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1. Who are you (i.e. brief bio)?
Well, I’ve always had a hard time with my bio, but what I usually tell people is: Ellis Carrington is a woman who loves men who love men, and has been ever since her rebellious teen years when she jacked a copy of The New Joy of Gay Sex from her local public library and said to herself, "Now THAT is hawt!" She’s a wild child who hates to color in the lines, but who lives and loves passionately. Ellis can be found in and around the Washington D.C. area, swilling Starbucks with her real or imaginary buddies. Her greatest loves are good friends, good music, and of course reading M/M romance.
2. What are some of your publications or works in progress?
Amor Prohibido, about a broken man who goes on vacation to Mexico and falls in love with his Mayan spirit guide, will be released by Amber Quill on September 4th! I’ve also released a football-themed M/M/M contemporary called After Party in the Ravenous Romance Anthology Touchdowns. Coming up, I have another contemporary short with Dreamspinner Press called Feeling Neighborly due out in January, and a vampire novella called Forever Valentine that is scheduled to release on 2/12, just in time for Valentine’s Day!
3. Is there one of which you are most proud? Why?
At the moment it’s Amor Prohibido that I’m most proud of! It was a difficult story to write, about a man finding his strength and moving on after a same-sex abusive relationship. It’s one of those subjects that still holds some stigma I think, and I drew on some of my own abuse history to try to lend realism to the story. Also, there’s a lot of mythology about the Mayan underworld and a lot of research went into that.
4. You write gay romance. What attracted you to the genre?
Aside from the fact that men are hot, and men together are even hotter? I think there is a lot of freedom in the genre that doesn’t exist in mainstream romance, and it has attracted some incredibly talented writers. I actually was not much of a romance reader in general, and one day I stumbled across Marie Sexton’s Promises—immediately, I was hooked.
5. One of my eye-opening moments about gay romance is how many straight women write it. Do you have an opinion--not on whether people should write gay romance if they so choose--, but on the authenticity of authors not being gay and trying to capture gayness and gay romance authentically?
I think that everyone experiences sex and relationship dynamics differently, and absolutely as a women there are certain things I will only ever know in theory no matter how much research I do (or how much porn I watch!). Without argument, there is a nuance to M/M romances written by actual gay men. I’ve been lucky to find a critique buddy who is not just a phenomenal editor but also an actual card-carrying gay man, and I try never to let anything go out the door without him vetting it first. So my intention, always, is to be as authentic as I am able. That said, I think it has to remain in peoples’ minds that we’re reading fiction and everyone’s mileage varies. Even if I were to write about sex between a man and a woman (or between two women) my experiences might not be the same as another woman’s. I write a lot of paranormal romances, too—vampires, shifters, and Mayan spirit guides. I’ve never been one of those, either. I do my best to make the experience seem real to the reader.
6. Have you had to deal with any bias from other writers wanting to pigeonhole you as a romance writer? If so, how did/do you cope/respond?
I’m happy to say I haven’t really experienced that!
7.If we were to observe you in the act of writing, what would we see?
Hmm. I would say that mostly I just type, but come to think of it I usually listen to music with my headphones, so there’s also some foot tapping and head-bopping going on. I don’t think I ever really was aware that I did it until one day at Starbucks the guy sitting next to me shot a dirty look and then got up to move. I guess I was tapping and bopping a little too enthusiastically! The editing phase is where it gets interesting. I stare off into space a lot, and sometimes I get caught staring at other people accidentally.
8. When you get writer’s block, how do you respond?
I walk backwards! It sounds nutty, but it totally works. I read somewhere that if you do it while you’re thinking about a problem, it changes the way your brain processes it. Barring that I take a break and move to something unrelated for a bit. I do sometimes just force myself to work through it, though. Every morning (unless I’m ill or my kids are) I’m up before the sunrise and I force myself to get a certain number of words down whether I feel like I’ve got anything brilliant coming out or I feel like it’s all crap, because you cannot edit a blank page. Sometimes you just need to get yourself over the hump.
9. From the inception of writing to publishable work, typically how long do you spend?
I’m afraid I don’t have a good answer for that. I’ve got small kids and my primary day job is caring for them, so I am far less prolific than many writers are able to be and I’m often at their mercy.
10. Is there any advice you would like to share with other authors wanting to join the ranks of writing gay romance?
The best advice I was ever given was to join the Romance Writers of America. They have many local subchapters, and even a Rainbow Writers subchapter for those of us who write LGBT. Those subchapters all offer a variety of workshops on all things writing-related. You don’t have to belong to the subchapter to take them, either. I have gained so much in terms of honing my writing and also gained valuable relationships with other writers by taking these workshops! Writing can be a solitary activity and friendships with other writers are critical to one’s sanity, I think. In lieu of the RWA, savvyauthors.com is also a great online writers’ community and is a bit cheaper to belong to. They also offer lots of great and inexpensive workshops on craft, promo, etc.
Promo for Amor Prohibido on sale September 4th:
Jacob Freehan has no job, no man, and no motivation. In pain both from ending a long-term abusive relationship and a severe back injury, he escapes to the sunny seaside town of Puerto Morelos for a little yoga, a little R&R, and possibly a place to quietly end his own life.
Pakal is a centuries-old immortal Mayan spirit guide who has been charged with getting Jacob on the path toward healing. Romantic involvement with a spirit charge is strictly forbidden, and it has never been a problem...until now. Pakal sees something special in Jacob, but failure to keep a rapidly-growing attraction at bay could result in Jacob losing his life and Pakal being condemned to Xibalba—the Underworld—forever.
Contact Ellis Carrington:
EllisCarrington.com
Buy Amor Prohibido here
Twitter: @EroticaByEllis
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