Raegan Revord on Life After ‘Young Sheldon’ and Debut Novel: ‘I’ve Always Wanted to Write’ (EXCLUSIVE)
In this exclusive chat, Revord also shared their favorite ‘Young Sheldon’ episode
For seven years, Raegan Revord stole the show as Missy Cooper on Young Sheldon, and while the Big Bang Theory spin-off has come to an end, the actor’s career is just getting started. Before Revord, who uses they/them pronouns, became an actor, they were a bookworm, reading anything and everything from fantasy to romance. But soon, they discovered acting as another avenue to explore their storytelling skills and quickly became known for their famous role on the sitcom.
Now, at just 17 years old, Revord is on the brink of becoming a famous author with their debut novel, Rules for Fake Girlfriends. Revord recently spoke with Woman’s World about the romantic comedy novel, which was released on September 2. Get the inside scoop on the plot, Revord’s writing process and where the idea stemmed from. Plus, find out what the actor’s favorite episode of Young Sheldon was to film.
WOMAN’S WORLD (WW): Tell us a little bit about the plot of your new book, Rules for Fake Girlfriends. What can readers expect going into this?
Raegan Revord: Rules for Fake Girlfriends is a queer Young Adult rom com, and the main character’s name is Avery. After Avery’s mom passes away, she gets the first clue of a scavenger hunt left in her will, which sends her to England. On the train to her mom’s alma mater, she meets a girl named Charlie who agrees to help her complete the scavenger hunt if Avery agrees to fake date in order to win Charlie’s ex back. Things don’t really go to plan. There are some secrets and a lot of fun. It’s a good fall read.
WW: What inspired you to write this book, and specifically the potential romance between Avery and Charlie?
Raegan Revord: I’ve always wanted to write something set in England. I love the place, and there are so many amazing rom coms that are set in England—Love Actually, Notting Hill, The Holiday—and I always loved the aesthetic they have. I’ve had ideas for Avery for a while, but never really a plot or a backstory. The main incident is kind of what started this whole journey, and it was because I had a friend tell me that she had a potentially serious health issue, and I started thinking about how that could affect other relationships. That kind of led to what Avery and her mom’s relationship became.
With my friend’s approval, I started writing the book and I put all of those favorite elements of mine that I love together. I’ve always loved fake dating. I love a good scheme. It’s so much fun and it leads to so much tension.
WW: The book is set in Brighton, England. Did you choose that city at random or simply because you wanted a beautiful English setting?
Raegan Revord: I chose Brighton specifically because I have a lot of friends who live there. Then when I was doing research on cities in England, I just fell in love with the place. I’m a San Diego kid and it feels very similar to what San Diego would be like if it was in England. It’s a small beach town, but also a big city, and immediately I was, like, “This is where it’s set.”
I’d never been to Brighton before and I had to write about a character who is obviously living there, right? And so, before I went to visit for the first time, I would be on Google Maps street view walking around Brighton [on my phone], trying to see where Avery would be walking, and trying to get a feel for it.
WW: Of course, this book is a fun-loving romance, but what do you hope people can take away from Rules for Fake Girlfriends?
Raegan Revord: I think there’s a few things. There’s obviously the romance plot, but then there’s also just Avery’s character arc. At the very beginning of the book, she’s not the most confident person. She’s never dated anyone before, she’s unsure about what career path she wants to follow and she’s not sure if moving to England is the right move. There’s a lot of uncertainty. And then, by the end of the book, she’s very confident, she knows what she wants to do and she trusts in herself. The message there is that you have to give things time.
When a lot of people feel stuck or unsure, they try to rush it and make that answer come immediately. But Avery just went with the flow, which is very difficult to do. I think just giving it time and just trusting that the answer will come to you, and that you can’t rush it, is very important. And she learns that over the course of the book.
WW: Rules for Fake Girlfriends is your first published book—was writing and publishing a book something that you always wanted to do?
Raegan Revord: I’ve always been a storyteller. I have been writing short stories for friends and family since I was probably five years old, so I definitely have always wanted to do this. It’s been my dream since before I even knew acting was. I’ve always wanted to be an author ever since I was little, ever since I knew what books were.
WW: What was your writing process like? Did you have a specific routine you liked to follow, or would you just pull out your laptop whenever inspiration struck?
