Before the pandemic, we were the show that invited scholars, makers, and professionals out to brunch for informal conversations about their work, and we look forward to being that show again one day. But for now, we’re recording remotely to maintain physical distancing.

It’s still a pretty fantastic job.

Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan are the authors of four novels, most recently The Heir Affair, which was published this summer by Grand Central and is the sequel to their bestseller, The Royal We. Much like the two of them, the books are witty and hilarious, following the lives of a fictitious, modern-day British royal family from the perspective of a young American woman who falls in love with the heir to the throne while both are studying at Oxford.

And it’s fitting that Heather—a 1999 Notre Dame grad, by the way—and Jessica should write about royals because they are something akin to internet royalty themselves. They are the creators of Go Fug Yourself, the iconic website that bears witness to “fantastically ugly” celebrity fashion. Their work has also appeared in publications ranging from New York magazine to Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, W magazine, and Glamour.

Heather and Jessica talked to host Ted Fox about their new book and how they work together as a writing team as well as what makes for successful characters and the challenges of writing a sequel. The three made some time at the end to discuss the do’s and don’ts of covering celebrity fashion, too.

As for where they started, Ted had the opportunity to see just how well Heather and Jessica know each other’s writing.

LINKS

• Heather and Jessica’s two royal novels: The Royal We and The Heir Affair
• Heather and Jessica’s website: gofugyourself.com
• Episode Transcript