It’s Monday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey there party people! I’m recovering from an excellent weekend at the Baltimore Book Festival! Shout-out to the Maryland Romance Writers and Laura Kaye for showing me a super fabulous time. I should have a recap post up next week. So many incredible highlights to share!!! My goal is to write the post tonight and then sleep like the dead. I’m exhausted! Aside from being tired from my weekend activities, I’m drained from dodging crazy comments on social media from people who believe NFL players that kneel during the National Anthem are the WORST people ever. 

Yeah, no. 

NOT TODAY SATAN! 

Anyway, this week’s featured author is so damn lovely. She was one of my roommates at RWA Nationals this summer, and she was so sweet when I was sick and felt like death warmed over. Robin also came to my aid when I was having an emotional crisis. It’s good to have genuine people in your corner when meltdown mode comes at you fast. She deserves all the hugs. ♥  

Get to know a little about Robin. She. Is. Amazing!

I always find author interviews kind of boring. We only get to see one side of an author, the polite side. If you had an evil doppelganger, what detail would they enjoy revealing about you to the public that people would find surprising and possibly questionable? 

I have a brutally jealous side and a massive guilt complex. Those two combined without my conscious to reign them in… I’d be a vengeful SOB. My evil doppelganger would probably have a serious resemblance to Maleficent. 

What’s your favorite quote?  

I love the quote from Dumbledore in the last Harry Potter book: “Of course it is happening inside your head, [insert your name], but why on earth should that mean it’s not real?”It makes me feel so much better about how real my stories feel in my head as I’m writing them!

What constitutes a quality read for you?

Something that grips me–emotionally–preferably also physically. I’m a sucker for the ultra-steamy stuff! Fat truth, I get bored without some good sex on the page. But it’s imperative the book takes me on a journey of personal struggle with a character. 

Ice skating or roller skating?

I SUCK at roller skating. I usually fall on my back and end up crying so… definitely ice skating!

You’re one of the co-hosts for Romance Writer Chat on Twitter (Sunday nights 7pmEST/4pmPST hashtag #rwchat for those of you interested in joining). Aside from joining the chat, what advice would you give to a newbie romance writer who’s looking to find their tribe in Romancelandia?

Make friends. Talk to lots of romance writers and ask them questions. Get to know them. You’ll find your group. Be brave and don’t be afraid to take away time from writing to talk to your writer friends. Friendship with other writers is as important as your word count!

What’s your favorite fairy tale?

I was never a princess girl. I always loved and wanted to be Peter Pan. “I never want to grow up!”

We’ve all had moments as teenagers when we did a dumb thing (or many dumb things). Tell us one of yours.

I was a seriously buttoned up as a kid. I was in a tough home situation where I didn’t feel safe to take any risks. The dumbest thing I did as a teen– not going to enough parties! I missed out on so much fun. I’m making up for it now ;)

Finish this sentence: When it comes to a romance novel, the hero should always _______.

Know what his heroine/hero wants!

What attracted you to writing dark romance?

I have a very dark mind. For me to not write dark would be a betrayal of who I am. It comes easy. I have to reign myself in so that I don’t freak people out. *devil face*

Be careful how you answer this, Game of Thrones fans are reading! *Takes a deep dramatic breath* Who’s deserving of the Iron Throne? 

Um, I’m rooting for a team Daenerys/Jon with them sharing the Iron Throne as a couple. (Yes, I’m in denial about the whole incest thing!)

**Bonus Question**

Ever tried BDSM? If not, would you? 

I enjoy reading it but in real life… Bedroom politics can be complicated enough in a relationship without straying beyond vanilla. Besides, vanilla is faaaaabulous :)   

Bio:

Robin Lovett was a professional opera singer who grew tired of playing dying heroines and took up writing Happily-Ever-After instead.

She enjoys writing romance to avoid the more unsavory things in life, like day jobs, housework, and personal demons. Romance novels have always been her addiction of choice. When not writing with her cat, she’s busy embracing untamable curly hair and adventuring in the outdoors with her husband. 

She has a trilogy of dark ultra-sexy romance thrillers out with SMP Swerve, and her next series will be sci-fi erotic romance through Entangled Publishing. She is represented by Rachel Brooks of BookEnds Literary Agency.

You can find her on Twitter every Sunday evening at 7pm ET chatting with other romance writers on #RWChat.

