Author Camryn Garrett on Off the Record, #MeToo and the power of using your voice

In Off the Record, Camryn Garrett brings us the story of Josie, a teen girl who loves writing and who has already started to make a name for herself as a freelancer. She then gets the chance of a lifetime when she wins an opportunity to write a celebrity profile on a new up-and-coming actor, Marius Canet.

With her sister Alice along for the ride, Josie travels across the country interviewing Marius and the other stars of his latest movie. What she discovers is something she never expected.

One of Marius’s co-stars, Penny Livingstone, tells Josie about a famous director and what he did to her and other women she knows. From there, Josie considers it her duty to tell these women’s stories.

Culturess sat down with Camryn Garrett to discuss the #MeToo movement, the magic of a dress, and the power of one voice. You can get your copy of Off the Record anywhere books are sold.

Culturess: Where did Off the Record start? What sparked it?

Camryn Garrett: I honestly don’t remember! With my first book, I could tell you the exact moment when I decided to pull all of those threads together. With Off the Record, I had really been wanting to write something about a teen journalist because I had that experience. With MeToo all over the news, it seemed like a great way to start the story, and I ended up being able to explore several different topics I’m interested in.

Josie has some confidence issues especially in terms of her body and what people think of her, what message do you want readers to take away from her struggles?

Garrett: I’ve read a lot of books with fat main characters and they’re so important to me, but it felt like a lot of the times they were either super confident or hated their bodies. I feel like I’m more in between. With Josie, I wanted to show readers that you can love your body and still have difficulty being positive about it all of the time.

Culturess: I sometimes find it hard to read stories about sexual assault and harassment because of how graphic they can be, but I didn’t get that overwhelming feeling with Off the Record. Did you struggle to decide how graphic you wanted the women’s stories to be?

Garrett: Yeah, I knew that I didn’t want to get super graphic because it would’ve been too hard for me to finish myself. I try to read stories by survivors whenever I can, but triggers are personal to everyone, and sometimes we can’t handle them. I think I wanted the book to be as accessible as possible for a young audience in terms of how graphic it was.

Culturess: Josie’s relationship with her sister, Alice is really well done. Showing how they can fight and be mean to each other but also support one another completely is definitely a very real sibling relationship. How did you decide Alice would be the one to take this trip with Josie?

Garrett: I love sister stories; To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, all of those books are so much fun because of the dynamics between the sisters. I usually keep a running list of vague things I want to include in a book, and sisters were one of them. It seemed unrealistic that Josie’s parents would let her go on this tour by herself and even I wasn’t allowed to do my kid reporting alone. Alice seemed like the perfect person, especially since she and Josie don’t necessarily get along.

Culturess: Penny is a really great partner and friend to Josie throughout the book and especially when writing up the story on Lennox. Can you talk about how you came up with her character?

Garrett: I pitched this book to my agent as “Almost Famous meets the MeToo Movement,” and in Almost Famous, there’s a character named Penny Lane. I wanted to sort of have something pointing at the film so people knew I was inspired by it. I think my editor also encouraged me to include more scenes between Penny and Josie. Josie doesn’t have any friends at home, so a big part of her journey is being able to make new ones, and I think it’s important for girls to have girl friends who understand what you’re going through.

Culturess: I really loved Josie’s determination to find a woman of color who was abused by Lennox. Women of color can often be left out of narratives about powerful abusers and the people they’ve hurt. Can you discuss why that was important for you to include in the story?

Garrett: This part of the story sort of echoes how I felt the Harvey Weinstein story was reported. There was a lot of emphasis put on the survivors who came out with stories first, but even when other celebrities, like Gwenyth Paltrow, shared their stories, they all seemed to be white. There were women like Salma Hayek and Lupita Nyong’o who also had Weinstein stories, but to me, they were reported almost as an afterthought. I wanted that to be addressed in the story; is it because there are less WOC who have been abused? Because they’re uncomfortable speaking with the (usually white) reporters? What dynamics are there?

Culturess: Marius’s reaction to the abuse is something Josie struggles with. First, because she thinks he’s ignoring it and later when she finds out the truth. This part of the story was really compelling. Can you talk a little about what you wanted to express with this part of their relationship?

Garrett: Spoilers!! No, but I was really interested in exploring the different ways people react to allegations. I’ve had disappointing conversations about sexual assault with people, only to find out they’ve gone through something similar, and it’s impacted their outlook. I wanted to challenge Josie’s viewpoint and the viewpoint of the reader.

Culturess: Let’s talk about THE DRESS. It felt like such an important part of Josie’s journey to accepting her abilities as well as herself. How did that become a part of the story?

Garrett: I wanted her to have a moment, you know? I feel like thinner girls get them in movies and television all the time. Personally speaking, I didn’t go to my school’s prom, either, and I do kind of wish I’d had a moment of seeing myself look gorgeous in a dress. It’s not everyone’s thing, but I shunned anything deemed “feminine” when I was younger, and I actually really love how I look in dresses now. I wanted Josie to have that moment of realizing that she does look good in clothes, especially since she admires them so much. I wanted it to feel like magic.

Culturess: How do you think Josie changes over the course of the story?

Garrett: I don’t think she becomes less afraid, which I love. I wanted to show readers that you can still be scared and anxious and try to help people at the same time. I think Josie grows to trust that her voice is powerful and I love that for her.

Culturess: Can you talk about what’s coming up next for you? Can readers look forward to more Camryn Garrett books sometime soon?
Garrett: I don’t think I can talk about my next book yet, but I’m super excited about it! For now, though, I’m going to take a long break.

Off the Record by Camryn Garrett  is currently available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats now.