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RJ Scott MM Romance Author Gay Romance

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW & COMPETITION: K. Evan Coles

RJ Scott/ Blog Post

K Evan Coles MM Romance Author RJ Scott

K Evan Coles MM Romance Author RJ ScottInterview Questions

Will you keep writing more secret boyfriend stories?

I’d love to, yes! I’d never written that trope before Open Hearts and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, especially since Jae and Emmett drew me in right away. I also love a fake boyfriend/marriage trope and would be very into crafting a story around that as well.

Who is the funniest character you've ever written? and what book are they from?

Emmett from Open Hearts rates high on my list of funny characters because there was just something really easygoing and lovely about his character and his voice was so clear. I’d also give Jesse Murtagh from The Speakeasy series a shout out, in part because he is quite funny (if I do say so myself) but also because he embodies a blithe spirit I can appreciate while remaining a caring and genuine soul beneath the megawatt smile.

Who's your favourite character to write?

Generally, the characters in any current WIP are my favorites, but I developed a special fondness for all of the characters in the Stealing Hearts series. The books are set in my home city of Boston, Massachusetts, and they gave me such good energy, I started planning other stories in the city. That’s how I met Connor Devlin, a character who surfaced last winter while I wrote Hooked On You, a story that helped me rediscover the joy I get in writing. Like so many writers, I had trouble wrangling my muse throughout 2020, but I had the best timewriting Hooked On You and felt completely re-energized by the experience.

Would you consider a series based on fitness instruction like HITT or cardio boxing?

Actually, I would. And I am! I started using an app called Daily Burn 365 in April 2020 and I’ve thought many times (while sweating and dying and loving it) that a fitness class would be a great place to set a story. There were several characters who tried to butt in on the Stealing Hearts series and Hooked on You but didn’t quite make it, so I think fitness classes might be their key.

What's the hardest type of scene to write?

I find scenes that involve causing my characters pain particularly brutal to write. Probably because I’m very attached by the time I get to the angst in a manuscript and putting the character through that kind of pain guts me, too. I shed real tears while torturing Jae and Emmett from Open Hearts, especially since both guys clearly had no idea why everything was falling apart out of the blue.

Do you write every day or do you take a day off?
I write or do some kind of publishing-related work every day except Monday. Due to my day job, weekends are the time I have lots of hours that are all for me and I spend big chunks of Saturday and Sunday writing. As a reward of sorts, I give myself ‘time off’ from writing each Monday night after the day job work has wrapped up. (That said, it’s Monday and I’m working on this document so something has clearly gone awry …)

What’s your process for developing and getting to know your characters?

Most of the time, characters pop into my head already talking and mostly fleshed out, which means I just need to do some fine tuning. That was definitely the case with Emmett from Open Hearts, who showed up almost entirely complete. Once I know a character is ready to talk, I do some work figuring out what they do for a living or why they’ve landed in their current situation, which often leads to a lot of googling and asking questions of the people in my life. Of course, sometimes characters surprise me with something new mid-way through a manuscript, which is equal parts fun and horrifying and one of the things I really enjoy about writing.

Quick Shot Questions

  • Favorite movie – Pulp Fiction and A Room With a View, along with God’s Own Country.
  • Favorite book – Neuromancer by William Gibson.
  • Ideal snack – Fresh Chicago Mix popcorn (cheddar and caramel).
  • Cats/Dogs – Dogs
  • Tea/Coffee – Coffee (AM), tea (PM).

Open Hearts, Stealing Hearts #3

MMRomance, Nurses, FoodTrucks, AgeGap, FoundFamily, HurtComfort, SecretBoyfriends, FriendsToLovers, MulticulturalRelationship, AsianCharacter, PansexualCharacter

Open Hearts includes a May/December story with a secret relationship, a Pride parade, a bachelor party weekend, and romantic moments under the stars, and it’s on sale for only $.99.

Amazon Exclusive & available in Kindle Unlimited – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Some hearts are made to be opened.

Jae-seong Bak has never been in love. He prefers to let his personal life take a backseat to his career as a nurse, especially since no-strings hookups with men he's glad to call friends have always felt like more than enough.

After years of moving around the United States, Jae takes a job in his home city of Boston, arriving just in time to celebrate his brother Ty's engagement. In reconnecting with friends and family, Jae befriends Emmett McNeil, a young chef and Ty's future brother-in-law, whose own bad luck with love hasn't dampened his enthusiasm for life.

