Do you ever compare yourself to other authors and feel like you’re lacking and if so how do you overcome that feeling of being not good enough?
All the time! I’m still a new(ish) member of the romance community—Sorry, Bro is my second novella, ever—and it’s so easy to get overwhelmed, especially being surrounded by so many smart, savvy, successful authors. I’m also guilty of thinking Why didn’t I come up with that?! when I read other romances.
But I try not to get overwhelmed and instead view everything as part of the learning process. I also have to keep reminding myself that my goal shouldn’t be to emulate other authors, but to analyze their style and form my own voice.
Writing is a slow art, and finding oneself in such a diverse field is a long road—but success is all about perseverance!
Character development is important to me when I read. I am always curious whether characters are based on people the author knows and research, or if they are pure fiction.
A lot of people ask this question, especially because I’ve pitched my last two books to many close friends. More than one has asked, “Am I in this story?” And funnily enough, all my characters are based, in part, on people I know. Whenever I write, I sit down and think of a friend or someone I know—either real or fictional—and base my characters’ actions and motivations on what I’ve seen people do in real life.
In this sense, I reveal my true colors as a journalist. Whenever I write an article or a feature, I observe closely and paint a picture based on what I perceive with my five senses. If you read either of my works—Hyperpersonal, Hypersexual or Sorry, Bro—you’ll notice they’re both in first-person limited POV. The reader has to extrapolate what the other characters are thinking and feeling through their actions and the perceptions of the main character. That way, in my opinion, the reading process becomes more of a journey of discovery, and a test of how well the reader is paying attention!
What are some of your plans for future books, plot lines etc…
After writing Sorry, Bro, I realized that I love M/M romance. While I like M/F, too, there’s just something gritty about M/M romance. The sex isn’t gritty, but all the extra barriers, problems, and questions that an author has to ask in an M/M relationship are. What will their families think? What does society think? Will they be able to get married? And so on.
I have a number of friends in the ironworking industry—it’s a fascinating and dangerous trade—so I’m currently exploring a plot based on their profession. Ironworkers are the men who you see walking iron on naked skyscrapers thousands of feet in the air, bolting steel beams together and hoisting radio towers 110 stories above street level. They’re strong and fearless, and they party hard—and they need to; it’s a dangerous trade.
I also imagine that such a trade wouldn’t be welcoming to a gay man—which is precisely why the ironworking industry would be the perfect setting for an M/M romance; built-in conflict can help drive any story. My idea is to place a closeted gay man into an ironworking apprenticeship program, where, initially he feels out of place, but soon finds a close friend. When his friend is killed in a jobsite accident, the main character feels it’s his duty to investigate the death. From there, he connects with other ironworkers who also turn out to be gay. But don’t worry—there’s a twist at the end! There’s nothing like the loss of a close friend to bring people together whom we’d never otherwise see in close quarters. Coming up with the story is a fun process. I’m excited to sit down and start writing!
Blurb
Still aching from the mistakes and denials of his past, this ER nurse could heal anyone but himself…until now.
Handsome, athletic and intelligent, twenty-six-year-old Bryce should be living the high life.
But he’s far from it.
After shunning his best baseball buddy in high school, dropping out of medical school and fleeing New York to put down roots—if only shallow ones—in New Orleans, Bryce is uncertain about both his past and his future. Working long hours as a low-level nurse and confined by a sexless relationship with a questionably devoted girlfriend, Bryce can’t shake the feeling that things should be somehow better now he’s escaped the confusion and indecision of his former life.
Yet when the ghost of Bryce’s high school past, the handsome and charismatic Tim, shows up injured in the ER, Bryce’s already turbulent emotions engulf him in a vortex of confusion and regret. Haunted by his own insensitivity towards Tim eight years before, Bryce first finds comfort in the powerful arms of a resident surgeon he barely knows, then gives Tim the explosive, cataclysmic relief he had denied him in high school. As Bryce comes to terms with his sexuality and recognises his undeniable attraction to both men, he must decide, once and for all, where his fidelity—and his desires—lie.
About Gen Bergeron
Genevieve Bergeron has been an avid reader and writer of digital fiction for nearly two decades. A journalist, children’s author and professional communicator, Genevieve now spends her time reading and writing hi-tech inspired romance and erotica, in addition to working a fast-paced day job as a communications director at a Washington, D.C.-based national nonprofit. With her time, Genevieve does her best to avoid any steamy political scandals while collecting flavored condoms, cooking for friends, and sampling boxed wines.
For all Gen’s books published with Total E-Bound, visit her page at http://www.total-e-bound.com/authordetail.asp?A_ID=241.
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