Raegan Revord: I kind of have to be in a productive mindset. I can’t just block out four hours and do nothing but write—I wish I could. I would have a playlist for [when I was writing] the book, so I would listen to that music and have a cup of tea, and my cat and that’s the perfect setting for me.
And if it’s raining, that’s even better. That’s like a writer’s dream, to be writing when it’s raining outside. It’s the perfect aesthetic.
WW: You also narrated the audiobook for Rules for Fake Girlfriends. How did that come about?
Raegan Revord: Whenever we first started talking about the audiobook, I refused to do it. But after talking with the audiobook team and my editor, they said, “You should just give it a chance.” So, I did dialect coaching—I have to do the accents, because it’s set in England. After that, we went into the studio and it was, like, a week-long recording process. I would be in the booth seven hours a day and I would get home, and my brain would be mush.
It was the craziest, most rewarding process ever. I’m in such awe now of voice actors and narrators, because I was so dead from doing that for one week, I could not imagine having that as my job, but it was so rewarding and I loved it so much
WW: You talked about growing up as a reader and a writer. What genres were you interested in as a kid—romance, fantasy—what were you reading?
Raegan Revord: The genre that I have loved the longest is probably fantasy. Rom coms were more for 12 year old me and older, but I have been reading fantasies since I was seven years old. There are two book series that cemented me as an obsessive bookworm, and it’s Eragon and Harry Potter. Just the world building, the storytelling, the characters, the plot—I loved it so much.
WW: Have you ever thought about writing fantasy?
Raegan Revord: It’s funny you should ask, because fantasy is actually my next steppingstone. I’m working on it right now; I’m jumping from the calm before the storm into another storm. I had the idea actually before I was working on the rom com and then had to put it on the back burner, and now I’m revisiting it.
It’s kind of nice I’m getting to see it with a fresh pair of eyes. And I have these world building documents… and that has proved very helpful because now I have all these things that I wrote years ago that are reminding me of what the world was.
WW: Romance has become extremely popular over the past few years, specifically with TikTok. Why do you think this genre is so important to readers?
Raegan Revord: I think the reason it became so popular, especially during COVID, is because during the pandemic, people didn’t really have connection. You were very isolated and romance and rom coms in general are just very much about connection. And so, whenever there’s been a time when people were isolated and desperate for connection, romance was kind of there to fill that gap.
WW: You also started an online book club, Read with Reagan, which has become extremely popular with young adults. What inspired you to do that?
Raegan Revord: I’ve always been a huge reader. I talk about books 24/7 and everyone knew I loved books. And so, I would have people ask me what I was reading and what I would recommend. So, I thought it would be really cool to have a place where I could share that and where I could try to reach as many people as possible and show how important storytelling is and how important books are.
It just started off as a once a month book recommendation on my regular Instagram, and that was it. But then it started growing, I started interviewing authors and then it had its own social media… I never expected it. I now have people who come up to me on the street and they don’t say, “Oh, I love Young Sheldon,” but instead they say, “I love your book club.” That’s so cool to me and I’m just so honored that I could maybe be a reason as to why someone found their favorite book, or why someone is now a bookworm.
WW: Since you were on Young Sheldon for so many years, do you have any favorite memories or moments from the set that you’d like to share with our readers?
Raegan Revord: I think my favorite memory is the tornado episode when George [Senior] and I are in the tornado and we have to go in the ditch. It was just such a fun episode to film, which sounds crazy because it was a really sad episode.
But I love the stunts and having been able to dip my toe into that world. Lance Barber [who portrays her character’s father, George Sr.] and I were literally laying in a ditch for 10 hours in cold water… [we] trauma bonded over that, but it was so much fun and it’s such a beautiful episode. I even kept the outfit that Missy wears [during that episode] when we wrapped the show.
WW: What has writing your first book taught you about yourself and are you excited to start the next one?
Raegan Revord: I think I learned just how deeply I care about stories since I am such a big bookworm. But writing your own and the process of that, I think I just fell in love with it even more. It’s a different perspective of storytelling.
I also learned to trust myself more, because I’d never done it before. I had no idea what I was doing and I was really scared to listen to my gut. But at the end of the day, the author knows the story best.
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