Getaway Girls

The time has come! Let’s take an inside look at Getaway Girls, the newest rom-com coming to Choices:

This book has been a closely held secret, but we're thrilled that it's time for it to shine. What can you tell us about Getaway Girls?

Chelsa: It's a pretty straightforward story! You get to play as four very different characters (sisters and cousins) navigating their live, laugh, love journeys on a Bahamian getaway. As with any family, there's favorites and frenemies, and playing around that can go a little too far. The characters are really what make this story. 

Bre: Getaway Girls is the story of four close-knit family members finding their way back to each other as they work their way through the issues that have overcome their day-to-day lives.

What were some points of inspiration for Getaway Girls?

Chelsa: This book is my love letter to my family. To the movies and shows we watched, the places we vacationed (the places we've been kicked out of), the men and women we've cried over, and the comfort of knowing that we always have each other at the end of the day.

Bre: We wanted the Girlfriends, Living Single type of feel in that the girls feel like people we know in real life. We also liked the world of Coming II America, the luxury and opulence of a world that centers Black people and a type of Black culture.

So we know the main character meets up with an old flame, but what can you tell us about the love lives of our other leading ladies? 

Chelsa: I mean, right out the gate, Imani is absolutely everything to me. And Andre is just the epitome of gentleman and class. I love how each love interest in this book offers a really different relationship experience. 

Bre: Maia, the MC's sister is aro/ace, so there's no love life there, and she's happy for it. Anita runs into a love interest where she's least expecting it, and she helps Anita find herself in the midst of her celebrity identity crisis. Dee is initially dead set against love, opting to focus on her career, but she runs into someone she recognizes as her equal and has to reconcile her internal feelings about love and romance with her narrative experience.

Icy: Our players will be in for a treat with adventure and a nice dose of drama from each of the girls' stories and connections to one another.

What is, in your opinion, the most unique aspect of Getaway Girls?

Chelsa: This is a tough one, there are so many new and interesting things we tried to include in this book to really work with the narrative. I guess for me the most unique thing about it at the moment is that Getaway Girls will be my last book as a writing lead on Choices before I focus on my role as Choices' Director of Writing. 

Icy: Getaway Girls is our first book that highlights a Black main cast, exploring ranges in complexion and body types! I'm super excited about this and I hope our players are too.

Bre: We also have new body types and an MC with various Black skin tones, which is something we haven't done before.

What was the experience like making Getaway Girls as PB’s first Black cast-led book?

Chelsa: Honestly? It was pretty tough. I spent a lot of my youth trying to figure out where I fit into my own culture. "Not Black enough" was something I heard a lot of, and it's something I'm sure many of our readers have felt or heard as well. So how do you write a book that's "Black enough"? I felt like so much of the early production of this book was us stressing out about that idea, writing a book that was "Black enough". So I stopped doing that, and instead Bre and I wrote something for us. I really, really hope you like it.

Bre: The process of making Getaway Girls really embodied some of the experience of being Black. For example, there were scenes we had to weigh the cost and benefits of including because we knew that those scenes may change how players see the cast--even though we have other books that feature similar scenes and no one bats an eye. That additional layer of scrutiny is something Black people deal with daily, and it was interesting-- if not saddening-- to see it play out in the fictional sphere. Also, because this is the first book of its kind, there was an internalized pressure to create a book that spoke to and for all Black people, a task that's daunting at best because the Black experience is so varied. Writing a book with a main character based on one way to be Black often means inadvertently putting that version front and center and ignoring the variety of the community. For Getaway Girls, we split the difference, making a wide array of characters that each take on a different part of the Black experience. 

Icy: A lot of research was done to make sure the range in complexion was wide enough to cover the spectrum. As the art lead, I've spoken with teammates, colleagues, and friends for feedback on the visuals of each character. I'm so happy and proud when the full range of MC's skin tones was shown to the art department and I hear comments like "My Mom is actually that exact complexion with the cool undertone" or "She is my skin tone and I love that it is represented here." 

Which girl do you resonate with most?

Chelsa: Lol despite my incredibly serious answers, Maia. :) I'm a a silly little guy through and through.

Bre: Dee is my favorite because she's such a boss. I want to be her when I grow up.

Icy: I gotta say, I'm more of a Teyana since I tend to meddle in things, but I'm a Maia at heart where I can be a chaotic child haha.

Thank you all for taking the time to answer our questions. We can’t wait for everyone to get their hands on Getaway Girls, launching this Wednesday, January 25th!

<3 The Choices Community Team