Unsurprisingly, Emma Brodie is a Trekkie and former improv comedian with family in Western Mass. Those threads serve as the tripod of themes that her sophomore novel, “Into the Blue” — published by Jenna Bush Hager’s Thousand Voices — stands on.
In the latest book from the Martha’s Vineyard editor and writer, it’s the summer of 2000 in the fictional Gladstone, Mass., where 17-year-old AJ Graves dreams of writing for “Saturday Night Live” while posting “Astronauticals” fan-fiction (think an improvised “Star Trek”) and working in a video rental store. Enter Noah Drew, handsome scion of an acting dynasty. His aunt Eudora was an “Astronauticals” star. AJ ends up at their mansion as Noah’s scene partner, with Eudora instructing them in improv acting. The two are falling for each other — until one day, Noah vanishes.
Over the decades, they spin in and out of each other’s orbit — at Upright Citizens Brigade (cofounded by Massachusetts native Amy Poehler), at “SNL,” filming an “Astonauticals” spin-off series called “Into the Blue.” Meanwhile, there’s a devastating secret. … No spoilers.
The New York Times bestseller was bumped from its original July publication date to April to accommodate for the fact Reese Witherspoon wanted it as her April Book Club Pick. Brodie reveals that her experiences with improv classes at UCB in New York and a mix of TV shows — from Bravo’s “Vanderpump Rules” and ABC’s “Castle” to her family’s “Star Trek” obsession — inspired “Blue.” And yes, an adaption is in development.
“Unfortunately, that’s all I can say for now,” Brodie said in a phone interview from her West Tisbury home.
Ahead of a dinner and book talk in Oak Bluffs on Sept. 16, as well as an appearance at the Boston Book Fest on Oct. 17, Brodie opened up about her love of Western Mass., the art of steamy scenes, her days at Upright Citizens Brigade, and more.
Q. With “Into the Blue,” you built an entire universe here. What sparked this novel?
A. A few different things. I wanted to write a cosmic connection a la Romeo and Juliet, Cathy and Heathcliff, or the Force-bond in “Star Wars.”
Noah came to me first. I didn’t know what to do with him, but he was feeding me details about his acting-dynasty family. Then I saw an episode of “Castle” [“The Final Frontier”] that took place at a fake fan convention for a fake space show.
I’m a lifelong Trekkie — my parents are Trekkies — but after I saw this episode — full of nerdy pop-culture Easter eggs to sci-fi fandoms — I thought it would be fun to write a novel where a reader could have no knowledge of a fandom and walk away feeling like a super-fan.
That episode starred Nathan Fillion, who played Mal Reynolds in “Firefly” (2002), a cult show with only one season. Its diehard fans call themselves Browncoats. I’m a Browncoat.
Q. I’d never heard of that term. You have “Blue Coats” here, who are diehards of “Into the Blue.”
A. Right! So then it was figuring out AJ. Who would connect with Noah so deeply? And I knew I wanted to do something with the actual filming of their show. I already knew improv would be the core of their connection, so I had to figure out a way to make that work in a network drama.
I ended up absorbing a lot of techniques from reality TV.
Q. It seems like you had improv as a device in the back of your mind for a while.
A. I wanted them to have a psychic level of intuitiveness, and the only place I’d ever seen that was in classes at UCB in New York City in my 20s. I’ve seen people actually guess what the other person is thinking.
Q. You must’ve been pretty good to end up at UCB.
A. I was passable. But I didn’t have that trust. I can’t be that vulnerable. Secretly, I was just monitoring everyone and analyzing; like, “Oh, I bet you have an interesting relationship with your father.”
Q. Tell me a little about you. You grew up mostly in Connecticut, graduated from the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn. You majored in writing seminar at Johns Hopkins.
A. I’ve always known I wanted to be an author, so I minored in theater to get better at dialogue. I wrote a novel and novella in high school, but the dialogue sounded like a teen girl. You’re with the masters of dialogue when you’re reading Eugene O’Neill. It’s an amazing medium because you have the barest bones of description — everything has to come through the dialogue.
Q. You said your mom’s family is from Winchester and the Boston area. Your husband, Kevin Garcia, is from Framingham. Why set it in Western Mass.?
A. In retrospect, honestly, probably because my parents had moved to Stockbridge, so there was this tug on my heartstrings. It just came to me as I was driving away from my parents’ house.
Q. This feels so ripe for a TV series. Who would be in your dream cast?
A. I could see it being unknowns, like in “Heated Rivalry.” From fans, I hear Jacob Elordi a lot. I’d be fine with that [laughs]. I think Sadie Sink would be a great AJ.
Q. For Eudora, I pictured Jean Smart.
A. Yes! Oh my God, she’d be so good.
Q. What’s the trick to writing a passionate scene without making it sound corny or soap opera?
A. For me, it’s multiple drafts. I do my first draft quickly — listening to the characters, taking down what’s going on, grabbing whatever phrase is on the shelf, and knowing it’s going to sound generic. Then I go back at least twice and ask: “Is that a phrase you’ve heard before?”
But also, there’s a certain elegance in knowing when you want to use Heinz tomato ketchup. By that I mean: the generic hot-romance-phrases that just work. I want great quality beef, maybe a brioche bun — but the condiment is always going to be Heinz. So it’s figuring out the balance.
Q. Would you do a sequel?
A. I don’t think so. But I can definitely see AJ and Noah making cameos in other books. I’d bend over backwards to get them to walk through.
Interview was edited and condensed.
Lauren Daley is a freelance culture writer. She can be reached at ldaley33@gmail.com. She tweets @laurendaley1, and Instagrams at @laurendaley1.