Originally appeared online in January 2009 at Rainbow Reviews
- What made you decide to start Rainbow Reviews?
- Well, I saw a real deficit in review sites at the time. There were no other book review sites dedicated to GLBT stories in all their genres. Sure, there are plenty of romance or erotica review sites, and some gay review sites of one form or the other, but they all seem to specialize in a niche that left the majority of great queer books unread. I wanted a review site where e-books and print books were reviewed equally, where all genres were accepted and not just the current crop of romance/erotica, where all sexualities were accepted (lesbian, bisexual, transgender, etc). Because I didn’t see a site out there which reviewed these books to my satisfaction, I decided to create one that did.
- How is Rainbow Reviews different from other review sites, besides the obvious fact that it focuses on GLBT books?
- Well, a lot of review sites online today are “fly by night” operations that focus only on the current trend of romance and erotica. These sites won’t touch books by small publishers or even self-published authors. They also don’t accept anything that isn’t romance to review. Rainbow Reviews will review any book, of any genre, as long as there is sufficient GLBT content in the story.
- Approximately how much time each month do you spend working on Rainbow Reviews?
- I used to spend a lot more time than I thought necessary, so I’ve recently taken on a co-owner for the site (Emily!) who has been great about helping out. Now on the average I’d say I spend about ten hours a month on the site, and that’s on pure maintenance at this point. I send out lists of available books to the reviewers, forward the books to those who want to read them, maintain the site, and post the reviews on Sundays.
- How have things changed for the site since it began over a year ago?
- In any site such as this, a lot of things are learned as you go. I think the quality of our reviews have become better over time, particularly now as Emily reads and edits them prior to their being posted to the site. Unfortunately we haven’t quite received as many non-romance or non-erotic books for review as I would’ve liked, but hopefully that will continue to change with time, as authors realize we review all flavors of GLBT literature. Overall I’m pleased with how far the site has come in the past year and a half, and I look forward to its continued success.
- You have an extensive online presence. Do you think it is important for writers to make sure the focus on being accessible online?
- In today’s society, I think it’s important for everyone to be accessible online, writers included. The first place people go for information is the internet, so you should make sure that you can be found there. And it’s better that you have your own website or blog, or whatever, to control that presence and what information is made available to your readers. So my advice for all writers, particularly those starting out, is to definitely begin to create a web presence. Even if it’s just a blog with your books listed, get online.
- You started out writing fan fiction. Has your writing changed since those days? Why was fan fiction a good place to start for you?
- Fan fiction helped me when I thought I was unproductive as a writer. It turned out I was just writing the wrong thing, and slash fan fic helped me find my niche as a gay fiction author. A lot of my fan fiction was a bit sappy in places, and more than a bit angst-ridden in others. My writing now is probably more erotic than it has been in the past, and more geared toward the “happy ever after” publishers and readers alike want their stories to have, but I still churn out the occasional off-the-wall angst-filled tale when the mood strikes.
- You have a lot of promo items and freebies for readers. What is your favorite item? What is your least favorite item?
- I am a huge believer in promotional items. I’ve heard it said that it takes the average person six times before your name “sticks” in their mind. That’s six different moments when they see something with your name on it before things click. So there is no such thing as too much promo! One of my favorite items are bookmarks, because as a reader myself, I’m always sticking pieces of paper into a book to hold my place. Bookmarks always seem like a good investment to me. As for least favorite promo item, it’d have to be something completely odd that has no real bearing on books or book-related items. I try to stay away from such promo items, but I’ve seen other authors buy things such as lip balm, napkins, or even matchbooks which seem strange to me.
- Who are Vic and Matt? What was the inspiration for writing a series involving superhero powers transmitted though a most interesting of ways? What is coming up next in the series?
