Daniel de Lorne gets to the heart of gay romance

This is Episode 15 of Write with Love.

Paranormal romance author Daniel de Lorne openly discusses his experiences writing male male or gay romance in a female dominated genre. His books Beckoning Blood and Burning Blood are published by Escape publishing and prove that readers still like Vampire heros.

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Transcript:

Sarah Williams:            Welcome to Write with Love. I’m Sarah Williams, best-selling author, speaker, and creative entrepreneur. Each week, I chat to passionate and inspiring authors about their journey in creative writing. Some are traditionally published, some do it themselves. Everyone’s journey is different and everyone has something interesting to say. We all love love, and love what we do. Today’s show is brought to you by our amazing fans and supporters on Patreon. If you’d like to help support the show and get some awesome bonus episodes, go to patreon.com/SarahWilliamsAuthor to learn more. Now, here’s today’s show.

Sarah Williams:            G’day. I’m Sarah Williams, romance author and independent publisher at Serenade Publishing. Today, I’m chatting to vampire-obsessed author, Daniel de Lorne. Thanks for joining me, Daniel.

Daniel de Lorne:           Thanks very much, Sarah.

Sarah Williams:            So your tagline is, “Ruin, romance, and redemption.” Can you tell us more about yourself and your author journey?

Daniel de Lorne:           Sure. So, yeah, so I’m 35, I live in Perth, Western Australia. I don’t know whether I always wanted to be writer. I was always very interested in writing stories and I had a good imagination for that sort of thing. And I did sit in biology class, and instead of learning biology, which would have been useful for my high school exams, I ended up writing stories with a friend of mine so that’s sort of where I spent Year 12 Biology, which was very not useful.

Daniel de Lorne:           And then I went to university. I did a creative writing degree and honors in vampire fiction as well. But then I had a bit of a break for a few years. I went and joined the workforce because you kind of think, “Oh, I’ll never make a living as a writer.” I did a journalism major as well so I thought, “Oh, well I’ll make a living as a journalist.” Hated the idea of actually being a journalist so university helped me on that score. But I then went and worked … I worked at Perth Zoo for a while, so I worked there for 11 years, but doing that, I used my writing skills for a bit more a different audience.

Daniel de Lorne:           And then, in about 2009, I kind of went, “Well, I have this degree. I haven’t done anything with it so that’s been a bit of a let-down on the fiction writing side.” So I started writing and I was lucky I was friends with another romance writer, Nikki Logan, so we kind of worked together to sort of keep each other going. And she offered a lot of great advice and I came up with an idea for a story about twin vampire brothers.

Daniel de Lorne:           And from there, I wrote that, and I hadn’t actually considered romance at the time. It was a bit more sort of in the style of Anne Rice and just horror kind of stories. But talking to Nikki, we kind of went, “Oh, well. There is actually a love story here and perhaps it would be worthwhile coming along to Romance Writers Australia’s annual conference.” Which I did, and I got a bit of interest and that was great. But it took a few years from there for me to polish that up, get it where I really wanted, and start submitting.

Daniel de Lorne:           And then, in about 2013, I submitted the book again to a couple of publishers and one of them, Escape, came back and said, “Hey, we’d like to publish this. Would you be interested?” And I was like, “Yes. Send me the contract.” And then that came out 2014. So since then I’ve been trying to increase the output and go from there, help build a bit more of a writer career.

Sarah Williams:            Yeah. Absolutely. No, that’s brilliant. And I know a lot of people do start off with Escape, and especially with the digital first avenue, so that’s been great for you, obviously, getting that one out and having the second book as well.

Daniel de Lorne:           Yeah. So Escape was really supportive, they were doing a lot of different things. It wasn’t just pure romance, it was trying to put in, not only paranormal stories, but also [inaudible 00:04:54] gay fiction as well, gay romance. So they were really supportive of that and then, supportive enough to have the second book in the series. And finally, finally, I finished the third book in the series and sent that to them as a submission, so planning to hear back on whether that goes ahead. But, yeah, I’ve been getting a lot of support from Escape and then also, Harlequin’s a part of that, so really pleased with them.

Sarah Williams:            Absolutely. And a lot of the viewers and readers may not have read gay romance at this point so hopefully we’ll be … hoping that a few more people will start reading your books now. So can you tell us a little bit …

Daniel de Lorne:           Yeah. [inaudible 00:05:38].

Sarah Williams:            Yeah. Yeah. I mean, love is love and I totally agree with that. So tell us, have you had any challenges with writing that, or any issues along the way?