Social Media:

Website www.RobinLovett.com

Twitter @LovettRomance 

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/LovettRomance

Instagram @LovettRomance 

Books:

Looking to activate your one-click finger? Check out Stranger Book 1 of 3 in the Dark Romance Trilogy

Howdy Folks!

Happy Monday to ya! I’m recovering from an awesome day at the Brooklyn Book Festival. My weekend went by quickly, but it’s always fantastic when I have the opportunity to pimp the romance genre and convert new readers. Special shout-out to all of the authors who came out to represent RWA NYC!

Okay, so if you follow me on social media, you know there are a handful of authors I unabashedly fangirl over and this week’s featured author is one of them. When I emailed her to ask if she wanted to partake in an interview, her response made my heart do little backflips. I’d been trying to figure out how to have a conversation with her outside of Twitter. I’m not usually awkward about asking people to do these interviews, LoL but I swear it took me some time to build up the courage to ask Roan. I squealed at my computer when she said yes. NO LIE!

I adore Roan’s writing style. As someone who also writes first person POV, I know all too well how challenging it can be to lure a reader in, but this woman does it flawlessly. FLAWLESSLY. 

If you haven’t read her work, I highly encourage you to do so! Get to know a little about this fabulous lady.

I always find author interviews kind of boring. We only get to see one side of an author, the polite side. If you had an evil doppelganger, what detail would they enjoy revealing about you to the public that people would find surprising and possibly questionable?

I get really strong vibes off of people, which means I basically decide whether I like or hate someone within three minutes of meeting them. I’ve always been that way, and people have told me a thousand times to wait to make a decision, or to be less judgmental. But it’s not a judgment—it’s not whether they’re a worthwhile human or not. It’s whether I enjoy being in their presence. And there are plenty of people I’ve met who are interesting, kind, generous, smart people who I’m glad exist in the world. And I still don’t like being around them.

A two-part question! 

(a) What’s the first thing you ever wrote and thought, “Hey, this is good!”

Almost certainly some terrible poem from when I was in elementary school.  

(b) What attracted you to writing romance? 

I started writing my first romance novel for a friend, but I quickly realized that I loved it. I’m moody as fuck and spend a lot of time thinking about feelings and about psychology and about people, so romance was a pretty natural fit, since it’s all about characters having feelings about other characters who are having feelings. And, at least in mine, someone is always moody as fuck.

What rap song can you recite verbatim while keeping your flow tight?

I don’t know that I would claim my flow is ever exactly tight but “Baby Got Back” is pretty firmly lodged in my memory forever. That’s basically the whitest answer ever, huh?

What’s your favorite vegetable?

I can’t think of a single vegetable I don’t like, in some preparation or another, so this is hard. I guess I’ll say onions, because they’re the base of so many different dishes. I am dissatisfied with this answer.

Finish this sentence: Sex is meant to be _____.

Consensual. Other than that, I don’t think there’s any one thing sex is meant to be. It’s as individual as the people participating in it.

If you had the ability to travel through time, what exact moment in your past would you relive again?

I can’t think of any that I’d want to relive and now I’m feeling like maybe this is a horrible indicator that I’ve never had a single moment of pure happiness in my life. But maybe it just means that I don’t like repetition? I had this same feeling when I first read Harry Potter and Lupin’s telling Harry that to conjure a patronus he needs a memory that is so epically happy and I was unable to think of any that I could use, and I just knew in that fateful moment when I needed a patronus I wouldn’t be able to conjure one! Not like I’m a horribly sad person or anything, I’m maybe just incapable of joy? No, no, I’m fine, everything’s fine.

It’s no secret I do these interviews because I have no shame when it comes to my fangirling, but who do you fangirl over?

Well, I’m a terrible fan because I find it deeply embarrassing and awkward to be the center of attention, so I go to great lengths never to do it to someone else. I love Rufus Wainwright’s music, and I’ve seen him at the opera several times and said nothing because, like, he’s at the opera, leave the poor man alone. So, yeah, at my most fannish, even if I do talk to someone, I just get overwhelmed and then say nothing. Seriously, it’s bad. I got a book signed by China Miéville once, and when it was my turn I just stood there in total silence because my internal monologue was: I could say how much I like his work, but what’s the point because he hears it all the time and a hundred people just said it. I don’t want to hold up the line, so I’m not gonna try and talk about anything of substance. He’s probably exhausted from all of this so I don’t want to ask any questions that would take a lot of energy to answer. There’s no point in introducing myself because I’ll never see him again … Et cetera. So, yeah, I said nothing, and it made him so uncomfortable that he started nervously denigrating his own handwriting and peering up at me like maybe I was some kind of assassin. Very. Awkward. Go. Me. (As it happened, I did meet him again about a year later and we talked for a while and he was totally lovely and everything was fine.)