- Vic Braunson is a character of mine who receives superhero powers every time he and his lover, Matt diLorenzo, have sex. I had seen an anthology call for a book of gay superheroes, and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to write a story involving such characters. I’ve been a comic book fan since college, and grew up with a brother who read comics religiously, so I’m very much in love with comics and superheroes in particular. As I mulled ideas over in my mind, I knew I would want a superhero who has powers he doesn’t really want or need -- I’m a big X-Men fangirl, and wanted to write that sort of a character, as opposed to a pillar of righteousness like Batman or Superman. Add in the fact that the character would be gay, and the method for his attaining superhuman powers just fit perfectly with the character of Vic that I’d thought up.
- I will admit that the thought of a semen-related superpower isn’t mine ... years ago I read a series called Wild Cards, which was in paperback and comic book format. There was a character in that series who didn’t ejaculate after sex -- instead, the “powers” of his semen were stored in his forehead, giving it a distended appearance. The more frequently he had sex, the more powers built up, and he could tap into them at will. I didn’t want anything quite so obvious, but I liked the idea of a man giving powers to his lover through sex, and thus Vic and Matt were born.
- In early 2009, I have two short stories featuring these characters already slated for publication. Outage will be released in January by Amber Allure Press. When an ice storm knocks out power to the city, Matt is trapped in an elevator downtown with his fellow co-worker, Roxie. As Vic comes to their rescue, Roxie learns for the first time that there’s something “special” about the bond the men share. And in March, An Evening with the Rush Hour Hero will be released, also by Amber Allure. This is a very short look at life in the Braunson/diLorenzo household when Vic’s powers make the nightly news.
- I have several other ideas in mind for these guys, including a future series that is still in development, so I hope readers enjoy them as much as I do, because there is plenty more to come!
- Your Between States series involves two soldiers fighting during the Civil War. What made you decide to make them shapeshifters? What elements does this add to the story?
- The first story in that series, Under a Confederate Moon, was written as a stand-alone story for an anthology about historical shapeshifters. However, once I finished the story, I thought it would work much better on its own and submitted it to a different publisher entirely. The story is told from one character’s point of view, and once it was finished, I found myself wanting to know the other character just as well. So I wrote the second story, Beneath a Yankee Sky, as a sequel to the first. And sure enough, as I wrapped that up, I realized there was still more to tell. It took almost a year but finally I got a chance to finish the series with A More Perfect Union.
- The series is about two very different men who find they have more in common than it first appears. They fight on separate sides of the American Civil War and by all rights are enemies, but it’s their shapeshifting ability that draws them together. Without that element, the series wouldn’t work -- Caleb and Brance are too different, personality-wise, to be able to connect without their shared secret. So for this series, the paranormal element actually is the impetus for the plot.
- You writing spans many different genres including historical, sci-fi, fantasy and contemporary. Is one genre your favorite as a writer? How about as a reader? Is there one you haven’t tried yet but would like to?
- I love a variety of genres, both to read and write, but it seems most of the time when I start a new story, it’s contemporary. However, I wouldn’t say that’s my favorite genre -- I probably enjoy writing futuristic dystopic stories most, but they involve a lot of world building and a lot of time when a story’s focus is the characters, it’s just easier to place it in a contemporary setting. I also really love historical stories, both writing and reading them, and find I get a lot of ideas for these when reading non-fiction.
- As for a genre I haven’t tried yet ... I could say fantasy, to some extent. The first novel I ever wrote was an epic fantasy in the vein of Terry Brooks’ Shannara series, but I haven’t written in that genre lately (at least, not since I began writing and publishing gay fiction). At some point I would really like to see if I could get back to that, and if there’s a market for gay fantasy.
- You have written several futuristic / sci-fi stories. Which of them has struck the strongest chord with readers?
- Scarred is probably the one I’d call a “readers favorite.” A lot of people like that story. But as for striking a strong chord, I’d have to say Trin does that better. But most readers don’t care for Trin because of the ending. All I can say is, not everything ends happily ever after. And sometimes “happy for now” is just your own point of view.
- The Regent’s Knight is one of my favorite stories. What was the inspiration for this book?
