Sometimes love is a thunderclap… and sometimes love comes quietly, almost without us knowing.  How do you fall in love with someone you’ve always been in love with?

This is what the characters of Shane and Ambrose face in my new release, Knowing Me, Knowing You.  They have known each other since they were five and seven.  They grew up together.  Love grew from that.  And it seems that everyone around them knows… apart from them.

Their mothers always thought they had a special relationship, but just thought that they were best friends. Now, twenty-two years after that first meeting between them, Shane is attempting to move on.  He’s done with wishing for more and pinning unrealistic hopes on Ambrose. 

The story begins just seven months after Shane has decided it’s time to move on.  Ambrose, knowing he needs Shane in his life, is back – back with a vision of what he wants his future to be.  That future is with Shane.

What I love most about this story is that it doesn’t need that thunderclap.  Personally, if someone stood up in the middle of a family dinner and proposed to me, I’d smile stiffly, say yes, then tear strips off them later.  Those proposals at pop concerts where people get on stage to declare their love in front of 100,000 people?  Nope.  That is not me.  It would never be me.  And it’s not Shane either.

Shane is the bookworm.  He doesn’t like the spotlight.  He never wants to have Ambrose shout out his love.  He never wants everyone to be looking at the two of them.  He doesn’t want the thunderclap.  Shane’s love for Ambrose is quieter, like him.  And Ambrose’s love was just always there – an extension of his high regard for Shane.

Please don’t read this story expecting a huge scene at the end where undying love is declared and filmed, destined to be viewed thousands of times on Youtube.  No.  Because that’s not Shane.  And Ambrose knows that. 

Ambrose knows Shane.  Shane knows Ambrose.  Of course they do.  They’ve been together, but not together, for twenty-two years.
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This is not the crushing on a stranger on the train type of love between Liam and Jay.  This is not the giving-up-my-life-because-I-can’t-live-without-you love that Liam thinks he has to have.  It’s not even the I-feel-safe-with-you love that Kee has for Tate, or the I-couldn’t-help-it love between Aaron and Vinnie.  Nope.  This is… Shane’s story. 

Dreamspinner
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon AU 

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Released 30 October 2018
Knowing Me, Knowing You
Loving You #4
From Dreamspinner Press

​Blurb
Can friends turned occasional lovers move beyond past mistakes and wrong assumptions to build something that can last?

Quiet bookworm Shane has a big secret—one he’s kept for fifteen years. AFL superstar Ambrose Jakoby grew up next door to Shane. They were close friends, and Shane supported Ambrose through school.
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One night, everything changed.

Before Ambrose left Perth as a scared eighteen-year-old to head to Melbourne and take up his new footy career, Ambrose and Shane slept together.

For the next nine years, they continued a secret friends-with-benefits situation whenever Ambrose was in town. Shane never knew exactly where he stood or how to define Ambrose’s sexuality—and Ambrose didn’t know either. Then last Christmas, everything changed again, and a disagreement strained their friendship. Shane vowed to get over his unrequited love.
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But Ambrose is back, recovering from an injury and hoping to make amends. He claims he’s ready for a real relationship. But Shane has to decide whether Ambrose means it and whether his Hufflepuff soul can take the chance.

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. 
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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.

I sit here writing this blog with a great big goddamn lump in my throat.  I am so overwhelmed with pride and disbelief, I'm not sure whether I'm Arthur or Martha.  One thing I know I'm not, is Renae.  No, this couldn't be happening to little ole Renae.

No one can deny that 2014 has been a big year for me.  Not only did I release my first (ever!) novel, but I released my second and third, and my fourth is but days away.  And let us not forget my short story inclusion in the A Taste Of Honey Anthology.  It was always going to be a big year for me - but I never, ever, ever in my wildest dreams even hoped for the love for my books that has showered down on them.

And for that, I am truly humbled.  I can't even say it is a dream come true, because I never dared to dream that big.

So this year, when I saw the Goodread's M/M Romance Group's awards open, I hoped, just a little bit, that one of my books would be nominated.  I thought to myself, wouldn't it be nice if I could get nominated for just one of these categories?

So, it is with pride and tears of joy in my eyes, that I announce my nominations for the 2014 M/M Romance Member's Choice Awards.

This last one chokes me up.

I wish to thank every single person who nominated me, or who wanted to nominate me, or even thought about nominating me. I'm honoured beyond belief.  And if you want to vote for me, I thank you as well.

Voting will open on Friday, and only members of the M/M Romance Group are eligible to vote.  Once the links are up, I'll let you know. 

When I started writing, I had an aim.  That aim was to entertain.  To make people laugh and fall in love with the characters.  I'm grateful I've succeeded.  I hope you've enjoyed the ride.

Don't forget, Safe In His Arms is release on FRIDAY 28th November.  For those in the US, this is Black Friday.  So instead of fighting the crowds, how about having a nice leisurely shower with Lon and Casey?

The book is available for pre-order from:
Dreamspinner
Amazon
All Romance eBooks

Always laugh,
Renae Kaye
Humbled Author