1--What is the title of your latest release?
WILD WITH ALL REGRETS
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Delving through years of a troubled past, Lucas must face that he’s suppressed his truest self from the one he loves most in the world.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I was inspired by the life of Wilfred Owen, and wanted to use WWI as the time period to honor his life. The novel is set in Ireland because of the stronger ties to Catholicism, as a nod to Oscar Wilde, and because I wanted to tie the Easter Uprising into the story.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
No, he’s very unpleasant to people he doesn’t like, and is fairly unpleasant to people he does like. He means well though and is working through some stuff.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Loyal, obsessive, bitter.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
That although weird psychological adventures about sad people and gay ghosts are not very marketable, they’re quite interesting to write and (I hope) read.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I wait until I’m totally done. Otherwise, I’d never finish anything.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
I like going to a restaurant with a cuisine I’ve never had and try and find something new. As a vegetarian, unfortunately, that sometimes means that I end up ordering Princess Cake instead of Kottbullar, but I try my best.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I’m a bit of sucker for a cute little cafe which just lets you sit and write for hours. I get a chai, sit in the corner on one of the comfy chairs, and just create while Spotify makes me a soundtrack.
10--Who is an author you admire?
Wilfred Owen. He was someone with a beautiful, lyrical voice that was cut off in its prime by the violence of war. I hope that my novel does his legacy justice.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro- that was the first book that truly devastated me and made me realize the power in prose. I always want to write works that make my audience feel something- and in this case those feelings are devastation and emptiness. I’m sorry.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I got an email from the team at SheWrites telling me that my book had been green lit to go ahead. I couldn’t stop smiling to the point where my coworkers thought there was maybe something wrong with me, and I actually snuck out of work early to celebrate. I remember the drive home I was blasting epic soundtrack music, pounding on the steering wheel, and just going YES!!
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
LGBT, classical literature.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
Everything Everywhere All at Once
15--What is your favorite season?
Autumn - it’s just cozy! The leaves are beautiful, the air is crisp, it’s not so cold that it’s unpleasant but it’s chilly enough that snuggling up with a blanket and a hot chocolate is just delicious.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I like to go on an adventure! Travel somewhere new, go to a new restaurant, just explore and celebrate what life has to offer.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Tuca and Bertie! Highly underrated show with a mostly female cast, writers, and producers. I’ve never seen a show capture the life of a woman in her thirties quite as well as this one, and I adore it.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Tough one, but probably Thai. Send my apologies to Korean and Italian.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
As someone with autism I rarely turn off, so in my free time I like to rollerblade, play video games, read, knit, bake, and pursue my ‘real life’ job which is veterinary science. I’m aiming to become a European recognized specialist in surgery, which is very time consuming indeed. Obviously, my favorite free time activity is writing! I’d love for my secret passion to turn into something I could use to support myself.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
My new book, To Hell and Back! A pair of exorcist con artists use sleights of hand and their natural charm to scam the nation’s wealthiest... until one of them becomes possessed for real. And yes, this work is also gay as heck.
A decade has passed since Lucas Connolly lost his best friend—and the only man he’s ever loved—in World War I, but he still can’t shake his guilt over Jamie’s death. In fact, ever since losing Jamie, Lucas has heard his friend’s voice inside his head—confused about what happened to him, begging him for help. And now, suddenly, it’s not just Jamie’s voice anymore; now, a specter who looks and acts exactly like Jamie did before his death, and who is demanding answers from Lucas about what happened to him, has begun to haunt him.
Concerned about Lucas’s deteriorating mental state, his friend Angela encourages him to move on with his life, and even sets him up with a coworker whom she suspects is also gay. But Lucas is too consumed with the secret he still keeps about the part he played in Jamie’s death to even begin to form a healthy connection with someone new—and as Jamie’s ghost begins to recover his memories and get closer to the truth, Lucas’s obsession only deepens.
Ultimately, Lucas realizes that his only path forward is to first go backward—that only in examining his troubled youth, facing his deepest self, and shining a light on the shadowed parts of his past will he finally be able to set his old friend, and himself, free.
LGBTQ | Literature and Fiction [She Writes Press, On Sale: June 13, 2023, e-Book, ISBN: 9781647424879 / ]
E.L. Deards grew up in New York City and earned her undergraduate degree at Barnard College at Columbia University , where she studied Japanese literature and biology. She was then accepted to The University of Edinburgh, where she completed her veterinary degree. She remained in the UK afterward, and since then has split her time between her day job as a vet and her truest passion: writing. Deards has authored a number humor articles for In Practice, a veterinary magazine, and was the recipient in college of two writing awards: Oscar Lee Award and the Harumatsuri Award. Wild with All Regret is her first book. She lives in Manchester, England.
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