Author Spotlight: Piper Rayne

The authors known as Piper Rayne were awesome and agreed to so an interview for me. Here are their answers to my questions!

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Piper is in Green /Rayne is in Purple

Random Questions:

• What is your favorite restaurant? The Keg (a steakhouse here in Canada) / A small Mexican independently owned where I live.
• Where is your favorite or dream vacation spot? Europe / Anywhere on the beach.
• What do you eat and drink while writing? Tea & Water, Popcorn or M&M’s / Diet Coke and skittles.
• What is your favorite movie? Ah there’s too many! But my favorite movies I’ve seen this year are The Quiet Place & The Greatest Showman / Love Actually
• Where were you born? Toronto / Michigan
• If you could have dinner with anyone (dead or alive), who would it be?My grandma / My grandpa

This or That:

• Fireman or Policeman? Policeman / Fireman
• Vodka or Rum? Rum / Vodka
• Toilet paper: Over or Under? OVER!? Is this even a real question? LOL / Over
• Baseball or Football? Baseball / Baseball
• Beer or Wine? Neither *I know, I know / Beer
• Tattoos or no tattoos? Tattoos / Tattoos
• Pepsi or Coke? Coke (Again, this shouldn’t even really be a question. LOL ) / Coke
• Pancake or Waffle? I’m with Rayne, French Toast! / Pancake (more French toast)
• Christmas or Halloween? Christmas / Christmas
• Fire or ice? Fire (I am a Leo after all) / Ice

 

Book Related Questions: **SPOILERS AHEAD**

• The first book I read by you two was Real Deal from the Single Dads Club Series. Where did the idea come from to write about a group of single dads? (I love single dad books)

This came from Piper picking up her kids at day camp. I’ll let her fill you in.

I knew she’d do that…okay so the story goes like this. I was picking my kids up from day camp and notice there was a whole bunch of really good looking college boys who worked there as counsellors. (I’m not a pervert or anything, but you can’t help but notice these things when you write romance. LOL) And I thought to myself, boy if I was still young and in college I would have loved to work here. That got Rayne and I talking and the idea morphed along the way into a camp for single parents.

• Marcus and Cat have a past history that didn’t end well. Why did you have Marcus being so mean to Cat in the past?

We felt that it was true to their characters then. Marcus had just found out some shocking news, Cat was a rich girl who always got what she wanted. She wouldn’t relent, and Marcus was in another world that he snapped.

Yeah, I think Kat just pushed him past his breaking point and she was not taking a hint when he tried to be nice about it. Marcus did a lot of growing up after he and Kat parted ways.

• Dirty Talker was my favorite book in the Single Dads Club series. Why in the world did Dane and Ava think being “friends with benefits” was going to be a good idea?

I think because they wanted to sleep together but didn’t want to get attached. Does anyone ever think friends with benefits is going to work? LOL

WSS ^^^

• I can honestly say that I was a bit nervous about Dirty Talker at first. Dane did not leave a good impression on me when I first meet him in Real Deal, but I ended up loving him. Was there a reason you made Dane so outrageous and crass at first?

We find him hilarious. I’m speaking for both of us which Piper can chime in if she disagrees but, we love to write those characters with no filter. They are who they are and don’t apologize for it. It makes it so much more fun to write. Who always wants the sweet guy who says the right thing?

Yeah, we saw Dane as a great big kid pretty much. It didn’t mean that he didn’t have another side to him (which you got to see when he got his own story), but that’s true to how he comes off to other people. We love that guy! He may not always say the right things, but he does the right thing. Even if he takes the long way around.

• Sexy Beast was a great story. Garrett losing his wife and closing himself off broke my heart. Why did you decide to make this story such a slow burn? Why not something instant?

Garrett suffered a heartbreak few do. We knew that he wasn’t the type to hop into bed with someone. We like to believe he was the faithful guy even years after his wife died. Not to mention he falls fast and Charlie knew he needed time to process what was happening-that he was falling in love with someone else.

Yeah I think anything other than a slow burn wouldn’t have been true to Garrett’s character. Especially because Charlie is younger AND his friend’s little sister.

• Charlie is a firecracker. What gave you all the idea to make her such a spitfire?

She just kind of came out when we were writing her. She challenged Dane so nicely from the first time she appeared on the page. I don’t think either one of us knew from the beginning she would be that way.

Yep, sometimes when we’re writing a certain character just is who they are from the moment they hit the page. We don’t question it, we just roll with it. And Garrett needed someone who was willing to push him out of his comfort zone.

 

• On to the Modern Love Series. Why did you change the names of the books a few months back?

Marketing! As much as we loved the original titles and still only refer to them as that title when we’re talking, we had to look at the market objectively. It’s hard decision but some things we love don’t sell and there’s not always a reason for it.

True story. The original titles didn’t scream romance, whereas the new ones do. And it seems to have been a good decision since the books have done better since making the change. We’re not afraid to switch things up when we need to.

• Some people have said that Whitney was petty in the first half of Charmed by the Bartender but they liked her during the second half. What part of the book do you think had readers changing their mind on Whitney?

Oh, I don’t know. I loved her from the beginning. She was going through a hard time. Her dreams were shattered. I think she deserved to wallow a little.

Agreed. Our stories are all about the character’s transformation and if they start the book completely adjusted and happy in their life, there’s no point in us writing their story. Personally, I don’t think Whitney’s petty, I just think her life hasn’t turned out how she hope for herself and I think that on some level we can all relate to that.

