Nope, it’s a pseudonym. I used to have a day job that I didn’t want to complicate with my writerly side hustle, but now I just like my privacy.

People have occasionally told me they feel strange about interacting with a penname rather than what they believe is my “real” name. But the truth is, we all use multiple names over the course of our lives, and some people—for a whole variety of reasons—may not feel represented by the name they were given at birth at all. To me, our “real” name(s) are simply those names that feel like who we are.

The truth is, I’ve been Alexis Hall for nearly a decade now. The name is as much mine as the one I was given when I was born, and I’m very comfortable being addressed this way. If you feel differently, that might be a you problem.

My pronouns are whatever. Life is too short for me to chase my tail trying to get strangers to use my preferred pronouns so I’ll just nod and smile politely whatever you go for.

I do, however, strongly encourage you to respect other people’s pronouns.

For the same reason, I’m still using a penname. I like my privacy and I’m, err, I’m allowed to have some.

Short answer: no.

Long answer: different people exist in different contexts and there’s a whole huge area of discourse around the pressure on LGBTQ+ people in general, and writers in particular, to be “out” in a very specific way that is only really viable, appropriate or comfortable for some people. This has got sufficiently complex that, for example, the organisation We Need Diverse Books have formally retired their use of the “own voices” label because of the problematic expectations it creates.

From a more literary perspective, I’m personally a strong believer that an author’s work should speak for itself and, while I would never discourage other authors from positioning themselves differently (as long as they don’t use their platform to harm people), I actively don’t want to centre myself in my own work.

In general, I’m not comfortable answering extremely personal questions. Firstly–as I’ve already stated–I’m a private person, as well as far too British to talk about my sex life, but mostly I’m just not very interesting. And I’m not saying that in order to be charmingly self-deprecating: I’m saying that because, well, if I had an interesting life I wouldn’t have all this time to write.

Plus, as I’ve said often, and publicly, I very much believe that an author’s books should speak for themselves.

Quicunque vult salvus esse is the opening of the Athanasian Creed, roughly translated as ‘whoever wants to be saved’. The Creed itself is often known by its opening words quicunque vult or “whoever wants to.” Which naturally became early 19th century slang for prostitute. I just think it’s an amazing little piece of linguistic mischief  and encompasses rather a lot of my favourite things (blasphemy, language, sex, history). I should probably clarify that I am not at this juncture interested in exchanging sex for money (just books) so it’s admittedly a somewhat misleading name for my website. But I prefer to see it as a kind of philosophy about living, writing and reading.

Me, my books, and this site, are here for whoever wants to.

Because I think it’s funny, honestly, to have a pseudonym with an irrelevant initial.

And because AJH is a more memorable diminutive than AH. Plus, I’ve written at least one character called Alex, so it would very confusing if I started going about calling myself Alex too.

Absolutely it is. Please visit my contact page for more information.

Because I kind of don’t feel … qualified to? Romance is a complicated and intersectional place, and I’ve been repeatedly told I don’t belong in it. So, you know, when you folks figure that out, I’ll figure out blurbing.

First of all, thank you so much for asking! I’m genuinely touched that you would want to spend time with me. But I prefer to keep my writing and my personal life separate.

Well, I’m kind of small-fry so I don’t get invited to do the really high profile author stuff. And, frankly, given how neurotic I am that’s only a good thing for everyone. On top of which, the bit of the author job I enjoy most is … the writing bit? So I like that’s what I get to spend the bulk of my time doing and it’s probably what I’d choose to do even if I was massive and super famous, and got invited to all the cool author parties.

All of which said, if there’s something you would like me to do, be it an interview, a podcast, or a virtual event, please do get in touch. I’m generally up for most things, as long as you’re comfortable with me being a hot mess and analysing every question from six different directions before telling you I don’t really know.

Do be aware, though, that I’ve never done a panel because I’m concerned about taking a space from a more marginalised writer, although in practice I tend to get replaced by a cishet white person so I should probably rethink that position. All of which said, about 95% panel invitations I do receive are solely related to my identity — which I turn down on principle anyway because, for me, in this specific professional context, I am a writer before I am anything else and I would like the same opportunities to talk about writing type things as straight cis writers get.

