1 what inspired the idea of your story?

The story was inspired by a major writing funk I was in, the biggest writers' block of my life, and suddenly, I thought, why not write a comedy about a writer who is trying to get out of that funk, and somehow landed on Chad and his story.

2 what was something you struggled with for your story ?

The motivation to finish was something I struggled with a lot. Like I said, I was in a terrible phase of self-doubt, about writing and a whole host of personal problems... and the questions kept on plaguing me, 'Is this story good enough?', 'Am I good enough to even write this?'. So I stopped writing partway through the book and didn't pick it up again until after nearly two years of abandoning it.

3 what has been the overall response to your story from your readers?

Readers have really enjoyed a rom-com from a refreshing point of view that they've never read romances from, the male character. They have been loving the characters in this book, especially Jo and Terry, which is awesome.

4 what did you enjoy writing most of your story?

I really enjoyed the moments with Jo. She is fascinating and endearing as a character. I also enjoyed writing the kidnapping scenes between the MC and his tormentor.

5 is your story a stand alone novel or a piece of a series?

Technically, it's a standalone rom-com with a suspense twist. But a lot of readers wanted to get to know the love interest more by the end of the story. Since the whole thing is written predominantly from Chad's POV, the love interest, June, is a bit of an enigma, so by the end of it, Chad still hasn't figured all of her out yet. Due to request, what started out as a, 'Maybe I'll write a short story on June' as a joke, is now a small novella-in-progress called 'Dear Chad'.

6 what would you like your readers to take away from your story?

That love comes in all shapes and sizes and it's what makes our world so rich.

7 what's a piece of advice you would provide to another writer, when it comes to focusing on their story?

FINISH the first draft without censoring yourself, or worrying about how terrible it might be. You have to finish it first. Majority of the time stories are abandoned because the writer got caught up in the nightmare that is self-editing too early on. Editing should be something you think about after you type 'The End'.

8 does your main character share any similarities to yourself?

Yes, I feel like Chad is the male version of me sometimes, only he is successful in what he does and I'm still a struggling author trying to carve my space in this vast world of writing. His personality and especially his humor is very much like mine. We both don't take things too seriously.

9 what's something you believe would draw in new readers?

That this is a romance. They will get love, they will get angst, they will get funny moments, and characters that jump off the page. It's a wonderful ride, and I'm not just saying it cause I wrote it. I feel this is in some ways different to other romances out there, while still holds onto the tropes of romcom. Think Bridget Jone's diary. Only, Bridget as a Man!

10 do you have any future projects?

I'm always working on one story or another. For novels, I'm working on no-holds-barred women's fiction with a comedy called, Divined. You can read some of the chapters already up. Other than that, I have a couple of scripts I'm working on as well.