The panel has wrapped up. Thank you to the authors!

Lyla Lee, who is bisexual, said she uses popular media like reality TV and K-dramas to connect with a wider audience when discussing representation.

Center was asked about her book “The Bodyguard” being adapted into a movie and her involvement. She said she can’t discuss it yet but admitted she wishes she could and it’s “all she wants to talk about.”

Center was asked about a new upcoming book and jokingly said she asked her husband for a hickey as part of her required research.

“The question in a romance is never ‘will they or won’t they,’” Center said. “They will!” She added that it’s more about the journey and how the characters get there is what keeps a reader interested.

Lee said she gives her characters multiple chances to redeem themselves, usually saving it for the end. She also follows a strict outline when writing.

“I don’t want to read about perfect people moving through the world perfectly,” Kumar said when asked if she ever gets frustrated with her own characters while writing her books.

Lyla Lee announced her new book, The Cuffing Game, is available for early release exclusively to Texas Book Festival attendees. Its official release is in two weeks.

Center said,in the book world, many stories already focus on things going wrong, which is why she chooses to highlight love and personal growth in her books.

Lyla Lee said she draws inspiration from K-dramas to show happiness in her books. She focused on friendship in Love in Focus because her friends are like family and helped keep her grounded through her “crazy 20s.”

“I’ve always loved a snowed-in romance,” Naina Kumar said. Since she’s from Houston and has never experienced that, she used a hurricane instead for the inspiration of her book Flirting With Disaster.

Katherine Center talked about her new release The Love Haters and said she was inspired by the idea of moral elevation, wanting to write uplifting stories. Her husband suggested she write about the U.S. Coast Guard, and that’s where the book began.

The panel kicked off at 11 a.m.!

Katherine Center, a Houston based NYT bestselling author, known for her “comfort reads.” Lyla Lee, from South Korea and now in Dallas, writes stories inspired by her heritage. Naina Kumar, from India and now in Texas, wrote Say You’ll Be Mine and Flirting With Disaster. Excited to hear them today!

I’m covering the Love, Laughs, and Happily Ever After panel at the Tx Book Festival in Austin, with authors Katherine Center (The Love Haters), Lyla Lee (Love in Focus) and Naina Kumar (Flirting with Disaster), moderated by Joy Melody Woods Bennett. #TexasBookFestival @gilbertdmartinez.bsky.social