Renae Kaye
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Update on my authoring

25/7/2014

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Waiting.  Does it seem to you like we spend our whole lives waiting?  We wait in line at the supermarket to pay.  We wait on the telephone for someone to stop the really annoying on-hold music and talk to us.  We wait for the doctor.  We wait for Christmas.  We wait…

To me, this week it feels like I am waiting for everything!

My second novel, The Blinding Light was released and I have been waiting for the reviews to come in.  Reviews and sales have been fantastic and I am Completely. Blown. Away. by the response I’ve received to this novel.  I thank every single one of my readers.  You guys ROCK!

Despite this excitement, I’m still waiting.  Firstly I’m waiting for my sales statement from my publisher.  They are distributed quarterly, and I am jumping out of my skin to feel like a “real” author.  Yes – you read that correctly.  Because, you see, I am a newbie to this writing gig.  Loving Jay was my first novel and it was only released in April.  So I’m waiting for my statement so that I feel like a real author.

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I’m also waiting on the release of my short story in the anthology, A Taste Of Honey.  It’s due out on the 18th of August.  It is the only short story I’ve written, and I’ll be very interested to see what people say about it.  I’m used to fleshing out a character and having them slowly fall in love, so how will a short story go over?

My next novel is called The Shearing Gun and will be coming out in September.  So I’m gearing up for that.  Editing is complete, but I still have to do my galley proofs, so once again I’m waiting.  Waiting.

I have another novel after that (yes!  I’ve been a busy girl!).  It has just hit editing and my editor emailed me this morning to say she is starting on it.  So now I’m waiting for first edits…

You would think that was enough, yes?  But no, no, no.

I’ve recently written a funny romance called Shawn’s Law.  I wanted to see how many Australian animals and insects I could get to attack my MC before the end of the book.  Relax!  He survives them all.  He needs someone to kiss the boo-boo better sometimes, but he is still there in the end. I’ve submitted this to my publisher, and yes, once again I’m waiting…  This time for a response.  (Fingers crossed!)

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Once upon a time (before Loving Jay) I wrote a humorous m/f romance.  I submitted it to a large publisher and got the dreaded silence…  You know?  No acknowledgement of receiving the manuscript, no rejection because it doesn’t quite fit with their publication guidelines, no I’m-sorry-you-can’t-even-write-a-shopping-list email.  Just silence.  (Big publishers are so big, they don’t need to do acknowledgement).  So after licking my wounds, I smartened up the story and resubmitted elsewhere.  I’m waiting for that one too…

Waiting…  I feel like Christmas will come first before some of these.

While I’m waiting, I’ve been dabbling away at two new stories.  I’m not sure how they will work out – if they will even get finished at the rate I’ve been working.  But one of them is a spin-off from Loving Jay.   Jay and Liam appear as the supportive friends to a new character called Kee.  He’s trying to find his way back to the “dating scene” after a bad breakup.  Jay has a lot of advice for him.  A lot.  You know Jay.  He never can keep his mouth shut.

My other WIP is a more serious story that is a spin-off from my novel which will be released at the end of this year.  It’s a tough story, and I’m struggling to describe the depths of my MC’s emotions when it comes to the fact that he would rather be married to a woman he doesn’t love, than be out of the closet and free.  All because of his children.  That love we bear for our children cannot be lightly taken. 

So all in all, I am very busy on all author fronts.  This has been a rather boring blog, but I thought I would update the people on what I’m up to.

Now I will go back to waiting, and pull up my WIP and get busy.

(PS – I have a big surprise coming tomorrow.  So stick around to see it!)


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Appearances can be deceiving

21/7/2014

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Today I met with a friend who is transitioning from male to female.  I listened as she told me the troubles she is going through with her family.  Although she has been dealing with this problem her whole life, she has only come out to her family eight months ago.

She sat them down just before Christmas and told them she had made the decision to become a woman.

They were understandably upset and confused, and now eight months later, some of them are still struggling.  Mostly because they had no hint of this previously.  To me, I suspected some four months ago, but we have only been acquainted for three years, not fifty, so I simply shrugged when I heard the news and congratulated her.

Over coffee, I shared the news of this person’s transition with my BFF.  One of my BFF’s questions was, “So is he… she… a lesbian now?  If he’s now a woman, does he… uh, she… go for guys or girls?”

I have to admit I don’t know.  It’s a bit of a personal question, isn’t it?

I guess the whole thing comes down to the fact that transitioning from one gender to another has nothing to do with sexual orientation.  In my opinion, your sexual orientation is what you like in other people.  Your gender is what you feel on the inside of you.

