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Author Interview: Giana Darling | Romance Thursdays

Sep 24, 2020

A few months ago, I spoke about the stigma and reading genre, especially regarding the romance genre. And while writing that post and thinking about it after I wanted to spotlight romance authors to highlight how amazing the romance writing community is. I’m excited to share this new feature with you all.

So, I decided to make a new feature on Angel Reads called Romance Thursdays. Each week I’m will be interviewing a different romance author from across subgenres as well as both traditionally and self-published. I want to share their experience writing romance and why they love it so much. While also focusing on their writing and books. I just want it to be a celebration of romance novels.

To start Romance Thursdays we have Giana Darling. I discovered Giana earlier this year and immediacy jumped into her The Fallen Men series. And I feel in love, I have a series review for the first 4 books, and you can also check out my review on her most recent released Inked In Lies. Enough of this, let’s get into the interview.

Giana Darling is the author of The Fallen Men series, The Evolution of Sin trilogy, The Enslaved duet and more.

Hi Giana, and welcome to Angel Reads. For those that haven’t read anything by you yet. Tell us a little about yourself and your books?

I am a Canadian romance author who specializes in the angsty and forbidden side of love. Age gaps, taboo relationships, and questionable morality are a few of my favourite themes to explore in my writing. I live on the west coast with my man and my cat, Persephone.

Why did you start writing romance novels? Is there anything in particular that drew you to it over other genres?

I’ve been a voracious reader my entire life and started creative writing when I was eight years old so I love many genres. The reason I choice romance was because at the heart of all of my favourite books across different genres was an epic love story. I realized that love was such a complex theme I could delight in writing about it endlessly.

You write a range of romances, but you do tend to stick to darker themes. Why do you like writing these types of romances?

Such a great question. For me, it isn’t about loving dark themes necessarily. Instead, I’m to situations that stress the human psyche, that force us to question what we would do ourselves in extreme circumstances. Love stops for no one, it crosses societal boundaries, age gaps, even our own expectations. I love to write about what happens when love grows where it shouldn’t.

What is your favourite thing about romance as a genre? Why do you like reading and writing it?

I love that romance has so many subgenres, so much room to explore other themes. A love story can be dark, funny, pure, sexy, kinky, quirky…all of these many things that are so different, but at the end of the day, it’s still a tale about two (or more!) people falling in love. As they say, no two love stories are alike. I have about sixty ideas for future books and that list grows every day. I love the limitless options.

What are some of your favourite tropes that you like reading and writing in the romance genre?

I love reading and writing age gaps, forbidden romances, menage romances (MMF and MFF), and MM romances. Anything that crosses boundaries and forces me to think while I read.

Who are some of your favourite romance authors? Who inspired you to write?

I love so many that this is by no means an exhaustive list: Ella Fields, LJ Shen, Lauren Gilley, CD Reiss, Kristen Ashley, Kennedy Ryan, and Penelope Douglas. I wouldn’t say anyone inspired me to write, it was just a compulsion I had from a very young age.

What are some of the ways that you think we can start overcoming the stigma of romance novels?

I have to say, I hate the stigma. What is wrong about love? What’s even wrong about sex? Both are natural and central forms of human expression. It’s no wonder the romance book industry is a billion-dollar one, people love to love. I think openly talking about romance novels, reading them and writing them, without shame outside of our communities is important. I think smartbooks in the genre are important too, to show that it is and can be intelligent too. Kennedy Ryan and Penelope Reid do a marvellous job of this.

Do you currently have any books in the works? Is there anything that you are looking forward to writing, but haven’t started yet? Is there something different that you want to try writing?

I am currently writing a mafia duet that I am totally in love with. It’s a new trope for me and I’ve been doing lots of research to make sure it’s authentic. I’m extremely excited to write my first MMF series in the first half of 2021 too!

Thank you so much for coming by Angel Reads. It was lovely having you here. And I can’t wait to read more of your books!

And that is it for this week’s Romance Thursdays. I’m so excited to share this romance adventure with you all. It’s going to be fantastic. If there is an author that you would like to see featured here, please do let me know and I will try my best. If you are a romance author and would like to be apart of Romance Thursdays, don’t hesitate to message me.

