Okay, I'm a bad, bad author.  I did something that is not allowed in the authoring world.  I took a week off.

**record scratch**

​I did what?  Yeah - me.  I took a holiday with my family and spent a week near the beach.  And subsequently forgot to post this last week.  So we are now a week behind.  I'm sorry.

​But here is the third and next instalment in the interviews I've done of interviewing myself.  Chronologically, the next release I had after The Blinding Light​ was a little short story in an anthology called ​A Taste of Honey.

Name of book:  Bear Chasing
Date Published:  18th August 2014
Available in: ebook / print as a part of the A Taste of Honey anthology.
Other forms coming:  Will probably rerelease as a standalone when rights have expired.
 
When did you start writing this book?  April 2014

What gave you the inspiration for the story?  I saw Dreamspinner put a call out for short stories to go into an anthology about bears (the gay bear type, not the furry, four-footed ones!)  I loved the idea and made a mental note to buy the book once it was released.  Some months later, I saw BG Thomas put out another plea for good, romantic stories.

At that stage I didn’t know BG – and of course he didn’t know me.  Loving Jay hadn’t been published yet.  No one knew my name.  But there was something pulling me toward this anthology.  So I set myself a challenge to write a bear story in under 12,000 words – for BG.  I know that sounds silly, but I wrote this story for BG.

And my favourite pairing?  Oh, yeah.  The big bear and the skinny little bear chaser…

What was the working title?  I originally called it “Bear Love,” but then changed it to Bear Chasing when I finished.

Where did the title of the book come from?  I didn’t know much about gay bears before starting this story, so I began to research it.  Information sites, dating sites, gay blogs – they are great sources of information.  And the first thing that popped out at me was the term “bear chaser.”  I realised that’s what I wanted my story to be about – the fact that people prefer bears over others.  Some guys like bears.  Some guys like being bears.

It was a natural progression to call it Bear Chasing.

What challenges did you face with writing this?  Research, research, research.  Always!

Then there was the fact that I’d never attempted a short story before.  That was a challenge to wrap up the story in a HEA (or at least HFN) in less than 12,000 words.

Tell us about MC1 – where did the inspiration come for him?  Okay.  I confess.  Gavin, Frank and Brett were based loosely around my neighbours.  There is a bunch of guys who live together in the house across the road from me.  I assume they’re straight.  I pretend otherwise. 

Tell us about MC2 – where did the inspiration come for him?  There is a guy I went to school with – Ashley.  He was into computers and computer games before it was cool to be, was skinny and socially awkward, and he loved his sister to bits.  I haven’t seen Ashley since we were 12, but Neil is what I assume Ashley turned out to be.

Is there anything special that happens in the story that you think readers would like to know about?  I fell in love with writing bears.

What is the best thing that has happened about this story, post-publication?  My friendship with BG Thomas has blossomed.  One day, I will give him a hug in real life.  One day.
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Do you plan a follow up story?  I love this story.  But it’s not on my priority list.  One day I will write the next chapter in their story.  I really, really want to.

Number two of my interviews.  I will be interviewing... well, myself!  This is the second of my publications and so I'm asking myself a few more questions about ​The Blinding Light.

Name of book:  The Blinding Light
Date Published:  14th July 2014
Available in: ebook / print / audio
Other forms coming:  Italian and French

When did you start writing this book?  July 2013.

What gave you the inspiration for the story?  Inspiration was from three areas for this book.  First, I read NR Walker’s Blind Faith series and fell in love with her characters.  I was thinking (ie daydreaming) about blind people and the things they needed to help them in their life.  My neighbour was having a bad patch after an organ transplant and she had daily help coming over – nursing staff, family, people to do her gardens.  And the need for a housekeeper began to play on me.

Second, I wondered what a blind person’s house would look like – and envisioned it stripped of colour.  I wondered what a housekeeper would need to do to make sure they didn’t move the furniture.  And then I wondered what a rich, blind man would think if his housekeeper’s scent drove him wild – a housekeeper he never saw.


Then third, Jake’s shitty family life appeared to me and is loosely based around someone I know.

 Suddenly I had a guy who was doing the best he could to get by, and a blind man in need of a housekeeper…

What was the working title?  Very originally, my working title for this book was simply “Jake.” 

Where did the title of the book come from?  On the second last chapter, as Jake and Patrick are leaving the hospital, there is a scene about “the blind leading the blinded.”  It was a blinding light moment for Jake, and suddenly I realised it was the perfect title.

What challenges did you face with writing this?  I’m not blind, nor do I know anyone who is blind, so there was research to be done about how to live with a blind person. 

At the time of writing this story, I had no idea of publishing it.  I had sent Loving Jay to the publisher, but hadn’t heard back from them.  The story of adoption was naturally woven into the plot as I have a brother and sister who are adopted, so it’s something that is familiar to me.  However, I had to do a lot of research about adoptions these days.