Because I’m horrendously self-conscious.

I’m very flattered that a video message from me is possibly something that someone might want, but as I’m a private person, that wouldn’t be the kind of thing I’d feel comfortable doing. 

This is going to sound rude but … um. No. I’m not saying that you’re not a great person, and that I wouldn’t like you, because you probably are and I probably would, but parasocial relationships are a thing, and they’re a thing that can be quite harmful in both directions.

It’s really important to me that readers feel safe to interact with me and play in my spaces, and given the complicated power dynamics between writers and readers the last thing I would ever want to do is exploit anyone or make them perform emotional labour for me.

I do hope you understand where I’m coming from here.

You can read all about Alexis Crossing here. But, in short, it’s a scheme whereby you can sign up and receive a hand written letter from me at some point in the future. And it is definitely still happening. I usually send out a couple of letters of month so if you sign up there is at least a moderate probability you will get yours before one of us dies. Yay!

Please email my assistant Mary! For business enquiries, I recommend getting in touch with my agent.

If a release date can’t be found on a book’s individual page, the release schedule, or on the websites of book retailers then there isn’t one just yet. Please try to be patient.

Maybe? While I wish and hope all of my books are made available to as many readers as possible, I’m afraid I don’t have any control over which of my books get translated into which languages. But if it’s possible for a particular translation to happen then it definitely will. You can find all current translated editions listed on the individual book page for each of my books.

Because that’s just the way traditional publishing works.

Mostly because it takes a while for all the various distribution channels to synch up with each other. Please just be patient (and try not to shout at Mary) and the book will appear in your region/preferred format. There is nothing I (or anybody) can do to speed this process up I’m afraid.

The only exceptions to this rule are:

• e-books/audiobooks published by Montlake will only be available from Amazon/Audible. (Paperbacks may be available from non-Amazon retailers.)
• e-books/audiobooks published by Kobo will only be available from Kobo.
• if I am working with both a British and a US publisher, while audio and e-book dates will match, the UK edition of the paperback may sometimes come out later.

This sort of thing very much depends on the publisher, though most publishers will aim for global distribution across the English-speaking parts of the world. The best way to find out if a book of mine is, or will be, available in your region is to look it up on the search engine or book retailer of your choice. I’m sorry I can’t offer more specific guidance here but the world is a big place and geo-locking means I can’t always see what’s available in individual countries.

I’m afraid I don’t have control over either of these factors. I sincerely understand the value of a stellar audio performance, and I’m grateful to all the actors who have narrated my books so wonderfully, but it’s not within my power to insist that an audiobook is released, or that it is narrated by a particular person.

Maybe? Additionally, I’ve been super fortunate that some of my books have been made into special editions that I’ve then signed (I recommend checking a book’s individual page to see if a special edition is available). And occasionally I will do a giveaway (which is always open internationally) on my Instagram.

Signed bookplates may be available as part of the pre-order incentive package for new releases. If you want to see what’s available, my Instagram or my newsletter will publicise the details.

A signed bookplate is still signed! It’s still real. It’s still me signing my name. I’m really not sure why what you’re writing on determines the legitimacy of a signature and I feel it’s probably a little bit ableist to imply that things are inherently less valuable if they’re not done a certain way. Not everyone is in a position where they can physically receive things to sign or can sign all the things.

I don’t have anywhere for books to be sent to. But if you’d like a signed book from me, I do have a blog post explaining how that could maybe happen. I also frequently sign bookplates as part of preorder campaigns.

Absolutely not. That feels beyond presumptuous to me.

I’m afraid I’m not involved at all in the distribution of ARCs of my work. I leave this entirely to my publishers so you’ll have to go via one of the ARC-request services (NetGalley or Edelweiss) or contact the publisher directly. I don’t think it’s right for me to intervene in this process because a) I am getting in the way the publisher doing their job and b) it would inadvertently set up a two-tier system of ARC-distribution between those who felt confident enough to approach the author, and those who didn’t. And I do believe ARC-distribution should be as fair as possible.

