Patron Saints of Romance Collection Conversations Transcript

Danielle with Violit Hour: So first up, I think just to get started, I am always very interested in the micro details of what a typical day looks like for an author and how you balance everything. So if you wouldn't mind just sharing a little bit about what a typical day looks like for you.

Miranda Silver: Absolutely, so I have days that are more focused on writing and days that are less focused on writing. So right now my schedule is kind of like Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday are very writing focused days. Monday and Thursday, I'm more focused on my day job. And then on the weekends, I try to kind of have some separations that I can focus on my family. But if I get an idea, I'll like run to my laptop. So on the writing focus days, I'll take my son to school and that's about a half hour commute. So I'll drop him off. I'll go to the gym, which is actually super important. Like I find for writing, like I really need to do something physical first before sitting down for like five, six hours and just being very focused on a screen. So I go to the gym, I usually listen to music from the playlist that I'm putting together for the book to try to like get in that head space, or I'll watch music videos and I'll try to just sort of get in the mindset to really be thinking of writing, having the ideas flow, and then I'll go to a place where I can just work for a while. It's usually WeWork, which is great because I can just like park myself there for hours. If I need to change a place, so like I'll go to a coffee shop and just like work, you know, I'll find like a table with my bath to the wall so I can just like type whatever. And then I just try to really focus and just go. And I'll usually listen to music to just like stay in that headspace. And then I'll sort of come out of that trance when it's time to go get my son from school and transition back into like, okay, now it's time to be a mom and focus on other people and kind of be back out in the world.

That is incredible. It feels like such a big cognitive shift throughout the day. So I love how intentional you are with the music in particular. I feel like that's so genius to kind of, I don't know, pull you back into that headspace. Yeah. How do you go about picking the playlist when you're kind of first, you know, concepting the book? Or at what point does that come into the writing process?

Such a great question. Usually when, like at the very beginning of a book where it's just like sort of the seed of an idea and I'm just like kind of, you know, writing down whatever comes into my head, there'll be a song or two that's like already something I'm listening to a lot and that'll kind of like feed into the feel and I'll be like, okay, this is working. Like I'm just going to listen to this a whole bunch. And then if I'm doing on Spotify, like they'll recommend other things that are similar. I'm like, that works too. Let me, let me start a playlist here. sometimes it'll be the title of a song that is relevant, sometimes it'll just be the feel, and sometimes things will make it into the sort of final playlist for the book and other times they won't. But usually it's just sort of about like a specific vibe or feeling and then finding other things that sort of piggyback onto that.

I love that. I don't think I'll ever be able to listen to Sound of Silence again without thinking about Priceless. It's such a great song. Do you have a typical genre and music that you tend to go for, like your go -to list?

That's awesome. Such a great song. I mean, there's certain genres I gravitate towards. Like, I really like kind of folk -inspired, Americana, jazz. I like rock and pop too, but it tends to be sort of more acoustic stuff a lot of the time. But I also went through like a pretty intense electronica phase. So, sometimes I'll be like, okay, I'm gonna go back and draw on that because that's the right feel.

Yeah, no, completely. I love that. And so when you're writing, sort of hold up in the WeWork or wherever you are, what does that look like with the snack and beverage situation? Like, are we taking breaks for lunch? Are we snacking? What's the vibe?

That is such a great question. So I found that like, it's an interesting relationship between like food and drink and writing because like you need, I need it, I need the fuel, but also like once I'm in the zone, I sort of forget about everything physical and like I even you know, I'm a teacher in my day job. And so for that, like, I'll dress up and I'll be conscious of how I present myself. But for writing, I need to just wear stuff that, like, I can forget about and, like, sort of forget about the physical world and just sort of immerse myself in it. So to start things off, like I'll have a really big cup of coffee. And my husband is really into bulletproof coffee with like you blend it with butter and like MCT oil, like all the stuff to kind of fuel you. So he'll make some for me in the morning. And then I just kind of try to push lunch off until I'm done with writing because if I eat in the middle, I'll just want to take a nap. And the energy just like really changes. So like occasionally I'll have a snack to try to like stay motivated. But usually it's like, OK, now I'm in writing mode and now it's over and I'm in lunch mode and I can kind of like come out of the whole writing situation.

