How One Writer Found His Happily Whatever After

Stewart Lewis on rom-com writing, publishing during the pandemic, and why escapist reads are more important than ever.

A novelist, singer-songwriter, nonfiction essayist—and occasional dog walker—Stewart Lewis wears many hats.  A gay man and father, his journey to parenthood was anything but traditional, as he wrote about in this piece for Narratively in 2018.

A year and a half and a pandemic later, his newest book Happily Whatever After will be released on July 28th. In this romantic comedy, 30-something Page leaves NYC in favor of DC after she gets dumped and fired in the same week. Just as she feels her life has hit rock bottom, she finds unlikely refuge at a dog park in the nation’s capital, where the pups have just as much personality as their owners. Stewart talked to us about promoting and publishing the book during a global crisis, managing different projects, and how his writing has changed with fatherhood.