- Here’s a secret -- The Regent’s Knight was originally a boy band fan fiction story I wrote years ago that I rewrote and lengthened into the story it is today. The basis for the story was nothing more than my love of epic fantasy stories. The first novel I ever wrote (while in high school, and no, you can’t read it) was entitled The Magical Stones of Pharr and set in the same world as The Regent’s Knight. I have visions of maybe one day revisiting the land and seeing what other adventures might lie in store there, but at the moment, my focus both in writing and in reading has drifted to other interests than epic fantasy.
- One of your more recent releases is the story Boytoys. Is this story based on personal experience with sex toy parties?
- No, I’ve never attended a sex toy party, but I used to work with someone who threw one for couples only, once, which is where I got the idea for the story. Being the odd man out at a couples-only event isn’t fun, as we all know, and I thought it’d be fun to run with that.
- What is the Working Man series? Do you have a personal favorite of all the stories?
- Working Man is a series of short stories in which men find love or lust while on the job. When I wrote fan fiction, I did a similar series, and it was a lot of fun. The sad thing is, most all the stories draw on personal experience to some extent. Yes, I’ve had that many jobs during the course of my life! I’ve never actually hooked up with anyone at work (well, there was that one time ...) but I have a vivid imagination and it seems to go into overdrive when I’m on the clock supposed to be working on something else entirely.
- As for a favorite, I have a couple. Makin’ Copies was a lot of fun to write, and I really enjoyed the interplay between the characters in Car Trouble and Speed Trap.
- Many of your books and stories are available in paperback. How does it feel to hold a book that has your name on the cover? What is your favorite cover of all your paperbacks?
- My goal is to eventually release all my titles in paperback, if I can. Though I know the future of publishing seems to be headed into the realm of e-books, and my electronic sales do much better than my paperbacks, I’m still a hardbound girl at heart. I love the feel of books, the smell of them, the way they look stacked side by side or one upon the other on the shelves along my wall. I love books, simple as that. And to have the chance to hold one with my name upon the cover is a phenomenal feeling.
- When I self-published, I had fairly simple covers. The one for Shorts, in particular, is quite eye-catching and always stops readers in their tracks when I have it on display. Among the paperbacks I’ve published with Amber Quill, I have to say I really love the cover of Crushed. I think it’s just amazing and it still takes my breath away.
- What is your favorite published story? What is your most popular published story?
- I’m assuming you mean favorite of my own published work. For novel length, it would be Stepping Up to the Plate. For novella or shorter, then it would be a tie between Trin and Persistence of Memory. My most popular published story is probably Makin’ Copies, one of the titles in my Working Man series that seems to do extremely well for some reason!
- What is your least popular published story? Why do you think readers don’t like or “get” the story? Which of your stories would make a great movie? Who’d play the lead roles?
- My least popular story is Undertow, which is a shame because I really enjoyed writing that book. I think most readers don’t like the story because it isn’t a conventional romance -- the love interest is missing for 99.9% of the book. Ah well, what can I say? That’s the way it wanted to be written.
- If I were to make any of my books into a movie, it’d be Tricked Out. I think Will Smith would be great as the cop, and I’m sure Hollywood could find some sexy young punk to play Corey.
- When you start writing, do you already have the story plotted out or do you let the characters dictate what will happen?
- Before I start a story, I have to have some notion of where it will go in mind. Also, I have to have at least the first scene set in my head so I can write it down as it plays out, if that makes sense. Usually I like to have the first two scenes in mind word for word, every action scripted out, even certain phrases or sentences already there and waiting to be typed up before I sit down to begin. I also like to have some faint idea of where things are going or what will happen later on in the story, so I have something to write toward. After that, I let the characters take over and tell me what happens.
- Do you draw inspiration for your characters from real life?
- All of my characters are pieces of myself, to one extent or another. I write a little part of me into each of their personalities, because that makes me sympathetic toward them. If I know why they do what they do, then I can understand it, even if I don’t agree with it.
- Other personality traits are culled from people I know, people I meet randomly, people I overhear while in line at the grocery store. Physical appearances often begin with a particular person or celebrity in mind, but as the characters grow into themselves and their stories, they take on a life of their own and it becomes hard to see what building blocks I may have started with to create them.
- What story haven’t you written yet but would like to? Is there anything holding you back from writing it?
