Welcome to my coffee and cake time with M/M Authors.
Get to know a little bit more about your fave Authors as we chat over a coffee.
Today I have the company of the Kayleigh Sky.
Find out what motivates her, how she got into the M/M genre and her plans for the future.
If you enjoy these posts please share them and let me know. Big Hugs B.J.
Hey, I have been joined for a coffee and cake by Kayleigh Sky, the Author of the several books including No Luck & Backbone. She has agreed to come along and chat with me to give us a little insight into her world.
So, whilst I sort the coffee Kayleigh, Tell us a little bit about your background and how you came to write M/M fiction?
Hm… Well, it’s a bit of a long story. I’ll try to make it short. I always wrote M/M fiction, though it wasn’t called that when I was a kid. At the time, I was trying to write conventional mainstream stories. When I was nine I wrote about a boy and his horse, but I knew that his friend was actually his love interest. When I was a teenager, I wrote a ghost story where the boy fell in love with the boy ghost, and then I tried to write a romance, but gave up when my heroine’s love interest fell for her brother.
I read Mary Renault, Patricia Nell Warren, and Gordon Merrick etc. and ignored the restlessness and discontent I felt. I had no idea that when I wrote, I was trying to write the life I wanted to live. I’m non-binary but had no words to describe it; I just felt as though something was missing. And so, I tried to write the stories I thought I was supposed to write. And life came along and time passed.
When I returned to writing years later, literary fiction came closest to allowing me the freedom to explore. In 2014, I self-published a lit fic book under a pen name. This book is what led me to M/M romance. Two of the characters—one bisexual and the other gay—get together and play a major part in the story. I wanted to know if anybody else was writing anything similar, so I got on Amazon and—surprise!—I found M/M romance. Well, that was it for me. I never looked back.
Wow, a long history there but a least you found M/M, I always find it interesting to know how writers start out in this business. What would you say is your greatest success story so far?
Interacting—and I’m not being glib. It’s been a huge challenge for me to put myself out into the world and it’s helped to break the shell I’ve been in for a lot of years. So getting out there and taking the chance of getting shot down is definitely my greatest success. And every book I write is a miracle to me; I can’t figure out how that happens.
So true you never lose the nerves with every release. Now we all need a little help when we start out, I have met some fantastic Indie Authors who have given me good advice and helped keep me focused.
Who in the M/M community has help you on your journey?
Well, I stumbled along on my own for a long time because I could barely get past my depression and anxiety levels back then. I talk about this because it’s common and it needs to be a part of our everyday conversation, especially with creatives, because we’re so prone to mental health challenges. Anyway, praise to therapy, lol.
When it comes to naming names in my journey in the M/M community, I learned a tremendous amount from Jamie Rose, my editor at Pride Publishing. They published my first two books. I’ve picked up a lot of bits and pieces of information from all the authors on Facebook who have been so generous with what they know. Two books ago, I lucked into finding the best beta reader ever, Ashe Winters. She is fabulous, thorough, and I think we have similar sensibilities when it comes to story, so I always know my WIP is in good hands with her.
When I started designing my own book covers (sadly, I’m not very good at it), Isobel Starling gave me a bunch of gradient layers to use and Garrett Leigh gave me a template. Later on, when I was coming up against a particular thorny problem, Anna Tif Sikorska spent an amazing amount of her time working with me and giving advice and links to sites where I could find free fonts and other things. She really went above and beyond. I know there are other people I’m not mentioning that I should.
I’m seriously not kidding when I say that every day I get something of value from other authors in our community. It’s a lot better than stumbling around on your own, lemme tell ya.
Fantastic, there are so many helpful people in this community.
Do you still have a day job or are you a full time Author?
I’m a full time author by default. I retired early from my last job—government (Fire EMS), so I was able to go after just ten years—but my pension can’t support me, so I’m looking to supplement that, not just with royalties but with editing too. I just completed a certificate in copyediting from UC San Diego Extension and started a business called Story Smitten. I also do formatting. Of course, you can’t swing a cat (don’t do this!) in the M/M community without hitting an editor or book cover designer, so we’ll see how far this goes. Most likely, I’ll have to work somewhere else, at least part time, but right now I’m enjoying the full time author life. It’s allowed me to do so much I’d never have time for otherwise, so I’ll be forever grateful for this experience.
Let's hope you can stay fulltime and continue sharing your wonderful stories.
Whats is your favourite word?
I don’t have a favourite word (Oh my God, I’m being autocorrected to British English. I think I’m about to lose my ‘Murican card.) But I digress… I like the word “digress”, lol. I love words.
I love to read the dictionary and learn about the evolution of our language, but for this question, I’m going to say I love words that end in –some. Fulsome. Winsome. Lissome. Also, pulchritude. I just thought of that one. Words that end in –tude. Plentitude. Fortitude. I could go on, but I’ll stop now
What sound or noise do you love ?
Birdsong
Ok, here's one I'm not sure I should ask but I'm going to anyway on a scale of one to ten, how weird are you?
Lol! Let’s just say there’s a room in my house I only enter under duress.
I hope it doesn't have padded walls lol.