But no matter what her preference in other people, asking is one of those no-no questions.  It ranks right up there with asking a gay couple who is the bottom in the relationship.  You just don’t ask.  If they are happy to volunteer the information, then okay, but otherwise, what they do in the privacy of their bedroom is up to them.

I’m always bemused at the thought that people feel they have to right to ask those sort of questions.  The only time I’ve ever had to answer questions about my own sex life was when my father demanded to know if I was still a virgin after meeting my new (and first) boyfriend (cringe! Thx Dad!), and when my doctor was trying to work out the due dates of my children.  In a way, I’m lucky to be heterosexual.

I often wonder how hard it is for some guys to come out to their family.  A group of us mothers met over the recent school holidays for a play-date in the park.  While chatting, two mothers admitted they were already wondering about their sons, as both boys show a determined liking for fairies, glitter, tutus and dresses.  Since these children in question are only four, I’m a little sceptical, but I do wonder about mothers who suspect their child is gay from a young age.  It is probably easier for those boys.

I would have to imagine it is the “manly men” who have trouble telling their family.  These are the ones whose family would say, “But you don’t look gay!”  Just like my transitioning friend, whose family said, “But you don’t dress like a woman!”  Well, no.  She doesn’t because her genitalia and society said that it was wrong to wear her hair like that and paint her fingernails.  She has finally gathered the courage to give a middle finger to the world and break out the nail polish and hair spray (along with pantyhose, high-heels and lipstick!)

Dreamspinner have a new Anthology coming out – it’s called A Taste of Honey.  It’s about bears.  No, not real bears, or shifter bears, but men who call themselves bears.  It’s a form of recognition of a certain type of gay man – one who is happy being hairy and having a real body, not necessarily one that is muscled or svelte.  Yes, you heard right.  They are big and hairy and gay.  And most importantly – happy to be this way.

There may be a small offering in this Anthology from me, but I’m more interested in the other stories.  I already know what my story is about.  I want to know about the others!  I wonder if any of them tackle the issue of manly men coming out to their family?  I can’t wait!

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A Taste of Honey
Anthology from Dreamspinner

Link for pre-release order

Bear Chasing, by Renae Kaye
Skinny, geeky, and socially awkward, Neil lives with his sister and spends most of his time on the computer.  When three guys move into the house across the street, Neil is fascinated, especially with big, hairy Brett. One morning, Brett leaves Neil with a single word: woof.  Neil is excited and uncertain about the unfamiliar term, but Brett is there to introduce Neil to a world he never knew existed.

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Those feelings you get

12/7/2014

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I had no idea of what to blog, and I know that my millions of followers are just dying to know my thoughts, so I decided I’d write them down, because in a week I won’t remember them.  A week is a very long time – 7 days, 168 hours, 10,080 minutes or at least 22 coffees away.

I’m having those feelings.  You know?  Those feelings?  Unless you have written a book and have waited anxiously for your release day, then you won’t know exactly how I feel.  For those who have written a book, then perhaps your will recognise your own feelings in mine as I try to explain them.

Overwhelmingly there is the nervousness – the fear of the unknown, but hoping for the best.  How will the readers react to my story?  Will they like it?  Love it?  Loathe it?  Want to marry it and have its babies?  You know that some people with hate it – it’s a given and you prepare yourself for it – but will the majority favour or frown on it?

The public is a fickle lover and you never can tell.

That nervousness goes deep.  The Blinding Light is due out in less than 42 hours, and that nervousness is on the surface of everything I do.  Not as bad as my first release, that is true, but still there.

So you psych yourself – you tell yourself that it’s okay if this one bombs.  You tell yourself that you’ve done a fantastic job no matter what the response to your book is.  You tell yourself that your family loves you, and will love you no matter if you are a great author, or just a ho-hum author.  You tell yourself you can move to the outer suburbs of Antarctica and live off fish if you need to run away in embarrassment.


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Despite the nervousness, you do feel pride.  Pride that you have accomplished such a deed.  I know that there are many, many authors out there, but I have made a journey that most people on the street have not.  I have had a great book idea; I’ve burned the midnight oil to cherish it into fruition; I’ve chopped, changed and edited that baby within an inch of its life; I’ve gathered my courage and sent it to a publisher for judgement; and I’ve then sat through the edits while it was torn apart and put back together.  I’ve done the hard yards for my creation – now I need to watch it flutter into the world on those wings I’ve created.  I’m nervous, that is true, but I’m also proud.

But through those nerves and pulses of pride, there is a sense of calm.  This is a good book.  It will be fine.  If an author didn’t have that feeling, then the book would have never been submitted to a publisher.  You know your baby is good – down deep, each author knows this.  But you want your baby to shimmer, sparkle and shine.  You want them to be revered and reread.  You want the reader to have such a good time, that your name is entered in their family bible because they want you to be a part of their lives.