I’m even further removed from the audiocode side of things because this either is a different department in the publishing house or an audiobook production company that the publisher liaises with on my behalf. Once again, for audiocodes you’ll have to make a direct approach.

I do hope you understand.

Not all of my work is available in all formats and all territories at all times. In general, if it’s not there, it’s not available, but a search engine is your friend here, as is my books page, which Mary and I try to keep updated with links to my available work.

That said, please do be aware that some of my books have had multiple editions and you can occasionally find paperback variants of early editions going for hundreds and hundreds of pounds on second handbook sites. Do not, under any circumstances, purchase these – unless you are specifically looking for a first edition for some reason. My books are, and should be, available for reasonable prices.

Wherever it’s best/easiest for you to buy books is what’s best for me. Though if you’re able to, I will always encourage supporting your local indie, especially if they’re queer/romance friendly.

Yes—when Hollywood wants to make one! I promise you that the lack of an adaptation isn’t because of me.

Whatever you’re about to ask, whether it’s about format, actors, the screenplay, the distributor or anything else, the answer is “I don’t have control over that part of the process.” And even if I did, I know sod all about screenwriting. If one of my books was ever optioned for film or TV (which is super rare, and even if a book gets optioned, it’s even rarer that it would actually get made) I would under no circumstances attempt to micromanage other professional people trying to do the jobs in an area where they have far more experience than me.

Well, that would be a bit rubbish. But I’d still be very, very paid. And while I take my work seriously on my own behalf, I can’t be responsible for what other people do with it. Plus getting paid means I am more likely to be able to continue to write books because publishers like authors who make money. So while I wouldn’t say I was cynical about potential future adaptions, I am aware that (nearly!) anything that draws attention to an author’s career is broadly positive for the author, as is anything that makes money for the publisher. Though obviously I’m not saying any of this in a moral vacuum. If I ate a live shark that would probably generate a fair bit of attention, but not in any kind of useful or appropriate way.

Um. Nothing I’m afraid. You’re very entitled to those feelings, and I would never argue with you about them, but these are all aspects of book production, packaging and secondary media that I have very little control over. It goes without saying that I don’t love every cover I’ve ever received, or every aspect of every piece of secondary media associated with my books, but they were still created by someone. Being rude about that in public, whatever my personal tastes, would be really gross.

Again, that’s totally your right. And you have plenty of places to express that, be it by Amazon review, your personal social media or on Goodreads, none of which need to be directly into my face. I mean, obviously if you do want to tell me this directly to my face or by making sure I’m copied into your scathing review that’s also your right. I’m not going to argue with you or impinge upon your reader space. But do be aware, you’re probably going to come across as though you’re behaving quite rudely to me, which will be uncomfortable for both of us.

This is not something that lies within my control. The rights to special editions belong with my publishers and the companies that produce special edition versions of published books work with my publishers, not with me directly. Obviously, it is very gratifying when a company decides there is sufficient demand for a special edition of a particular book, but it is not my place to make promises to readers on the likelihood of this happening.

Whatever I happen to feel regarding special editions, it is not within my power to prevent a publisher from selling those rights as they see fit. When it comes to the existence of special editions, however, it is important to remember that they exist alongside the “standard” editions of the work and readers are wholly within their rights to purchase or not purchase them as they please. As a point of principle, while special editions of my work may contain some minor customisation (e.g. a letter from the author) they will never contain anything vital to the story itself. The standard edition of the book will always be the whole and correct version of the text.

I have no control over this whatsoever. A subscription box is basically just someone buying my books in bulk directly from the publisher and selling them on. I can no more influence which subscription boxes choose to include me than I can influence which branches of which bookshops choose to stock me.

Thank you for wanting to support me beyond my books, I’m super grateful. <3 I have so much respect and admiration for creative types who can and do make the Patreon model work. But I think I’d be … pretty terrible at it, working under that sort of pressure. So no Patreon for me.

