Another day, another interview, and today we are talking with Renée Dahlia, whose novel, Her Lady’s Honor, comes out later this month. So, read on to discover how she gets her inspiration, her writing process, some amazing romance recs, and so much more!
You can also follow her on twitter.
Let’s start at the beginning. How did you first get into writing?
Backwards. I’ve always been a reader, but I studied science (physics and maths) at university for two specific reasons. One: I was good at it and two: I didn’t have to write any essays. It wasn’t until much later that I fell into writing by doing magazine articles that took data results and explained them to non-mathematicians. I enjoyed the process of writing, and slowly started doing a few interviews. After a decade of practice, a couple of changes in my career left me wondering what to do next. I decided to write a book while I was figuring out my career—just to see if I could. Once it was written (and of course it was a romance because that’s what I love reading) I pitched it on a whim to an imprint of Harlequin Australia, and they published it! That was back in 2017, and I’ve since published 11 books with two more due out later this year (2020). Apparently this is my career now, so that answered my question about career path for me!
What are your favourite genres to read and write?
Most of my reading is romance—the rest is non-fiction and a few YA and mystery novels. Every novel I’ve written is romance. Some are historicals, some are contemporaries. I write a mix of heterosexual and queer characters; which makes sense to me as a bisexual person.
And are there any genres or tropes you wouldn’t write?
II have no interest in paranormal, and hate writing description, so anything with a lot of world-building isn’t going to suit my dialogue focused writing.
How do you get inspiration for your books?
I have more ideas than I’ll ever have time to write, so it’s more a case of spending time with each idea to see if it’s strong enough to be worthy of a whole book. I put all my ideas into a file, and occasionally look at them to see if any can be utilised soon, or if a couple of ideas would work better if joined together into one book, etc. The actual ideas come from everywhere – a snippet of overhead discussion, social media, life in general – and then asking ‘what if’ questions.
Do you have a writing playlist? And if you do, does it focus more on the lyrics or melodies, vibe of the songs?
No, although my f/f book, Liability, was inspired by Lorde’s song Liability. In the song, a woman dances by herself in her house because she thinks she’s too much of a liability for someone else. That inspired the internal conflict for Jessica, the IT billionaire in Liability.
What’s your writing process? At what point do you let other people read your drafts and who are they?
I’m a dialogue driven writer and tend to write a scene with mostly dialogue and a few notes first, then fill it in on a second pass over the scene with more description etc. I call it writing in layers; the first layer is dialogue, the second is the other stuff. Once I’ve finished a first draft, I ignore it for at least a month, then go through it editing from a plot point of view. If there are parts of the book that I’m unsure about, I’ll send it to a beta reader, otherwise, I edit it again for tightness and send it to my publisher/s. If it goes to a beta reader, that adds in another layer of edits as I sort out any issues they mention. Once it’s at my publisher, it gets edited a couple more times, so by the time it’s done, I’m thoroughly annoyed with reading it! Re beta readers – I have a couple of different people I’ve asked depending on the book and their availability. I’ve also used several sensitivity readers (prior to submission to my publishers) and found their feedback very useful.
Summarise your most recent/next book in up to 5 words.
Hopeful love emerges from darkness.
And for something that is also very important to us & what we put a lot of emphasis on when blogging. What does ownvoices LGBT representation mean to you?
As someone who discovered LGBT+ books later in life, ownvoices representation means a heck of a lot. I often wonder if I’d been able to read a wider selection of books as a teen and in my twenties, if I’d have figured out my own bisexuality sooner, rather than spend so long being generally confused about the world and my place in it. And ownvoices matters for two reasons – the queer people don’t die in order to help a straight person learn a lesson; and having many ownvoices books ensures there isn’t a monolith or stereotype in the way LGBT+ people are shown in literature.
Rec us some great LGBT books you’ve read recently! One can never have enough recommendations!
Olivia Waite’s The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics is beautiful; anything by KJ Charles but especially Proper English; Adriana Herrera’s American Dreamer series is amazing. I’ve just finished Anna Zabo’s Twisted Wishes series, set around a queer rock band, and it’s great, especially if you are a music fan because those details are delightful. Peter Darling by Austin Chant is clever and adorable. I’m currently reading Most Ardently by Susan Mesler-Evans, which is a lesbian re-telling of Pride and Prejudice.
What’s one piece of advice you would like to give your younger self?
Those feelings you ignored because the world around you told you they were wrong? The world is wrong, not the feelings. Explore more, take more chances, be brave.
If you could have dinner with one member of the LGBT community, dead or alive, who would it be?
Alan Turing, the scientist who broke the Enigma code. Either him, or any of the spinsters who lived together at any point in history, snubbing marriage to live with their ‘best friend’. I love how they subverted society’s expectations and I’d love to know more about all of their lives.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Renée Dahlia is an unabashed romance reader who loves feisty women and strong, clever men. Her books reflect this, with a sidenote of dark humour. 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.
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