Ella Braeme is visiting and talking about Who She Was Before #MFRWAuthor #Writing #author #contemporary #small town romance

 1. What were you before you became an author? Did this influence your choices as a writer?

I used to be a high school teacher. That job can be tough, and at times I took refuge in reading romances. So in a way I'm just giving now what I used to take. My books are meant to be a breather from everyday life—we all need that every once in a while.

 

2. Are you genre specific or general? I don’t mean major genres but subdivisions or romance, mystery or paranormal.

My books all are contemporary small-town romances, they are all novellas, and there's always a little steam. In my new series, the heroes are mountain men. I suppose that's become a subgenre of itself by now.

 

3. What is your latest release?

My latest book out is Fake Fiancé Santa in the Season's Sweethearts anthology. It's the first time I share a book with other authors, and I am a little excited about it. I hope that doesn't come across as uncool—we all want to be cool, right?—but collaborating instead of doing everything myself is thrilling. I'm happy to be in that collection.

Fake Fiancé Santa is a novella with a Christmas setting. I never had tried that before, as I was worried it might end up being corny. Writing it, I realized that Christmas romance simply is a corny genre and decided to go with it. I'm quite happy with the outcome.

4. What are you working on now?

After writing Fake Fiancé Santa, I've written another book, that will be released December 4th: Butting Heads with Her Mountain Man. So I deserve a vacation right now. My husband and I will huddle in front of the fireplace in a beach cabin. That's going to be awesome. Peaceful. Energizing.

My next book is in early planning stages—I've got stacks of index cards with ideas and sketches lying everywhere. Maybe I will take them all with me to our cabin so that I can organize them into a proper plot. I will start writing right after the vacation.

That new book will be part of another anthology: Mic Drop. It will be released in March.

 

5. Does your reading choices influence your choice of a writing career?

Writing in a genre that I have been reading in for years seems to be a neccessity. I can't write what I don't read. I read other genres too, mostly fantasy or science fiction. Writing romance can be daunting, but it's doable. I know myself—I'd get lost in the world building of fantasy or science fiction and would never get even a single line written. Maybe some other time, but honestly, there is so much within the genre of contemporary romance for me to discover... I don't think I'll ever write anything else.

 

6. Where can we find you?

I hang out on Instagram @ellawritesromance, I've got a website ellabraeme.com, and a newsletter. And of course, an email address, ella@ellabraeme.com. I actually do read my emails and as of now, I still have time to answer.