Tell us about MC1 – where did the inspiration come for him?  Jake is a lot like me.  And also a lot like I want to be.  I’m someone who keeps fighting, not matter what shit is thrown at them, or at least finds the bright side of a shitty situation (after I rage a bit).  I’m also someone who doesn’t take crap from people.  Although I wish I could say it out loud.  Jake has more balls than me.

Jake’s family is based loosely on a family I know.  The struggles of a single mum, the bad luck, the spiral into alcoholism.  I hope for a good future for the real Jake and his sisters, but who knows?

Tell us about MC2 – where did the inspiration come for him?  There were certain aspects of life that Patrick needed to fit the story – blind, no family, rich.  I threw in good-looking as a source of irony – the best looking guy Jake had ever seen, and the guy didn’t even know it.  Being a grumpy-arse was just my comedic flair.  I love grumpy-arses who are handed their attitude straight back.

Is there anything special that happens in the story that you think readers would like to know about?  I like to write happy stories, but I never like to sprinkle roses and stars everywhere and make the story too easy.  We all have decisions in life we have to make, and we can’t know how it will turn out.  Do you say yes to that date with a stranger you just met?  Is he the love of your life?  How will you know?  Life never turns out how we want.  People die, people cheat, people lie.  These things happen.

Likewise l want to challenge my characters.  Many readers of the story have complained about how Jake was forced into a situation by his mother.  My answer, “Tough shit, Sherlock.”  Sometimes we have to make hard decisions.  Sometimes we do things we’re not sure of.  Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to.

The point of the scene was to put a character in a position where he could possibly break.  Jake did what Jake always does – makes the best of a bad situation.

What is the best thing that has happened about this story, post-publication?  Once again, I’m going to have to list two things, because I can’t choose one over the other.

First, this story went to #1 in its categories on Amazon and stayed there for a week.  It was amazing, and I never expect to replicate that sort of success again.  Thank you to everyone who contributed to this!

The second thing is one particular email that I was sent by a reader.  They confessed their reluctance to read the story because they were the carer of a blind person, and were afraid I’d get it all so wrong, but went on to compliment me, not only on the story, but the blind aspects of it too.
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Do you plan a follow up story?  You Are the Reason was published in August 2015, so I guess that answers that question. **grin**

For those who may've missed it, I'm reblogging what was posted on Cafe Risque on the 2nd of January.

What’s new from Renae in 2016?

Happy New Year!

We’re at the start of the New Year with dreams, hopes and wishes all fresh!

So what can we expect from Renae in 2016?

Ooh – lots.  For a start, we still haven’t released the audio of You Are the Reason.  That will be coming in this year.  It’s late, I know, but sometimes you need to wait for the good narrators.

I also have a number of translations that I understand are to be released this year.  The Blinding Light will hopefully make it into French and Italian, and Safe in His Arms into Italian and Korean.  And I wonder what the Italians will make of The Shearing Gun?

Last year I released a short story that I want to expand and rerelease.  I have it slated to work on in February 2016 – so I’ll see how I go with that.

​As for new work?  I’m hoping to have three stories out this year – that’s three full length novels.  Dreamspinner have accepted my first, and I expect it to be out some time in May 2016.  I have another two that I’m finishing up this month and hope that Dreamspinner like as well.

So let’s talk about them.

​Story #1 – a spin-off from Safe in His Arms

You guys asked for it, so I wrote it.  I didn’t mean to.  When I wrote Safe in His Arms the minute Ash and Devon appeared on the page, I knew they had a story to tell.  They exploded in my head during the “beach scene” I wrote, and I knew exactly what had happened between them, and what Devon needed to do.

But the readers told me they wanted Paul and Andrew’s story too.  I was unsure.  Paul was a bit of a lark… and Andrew?  How could Andrew live with himself?  He was married!

I didn’t want to write the story, but it challenged me.  What was the deal with Andrew?

It took me ages too.  Almost a whole year of picking it up and then casting it aside again.  But I persevered, and Dreamspinner said they wanted to publish it.  Eeek.
​
So Paul and Andrew’s story will be coming in 2016, and I hope to get Devon and Ash’s story finished in 2016 too.

Story #2 AND #3 – spin-offs from Loving Jay

I really need to find a series title for this one, because I’m hoping that by the end of January, this series has three books in it.  #2 is finished.  #3 nearly.

My January job is to finish them and get them off to the publisher.

In #2 we’re introduced to Jay’s friend, Kee.  He’s a little bruised from a relationship, so took a break from the scene.  Now he’s back.  He’s planning on finding himself a big bear to go home with.  Instead, he ends up with Tate.  Not quite the man he expected.

