(from usatoday.com
by Jessie Potts)
Stephanie Tyler dropped a bit of a bomb (in a good way) on the romance world yesterday when she announced that she and SE Jakes, popular author of m/m romance, are one and the same. HEA got to talk to Steph about that …
Jessie: Welcome to HEA, Steph!
Stephanie: Thanks so much for having me back!
Jessie: So tell us the big news!
Stephanie: Well, as of yesterday, I announced that SE Jakes is also Stephanie Tyler. I've been published as Stephanie Tyler (m/f romance) — and Sydney Croft (erotic m/f romance with some m/m subplots) — since 2007. SE Jakes started her career with Samhain in 2011, and now I publish m/m romance with Riptide and Samhain. So, I've been busy. And it's been wonderful.
Jessie: What's it like have split personalities, so to speak?
Stephanie: It honestly never felt that way in terms of the writing — it's always about the characters for me. They speak in my head and it doesn't matter which name I'm writing as, because I'm always writing the character's voice and their experience. So in that respect, it wasn't any different for me. But in terms of running two different author names? It was really necessary for me at first. I almost quit writing all together, and writing as SE Jakes really saved me. Now, the reasons I started a second name aren't really there any longer.
Jessie: And why "coming out" now?
Stephanie: I'd started working on an m/m motorcycle club romance series a while back. And then my NAL editor asked if I'd like to write an MC series for her. So I began to think, maybe this was the perfect time for the reveal. The overreaching universe of the MCs will be the same, but the books themselves won't have any crossover story lines. All HEAs at the end of every book and, as I've been explaining to all my readers, you won't miss any story if you only read one or the other. This wasn't about bringing readers over to Tyler or Jakes. It simply became a matter of SEJ becoming too big to steer without the reveal, which is really a wonderful thing!
Jessie: So I hear there's a new motorcycle club series in the works for SE Jakes? I adore MCs!
Stephanie: Me, too! I've gotten so many cool opportunities to explore the love in different genres. Havoc's an m/m MC series, and each book will be stand-alone with an HEA. The first book is called Running Wild, and it features Sean Rush, a car thief, and Ryker, a member of the Havoc MC.
So Running Wild by SE Jakes comes out June 30 and Vipers Run by Tyler comes out July 1.
Jessie: I'm so excited for the Havoc MC! Are you working on anything else?
Stephanie: Thanks — I am too!!! On the SE Jakes side, I'm working on both a short story and the last novel in the Hell or High Water series, plus the Dirty Deeds series — those are all set in the EE, Ltd. Universe. And I've got a Men of Honor spinoff in the works for Samhain. Plus, I'm going to be continuing the Tyler Defiance series with at least one more book after next week's release. And Sydney Croft is taking part in Riptide's Holiday Charity Bundle this year. And then the Tyler MC books and the Section 8 series is still going strong, so I'm a very lucky author.
Jessie: Are there any other genres you plan on crossing over to?
Stephanie: Is sleep a genre?
Jessie: OK, now for some rapid-fire questions ...
Salty or sweet? Together — chocolate-covered pretzels.
Favorite writing snack? Chocolate.
If you were any candy, which one would you be? Peppermint Patty.
Current book you're reading? Mercy by HelenKay Dimon.
Book you're most looking forward to this year? OMG, about a million of them. But I'm addicted to Sylvia Day's Crossfire series.
Favorite childhood book? Where the Wild Things Are.
Favorite book boyfriend? Right now, Prophet won't let me say anyone but him.
Favorite villain? Can I say Prophet again?
Last movie you saw in theaters? It's been forever — the first of the new Star Treks, I think.
Cowboy or Highlander? Cowboy!
If you were any paranormal creature which one would you be? What are you implying? I have no more secrets …
Epic one-liner from one of your stories?
I'm going to give you two … one made Sarah (my editor's) most awesome tattoo of quotes:
". . . a gathering storm, swirling furiously, thunderously fast and uncontrolled, part wrath, part beauty, mixed with a little pain, and oh f***, yes." — From Catch A Ghost
And this one just makes me laugh:
"It's like Tumblr, the live version." — From Long Time Gone
Find out more about Stephanie and all her writing personalities at:
stephanietyler.com
sejakes.com
www.sydneycroft.com (writing with Larissa Ione)
Jessie Potts, also known as Book Taster, adores books in all forms. She also does reviews for Bitten by Books and RT Book Reviews and is an intern at Entangled Publishing. You can follow her on Twitter (@BookTaster).
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