Daniel de Lorne:           No. I haven’t really … I mean, part of the difficulty is that it’s quite a niche market, so to get massive sales in gay romance is sort of hard to do. There haven’t been really … so, yeah, trying to get a [inaudible 00:06:18] support for that, I don’t know whether being in Australia makes it a bit sort of out of … a bit sort of on the outskirts of it all as well, or also that the books that I’ve had have been quite gritty and dark and bloody. So I’ve had friends going, “I can’t actually get … I can’t read your book because there’s blood in it.” So they get a bit queasy and I have to say, “Okay. Well, just skip these chapters and then you’ll be fine.”

Daniel de Lorne:           So it’s whether or not the vast majority of readers in that subgenre want that sort of thing as well. So that’s why I’ve kind of been not … as much as I love paranormal stories, it’s not the only thing I’ve been working on. And I’m trying to broaden it so it’s not so much always romantic horror, it’s also things like maybe romantic suspense or some contemporary, maybe a bit of historical but trying to just … where I come from is I want to tell a particular story about two men who fall in love. And the setting that goes around that is quite fluid and it’s whatever kind of takes my fancy. Whether I can actually build a strong enough brand around that to sort of say … to have all readers, who like what I do, follow along the whole way, will remain to be seen. But I’m happy to give it a shot. It keeps me interested.

Sarah Williams:            Yeah. That’s it. And of course you’ve got your own partner in crime, your husband. You are married, so congratulations. And legally now.

Daniel de Lorne:           Thank you.

Sarah Williams:            So is it … it’s kind of great to see the Australia’s finally catching up with the rest of the world.

Daniel de Lorne:           Yeah. Yeah. I’ve got very strong views about all that, as a lot of people do, so, yeah. But we got married in Canada about three years ago so it’s … yeah, it’s a little subtle shift but it means a lot that our marriage of three years is now recognized in our home country, so, yeah.

Sarah Williams:            Yeah. That is brilliant. Fantastic. So we talked before about the Romance Writers of Australia. So how long have you been a member of that?

Daniel de Lorne:           I think I joined in 2009, 2010 and I sort of, for a few years I was just a member, but as I mentioned, I’m close friends with Nikki Logan and she became president one year and was looking for some committee members. So I went on board for that so I was working on the member services program, their offerings. And then in, I think it was 2014, I became vice president and also editor of Hearts Talk so that’s their monthly magazine so it’s full of writing tips and interviews and industry news. So I do the layout on the design side and then I also work with … and Carla Caruso, she’s the other editor and she works on the content side. So it’s a nice little partnership but it’s great to be able to see what’s happening in there. Make sure I read Hearts Talk every month and it’s another way to sort of work with the organization so that’s … I stopped being on committee in about 2016 I think it was, and so now I’m just doing the Hearts Talk editing.

Sarah Williams:            Absolutely. And that is a great way of giving back, is helping review [inaudible 00:10:31]. Volunteers are always needed at RWA.

Daniel de Lorne:           Yeah. Absolutely. The place just wouldn’t run without it and I owe a lot to the organization. And it’s been really helpful in, not only the craft side of things and industry side of things, but also feeling quite supportive. I find RWA’s sense of community is quite strong and writing can often be a very isolating experience so it’s nice to be able to have a whole community that you can just call on and go, “Hey, guys. I’ve been having a terrible time with my writing.” Or, “Hey, this has happened. I’ve got this three-book deal. Isn’t that wonderful?” And everyone’s very happy for them so it’s really nice to be able to be part of that community.

Sarah Williams:            Yeah. Absolutely. And have you found anyone who writes similar to you in terms of being paranormal? If they like someone else, they might like you sort of thing? Who can you kind of draw on? Apart from maybe Anne Rice.

Daniel de Lorne:           Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. At the start, it was a bit like a cross between Anne Rice and J.R. Ward’s “Black Dagger Brotherhood” but I don’t have anywhere near those numbers, which is a pity. Yeah. I’m not sure. I really like, she’s an English author and she does a lot of historical but a lot of historical paranormal as well, so her name’s K.J. Charles and she writes, as far as I’m concerned, excellent male/male romance with paranormal [inaudible 00:12:20]. Yeah. She just blows my mind, what she can do [inaudible 00:12:25], so, yeah. Yep.

Sarah Williams:            Fantastic. Well, we’ll have to try a new genre now, so paranormal and paranormal gay romance it sounds [crosstalk 00:12:35].