But in terms of romancelandia people who I’d feel fannish about if I met them? Probably if I met Jordan Castillo Price I’d just stand there like a lump and in my head I’d be thinking But I love you.

What’s one thing you want the public to know about romance writers?

That there’s no stereotype: We’re not all romantic. We’re not all married. We’re not all single. We’re not all straight. We’re not all white. We’re not all happy. We’re not all swoony. We’re not all cynical. We don’t all think Jane Austen was the apex of literary achievement. We don’t all hate her.

Tell me about your writing process. Do you have a particular ritual that must happen before you get words on the page?

Nah, not really a ritual. Mostly, as I’m thinking about any project, I dump thoughts and ideas and chunks of prose into a Scrivener document for later. I have an app on my phone, Pensieve, that is just designed so you can type into it and it sends the words to your email. So, I do a lot of sending myself messages of tidbits and then putting them in the doc. By the time I get ready to plan what the story is, I have enough little tidbits that a lot of things about character have become clear, and once the characters are clear the story just kind of … is there. I love this quote from Thomas Harris: “To write a novel, you begin with what you can see and then you add what came before and what came after … It’s all there and you just have to find it.” That’s very much how it feels for me. If I start with one thing I can see about a character, then certain other things have to be true, or cannot possibly be true. Planning out the story is kind of secondary, because for me it’s all about character. If you really know your characters, you could write any story about them. It doesn’t really matter if they are a security guard working at a zoo who has to catch an elephant thief, or a painter staring out the window—you still know what they’ll do, how they feel, what they want.

Finish this sentence: People confuse sex with love because _____.

Probably, because we’re taught to. Our culture views sex as most acceptable within the context of love, so we’re taught pretty early that they’re connected. Then we’re left to figure out it isn’t true for the rest of our lives.

Out of all of the characters you’ve created, who would you say confuses sex with love? **I asked this because I’m selfish and I always want to dive into a character’s backstory. I love knowing what makes them tick**

Leo Ware, absolutely. At the beginning of Where We Left Off, Leo is a romantic who fundamentally believes that sex is an expression of love, or an indication of it. A huge part of his journey with Will in that book is coming to realize that even if sex and love are linked for him, that does not mean they’re linked for everyone. For Will, sex and love are not necessarily connected, so when he and Leo begin a sexual relationship, sex signifies very different things for each of them, and throughout the book, as they fall in love, it’s something they have to negotiate.

**Bonus Question**

Ever tried BDSM? If not, would you?

I have and I would.

Bio:

Roan Parrish lives in Philadelphia where she is gradually attempting to write love stories in every genre.

When not writing, she can usually be found cutting her friends’ hair, meandering through whatever city she’s in while listening to torch songs and melodic death metal, or cooking overly elaborate meals. She loves bonfires, winter beaches, minor chord harmonies, and self-tattooing. One time she may or may not have baked a six-layer chocolate cake and then thrown it out the window in a fit of pique.

She is represented by Courtney Miller-Callihan of Handspun Literary Agency. 

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Books:

Looking to activate your one-click finger? Check out Small Change. I read this not too long ago and I looooved it. I’ve always been Team Ginger though. #biased

Happy Monday Everyone!

I’m trying to have an upbeat attitude; otherwise, I will start bawling, and I won’t stop. Today is September 11th, and while it’s a day that impacts our entire nation, as a New Yorker, it hits me particularly hard. I remember the events of that morning sixteen years ago as if it were yesterday. My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones. They are gone but never forgotten.

I also want to wish the people recovering from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma continued strength. It’s like we’re living in an alternate universe these days. Climate change is the real deal, and if we don’t acknowledge it and be proactive about combating it, I fear for future generations.