As the summer passes and Jae and Emmett help their families plan the wedding, the spark between the two men ignites, though each agrees to keep their hookups under wraps in order to prevent potential drama. Taken off guard by the depth of his feelings, Jae backs away, only to find that going back to being just friends with Emmett is much harder than he ever could have predicted.

Now, standing with Emmett as their siblings make their vows, Jae must decide if he's really content to hold the man he loves at arm's-length or if taking a chance on more is in the cards.

Open Hearts is a 63K age gap sex buddies-to-lovers novel. It features a Nurse Anesthetist with a habit of putting his career before romance, a talented young chef who’s getting over a broken heart, wedding plans and a bachelor party in the woods, and the deliciously satisfying HEA you need.


SOCIAL MEDIA

Website: https://kevancoles.com

Email: coles.k.evan@gmail.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/K_Evan_Coles

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/k.evan.coles/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/k-evan-coles

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/K-Evan-Coles/e/B072L7L8BZ

Facebook:

  • Profile https://www.facebook.com/ColesKEvan
  • Page https://www.facebook.com/kevancolesauthor
  • Reader Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/kswhiskeywordscafe

Competition

Competition: Open Hearts centers around some of my favorite tropes including Age Gap and Friends to Lovers. Comment with the tropes you love to read most and I’ll pick a winner at random!

Prize: Books 1 and 2 in the Stealing Hearts series/any two books from my backlist plus a $5 Amazon Gift Card.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jennifer Shannon says

    June 23, 2021 at 5:35 pm

    My favorite tropes are friends to lovers, bisexual awakening and forced proximity.

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:18 pm

      I’ve always been a big fan of the first two and have recently discovered I enjoy forced proximity as well. More books for me!

      Reply
    • Natali says

      June 25, 2021 at 4:06 pm

      Enemies to lovers, mpreg, gfy ☺

      Reply
      • K. Evan Coles says

        June 25, 2021 at 10:37 pm

        GFY/Bi-awakening is one of my all time faves to both read and write. So good!

        Reply
  2. Cynthia Brooks says

    June 23, 2021 at 5:36 pm

    Second Chances — Enemies To Lovers — Age Gap

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:19 pm

      Oh, all good ones. And I am *such* a sucker for Age Gap.

      Reply
  3. Tara says

    June 23, 2021 at 5:37 pm

    Favorite is friends to lovers also enemies to lovers.

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:20 pm

      I used to really enjoy enemies to lovers and then I fell off the bandwagon — I’m going to make an effort to climb back on!

      Reply
  4. Paul Wilgus says

    June 23, 2021 at 5:56 pm

    My favorites are Body guard/musician, enemies to lovers, and Daddy kink.

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:21 pm

      Oooh, bodyguards, yes! (I’ll take them with pretty much anything but yes, musician is such a nice opposites-attract kind of thing.

      Reply
      • Angie Juarez says

        June 29, 2021 at 4:47 am

        I don’t have a favorite trope. It all depends on my mood when I’m selecting a book. Just give me a good story 😁

        Reply
        • K. Evan Coles says

          July 5, 2021 at 12:14 am

          I have a ton of favorites because I can’t just pick one 😀 But I figure that’s totally okay and more books for meeeeee 🙂

          Reply
  5. Sandra Dufoe says

    June 23, 2021 at 5:59 pm

    My favourite is enemies to lovers.

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:23 pm

      Enemies to lovers can be so fun, especially if it’s more of a rivalry than real animosity. Like with sports, which can bring lots of heat.

      Reply
  6. Nicole Haarhoff says

    June 23, 2021 at 6:04 pm

    I like Chance Meetings and Friends to Lovers.

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:24 pm

      Chance Meetings, oh yes. *applauds* I’m all for a meet cute and Friends to Lovers is also a big fave of mine.

      Reply
  7. Sharon says

    June 23, 2021 at 6:19 pm

    Hurt/comfort is usually my favorite

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:26 pm

      I love Hurt/Comfort–it’s one of my big go-to tropes when I’m looking for something new to read.

      Reply
  8. Mary Young says

    June 23, 2021 at 6:26 pm

    Second chance, and more recently MM

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:28 pm

      Second chance can be *so* satisfying! I’m also a big fan of Second Act, which I think of as a character who is older (like 40+ lol) and ‘starting over’.