Makes so much sense. I always do feel like, I don't know, a midday lunch, if I'm really on a roll with something, it's game over for me. Like now it's time for a nap and I've destroyed, you know, that flow. And then, so for like the, you said you'd listen to music, is that on headphones? Is that sort of like ambient noise in the background?

I usually do just like, you know, Bluetooth earbuds. And they're great because I can't really tell I'm wearing them. Like there's not this sort of like whole thing on your head. And they also have some noise cancellation. So if people are like being really noisy around me, it usually will block it out. Occasionally if people are like having a loud phone conversation, I'm like, okay, I need to move to a different table. But usually they do the trick.

That is so funny. I feel like you're probably working on the most interesting thing that that We Work has ever seen so…

Every so often I'll just kind of look up and people will be like doing their, you know, mostly kind of tech -focused jobs. I'm like, I just wrote a sex scene and no one needs to know.

I love that, to be a fly on the wall of that WeWork. So I guess switching gears a little bit, you've given a few hints on social as far as the next release goes with Gavin and Jordana. Is there anything that you can share, any sort of like little teasers as far as what we can expect from the book?

Sure. So thank you so much for asking. I have, I think I tend to not share a lot during the first draft writing phase. And with this book, I feel like that's been more the case than ever. There's just kind of been this instinct to be very protective about it. And like usually I'll send chapters to my critique partner, like as I'm writing and I'll show stuff to my husband. And this time I just haven't, like I'm like I need to just write this thing beginning to end before I show it to anyone. But it's almost done, which is crazy. But I actually, thanks. I wrote the epilogue a couple days ago. And over the next couple of days, I'm just going to polish it up and kind of fix up copy -editing stuff and then send it over to my critique partner, which is just wild. So.

So exciting — my gosh, congratulations! That's gotta feel so good.

Thank you, thank you. It does feel good. It's pretty wild. But what I can share about it at this point is that it's an age gap romance and it's not a huge age gap. He's 30, she's 21. So it's interesting because it's not like he's old enough to be her dad, but like it's just big enough and their situations in life are just different enough that it's like, okay, is this going to work? Like, can it work? And he's definitely more reluctant than she is, which is interesting because I feel like usually in my books, the guy is like more of the seducer and the girl's like, okay, maybe. But in this case, it's the opposite. Like she's really coming on to him and he's like…I don't know, like I really want this girl, but I shouldn't. And so it's just been really fun to kind of explore that dynamic.

I love that. I do feel like that's rare within the space, right? It's like typically speaking in a male -female romance. The male is the one that's, you know, going after more and... Ugh, I cannot wait to read this. Yeah.

Thank you, thank you. The other thing I will say about it is there are sort of a few different elements that are brought together. So he's a photographer and she does end up modeling for him. And so there's that whole kind of trope, but she's also an actress and she's at this college with this prestigious theater program. And he kind of comes in at the last minute to do lighting design for this production that she's in. And so they're kind of these two angles which are interesting to explore like one where it's sort of more his territory with photography and the other where it's sort of more her you know in the spotlight with the acting and him kind of coming into this college as an outsider and sort of like encountering all this drama there and people who don't want them to get together so it's just been really fun to explore these sort of different dynamics at the same time.

That's amazing. And so when you sort of shut it down or write the epilogue and send it off, do you have any rituals or routines to kind of start to almost decompress from the story? Or how does that look?

That's a great question. I do have a ritual for release days, which I started a long time ago. I think I've been doing it ever since The Boys Next Door came out, so it's been like every book. But I'll go out for lunch by myself and I'll read like a light, fluffy YA novel and I'll order a root beer float and just like feel like a kid for an hour. It's pretty awesome.
Okay. This sounds like a dream. That is no, that's an iconic ritual to have. Do you go to the same restaurant or is it, you know, wherever you're feeling.

I usually do, but I can be flexible. You know, if there's someplace else that's near to where I am that day, I can handle it.

