Author spotlight: AB Gayle

AB Gayle has published three e-books with Noble Romance Publishing, with the m/m novella Mardi Gras set in Sydney, as well as another m/m romance with Dreamspinner Press. When she’s not writing romance, AB is a professional freelance editor. AB lives in Sydney.

And now it is her turn under the spotlight …

Have you attended one of ARRA’s events before?

I heard about the 2009 event from US author Liz Maverick who attended along with Susan Grant. I had read quite a few of their sci-fi romances and was stoked at the thought of meeting them in person. Then I saw the rest of the line-up!

The official side was great but just being amongst like-minded souls for the weekend was worth attending. If you had a passion for m/m sci-fi romance, well there was someone to chat with about it.

What are you most looking forward to at ARRC2011?

I’m hoping it will be like the last one. That was a blast from start to finish.

The panels were great. Small enough for everyone to ask a question if they were so inspired and the authors were happy to share their knowledge and entertain as well.

But the networking outside the panels and talks was just as rewarding. I remember especially the Friday night pyjama party at the hotel where the conference was held. Those staying there even turned up in their jammies. Everyone was asked to name their favourite book and why.

I filled every corner of a scrap of paper with leads on new authors and their books.

While there were reps from some of the Aussie bookshops that import these romances, it’s been the advent of ebooks that allowed me to chase most of these titles up afterwards. Then in our goodies bag I received a free copy of Desperate Duchesses by Eloisa James, which led me to read all her books and those of Julia Quinn. I felt like a frog jumping from lily pad to lily pad as I explored all the suggestions.

What do you have coming up next?

This is linked to the ARRC in a way. Afterwards I asked Denise Rossetti to lunch so I could interview her for my blog. That led me to reading and then becoming involved in the re-edit of Marquesate and Vashtan’s “Special Forces”. Which in turn led me to have a short story “Reversal” included in an anthology with Vashtan. I’ve donated a copy of the print version to the auction.

My next book: “In Search of the Perfect PinotG: Mornington Peninsula” (a wine guide and cook book) resulted from a discussion with William Maltese who I’d contacted about “Initiation”, the follow-up to ‘Reversal”.

Which of your books (or characters) is your favourite?

Hard to choose between my two m/m novellas, “Mardi Gras” and “Caught” both set in Sydney. Danny from “Caught” is probably my favourite character. I also love writing Miles Sutherland in the free online soap Redemption Reef.

My path to writing was reader – editor – writer. Check my website abgayle.com. I still do all three and am more than happy to talk about writing to other newbies. Hopefully I’ll meet some of you at the 2011 convention.

Here’s a look at AB’s work: