiraling to all the what ifs scenarios.

And so I'm really having to start trusting myself again, figuring out what my physical limitations are. Easing into things. I would love to go full speed back into the life I had before, but I know that's not possible. And really just being kind and gentle to myself. And I'm very lucky. I have people around me who are surrounding me with kindness and gentility.

And I'm very fortunate in that way. But it has been the, you're, you hit the nail on the head. The constant worrying and anxiety was. It's very difficult. 

Zibby: Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. What a, from one day to the next, right? It's I guess that's how life works, right? It's not like anybody gets a warning.

Audrey: It is. It is, but it I will say this, there I was in kind of the tail end of editing this story when all of this was happening and it was so wonderful to be working with a publisher that was cared about me as a person and not just the book product. And it was just a joy to be nav, navigating the story and jumping in and out of these.

Characters lives, they feel. So I don't think there's any characters that I've ever written before that I don't feel as connected to as these. And so their journey of love and healing was alongside my own, which was I think I will always hold this story in a very special place in my heart because of that.

Zibby: That's beautiful. What do you think these characters are designed to teach us? 

Audrey: I think they're designed to teach us that we need to. We need to hear each other's stories. We really need to listen to one another and especially the people we disagree with, we need to hear them and hear their journeys. And I just, stories really are bridges.

I think it's, as a mother, it's why I want my kids to read stories about different people. It's the way you develop empathy and a love story, I think is the best way to, to share that. 

Zibby: The political climate is so divisive. Just when I think it can't get anymore. It does. Like it's just so heightened right now, and I'm sure by the time this book comes out, even more how do you respond to that when people are like, I don't care about stories, like I, I will never change my mind. It's like there are people who I. Are firmly in on one like EV when opposing camps all believe themselves to be right, that there is a right answer versus not. And both these candidates, grants and tests, putting stakes in the ground and what they believe is right, and yet finding the common ground between them.

Talk about that. 

Audrey: Yeah. And I will say I feel all of those things. I have my own political beliefs and I hold them fiercely. And sometimes I think, I don't wanna hear that. But I will say more than anything, this book is not about politics. It is not about one side of one political issue. It's about the people behind that.

And I think sometimes we lose sight of that. We see. We see an identifying term of Democrat or Republican and that tells us everything we need to know, when really that isn't the case, we are ignoring the people behind that. And I think this book is really about two, two individuals and their love story.

And I think it will, hopefully, people will see that there's a lot more than just a label that we give someone. 

Zibby: I hope that's enough. 

Audrey: I mean, it's a small thing, but 

Zibby: No, it's not a small thing. It's a big thing. It would, it's wonderful. Stories, of course. I love how you said stories are bridges, I'm always talking about stories connecting people, but it is true.

It is a bridge, from heart to heart really. We're climbing across and trying to get in there and find the common humanity in it all. Yeah. Beautiful. Would there ever be a continuation? Have you ever thought like, where are they now, type of thing? 

Audrey: I think about them often. I've never written a book thinking that it was going to be part of a series.

I always want to write the story that is the most critical time in this characters' lives, and that's what I set out to do with this story. But of all the characters I've ever written, they're the ones that I think about the most and maybe they do have more. 

More in their future. 

Zibby: Wow. Any advice to aspiring authors?

Audrey: I, yeah I will say what's worked for me is that books are the best teachers. I like to read, I think whatever genre you wanna write, and you should be reading, but you should also be reading much broader than that because you can learn so much from the books you love, but then also the books you aren't enjoying, why aren't you enjoying them?

Is there a pacing problem or you're not connecting with the characters? I think you can learn so much through reading books and then from a recovering perfectionist. I will say the best writing advice I've ever gotten was you can't edit a blank page. You've just gotta write. And sometimes that can be very hard because you're trying to write a perfect sentence, a perfect story, but you really just need to get it out, and then you can always go back and edit it.

And so just be okay with it being messy and imperfect. That's exactly the way it should be when you're first writing it. 

Zibby: I love that. Audrey, I'm so excited for the book to come out. I'm so excited for you and all your hard work to come to fruition despite everything you were going through all along.

The summary we ran is so great. It's as beautiful as the cover. And we're just so excited to be touring you on as you go through this. 

Audrey: Thank you so much. It's really just been such a joy and I'm so excited for readers to get this story in their hands. 

Zibby: Me too. Thank you. 

Audrey: Thank you.