My guest in today's New and Debut is Nem Rowan, author of Witcheskin, trans m/m fantasy with a bit of horror thrown in, which was just released by LT3 press. Come meet the author and learn what books he likes to read and write.
Meet Nem
1. Tell us about yourself and why did you decide to become a
romance writer?
My name’s Nem Rowan and I’m originally from Bristol in
England, but I’ve lived in South Wales for nearly 6 years now, so my friends
count me as an honorary Welshman! I was assigned female at birth and began to
transition to male at the age of 23 after years of knowing something wasn’t
right about my identity. I started writing romance when I was about 10 – 11
years old; I invented a whole host of fictional alien characters (largely
because I watched a lot of anime, like Tenchi Muyo and Dragonball Z) and
developed an enormous crush on the shape-sifting space-man who was the love
interest in my stories. After that, the romance genre was the staple for all of
my somewhat embarrassing early works, and I began to explore LGBT+ themes in my
mid-teens after meeting my wife-to-be at school. My work now is a celebration
of what it feels like to be in love and an acknowledgment of the fact that even
the odd-balls and black sheep deserve love too.
2. Can you share some of your favourite books and authors?
I’m a really slow reader so my choice of favourites is quite
small, but I am a huge fan of James Herbert and J.V. Jones. Although usually
depicted in a negative capacity because of the era they were written, I always
liked that James Herbert included gay and lesbian characters in his novels. My
favourite book by him is The Ghosts of Sleath because I simply adore his
character, David Ash. J.V. Jones’s currently incomplete book series, the Sword
of Shadows, is my all-time most loved collection of novels, ones that I keep
going back to time and time again because I find Jones’s writing style so
accessible and so vivid. I also enjoy work by Dan Simmons, Juliet Marillier and
Diana Wynne Jones.
3. Who/what do you consider your writing
influence/inspiration?
My biggest influence is my wife, April-Jane Rowan, as we
have been writing together since we met, almost 15 years ago now. Co-writing
with her changed the way I wrote in quite a big way, and perhaps vice versa.
Her work is highly descriptive, darkly sinister and flows like poetry, and I
often feel quite plain when I compare my work to hers, but she always keeps me
striving to be a better writer. My greatest inspiration is the sensation of
falling in love, which may sound rather cheesy, but it’s a feeling that is like
no other and that is very important to me. Writing enables me to fall in love
over and over again and I think that’s what has kept the relationship with my
wife so alive for all this time because that feeling never goes away.
4. What kind of stories can the readers expect from you
(contemporary/historical/sci-fi, adult/NA/YA, etc)?
Adult romantic urban fantasy with a side order of horror,
although I would like to branch out into high fantasy and other speculative
fiction genres. Currently I am in the process of writing a contemporary
romance, but it’s not something I’m used to so I’ve made it as unusual as I
can, to keep myself interested!
5. Please, introduce your latest/upcoming release.
My upcoming release is called Witcheskin, and it is the
first novel in an urban fantasy trilogy. It follows a young transgender man
named Owen, who has been documenting a series of brutal cattle mutilations surrounding
a tiny village on the South Wales coastline. He meets an older man named
Maredudd, who is originally from Iran, and Maredudd gradually introduces him to
the secret world of witchcraft, which eventually enables them to solve the
mystery. Along the way, they fall madly in love with each other. It is a dark
urban fantasy coupled with a sweet, fluffy M/M romance, and will be released on
the 28th of February, published by Less Than Three Press.
Story blurb:
Following the disappearance of his father, Owen returns to the Welsh village where his parents grew up to live with his mother and her boyfriend. While pursuing the mystery of cattle mutilations in the area, he meets Maredudd, an old friend of his mother's, and learns something about his parents that they've never told him...
Author bio and links
Nem Rowan lives in Wales with his wife of 13 years and his two German Shepherds. He enjoys studying mythology, the occult and British folklore, and is an avid bird-watcher. He is also fascinated by psychology and the dynamics of diverse romantic relationships. Nem’s characters are facets of his own personality and he uses writing as a means of exploring his own psyche, sexuality and persona. However, he believes that a story with a sad ending isn’t worth writing!
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