• Hooked by the Boxer….HOLY HOTNESS. What is the most difficult part of writing a sex scene?

Finding a new place besides a bed. The Boxer wasn’t that hard because Lucas was the bad boy and Tahlia was the good girl. We wanted to put her in positions that she never dreamed of having sex. That was the fun part, Lucas showing her a different way of life.

It’s a rough life, but someone’s gotta imagine new and inventive ways to have sex. LOL

• In the Modern Love Series, The Banker was my favorite book. I loved Lennon’s free spirit. Why did you make her so open, funny, and amazing?

Lennon goes to Piper. She developed her from the get go, so I’m going to let her answer that question.

Hmm…I don’t know if it was a conscious decision, but it’s always fun to have that one character who just says what they think without a filter. And we know Lennon does that! She’s probably most like my subconscious, though I’d never be as ballsy as her and say/do the stuff she does. Plus, we knew she’d be book three and we’d need a couple of books for reader’s to really get to see that there’s more to her than just the front she presents to the world. So we had the freedom to play with her and let her be as crazy as she wanted for the first two books.

 

• I haven’t read the Dirty Truth Series yet, it’s on my TBR. What makes these books the “Dirty Truth”? How do these books connect like the Single Dads Club and the Modern Love books do?

The Manny (Dirty Truth #1) is Vance who is Charlie’s brother from Sexy Beast. Each one has a secret!!!

Yep, everyone is hiding something in this series.

• The Bedroom Games Series looks like a fun, sexy series. What made to you two write a series based on the Winter Olympics?

I saw an advertisement for the Winter Olympics and pitched the idea to Piper. We ran with it. Since we wanted them released during the Olympics we shortened them to novellas so that we could do 2 weeks between releases.

Yep! This series was completely Rayne’s idea! It was SO fun to write though. And even though they’re technically novellas, there’s still a whole story packed into each one.

 

• Your upcoming book Manic Monday, what can readers expect in this book?

To me, it was like going back to Modern Love. Maybe it’s three women again that makes me associate it. Oh, we keep hearing Reed Warner is our best hero yet. I did fall for him while writing. Our heroine is kick ass too, as are her friends. There’s a lot of heart with laughter in this one. I would say for our fans of Modern Love they should definitely be checking this one out!

All of that! ^ Lots of LOL moments and banter back and forth. The girls have a real friendship which was fun to write and totally has that Modern Love feel to, though they’re in a different stage in their lives.

Random Ending Questions:

• How do you two write together? Does one write on person POV and the other person write the other person POV? How does it work?

One pitches the idea, we brainstorm, we outline, Rayne writes the story (rough draft), Piper edits the story.

When it comes back from edits I go through those, send it to the proofreader, go through those changes when it comes back from her and then send it to Rayne for a final read through to see if she likes my changes.

• Is it hard to write duel POV?

It can be hard to find unique voices. Making sure every character has their own inner voice.

And, I’ll add that it’s hard to write dual while still trying to keep some mystery…whether it’s a secret one person has or how they’re feeling about the other person.

• Who are your one-click authors?

Jill Shalvis/LJ Shen (new to me and loving)/Amy Harmon.

For me Kresley Cole, Karina Halle, Tiffanie DeBartolo and Karen Marie Moning. Oh and Meghan March!

• Do you two write full-time or part-time?

I write full-time.

I still have a day job that keeps me from writing three days of the week.

• What is the average time it takes to write a book?

On average I would say 3 weeks. A few of our books I’ve pumped out in 2 weeks (Banker), others over a month (usually first in a series).

Yep all the stuff that comes after the writing is usually another 2-3 week process for us.

• What is the hardest thing about writing?

OMG where do I start? The discipline to do it every day. There are days I don’t want to write, but to reach our deadlines I have to sit down and do it. Add on self-doubt and thinking everything you’re writing is crap. BUT, I can’t imagine doing anything else.

For me it’s finding the TIME. There is so much more to being an author that has nothing to do with writing. Admin stuff, marketing, working on your craft, cover concepts, etc. All of that plus having kids that are really busy in activities and a job make finding the time challenging.

Last Question:

• What would you like to say to your readers?

THANK YOU! That’s not even enough. Because we’re a duo and each went into this business under our other names, we worried making the decision of not telling our already faithful readers that we were writing under a pen name. We didn’t tell anyone for a year and it was hard to keep that secret since our other author names got neglected. The faithfulness of our readers and the excitement for our stories is incomprehensible. We thank them for loving us as much as we love them!

Everything Rayne said. Our unicorns have been so supportive from the get go. When readers make graphics, share our work and tell other people to read us it really does give us the motivation to keep going. There’s lots of great author’s out there and the fact that they use their time and money to enjoy our work is gratifying, humbling and we couldn’t be

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Books by Piper Rayne

Real Deal (Single Dads Club Book 1)

Dirty Talker (Single Dads Club Book 2)

Sexy Beast (Single Dads Club Book 3)

Charmed by the Bartender (Modern Love Book 1)

Hooked on the Boxer (Modern Love Book 2)

Mad about the Banker (Modern Love Book 3)

Clean Slate (Charity Case Prequel)

Manic Monday (Charity Case Book 1)

The Manny (Dirty Truth Book 1)

Doggie Style (Dirty Truth Book 2)

Chore Play (Dirty Truth Book 3)

Adrift: (A Dirty Truth Book 0)

Cold As Ice (Bedroom Games Book 1)

On Thin Ice (Bedroom Games Book 2)

Break the Ice (Bedroom Games Book 3)

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