Victoria Koops never stopped playing make-believe and often writes while wearing a tiara. Her stories are full of epic adventure and swoony romance, and navigate social issues through the power of fandom and geek culture. Her YA debut novel, Who We Are In Real Life, has been nominated for two 2025 Saskatchewan Book Awards, as well as the Forest of Reading’s 2025 White Pine Award™.
On the one year anniversary of the release of Who We Are In Real Life, we caught up with Victoria to ask her more about her book and the experience of being a newly published author.
In your debut YA novel, Who We Are In Real Life, teenager Darcy and her moms move to a small prairie town called Unity Creek. How would you describe Unity Creek and what makes this small town so interesting?
Unity Creek is a contradiction. Familiar, yet isolating; hopeful, but challenging; totally made up, and absolutely believable, all in equal measure. As someone who was shaped by growing up in a rural and small town, I wanted to both honour and question these contradictions with this book for everyone growing up Queer and Othered in small towns today.
There are places in Unity Creek that are little glimpses into my childhood; I wrote those cameos like a love letter, all tenderness and fond memories. Then there are the realities that I unpacked—the feelings of isolation, fear, strangeness, worry, anger, and more—that I needed to question and challenge, exactly what Darcy and her mothers do when they arrive in town. I couldn’t have done that as effectively had I set this story anywhere else.
I love being from a small town. I also know there are a lot of youth out there waiting to leave their small towns because they don’t feel safe. Isn’t that sad? For Darcy, her moms, readers that come from places like Unity Creek, and myself too, I would like to see that change.
Regarding romance, Darcy experiences both wholesome crushes and toxic boyfriends. Why did you decide to include both of these relationships?
The TDLR (Too Long, Didn’t Read) version is because reality is reality.
The longer, more thoughtful answer is that I included both relationships in the book because adults sometimes forget that teenagers are experiencing everything for the first time. First romance, first red-flag, first heartbreak—all of it is new and exciting and intense and sometimes even scary. I try to keep that in mind when I write YA romance.
The choice to have Darcy experience a toxic relationship and respond to that relationship the way she does was important to her character’s growth. As was her experiencing the wholesome, warm crush she has on Art, because this happens in real life, too. I didn’t write these relationships as a playbook or romantic ideal, but as an acknowledgement that being a teenager IRL is messy.
I hope that readers, specifically teens, feel their reality reflected in the messy parts of this book because that’s my way of saying “I see you out there, your experience is valid.”
Also, I love angst, and what’s more angsty than adolescence?
Darcy is unabashedly nerdy and the story features an epic Dungeons & Dragons game. What’s the best part about being a nerd and playing tabletop games?
Obviously, the best part of playing table-top role-playing games (TTRPGs), like Dungeons & Dragons, is writing elaborate, deeply tragic, novel-length backstories for every character you play, ever. Or maybe it’s having an excuse to order pizza once a week and “accidentally” cast Fireball on your best friends. Right? RIGHT?
Okay, time for my real answer. Honestly, for me, the best part of being a nerd has been finding community and embracing my interests without shame. In middle school and the first few years of high school, I denied I had any interest in nerdy or geeky hobbies because I already felt as though I was too weird for the people I wanted to impress. I’ve loved playing TTRPGs for most of my life (my father introduced me to D&D when I was six) but I hid that from my friends and made fun of others who enjoyed things like anime or video games.
That all changed the moment I fell in love with Dragon Age: Origins, a solo-player RPG (role-playing game) video game that I played in secret. As I fell in love with video games (and RPGs all over again), I realized that I needed to give myself permission to just exist—that it was okay to love the things I love.
By accepting my love of fantasy, adventure, fandom, heartwarming romance, space operas, magic, and geek culture, I’ve found others who accept me. As a result, I’m a kinder, more authentic version of myself with all these amazing friends! All this personal growth, facilitated by playing a game.
Who We Are In Real Life was released one year ago, which means in the past year you’ve experienced many firsts as an author (first book published, first book signing, first book festival, etc.). What has it been like connecting with readers, teachers, booksellers and librarians? What are you looking forward to about touring for Book Week?
Thrilling. Humbling. Overwhelming, even.
My favourite part of being a published author has been connecting with people. That’s also been the most surreal part. I spent years working on this book, and even longer daydreaming about being a professional author. Now, readers, teachers, booksellers, librarians, the media, and other authors have congratulated, critiqued, and celebrated me and my work.
Having the privilege to realize this dream, to experience the fantasies that I dared to entertain in between countless hours of writing and editing—it's almost unbelievable.
As for Canadian Children’s Book Week, I’m so honoured to have been included in this tour. I’m looking forward to road-tripping across my beautiful home province—complete with snacks, shades, and a killer playlist, of course. I can’t wait to connect with even more people about all things nerdy and bookish!
Victoria Koops will be touring as part of Canadian Children's Book Week 2025. Keep up to date with her latest projects by following @victoriakoopswrites on Instagram.
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Written by Spencer Miller