Love it. that's so exciting. And on release days, are you sort of like avoiding looking at the numbers and on social and things, or are you really engaged on that side?

Thank you. I always tell myself that I'll step back and then I never do. So I do check the numbers. I do sort of see how people are responding. I try to, you know, comment when people share about it and thank them and be on top of it with that. So, you know, every so often I'm like, yeah, maybe at the next release I'll just see what it's like to not go on social media that day, but it never happens.

Yeah. Something to aspire to, at least. So out of all your releases, I know we kind of referenced Boys Next Door all the way through, do you have a favorite book that you've done?

That is like asking me to choose a favorite child. So I don't think I can pin one down. I will say that the books that kind of came up spontaneously and sort of I feel just represent something that I just had to write mean a lot to me and so Boys Next Door was one of those. Priceless was another and then the book that I'm currently working on also fits into that category where it's not like I was thinking about writing a series or sort of planning it. It was more that the idea came and I'm like, okay, I just, I have to write this down. I don't know where it's going, but I need to.

When that sort of sensation comes up is that what the straight run to a laptop or do you have like pen and paper or iPhone notes or how do you kind of capture that immediately?

I do a lot in Google Keep, which I imagine is similar to iPhone Notes. So I just kind of like title everyone with a hashtag and sort of like the working title of the book so I can find them easily. And then just, you know, write down whatever I think of. It's usually like a few lines of dialogue or just some sort of idea or theme.

Yeah, incredible. I always feel like I would love to just see all of my favorite authors and all the random scraps and you know pieces that come together. So this is probably in the same vein as picking a favorite child but is there a maybe I won't say favorite main character but a main character that you feel the most connected to out of your stories?

Totally. I think it tends to be whatever I'm working on at that given point. I mean, it does. It does change over the writing of a book. So to use Priceless as an example, when I started writing, like, I really sort of set Christina up as someone who's very different from me and in a way that allowed me to detach from her and be like, I'm going to write all this humiliating sex and I'm going to write it about someone who I don't relate to. And then as her character developed and grew, I started to relate to her more and be like, okay, a lot of her issues are actually my issues too. They just have a little bit of a difference, different face on them and she handles them a little bit differently. So that was very interesting because that was a character who I grew closer to like in the writing of the book. But I would say my current book in some ways the female main character is the most like me of anyone who I've written. And it's really interesting because there are of course details and history that are just hers that aren't mine, but sort of emotionally the way she is with people and with her love interest. It's like, yeah, I just really relate to this and it's cathartic to write about it.

Just in case I wasn't already dying to read this now. So, touched on, you know, a little bit of degradation within the sex suite, so maybe we can move a little bit into talking about spice and, you know, all the fun stuff around that. So, I know I've mentioned this already, but I think that the spice that you write is phenomenal, impeccable, top tier. I love it. When you're approaching that side of writing, do you find that to be more difficult than general dialogue and other scenes, or does that come maybe more easily? How do you think about that in the book?

In some ways it's easier and in some ways it's harder.

Sure.

The ways that it's easier is when it just sort of feels like a direct download from whatever is on my mind or whatever I'm feeling at that given time. And that tends to be just a lot of fragments and scraps and dirty talk and sort of ideas for different things. And sometimes it will be like the whole first scene will just kind of come out and end up being pretty much the way that it originally was when it's in the book, just a little bit of tweaking. So I feel like that happened with Priceless, and in other cases there needs to be a lot more kind of shaping and tweaking and so forth. I think one thing that's challenging is the more I write the more I have to kind of think about making my new material distinct from the old material. Like…between, you know, the novels and short story collection and all those, you know, free stuff that I published on Literatica back when I was starting out. Like, there are a lot of sex scenes out there at this point. I'm like, okay, how is this one not like the ones that came before? I don't want to just repeat. But also I feel like every author has kind of their sweet spots and their tastes and preferences and you're going to write within that. And if you try to change it up too much, you risk kind of getting away from what speaks to you personally. So, I guess the biggest challenge is like, how do I stay true to myself, stay true to the characters, make it fit within the arc of the book, have every scene kind of move the story forward. I don't want them to just be gratuitous and, you know, sort of stand on its own as being a good scene. So all those factors together are challenging to balance.

