Kennedy Ryan on adapting her books to screen and the ‘Heated Rivalry’ effect

54 1 minute read

Kennedy Ryan headshot. (Courtesy of Kennedy Ryan)

Kennedy Ryan is bringing her beloved books to the screen.

The romance author is currently hard at work adapting the first book in her Skyland series, Before I Let Go, into a TV series for Peacock with the help of filmmaker Malcolm D. Lee.

Ryan tells ABC Audio one of the “biggest encouragements” in her book-to-screen journey has been seeing the success of Heated Rivalry, a series based on the hockey romance books by Rachel Reid.

“I think that it has done so much for our genre,” Ryan says. “I think, being very frank, I think right now in Hollywood, a lot of us feel like we’re in a climate where certain stories aren’t being told or aren’t allowed through the door. And I think Heated Rivalry was like, there are underrepresented voices, queer voices that will make room. Like if you do it right and if you put it out there, people will respond.”

Ryan hopes to continue that trend through her first-look deal with Universal, where she’ll get to bring other untold stories to the forefront. She says the deal was born out of “an organic desire to see other people’s books get the opportunity that I was getting.”

It’s an opportunity she doesn’t take for granted as she writes the Before I Let Go pilot with Lee with the hope “that people walk away from this show feeling what they felt when they read the book.”

Fans are already buzzing online with their suggestions on who should be cast, and Ryan is taking note.

“I don’t comment on them, but I’m like, furiously noting, ‘Oh, we hadn’t thought about that person! Oh my gosh, I’m adding that person to my list!’” she says.

In the meantime, her new book, Score, will be out May 19.