- I have two stories that I want to write and haven’t yet, simply because they aren’t ready to be written. I equate writing with cooking -- imagine a story like a pot, and into it you place all your ideas for plot, characters, setting, scenes, etc. Then you place it on the stove and turn on the heat. And wait. Some stories cook faster than others -- the characters are more demanding, or the plot more immediate, whatever. Some stories want to be written now, and they boil over quickly. Others sit on the back burner like an all-day stew. You add more ideas from time to time, take off the lid and stir, take a taste test to see if it’s ready yet. And if it’s not, then you cover it up again and let it simmer until it’s done. Once these two stories are ready to write, I’ll know.
- Do you have a system for writing? Do you track work count or write a certain number of hours per day? Do you use music and playlists for inspiration?
- I write in the mornings before work because it’s too easy after work to claim I’m too tired to write. I wake up a good two hours before I have to leave the house and sit down in front of my computer to write. I track word count, but don’t hold myself to anything more than 500 words. If I can get that many down, then I’m happy. If I get more, then yay for me! And if I write later in the day, then that’s just an added bonus. As long as I write something in the morning, I’m good to go.
- It’s harder on the weekends because I don’t have a deadline to write toward—I don’t have anywhere I need to be by 8:30 in the morning. Then I tend to write in the late afternoons, between 4:00 and 6:00. I force myself to write something, anything, before I allow myself to make dinner, so it’s an incentive to write.
- I like to write one whole scene at a time, and by the time I stop, I usually know what the next scene will be. That way I always have something else to write -- the next time I sit down, I’ll pick up where I left off.
- I like silence when I write -- I’m easily distracted -- so I don’t use music or playlists because my mind would latch onto the lyrics of the songs, no matter how low the volume, and it would distract me from what I want to say. I also can’t write with the television on, or in a place where there are a lot of people talking (like a restaurant or coffee shop). So I write in the mornings, before the world begins, or in the lazy afternoon hours when it’s quiet.
- When did you start writing? Did you always know you wanted to be “a writer”?
- I’ve always known I wanted to write. I remember being eight years old and starting a story in a notebook. My favorite Christmas gift ever was the very first typewriter my parents got for me one year. There was never a doubt in my mind that I would write, regardless what else happened in my life.
- What is your favorite gay book that you didn’t write?
- With or Without You by Laurie Saunders. It’s a lesbian book that is just awesome, every aspect of it. I loved the premise and the story stood up well to my expectations. I wish I had told it first.
- Name one thing that your readers would be surprised to know about you.
- I can’t imagine anything that would come as a surprise to anyone, as I’m basically an open book. What you see online is who I am—I’ve kept an online journal or blog in some capacity since 1997, so everything you’ve ever wanted to know is probably archived somewhere online.
- Do you have a guilty pleasure?
- Video games. I am a huge Zelda fan, and love to play the Tomb Raider games as well as most any RPG Squaresoft puts out. I’m thinking of upgrading my old Playstation console to buy some new RPGs, particularly the latest Suikoden game (another favorite of mine). So yes, I’m a video game geek.
- What is your favorite word/phrase for the male or female genitalia? What is your least favorite word/phrase?
- Favorite? I like the word “dick.” It’s unpretentious, something one guy would say to another.
- Least favorite ... anything with the word “stick” in it (lovestick, joystick, etc). And anything at all for female genitalia -- every word out there for girly parts just turns me off. The worst is the C word (rhymes with bunt), it just makes me cringe when I read it. How that can be even remotely sexy is beyond me. It’s the single worst word in the English language, to me.
- What is your favorite curse word?
- “Fuck.” Again, straight up and to the point.
- What are you currently working on?
- Two things. I have a western novel I’m about 11k into at this point, which I hope turns into something beyond your average “cowboy falls for cowboy” romance. Also, this morning I began a story with my “Vic and Matt” characters which may become part one of a five part series (and may not ... I’m only a few thousand words into it so far, and it might become something completely different, who knows?). Neither has a title yet, and I’m not even really sure how long the Vic and Matt story will be. Sorry I can’t be more informative than that!