2022 keeps on giving when it comes to LGBT romance books, and one of them that we’re super excited about is, of course, Love, Hate & Clickbait! It’s a few more weeks before we can all bask in the glory of the gay fake dating, so in the meantime, to peak your interest even more, here’s a little chat with the author.
And don’t forget to follow Liz on twitter!
What are your favourite genres to read and write, and are there any genres or tropes you wouldn’t write?
I read SFF and romance, and – no surprise – that’s what I write as well.
In terms of stuff I wouldn’t write, I’ve never been a fan of “high fantasy”, or whatever you call it. I like SFF where people swear and fart and gripe about their horrible bosses and stuff.
For romance, I tend to gravitate toward sharp-edged, conflict-driven characters and tropes, so I’d probably have a harder time writing softer stuff like friends-to-lovers or small town romance. (Is small town romance soft? Are people moving back to their small home towns to, like, take over the local mob or something? I’d read the crap out of that.)
When you close your eyes and imagine an apple, what do you see? An actual apple, a sketch of one, a blackness? Do you think that impacts your writing process?
Great question! I see an actual apple, and I also kind of flash to what an apple feels like – the shiny skin and pokey stem – and what a nice, crisp granny smith apple tastes like. (Green apples are the only correct apple and I will hear no counterargument.)
I do think that impacts my writing process! Ultimately I think writing is just a vehicle to get the story from my head into someone else’s, so when I’m struggling with what to write, I tend to close my eyes and imagine what the characters are going through at the moment, and that’s what ends up on the page – whether it’s sensory, inner monologue, or something else.
Which three authors would you say influenced your writing the most?
Probably the biggest influences on my writing are a couple of fanfic authors I’m not going to name publicly – cone of silence, y’all know how it is – and the historical romance authors I read a ton of when I was young, like Mary Balough, Mary Jo Putney, and Lisa Kleypas. Historical romance gets. It. Done.
Three songs you would put in your book’s soundtrack?
Buzzcut Season (Lorde), The Lion’s Roar (First Aid Kit), Between the Bars (Elliott Smith).
Which of your characters would you most want to fight a zombie apocalypse with?
Felicia (the governor’s chief of staff). Thom and Governor Westwood would both abandon or betray you in a heartbeat, so they’re out. Clay might do alright in a zombie apocalypse – he’d be loyal, and he’s a big dude so he’d probably do well in hand-to-hand combat – but Felicia’s smarter than Clay and has Thom’s killer instinct, while still being a decent enough human to be a good ally. Sorry, Clay.
You can collaborate on anything with anyone in the LGBT community: who would it be and why?
Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Her writing is divine.
What projects are you currently working on? Can you share any details yet?
A contemporary romance with some… spooky elements!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Liz Bowery writes love stories about terrible people. Her interests include politics, cheese, and game nights with friends. Exactly no one in her life was surprised to learn she had written a romance novel.
By day she is an attorney, and by night, after her son is asleep, and after otherwise procrastinating for as long as humanly possible, she sometimes writes. Love, Hate & Clickbait is her debut novel.
Pronouns: She/her
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