A Conversation with Andrew Grey and Sarah Black
S: Andrew, you mostly write m/m contemporary romance. But I notice the appearance of a satyr now and then. Do you like to experiment with other genres? Do you have plans to delve into historical or Sci-Fi? And what’s with the satyrs?
A: At this time, I don’t have any plans to delve into either historical or Sci-fi. It’s funny because I got the idea for the satyrs from a nineteenth century French bronze that’s in my dining room. I got the idea to tell his story and the result was Children of Bacchus. I went on to write two additional satyr novels and a number of short stories. They were fun and I really enjoyed writing them, but I don’t see myself writing additional fantasy pieces. I sort of found a home writing the Contemporary m/m romance and I find that the world around me provides so much inspiration, that I don’t need to delve into fantasy. Although I do have a number of readers who have repeatedly asked me for another satyr story. But right now, they just aren’t talking to me.
A: Sarah, how do you decide what to write? I’ve read a number of your stories including Idaho Pride and Fearless, along with some of your mysteries, among others. I loved them and found them rich and spellbinding. What draws you to the characters and stories you write?
S: Like you, I think the world around me gives me a great deal of inspiration. There are stories everywhere. I am particularly drawn to issues of social justice- I blame reading The Grapes of Wrath when I was sixteen, and now I seem to be particularly sensitive to the many cases of injustice I see every day. Maybe writing fiction isn’t the most effective way of holding up a mirror, and a light, so that we can see clearly what is happening in the world, but it seems to be my way.
But when I think up stories, I don’t think of any particular issue that has been bugging me. I dream up a couple of characters, and they start talking to each other, and pretty soon if I don’t start writing they’ll be driving me crazy!
S: Tell me about your Love Means…series. How has it been to write a series instead of single titles? I notice the characters are doing a therapeutic riding program. What’s that about?
A: The Love Means… stories didn’t start out as a series. I wrote Love Means… No Shame and then went from there, one story at a time, and they were inspired by different things. After no Shame, I wrote Love Means… Courage, to tell the fathers’ story. When I wrote the third story, Love Means… No Boundaries, I introduced Robbie, a blind violinist. The therapy riding program came of that story because Robbie’s blind. I then used the therapy riding program in Love Means… Freedom, because I introduced Stone, who was recovering from an accident and relearning to walk. Writing the series has been fascinating because each novel introduces new characters while at the same time, allowing a glimpse into the lives of old friends. I think this works for me as well as the readers. However, in order to be fair to the readers, each story stands on its own and can be read separately.
A: How about you? The stories I’ve read have been single characters and I know there are a few sequels. How do you decide to write a sequel or follow up to one of your stories?
S: Fearless and Lawless, both at Liquid Silver, are about the same characters, Colton and Diego. Those boys would not let me be! They both seemed so complex, with so many things between them that would lead to conflict. I love that part of the country, too. I spent a month camping down in Ajo, and I fell in love with the Sonoran desert. Now that area is turning into an armed camp. My story Border Roads, which is my favorite story, (I know we shouldn’t have favorites) is set down in Ajo as well. The setting is really important to me- not sure why.
S: What are some of your favorite settings? And which of your stories is your favorite?
A: I want to take a minute before I answer this question to tell you that I loved Colton and Diego. Lawless is a great story. And I understand about settings becoming important, some places just speak to you.
The answer to both questions is Love Means… No Shame. It’s my favorite story and contains my favorite setting. I wrote the entire story in nineteen days and its set on a farm that I modeled on the one around the corner from where I grew up. That farm is the first place I ever rode a horse. Whenever I want some peace, that’s where I go for a while. I think that’s why I’ve written five stories that take place there.
S: Another craft question- what’s your favorite element of craft? Plotting? Voice? Do you enjoy the actual writing process?
A: I love the actual writing process. My favorite element is the characters. Each story starts there and then I weave the plot and conflict around them. Usually by the time I have the characters in my mind, they start telling me their story. It doesn’t always happen, but when it does, it’s golden. I work in Information Technology, so the writing provides a creative outlet that I don’t get otherwise. What’s your favorite part of the writing process?
S: I usually start with characters as well, and if I can get into their heads a bit, I can get at the internal conflict. That’s what I really love, to have the conflict come out of a human heart. Not as exciting as guns blazing, but my characters really come alive to me then. I really enjoy writing dialogue, and learning each character’s voice. I’ve written a character lately who uses the expression bud- short for buddy- and I’ve found myself saying it to my patients as well!
S: What are you reading? Any books make a real impact on you when you were young?
A: I’m currently reading Finding Zach by Rowan Speedwell, but I read an amazing amount. Mostly, right now, I’m reading m/m romance, but I also love Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt stories. I got a Kindle about eight months ago and there are already 233 titles on it and I’ve read them all. I can’t really say where one particular book had an impact on me. Even then, I tended to read almost anything I could get my hands on, everything from Tolkien to Dickens and everything in between. For years, I read classic literature and then switched to adventure stories. Someday, I’ll write a romantic high adventure, but a good idea hasn’t come to me yet.
A: Sarah, what are you currently reading and is there a book that made you decide you wanted to write?
