This month's story is all about a day... My Last Day Without You by QuinnDK. This was announced on the first Monday of the month, so I hope you had a chance to read it? Don't be shy, share your thoughts below! But first, enjoy this interview with Quinn. 

What’s something personal about you people might be surprised to know?

I really love washing dishes and doing the laundry – for some reason it’s a huge stress reliever for me. Yes, gentlemen, I’m single.

Did you like to write as a kid in school?

I did! When I was about 10 years old my mom took a screenwriting class and I would stay up at night reading through her course materials and books. So I actually got my start as a kid writing these terrible little movie scripts, and I eventually moved on to write terrible fanfiction as a teenager. No amount of money in the world will make me share it, by the way. 

What brought you to Gay Authors?

I wasn’t all that satisfied with the content I found in mainstream fiction writing sites (such as FictionPress, Wattpad, or AO3) and started searching for a writing community that had an LGBT focus but also a sizeable and active reader base. To my astonishment, I found just that with Gay Authors!

What book(s) or author have most influenced your personal writing style?

Romance novelists such as Lori Foster, Linda Lael Miller, Jayne Ann Krentz, and Diana Gabaldon inspired me the most, I love that their styles range from lyrical and sweet to smutty and hot. I aspire to have that same range for my own stories.

I also drawn inspiration from literary writers like Michael Chabon, humorists like David Sedaris, and quirky chick-lit authors like Helen Fielding. If I can become some combination of those three, I’ll be a very happy writer.

What’s one location you’d love to go to research for a story?

Reykjavik! An adventurous tourist and a hunky Icelandic local, plus those steamy geo-thermal spas… that sounds like the start of a very hot story to me.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

When I’m not writing, or working, or studying for school, I either have my nose in a book or my eyes glued to a videogame. And I go to the gym, but that’s only because I’m always testing out new cookie recipes.

Your characters have great, distinctive names: Ezra & Henrik. How did you come up with those?

Oh gosh, naming my characters has always been a laborious process for me. I think main characters with unique names that you don’t necessarily hear or see every day stick out in your mind more vividly. And I like having names that sound different from each other, too. I could never write a romance about a Matt and a Mitch.

It’s important to me that names reflect their characters. Henrik has such a strong, solid, Scandinavian connotation, while Ezra sounds more ethereal and artistic.

One of your main characters, Ezra, likes to draw. Is that a personal hobby of yours too?

I’m a terrible drawer! I’m actually terrible at anything artistic. But I knew I wanted to give Ezra a hobby he was passionate about. He already worked as a writer in his day job and I thought drawing would contrast that very well. The fact that he’s so good at it but is constantly second-guessing himself was inspired by an interview I read with someone who used to draw Batgirl for DC Comics.

Do you have a favorite scene in My Last Day Without You?

The epilogue where Henrik surprises Ezra in the courtyard is probably my favourite. There’s no more tension or deadlines or pressure, they’re just two men allowed to enjoy the moment and each other. It’s just such a pure and sweet romantic moment.

The scene before that with Ezra on the phone with Marvel was also very fun to write, I liked turning the story into a screwball comedy after so many chapters of drama and angst.

What’s next? Is there a sequel for these or other characters coming?

A sequel is planned, though it probably won’t be a full blown novel-length story. I’m thinking of writing it as a novella. Some readers have said they really enjoyed Xavier, so I might explore something with him as well.

Two stories that I’m writing concurrently on Gay Authors, ‘Fire and Icing’ and ‘Safeguard’, feature different characters but they take place in the same narrative universe and my fictionalized version of Toronto. So, you never know who might show up and where…