I’m afraid that’s something I have no control over as my publishers decide formats. Please check an individual book’s page to see what formats it is available in.

As above, I’m aware that this is seriously non-ideal for readers not based in the US and Canada. Unfortunately giveaways are actually subject to gambling laws, which are complicated and vary from country to country. Because of this it is borderline impossible for a US-based publisher (and most of my publishers are US-based) to host international giveaways.

I completely understand that this can feel frustrating and alienating. Unfortunately my publishers decide which of my books go on sale when, how, and to whom. Of course I would personally prefer that everything to do with my books is as international as possible, but it’s not under my control.

That is incredibly thoughtful of you, but every time a reader buys / reads / reviews / talks about one of books, they are going above and beyond when it comes to supporting me. So I wouldn’t feel comfortable accepting anything more. Thank you very, very much, though. <3

Yes! I have a RedBubble, which has various bookish and Ducky themed items.

Okay, so.

First things first: you have an absolute right to think whatever you like about my books, whether positive or negative. I will gladly die on that hill for you. It just gets complicated when you want to express the negative directly to me.

Because I mean… how am I supposed to respond in a way that won’t come across as defensive? Or end up starting an argument with you? I’m definitely not trying to claim my work is, or should be, immune to criticism. It’s just everything I’ve written has been my best stab at whatever it was I was trying to do. Could it have been better? Yep. Would I have made different creative choices at a different time? Almost certainly. But the problem is, the book is done. The rights don’t belong to me any more (they belong to the publisher) and, so, even if I wanted to make changes—big or small—to the book, based on your feedback, I couldn’t.

The book that exists in the world is the book I’m stuck with. And I have to find ways to live with that.

To be fair, an understanding publisher might be willing to make small changes to the book that would be reflected in an update to the e-version and in any additional print runs. But even making a small change requires production to re-format the book, and re-upload it to vendor sites. Basically, it’s a big ask so I need to be fairly circumspect when it comes to how often I’m asking.

Also, I think, at this point it’s probably worth distinguishing between Actual Factual Errors (be that in the body of the text or the formatting of the text) and Creative Choices I Made That You Personally Don’t Like. In terms of the former, I am far more likely to want to take action and am far more likely to be supported in that by the publisher. As for the latter, that is far, far too complicated, as I’m sure you can understand, especially because my creative choices are my creative choices, and as a general rule, I’ll want to stand by them—even if you don’t agree with me, even if I’d not choose them today. And something that further complicates something already complicated is the fact that—when it comes to individual reactions to individual aspects of individual books—we’re already adrift in interpretative space.

I cite Death of the Author enough that it’s a joke at this point. But I do feel a need to clarify that when I’m talking about Death of the Author, what I mean is that I believe in your right to freely interpret my books as you choose, and I will never deny you that right, or attempt to contradict your interpretations. What Death of the Author doesn’t mean, however, is that I’m not allowed to have interpretations of my own. But just as I won’t allow my interpretations to supersede yours, it’s also not reasonable for you to expect me to alter my own in return. I’m going to think what I think about what I wrote, and I’m always going to know what my own intent was in writing. That’s not going to change because you read something a different way. And, honestly, that’s a positive thing. I think fiction should be able to support multiple perspectives and multiple interpretations, positive or negative, intentional or otherwise. It creates the space that allows my work, and my characters, to belong to you, as much as they belong to me.

And this is why I don’t think it’s useful for us to get into a debate. Oftentimes when someone is bringing me criticism, they’re not bringing me a factual error, they’re bringing me an issue of interpretation. And while I may not agree with your interpretations (occasionally they will even parse as “wrong” to me because they’re so far from my intent or seem to be deliberately flattening my intended nuance, but I fully acknowledge that what feels wrong to me, is just as capable of feeling right to you), it’s not my place to contradict them. I mean, do you really want to hear a “well, actually” from me? Of course not. You want to retain the integrity of your own experience with the text.