I mean, it makes so much sense. And that is one of the things, right, where you look back and you're like, OK, there's a lot floating. And how do I do this in a way that, yeah, isn't the same? I think with that and some of the other, speaking of other authors and their style, do you have a dream author that you either really love reading or would love to think about maybe co -authoring a book or a series with?

There are a lot of authors who I love reading. In terms of co -authoring, that's something that I used to think about and love the idea of. I think as I write more, I realize that I'm a bit of a control freak. And so the other challenge would be that the writing I do tends to kind of be like my therapy issues. And so it's very personal. And so finding someone to co -author with, it would have to be like, we have the same issues or we compliment each other. You know, we both sort of go for that kind of confessional, personal writing style that's sort of like characters first. So that I think it could be a really great challenge, but, as far as, you know, thinking of specific names, so there are two authors who I absolutely love, who people might not necessarily be familiar with. They're both Australian, and I heard about them years ago. There's this Australian book blogger on Twitter who did this podcast called Bookdingo, and she had great taste. And so she mentioned both of these authors, and so I went and read their stuff. One is Kirsty Eagar, and the other is Melina Marchetta and everything they write is just fabulous. And what I admire about them is, I mean, a lot of their books have a romance arc. Some I would classify as romance, some I wouldn't. But each book is kind of different and distinct from the next, and yet they're all amazing. And I really admire that because I feel like in today's market, there's a lot of pressure on authors to be consistent. It's like, you like this book, you want to know and expect with the next one. And I totally, totally get that. And I find it comforting kind of knowing what to expect from an author's books. But I think an author that can go somewhere different with each story and do an amazing job is really impressive. And they just kind of do so much with family and relationships and coming of age, which is something that I'm really into, just really, really beautiful. And so I don't know how such a collaboration would ever happen, but like, honestly, I wouldn't care. Like, I don't care what genre or, you know, I could be a ghost writer. I wouldn't have to be listed.

Ha ha!

They're just both amazing.

My god, that's the highest compliment. I will have to check them out. I haven't read either of them, I'm ashamed to say. OK, definitely. Well, on the coming of age, I think that that's something that you write those themes so beautifully and seems to be somewhat of a consistent note within your stories. Do you find that that was something that you're drawn to? Well, I won't even ask that. I will say. How does that work its way in? Or? You know, it seems like you are drawn to those themes. Can you kind of share a little bit more about that?

For sure. I think that there's so much change happening in sort of a coming of age period of life, that it kind of makes a natural story arc. Like it's a time of transformation, it's a time of growth, and that's always what I want to write about because you're looking at, you know, how the characters grow over the course of the story. And so I think that's a very kind of natural time. It can be very tumultuous, which is exciting. And I think also, you know, it's easy for me to look back on it. Sometimes I'm like, like, what am I going to write about characters my age? Like, you know, maybe I'm sort of inching towards that. But also, like, I mean, I'm not going to say that my life is boring, but it's very settled. It's like, I'm married, I have kids, I have a job, and I like my day job, and I like writing, but there's not a lot of drama in my life, and I like it that way. But earlier, you know, there was lots of drama in college and early 20s, you know, all that stuff. And so it just kind of seems like a natural time to gravitate towards to sort of look at these intense transformations and stories.

I think it makes for such beautiful stories. And you're right. It's really those years are such high highs and low lows. It is that constant velocity all the time. So amazing. So I know you've written in multiple perspectives. First person and third person and dual point of view. Is there a style that you have found that is your favorite style to write in at this point?

Yes, I would say first person feels the most natural. And every so often I've kind of experimented with present tense, but I usually go for past tense. I just find that easier for me. It's interesting, like with the Boys Next Door, which is all in third person, the reason that I chose third for that one back when I was first putting it out as a serial on Literatica, I was like, well, you know, given this sort of like publication platform, what I'm trying to do, like the story needs to be kind of porny. And in order to do that, I think I need to detach a little bit, like, and put it in third, because if it were in first, it would be kind of weird if Diana were like describing her own body in a very sexy way. So I chose to kind of place the viewpoint outside. And then when it came time to write the third book in the series, The Man of the Hour, that was a few years later. And at that point, I'd been writing everything in first person. I was like, well, I want to be consistent. So I guess I need to go back to third and I'll make it mostly from Brendan's point of view. But it was hard to get back into that. Like it really, it took some work to sort of get back into that perspective.

