‘The Last Word’ is out now – here’s where it came from
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know that I started out (many, many, many years ago) writing romance novels (for adults). Or trying to write romance novels as it turned out.
I started reading the genre when I was about 13 (Sweet Dreams and Sweet Valley High, anyone?) and then really jumped into romance novels proper at 17 as an antidote to the stress of the HSC.
When people asked me why I read them because after all, ‘I knew how they were going to turn out’, my response was, ‘yeah, exactly, I know how they’re going to turn out’.
When you’re stressed and anxious, there’s a lot to be said for the fact that you’re reading a book that you KNOW will have a happy ending, no matter how bad things might look halfway through.
Plus, frankly, I loved the focus on the characters, I loved the focus on the relationships (even though some of the books I read back then showcased relationships I would run a mile from now), and I was in love with the idea of love.
So, tick, tick, tick.
Heads up: romance readers are now 10+
I don’t think there’s any coincidence in the fact that romance remains the highest-selling genre, nor in the fact that tweens, who are exposed to the whole world via social media and other online spaces, are looking for romance at a younger age. When your world is uncertain, you start to look for happy endings.
And I know they’re looking, thanks to my work with Your Kid’s Next Read.
Because we monitor the Your Kid’s Next Read Facebook group every day, we see the trends for reader interest on the rise, often kicked off by what’s happening in other media and conversation. Though we saw a few requests for recommendations in 2023, things really kicked off around romance for tweens in January 2024 and it remains strong.
In Feb 2024, we did a podcast episode titled ‘The Love Stuff’ to address some of those community discussions. Then, in May 2025, we updated to a list of romance novels suitable for tweens, based on community recommendations as well as Team YKNR recommendations
By that stage, I had been approached by Scholastic Australia to gauge my interest in writing a novel for their ‘Two Hearts’ series of tween romance novels. The characters in the stories are all aged around years 7-9 at high school, but the books are sweet, clean and entirely middle-grade appropriate (for readers 10+). (More about the series here.)
Given I feel I’ve been training for this moment my whole life, I could not jump on board fast enough.
And now it’s here!
Book #3 in the Two Hearts series of standalone romance novels for tween readers (10+), ‘The Last Word’ captures the awkward, sweet, discombobulating, wonderful experience of first love. With debating. And chickens.
You can read more about ‘The Last Word’ and buy it here.
What inspired ‘The Last Word’?
Given ‘The Last Word’ was the first time I’ve been asked to write a particular type of novel, I was a bit nervous. Usually, I pitch an idea that had been rolling around in my subconscious for years or even, as many of you would know, write the entire book to find out what it is before I can even do that.
But in the end, I worked in a similar way to my usual process. I began with the characters and then figured out where they lived. Matilda appeared on the page as I wrote the first lines:
For Matilda Bell, the best part of the first day of a new school year was the stationery.
I could see a very tidy, conscientious girl, setting out pencils and I had a strong sense of who she was straight away. A high-achieving spreadsheet kind of girl, who’s relied on one friend to get her through school and now her friend has moved away. Everything is the same at school, but it’s not. And she’s now facing the mean girls on her own.
From that point, it’s a matter of upending her day even further, and new guy Will is waiting at the bus stop. Will who doesn’t have to work for his grades, Will who is so bored in class he disrupts everything, Will who is trying to pretend all is fine in his chaotic home life.
And then, as always, I drew from the things I hear, the things I remember, the things I know and the things that make me ask ‘why?’.
Behind the book
Plotting vs Pantsing – the main difference between Matilda and Will actually grew out of different approaches to writing.
Ever since we met at a Romance Writers Australia conference 20 years ago, Allison Rushby (far left) from Your Kid’s Next Read and I have had an ongoing lighthearted argument about whether it’s better to plan an entire novel before you start writing – or to write by the seat of your pants.
Regular readers of this blog will have no doubt at all which side of that argument I land on – and let’s just say that Will and I have a fair bit in common as far as this is concerned.
Debating – this is my high school debating team.
Mandy (far left) was third speaker, Allyson (centre) was first speaker and I was second speaker. We debated together from years 8-10 and this photo was stuck – firmly and immovably – into my year 12 photo album.
We went to regional finals twice and were narrowly defeated twice – clearly we were robbed, right? Our long-suffering debating coordinator was Mr Baker, who fed us mint slice biscuits and put up with our histrionics (and, oh my, were there histrionics).
For me, debating was pure joy. I loved the challenge of coming up with winning arguments, I loved public speaking (with a bit of drama thrown in), and I love, love, loved hanging out with these two.
That joy is where ‘The Last Word’ began for me. I also loved the fact that you could take an opponent’s argument apart and they would congratulate you for it afterwards.
It’s a shame the real world isn’t like that, right? Matilda, my main character, would agree.
Small town: The novel is set in another fictionalised version of the south coast where I live, but this time it’s the farm or inland experience rather than the coast, where ‘The First Summer of Callie McGee’ is set, or the larger regional town experience of ‘Danger Road’.
Matilda’s favourite cafe/milk bar is based on the two milk bars that graced the main street of the town in which I spent my high school years, and the Great Milkshake Debate is … well, a classic (note, Chocolate is always the correct response).
Chickens: The chickens arrived with Matilda’s sister Darcy and they came with their chicken coop based on the Château de Chenonceau from the beginning. I had seen a documentary about it and was captivated by this so-called ‘Castle of Ladies’. I had enormous fun naming the chickens, particularly the plucky (and clucky) Lady Peneggope!
I didn’t know how important the chickens were going to be until the story rolled along.
Will and I have a lot in common when it comes to making things up on the spot.
Bringing it all together
If you’d like to get a sense of how all of these things came together to create ‘The Last Word’, you can hear me talk about it here with author Adrian Beck on his Be More Bookish podcast.
And you can hear me read the first chapter of the book in this Your Kid’s Next Read Friday First Chapters episode.
If nothing else, it will show you what I was hearing in my head as I wrote those first lines…
Are you new here? Welcome to my blog!
I’m Allison Tait, aka A.L. Tait, and I’m the author of 12 middle-grade novels, including adventure fantasy series such as The Mapmaker Chronicles, The Ateban Cipher, and the Maven & Reeve Mysteries, and contemporary stories including ‘The First Summer of Callie McGee’, ‘Willow Bright’s Secret Plot’, ‘Danger Road’ and ‘The Last Word’
You can find out more about me here, and more about my books here.
If you’re looking for book recommendations for young readers, join the Your Kid’s Next Read Facebook community, tune in to the Your Kid’s Next Read podcast and sign up for the Your Kid’s Next Read newsletter.