Welcome back, Gabbi!

Tell us about what you write.

I write gay romance books.  I’ve write primarily male gay stories but I also wrote a lesbian story for a charity anthology recently.

What drew you to writing? 

I wrote my first romance in the eighth grade.  I took a few years off and then took a creative writing course in my final year of university.  Something stuck.  I never finished that novel – although I intend to one of these days.  I wrote on and off for a number of years but buckled down in 2012 and finished my first novel.  That was a tough year for me and writing gave me something solid to hold on to.  I’ve written ‘the end’ on about twenty other books and this book is my third project to be published by The Wild Rose Press.

What was your inspiration for Catch a Tiger by the Tail? 

The Wild Rose Press put out a call for beach reads.  The stories had to have ice cream and the beach.  I knew I wanted to write about Vancouver, Canada and I leapt to the film industry.  I had my two guys settled on pretty quickly and then I had to pick an ice cream flavor.  My favorite is Tiger Tail – orange cream with ribbons of black licorice.  Not for everyone, to be sure, but I loved it growing up.  Throw all those elements together and I have what I call my fake-boyfriend rom-com gay romance.

Do you find inspiration in your own life for your writing? 

My life is very boring so I stretch my imagination to create stories.  Does the occasional bit of real life appear?  Well, the orange tabby cat in my book is named after a real feral cat named Calvin, so sure, sometimes real life sneaks in.

Purchase links:

Amazon US ~ KOBO ~ Barnes & Noble ~ iBooks ~ Publisher

Tell us about your experience with the publishing process. 

I’ve gone with a small press and that’s worked really well.  I’ve joined an amazing group of authors and I couldn’t be happier.

Any new projects on the horizon?

I have recently written another gay romance set in a world I previously visited.  It’s going through a rewrite and I hope the publisher will pick it up.

Words of advice for fellow writers in the trenches: 

Perseverance.  It took me five years from the time I completed my first book to being published.  I kept writing, taking classes, attending conferences – I learned as much as I could about the craft of writing as well as the business side of it.  The effort has paid off for me and I’m incredibly grateful.

Let’s wrap up with an excerpt:

“The frown is back, Peter.”

Damn. “Just concentrating on the ice cream.”

“If you say so.”

I turned to him and stuck out my tongue.

His mouth gaped open. “Did you just stick your tongue out at me?”

Leaning over, I took another swipe at his ice cream. Little remained, only cone. Much the same as mine.

“You know, that licorice is growing on me.” The orange cream was becoming a favorite. “What’s it called?”

“Tiger tail.” The omnipresent grin was back. “Created by a woman named Morgan Carr back in the 1950s, it is very popular in Canada, Southern Ontario in particular. It is almost impossible to find in the United States.”

He said the words with faux officiousness, and I burst out laughing. “I find the flavor oddly compelling.”

“Ah, but here’s the real test—would you pick it all on your own if you had the choice?”

“Over the other hundred flavors?” Good question. “I’m not sure. I love cookies and cream, adore chocolate chunk, and have even enjoyed spumoni.”

Thomas gagged. “That’s disgusting. You obviously have no taste.”

“Says the man who believes black licorice belongs in ice cream.”

“You enjoyed it.”

“Probably more than I should have.” There, the honest truth. I had enjoyed it. I enjoyed the company even more.