Have you read anything from Giana Darling before? What did you think of it? Are you excited for more Romance Thursday posts? Let’s Chat!

About The Author

Giana Darling is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Top 40 Amazon Best Selling Canadian romance writer who specializes in the taboo and angsty side of love and romance. She currently lives in beautiful British Columbia where she spends time riding on the back of her man’s bike, baking pies, and reading snuggled up with her cat Persephone.

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Goodreads

Secret Life Of A Book Blogger | Book Tag

Sep 23, 2020

I did the Secret Life Of A Book Blogger tag a couple of years ago now and I thought it would be fantastic to do it again. Sadly I can’t find the original creator of this tag. I spent nearly an hour looking for the original post. So if anyone knows please let me know. You can check out my original post as well.

1. How long have you been a blogger?

A long time. In February Angel Reads will turn 9. I’ve been pretty been blogging that whole time as well. Sometimes I will take a few weeks off or a month. But I don’t stay away too long. At the moment I’m blogging more than ever.

2. At what point do you think you’ll stop blogging?

Honestly, I have no idea. I’ve been doing this a long time now and I don’t feel like stopping at any point right now. I feel that this is a full-time job for me and I love it. I manage to blog and work, while also having a good balance and I plan for it to stay that way as long as possible.

Photo by Corinne Kutz on Unsplash

3. What is the best thing about blogging?

Being able to talk about reading and books is one of the best things about being a blogger. I get to share my love with others and that is such an amazing thing. I’ve been blogging a long time now and I don’t feel I can ever get bored talking about books. Especially when I get to talk about romance, young adult and diverse books.

I have also made so some amazing friends through blogging and that has been incredible and some have even been life-changing.

4. What is the worst thing? What do you do to make it okay?

The perceived pressure. In reality, I know that others aren’t expecting things, but I put the pressure on myself to get things done. At the moment I’m posting nearly every day. There is sometimes I miss a day to two. But for the past 3/4 months. I have been posting heaps. And I put a lot of pressure on myself to get that done. A lot of things come into play and some of those I can’t control like my health.

I just take a day at a time and go through the motions. Let myself not post something if I’m not feeling well and try and be okay with it.

5. How long does it take you to make/find pictures to use?

I do a combo of taking, create and find images. For the images that I find I use sites like Unsplash. As the images on there are free to use. They are a great service and even if I had to pay a subscription of sorts, I would do it. I just image from sites like Unsplash in most of my post like reviews, discussions and more. Depending on what I’m looking for and if I can find it right away depends on how long it takes me.

Taking images does take a little while. However, I normally try and do a bunch at once as it does make it easier and faster in the long run. But then I need to edit the images, etc.

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

6. Who is your book crush?

I love so many, I can’t just have one. But for this year reads it is a tie between Cam from Great and Precious Things by Rebecca Yarros and James Herondale from Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare. AS well as King from Lessons in Corruption (The Fallen Men #1) by Giana Darling and Devil from Wicked and the Wallflower (The Bareknuckle Bastards #1) by Sarah MacLean

7. What author would you like to have on your blog?

Cassandra Clare for sure. I don’t know what I would do if I could have her on my blog, but it would be incredible, amazing and everything in between. I would not be able to handle it, but it would be the highlight of my whole blogging adventure.

In saying that, I’m about to start a new feature on Angel Reads with romance authors and I’m super excited and I can’t wait to share it with you all.

8. What do you wear when you write your blog posts?

Comfy clothes. Normally legging and a top or jumper depending on the weather. I either like to sit in my bed and blog or at my desk. Often I’m in my bed so whatever makes me nice and warm, or in the summer cool.

When we were able to go out and I went to the city and blogged. Jeans or a skirt with a top or a dress is my go-to outfit.

Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

9. How long does it take you to prepare?

This one does depend on the type of post I’m writing. Some can take an hour or so, while others can days or even weeks. A post like this one or a Top Ten Tuesday, are usually the ones that take the least but still at least an hour and a half. When it comes to reviews, I need to read the book first and then the review can take anywhere from an hour to two hours.