Anyway, enough with me being Debbie Downer. You know what keeps people happy during tough times? Books. So keep reading folks. Dive into those HEA’s and find your place of joy! #teamromance

Today’s spotlight features one fierce and fabulous lady. I first met Latoya at RT earlier this year. It was a brief interaction, but she later came to speak at my RWA NYC chapter meeting and of course I talked her ear off afterward (I can’t help my social butterfly tendencies, sue me). She’s also the recipient of the RWA NYC Chapter’s 2017 Golden Apple Award for Agent of the Year! Go, Latoya!!! *claps wildly* 

Get to know a little about this fantastic lady!

Everyone is asked this question. Librarians, bloggers, authors, no one is immune. *cackles* 

Since you’re my first agent/editor to be interviewed, you get the honor of being put on the hot seat too! I always find author interviews kind of boring. We only get to see one side of an author, the polite side. I’m sure the same can be said for editors/agents. If you had an evil doppelganger, what detail would they enjoy revealing about you to the public that people would find surprising and possibly questionable?

I have OCD, so I obsess about EVERYTHING, sometimes to the point where I have to sing or chant to get whatever the thought is out of my mind.

What attracted you to the literary world?

I’ve always been an avid reader since I was a child. A Scholastic kid all the way! Then Goosebumps, Babysitter’s Club, and on and on. So when I got the chance to be the assistant of a New York Times bestselling author, I jumped at the chance.

I know reading isn’t big on your list since you spend so much of your day staring at a computer screen but when you have time for leisure reading, whose writing do you fangirl over?

I am a fan of so many writers, styles, stories, etc. I am a true lover of BOOKS! However, yes, I do read a lot for work. So when I have time to read for pleasure, I try to shoot for anything in audio. Mostly fictional stories, particularly women’s fiction, romance, and thriller are my go-tos.

What are three quick tidbits of wisdom you’d give to a new writer beginning the query process?

RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. You should always know your market better than anyone else; know what your competition is doing and taking notes; and assessing the analytics of your social media, sales, information, promotional efforts, etc. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for help, especially from publishing professionals and other authors. And be ready to spend money to hone in on your craft. It’s worth it in the end!

What’s the funniest query you’ve ever received? You can give as much or as little detail as you’d like. 

I had someone query me as Jesus incarnate…

The first concert you ever attended?

Jodeci and Mary J. Blige!

Describe your first kiss in two words. 

Really short.

What do you think people misunderstand most when it comes to the romance genre?

They don’t understand its value–call it fake writing or not real literature. And yet romance outsells MOST genres in fiction.

If you could assume the identity of any living person before 1920, who would you choose? 

Madame CJ Walker. She made women feel beautiful and made a lot of money while doing it!

In life, we get caught up on significant events and never really take the chance to appreciate the little things. Is there a “little thing” you wish you had celebrated a bit more? 

Me! We often are so busy complaining or looking at the things that are not working out that we rarely take the time to appreciate the things that we love about ourselves and our lives. I am working on celebrating myself more and focusing more on the things I love, not the things that bother me.

**Bonus Question**
Ever tried BDSM? If not, would you? 

Not exactly. Not big on pain. However, I have tried handcuffs and candle wax. *There was a smirking emoji here* LOL, I felt you all should know that tidbit of information.

Bio:

Latoya C. Smith started her editorial career as an administrative assistant to New York Times bestselling author, Teri Woods at Teri Woods Publishing, while pursuing her Bachelor’s Degree at Temple University. She graduated Cum Laude from Temple in August of 2005. She then attained a full-time position at Kensington Publishing in March of 2006. In October 2006, Latoya joined Grand Central Publishing, an imprint at Hachette Book Group. For the span of her eight years there, Latoya acquired a variety of titles from Hardcover fiction and non-fiction, to digital romance and erotica. She was featured in Publishers Weekly and USA Today, as well as on various author, book conference, and book blogger websites. She is the winner of the 2012 RWA Golden Apple for Editor of the Year.  In early 2014, she appeared on CSpan2 where she contributed to a panel discussing the state of book publishing. From August 2014 to February 2016, Latoya was Executive Editor at Samhain Publishing where she acquired short and long form romance and erotic fiction. Now, Latoya provides editorial and consultation services through her company, LCS Literary Services. She is also an agent with the L. Perkins Agency.

Social Media:

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Websites:

Editorial Consultations: https://lcsliterary.com

Queries: http://www.lperkinsagency.com/#home