Daniel de Lorne:           Yeah. Yeah. I mean, people sort of say, “Oh, the usual term is male/male romance.” But I always think it’s such a mouthful and, I don’t know, sometimes I don’t feel I actually sit quite strongly in it, mostly because male/male is very much a … so it’s mostly written by straight women and read by straight women. And then gay fiction is something a bit separate. So gay fiction is usually written by gay men and it’s a bit more sort of cultural. The love story isn’t the point of a lot of those stories, or if it is, it’s not exactly a romance. So it might not have the happy ever after and that sort of structure, so there’s a bit of a gap between them. So I kind of say, well, I write gay romance because I kind of write it more for … I think of, would I want to read this? And I go, yes. So I definitely want people to read the books, but in terms of putting a tagline to it, yeah, I prefer gay romance because it’s where I like to sit.

Sarah Williams:            Yeah. That’s it. And your book [crosstalk 00:14:00] vampires?

Daniel de Lorne:           I also think male/male is a bit of a mouthful. Yeah.

Sarah Williams:            Yeah. So tell us about the storyline of your first two books. So they’re twin brothers and they’re also vampires?

Daniel de Lorne:           Yeah. So the first two books … Well, the series is called Bonds of Blood series and starts off with Thierry and Olivier. They’re twin brothers and they were made into vampires in the late 1300s in Carcassonne, France. And Olivier is obsessed with his brother Thierry so he’s got this very obsessive love for him, whereas Thierry is pining over a lost love of his, Etienne. And so the story goes through three time periods, so about 1390, 1790, and today. And it’s the two brothers going through time and the return of Thierry’s lost love throughout those time periods as well, and the conflict between Thierry and Olivier.

Daniel de Lorne:           And so that’s the sort of main romantic thread that runs through it. It’s this unrequited love story but also there’s another threat, so Olivier is … Olivier is actually my favorite character but he’s quite reprehensible. He’s not exactly evil but he just embraces his vampiric nature and isn’t going to apologize for it but … and doesn’t want to apologize for his love for his brother but his brother is just not having a bar of it. So that’s what takes place in the first book.

Daniel de Lorne:           And then the second is about their sister, Aurelia, and a much bigger plot that involves witches and demons and the vampires as well. And then the third and final book will wrap all that up and bring it to its ultimate climax. But each one has a love story through them.

Sarah Williams:            Excellent. So are you working on the third one at the moment?

Daniel de Lorne:           Well, I’ve … it took so long. I finally finished the third one just before my birthday and submitted that to Escape. So that will be sitting with them and who knows when I’ll get the feedback from that but I’m hoping it’s all good.

Sarah Williams:            Good things take time.

Daniel de Lorne:           Hope they don’t want too many revisions and then [inaudible 00:16:38] will be out at some point. So working on that. There’s another project I’ve got in the pipeline that will hopefully come out this year. It’s a little bit of a departure. And then I also worked on a contemporary novella, which is quite a departure from what I usually do. But I was treating it as sort of a palate cleanser to this dark, angsty, highly emotional story and I was like, “Okay. Well, let’s just have this nice contemporary romance between these two men and see what happens there.” But it’s actually turned out to be one that I kind of like. So that’s out with some friends at the moment for a bit of an edit and I’ll see, when it comes back, who I give that to.

Daniel de Lorne:           Yeah. And I’m trying to work more on increasing the output and not taking so much of a lull time. Because usually, I write the book, I edit the book, and then between writing, it would be sort of three months, four months, five months, before I write anything new, so trying to keep that habit going and keep the tap flowing sort of thing.

Sarah Williams:            Yeah. Absolutely. No, that’s brilliant. So tell us where we can find you online. I’ve spotted your website and it’s a really brilliant website. I really recommend everyone to go on and have a look at it. It’s so pretty.

Daniel de Lorne:           Well, I’d say, you can see me on my website, DanieldeLorne.com. I’m also on Facebook, and I’m on Twitter, and I’m on Instagram so just search for Daniel de Lorne. Love to have you all following me.

Sarah Williams:            Yep. Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for being on the show today, Daniel. Appreciate it.

Daniel de Lorne:           Thank you very much for having me.

Sarah Williams:            Thanks for joining me today. I hope you enjoyed the show. Jump onto my website, SarahWilliamsAuthor.com and join my mailing list to receive a free preview of my books and lots of inspiration. If you like the show and want it to continue, you can become a sponsor for just a couple of dollars a month. Got to patreon.com/SarahWilliamsAuthor to find out more and remember to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel and leave a review of the podcast. I’ll be back next week with another loved-up episode. Bye.