Guest Author Post: R.A. Vaughn on Why She Writes M/M Romance *Book Giveaway*

KB: I met R.A. at the Liberty States Fiction Writers' Conference back in March. R.A. is one of the founding members of the conference and writes M/M romance. I asked R.A. to stop by and talk about why she writes M/M romance and about her release, The Demon He Knows.

Thank you to Katie for inviting me to guest blog today. Who am I? Well, I answer to two names, R.A. Vaughn and Rayna Vause. As Rayna I write paranormal romance, and as R.A. I write M/M paranormal romance. If I’m not writing I’m getting caught up in a video game, planning my next trip to Disney World, or attending karate class. I’ve worked my way up to a green belt. You can find me at my website www.ravaughn.net, on twitter @Rayna_Vause or on Facebook.

So now that you know about about who I am, let’s get to the fun stuff. Let’s talk about LGBT romance. Who out there loves LGBT romance? I know I do. I’m especially partial to M/M, although I do enjoy F/F and multi-partner stories where everyone plays together as I like to say. For me, though, there is something so sexy about two (or more) strong men making themselves vulnerable to each other, bucking the norm, and grabbing their happiness. That’s why I submerged myself in reading it and eventually started writing it. I still remember the first one I read. It was a book called Easy by Ally Blue. I remember reading the book blurb and being really intrigued, but hesitant. I wasn’t really sure I’d like it. I mean I’m not a gay man. Would I be able to connect to the characters? Would it be able to hold my attention? But I’m really open to going on whatever ride an author wants to take me on, so I gave it a shot. Boy, am I glad I did. It opened the door to a trove of fabulous books by amazingly talented authors, full of angst and the pursuit of love.

What made me sit down and write one? In large part it was to see if I could. I love to learn, hence my three and a half (I’m a few credits shy of completing a 4th degree) college degrees. So writing an M/M romance was an educational exercise for me. I wasn’t sure if I could create realistic gay men, and I really didn’t want to fall into stereotypes. I wanted to write a story about two guys who happen to be romantically interested in other guys. Something I’m always saying is you don’t know until you try, so that’s what I did. I learned something interesting while I was writing. I found it easier to connect with my male characters then with my female characters. I wish I could explain why. I think it’s just how my brain is hardwired. At any rate, three quarters of the way through writing that book, I saw a call for angel and demon stories go out and the ideas started sparking. You see this was really up my alley because not only could I write M/M, but I could also indulge my other love, paranormal romance. I’m a huge paranormal romance fan. I’ve always been attracted to paranormal stories. When I was a kid I readi books like Witches by Roald Dahl, The A Wrinkle in Time series by Madeline L’Engel, and The Bunnicula series by James Howe. So, when I started writing, it was natural for me to create these types of stories. I love the freedom of writing paranormal because the only thing that limits you is your own imagination, but I digress.

I scrambled to finish the book I was working on, sat it on my ‘I’ll-edit-this-later-’ shelf, and jumped into the new story. I procrastinated for about three weeks tweaking the plot until I was happy with it. Once I settled into the story I charged ahead full steam, hence The Demon He Knows was born. Unfortunately, the story did not get acquired for the anthology. Those are the breaks in publishing, but just because one house didn’t want it didn’t mean another wouldn’t be interested. My novella eventually found a home with Lyrical Press.

So now comes the shameless self promotion part of this post. Let me tell you a little bit about The Demon He Knows.

He’ll do anything to protect the man he loves…even sacrifice himself.

Fifty years ago, Zavier became a Collections Demon in order to save his lover’s life. He hates his job, but once you make a deal with Corporate South, there’s no backing out. Answering a routine summons, he never expects to come face to face with his reincarnated lover.

Ryan Monroe is a desperate man searching for a way to save his dying sister. His attempt at summoning a soul collection demon to exchange his soul for his sister’s life finds him face to face with Zavier.

For the first time in years, Zavier’s life has purpose. Despite his employer’s disapproval, Zavier intends to rebuild his relationship with Ryan. Corporate South has other plans.

Can Zavier and Ryan find a way to break free of Corporate South and beat death?

Warning, this book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Male/male sexual practices.

The Demon He Knows (available now from Lyrical Press) was really a fun story for me to write and I am currently working on the next book in the series. If you enjoy M/M romance, I hope you’ll consider checking it out.

So now that I’ve told you a bit about me and my writing I want to hear from you. If you’re a fan of LGBT romance, why? What appeals to you about this genre? What are some of your favorite books? (I’m always looking to add to my TBR pile. LOL!) If you have any additional questions for me, I’m happy to answer!

I’ve got a free copy of my novella for one lucky commenter by Monday, 5/2.

Thanks for stopping in today and thank you again Katie!