Interview with @nicojaye #Interview #Giveaway

I want to give a big Thank You to Nico for taking the time to stop by RGR and answer a few questions.  Lets give a big RGR Welcome to Nico.

1. Why do you write m/m?

Wow, such a simple question, but it’s tough, too! Why do we ever do anything we enjoy? For one thing, I like it. A lot! Both reading and writing m/m is awesome. 🙂 For another, and specifically m/m, I’d always enjoyed the hero’s POV in the romance novels I grew up reading, so having the chance to explore two heroes and their different emotional journeys to the same destination of HEA made m/m especially attractive.

2. What is the hardest part about writing your books?

Probably the self doubt that arises inevitably (for me, anyway) as part of the creative process. There’s always a point where I stop and think the story won’t appeal to anyone, so thoughts about what-the-heck-are-you-doing-just-scrap-the-entire-thing unfortunately make an appearance. >__< Thankfully, with a few completed stories under my belt at this point, I’m able to recognize those feelings as normal for me, so I do my best to push past them.

3. Do your characters ever take over and take the book somewhere you didn’t plan?

Usually no because I’m a pretty dedicated plotter, but in recent stories, yes! One of my biggest learning curves recently is I’ve learned to be flexible.

4. What makes you want to write?

I love HEAs! And when characters come to mind and don’t show any plans to go away, I want to give them HEAs, too.

5. What type of research do you do for your books?

Whatever I think the book needs! I tend to set my books in locations in which I’ve lived or at least visited extensively, so I like to think the stories give a good sense of the place. I’ve been fortunate enough to have lived in four awesome cities (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City), so I have a lot to choose from! Beyond setting, though, I’ll research anything I think would help me understand the characters and how the story unfolds.

For my contemporary stories, I’ve written a few about sports, so for my diving story in the Olympic anthology Going for Gold, I learned a LOT about diving. And, um, watched a lot of videos of dudes in Speedos, too. 😉 My freebie Punch-Drunk Love sent me on an internet binge of multiple kickboxing regulatory bodies (did you know there are more than one??).  I’ve looked at everything from sports schedules to astrological signs to calculating geographical distances and driving times.

In He’s Just Knot That Into You, I had real estate listings similar to the houses featured in the story, plus the characters’ Chinese zodiac signs, among many other things. The research part is really fun for me because I can see the story become more and more real and fully formed as those details fall into place.

6. If you had to, would you change anything about your first book?

Absolutely! My first book, the free story Man-to-Man Coverage for the Goodreads M/M Romance Group’s annual writing event, was the first thing I’d ever written to completion, and it definitely shows. I really love the characters, but I’d also love to give it a good edit for writing craft things I can recognize now.

7. How do you celebrate a new book?

Is it weird if I say I don’t? I’m super excited and happy, but I don’t go out of my way to do anything special. I’ll celebrate a new contract by telling my awesome beta buddy, and we’ll squee a little together by email or text. 🙂

8. How much time does it take to get a book published, from outline to release date?

Oooh, tough question! It really depends, honestly. For A Time for Loving, which is a short m/m historical story I self-published, it was a very quick process. Had the idea, wrote it in a week or so, tinkered with it, sent it around to friends for their opinions, edited it, had a cover made (by badass cover designer Natasha Snow!!)… All in all, it took about four months. For HJKTIY, which is a longer novella, it took almost a year because I had the idea around March or April of last year, then wrote it at a pace that’s really fast for me. Between getting it beta read, submitting, waiting, editing, working with the cover artist, and fitting it into Dreamspinner Press’s release schedule, though, it took a year for this book baby to see the public! 🙂 I’m very excited for everyone to meet Tanner and Jon.  Feels like they’ve been waiting to say hello for a while, hahaha.

9. What would you tell other aspiring authors?

In general, read a lot! There are so many great books and writers out there, and it’s so inspiring to see such creativity–not to mention it’s something to aspire to yourself! As for writing, take risks and have fun with it. 🙂

Sale Links: Dreamspinner ♥ Amazon

Nico Jaye is a fan of all things HEA and has dragged her romance collection along for her moves from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Chicago to New York and back. She thinks reading is awesome and loves that she can hang out night after night with crinoline-wearing debutantes, brawny firemen in suspenders, and werewolf shifters with Scottish brogues. Her favorite stories are those that marry smut and fluff (a.k.a. smuff) into a gooey ball of HEA and fuzzies.

An overall feline enthusiast, Nico secretly (or not so secretly?) adores Hello Kitty, cat GIFs, spontaneous traveling, pretending to be crafty, emoticons, hot menfolk, and parenthetical statements (not necessarily in that order). After starting as the pitcher for Team Awesome (literally) and visiting places like South Africa, Oman, and Fiji, Nico discovered that letting the boys in her head tell her where they want to go could actually be the most exciting journey of all.

If you’d like to read more by Nico Jaye, then please feel free to check out her website for online freebies and additional info about other publications. Happy reading!

Website ♥ Facebook Author Page ♥ Facebook Profile ♥ Twitter ♥ Goodreads ♥ Tumblr (NSFW)
Email: nicojaye@gmail.com

Nico is offering a copy from her backlist, just leave a comment below for your chance to win.  Please leave your email as well.  We will pick a random comment on Friday April 3rd.  Must be 18 to enter.