That is so interesting. I mean, it makes sense, right? Like, at the time, and publishing it in that serial manner, how did that feel as far as like, I feel like when I look at the Kindle Vellas of the world or other platforms where it sort of leans more toward limited releases by chapter, that there would be so much pressure on the author as far as really having to internalize that immediate feedback or hitting that sort of schedule for publication.

I’d say that it was like 95 % amazing. So you know, overall like totally worth it. And you know, it was my first time publishing anything for an audience. And so I wanted to just see how people responded to my work and kind of use it as a lab to be like, okay, what do people like, what do they not like? Like, how can I sort of improve to make my work sort of speak to an audience? So for that purpose, it was fantastic to get responses in real time and sort of like comments on each chapter and see what people liked. And then it did influence, like even though I had the story kind of in my mind with what I plan to do, it did influence me to sort of like pull on a certain thread more or bring, you know, you know, something out because people were responding to it. And so I think as a new author, it was incredibly helpful to have that experience. And sort of the 5 % that was not amazing was toward the end as like the story was getting bigger and I was taking longer between chapters to figure out what to do. Some people did get very impatient and I was like, wow, people get really mad when their next free chapter takes, you know, a couple months.

Yeah.

So that was educational, but I did still see that it was coming from a place of being invested in the story, which I did really appreciate.

Makes sense. And it is, yeah, that feels like a real writers boot camp almost in a sense, like you're getting all of it at once.

For sure. And also, you know, I don't think I would have finished that story if I hadn't been putting out chapters and having this sort of like expectation like, okay, where's the next one? So in that way, it was really motivating, which is great.

That's interesting. Can you say more about that? Is it because the story wasn't resonating or well, I guess I'll stop guessing and just ask you.

No, no, that's such a good question. So I had been writing for, I want to say like three years before I started releasing the Boys Next Door and I hadn't put anything out there and I had a bunch of ideas. Like I was great at coming up with ideas and starting projects and I would like number each one and so I think Boys Next Door is project number nine of the things I come up with. But I hadn't completed anything because I was really motivated as I found out by sort of people wanting to read it and expecting it and so forth. And so I wasn't motivated enough just on my own to complete something. And you know, the idea, the sort of idea phase at the beginning is always very exciting, but then it's like, I get to the middle. I don't know what we're doing. Like, what's the story? And so the only thing that kind of kept me going over that hump was knowing that people were waiting for the next chapter and wanted to see what happened next. And I was like, well, I can't disappoint them. Like, I have to come up with it even if it's later than they're expecting it. Like, I need to get something out there.

Amazing. I mean, that really is just such an interesting look as far as motivation and, you know, where other influences sort of affect, I guess, the production of art, right? In essence. Maybe we can switch a little bit to just in general, sort of looking back at your writing career thus far, do you have a favorite moment or sort of sense of like, this was my accomplishing milestone that I always remember?

That is a good question. Trying to think of whether there's a given moment. I mean, there's always a feeling of accomplishment when a book is released. But I feel like it's more of kind of a cycle, like the ocean, the waves are always going, rather than like, you know, a stopping point or a moment that's like significant in of itself. I think, you know, what I've learned, because I've been publishing, I guess, for seven years now, is the things that I thought would bring satisfaction aren't necessarily the most satisfying. You know, sort of like external markers of success, like hitting a certain pre-order goal or a certain amount of sales, making a certain amount of money in a year. Like, it's great when those happen, but the satisfaction from them, I think, is more fleeting than sort of just the process of writing a book that I feel connected to. And then I think hearing from readers is probably the most satisfying in terms of like how a story lands out in the world. Like if someone says, you know, the scenes in Boys Next Door have like got me and my husband all fired up, you know, and it's like been amazing for a marriage or, you know, someone who's going through a really hard medical procedure is like reading Priceless really helped me get through it. Like that, you know, I'm like tearing up. But those moments are like, OK, like. This is why I do this.

