Romance Curious: Try an Anthology/Author Interview: Renée Dahlia

I love romance! A week without reading romance is a bleak week. Who wants that?

Because I love and value romance so much, I'm committed to helping more people find their enjoyment in the genre. I mean, I'm unclear what's not to enjoy about people finding each other with a guaranteed Happily Ever After (HEA) or Happy For Now (HFN); but, here we are, still justifying romance as a 'legit' genre. I digress, if you are still on the fence about picking up a romance novel I have three recommendations for you, read a romance anthology, novella, or listen to a romance focused podcast. Let's focus on a romance anthology for this post.

A romance anthology is a collection of mostly short romance stories by various authors. Most anthologies have a theme (trope, subgenre, holiday, etc.) so if you aren't sure where to start an anthology gives you an opportunity to read different writing styles, authors, writing around a similar theme, and so on. For example, Only One Bed: A Steamy Romance Anthology Volume 1 is a trope anthology (one bed is the trope). Get it! 

I got the chance to chat with a contributor Renée Dahlia about writing for this anthology and being a romance author. When you pick up your copy her contribution is Uplift. If you would like your copy of Only One Bed checkout these retailers-

• Amazon
• Black Pearl Bookstore *
• Copper Dog Books
• Love Sweet Arrow
• Loyalty Bookstore *
• Ripped Bodice 
• Semicolon Bookstore and Gallery *
• The Lit Bar *

*Consider supporting a Black-owned indie bookstore. 

Uplift Synopsis:  Anvita Khatri thought she knew everything about manipulating emotions. As a T.V. producer her career succeeded based on knowing how to make an audience laugh and cry. Her new project, Uplift, has her matching struggling small business owners with mentors and teaching them the skills they need. Shazza Barnett didn't expect to be widowed at twenty three, or struggling to keep her late husband's small roofing business afloat. She sees an ad for a new show that could just change her life. But it's the producer, Anvita who's overwhelming her with feelings. Feelings she hasn't had in a long time. 

***********************************************************************************

Author Information

Renée Dahlia is an unabashed romance reader who loves feisty women and strong, clever men. Her books reflect this, with a side note of awkward humor. Renée has a science degree in physics. When not distracted by the characters fighting for attention in her brain, she works in the horse-racing industry doing data analysis and writing magazine articles. When she isn’t reading or writing, Renée spends her time with her partner and four children, volunteers on the local cricket club committee, and is the Secretary of Romance Writers Australia.

Social Media Links

• Twitter
• Facebook 
• romance.com.au
• Instagram 
• BookBub

***********************************************************************************

Author Interview

WR: Who does Renée Dahlia write for, who is your intended audience?

Renée Dahlia: A double question! At the core of my creativity, I write for myself. I write the stories I want to read and explore the ideas that interest me. With regards to audience, that’s a trickier question. Because I am bisexual and I write across a range of heat levels with different pairings, then I don’t think I have a single audience. It’s probably terrible from a marketing point of view because each series is likely to have its own audience, rather than saying ‘Renee’s books will all be like this.’ 

WR: I totally get that makes sense, so you can reach out to more readers. How cool! So, where do you find inspiration or ideas to write your books? How does this inspiration change when you write collaboratively?

Renée Dahlia: I have a continually growing list of ideas, and the hardest trick is to decide which idea to write next and which ones are worth a whole book. Some of the ideas on my list sit there for a long time, waiting for the snippet that will take them from “I want to write a series about the children of the characters in my Bluestocking series” into Her Lady’s Honor, which is the first book in a series which achieves that. 

This process remains largely the same when working collaboratively. The first time I worked collaboratively with other authors on a set of stories was with the Rainbow Cove Christmas stories (my contribution was His Christmas Pearl and His Christmas Pride), where the concept was that all six stories contained the same Christmas party. With the Only One Bed anthology, the collaboration came after Violet Gaze Press accepted my story Uplift for the anthology. It’s a lot of fun and a good challenge to fit a story within the bounds of the core idea. Anthologies are a great way for readers to taste-test authors who are new to them; they are usually great value from a reader point of view with many stories for a price of one. 

As a side note, you should consider signing up for Lucy Eden's email newsletter/magazine because it's simply outstanding. In fact, sign up to the newsletters of all the authors in the Only One Bed anthology to see what we have coming up next. Lucy also has a new release coming out on February 23, 2021 35 Years: A Blind Date With a Book Boyfriend Short. You should check it out!

WR: As a follow-up, what do you think makes a good story?

Renée Dahlia: The key task of an author is to entertain. A good story draws in the reader and keeps them turning the page. The promise of romance is that the reader gets a happy ending and a satisfying emotional buzz. For me, the joy of creating a good story is one where the characters grow together and separately so they discover their core truth and that allows them to overcome their fears. I find people incredibly fascinating and writing stories is my creative way of exploring the breadth of humanity. 

***********************************************************************************

I want to thank Renée for taking the time to chat with me. Since the posting of this blog, she just released a novella. Check out her upcoming release-

Title: Her Pregnant Rival 
Release Date: February 17, 2021
Blurb: Female/Female romance novella. 

Society expects them to be rivals, but what if the best revenge is love? Neither of them expect that the best revenge on Craig is to love each other.

Fashion blogger JAMIE CLEVELAND only gets access to her trust fund when her father is happy with her actions. If it was just money, she’d walk away, but she desperately wants to keep her mother safe too. Obedience matters to him. When she gets pregnant, she learns that her lover Craig is married and she freaks out. Her family, especially her father, cannot find out. Desperate, she confronts Craig’s wife, and they argue. All is lost until she turns up at the hospital for an appointment and Craig’s ex-wife is her doctor.

When DR AMANDA AITKEN discovers her ex-husband, Craig, has been screwing a fashion blogger, she’s reminded why she filed for divorce. It’s one thing to believe that women shouldn’t be pitted against each other when a terrible man is to blame, but it’s another thing all together to see one of her husband’s fuck-buddies in person. But when Jamie arrives at the hospital for an appointment, she realizes she can’t let her children’s half-sibling grow up alone. She invites Jamie to live with her and raise the baby along with her own two children.

Content Warning provided by the author: Asshole man. Pregnancy. Discussion on abortion. Catholic. Domestic violence. Gaslighting.

Author Links

• Books2Read
• Kapow
• Series

Happy Reading!