. 1. For those who might not be familiar with you, would you be a dear and tell the readers a little about yourself? How you got your start in the writing business?
(R) Thanks for having me. I’ve heard a lot about this place and been wanting to come byfor quite some time. Me? I’m just a simple guy who likes to write stories. I’ve been writing for years for fun. I came across an article online about how eBooks were starting to become popular and how you could self-publish your work. I’d messed around submitting the stuff I wrote for fun to publishers and agents and after getting dozens and dozens of rejection letters, I figured why not give this self-publishing thing a shot. As I delved further into the article they talked about different genres and when I saw the Erotic genre, my ears went up. You mean, I can write books with sex in them and get paid? Oh hell, yes! So I gave myself a crash-course on self-publishing, wrote some stuff and sent it out into thecyber world for consumption. Luckily, I’ve met some nice people who were willing to help me, so here I am. I figure, you only get one chance at life, so I might as well give it a shot while I can.
2. All writers fear the dreaded “block”. Please tell us how you handle it.
(R) Wow! Any writer reading this is about to hate me. I don’t really get blocked that often. I’m a very streaky writer. I won’t write anything for weeks, or even months at a time, then one day, I’ll just turn the computer on and write like a madman for days on end and when I’m writing like that, I don’t get blocked, it just flows out. First and foremost, writing is fun for me. If the time ever comes that it isn’t, I’ll just walk away and I won’t come back until its fun again.
3. Contrary to what some people envision about a romance writer’s life, it’s not all glitz and glamor. Well not for the majority of us. With that bubble sadly busted, when you’re not writing, how to do you spend your time?
(R) You mean you don’t have a wind machine that is constantly blowing your hair, while you are fed grapes by beautiful women like I do? I wish. But you’re exactly right. I think that most people hear the word “writer” and they think it’s like being a movie star, or a musician. There’s this romanticized view of it, but it’s a job just like being a movie star orbeing an accountant. You have to work at it every day and I’m sure if I could find beautiful women to feed me grapes all day, I’d let them, but I’d imagine that eventually they’d get in the way of my writing and I’d have to ask them to leave. I’d love to say that I spend my free-time doing interesting stuff, but I’m a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy. I watch the hockey game with friends. You know; hang out. In the summer I play soccer Sunday nights. In the winter I play hockey Thursday nights and I attend an annual street hockey tournament each year in a different location. That’s about as exciting as my life gets.
4. I know many writers, such as Dirk and myself, keep their pastime/career a secret. Do those close to you know you write? If so, what are their thoughts?
(R) I know any of my Facebook friends who are reading this are about to roll their eyes, but I’m kind of a shy person. I have no problem talking about provocative subjects, but when it comes to my friends and family, I’m shy about letting them read my stuff. I’m not sure any of them even know that I do it and if they do, I’m not sure who told them, becauseI know it wasn’t me. I’m not sure how I’d feel if I found out they had read the erotic stuff I write, it might be weird. I used to write general fiction novels for fun and it took me years to even tell my brother about it. You’re not likely to see him without a book in his hand and for years I wanted him to read the stuff I was writing, but I was too scared to tell him I waseven writing. The hardest part about writing for me was always getting over my fear of sharing my work with others, and now I look back on it and wonder what the hell I was so scared of.
5. Will you share with us your all time favorite authors? If you’re like me, it’s a long list so give us your top ten.
(R) I’m not sure I can get all the way to ten. I don’t miss a Chuck Palahniuk book. The first time I saw the movie Fight Club, it just spoke to me so much that I went out and got the book and every book he’s written since. Stephen King is another favorite. I loved the Dark Tower series and Needful Things. Aside from those two, I’m not sure I have favorites. I’m the kind of person who will grab a book off the discount table at Chapters, take it home and see if I like it. I’ve read lots of books by authors who only published one book and were never heard from again. I picked up a book off that discount table years ago called Cigarette Girl, by Carol Wolper and I loved it, so I grabbed a few of her other books, but I haven’t kept up to date with her stuff in years, so maybe I should go check her out again.
6. If you could choose one book to go to the big screen, yours or otherwise, which book would you choose and whom would you love see casted in the parts?
(R) All of mine, naturally. I personally happen to think that J and Travis from my J’s Closet series would make for some steamy onscreen scenes, but they’re probably better suited for late night Cinemax than the big screen and of course, I’d want to play Travis and personally audition all of Hollywood’s leading ladies for the part of J. Since I doubt that willhappen, my choice would be Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. It’s about the last survivor of a cult and how he becomes a celebrity. Along the way he undergoes this radical physical transformation, so in the beginning he’d be someone like Jon Lovitz, but ends up being Brad Pitt. It’s an interesting look at the cult of celebrity and how ridiculous it can be.
7. Would you care to tell us what you’re working on now? That is if it’s not top-secret information. If so, just whisper it in my ear. I swear it’ll go no further.
(R) Your hair smells too good for me to whisper in your ear, Kameron. I’m not sure Dirk would like the effect it has on me, so I’ll say it out loud. Things have really picked up for me since Sable Hunter and I decided to write together. She’s amazing. Nobody tells a story like her; brings so much intrigue and emotion into it and I’m beyond lucky to be workingwith her. We just published the first installment of a serial we’re going to be doing. The serial is called It’s Just Sex and it follows the continuing story of Andrew and Rosemary. The plan is to do a new installment every few months and let people follow along in their courtship. Each book will correspond with a holiday, but they might not be your traditional holidays, so you’ll have to stay tuned to see which days we pick. For instance, the first installment is titled, Green With Envy and it set with St. Patrick’s Day as the background. Sable and I are still working on how the rest of the story will play out, but there is a vision and we’re making ground on it every day.
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Also. Yes, there’s an ‘also’. Sable and I are also working on the first book in a series titled The Equalizers. I’m really excited about this first book. Thunderbird is the story of Hannah and Kyle. Kyle comes from a prominent Michigan family, he had a promising future in the NFL, but went off to fight for his country after college instead of going to the pros. When he gets back he is pursued to run for the senate and that’s where he meets Hannah. Hannah volunteers on Kyle’s campaign and the moment they meet, sparks fly. The story isn’t even half-done yet and already there’s so much emotion, scandal and intrigue in what we have, I can just imagine what the final product will be like.
8. Where can we find your stories and is there a particular reading order?
(R) For now, Amazon is where you can find my solo work and the work I’ve already done with Sable. As far as my J’s Closet series is concerned, there is no particular order you need to read them in, but I have posted one of the books in the series for free on my fan page, all you have to do is go there and click on the J’s White Tank Top tab and enjoy. Iplan on being available at other retailers in the future, but this stuff takes time, so for nowAmazon is where you can find me. http://www.amazon.com/author/roleary
9. Would you please share how your present and future fans can contact you?
(R) Best way to get a hold of me for now is on Facebook at my fan page:https://www.facebook.com/WriterRyanOLeary
10. Before we conclude this enlightening interview, do you have anything else you’d like to share? The stage is all yours.
(R) I just want to say how excited I am about what the future has in store and thank you for having me, I’ve been wanting to come by for quite some time.
Brook, Kameron. (2013). Interview with Ryan O'Leary. Dirk and Kam's Place. Retrieved from http://www.dirkandkam.com/2013/04/interview-with-ryan-oleary.html?zx=5b62a2881c22743d