Discussion or reading posts are ones that take a much longer time to not only write but prepare for. Some take weeks to prepare, read the books and get everything together. Blogging isn’t just a let’s write this post and be done with it. There is a lot of planning, preparing and putting everything together.

10. How do you feel about the blogging community?

I have mix feelings. I don’t want to get into this too much. But I have made some amazing relationships and connections that still mean a lot to me today. But there is also a lot of issues with the community. And sometimes they become very overwhelming. But for the most part, I like the community and think it’s amazing.

11. What do you think one should do to create a successful blog?

I did a post about starting a book blog recently and I think if you hit all those points you are going to have a pretty successful blog. But in reality, you are the only one that can say that your blog is successful. There is no real measure when a blog is successful. It’s when you feel that you have been successful.

***

And that is it for today’s post. I had so much fun doing the secret life of a book blogger tag. It was great going back and doing this again and seeing what has and hasn’t changed.

Books On My Spring 2020 TBR

Sep 22, 2020

This week I’m sharing on my spring tbr. Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and Bookish and is hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl.

While most of the world is going into Autumn/Fall, here in Australia we are going into spring. These are the books I would love to get to in the next few months. Some of these are new releases, some are older books that I hope to get to before December. It’s just a mix-match of books that I cannot wait to dig into. Like always these are no order.

Rifts and Refrains (Hush Note #2) by Devney Perry and Muses & Melodies (Hush Note #3) by Rebecca Yarros: These are next two books in the Hush Note series, the first book was written by Sarina Bowen and was released today! I enjoyed it quite a bit – my review is coming soon. And I can’t wait to read more of these characters and the world.

A Rogue of One’s Own (A League of Extraordinary Women #2) by Evie Dunmore: There is no surprise that this one is one my list. I loved Bringing Down the Duke and I’m so excited to read this one. I already have my copy and will be reading it next month for sure. Seeing where this story goes makes me intrigued. I think this is the perfect book for spring.

Blood & Honey (Serpent & Dove #2) by Shelby Mahurin: Again these should be no surprise that this one is one my list. I love Serpent & Dove last year. I’m hoping that it’s as good as the first book. But I have been reading mixed things.

The Midnight Lie (The Midnight Lie #1) by Marie Rutkoski: I have had this one since it was published, but have yet yo get to it. My plan is to read it soon – I hope. I’m really excited about it, I just haven’t’ been in the fantasy mood, but I feel that I’m getting there.

One by Sarah Crossan: This is one of the last books that I have left to read on my best friend picks my tbr. I’m really excited about this one but also really nervous. It’s going to be emotional for sure and I hope that I am ready for it.

Into the Drowning Deep (Rolling in the Deep #1) by Mira Grant: I think this will be the perfect book for me to read in October. This isn’t my usual thing. However, it intrigues me want to try it out. Horror isn’t something that I like to watch or read. But that is why it has caught my eye.

Daring and the Duke (The Bareknuckle Bastards #3) by Sarah MacLean: I’ve loved the first two books in this series and I need to get to reading the third. I have heard nothing but good things about it. And I’m so excited that we have the ‘villain’ as the male protagonist.

The Governess Game (Girl Meets Duke #2) by Tessa Dare: I read the first book in this series a few weeks ago and fell in love and now I want to read the rest of the series. This one sounds like it’s going to be fantastic. Plus these covers are stunning!

A Lesson in Thorns (Thornchapel #1) by Sierra Simone: This has been on my tbr for a little while now. It has been popping up all over the place and that makes me even more interested. I have no idea if I’m going to like it or not, but I want to try and see how I feel about it. Even if I don’t like it I think it’s going to be an interesting read.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters #1) by Talia Hibbert: This has been on my list for a while now. I’ve heard nothing but good things about it and I think it will be the perfect spring read. It looks like it’s going to be fun, full of romance.

That’s it for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday. What is on your tbr for the next couple of months? Are you in spring or fall? Let’s Chat!

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