Which is totally okay. And why you’ll get a “thank you for taking the time to read my book” or a “sorry that book, or that aspect of the book, didn’t work for you” type response from me. There’s really nothing else I can say.

Basically, I don’t. I am very grateful to everyone who has taken the time to read and review my work (whether you liked it or not) but reviews are for readers, not writers. I will never engage with readers on reviews of my books or discussion threads about my books unless explicitly invited to do so—and even then I’d be terrified of potentially closing down the conversation.

Before asking me about a specific sequel, I advise you to visit my release schedule because there’s a possibility it’s already happening.

In general, though, if a sequel isn’t listed or has never been mentioned that’s because, for one reason or another, it isn’t happening. It’s possible I didn’t feel a sequel was necessary or that only a certain number of books were contracted with the relevant publisher. I think sometimes when readers ask if there’ll be a sequel to a particular week, they think it’s wholly my call. But it’s not. It depends on the publisher, it depends on the market, it depends on all kinds of things.

Because no set of content guidance can be fully exhaustive, cover every interpretation, or every personal experience. You will note I draw attention to this in the content guidance itself when I remind my readers that it is not intended to be exhaustive.

Because it fits their character. I know that can sometimes come across like an excuse, since characters are fictional and authors ultimately have control over what they say. In general, however, I do my best to take my use of language seriously, neither steering into provocative terms for the sake of shock value, while also recognising that it would feel inauthentic for every character I write to follow the exact same list of social taboos. My characters come from a range of backgrounds and cultures, and which words and phrases they avoid or don’t avoid are part of the way they express that.

This is kind of the same answer as above. Our idea of what counts as “historically authentic” is very skewed by what texts survive and the contexts in which those texts were written. And, for that matter, by the perceptions and misperceptions of those texts that have percolated into popular culture. A lot of terms that seem incredibly modern actually go back centuries, while a lot of terms that seem very historical-ey are actually fairly modern.

Plus, once again, these are novels not documentaries. Characters often use deliberately anachronistic language to give the text a modern sensibility. Like the way Bridgerton uses classical covers of modern songs in its soundtrack.

Two answers here.

The first is that the question of what the real historical attitudes of LGBTQ+ people were in any historical period, unless that period is incredibly recent, are actually pretty hard to pin down. There’s a tendency to assume that historical attitudes to, well, everything are just modern attitudes to everything but getting linearly worse the further back you go, and that’s not true. Nor do we actually know how people who died a century or more ago actually felt about anything in their day to day lives. We can make guesses based on the writings those people (those people who actually had their writings recorded, so mostly the rich and powerful) left behind but guesses are all they are. Assuming that every conversation in a Regency household sounded exactly like a Jane Austen novel is like assuming every conversation in an American household sounds like an episode of Succession.

The second is that I’m a novelist, not a historian. I use historical settings to explore themes and ideas I like and find interesting, and I don’t feel any particular obligation to hold to any standard of “realism” that doesn’t make for a good story. Nobody should be trying to learn history from my books.

Ah hah! I actually wrote an entire blog post all about this.

But the tl;dr is: I don’t think they are.

If you take a peek at my release schedule it should give you some idea.

From a purely legal perspective, I should probably highlight that I retain full derivative works rights over all of my material. But, having said that, I’m actually a big supporter of fanfic as a valuable and creative means of engaging with the text. So you can absolutely write fanfic based on my stuff without fear of being sued or being asked to cease and desist.

Theoretically yes. I’m afraid I have quite a busy schedule so I can’t always accept every opportunity that comes to me. As a general rule, I care less about the size or prestige of the outlet and more about the sincerity of the ask. If there’s something you’d like me to be involved in/with, please get in touch via my assistant Mary in the first instance.

It’s very unlikely. I make the choice about whose perspective a story will be told from (what the tense will be, if it will be first or third, or something weirder, if the book will be dual or single or multiple POV) very deliberately. I think you have to build a character from the ground up with the intent of their being a narrator (either now or in the future); for me, at least, it’s not something you can reverse engineer.