      Reply
  9. elizabeth prosser says

    June 23, 2021 at 6:39 pm

    My favs are mpreg, paranormal romance and Daddy/little

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:32 pm

      I enjoy paranormal romance as well! I’ve been trying to read more new tropes — I just need more time to actually do said reading.

      Reply
  10. Dawn says

    June 23, 2021 at 6:50 pm

    Friends to lovers with lots of angst.

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:33 pm

      Oh, yes — some angst to make these interesting is key, especially when you’re starting with friends (who probably are clueless about how much they really like each other).

      Reply
  11. Kareni says

    June 23, 2021 at 6:59 pm

    I enjoy a hurt/comfort trope. Is time travel a trope? I like stories with a time element, too.

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:36 pm

      Time travel is totally a trope, yep! I really like the concept though I feel like a lot of time travel stories get tragic — I should explore more in the romance genre. And Hurt/Comfort is one of my all time faves.

      Reply
  12. Lisa says

    June 23, 2021 at 7:16 pm

    Mine are absolutely MMM and rockstars 😁😁

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:39 pm

      I looooove MMM so much. I didn’t even realize it until I picked up a book by an author I’ve always enjoy and HELLO my reading world changed.

      Reply
  13. Ciara says

    June 23, 2021 at 7:31 pm

    Definitely fake dating, followed by found family, and always ONLY ONE BED 🙂

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:40 pm

      These are all fantastic, especially fake dating. I’d love to write that trope into a story someday .

      Reply
  14. susana says

    June 23, 2021 at 7:38 pm

    enemies to lovers. and opposites attract.

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:41 pm

      These are both great, especially if you can get both tropes in one story.

      Reply
    • Shelly Peterson says

      June 24, 2021 at 6:29 am

      Enemies to lovers.

      Reply
      • K. Evan Coles says

        June 25, 2021 at 10:39 pm

        I went through a phase where enemies to lovers wasn’t working for me but I’m coming back around to enjoying it. Especially if it’s more of a rivalry than real animosity (because then there’s a ‘I secretly like you way more than I should’ vibe going on).

        Reply
  15. Kyla Stein says

    June 23, 2021 at 7:55 pm

    Daddies!!

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:42 pm

      This is a trope I’m *just* starting to get to know!

      Reply
  16. April says

    June 23, 2021 at 8:08 pm

    I love grumpy/sunshine best but I’m also a big fan of age gaps.

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:43 pm

      Oooh, grumpy/sunshine is great and totally on my list to explore writing.

      Reply
  17. Ken Cook says

    June 23, 2021 at 8:33 pm

    Older men (re)discovering love with peers and finding a HEA

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:44 pm

      Such a great choice. I’ve come to think of this trope as Second Act and find it makes for a truly satisfying reading experience.

      Reply
  18. DJ says

    June 23, 2021 at 8:52 pm

    Favourite would be age gap but I am also partial to single Dads

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:46 pm

      I’m sort of new to the Single Dads trope but I love it. Maybe not as much as Age Gap (which is very high on my faves list) but definitely one I enjoy.

      Reply
  19. Amber Krogh says

    June 23, 2021 at 9:15 pm

    My favs are mpreg, paranormal romance and Daddy/little

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 24, 2021 at 10:51 pm

      I enjoy paranormal romance very much but the other two have never been go-tos for me so I’m trying to expand my trope reading.

      Reply
  20. Mary Preston says

    June 23, 2021 at 9:25 pm

    I always love marriage of convenience stories.

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 24, 2021 at 10:50 pm

      Yes, such a great trope! I’d be so mad if it happened in my real life but I love reading it.

      Reply
  21. Marion says

    June 23, 2021 at 9:28 pm

    I really enjoy the friends to lovers. I like the awakening to finally see what was always in front of you.

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:47 pm

      Yes! I’m a big fan of this trope ane really enjoy it when one of the friends is way more clueless than the other–to prolong the torture! 😉

      Reply
  22. Michelle White says

    June 23, 2021 at 10:28 pm

    Hurt/comfort is always a favorite for me

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 23, 2021 at 11:48 pm

      I don’t think I’ll ever be tired of this trope, honestly–there’s so much room in there for exploration and it definitely keeps the reading experience interesting.

      Reply
  23. Diane Fair says

    June 24, 2021 at 12:50 am

    Friends to lovers.
    Enemies to lovers.
    Especially when brothers and family members get involved!

