Author: Shona Husk
First published with Escape: 2015
Favourite romance trope: Beauty and the beast
Ideal hero: inner strength, flawed, generous
Ideal heroine: same as above 😉
Latest book: In the Spotlight

What began your romance writing career? Why do you write romance?

I’d been dabbling around with a few ideas not sure what I wanted to write. Then I stumbled onto paranormal romance which combines my love of fantasy with a happily ever after (that was also my introduction into the romance genre). I like the HEA/HFN! I like writing romance because I can explore the different ways people fall in love, plus I can put my characters through hell and the reader knows there will be a HEA.

How do you write?

I get an idea and I plot it before I start to write. I need a mud map of the main turning points and I need to get a feel for my characters before I get going. I’m also a big fan of the fast, dirty draft as I can get the story out and see how it fits together before going back and fixing it.

What do you do when you’re stuck with a scene?

Skip it with a comment to myself about what I think might happen. I’ll be a few scenes or chapters ahead when I finally understand what really needs to happen in the skipped scene. I try not to that very often as I’d rather have something there than nothing when I come to cleaning and fixing the manuscript.

What’s the thing about writing that surprised you the most?

That I haven’t run out of ideas. When I first started I thought I would maybe have enough for a couple of novels. Now the more I write the more ideas I get. I jot them down and put them in my idea box if they are fragments, but sometimes I get a whole rush of character or plot and I’ll spend a day playing with the idea until I have something more substantial.

Snacks while writing, yes or no?

Chocolate. I love to cook, so there are usually brownies or biscuits and if I haven’t made anything then there’s dark chocolate in the cupboard. I don’t go a day without chocolate (life’s too short to deny pleasure, and I refuse to call anything a guilty pleasure).

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A diva who lives for the spotlight, a sailor deeply in the closet, a love that will change them both

Ripley Malone is returning to Perth in triumph. A principal ballet dancer in a production that has critics raving, he is an unqualified success, and all the small-minded  people that made his life hell can kiss his lycra-covered ass. But behind the makeup and the glitter and the costumes, Ripley is beginning to tire, tire of the competition, the drive, the endless parade of meaningless lovers.

For Pierce Lovell, joining the Navy was a way out of rural Victoria, but becoming a submariner comes with its own set of challenges. The close living quarters and long months away are awkward enough without adding any extra tension around his sexuality. The fear is probably in his head, but he isn’t taking any chances with his career. He gets by on anonymous one-night-stands every time they come to shore and keeps his heart well-shielded. But one night with Ripley opens the tantalising possibility of more.

Through a mistake Ripley is injured. He can’t dance. His wings are clipped and he crashes down and hits the earth hard. Pierce knows their affair can’t possibly end in anything but heartache, but he can’t stay away. As Ripley heals and reassesses his life, he is determined not to make the same mistakes again. That means letting someone see the vulnerable side of him. But vulnerability for Pierce could cost him everything