You are excited, too.  Excited for yourself, excited for your readers, excited for your book.   Something that didn’t exist a year ago, a single thought, has been immortalised onto paper in the form of a written word, and you are responsible for that.  Those voices in your head?  Well, they are about to be voices in other people’s heads as well.  That character?  That character no longer exists just for you – they will be out there for the rest of the world to experience and love as well.  You are so excited you want to tell the world – your neighbours, the man walking his dog past your house, the high school kids at the bus stop and even that bird that just flew over the house.  You never know!  That bird could be a shifter who has an Amazon account and internet connections!

But then suddenly, you realise halfway through telling the old lady at the grocery store who is just trying to buy a couple of carrots and potatoes for her dinner, that release means that everyone is going to know the crazy-arsed thoughts inside your head.  There is a very thin line between a writer and a schizophrenic sometimes.  We both hear voices.  It’s inevitable that an author’s personality and experiences bleed through into their written word.  And all those silly, sexy, crazy, dumb thoughts – yeah, that’s me.


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So you panic.  You think of going back to edit it, only to realise IT’S TOO LATE!  Editing is done!  Proofing is done!  What is there, is there…  You panic some more, then realise that panicking achieves nothing (unless there is an elephant stampede – then panicking may help).

You spin out!  You crash! You go up in flames… Okay, maybe not.  Maybe you sit there with a coffee and think logically like an adult.  You come to the conclusion that you’ve done what you can, and come what may, that book is being released – mistakes and all.  You feel better.  You are calm.

Then you go and google yourself again, just to make sure there isn’t a review that has magically appeared in the last ten minutes on the internet…


The Blinding Light releases on Monday, 14th of July and can be purchased (pre-release) from here:


eBook from Dreamspinner:  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5211
Paperback from Dreamspinner:  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5212

eBook from ARe:  https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-theblindinglight-1557675-149.html




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Happy birthday Me!

5/7/2014

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It’s my <cough cough> birthday coming up.  Yeah – I don’t like to make a big fuss over it, but the kids are excited and it’s an excuse to eat cake, isn’t it?  This year I’m getting a HUGE birthday present – for me anyway.  My hubby and my kids won’t really care about it, but I will love it.  The day after my birthday is the release of my second book – The Blinding Light.

Yes – Jake and Patrick will be let loose on the world to sink or swim, whatever the case may be.  I’ll tell you – I’m as nervous as all hell.

Whatever happens with the release – success, failure or worse, (gasp!) boredom – this birthday has to be better than the previous two.  You see, I’m hoping that no one forgets my birthday this year.

Yes, yes, yes.  For two years in a row, people have forgotten my birthday.  As previously mentioned, I don’t make a big fuss over it, but that doesn't mean I want the day to pass as forgotten!  (Picky, aren’t I?)


So, two years ago, my darling wonderful husband forgot.  Not completely forgot like “Oh, whoops.  It was your birthday last month.”  It was more like “Your birthday’s on Sunday, isn't it?  I'm going shopping tomorrow to get you a present.”  To which I blushed and said, “No, honey.  My birthday is today.”

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Oh, man.  It will take him YEARS to live that one down.

Then last year his parents forgot.  Admittedly they were busy packing for a holiday they were leaving on the following day, but it doesn’t negate the fact that they didn’t look at their calendar and realise the reason we were going out to dinner was because I was celebrating, as well as telling them bon voyage.

So this year, I’m really fretful about who is going to forget this time.  Things come in threes, don’t they?

I should take a look at history though – I was brought up on Molly Ringwald and didn’t her family forget her birthday in Sixteen Candles?  They all forgot, but it didn’t matter in the end because she got the super-duper-cuter guy because of it.  (I’m putting my order in for a guy who is just like Jake Ryan!)  Maybe it will all work out, after all.  All of those romantic movies couldn’t be wrong, could they?

I’ve forgiven my husband for the forgotten birthday, because in truth, I forgot Father’s Day two years before that.  Before you get all frowny at me, I have an extremely good excuse – I was in labour the whole damn day!  I went into labour on the Saturday and my baby wasn’t born until the Monday.  So I was a little pre-occupied.  I remembered about 4 days later, but was stuck in hospital and couldn’t pull the present out of the wardrobe to give to hubby.  Babies were a little bit more important, that year.


So this year I will spend my birthday, once again with labour pains, but this labour will be one of nerves and jitters as my creation readies itself to spring forth on the world.  As long as this time I don’t end up with stitches, we should be good.

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Family is important

2/7/2014

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    Renae Kaye

    Sometimes things just need to be said.

    Renae is an author of m/m romance novels as well as a mummy, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a pet owner and (only sometimes) someone who cleans the house.

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