Talks with my Favorite Authors

Talks with my Favorite Authors

Feb. 7, 2023

It’s Tuesday! Time for my first Tuesday Talks with my Favorite Authors. And my first talk is with M. Tasia, a M/M romance author living in Ontario, Canada. I was first introduced to her work by our mutual publisher and immediately fell in love with her stories. She’s so good! Her characters absolutely come alive.

Thank you so much for coming on my website and telling us about your work.

So-rather than me blather on about her, Here’s M. Tasia in her own words.

1. What made you sit down to a word processor and start writing? Have you always been a
writer? Was it something you came to as an adult?
I’ve always written. As a child it was simple stories and grew as I did. I never
considered publishing until I was forced off work due to illness and had a lot of time
on my hands. I’ve always loved creating characters and having them act out scenes
in my head, but the trick is getting them to cooperate on paper lol.
2. Where do you get the ideas for your stories?
There never seems to be an end to available stories whether they be from the news, a
person on the street, my own imagination and asking the question ‘what if’. I’ve
been fortunate that way.
3. Your characters are delightful! Where do you get them? Are they based on real people or
totally figments of your imagination? Is there any particular reason you specialize in gay
romance?
Both. Some are people I meet or know personally and parts of their mannerisms.
While others are complete figments of my over active imagination. MM Romance
provides me with great joy, not only being an ally to the community but having a
large representation in my own family and friends. It also allows me to explore areas
that typically aren’t considered male character territory such as emotions, love, fear,
longing, which are typically female character driven in writing. I firmly believe
everyone deserves to have love and romance.
4. What is your writing process? Are you a plotter or a pantser?
100% Panster lol. Of course I have a general idea of what I want to see happen but
most of the time the characters lead me where they want to go. I’m along for the
ride as much as my readers. Which makes it much more interesting and fun.
5. How do you go about researching for your work? How do you research your settings?
Your characters’ backstories? Etc.? Do you ever travel to your intended settings?
Once I’ve decided on a course, I research it extensively. I never want my readers to
feel as if I’d cheated them somehow. For my Gates series I travelled to Downtown
Los Angeles to find the perfect setting for the building and to get a feeling for the

area and people. In the last book of that series, I’ve even included a picture of the
actual building in DTLA I used as inspiration for the setting of the stories.
6. What do you do when you’re not busy writing? How do you balance your writing with
your other responsibilities?
I’m still trying to find that balance. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t
but I never regret the time I spend creating worlds for my characters. My readers
are very important to me and I want them to go on that journey with me and feel
those same feelings I do that each character brings out in us. However, I have a
young grandson who makes sure I’m firmly rooted in the here and now. I wouldn’t
trade a moment with him for anything in the world.
7. Do you do any other kinds of writing besides romance?
No, romance has drawn me in and allows me to explore other areas such as
adventure, intrigue, fantasy, action and so on through the eyes of my characters
while retaining the central romance we so long for.
8. If you could pass on one nugget of advice to a beginning writer, what would it be?
Don’t give up and invest in the Chicago Manual of Style of Writing. Knowing the
basics will never steer you wrong.