Today please welcome Charlie Novak to Author Chat. I read my first Charlie Novak book in January and I’ve been a fan ever since – which I realize isn’t decades or even years, but we all start somewhere. Charlie writes contemporary MM romance with characters you fall in love with. I highly recommend after you read the interview you go read one of Charlie’s books.
Now, Let’s chat with Charlie.
ACwA Guest: Charlie Novak
- How did the first story you ever wrote influence your career as an author and how do you feel about that story now?
The first story I ever wrote was probably something pony related when I was about six! I’ve been writing off and on for my whole life. A lot of my writing has been fandom related, and I started writing varieties of fanfiction when I was eleven. But I didn’t get into writing romance until my mid-twenties, and it was like something just clicked inside me. It’s definitely the genre that fits me best!
The first romance novel I wrote was Breakaway, which came out in July 2019. It was a labour of love and I’m so proud of it. While there might be some things that I look back now and wish I’d tweaked, I wouldn’t change it because I worked so hard on the book and I owe it to myself to be proud of what I achieved, rather than what I’d change.
I think every book I’ve written has influenced me in some way – they’re all parts of me, even if they were difficult or painful to write! - Which of your characters is most like you (or someone close to you.)
This is hard because there are parts of me in a lot of my characters! I think I’m probably most like Jay from Natural Twenty or Lewis from Proficiency Bonus (which comes out on the 18th May).
Jay is an anxious, book loving nerd – which is definitely me – and Lewis has a lot of my symptoms of ADHD. In fact I actually wrote him explicitly with ADHD as a way for me to really accept and celebrate my own diagnosis. - What is your favorite trope and why?
I love a ridiculous amount of tropes but my favourite is probably friends to lovers because you can do so much with it! Childhood best friends. New friends who fall in love slowly. Reconnecting friends. It’s just something I love.
That and enemies to lovers. I’ll always have a weakness for that. - What are you working on next?
So I’m just about to release the third book in my Roll for Love series, Proficiency Bonus, but after that I’m working on a book for July called Summer Kisses (you can preorder here!).
It’s a second chance romance between two chefs, Aaron and Josh, who have a very complicated past and they’re currently working together. One night they accidentally give in to whatever is between them and have to untangle their past so they can work out what future they have. It’s a little angstier than I’ve written before, but it’s been amazing to work on.
Charlie Novak’s Newest Release
Organising yourself is harder than it looks—Lewis may be a highly proficient PA for two very successful cosplayers, but that means nothing when you’re living at your parent’s house after yet another failed relationship and trying to find some stable ground.
Jason Lu, star of Celestials, is stuck between a rock and a hard place. When the show is cancelled and his character pigeonholed into a homophobic ending, Jason must choose whether to fall in line or break ranks. But one misstep will mean bumping heads with some powerful people.
Teaming up with the very cute guy he met at Comic Con seems like a natural first step and now Lewis and Jason must choose between heartbreak and justice. As they forge ahead, they realise there are no bonuses for navigating life’s challenges, instead they’ll just have to fight for what they believe in.
But sometimes overcoming the biggest hurdles yields the best results.
Proficiency Bonus is a 79,000-word contemporary MM romance featuring plushies, Pokémon, and a fight for the perfect ending. It is book three in the Roll for Love series and can be read as a standalone.
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Free Book!
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About Charlie Novak
Charlie lives in England with her husband and a dachshund named Biscuit. She spends most of her days wrangling other people’s words in her day job and then trying to force her own onto the page in the evening.
She loves cute stories with a healthy dollop of fluff, plenty of delicious sex, and happily ever afters – because the world needs more of them. Charlie also believes that love comes in all shapes and sizes.
Charlie has very little spare time, but what she does have she fills with cooking, pole-dancing, reading and ice-hockey. She also thinks that everyone should have at least one favourite dinosaur…
Where to Find Charlie Novak
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Thank you for the free book! I look forward to knowing you through your characters.