Influencer Brooke Averick explains how music and comedy shaped her writing debut

Influencer and writer Brooke Averick is opening up about the unexpected creative influences behind her debut novel Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It, revealing how pop culture, comedy, and mental health storytelling all shaped the project in surprising ways.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with People, Averick, best known online as LadyEfron—said the book grew out of her desire to write a different kind of romance story, one that centers an anxious protagonist rather than the traditionally confident leading woman often seen in the genre.

“I was kind of waiting for someone to write a more anxious person in this kind of story,” she said, explaining that she eventually decided to write it herself.

The novel follows Phoebe Berman, a 29-year-old who appears to have a successful life on paper but struggles with intimacy anxiety that prevents her from forming romantic connections.

Determined to change that before turning 30, she creates a dating checklist that leads her to seeing multiple men at once.

Averick said she wanted to challenge how mental health is often portrayed in fiction, noting that anxiety is frequently shown as overwhelming in every aspect of a character’s life.

Instead, she aimed to portray someone who is thriving professionally and socially while still navigating one specific emotional hurdle.

“I wanted to explore this idea of someone who's really, really successful, but just kind of struggles in this one aspect,” she said.

She also emphasized that the story is about more than romance alone, describing it as a broader exploration of love in all its forms. “There’s a lot of love that make up love stories. They don’t all have to be romantic,” she said.

Averick admitted that while writing the book, humor came naturally, but the more vulnerable emotional scenes were more challenging to get right.

“I prefer to laugh things off rather than get serious about them,” she said.

The author also credited filmmaker and writer Lena Dunham as a key influence, praising her ability to balance comedy with honest depictions of mental health.

“What she does really well… is write mental illness and comedy and how they intersect,” Averick said.

Music also played a role in shaping the novel’s tone. Averick created a character playlist for Phoebe that includes tracks from Hairspray, Glee-style show tunes, and Conan Gray’s “Nauseous,” helping her “get into her head” while writing.

Published under a multi-book deal with Penguin Random House’s Crown imprint, the novel marks the beginning of a wider literary project for Averick.

While her next book will not center Phoebe directly, she confirmed the character will still remain part of the expanded story world.