For me latest Author Spotlight, I’m joined by the fabulous Rikki Leighton. We talked about tackling personal issues via fiction, having slightly chaotic vibes but using music for all occasions while writing, and their love of hurt/comfort.

Over to you, Rikki…

First things first, please introduce yourself!
My name is Rikki, and I am a queer, trans author who is very much still a chaotic mess figuring my identity out. I am a parent to two small children in the southern United States, but I really get to exist as myself in the queer author community.

Tell us a little bit about your writing style.
My stories are very character driven, usually with a starting plot idea that spirals onto whatever path the boys decide on. It constantly feels like that GPS voice going “recalculating” at every turn. Hurt/Comfort is my number one go-to trope; I’m not sure I could write a story without it. I’ve recently found that I really enjoy exploring kink in my writing but on a very novice, low protocol scale.

I tend to be kind of wordy, and I bounce around between really simplistic sentence structures to like a pretty prose habit that I picked up from writing fanfiction years ago. It’s a very delicate balance that my friends and editors have to help me piece together.

Describe your books in only three words.
Emotional, messy, and honest.

What’s your next book about and when’s it coming out?
My next book is my first journey into the sports world with Cherry Picking, which is a teammates to lovers, secret relationship, hockey romance. It is about an older, veteran minor league player, Riley, who is coming out of a long-term, hidden relationship and meets the new goalie on his team, Griffin, who is a hot-headed, mouthey, younger player who has bounced his way around the minors.

It is very much a story about closure from past relationships and accepting that you deserve to be happy even if you weren’t able to give someone else that happiness before. It’s about regret and pining and “choose me. I’m here.”

It comes out on July 10 and is part of a multi-author series surrounding the same minor league season: The Games We Play. I have fallen in love with these characters and this world, so don’t be surprised if they pop up elsewhere.

Out of all your books, which one are you most proud of?
Dare & Domination 100%. This book took me the longest to write and forced me to tackle a lot of trauma and other things in my life. It is my first book to have a trans main character—of which there will be many—and he deals with depression, assault, and coping in ways that might seem unconventional (specifically through kink: spanking and CNC). How these were portrayed was and is very important to me, and I am extremely proud of how it came out and the character that Shiloh turned into.

This book baby might not be my best selling, but I’m proud of the story I told and the journey it took to get there.

What or who (or both) has influenced you most as a writer?
Since the beginning of my publishing journey, one of my biggest influences has been Loren Leigh. Something about her books just resonates with me and inspires me and fills me with so much motivation to dig into my own stories. The way she evokes emotion and the style she writes sparks something in me. Whenever I’m struggling to connect with something in my stories, I tend to go back and read bits and pieces of Always because it activates something in my brain; I couldn’t tell you what.

Non-genre-author influences are mostly just music. Artists like Taylor Swift, Xana, Icon For Hire, their music builds these stories and feelings in my head and give weight to emotions that end up burrowing themselves into my stories.

What inspired you to start writing?
I’ve been writing since the third grade. I wrote a short story called ‘Angel the Angel Dog’ (listen, I was like 8!) all written in my messy handwriting with a crayon doodled cover. My parents stapled it all together for me, and I paraded it around my classroom like I’d just done the coolest thing. And I never stopped. I discovered fanfiction in 5th grade, and I wrote constantly. Most things I never posted online, just sat collecting dust on my computer, but I was still writing.

I lost the passion for about two years. I had an autistic toddler who took up all of my time. Then, right after having my second child, I discovered KU and wondered if the gay stories I loved to read was a thing outside of fanfiction. I’d never tried writing pure romance before, but I fell in love with it.

At the beginning of 2022 I started a novel that I got 30k words into and scrapped. Started a side project that would end up being the first novel I’ve ever completed (one that I haven’t published yet but plan to go back to one day). And I haven’t been able to stop. There’s always something I want to write. Always characters speaking and shouting at me. These days I’m mostly inspired by music. I go into my stories with vibes and not much else.

What’s your writing process like? Do you have a typical “writing day”?
I wish I had a tried and true process, but honestly most days are just chaotic. I have two small children who are home all day and aren’t big fans of letting me have dedicated work time. So, a lot of my writing is just little spurts in-between whatever they need.

Whenever I do get a little bit of time just for working, I’ve got music. Multiple playlists per book. There’s the general playlist. There’s usually a sexy playlist. Sometimes I make ones for specific chapters. And then I have my ‘background noise’ Youtube videos that can be anything from rain and thunder sounds to a hockey arena. Whatever vibes I need.

I love joining sprint rooms with my friends. Preferably ones where we aren’t on actual clocks because I’m interrupted a lot and it zaps my motivation to start a timed sprint and get a fraction of what my friends get because I had to get up four times.

What comes first for you – the plot or the characters?
Often an aspect of the plot, be it tropes or a specific scene. The characters form while I’m figuring it out, and more often than not, they change the plot as I write. I have a hard time coming up with a clear picture from the start, and it always morphs around as I learn more about the characters. So even if they don’t always come first, they make sure the plot serves them well!

What’s a book that you wish you’d written?
Surviving the Merge by CP Harris. That book has stuck with me so hard. Those characters live in my head constantly. There is an entire album that I listened to around the time I read it that I can’t hear without daydreaming about the characters. It was just such a beautiful and complex story, and I aspire to reach that intensity some day.

If you could only write one trope for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
If I had to pick a trope and all others basically got erased from my ability to write, it will always be hurt/comfort. Because I can make do with that. As long as I can trauma bond with my characters, we’re golden.

What would be your three desert island books?
Face Offs and Cheap Shots by Eden Finley & Saxon James
Love Me Whole by Nicky James
Presidential Chaos by Saxon James

If one of your books could be made into a movie/TV series, which would you choose and who would you cast?
Probably an unpopular choice, but I’d choose Under the Twilight Rainfall! It was my debut and is the most cinematic in my head. I’d cast Paulo Avelino for Valen and Oliver Stark for Dex.

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?
Hobbies? People still have those? GASP. If I’m not writing or taming my goblins, I’m usually chilling either listening to music (which I do as if it were a sport) or watching a plethora of TV shows (right now it’s 9-1-1)

Finally, what’s your favourite dinosaur?
Cera from The Land Before Time. It tracks that my youngest kiddo’s favorite word is triceratops.

RIKKI LEIGHTON (they/he) is a trans author writing queer romance packed with heat and heartache, who loves exploring all facets of a character’s identity. Heartfelt stories that tear at the heartstrings are their brand and obsession. Writing is both their escape and their tool to better understand themself and the people around them.

For more information on Rikki and their work you can sign up for their newsletter, and follow them on Instagram, and Amazon. You can also join his Facebook Reader Group for the latest news and updates.