Local Canberra author Abra Pressler writes about love, sport and inclusivity – and her newest book, Love and Other Scores, is no different. A queer sport-fuelled romance that is sure to keep readers turning the pages, the author launches her book, fittingly, at the Barton Tennis Club on Friday 8 December. CW caught up with Ms Pressler to discuss inspiration, shooting your shot, and the future.

1. Tell us about Love and Other Scores.

Love and Other Scores is a fun and sexy queer adult friends-to-lovers romance set during a sweltering two weeks at the Australian Open.

It follows Gabriel, a French tennis player eyeing his first Grand Slam at the Australian Open, who is feeling the pressure of his demanding job. When he meets bartender Noah, it’s like a breath of fresh air – mostly because Noah doesn’t recognise him. As they spend more time together, their friendship deepens into more – but both men have their own reasons for wanting to keep their relationship a secret.

Love and Other Scores is a queer funfest featuring drag queen karaoke, secret shenanigans, and lots and lots of tennis. That’s probably what I’m most proud of about this book – I’ve loved and played tennis for almost a decade, so I wanted readers to feel like they’re sitting courtside at the Australian Open while immersed in the story.

2. What is BookTok?

A community of readers who love to recommend, discuss and review books on the social media platform, TikTok. There’s a niche for everyone’s reading interests – I was on pirate BookTok for a while where everyone kept recommending pirate books!

My recommendation for anyone keen to get on BookTok is engagement is key. Liking and commenting on book posts and following your favourite reviewers allows the algorithm to serve up more books they think you’ll personally like.

3. Tell us about the tweet that landed you a book deal.

I’d been pitching this book for approximately six months (with several rejections) when I found myself watching Rafael Nadal play at the Australian Open in January 2023. On Twitter, I’d seen writers like Anna Spargo-Ryan put out ‘shameless’ tweets about what they wanted to accomplish that year, such as being a guest on a podcast. So, during a break in play, I just thought ‘this book is my dream and I think it deserves to be told, what do I have to lose?’

Sitting in Rod Laver Arena, I wrote a tweet that essentially said, I have this friends-to-lovers, queer diverse tennis romance, and I’ve won awards for my writing and I’d like to think I’m a really nice human to work with so I’m just shooting my shot. A day later, the commissioning editor at Pan Macmillan contacted me about my tweet and said she’d like to read the book. I stayed up that night polishing what I could while Murray and Berrenttini fought it out during their first-round five-set thriller. Approximately six weeks later, she offered me a contract.

4. What inspires your writing?

I like to think about a lot of what if scenarios like – what if there was a tennis player who fell in love with a ‘normie’ during the biggest tournament of his life? And what if he were gay – what would that say about tennis, which at the time of writing this book, has never had an openly gay male player compete at a professional level.

All my romance writing has undercurrents exploring societal issues I think are important, like queer representation in sport, domestic and family violence, personal and gender identity, mental health, diversity, and inclusion. I think it’s remiss to gloss over that stuff in any kind of writing, including romance.

5. What’s next for you?

I’ve just finished a young adult novel and I’m working on my next book which, above all else, is a celebration of the friendship groups we have during high school or university – the kind of friendships we don’t seem to make at any other point in our lives. The pining romance between two of the friends is the focus of the book, and I’m having so much fun writing it. 

Answers condensed for publication.

Abra Pressler launches Love and Other Scores at the Barton Tennis Club on Friday 8 December 6.30pm; humanitix.com.au

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