Image courtesy Christen Randall
Following their 2024 debut The No-Girlfriend Rule, author Christen Randall is back with sophomore novel According to Plan. Also a young adult, coming-of-age queer romance, According to Plan will release on February 3 through Simon & Schuster publishing arm Atheneum Books.
Randall, who goes by they/she pronouns, met Cincinnati Magazine at Point Perk, a coffee shop nestled on the corner of Pike Street in Covington, to chat about the novel, their writing process, and her upcoming release event at Joseph-Beth Booksellers on February 3 at 7 p.m.
Point Perk is just one of several coffee shops and other cozy nooks in the river city that Randall drew inspiration from in shaping According to Plan’s setting.
“[Covington is] a really unique place in the country that is not the South, and it’s not really the Midwest. It’s not even really Cincinnati” says Randall, who lives in the same part of Covington According to Plan’s protagonist, Mal, lives and attends school in. Randall wanted to bring Covington’s eclectic blend of culture not only to readers across the country, but throughout the world, too. (The novel will be released in the United Kingdom on February 12).
“Covington is also incredibly queer,” says Randall. “That is one of the reasons that I love it here. And I think Covington is in a very interesting moment of change. I write about this in the book: We’re seeing the first big rumbles of gentrification. We’re seeing a larger disparity between people who live closer to the river and people who live further away… In a lot of ways, it mirrors Mal’s experience.”
Pick up According to Plan and you’ll soon find that Mal—described as a “fat, queer person with ADHD” in their senior year of high school—is also in a moment of change. Mal’s plan for the year is turned upside down when the school’s literary magazine, Collage, is canceled. As editor, Mal is left with no real extracurriculars or prospects.
Enter the bubbly, high-energy Emerson Pike, who acts as a foil to Mal’s often rigid, black-and-white thinking. When Emerson suggests they throw rules to the wind and make an unsanctioned zine, Mal is at first hesitant, but finds themself lured into the process (and Emerson’s effervescent personality).
Randall has autistm and ADHD, though the former is a diagnosis they’re still exploring. “I joke that Mal and Emerson are the two wolves that live inside me,” Randall says. “I have moments in life where I very much feel like Mal; I have my planner and very organized bullet-point lists about things. I also have Emerson, a sloppy collection of Post-it notes dangling out of a planner.
Photograph courtesy Christen Randall
“The neurodivergent experience is incredibly diverse. Neurodiversity looks different for every neurodivergent person. I really wanted to take inspiration from my lived experience. I’m also incredibly lucky in that most of my friends are neurodivergent.”
Mal’s lit mag aspirations also stemmed from Christen’s own life; growing up, they were a huge literature nerd. Raised in Nashville, Tennessee, in an underserved school district, Randall says they wished they had access to a zine lab or literary magazine.
“I wanted to call attention to the fact that, when school systems that should be a place where they offer opportunities and prepare you for adulthood, fail, you can create something joyful and sustaining with your own community,” says Randall.
Fans of The No-Girlfriend Rule will see similarities in According to Plan: Both novels feature queer, fat protagonists growing their confidence and sense of self through found community. While the former unfolds across a Dungeon & Dragons tabletop game, the latter blooms in the backroom of a coffee shop.
Randall says that the novel writing process for each book could not have been different, however. For starters, Randall wrote The No-Girlfriend Rule over a long period of time—and not on a deadline.
“When I started drafting According to Plan, I had two months to get it done,” says Randall. “It immediately went to my editor instead of my writing friends. It was a very different process in every imaginable way.”
One lesson Randall carried with them from The No-Girlfriend Rule into According to Plan was that writing authentically resonates with audiences. As she looks toward transitioning into a career as an author—Randall also works at the Kenton County Public Library—they’ve found that there’s pressure to chase trends to make themselves marketable as a writer.
“One of the cool things about The No-Girlfriend Rule is that I got to meet so many folks during the course of touring that the story resonated with,” says Randall. “I learned that’s the main reason I want to do this: find those readers.”
The Joseph-Beth event, in which Randall will be in conversation with fellow young adult author Kristy Boyce, will kick off a book tour that will take Randall across the country, including in Louisville, Indianapolis, Columbus, and even cities Portland, Oregon. (Along with the discussion, attendees will also get the chance to have their book signed by Randall.)
Like Mal, Randall grew up working class and spent many years thinking they were a failure because they couldn’t perform “to the plan.” They tried cramming themselves into the nine-to-five box, but it simply didn’t work for them. Diagnosed with ADHD later in life, Randall eventually came to the conclusion that they didn’t have to stick to the so-called status-quo plan.
“Neurodivergent kids deserve joy, too,” says Randall, “and I hope that in writing and in readers finding According to Plan, they are able to come to that joy before they’re in their mid-30s.”
When asked if Randall could leave readers with one takeaway from According to Plan, they respond promptly: “Make stuff that matters to you. It seems simple, but in a world that tells you that you don’t matter so many times, it’s incredibly challenging. But, it’s also incredibly worth it.”
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