Taylor Jenkins Reid Says New Book ‘Atmosphere’ Is About Queer Joy

An oral history of the rise and fall of one of the greatest rock bands. A tell-all memoir about the secret queer life of an old-Hollywood star. A 1983 sibling feud that starts with a rager and ends with a cliffside house fire. A once-in-a-generation sports talent ditching retirement for a comeback no one thinks is possible. 

The work of New York Times bestselling author Taylor Jenkins Reid has always straddled the line between historical fiction and what people call chick lit, blending her characters alongside the real world events and players who defined their times. Now with her new book Atmosphere, set amid women’s first inclusion in the 1980s Space Shuttle program, Reid is going beyond giving readers her own take on history — she’s giving them a look into her real life. 

“We live in a time now where we want to know everything about the people who make the art that we love,” Reid tells Rolling Stone over a zoom from her Los Angeles home. “If I could just write books and not have to reveal anything about myself, my life would be easier, for sure. But I’m also a reader, and when I read a book I love, I want to know who came up with this thing that spoke to me. So I understand the impulse and I think I can only really approach it on an individual level, which is to say, I couldn’t have written this book without being ready to talk about who I am.” 

Atmosphere takes an unflinching perspective on the push and pull between navigating one’s identity amid internal and external pressure. Joan Goodwin is shocked when she’s one of the few women scientists selected to train as an astronaut for NASA’s 1980s Space Shuttle program. Suddenly, the former physics professor is snatched away from the classroom and thrust into the rigors of astronaut training. The hours are long at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, work is time consuming and mentally draining. But as Joan’s world expands, her thoughts about the universe collide with her wants — and whether love and success can ever be compatible for a girl like her.

 “Before I even typed the first word I knew this story had to be about queer joy and about the joy of discovering yourself,” Reid says. “The world that existed in the Eighties, that exists today, is not always kind to that joy. But I didn’t want to dwell there, because love is beautiful. And I want readers to feel that magic that happens when you fall in love for the first time.” 

At 41, Reid has built one of the biggest careers in publishing by following this model of epic storytelling mixed with historical truths and personal stakes. But her most recognizable works have all revolved around one extended universe. There’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones and the Six, Carrie Soto Is Back, and Malibu Rising — all of which have either been optioned or made into film or television projects. Each of these books vary wildly in their narrators, settings, even time period, but characters from other books often appear or are mentioned in the background, creating what fans call the Taylor Jenkins Reid Extended Universe. All the books tackle just how enticing, addictive, and claustrophobic notoriety can be. In just eight years, Reid has become the de facto fiction expert on what it means for a character to be famous. And then it happened to her. 

Reid publicly came out as bisexual in May, ahead of the book’s June release. The news comes amid a longtime — and growing — debate online about which authors are “allowed” to write what stories. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo centers around a secret romantic relationship between two golden Hollywood actresses. While it was published in 2017, it found new life and readership during the 2020 pandemic thanks to BookTok, TikTok’s book community. However, with the increased sales came intense criticism about Reid’s ability as a supposedly straight woman to write a story about two queer lovers. And she’s not the only one. In 2020, writer Becky Albertalli, author of the YA romance Simon and the Homosapien Agenda, wrote an open letter to fans saying she felt forced to come out after heavy criticism because readers assumed she was straight. 

“There’s a large part of me that feels like it’s nobody’s business, but I knew that if I wrote another book about women being in love, that this question was going to come up with even more of an intensity that it had for the majority of my career,” says Reid, who’s married to screenwriter Alex Jenkins Reid, a man. She tells Rolling Stone that it wasn’t a secret, many of friends, family, and close colleagues already knew. But she knows that isn’t the same for everyone. “I hope that we get to a place where people can write about queerness without having to come out,” she says. “Not everyone is as safe to come out as I am, and I think sometimes writing about it is the safest thing they can do. So, I hope there’s space for those people.” 

That’s not to say there aren’t some perks with being a bit well known. In October 2024, in a wide ranging Rolling Stone interview, Stevie Nicks gushed about Amazon’s Daisy Jones and the Six adaption starring Riley Keough. The book is heavily inspired by the career and fandom of Fleetwood Mac, something Nicks said she didn’t think could be done until she watched the show. “I didn’t even want to see it, because I thought I was going to hate it so much. I had Covid when I saw it,” Nicks said. “I was in my condo in Los Angeles, and I can remember saying, “Am I just watching my life go by?”

Reid tells Rolling Stone it felt like she was sent that article from everyone she’d ever met. In fact, she’s still not sure she’s processed it. “I wrote Daisy Jones and the Six in some small part because I think Stevie Nicks is incredible. But the idea that she saw something of herself in it has meant the world to me and to all of the people that worked on the show. [The shock] will last my whole life. I will be on my deathbed and people will say, ‘What do you think about the fact that Stevie Nicks watched Daisy Jones and the Six?’ And I’ll say, ‘I don’t know, I haven’t had time to process it.” 

While Atmosphere is definitely another love story from Reid set on an epic, historical backdrop, fans might notice a decided lack of other characters they’ve grown to love — or at least, recognize as easter eggs in Reid’s books. Reid says while she “reserves the right” to go back to those characters she’s created, she wanted to make sure she’s always trying to reach for the next challenge. That being said— no, she has no updates on the Evelyn Hugo project being developed. And as she nears the milestone of her 10th book, she’s determined to not let that pressure change what she puts on the page. 

“I’m just going to continue to write the books that I want to write, the books that take me someplace I want to go. One of the nice things about Atmosphere coming out is it gives me a break from creating new worlds, to have a moment to look back and say, ‘Hey, you did finish this last one. You did it right, and now you get to share it with people,’” Jenkins says. “So I’m really excited to get to celebrate Joan and Vanessa, and when that’s over, I’ll be back at my computer writing the next one.”