‘Dirty Dancing bride’ Writes Must-Read Wedding Romcom 

‘Dirty Dancing bride’ writes must-read wedding romcom 

by Julia Boggio

Hi. I’m Julia. In 2007, my Dirty Dancing wedding dance went viral. This was back in the early days of YouTube and viral videos, when there were only a few circulating at any given time and we’d chat about each one around the water cooler. Now, viral videos are a dime a dozen. I guess we got lucky. 

The day after our story broke in the Metro, Richard & Judy called. Then the BBC and ITV. We went on honeymoon to Australia and ended up on Sunrise TV. And then 6 months’ later, just when it was starting to die down, we got THE phone call. 

It was Oprah. She wanted us to come to Chicago to be on her show. 

To make a long story short, we went. She was doing a whole episode about YouTube and her other guests included P Diddy, Paul Potts (remember him?), the founders of YouTube, and a skateboarding dog. They told us to learn the beginning of the dance again, which we dutifully did—although…why only the first half? 

The answer soon became apparent as my husband and I performed the moves in front of the studio audience. They clapped along to “The Time of Our Lives”; we weren’t the most amazing dancers, so they were being polite. All of the sudden, the clapping intensified and there was a lot of whooping. I looked over my husband’s shoulder. 

Patrick Swayze was walking towards me. 

“May I cut in?” he asked. 

I shoved my husband out of the way and jumped into Patrick’s arms. 

That was a really good day.  (watch here!)

At the time, I was a wedding photographer. It was a gift from the PR gods that my own wedding dance happened to go viral and started a worldwide trend in choreographed first dances. I was interviewed in almost every UK bridal magazine. The whole viral thing was a complete accident; we’d only put the dance on YouTube to show friends in the States, but as a small business owner, it helped a lot. 

Fast forward to 2019. I had stopped shooting weddings when my daughter was born and opened up a portrait studio in Wimbledon. It became pretty well known among the Chelsea and Mayfair set and I had the great privilege of photographing both members of Queen (the band) and THE Queen. 

But I was ready for a change. 

I had always wanted to be a novelist. At this point, I’d been a photographer for almost 15 years. It felt like a good time to try something new (little did I know how true this would turn out to be as we rolled towards March 2020).

A few years later, I had a completed book called SHOOTERS. What Jilly Cooper’s RIDERS did for show jumping, SHOOTERS did for wedding photography. Yes, I had used my years of experience to write a “sexy, sassy romantic riot” as Milly Johnson called it—and you can bet there’s a saucy first dance in there, too.

So I had the book. I had an agent. But I couldn’t seem to get that elusive publishing deal. 

We writers think that getting the agent is the hard part. Au contraire! That’s nothing compared with the next phase. 

My agent sent the book out to publishers, and they fedback that they loved it—YAY! But they weren’t going to take it—BOO!

Some said they already had a wedding romcom on their list (There can be only one!), but it was the second reason that got me: in the romcom space, they were only looking to sign younger writers with a better chance of going viral on TikTok. 

I’m 48. When I looked into the authors that have done well on TikTok, the publishers were right; they were all under 45 (mostly under 40). But is this how books should be chosen? Was my non-existent TikTok following more important than the fact that it was a great  book? 

Apparently so. My agent could have continued sending the script out, but I wasn’t getting any younger. We decided that I should try self-publishing. 

And I’m so glad that I did. Sometimes, things happen for a reason. 

Since deciding to self-publish, I’ve thrown myself into it. I’ve joined the Alliance of Independent Authors (affiliate link) and have become one of their ambassadors. The hardest part of self-publishing is the marketing, but I happen to have a degree in marketing and 15 years as an entrepreneur under my belt. It all helps! (Did I mention I started a podcast called Two Lit Chicks?) That being said, I still get attacked by sudden fits of “HAVE I DONE ENOUGH?” and “WHAT IF NO ONE LIKES IT?”

As I approach my publication date, reviews are starting to flood in…and PHEW! So far, they love it. Frances Quinn (author of That Bonesetter Woman) said it was “funny, sassy, and full of heart” and Amy Beashel (author of Spilt Milk and whose wedding I photographed a long time ago) said: “Expertly capturing the glamour and mayhem of wedding photography, Shooters is a debut romcom brimming with sex, sisterhood, and spice!” And even better are the ones from people I don’t know at all. “I finished this book in two days! I couldn’t put it down,” said a reviewer on Bookstagram.

So I guess this was all a roundabout way of saying: please buy my book. 

—

Originally from New Jersey, Julia Boggio moved to London in her early twenties. She worked as an advertising copywriter until discovering her love of photography on a 6-month trip around South America. Her current hobbies include child-rearing, defeating menopause, and roller skating. Julia Boggio books focus on strong female characters with real, complicated lives, delivered with humour and feel-good factor. You can sign up for her newsletter at JuliaBoggio.com.

You can pre-order SHOOTERS, on Amazon here

Listen to Julia’s book podcast, TWO LIT CHICKS, hereFollow Julia on social Media: 

Twitter: @juliaboggio  /  @twolitchicks

Facebook: Julia Boggio Author 

TikTok: @juliaboggiowriter  /  @two_lit_chicks

Instagram: @juliaboggio  /  @two_lit_chicks

Website: Julia Boggio  /  Two Lit Chicks

SHOOTERS 

“The photography conference simmered with talent: those who had it, those who wanted it, and those who would always suck no matter how hard they tried. Stella Price wondered where she fell on that scale.”

Stella is determined to become a successful wedding photographer, even if it means learning from Connor Knight, a wedding shooter with sexy rock star status and an ego to match.

Burned by an affair that ended her last career, Stella should know better than to get entangled with Connor during a residential course in a romantic French chateau. But while his arrogance turns her off, his talent turns her on…

As their clashes start transforming into passion, Stella struggles to frame a future with a man who has famously come to distrust “happily ever afters”. Is there a softer side behind Connor’s macho image? Can Stella learn from her past mistakes and teach Connor about real love before he disappears from the picture?

What Jilly Cooper’s Riders did for show jumping, SHOOTERS does for wedding photography in this sizzling romcom: a hilarious, heart-pounding novel about owning our past mistakes and being true to ourselves. 

 

Tags: featured, women writers

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