This is an interview we admittedly conducted a while back now, but with a new book coming soon (f/nb romantic suspense, for anyone interested), what better time than to celebrate Rien Gray and their works! If you’re looking for thriller and suspense, centering sapphic and nonbinary characters, look no further than their books. But in case that’s not enough for you, have a read through this interview to convince yourself of it.
Before we start, quickly, you can also follow Rien on twitter, & preorder their upcoming release here!
Have you always known you wanted to be a writer? How old were you when you wrote your first story?
Yes. And pretty young. My grandmother used to say ‘tell me a story’ when we were on long cross-state drives growing up, and it became part of my life. I started with poetry when I was in middle school, but by high school I was writing prose with the intent to become a novelist one day. It took a while after that to actually put out my first book, but the dream was always there.
What are your favourite genres to read and write, and are there any genres or tropes you wouldn’t write?
Romance, followed close behind by horror. Sometimes there’s not much of a difference between them, if you like to blend tropes the way I do. Love is a beautiful, wonderful, terrifying thing.
The primary trope I won’t touch is love triangles. I can’t think of a single one I’ve enjoyed – either I have wanted all three characters to end up together, or the conflict is so paper-thin as to just come off frustrating.
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?
An actual apple. I’m a very visual writer in the sense that I can literally see the scenes playing out in my head, kind of like my own private movie. I think it’s part of why I try to focus on getting all five senses into my descriptions, and create very visceral scenes. I want the gasp or the gut punch to feel real.
If you wanted to learn about craft, which three authors would you suggest reading?
These are specific texts and not authors but:
Le Guin’s Steering the Craft is a nice foundational book for learning the ‘rules’ of writing so you can twist and break them as you please. It’s not a craft book, but I’d also recommend reading This is How You Lose the Time War for an example of fiction that throws out almost every single standard for what is “acceptable” in trad publishing, and does so with aplomb.
The third is romance specific: Romancing the Beat is a very short, useful reference for laying out the structure of a romance. There’s no need to copy said structure word-for-word, but I’ve found it very helpful for fixing gaps in a story.
When you’re building your world, what do you focus on? How do you try to make it come to life?
I always want the world to reflect my characters and their particular genre. I try and match everything from the colors of their clothes to the material of furniture to the mood I am trying to portray, and those smaller details spread into the broader environment around them. A noir romance should emphasize different elements of worldbuilding over a humorous contemporary romance, even if they’re set in the same time and place.
What projects are you currently working on? Can you share any details yet?
My main project right now is Out of True, a sprawling fantasy romance centered around a mythologically sapphic world inspired by Arthurian myth. Under the eternal reign of King Theomacha the Exalted, a host of knights struggle against—and fall in love with—sorceresses, noblewomen, and each other. All of the characters are either women (trans and cis) or nonbinary.
Three pictures that capture the aesthetic of your book?
I’ve attached a moodboard for Valerin, the first knight in Out of True, since the general vibes of it get the book as a whole across, I think.
What would be your dream project?
Honestly, working on something like Out of True is my dream project. Creating entirely queer worlds with vivid prose and my own take on various myths is exactly what I want to be doing.
Which of your characters would you most want to fight a zombie apocalypse with?
Probably Campbell, my nonbinary assassin protagonist from Love Kills Twice. They’re extremely resourceful and a very good shot.
You’re stuck on a desert island and you’re allowed only three (LGBT) books. What are you taking?
The Blue Place by Nicola Griffith, Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey, and Homosexuality & Civilization by Louis Crompton.
You can collaborate on anything with anyone in the LGBT community: who would it be and why?
This is a very good question I don’t have the answer to. I’ve already gotten to do so many wonderful collaborations that I’m kind of spoiled for choice.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rien Gray is a queer, nonbinary (they/them) author – devoted to writing F/F and F/NB romance, erotica, and horror. They love reworking classic tropes in new ways and adding a splash of heat to all of their works.
Rien started as a poet but now shifts between short fiction and longer prose, although the subject matter is always about how love transforms us.
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