Did You Get "The Memo?"

An author interview with Rachel Dodes and Lauren Mechling.

I often write about finding digital surrogates who can help promote an author’s work online. In the true spirit of that and Publishing Confidential, I am starting an interview series where I ask authors, agents, publishers, and others in the industry about their work.

I’ve been championing The Memo since I was lucky enough to snag an early copy from Rachel Dodes, one of its authors. Rachel and I were Twitter friends, then Facebook and IG friends. I’ve always loved her work as a journalist, so it was a treat to ask her and co-author Lauren Mechling (also a journalist) about The Memo. The book focuses on Jenny Green, who begrudgingly attends her college reunion and, in the process, learns some big life lessons while getting a chance to right some wrongs—or so she thinks. The book is wholly original, and I enjoyed it. You can order a copy from the retailer of your choice here.

You should also subscribe to Lauren and Rachel’s new Substack,

Funny Girls

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And for Succession fans, here’s Shiv Roy, who got The Memo:

I'm genuinely intrigued by The Memo, and I can’t help but wonder about the creative process that led to its inception. Could you share how you came up with the idea for the book?

Rachel: At the height of the pandemic, when Lauren and I were struggling with remote schooling as well as the drying up of our freelance assignments, we looked around and saw all these people we knew living their best lives on social media and wondered: how did we not get the memo? Lauren had previously had a conversation with a friend about the idea of not getting the memo, and that led to thinking about a counterfactual world where women could obtain an actual literal memo containing instructions on what to do to live a perfect life. 

Lauren: We started exploring this idea in an outline, and the more we talked about it, the more we knew we had something powerful. You have to be a sociopath not to ever wonder if there was some memo you didn’t receive, so we kept going. 

Talk to me about collaborating on a work of fiction: Did you outline who would write what, or did you figure it out as you went along?

Rachel: We never said who would write what, but we did collaborate on an outline so we knew where we were going. We knew we needed to do this to avoid getting lost in the forest of a storyline that unfolds in two mutually exclusive universes. (To be sure, we did occasionally get lost anyway.) 

Lauren: The outline kept changing, but at least we always worked under the illusion that we knew what we were doing. We had a shared Google doc and would dip in and out every day for at least an hour, sometimes more, depending on our schedules. There were moments when we were both in the doc simultaneously. 

Rachel: Sometimes, I’d wake up at 7 am and see a text from Lauren (a notorious insomniac and morning person) saying, “Hey, I took a crack at Chapter 3–take a look!” And then I’d add to what she had written. This process required us to trust that we each wanted to make the story better. If one of us really objected to something that the other person added or deleted, we’d talk it through and figure out what worked best for the overall narrative. The best thing was when I’d get a note within the document from Lauren saying “Ha!” or “I love this!” 

Lauren: Co-writing is a form of seduction. Our main goal throughout the whole thing was to make each other laugh. 

The central character, Jenny, is what I would call “medium likable.” She’s great at times, but it is hard to root for her at other times. How did you shape her?

Rachel: I think we’ve all been Jenny at one time or another, drifting along and pretending everything is fine, that our problems will somehow work themselves out. But the fact is, sometimes one must take unpleasant action–like breaking up with a guy who is out-of-your-league attractive and good in bed–in order to move forward in life. Jenny resists these moves because she’s complacent and a bit delusional until it becomes clear that she’s the one standing in her own way. 

Lauren: It’s funny you call her “medium likable”--I find her painfully likable– but I get it. It can be so insanely frustrating to be around someone like Jenny, a person with enormous potential who is squandering her one precious life by avoiding risk. When Jennys come to us asking for advice, it can be hard to remain patient.

How have you found the publishing process? Every author I speak with has had a different experience.

Rachel: This is my first time at the publishing rodeo, and I would say it’s been a positive experience. The team at Harper Perennial had an amazing vision for this book from the first time we spoke back in 2022. They wanted to release The Memo as a paperback original because they saw it as a perfect summer read. They felt it should be easily portable, affordable, and accessible to a broad audience. I think this was really smart, and one of the many reasons Lauren and I were so excited to work with them. At the same time, the one–and perhaps only–frustrating thing about The Memo being released in this way is that paperback originals aren’t always considered for specific lists, book clubs, or reviews. But I think that this whole “anti-paperback bias” is changing.

Lauren: I’m not going to lie: It was an “uphill battle.” The kind of uphill battle where your co-writer Tweets about how both of your (now former) agents decided, multiple revisions in, that the project wasn’t right for them after all, and “parted ways” with you. All it takes is one is the cliché, and we can attest that’s true. We found the best agent on earth and the best publisher on earth. I’m not a genius. I work very hard, and when I believe in myself, I charge ahead. Sometimes, the world just takes a little while to wake up.

