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What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write 12 Tropes of Christmas: a collection of festive romcom stories?

I liked the idea of getting some of my romance-writing friends together to write a romantic comedy collection of Christmas stories and had it knocking around in my head for a while. Tropes, especially romance tropes, seemed to be all the buzz on Instagram and Booktok and among book-loving friends. I loved the idea of each author taking a different trope and writing a story around that trope, as it really wasn’t something I’d seen done anywhere else. When I met up with some fellow romance authors for lunch last year, I threw it out there and was shocked by how enthusiastic everyone was. A relatively simple idea very rapidly became a dozen friends with a dozen unique ideas and a dozen awesome romcom stories – collaboration has wrought the perfect, festive, feel good vibes!

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of 12 Tropes of Christmas: a collection of festive romcom stories, what would they be?

This isn’t for the main character because there are too many, however, I jokingly call the authors in the anthology my ‘super tropers’, and the song that always springs to mind isn’t actually a Christmas one, it’s ABBA’s ‘Super Trooper’. When it comes to Christmas anthems for this anthology, I’d choose ‘Driving Home for Christmas’ by Chris Rea.

What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

I love romantic comedy both to read and write because it gives me that double whammy of feels: the laugh out loud and the happy ever after. I think that’s the joy of romcom. Having said that, I also love straight contemporary fiction, romantasy and historical fiction. You might say, I’m a bit of a genre slut; if the story is compelling, I’ll read it.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

It’s more of a mountain than a pile, but top of the TBR right now is Anne Freeman’s ‘Me That You See’. She’s a terrific writer and I can’t wait to get stuck in.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

The opening and the ending. I always get excited when I start a new story – there’s so much I want to get down on the page and so much potential – and the ending because it tugs on the heartstrings when I finish knowing I’ve put my all into it and have to say goodbye to the characters … unless I’m writing a series. Then the opening excitement starts all over again!

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

I do my best work in bed 😉

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

If you’re not dead, don’t give up! I also picked this up somewhere and think it’s a great philosophy to live by: Live without pretending, love without depending, listen without defending, speak without offending.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

I hope readers remember the laughter, the joy and the love. I hope by the time they put the book down they feel so beloved they tell everyone else about what a great time they had reading our fun Christmas stories.

 

Anna Foxkirk on behalf of super tropers: Anne Freeman, Heidi Catherine, Sandy Barker, Megan Mayfair, Davina Stone, Jodi Gibson, Nicola Marsh, Louisa Duval, Cassandra O’Leary, Ida Brady, Sharyn Swanepoel is the author of the new book 12 Tropes of Christmas: a collection of festive romcom stories

Connect with Anna Foxkirk on behalf of super tropers: Anne Freeman, Heidi Catherine, Sandy Barker, Megan Mayfair, Davina Stone, Jodi Gibson, Nicola Marsh, Louisa Duval, Cassandra O’Leary, Ida Brady, Sharyn Swanepoel

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What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Billionaire Romance Lovestories Box Set (Books 1-5)?

I've always loved to write romance novels.

What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

Billionaire Romance!

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

The one where she kisses him and afterwards slaps him for... Oh, spoiler alert!

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

To have fun while reading!

 

Rebecca Baker is the author of the new book Billionaire Romance Lovestories Box Set (Books 1-5)

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What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Timeless Pirouette (Time Flies Series Book 2)?

I wanted to write a series but didn’t know where to begin. I pondered this conundrum for two years and brainstormed with awesome authors I know. They say ‘write what you know’. I listened. I was born with a caul and had psychic experiences growing up but consciously blocked any gift. I recently read everything by Brian Weiss and was intrigued with his findings about past life regressions. I belong to a wonderful sister circle and I've learned to meditate. It’s opened my mind to the unconventional and the idea of having a soulmate over and over again and choosing your life path before you’re born. So, my long-suppressed psychic inclinations were re-awoken. I wondered how to tell a story that was fresh so I leaned into my years as an international air hostess for South African Airways in the 80’s. The group of women in this book are modeled on my first real American friends I’ve loved for 25 years. And I was a ballet student until I was 43, so I am honestly drawing from all my experiences.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of Timeless Pirouette (Time Flies Series Book 2), what would they be?