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 24, 2021 at 10:53 pm

      I love where you’re going with that–getting family involved in those dynamics is such a great way to develop the plot and characters.

      Reply
  24. Nina Lewis says

    June 24, 2021 at 5:30 am

    Enemies to lovers & age gaps are my absolute favorites. Love bi-awakening too. 🙂

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 24, 2021 at 11:00 pm

      Oooh, I really enjoy all three. Especially together. Like a big, delicious trope salad!

      Reply
  25. ButtonsMom2003 says

    June 24, 2021 at 6:50 am

    Friends-to-lovers and second chance stories are favorites.

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 24, 2021 at 11:01 pm

      I love these tropes and thinking about combining them in a story is making me go all happy sighs. <3

      Reply
  26. Debra Guyette says

    June 24, 2021 at 11:36 am

    I like enemies to lovers’ but I really like just about anything.

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 24, 2021 at 11:03 pm

      Reading across tropes is so smart and pushes you to discover a ton of new material and authors. I’m trying to read more widely across tropes for that very reason–I want to read new authors!

      Reply
  27. Xanthe Anderson says

    June 24, 2021 at 1:34 pm

    Too many to choose! At the moment I’m loving single dad romances, especially with friends to lovers element. Thank you for the chance!

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 24, 2021 at 11:04 pm

      Single dad + friends-to-lovers can be two of the sweetest and most satisfying tropes to read so I totally get you there. (I now want to read so many new books just from the replies to this interview!)

      Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      July 5, 2021 at 12:28 am

      I just emailed you to let you know that I drew your name from a hat to receive the prize package. Congrats! <3

      Reply
  28. Vicki Wurgler says

    June 24, 2021 at 2:27 pm

    I like second chances and soul mates

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 25, 2021 at 10:40 pm

      Great choices, especially when combined!

      Reply
  29. Heather Smith says

    June 24, 2021 at 7:44 pm

    I love taboo, forced submission, and gay for you

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 25, 2021 at 10:41 pm

      I don’t read a ton of taboo tropes but I do want to change that. Why not, right?

      Reply
  30. Jeanna Massman says

    June 25, 2021 at 7:38 am

    I like books that feature single parents. I also enjoy books that have a Cinderella plot.

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 25, 2021 at 10:42 pm

      I love the idea of a Cinderella plot! I haven’t read a ton of books that use that trope but it’s so fun, as are single parents.

      Reply
  31. Ginger Connatser says

    June 25, 2021 at 10:47 am

    I like most of them but my faves are hurt/comfort & daddy/little.

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 25, 2021 at 10:43 pm

      I read a ton of tropes too and I’m literally so terrible at picking a favorite. So I have lists of favorites haha 🙂

      Reply
  32. RACHEL REED says

    June 25, 2021 at 7:36 pm

    I love a steamy enemies to lovers romance which starts with a standoffish rivalry and ends with the characters being head over heels for eachother.

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      June 25, 2021 at 10:44 pm

      Heck yes–talk about a satisfying read. Especially since we know alllll along that they’ll end up together if they would only stop being stubborn.

      Reply
  33. Michelle Venturino says

    June 25, 2021 at 10:54 pm

    I absolutely adore Fake Relationships. The awkwardness and the slow awakening is just adorable

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      July 5, 2021 at 12:12 am

      Oh yessss, me too, so much! It’s funny because I didn’t really realize I was drawn to trope until someone pointed it out to me. Talk about slow awakening haha

      Reply
  34. Danielle McDonald says

    June 26, 2021 at 12:31 am

    i love to read daddy/ little , second chance

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      July 5, 2021 at 12:12 am

      I was just talking to a reader about how much fun second chance stories are and they’re absolutely high on my list.

      Reply
  35. Jennifer Rote says

    June 30, 2021 at 6:58 pm

    GFY – Age gap – friends to lovers – daddy/little. Love just about all of them.

    Reply
    • K. Evan Coles says

      July 5, 2021 at 12:13 am

      I have such a hard time choosing favorites of anything and especially tropes, particularly because I keep finding new ones to love.

      Reply
  36. K. Evan Coles says

    July 5, 2021 at 12:27 am

    Thank you everyone for sharing your fave tropes with me — your comments made me smile!

    I just chose Xanthe Anderson to receive the prize package, so congrats to Xanthe <3

    Reply

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