Mostly, I’m just very interested in language. I also have a real problem with prevailing attitudes to non-standard dialects, at least in my country. In many circles it’s actively socially prestigious to be ignorant of the many ways in which English can be spoken and that profoundly offends me. So something I try to do in my writing is to reflect the diversity of spoken English, at least within the country that I live.

• Sand and Ruin and Gold: This is a freebie for new subscribers to my newsletter.
• Wintergreen: Currently unavailable to download – but if you want to read it from when it was originally published on my blog, you can find it here.
• My last Husband: Currently unavailable.
• Glass: Currently unavailable.
• Draconitas: Download in the format of your choice here.

How awesome of you to ask! Yes it is and you can find links to specific audio editions on the page for the individual book. For example, if you’re interested in the audio edition of Boyfriend Material, just go to the Boyfriend Material book page.

I’m afraid not. As important as I feel it is to support young people in cultivating their love of reading and writing, the sad fact is that I get too many of these requests to say yes to all of them, so the only fair answer is to say no to everybody.

For the moment, that’s unlikely. The rights for the Ardy series remain with the original publisher and (as with Spires) I’d need whatever publishing partner working with me on a re-release to have a strong vision for the series. While I would love to see Ardy re-packaged to fit the current marketplace and released in trade paperback, it would be detrimental to the books and to my career in general to allow this series to be re-published by a publisher who wasn’t committed to making them a success.

As much as it was a privilege being able to spend the amount of time I did with Ardy & Caspian, I think their story is mostly done. While there’s part of me that does think there’s a potential fourth book in their story (I’d like to see them really making a go of things), I do feel I left them very much in love, and in a good and hopeful place.

If I ever get the chance to revisit the world of Ardy, then I would absolutely love to write books for George, Nathaniel, & Ellery. Given the publisher who currently hold the rights to the series, though, it’s very unlikely to happen.

So, in the strict terms of the RWA definition of genre romance (a genre romance contains a central love story, and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending) I could claim it is. There’s a central love story and I do believe the ending is emotionally satisfying and, in its own way, optimistic. I think one of the more, honestly, problematic aspects of the RWA definition of romance is that it goes on to clarify that “an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending” requires “emotional justice and unconditional love.” I will say that NA’s ending contains unconditional love. But I think the idea of “emotional justice” is extremely complicated for people of marginalised identity, even in the present day. The truth is, it may simply not be possible for some of us to secure whatever might be recognised as “emotional justice” by people who live their lives within a white, abled-bodied, neurotypical, cishet paradigm.

I would say that Never After is a romance in that it explores unconditional love but is not able to fully deliver emotional justice to its characters, because of their identities and the time in which they’re living. They do, however, reach an emotional compromise that I believe allows them both to live full, meaningful and happy lives in which the other person continues to play a significant role.

Please see the answer above for more context. This will describe the end of the story in full detail, so you can make an informed decision about whether you want to read it.

In Never After, the protagonists are ultimately unable to find a way to live together as the married couple they ultimately perceive themselves as. Thomas is a priest and feels a deep obligation to his parish and, indeed, to his God. For Micha to stay with him it would likely compromise his reputation and endanger his future, and damage his capacity to fulfil a vocation he has come to sincerely feel by the end of the book. (Ironically Micha’s secular love taught Thomas to believe in heavenly love.) As for Micha, he wants to be able to live openly with a man he loves, not in shame and secrecy. By the end of Never After, Thomas and Micha have come to a compromise in which Micha will stay with Thomas as often as he can—even if Micha takes other lovers as well—and that this is enough to sustain their love for a lifetime. In the epilogue, which takes place many, many years later, we learn that this was, indeed, the case. Thomas has died (not tragically, he has just died, people get old and die, it will happen to us all) and, at his grave, Micha—along with Thomas’s adopted daughter—reflects on his hopes for a future where love like the one he shared with Thomas can exist without any compromise at all.