S: I think I’m one of those folks who will be found dead in my house, smothered by an avalanche of books! I’ll be an old lady, too stiff to crawl out from under the pile! The last couple of weeks I’ve read Guernica, by Dave Boling- Boise, where I live, is a big cultural center for the Basques in America- and Robert Olmstead’s Far Bright Star, which I adored, and Colum McCann’s Let the Great World Spin, which I adored also. And all three of the Steig Larsson books, which I loved. My son has autism, and I could tell Lisbeth Salander was autistic. I keep hoping my son will develop some extraordinary gift, like she has- so far his main skills seem to be eating ice cream and driving his mother crazy!
S: I notice you have ebooks, paperbacks, and audiobooks out. Any of these particular favorites? Do you market them differently?
A: If I had to say a favorite, it would be print. There’s just something gratifying for an author to be able to hold a printed copy of their work. I don’t tend to market them differently, although I do find the print reader the hardest to reach. The e-book and audio book reader are the easiest to reach because of the technological medium. The print reader is a little more difficult to reach. It’s taken some time, but I’ve been able to develop a basic marketing plan that includes cover ads, blog entries, as well as the use of Facebook , Twitter, and Goodreads.
A: Some authors hate the marketing that has to be done to make a story commercially successful. What kind of marketing do you do and do you like it?
S: I’m afraid I’m one of those nitwits who hates marketing! If I find someone who likes my stories, I’m inclined to fall gratefully to my knees, hug their legs, offer to give them free books forever. My secret marketing plan is to write a better book. I try to make every book better in some way. I don’t think I always succeed, but that’s where I tend to spend my energy.
S: I’m sure the writers out there want to know- are you planning to write full time? How are you so productive, and still work full-time? If you’re like me, I abandon all laundry and don’t do dishes until we run out of clean forks.
A: At this time, I have no plans to write full-time. I love my day job and work with terrific people. I also love to write. I tend to be very goal oriented, (my partners says I’m obsessed) so I set daily, weekly, and monthly goals for my writing projects and I meet them. I’m also a member of Romance Writers of America and my local chapter is incredibly wonderful, supportive, and a great source for material and ideas. Speaking of supportive, I couldn’t write if it weren’t for my partner of almost 16 years. He does the things I can’t stand, freeing up my time so I can write. I also have to say that he’s the inspiration for many of my heroes, not so much physically, but definitely in spirit.
A: Do you write full time? Looking at your body of work, I see you’re quite productive as well? Besides putting off the dishes and laundry, how do you stay on track?
S: I’m a Family Nurse Practitioner. I took two years off writing m/m romance to concentrate on flash fiction, which is my little secret obsession, but I really missed romance, so I started back up again late last year. I always had this idea I would write when I got old. It has just recently occurred to me that the time has come, and I now meet that criteria! I plan to write full time and work part time- just to keep my hand in.
S: This is a more esoteric question, but something I have been thinking about- what do you think the role of fiction in society is? Entertainment? Social Justice? Art? Why is storytelling so important to people?
A: My answer is all of the above. The best stories are the ones that entertain while teaching us something at the same time. I don’t mean preaching at us, but a message woven into a great story is very powerful. Dickens wrote wonderful stories, long but wonderful, and through those great stories, he helped change society by highlighting its flaws. Stories can be very powerful and I think storytelling is important because we have a very limited life span and can’t do everything or go everywhere. Stories let us go to places we aren’t able to visit from the safety and comfort of our own sofa. Written stories, as opposed to cinematic stories, allow us to add ourselves into the story. How many times have we said that the movie just wasn’t as good as the book? I think that’s because with the book, we’re there with the characters and with most other medium, we’re on the outside looking in.
A: That was a great question, probably one of the best I’ve been asked and I’d like to throw that one back to you and get your own answer.
S: Though I have been thinking of this a lot, I can’t say I’ve come to any conclusions. I really like to read Milkweed Press books, for instance, but I get slightly uncomfortable at the idea of a fiction of social justice. Teetering on the brink of propaganda. And I think genre fiction that is written to the lowest common denominator, meant to be ‘pure entertainment’ is insulting to readers- they deserve our best, every word, every time. My latest theory is we use fiction to help us develop empathy, and as we develop empathy, we become more human. Happier, too.
A: What’s the greatest compliment a reader has paid you?
S: Every compliment seems great to me, and the greatest of these is when people buy my stories. There is something so lovely about my floating the stories out there, and having people read them. I feel like the story isn’t complete until it goes into someone else’s head and is filtered through their experience- then it’s finished. How about you?
A: I received a note from a reader saying that he read my stories to his infirmed partner because he could no longer see. The last story he read to him was Love Means… No Shame. His note actually made me cry.
S: That’s beautiful.
S: So what do you have coming out in the next few months?
A: I have A Shared Range, my first western story, coming out in September and A Taste of Love set for release in November. I’ve also completed the third story in the gym series. Core Training has been submitted to Dreamspinner Press for their consideration. In addition, I have drafted the fifth Love Means… story. Hopefully, Love Means… No Fear will be ready for submission by the end of August. Sarah, how about you? What great things are on the horizon?
S: A Western, cool! I’m tearing my hair out over the latest novella- Battlegrounds. Dreamspinner is looking at it, but now I think it’s too thin, the ending’s wrong, the climax is contrived, etc. I want to rewrite it at once. Need I say this always happens to me? I have a couple of shorties coming from Changeling- Pelota! A Basque-Inuit Love Story is coming in September, (me trying to be funny again), and Mutts, a Christmas story that will be part of the Sugarplum series.
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/