Holly Brickley Faces the Music of Love on Her Debut Novel, Deep Cuts
In the publishing world, rarely do we see the stories of unsung heroes. Understandably, the face of the revolution is the one who gets the spotlight. But what about the thousands of other people equally responsible for that hard work?
With her debut novel Deep Cuts, Holly Brickley offers a new perspective. Joe Morrow might be making waves as the lead vocalist of band Caroline. Underneath his ground-breaking artistry lives a superstar of her own, Percy Marks. Despite her extraordinarily ordinary (and maybe even subpar) musical talent, Joe wouldn't be the singer-songwriter he is without her. As she grows into her identity, Percy learns there is more to who she is and wants beyond the people she may be jealous of.
If anything, Deep Cuts, out now, is a reminder to listen to the quieter voices. There is a story to be heard there.
(Image courtesy of Penguin Random House)
Holly sat down with us to dive deeper into the complexities of Deep Cuts—and discuss the upcoming film adaptation (featuring Saoirse Ronan and Austin Butler as Percy and Joe, respectively) with A24.
Sweety High: Deep Cuts is your debut novel. What is your history with creative writing? Have you always dreamed of being an author?
Holly Brickley: 100%. I was always that kid with my nose in a book, the teenager with a secret half-finished novel. In high school, I won a short story contest for students across the Pacific Northwest (the prize was a hulking desktop computer, which was a big deal back then). In college, I studied English, then immediately got my MFA in fiction. Once I was out of school, the dream got fuzzy for awhile—jobs, career, children—life got in the way for many years. But the dream never really died.
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SH: How did your life (and career) in San Francisco and New York City inform Percy and Joe's experiences?
HB: In infinite, inchoate ways. I made up the plot and all the characters, but I drew heavily on the backdrop of my 20s—my jobs, schools, cities, apartments, the shows and parties I attended back then. It saved me having to do a lot of research, because that time is quite vivid in my memory. And it was really fun. I especially enjoyed writing about my career in trend research, which was a very 2000s job—I would fly around the city, go into bars and clubs and find the "cool people" to interview for our clients. I always knew I would write about that job!
(Image courtesy of Susan Seubert)
SH: Traditionally, the main character would be the "talented" individual—in this case, Joe. We appreciate that Percy, despite not having the glamorous lifestyle and skills on the surface, is the person sharing her voice. What was your inspiration for this unlikely but courageous choice for the protagonist
HB: Um, myself? Hah. I have always been so envious of people with musical talent. I wanted to explore that envy in the context of a love story, where I thought it would make a great complicating factor. Every love story needs a problem, and that's a big one—you can't want to be the person you're in love with; there's a horrible kind of self-erasure in that. It was important to me to write it from Percy's perspective, so I could really embody that envy. It didn't occur to me until later that this would also be the more relatable perspective—that far more people feel like they don't have talent (or don't have enough of it) than feel like they're some great genius.
SH: Percy and Joe seem to view their lives in music. What are some of the songs that have had a long-lasting impact on you? Which have soundtracked the different eras of your life?
HB: They're mostly in the book! The Beach Boys as a teenager, Neutral Milk Hotel in college, Sam Cooke for my first experience of falling in love. Fiona Apple's song "Fetch the Bolt-Cutters" was huge for me during the pandemic—that feeling of wanting to break free, not just of social confines but of all the mental prisons we build for ourselves. It describes perfectly how I felt in those years, and of the growing determination to finally write my book. Chappell Roan's "Good Luck, Babe!" is a more recent song along that same theme, for me. You can only shove your true self down for so long, you know?
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SH: You often mention your upbringing in a musical family. Was it important to you that your first book would pay homage to your roots?
HB: I wouldn't say I was trying to pay homage to anything. Music is just one part of my upbringing that has shaped who I am and happened to be the subject for this book. There are other important aspects of my roots—for example, the fact that I grew up in Canada—that are entirely absent from the book. (I recognize there's a privilege in this, in the freedom I feel to write about whatever parts of my identity I choose). But yes, my dad was a prolific if not commercially successful songwriter when I was growing up, so music filled our house in a way that had a big impact on me. When you're a writer, all the facets of your life—your childhood, your jobs—are like ingredients for your work. They all go into this big, churning soup.
SH: Shortly after release day, you announced a film adaptation of Deep Cuts with A24. How did that come about? Will you have any involvement in the production of the movie?
HB: It all happened in tandem with the book publication. I finished writing the book in 2023, then went through the traditional querying process to find an agent. Once I started working with a literary agent, she paired me with a film and television agent, and they each worked simultaneously in their fields: the literary agent sent the book out to publishers, while the film/TV agent sent the book out to Hollywood people. So, the film deal was in the works for a long time—well over a year—before it was announced. I am obviously thrilled with how it's going. Saoirse Ronan, Austin Butler, A24, are you kidding? I feel so lucky! I am an executive producer on the film, so I'll be involved a bit, but Sean Durkin is writing his own script. I'm grateful that I trust Sean, so I can use the time to write my next book.
SH: What scene from the book are you most looking forward to seeing come to life on the big screen?
HB: There's a scene in the book when Joe sings a song that he and Percy wrote together at the Troubadour, in LA, while Percy watches from the audience on her own private emotional roller coaster. The night after I found out about Austin Butler being cast as Joe, I couldn't sleep all night because I was imagining him in that scene. And Saoirse in the audience! My heart!
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SH: This is only the beginning of your career! What else are you looking forward to? Is there anything you have planned in your future that you are able to share with us?
HB: I'm really excited about my next book! This one has nothing to do with music, and it's set in present times during a heat wave, so it's a bit darker and more existential—but also funnier, somehow? And it features a similarly sharp-tongued, opinionated protagonist, like Percy. I guess that's my thing, hah. There is also a very important Gen Z character in this one…
SH: How would you describe your writing and querying process? What is your advice for first-time writers?
HB: Chaotic and obsessive. I don't write on a schedule or with an outline or do any of the things you're supposed to do. I just chip away until I hit on something that really fires me up, and once I'm fired up, I find the whole process so damn fun that it becomes difficult for me to do anything else. I would write all day and night if I could. I love it so much. So that's my biggest advice: to write what you truly love, and make sure the process is fun. Your writing will be better, and you won't struggle to make time for it.
As for querying, that's another story. Querying sucked. I did it for about six months, and when I think about that time of my life, it makes me want to take a shower—it was so filled with insecurity and email-checking and ick—but I'm obviously glad I persevered!
My process here was quite methodical: I made a list of agents, used Query Tracker to keep track of my submissions, polished my query package to perfection. I listened to all the podcasts (The Sh— No One Tells You About Writing was particularly helpful for me), and even hired the Manuscript Academy to give me feedback on my query letter. It probably didn't need to be as polished as it was, honestly. What matters most is the writing.
SH: Outside of writing, how do you spend your free time?
HB: I read and I parent and I make time for friends; that's the bulk of it. I still love music and go to shows when I can, but writing is my main focus these days. If I have time that is truly free, just for me… that's writing time.
SH: Anything else you'd like to include?
HB: If you're excited about the movie, please buy the book! Then you can be all smug to your friends when the movie comes out!
Curious to learn more about our other favorite authors? Click HERE to meet Kimberly Lemming and discover how she created pandemonium in her Cosmic Chaos series.