Q&A: Author Rebecca Serle shares what's behind her 'magical realism' and new book 'Expiration Dates'

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2024 Invision

Author Rebecca Serle poses for a portrait in West Hollywood, Calif., on Feb. 29, 2024, to promote her latest book "Expiration Dates." (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

In Rebecca Serle's new book ā€œExpiration Dates: A Novel,ā€ the protagonist, Daphne, knows when her relationships will end. A slip of paper always shows up with a name and a number for how long they will date.

We meet Daphne on her way to a blind date with Jake ā€” whose paper doesn't have a number. This must mean he's the one. Or is he? Is it helpful or a hinderance to have the answers?

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"I was thinking about fate and free will and which one wins," Serle said recently over Zoom from her home in Los Angeles. ā€œHow much is within our control and how much is going to happen regardless of the decisions we make and the choices that we make?ā€

Serle's recent novels have blended fantasy and realism. In her last book, ā€œOne Italian Summer,ā€ a woman meets a younger version of her mother while on vacation.

In ā€œExpiration Dates,ā€ Serle, who married in 2023, was inspired by her own dating history.

ā€I was single for a really long time," she said. ā€œI remember relationships would end and I would feel like, ā€œThis again? Didn't I already learn this lesson?ā€ Looking back, I see who I had to become before I met my husband, but itā€™s hard to see in the moment. Thatā€™s where the wish fulfillment of ā€˜Expiration Datesā€™ comes in. There is something so compelling about the idea how you might see a relationship if you werenā€™t entering into every one, as I did, thinking ā€˜This could be the one.ā€™"

Serle spoke to The Associated Press about philosophy, what she tells her husband about her books, and why running and writing are a lot alike.

Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.

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AP: What inspired you to start adding fantasy elements to your books?

SERLE: In college I would write magical realism short stories. I read a lot of Aimee Bender and Haruki Murakami and enjoyed the way they would open up a universe and not explain it. Something about that just sparkled. I published four young adult novels before writing my first novel for adults which was ā€œThe Dinner List" in 2018. With that, I went back to how I began by writing magical realism.

AP: Did you by chance study philosophy in school?

SERLE: I was actually obsessed with philosophy in high school. I remember reading Plato's ā€œThe Allegory of the Cave" and being blown away.

AP: Your readers enjoy the magic elements in your book. Do you ever feel pressure to continue to include those?

SERLE: Iā€™m working on a book right now that might be the last book that has some kind of magic in it. I want to keep reinventing myself as a writer and growing. But Iā€™m also aware that I have an audience that for whatever reason, lovingly and wonderfully and surprisingly really likes what I do. We'll see. Once the thing is no longer interesting to me, the books are not going to be interesting to read. Thatā€™s just the truth.

AP: What has it been like introducing your husband to your writing?

SERLE: I said to my husband early on, and I remind him all the time, ā€œHappy marriages doesn't make interesting books.ā€ He's going to inevitably recognize himself in everything that comes next, because the fabric of our lives are now woven together. We live together. We share a life together Heā€™s going to recognize details of himself in a husband character. Of course he is. Iā€™m writing it. But just because that person you know, has an affair doesnā€™t mean that thatā€™s how I feel about him. Thatā€™s a hard thing sometimes for non-writers to understand.

AP: You've recently started running regularly and say running is like writing. How so?

SERLE: By the way, by running I mean like, 3 miles. Iā€™m not marathoning, OK? But I never ran a mile in my life. I really had never run five minutes in my life. I recently started running because it was something I really wanted to learn how to do. My knees would hurt when I ran for five minutes, but they donā€™t hurt now that I run for half an hour. Your ability to keep moving and your lung capacity adapts, but I think what really adapts is your brain. Your brain says, ā€˜I know I can do this; I know I can complete this.ā€™ I think that is exactly what it means to write a book. Every time I sit down to do it, it gets a little bit easier, because Iā€™ve done it before, and I know I can do it again You keep on and eventually something gets built.


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