This is a question that the book deliberately doesn’t dwell on because I really didn’t want to be encouraging readers to obsess about the specifics of a trans woman’s body. Romance is in very large part about allowing the reader to live a fantasy and the particular fantasy I wanted Viola to embody included being able to be accepted as a trans woman without having to constantly worry about getting clocked or outed.

Basically this, as Amberglass was originally contracted to this publisher. While I hate to leave his story unfinished, I do not currently have a publisher for this book.

They won’t, I’m afraid. Their story is very much a self-contained one in Something Fabulous—but you do see plenty of them in Something Spectacular and a peep of them in Something Extraordinary.

Because the rights reverted to me for the first three ebooks. And as it’s a series that needs to be read in order, I made the decision to de-list the fourth book that I self-published. All four audio editions remain available, though. I’m unsure of what the future holds, but I promise to update/share information once I have some news.

Because she does not currently fancy men at all in any way. My experience is that quite a lot of gay people have heterosexual relationships at some point because there’s an awful lot of social pressure to do, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re all secretly bisexual. Of course, that’s problematic because it supports this idea that bisexuality doesn’t exist or is somehow cheating. Basically it’s complicated and, in this specific instance, I came down on the side of Kate being a gay person who has had one arguably heterosexual experience rather than being bisexual or pansexual, but I think either would have been a valid call to make.

Yes, it’s sort of meant to be ironic. The idea behind the books is that Kate is the slightly Mary Sue heroine of a YA romance who has since grown up. Part of the inspiration for the character, in fact, was that I’ve always wanted to know what happens to those girls after the book ends, because there’ll come a point when you’re 25 and your boyfriend is still a 17 year old vampire.

There won’t be. The London Calling series is a completed trilogy.

No. You can find a little more information about those kind of creative choices (and why I make them) here.

No. They’re tonally similar, being trope-centric romcoms, but I’ve tried to keep character crossover to a minimum, because too much of that can get obnoxious.

Luc is taller (at 6ft 4in), with Oliver closer to 6ft.

So, first off, as a general point, I think it’s important that fictional characters can be right and wrong about things, just as, y’know, real people can. The views of a fictional character, whether they’re about politics or art, or their favourite kind of cheese, aren’t always reflections of the views of their creator.

In terms of this specific example of that, one of the features of Oliver’s character is that he’s very tuned into what, at least at the time I started writing the series, was still called social justice discourse. When I was working on Husband Material, a particular emphasis of that discourse was on words with problematic etymologies (the discourse has moved on a little since, possibly because people these days are more concerned about the, y’know, actual fascism). I do generally try to avoid using words with racist origins in my writing, but I’m especially sensitive about it where Oliver is concerned, because it’s the kind of thing he’d take seriously.

As far as “kitsch” goes, I think it was in my head on a long list of words with Bad Origins at some point (I can’t remember why, it may have been something I saw on one of the many lists that were going around social media at the time), which is why I had Oliver call it out, but part of the reason I left it, even after checking, was that it felt like the kind of thing Oliver genuinely would be oversensitive about. And Oliver isn’t perfect or infallible any more than I am.

For clarity’s sake: no, the word “kitsch” doesn’t have a secret Nazi origin, Oliver is just overcorrecting because he’s terrified both of unintentionally causing harm, and of being judged as having Done A Bad Thing because he has issues.

When I first wrote Boyfriend Material, I ended up aging Luc and Oliver down a couple of years – which meant Kit accidentally became the older brother. Which makes no sense because Oliver has practically unbearable big brother energy. Thankfully, this error was correct in all but the earliest editions of Boyfriend Material. Oliver, though, is the definitely the eldest Blackwood son.

He’s the hot, angry artist guy who flirts with Luc at Luc’s arty stag-do.

He’s got a brief cameo at Miles and JoJo’s wedding, but Luc is too busy dealing with the fact he’s at the wedding of his horrible ex-boyfriend to pay much attention. There’s also a fleeting mention of Luc from Jonathan’s perspective in 10 Things That Never Happened.

But while these two had a social circle in common at university (well kind of) they basically don’t like each other, so don’t expect them to be regularly crossing paths.

