For me latest Author Spotlight, I’m joined by the amazing RJ Scott. We talked about not being able to imagine not writing, library visits with her dad, writing about love and family, and the importance of numerous cups of tea!

Take it away RJ…

First things first, please introduce yourself!
Hi everyone! My name is RJ Scott, and I’ve been a published author of MM Romance books for 14 years in March. I’m probably best known for my Single Dads books, or Texas, Wyoming, or maybe even one of my standalone christmas stories like The Christmas Throwaway. Not to mention the billionty million hockey romance books I’ve co-authored. Welcome to my visit, and thank you to Charlie for letting me in!!!

Tell us a little bit about your writing style.
I wouldn’t know where to start with my writing style. I’ve written romantic suspense, contemporary family, paranormal, sports,… I guess what ties it all together is that in my books there is always family – either the one the heroes are born into, or the family they find… and I always have a HEA 🙂

Describe your books in only three words.
Family. Love. Forever.

What’s your next book about and when is it coming out?
My next book is Spring Rains (Wyoming 3), the teacher and the diner owner, and is Chris’ story (for those in the know!). 

You can pre-order it on all platforms here: https://rjscott.co.uk/books/spring-rains 

When love is on the line, the only way to move forward is to challenge ghosts of the past and find a place to belong.

High School Teacher Chris, an amputee since his teens, has wrestled with darkness and emerged victorious. He’s a pillar of strength in the classroom, deflecting his overbearing family by day and yearning for love by night. Yet a recent reminder of his fragility at the Lennox ranch has stirred spectres of his past. Enter Noah and his son, Fox, who bring a glimmer of hope into Chris’s life, igniting a fire that dares him to fight for love once more.

After big-city pastry chef Noah inherits his great aunt Lilly’s diner in the small Wyoming town of Whisper Ridge, he can finally escape the painful memories and media fallout of an abusive marriage. He wants to rebuild their lives in a safe place, but starting over isn’t easy when money is running out, the rainbow flag in his window draws the attention of the local fire-and-brimstone pastor, and the past rears its ugly head. Through it all, Noah must decide if he’s ready to open his heart again, especially to his son’s teacher.

Noah and Chris fall in love, stand up for what is right, fight their demons, and find a happy ever after despite the odds.

Out of all your books, which one are you most proud of?
This is like choosing a favorite child! The Christmas Throwaway and The Heart of Texas are the books that made my career. I’m so proud of them i could burst. BUT… with my recent books, then it has to be What Lies Beneath, Book 1 in my romantic suspense small town series, Lancaster Falls. https://rjscott.co.uk/series/lancaster-falls

What or who (or both) has influenced you most as a writer?
My parents are my biggest inspiration. My dad used to take me to the library every other week, and when I’d read all the stuff in the junior section he loaned me his adult card so I could read the big books. This is how I ended up reading LOTR aged 12, not really understanding it all, but falling in love with Sam and Strider LOL. Unfortunately we lost him a while back now, but my mum is still with us and is a huge reader, as is my sister. We’re a family of readers! 

What inspired you to start writing?
Reading inspired me to write. I’ve been writing stories since i was old enough to be able to write. The stories are in my head all the time and I just had to get them down on paper! I couldn’t imagine not getting the stories out of my head!

What’s your writing process like? Do you have a typical “writing day”?
I more or less work 7 days a week ( :O ) with Saturday and Sunday lighter days where I fit in admin etc around real life. 

But a typical writing day, or what I call a weekday is something like this:
5:00 (#menopause) I get up, cup of tea, and read for a couple of hours in silence.
7:30 My boys are up (husband, and my son Matt), I’m off into the office with cup of tea 2. I have an office on the second floor up in our house, and I have a fab view of the park outside. I write 2500 ish in the morning, catch up on emails, fill in interviews etc. Numerous cups of tea follow.
1:30 ish, 20 minutes or so for lunch, luckily my husband is the one who does the cooking, so I just have to turn up in the kitchen! More tea of course. 
Back upstairs, and I work until 5is, or nearer 6 sometimes, and I will get another chapter in 2500 ish. 
During all of this, my son, Matthew, likes to visit the office. He has autism and doesn’t have conversational boundaries, and so he often launches into talking for no reason – still I get hugs out of him, so it’s a win win. 
More tea happens. 
Then it’s downstairs, more reading, more tea, dinner, time with hubby in the evening, and bed… 
Yep, a lot of writing and a TON of tea 😉

What comes first for you – the plot or the characters?
That is also an impossible question – they all kind of happen together. And no, I genuinely have no idea how it happens. LOL

What’s a book that you wish you’d written?
Anything by Leighton Greene LOL… I have serious mobster romance envy.

If you could only write one trope for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Hurt Comfort Action Adventure Romantic suspense… I mean that is just one trope, right?

What would be your three desert island books?
Chesapeake series – Nora Roberts *blinks innocently at this being 4 books*
Leighton Greene books (blinks again)
Also, I’d have something I’ve never read before but that has the most intriguing cover ever… 

If one of your books could be made into a movie/TV series, which would you choose and who would you cast?
OMG! The Christmas Throwaway… Timothy Chalomet as Zach… and someone else as Ben. Who? I have no idea… but TC as Zach… yep, I see that.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing? Do you have a secret passion or hobby that we don’t know about?
I do some watercolour abstract painting, that’s my wind down thing. I make family birthday cards with the art, and then send the rest out to readers when they want my signed books. 
Also I read. 
Like I read EVERYTHING.

Finally, what’s your favourite dinosaur?
The round one with the spines on it’s back… I need to check what one that is… BRB… back… Stegosaurus… I think they’re cute, and they were always being pinned down by TRex’s in the old black and white movies, and that just wasn’t fair. 🙁 Poor Steggy.

RJ SCOTT, author of Gay M/M romance
🌈  Writing love stories with a happy ever after
USA Today Bestselling Author. RJ spends every minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing. The last time she had a week’s break from writing, she didn’t like it one little bit, and has yet to meet a box of chocolates she couldn’t defeat.
🇬🇧 England | UK | Buckinghamshire
🥰 Mum | Wife | Sister | Daughter | Family | She/her
🐝 Proud Autism Mom
🏎️ Ferrari F1
🏒 NHL Pittsburgh Penguins 🐧
🍂☃️ Fall/Winter vibes
📚 Reading
🎨 Painting

For more information on RJ and her work you can visit her website, sign up for her newsletter, and follow her on Instagram, Facebook, BookBub, and Amazon. You can also join her Facebook Reader Group for more news and updates.