Our friends from Loving Jay are all there too – Liam and Jay, John and Jackie, and Aaron.
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And #3?  Oh, I’m going to be a mean author.  I’m just going to say that you need to read #2 first… **wink**

How about, what am I writing?

Actually, I sat down yesterday and looked at what I had.  There are a couple of stories I want to finish that are not like the normal Renae Kaye novels.  Neither of them are set in present day.  One is in the future, and one is a new world.  I’d like to finish them off.

Then I’m going to concentrate on Ash & Devon’s story or perhaps Mickey Ryan’s story (from The Shearing Gun).   I have the next two books for The Tav mapped out in my head, a brand new series of 4 (or 5) novellas set in a small town in WA, maybe a co-written book, and the first chapter of a book featuring a “bad-boy” that just won’t leave my mind. 
​
So strap yourselves in for a ride in 2016.  I can’t wait.

Last year I interviewed a bunch of really great authors.  I loved it.  But, I thought maybe I need to interview me a little bit more about my stories.  What would I ask me if I was an author promoing a book?  So over the next nine weeks, I thought I would answer some questions about my stories.  And of course, starting with our favourite: ​Loving Jay.

Name of book:  Loving Jay
Date Published:  18th April 2014
Available in: ebook / print / audio / Italian translation
Other forms coming:  None scheduled at the moment
 
When did you start writing this book?  April 2013.

What gave you the inspiration for the story?  I have a friend who is very flamboyant, just like Jay is.  He works in retail and everyone loves him for his bubbly, friendly personality.  He also wears makeup, dances ballet in the aisle, walks with a swish and is obviously, definitely gay.  I was thinking (ie daydreaming) one day, and I thought to myself, “I wonder what macho men think of him?  I wonder what their reaction is?” and that morphed into, “What if there was a straight guy who didn’t know he was gay until he met someone like that?”

And so the inspiration for Loving Jay was born.  I set up a scenario where a straight guy (Liam) is constantly put in contact with the flamboyant femme (Jay), then I added attraction.  Voila!  Over the course of the story we find out that this isn’t Liam’s first gay attraction, but that is how the story started.

What was the working title?  I always had it as Loving Jay.  I had planned to change it at the end of the story when I got more of a feel for the story, but I ended up working the title into the final paragraph, so I left it.

Where did the title of the book come from?  Okay, I’m going to admit it.  I had read Loving Hector by John Inman just before I started writing my book.  If that’s what it took to love Hector, I wanted to know what it took to love Jay.

What challenges did you face with writing this?  I guess the biggest challenge I faced was that this was the second story I had attempted to write in my life.  It was never written for publication – just for me to enjoy.  Getting the guts to send it to a publisher, and going through the editing process was HARD!

Tell us about MC1 – where did the inspiration come for him?  Despite the book being from Liam’s POV, I’ve always considered Jay my #1 MC.  As mentioned previously, the inspiration for him came from my friend who is similar.  But in April 2013 when I started writing this book, I really felt a lack of representation of the femme guys in M/M.  I wanted someone who was the stereotypical hysterical drama-queen.

Tell us about MC2 – where did the inspiration come for him? Liam was pieced together to suit the theme of the story.  Why didn’t he realise he was gay?  Why was he hiding it?  What was he afraid of?  Why did he approach and react to Jay the way he did?  I made him average, because he kinda cruises through life.  I gave him a traumatic event during the period where most boys were discovering their sexuality to confuse him.  I gave him a family to love that he was influenced by.  I gave him a best friend for support.  Then I set him loose on the page…

Is there anything special that happens in the story that you think readers would like to know about?  I love Liam’s family.  One thing that bugs me about some stories is the lack of history or other people in the lives of the MCs.  Everyone has a mother.  She influences the MC – whether it be that she died, she abandoned him, that the relationship is strained, or whatever.  Our history influences who we are.

Liam is the fourth of five boys.  (I adore that line, and always hear Elizabeth Bennet saying, “I’m the second of five girls, ma’am.”)  The large family is normal to me.  I’m the youngest of nine children.  The family dynamics are fascinating, so I enjoyed writing his large family.

What is the best thing that has happened about this story, post-publication?  Oh, man.  You want me to pick one?  I have to pick two – sorry. 

First that it was voted Best Debut Story of 2014 by the members of the Goodreads M/M Romance group.  This was such a wonderful thing.  Really.  It was.

Second is that people are still recommending it to their friends.  I wrote this story as a pick-me-up for me, and I love that people feel the sparkly rainbows and fluffy clouds by reading it.

Do you plan a follow up story?  Yes.  Definitely.  I have another two stories written that follow Liam and Jay.  We saw a lot of Liam in the first story, so this time I found Jay’s friends.  They have their own stories to tell.  I hope for publication of these stories in 2016.