Happy Wednesday Scribblers. This week I have another author interview for you. Today I welcome award-winning author R.L. (Ro) Merrill to sit down and have a chat. Let’s dig in.
Welcome Ro, I’m so glad to have you were on my blog. Your bio is below for folks to read, so why don’t you tell us what’s not in the bio, by way of an introduction.
My 13yo boy inner child laughs at any and all innuendo, intentional or not, and doesn’t matter if anyone else in the room even noticed. I danced for many years, was a choreographer for high school and college musicals as well as cheer squads...yeah I was a cheerleader too. I’ve watched Evil Dead 2 way more times than is healthy. I eat too much chocolate and drink Diet Coke like it’s going out of style.
In your bio you mention you love writing stories full of love, hope, and rock 'n' roll where folks from all walks of life will find their happily ever after, that is a tall order, tell us about that. What does that look like in your writing?
I write romance because it’s always about hope. I have been a teacher for 26 years, a school counselor for 9 of those, and I worked as an advocate for victims of Domestic Violence in the police department. I’ve seen...a lot. I want to tell the stories of people who can’t speak for themselves. I want my readers to walk away from one of my books having learned something and maybe even developing some empathy. And since I’m a mom, I just want to give everyone who’s hurting a hug. Isn’t a good book sort of like a hug?
I know you were self published for quite some time, then you moved over to Dreamspinner. What was it like going from Self Pub, to a traditional publishing house? What did you enjoy about both? What didn’t you enjoy about both?
I loved working with Dreamspinner. Everything was so organized, they thought of everything. Financially it was lovely to not pay for editing and a cover, and I worked with the most talented folks. Of course, with self-publishing I got to set my release dates, and sometimes waiting for my DSP books to come out was torture. That was really the only downside of working with a publisher. The financial aspect is a different story. I like doing a combination of both and hope to work with a publisher again someday, but I’ll definitely ask more questions.
You have quite the library of books under your belt. You say you write; contemporary, paranormal, and historical horror romance, that is quite the list. How do you decide what you are going to write next? Do you plan out your books or do you go with the flow?
Before I started writing, I read strictly horror and paranormal, so I figured when I published my first book it would be one of those. But no. My first book I wrote was indeed a paranormal romance, but I sat on it for several years before putting it out this year (Healer). The first book I published was a contemporary romance. I have no idea how that happened. The characters are rock stars who invite a tattoo artist to stay with them so she can design a memorial tattoo for them for their manager who passed away. At the time I wrote it, I’d just gone to New Orleans for the first time, I was in the middle of getting a massive back piece done, and my father had just passed away. I had some feelings about that, and out came the book. And I was hooked.
I love to write a variety of things and don’t think I could stick to just one. I decide what to write based on when things are due for the most part haha. My group paranormal project with Robyn Peterman, the Magic and Mayhem Universe, puts out books twice a year and we have strict due dates. I’ve worked on a lot of anthologies, and they have due dates. I prefer working on charity projects for the most part if it’s an anthology. If it’s truly a solo project, usually I want to make sure it’s not too long between books...because I have a few series that I’ve waited too long and I hate to do that to readers. I know how it feels to wait for something, and I’m not good at waiting either. I do the minimum plotting for books, usually just character arcs and beats, and I plan out my writing schedule every six months.
What have you enjoyed the most about the writing process and sharing your stories?
The people I’ve met along the way. Learning and seeing improvement. RESEARCH hahaha. Hearing from readers that my books have made a difference in their lives.
Now I know you have a day job, as a teacher. I have to ask, have any of your students or teaching life been written into any of your stories?
Yes. Absolutely. Let that be a lesson to them all haha. One of my books was based on a very difficult experience I went through as an educator. I’ve taken it down for a bit as it needs some revisions, but I love the book and plan to put it out again. It was based on a year I worked as a counselor at a continuation high school. We had a series of shootings and murders in the city where I work. One of my students was shot at a bus stop, one of my other student’s little brother was shot and killed in front of the office of the school where I now work. By kids who were my students. I think about him and his brother every day. The student I wrote into this story was based on a kid that I worked with when he was in sixth grade and then he came to the continuation school for high school. Brilliant, talented, angry. His mother and I were very close. I worried about him every day. He got into a horrible fight one day that I had to break up along with our campus monitor and it was awful. He ended up being expelled and it was years before
I see you have a passion for animals, Diet Coke, and Chocolate. What else do you enjoy? When you aren’t creating puns with your husband, being a mom, working, and writing, what do you like to do?
I like running away with my friend Karysa and visiting “haunted” places. I love going to concerts and music festivals. I’m desperately missing book conventions. I had several events lined up this year and now it could be 2022 before I see my bookish friends. I love watching movies with my fam. We’ve caught some good ones during quarantine. We’ve also been rewatching favorite shows like West Wing, Deadwood, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. I’ve been able to garden, which is awesome, although I’ve discovered I’m great at providing food for pests but not great at growing stuff for me. My pumpkins are doing great, though. This year I’m growing my own Halloween decorations!
What can we see coming out from you next?
I’m re-releasing several books in the next two months and I have a new release coming August 24th titled Brains and Brawn. It’s the second book in the Summer of Hush series, which follows a metalcore band on the last cross-country Warped Tour that took place in 2018. The band is having a comeback moment when tragedy strikes and their drummer ends up with a broken leg and a health scare that threatens his and the band’s future. Thankfully he falls into the capable hands of a nearly-retired Navy corpsman who is happy to help with his rehabilitation. Hope, Love and Rock ‘n’ Roll on the road...which we can’t do in real life now so enjoy the fantasy! After that will be another Magic and Mayhem Universe in October and a holiday novella...then in early 2021 will be the follow up to Healer: Havenhart Academy Book One. That’s the plan now, but you never know what’s going to happen.
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Thank you so much for stopping by today Ro. It was great having you. Do you have questions for Ro? Leave them below and I’ll be sure to have her swing by and answer them. Please remember to drop me a heart/like letting me know you stopped by. If you want to help support me and my writing efforts please consider sharing this post on your social media platforms to help keep the conversation going. Until next time I hope you stay safe and have a great week.