Lucky – "Witchy"

Woman Brie – "You Are Beautiful"

Chantelle – "Shine Bright Like a Diamond"

Moxie – "Round and Around She Goes"

BJ – "Tell it Like it is"

What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

I read everything. From Anne Lamott to Ken Follet, to Og Mandino, to Kahil Gibran. I don’t like light books. I crave books that make me think. I love the cadence of ‘All the light I Cannot See’ and ‘The River I Remember’.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

Emily Colin’s ‘The Memory Thief’; The new One by Liane Moriarty; A Jodi Picoult and ‘The Midnight Library’.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

I was immersed in Polina and Mikhail’s unlikely attraction. Their first look felt like a slap of recognition – I think one of my cheeks turned red! I tried to convey what meeting your soulmate again in this life would feel like. I hope readers will let me know if I succeeded.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

I am dull. I sit with fingers on keys: music on or off; light on or off; coffee strong or water cold; dogs around (that’s the only essential element) and wait for my protagonist to tell me what to say – what to feel – what to dread – what to want. Writing to me is the ultimate form of escape.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

My nectar is the unexpected. And there can’t be light without the dark. I look for the dark then my characters make me find the light. Or vice versa. It’s kind of an Argentinean tango in a smokey nightclub that leads to a triple pirouette on the stage of the Bolshoi.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

That where there is hope there is love. That we can all become un-broken if we allow it.

 

Jill Wallace is the author of the new book Timeless Pirouette (Time Flies Series Book 2)

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What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write The Godless Void?

During my MA degree, we had a whole module on censorship and cancellation culture, and it made me go back to writers like Robert E. Howard and Raymond Chandler and Ian Fleming, even a little Charles Bukowski and William Burroughs. I knew I was going to start a fantasy piece, I wanted something of an antihero for the protagonist, and I definitely wanted the hardboiled element to play with. I was trying to prove a point of some kind, really. There’s a line of dialogue near the start, following a murder in a tavern, and my class professor was determined to have me remove it because he said it was misogynistic. I explained the character is misogynistic, which is why he says it. The professor said I should remove it, because every publisher would tell me to remove it, because any female reader would read that line and decide I was misogynistic and hate me for it. I pointed out it’s a character, not me. I pointed out when people read American Psycho, they never assumed Bret Easton Ellis had walked around his home with a severed head on his member. We had quite a long discussion on that particular line, and I explained the work was inspired by Chandler/Howard etc, and the professor said times had changed and you can’t use such language these days. I told him the reader should know the difference between a character’s views and the author’s, and that Chandler etc still sell. He didn’t stop telling me to remove it until I said it was sexist of him to think that women are such delicate, dainty creatures they will be troubled by such a line in a work of fiction. From what was only supposed to be a couple of chapters, it just kept a momentum of its own. A classmate had already had a fantasy novella published, and we kept discussing it so much that it made sense we work on it together.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of The Godless Void, what would they be?

The title of the book is taken from a band called …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. I’d read they were splitting, and I have followed them for a good twenty years, so I was a little sad and decided to use the title from what could be their final album. I suppose the main character should have “Into The Godless Void” for that alone. Maybe “You’re Gonna Come Around” by Matt Barton with Dave Owen and The Careers for his younger days.

What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

I don’t have any particular favourite. I have favourite writers, and they all have a strong focus on character and plot development in common. I think if a writer says, for example, “I’m going to write nothing but Horror”, they really aren’t going to do themselves any favours if they read nothing but Horror. You’re also going to risk writing yourself into a tight corner if you go along either of those lines.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

The Talented Mr. Ripley (Patricia Highsmith) has been in the pile longer than anything ever has been before, due to various distractions. The Master and Margarita (Mikhail Bulgakov). The Atrocity Exhibition (JG Ballard). The Book of Koli (M.R. Carey). You Love Me (Caroline Kepnes). Devil's Day (Andrew Michael Hurley). They’re the ones that come to mind, anyway.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

There are a couple of parts I particularly like because they lean heavily into the noir element, but any scene having Raen get out a predicament was fun to write.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

There’s a hat I like to wear, because it’s comfortable. I occasionally put a ring on my finger, so I have something to fiddle with when I’m looking over what I have written.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

Fire Walk With Me.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

That they liked it and remembered to rate it. Or they disliked it and rated it. Either way, it would be appreciated- especially if they told people they know about it.

 

Kim Teilio is the author of the new book The Godless Void

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What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Love Me: A Memoir of Online Dating, Mental Illness and Redemption?

It takes place in the space of one year – the worst year of my life. It’s about raw vulnerability, stumbling resilience and rising out of the ashes to a new, hope filled future.

What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

Fiction and non-fiction.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes, The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across The World by Adrienne Mayor.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

The scene where I am serving dinner to Chris, and open the front door to four police officers holding their guns, all while I’m holding a plate of lasagna.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

Not really, just my laptop and a head full of ideas.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

Be kind.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

That I survived the darkest days of my life and found real joy, and so can they.

 

Oshun Reed is the author of the new book Love Me: A Memoir of Online Dating, Mental Illness and Redemption

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