I mean, it's such an intimate exchange, right, to be able to read work like that and as a reader to have that really impact your life. And I can imagine sort of full circle back to you. I mean, that's, it's beautiful. It's powerful.

Absolutely.

Goals is the wrong way to phrase this, but do you have anything when you think about the future where you'll take your writing, is there anything you're like, I have this in mind or I envisioned this for my writing, essentially?

I think I've learned that there are things I have control over in terms of sort of setting goals and putting things out there and there are things that I don't. I mean, even after all this time, I never know how a story will land with readers or how people respond to it, you know, how much it'll sell, any of that stuff. So I think my goals are really to just keep writing work that speaks to me and hopefully to other people.

Incredible goal — thank you. We're the proud recipients of your work, so very much appreciated. So I guess maybe we'll take it here as far as just over seven years. And I'm sure as a reader, prior to you taking on writing, we've seen the romance industry change so much and there's been such a huge groundswell as far as romance readers goes. Do you have any hypothesis as far as maybe like why this is occurring or is you're seeing new fans and new readers come in and pick up work from early on in your career? How does that impact you or what's your sort of like working thesis around that?

I think there are a few things going on. One is this incredibly positive kind of destigmatization of romance and erotica and enjoying that. I think there were all these misconceptions about romance for so long, that it was trashy or that it was unintelligent, that, you know, it was always written to a formula which made it less worthwhile as a genre. And people are really coming to see that, you know, it's not. It can be so many things. It can be intelligent and heartfelt. And there are many, many subgenres within romance. And there's just this sort of incredible rainbow of what romance can be. And it just needs to have a happy ending and a romantic arc throughout it. And like, beyond that, you know, it's sort of like the sky's the limit. So, and I think also there's a lot more acceptance of reading and especially women reading erotic literature and erotic romance. And I think that's fantastic because it's just so important. Like I found when I started writing and it did start as erotica and then kind of moved into romance that it was so empowering to just sort of discover my voice in that way and what I liked and things that I hadn't been able to articulate in relationships and now could because I sort of had the tools for it. So I think it's incredibly empowering that romance is becoming more accepted and widespread as a genre. I think also the past few years have just been really hard. Like there's just been a lot of hard stuff going on and to be able to turn to a book that you know will be comforting, that will turn out well, that has hope in it, and a celebration of love and just kind of the message that love conquers all is really uplifting. And I think it's something that we really need, especially now.

Absolutely. No, that's such an interesting perspective. I think for me when I think about even the impact of the pandemic and the way it affects media and creative production, everything, and you see that there's been so many phenomenal new artists and writers that have sort of come out within that space of being isolated and forced to do nothing except for your craft or whatever it is. But I had necessarily thought of it from the perspective of we, societally, are just looking for a little bit of comfort and a little bit of stability and like, that feeling of hope and I guess warmth for lack of a better term. That's incredible. So I guess I'll let you go but I do just want to ask one final question which is you know really broad but just related to where can your readers and fans find you and what's sort of the best way to support you?

Absolutely. Thank you. Definitely my newsletter. I am sort of kind of finding new appreciation for newsletters. I think on social media we're more and more at the mercy of the algorithm. And so with a newsletter, like, you know it's going to come to your email and maybe it'll go to your promotions folder, but you can find it and it'll be there. So definitely that. My website, as far as social media, I'm mostly on Instagram and then on my Facebook readers group. I post updates and it's pretty sporadic while I'm like in the weeds of working on a book but as we get closer to release it'll ramp up more.

So exciting. I cannot wait for the release. I'm like, I'm always very delicate to say like, I can't wait, but also take the time that you need to get it written in. No pressure, no pressure. But well, it was such a pleasure to get to sit down with you, Miranda.

Thank you. For sure.

Thank you for continuing to just write these incredible stories. I think you're one of the authors that I would put on my, I would read your shopping list at this point. So anything and everything.

Titles by Miranda Silver