Navigating Sports Romance and Hybrid Publishing with Chelsea Curto
In this episode of The Write and Wrong Podcast, host Jamie is joined by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Chelsea Curto. Chelsea discusses the explosive popularity of her indie-published D.C. Stars hockey romance series, what she learned from making the leap into traditional publishing, and why she is determined to remain a "hybrid author" indefinitely.
Key Takeaways:
Chelsea’s incredibly popular D.C. Stars series is an interconnected hockey romance that follows the players on a Washington D.C. team, while also focusing heavily on strong women making a name for themselves in male-dominated sports fields.
She believes the inherent violence and forced proximity of a long 82-game hockey season perfectly lend themselves to the high tension and emotional depth required for the romance genre.
In Stormy Weather is Chelsea’s traditionally published debut; it is a "one-sided rivals-to-lovers" romance following two meteorologists forced to spend a summer chasing natural disasters together in Florida.
Transitioning to traditional publishing required a massive mindset shift; instead of writing and publishing a book in the same week, she had to adjust to submitting a manuscript and waiting over seven months for it to be released.
Chelsea plans to remain a "hybrid author"—releasing both indie and traditionally published books—because it allows her to maintain total creative momentum while still benefiting from the support and prestige of a traditional publishing team.
Hockey, Forced Proximity, and the D.C. Stars
Chelsea is perhaps best known for her D.C. Stars series, which recently released its sixth instalment, Crosscheck. Originally planned as a four-book series, the interconnected universe has now expanded to eight books. The series follows the players of a Washington D.C. hockey team, but it places equal focus on the strong women navigating these male-dominated environments (including a female NHL player and a female NHL coach).
When asked why hockey has come to dominate the sports romance genre, Chelsea pointed to the sport's unique blend of physical tension and logistics. Unlike basketball, hockey allows players to actively fight and shove each other on the ice without severe penalties, adding an inherent layer of violence and tension. Furthermore, the long, gruelling 82-game season naturally creates forced proximity (via constant travel) and emotional distance (when players are away from their partners), both of which are foundational tropes in romance.
A Traditional Debut: Chasing Storms in Florida
In July, Chelsea released her first traditionally published novel, In Stormy Weather. Set in her home state of Florida, the book follows Quincy, an atmospheric science PhD and weather influencer, and Sebastian, a senior national news meteorologist. The two are forced to spend the summer chasing hurricanes and tornadoes together.
Chelsea conducted extensive research to ensure she portrayed Quincy respectfully as a woman in STEM, noting that women make up only 25% of meteorologists and are often scrutinised far more heavily than their male counterparts. While the book is a contemporary romance complete with witty banter, Chelsea also ensured the meteorology science was accurate and educational without being intimidating.
The Reality of Hybrid Publishing
With nearly 20 indie-published novels under her belt, transitioning into the traditional publishing space was a major adjustment for Chelsea.
The biggest learning curve was the timeline. As an indie author, Chelsea was used to finishing a book and publishing it the very next day. With traditional publishing, she had to adjust to submitting a manuscript and then waiting for over seven months for the marketing and distribution wheels to turn.
However, she found the collaborative nature of traditional publishing incredibly relieving. Instead of bearing the entire burden of finding a cover designer, hiring an editor, and marketing the book alone, she suddenly had a dedicated team supporting her. She also noted the thrill of walking into a major retailer like Barnes & Noble and seeing her book on the shelf—something that is notoriously difficult to achieve as a purely indie author.
Chelsea hopes to remain a hybrid author indefinitely. She loves that the two audiences feed into one another; readers who discover her traditional contemporary romance in a bookstore will often seek out her backlist and dive into her indie-published hockey romances, and vice versa.
A Life-Changing Read at the Cabin
When asked what book she would take if snowed in at a cosy woodland cabin, Chelsea chose Emily Henry's People We Meet on Vacation.
Chelsea explained that in 2021, she didn't read romance. She subscribed to the Book of the Month club and selected Emily Henry's novel as her first pick. The book completely changed her life, sparking her love for the genre and ultimately inspiring her to become a romance author. In a full-circle moment, In Stormy Weather was selected as a Book of the Month pick this past July, cementing her desire to curl up in a cabin and re-read the novel that started it all.
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