The M/M community has its up’s and down’s. But what are some specific things you would advise newbies to watch out for in the community?
Ego. Their own and that of others. It’s okay if other authors sell more books than you. It’s okay if they have more fans and followers and Facebook friends than you. It’s okay if they get the orange sticker and you don’t. Praise them and support them. They have dreams too. They compare themselves to others and find themselves wanting too. Make their day. Be happy for them.
At the same time, some people are jackasses. There’s just no getting around it. Let it fall off you. Don’t carry their burdens of insecurity and malice. Do your best work every day. Be proud of your efforts more than your successes. Write because it’s what you love doing. Don’t lose that love, because at the end of the day, if you do, it’s just a job, and there are a lot of jobs out there that pay more and hurt less.
And for the love of God, STAY OFF GOODREADS!
Thats great advice, I have to agree if your new to writing stay away from goodreads at least until you feel confident enough to deal with some negativety. Let me throw in a couple more quick fire questions for you.
What is your favourite TV show ?
Well, it was the X Files, and then it was The Walking Dead, but now it’s nothing because I haven’t had cable in about three years, so I don’t watch TV anymore. I have a Roku, but it seems so cumbersome to use. (OMG, another –some word. I tell ya, they’re beautiful.)
I'm not brave enough to watch anything scary lol.
What was the last book you read?
The Crossing, by Michael Connelly
I do like a good thriller.
I have to say meeting you today has been good and you are doing very well so far, What is coming up for you on the horizon?
My first series (I hope! Fingers crossed). It’s a romance, of course, but also a dystopian vampire murder mystery. I have three books planned. I’m really hoping to get this out by the end of October, but it might not be until November. No fine wine before it’s time, they say… or something to that effect.
That will keep you busy, lastly before we say goodbye, How do our visitors get in touch with you?
KAYLEIGH SKY’S STORY NEWS
http://eepurl.com/cmLIpP
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
http://www.kayleighsky.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/kayleighsky/766385570110391
http://www.twitter.com/skyboundlove
http://www.pinterest.com/kayleighsky/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1770182486372453/ Kayleigh’s Clubhouse
http://instagram.com/kayleigh.sky.writer
KAYLEIGH’S BIO
Kayleigh Sky is an m/m romance writer of complex stories of love and redemption that always end in happily ever after. Love matters, and everyone counts.
Peace.
Thanks for joining me and Kayleigh for Coffee & Cake. If you have enjoyed our chat join me soon when I meet up with Harper Jewel very soon..
Books from Kayleigh Sky
No Luck - Kayleigh Sky
Blurb:
Careful what you wish for..
Close to landing a role in a sitcom he hopes will show his father he isn’t a failure, Vane Riley loses everything when his boyfriend dumps him and his father dies. With nowhere to turn, he heads home to regroup and help his sister, Rose, keep the family diner afloat. Trying to ease his grief with a guy in a bar seems like a good idea until the guy can’t get rid of him fast enough. The last thing Vane expects is for his one-night stand to appear at his dad’s funeral with a quirky tarot reader on his arm and a romantic history with Rose.
Doug Moore is a widower who isn’t ready to move on, but he can’t seem to get the clumsy guy he met the night before out of his thoughts. After helping Vane get back into the car he somehow locked himself out of, Doug figured he’d never see him again and can’t believe his lousy luck when Rose’s loser brother turns out to be the hookup he can’t stop thinking about. Doug is determined to keep his distance, but when Rose hires him to renovate the family home Vane is now living in, there’s not much chance of that happening.
Though Doug wants nothing more than to resist him, Vane ticks all his boxes. Clumsy, needy, sexy and… Oh yeah. Paranoid. Not for a minute does Doug believe somebody is out to hurt Vane despite the strange accidents that have befallen him since returning home, but Vane is sure somebody wants him dead.
Doug is solid and steady. Vane is emotional and imaginative. Nobody’s trying to kill him. Doug is sure of it….
At first.
Like the Blurb Amazon Buy Link
Click the Cover
Backbone - Kayleigh Sky
Blurb:
Struggling to survive in a deadly new world, Brey Jamieson soon discovers that the man who holds his heart might not be willing to set it free.
A universal vaccine eradicates all known viruses from the human population, but in the wake of this miracle, a deadly new virus suddenly surfaces. As the death toll rises, people riot in panic and civilization collapses.
Brey Jamieson, a convicted felon, is suddenly set loose in this violent new world. Desperate to reunite with his family, he sets out on a journey across the country but is captured by a brutal man who plans to sell him into slavery.
Hank Kresnak is a cop in the new world. It is his job to preserve the law. But when he sees Brey, his belief in everything he has built his new life on begins to crumble. Memories of a dark and terrible time reawaken. He was the cop who arrested Brey, and with one look into Brey’s eyes, he knew his life would never be the same. He was a married man with two daughters, but he couldn’t forget a man he barely even knew. Now his wife and daughters are gone, and he must struggle to save the man of his dreams from a nightmare fate.
Like the Blurb Amazon Buy Link
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Come back soon for more Authors who join me for Coffee, Cake and a Chat?
Thanks B.J.