The male characters in The Memo play interesting roles. They aren’t major characters, but their effect on Geeta and Jenny is front and center. Was this deliberate?

Rachel: Yes, we wanted to center the friendships between women as the primary relationships in this book. In our own lives, we both cherish female friendships and appreciate the ups and downs that may happen within those bonds, often through no fault of our own (or our friends). Psychiatrists have found that it’s not money or success but the quality of relationships people have built that makes for a happy life. So, it’s an interesting predicament when optimizing our careers; we often are forced to neglect those relationships that make us the happiest. This is something that Jenny, Geeta and Leigh all must contend with, and they each deal with it in different ways. 

Lauren: And more specifically, Hal (the nitwit cheating man-bunned boyfriend) was sooooo fun to write. We’ve all been with a Hal, no? And as we age, the power dynamic can change–especially in a male-female relationship, when the woman starts stressing out about her biological options and the man just gets more and more handsome. (I guess that part isn’t sooooo fun.)

The book is an honest examination of female friendship. It can be great to have female friends, but it can also be complicated. What message are you trying to impart about those close relationships women have with each other?

Rachel: As we were writing the book, we weren’t trying to send a message, but I think people can interpret through this story that it’s not only OK but totally normal if you and your best friend drift apart as you each focus on other things that may temporarily monopolize your life (family, career, new partners, etc.) We believe that bonds between female friends will remain strong so long as the friends are committed to checking in and showing up for each other when they need it the most. So, guess what? If you have to cancel plans occasionally, it’s not such a big deal. At least, it shouldn’t be. People drift in and out of our lives at different moments for different reasons. For a good friend, no explanation is necessary. For a bad friend, no explanation is good enough. 

Lauren: This is going to sound meta–because it is! In working on this book about the power of female friendship, I made one of my best friends.

Given the chance, would either of you want The Memo? I would, personally!

Rachel: Hell to the yes! I’m not sure I would want to live my entire life according to the Memo, but knowing what to do would certainly be helpful in most situations, as I often feel clueless. 

Lauren: Would I like to know all the things it will take to regularly vacation on Greek islands, be a New York Times bestselling author, and look like a supermodel? It is not un-tempting. But I don’t think I have the self-control ever to be boring or stop eating carbs and cracking jokes. Especially as I get older, I have a lot to say!

Something that resonated with me in the book is how women define success. Many of us were taught to get the big office and title, get married, and have kids! Jenny doesn’t quite understand how she’d define it until she sees the toll of success on a particular friendship.  Did either of you ever experience a moment when you felt you had wrongly defined success for yourselves? How did you course correct?

Rachel: Yes, definitely. While I was on maternity leave from my wonderful but low-paying job as a newspaper reporter, I interviewed for a position at a high-flying (and high-paying) social media company. I took the job and worked my ass off for almost three years, clocking long hours and constantly traveling despite some serious health problems (since resolved) and with an infant to care for at home. All the while, I drank the Kool-aid, buying into the idea that this company was my new family, that these colleagues were my new best friends, and that we were all on a mission to change the world for the better. I had very little time to see anybody who wasn’t affiliated with the company. Then, one day toward the end of 2016, there was a mass layoff, and a security officer escorted me out of the building. At first, I thought, “Next week, we’re going to elect the first woman president, and everything will be fine!” When that didn’t happen, I fell into a deep depression that only lifted when I realized how badly I needed to untangle my identity and self-worth from what I did for a living. This is easier said than done, but with the help of a good therapist–and real friends, including Lauren–I was able to do just that. It was important for me to realize that nobody really cares what you do, and getting laid off is no longer something to be ashamed of. 

Lauren: Rachel is smarter and healthier than I am. I am still working on untangling my self-worth from my productivity. I have resolved to get better at slowing down after the book’s publication–here comes my Middlemarch summer!

It’s interesting that in the book, Jenny learns how to take control of her life once the consequences of The Memo sink in. Was there ever a version of the story where you thought Jenny would follow The Memo and forget her mixed emotions about it?

Rachel: Yes, we even had a scene with Jenny fighting with an A.I. version of herself who was convincing her that nobody would notice if she disappeared because she was such a nonentity. Ultimately, we decided it would be more satisfying if Jenny emerged as a fully integrated human, having learned something valuable from the Memo and taken it with her. 

Lauren: Don’t give too much away, Rachel!

Do you have another book in the works? Geeta needs a spinoff.

Rachel: Lauren and I have certainly talked about expanding the Memo Marvel universe, but we do not have anything in the works at present. We agree that Geeta’s story could grow from here.

Lauren: Have no fear. We will keep you posted.