Romance, is there anything sweeter? I am happy to present to you another romance author who recently published her first book, The Whole Trying Thing. Take a peek below to find out what this wonderful author has to say about writing, and publishing.
Hi! I’ve been writing since I was really small and went to school for it. I live in Florida, but I’ve been all over. I would love to say something quirky about pets here but I’m super allergic.
It is my understanding that you have recently published a new romance novel. Could you tell us what it is about?
The Whole Trying Thing
Lucas has always let things happen to him. Even meeting Issam, the gorgeous young man who just happens to be wealthy and totally into him, just kind of happens. But Lucas’s long-term crush on his best-friend, Nick, keeps him from fully committing to Issam.
Believing he’ll never have a chance with Nick, Lucas tells himself everything is fine. Except Nick starts dating Issam’s sister, and Lucas can’t quite hide his jealousy.
When a personal crisis causes Nick and Lucas to seek solace with each other, everything finally falls apart, and it’s up to Nick to pick up the pieces.
Awesome! Are you currently working on any other projects? My recently finished WIP is a speculative fiction romance. Kind of. I don’t really adhere to genre standard so it’s probably going to end up published as a literary fiction novel – if it finds a home at all!
I’m also working on a game right now. (Check at the bottom of the page to play this game, L.M. Langley has created.)
When publishing ‘The Whole Trying Thing’, did you decide to self-publish or publish it through traditional means? I chose to go traditional, with a smaller press ( Ninestar Press). They actually liked my pitch on #pit2pub and I sent them the novel about a month after that.
Thats fantastic! I’ve heard great things about #pit2pub. Would you consider yourself a pantser or a outliner? A little of both. Pantsing at first to get a feel for it, then if I like it enough to write it properly, I’ll make a rough outline. It’s rare that I write it down though.
What would you say is the most challenging part so far when it comes to writing your novel? Well, it really depends. But I think the running thread amongst all of everyone’s work is the crippling self-doubt or the idea that you’re just pretending to be a writer.
Ah, self-doubt. As artists, we are all too aware of this. What advice would you give to an aspiring writer? Write. Write a lot. Writing is a skill and you can only get better at it. Talent isn’t real. You wouldn’t expect to pick a viola and be good at it, so you really shouldn’t expect to pick up a pen and suddenly be a masterful writer.
Perfect advice. What do you do to get over writer’s block?
Low intensity cardio. If that doesn’t work, an entire bottle of rose. So far so good.
If you ran a book club, what would they be reading and why?
That’s such a hard question! Right now, I’m reading Motherhood by Lindsey Williams. So I guess we’d be reading that.
Lovely. What are your future projects? Right now, I am working on a time travel romance, and putting the finishing touches on a speculative fiction m/m. After that, who knows?
We would love it if you shared an excerpt from you book, ‘The Whole Trying Thing.’
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were seeing someone,” Nick says. It’s two o’clock in the morning, and we are sitting on his roof, right outside his bedroom. We are not supposed to do this. His parents would be upset.
“I’m telling you now,” I say.
I finish the beer and wait for him to hand me another one. He does without a word. He’s wearing a sleeveless shirt and shorts. Nick likes stars. Sometimes, he says he is going to study astrology when his dad is out of earshot.
“What’s she like?”
I haven’t planned for this question. I have planned for ‘When are you going to introduce us; Is she hot; Does she go to our school; Do I know her?’ and other variations, but not this.
“Older,” I say. “Twenty-three.”
“Damn,” Nick says. “That’s awesome. What else?”
I take a deep breath. “Well, it’s a…His name is Issam,” I say.
“Oh,” Nick replies. “Okay.”
The sky spins. I wonder if he’s going to say anything else.
“You know I’ll always support you no matter what, right?”
I smile. “Yes. I know that.”
Our hands are really close to each other.
“He’s my manager,” I say. “At work.”
“Yeah,” he says. “I figured that out when you said he’s your manager.”
My smile broadens. “He’s really smart. Going to school for political science and statistics.”
“That’s cool,” he says. “What does he look like? When do I get to meet him?”
I take my wallet out of my back pocket and take a folded picture out. It’s dark, so he leans in to see it as I unfold it.
In the picture, Issam and I are standing together outside, next to some sort of sculpture. Sylvia stands to his right, her arms folded over her chest, her long red hair in a ponytail behind her.
“That’s him,” I say. “And that’s his sister. Her friend took the picture.”
He grabs it out of my hand and slides himself toward the window, edging it open with his foot. He looks at the picture under the light.
“Fuck,” he says. “He’s—his sister is white.”
I laugh. “Yeah, I know.”
“She’s hot,” he says. “They both are.”
“She’s annoying,” I reply. I’ve been dying to talk to Nick about him for a while, but I feel like an idiot for not liking that he’s turning the conversation to Syl. Still, I know it could be worse, so I’m just going to talk about whatever he wants to talk about. “But nice. Issam is always saying she needs to get laid.”
“He’s her older brother,” he says, cocking his head.
“He’s the loose cannon,” I reply. “His parents say they want him to keep an eye on his little sister, but I think they want her to spy on him.”
“Does she?”
“Probably,” I say, shrugging. “If that’s all I had to do to live in an apartment that nice, I definitely would.”
“You don’t have siblings,” Nick says. “You don’t know what it’s like.”
“Probably,” I say again and shrug. The alarm on my watch starts to go off. It’s 2:17 A.M.
Nick goes into his bedroom for something. I silence the alarm.
He comes out with another six-pack in his hands and sets it between us while crouching and then sits down. “A toast,” he says. He takes a can out, opens it, and holds it up high.
“Yes,” I say. “Happy birthday, dude.”
“To my birthday,” he says. “And to your boyfriend.”
Great excerpt! Thanks for the sneak peek, and answering all of my questions! For anyone interested in purchasing a copy of The Whole Trying Thing, click here. If you would like to play the game mentioned in the interview, click here. And to follow L.M. Langley on any of her current social media sites, they are listed below.
Happy writing everyone!
A.B.Penner 