Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been a writer, well, since I could write. Romances were an early addiction for me – I was probably twelve when I found those mid-century risque romances at the public library. You know the ones. There was always a blonde on the cover art, and she would go to Africa and almost die on safari and be rescued by a game warden who tended to her. Or skiing in the Alps, and a mysterious handsome man would rescue her from kidnappers. She always seemed to land in his bed–funny how that happens. And it was all very breathy and tense, but the total culmination was when he clutched her to him and kissed her passionately on the second to last page.
I was hooked, though. And from there it was bodice-rippers, and then on to fan fiction and the depths of the internet. I was devouring this stuff. And I was kind of shocked to notice that I liked ALL of it. That was my first inkling of my bisexuality. And if I couldn’t find it, I started writing it.
That was actually how I got started on my first novella – I wanted to post it on Literotica, because I couldn’t find any stories that candidly and clearly addressed female self-love. But then it kept growing and I realized that platform wasn’t right for it. If you include ghostwriting, I’ve written dozens of romance novellas at this point. But the two that are in my name, Nothing Wagered Nothing Gained and Running Wild, are the ones on Kindle. Plus a collection of fun shorts. The ghostwriting has provided good chances to practice writing, and flex my steamy chops. But the stories I really wanted to write aren’t things that the ghost-writing market was looking for. They aren’t a ‘safe bet’ in terms of sales. But I think they need to be told anyway.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Running Wild was just finally released for Kindle. The story’s been brewing in my head for a long time. I had a massive crush on this girl in college with long, beautiful blonde hair. So I was sort of daydreaming about mermaids and then naiads in a class where we were talking about Greek myths. The first line just popped straight into my head.
It took years to really figure out where I wanted to take the main character, Melitta. I had to come to terms with the fact that what I thought was a monster novel was maybe better left as a brief, light novella. The running water that the naiads live in, the way the story was constantly running away from me… that’s where I got Running Wild.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have a very bad habit of playing one album on repeat for the entirety of writing a book. And did I mention I don’t wear headphones? I always swear I won’t do it again, but next thing you know I’m writing and I listen to one album and it rolls over and I let it loop. Then it’s like it’s the soundtrack. I need to hear those same 10 or 11 songs to keep writing that story. For Nothing Wagered, Nothing Gained, the soundtrack was Taylor Swift’s 1985. My roommate was ready to kill me.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
So many. I’m a massive bookworm. The one who really opened my eyes to romance novels as art was Julia Quinn. I mean, she went to Harvard. She studied History. But she isn’t ashamed to write romance, and her books are enchanting. That kind of legitimized the field to me and made me realize I could embrace my writing.
In a different way, Anne Rice was a big influence. Her books sizzle with all these undercurrents of ‘forbidden’ sexualities in mainstream fiction. One of the Taltos books was the first time I read a depiction of two women kissing. I was like, “Holy crap.”
Oh, and finally, Kory Shrum’s Dying for a Living. Bisexual heroine! Humor! Suspense! Spunk! And most amazing of all, I found it on Wattpad. When I read it I was like, “This is the kind of author I want to be.”
What are you working on now?
I’m trying to tie up some of the little snippets of stories that I’ve tabled over the last year or two into another collection of shorts. Sometimes, something steamy sticks with me but there’s just no way it goes along with any of my fleshed-out stories. I save those.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Awesome Gang is pretty solid. I’m also a fan of Facebook pages like What to Read After Fifty Shades of Grey and Korner Kafe Exposed. I like these organic communities of mostly female readers. I’m not the biggest 50 Shades of Grey fan myself, but watching the way the world of women LIT UP when that took off was really eye-opening. There were all these everyday women out there who were clearly hungry for erotic romance in their voices, and they didn’t even know that the genre existed. Where these networks have sprung up is where I like to try to reach out to readers. They’re real people.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I’ve said this on my blog, and it’s so dull. No one wants to hear it. But the absolute best way to write better is to take care of yourself. Eat protein and vegetables, drink water, exercise. Get out of the cave and go outside. Most importantly, let yourself be bored. Your imagination will never fire up if you’re swiping mindlessly at phone games all the time. You have to have time to ruminate.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
This one is used to death, but still true. ‘If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.’ – Stephen King. Especially for writing what some people would call “fluff,” this is underutilized. How will you know what fantasies need fulfilling if you don’t know what’s already been written? You need to read bad and good books to keep growing as a writer.
What are you reading now?
Six things at once, as usual. But the best one is N. K. Jemisin’s Hundred Thousand Kingdoms series. It’s really original and little bit spicy – just like I like.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’ve been struggling with a sequel to Nothing Wagered, Nothing Gained for a while now. The main character is bisexual, and I’m trying to really be true to that and depict her in a way that doesn’t erase her identity, even if she’s in a monogamous relationship with one gender of person.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Oof, what a question. I’m not big on re-reading. I think I’d want something to fuel my imagination. Maybe a collection of fairytales. The Bible – not even in a religious way. Just because there are millennia of human stories and culture in there. And then–this is a weird one–Richardson’s Clarissa. It’s like a bajillion pages long and heartbreaking in the best way. Reading it makes me want to rewrite every single outcome.
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