Well, Tyler (being an artist) knows Priya, so she may well pop up in his book. No promises, though. And Tyler’s love interest, Coby Nightingale, is mentioned as having gone on a disastrous date with Jonathan in 10 Things that Never Happened. So … watch this space?

Not every book is meant to be more than one book. I really feel Sam and Jonathan’s story is finished. It has an epilogue! You can’t get more finished than an epilogue. I’m super excited, though, to continue the Material World series with Tyler’s book!

Check the section headings.

I’m confused why people are confused by this. It’s stated in the book that he went to university with Luc. Therefore, he’s the same age as Luc.

As predicted, needy mortal, my lord Oberon has finally recalled my unwavering love and devotion and I am back where I belong. Which is to say, at his side in the golden court. Not in some damp flat in Putney reduced to selling my entirely true narratives in return for your sordid mortal currency. In short: no and begone. Bother me no more. You, your follies, and your stories, meant nothing to me. Surely you didn’t think we were becoming friends? HA!

That story was very much intended to be a standalone, so no plans for more.

I’m afraid not. The deal was for ebook and audio only as the publisher doesn’t produce physical books.

Due to the length, it doesn’t feel like it would be financially worth it for readers. Hence it feels better suited to being a newsletter freebie for new subscribers. (You can subscribe here if you are so inclined.) If I do decide to do anything else with it, it will go in an anthology I have tentative plans for, with the & Other Monsters shorts also included. (Fair warning: this is unlikely to happen for a while as I do want to write some more for this collection when I have the time – but contracted writing commitments will always take priority.)

My feeling is that even contemporary-set romance stories to an extent take place in imagined worlds. So even though they’re not direct sequels to each other, my contemporary romances often have overlapping characters, ideas and settings. Spires is how I refer to this collection of thematically linked but otherwise standalone stories. Currently, they’re Glitterland, Waiting for the Flood, For Real, and Pansies.

Firstly, this is very clear on the packaging of the new edition of the book.

Waiting for the Flood consists of two novellas, Waiting for the Flood (approx. 30k words long), which is Edwin’s story, and then Chasing the Light (approx. 50k words long) which is Marius’s story. This is followed by an Aftermath (approx. 10k words long) which concludes both their stories.

I always wanted to write a romance about two people moving on from a breakup. Waiting for the Flood and Chasing the Light, between them, are this.

As a combined package, they’re equivalent to a full-length book. If you don’t like novellas on principle (or Marius) you don’t have to buy it.

Ash and Darian may make an appearance in a future Spires book, but I feel they’ve been left in a good place in Glitterland.

Niall will get his own book! It’s called Fool’s Gold, and it’s part of the very exciting deal I signed with Sourcebooks Casablanca, that saw Glitterland, Waiting for the Flood, For Real, & Pansies repackaged and rereleased. Also part of the deal will be a book for Dom the Dom (from For Real) called Rough Ride.

In Vino is no longer available because I sold the rights to the entire Spires series, including short stories, to Sourcebooks. They’ve all been republished in trade paperback, and In Vino is now included as part of the ebook and paperback of For Real.

As with most things in publishing—you can never say never! But my dance card is very full for the foreseeable future. However, In Vino, a short story (and previous newsletter freebie) featuring Jasper in all his hot-mess glory is now included in the rerelease of For Real.

It’s not. Having come to terms with his sexuality, Alfie is able to look at his past, and understand it differently—including these fleeting, previously unacknowledged moments of desire and yearning. It felt really important to me, given that one of the topics the book tackles is bullying, that Alfie wasn’t bullying Fen because he was attracted to him. Nevertheless, he’s always been gay, so he’s always had feelings towards other men, even if he wasn’t capable of recognising or accepting them at the time.

Only one book was contracted so currently there are no plans for more. But should a situation ever arise where I can go back to Shaz & John, you can be sure I will.

Again, it’s a never say never situation. But–as much as I have loved writing the Prosperity stories–right now it’s not super not close to never.