Raegan Revord grew up a bookworm on the set of "Young Sheldon." Now, they're a debut author.
"Rules for Fake Girlfriends" by Raegan Revord is out now.

Every week during COVID as “Young Sheldon” filmed, Raegan Revord put their character Missy Cooper aside to instead become a journalist.

Revord, who uses they/them pronouns, sent weekly DIY e-newspaper “The Young Sheldon Weekly” to cast and crew via email blast. It featured interviews with costars about their pets or plans for the week. Revord grew up on this set – “Young Sheldon” debuted when they were 9 years old – and this felt like a way to connect while the crew was siloed for safety reasons.

Now that “Young Sheldon” is over, Revord is finding new ways to tell stories.

The 17-year-old is now a figurehead in young adult literary circles through their book club, Read with Raegan, and partnerships with Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine. Now, their debut novel, “Rules for Fake Girlfriends,” hits bookstores across the country.

How Raegan Revord wrote a novel on the set of ‘Young Sheldon’

“Rules for Fake Girlfriends” follows rom-com-obsessed Avery, who, at the last second, switches her enrollment in Columbia University to her late mother’s alma mater in England. As she embarks on her year abroad, Avery will also have to unravel a scavenger hunt her mother left for her. Charlie, a charming student, agrees to help if Avery pretends to be her girlfriend to make an ex jealous.

Aside from fake dating, the novel is full of beloved, albeit cheesy, rom-com tropes. But in this story, Revord’s in on the joke. Each chapter title is a ridiculously unrealistic scenario, like “The Heroine Moves to a New Place with No Interest in Romance… but Fate Has Other Plans” or “The Character Is Young and Broke but Has an Unrealistically Amazing Apartment.” (Revord FaceTimed their friends living in college dorms for fact-checking those small spaces and mold spots).

Revord has wanted to write a book since they were 5, they told USA TODAY. It’s no wonder they spent their “Young Sheldon” downtime writing short stories and columns for their castmates.

Still, writing a book while filming the last season of “Young Sheldon” proved to be a challenge.

“I would have my computer hidden on set, and then whenever they said ‘Cut,’ I would bring it out, write … as quick as I could, then stash it write before they said action,” Revord says. “That’s how I wrote probably half my book.”

But there were also unexpected bonuses to writing between takes. Revord fielded questions from curious castmates and asked hair and makeup artists to help choose character outfits for their Pinterest board. And because their career also includes their work with Read with Raegan, they had a cheering squad of authors to offer advice.

Writing “Rules” also gave Revord a new acting experience – audiobook narration. Revord does the audio themself, and worked with a dialect coach to perfect British accents and learn how to act without facial expressions or gestures.

“It was a grueling process, but it was a lot of fun, very rewarding,” Revord says. “I learned a lot about what voice actors and just narrators in general do. I have so much respect for them now because it is such an insane process.”

Raegan Revord wants this ‘Georgie & Mandy’ star to ‘read a book’

When Revord got their hands on a copy of their book, they wanted to celebrate with the family that watched them write it.

Just off the heels of filming Season 2 of “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” Revord gave Zoe Perry (who plays Mary, the Cooper matriarch) and Montana Jordan (Georgie) copies of the book, even snapping a cute photo of Jordan’s infant daughter holding the book.

But that doesn’t mean the “Young Sheldon” cast is full of readers.

“Montana isn’t the biggest reader, but he said he was going to read my book and I was so honored,” Revord says. “I was like, ‘I’m going to get this child to read a book for the first time in like 10 years!’”

Maybe a safer bet is Jordan’s daughter.

“My little reader,” Revord says, affectionately.

What’s Raegan Revord been up to since ‘Young Sheldon’?

Revord chose to set “Rules” on a college campus in England purposely – call it manifesting. If it ever turns into a movie, Revord says they'd love an excuse to spend extended time there. The actor has also dabbled in college life, taking classes at UCLA in their free time, relishing in the chance to “romanticize everything” about writing studies.

“I could definitely see myself going to college at some point for creative writing. I think at the moment, no, but in the future there is a high chance,” Revord says. “I want to move to the London-adjacent area one day, and so if I have to get a student visa to do that, I will.”

For now, they’re squarely focused on author duties – a second book, this time fantasy, is in the works. They actually started writing it long before "Rules," but put it aside to fast-track the fun rom-com. That their debut is an LGBTQ+ love story was important to Revord, who is queer and wished they had a larger bookshelf of these romances when they were younger.

“Being able to contribute to the ever-growing, amazing collection of queer literature is such an honor, and very exciting,” Revord says.

Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY’s Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you’re reading at cmulroy@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: This ‘Young Sheldon’ star wrote a book on set and now you can read it

Reporting by Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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