On my never-ending quest to broaden my horizons when it comes to authors of the romance genre I stumbled across successful romantic suspense/sports romance author Jacob Chance. I humbly requested his time for a very brief interview to continue my Meet a Male Romance Author interview series and he consented! Yay, consent. So, without further nonsense from me, here's Jacob's enlightening responses to my curious questions.
Romantically Inclined Reviews: Male readers and authors are few and far between in the romance community. I think many female readers are curious what drives some men to become readers and writers of such a female-dominated genre. Were you a romance reader first? What drove you to write your first romance novel and what was that experience like?
Jacob Chance: I wasn't a romance reader before becoming a published author. I read mostly thrillers and I played around with writing some sci-fi and thriller short stories. Back in college I even wrote some paranormal stories. I've always written for my own enjoyment since I was a kid.
I wrote my first romance novel on a dare from one of my cousins. I wasn't about to lose when I was challenged and by the time I published Quake, my first book, I was hooked. The sense of accomplishment I felt was amazing and now I'm about to published Iced, my 19th solo book and 25th book total (I also write under the pen name Remy Blake with my co-author Marley Valentine). I guess you could say I'm hooked on that feeling. There's nothing like it.
Romantically Inclined Reviews: What led to your choice to keep your real identity a secret from your readers? Do your friends and family know that you are a romance writer or do you withhold that information from them as well?
Jacob Chance: I don't show my face because I still work a full-time job that's important to me. But I do videos in my reader's group and I've posted pictures of myself, I just don't show my face. I'm open with my readers and anyone who's in my group (Spoiled by Chance) or knows me can attest to this. But I do like the focus to be on my books and not that I'm a guy who writes romance.
The people closest to me in real life know that I'm an author and they will always support me no matter what I do. But it's not something that I talk about much. I'm proud of what I've accomplished and that's enough for me.
Romantically Inclined Reviews: In what ways can writing romance be a challenge for male authors? DO you think that the romance community gives men writing romance a fair shake? Are there ways in which we, as a community, could improve on welcoming men into our midst, whether as writers or readers?
Jacob Chance : I've been fortunate enough in how the indie author and reader community has made me feel welcome from the start. I've found amazingly supportive readers and become friends with some great people who have steered me in the right direction from day one. I'm sure there might be some readers who might question how well a guy can write romance and I can understand their reservations. I hope they give my books a chance and maybe I can change their minds.
Romantically Inclined Reviews: What are your favorite parts about writing romance and the romance community in general?
Jacob Chance: I love to write in general, so writing romance is just an extension of that for me. I love creating a cast of characters and showing their friendships. Writing dialogue is always fun for me. I like to add humor to situations where humor isn't expected. I'm guilty of this in every day life, too.
Getting to know my readers and fellow authors is amazing. Meeting people from all over the world that I never would've known if I hadn't followed through with publishing has been awesome. I'm so thankful for their support. I'm honored there are readers enjoying the words I've written. I can never thank them enough.
As always, I'm honored to have people willing to participate in interviews for my blog. I, much like Jacob, love the opportunities that my blog has provided me to meet new people from all over the world. A major thanks to Jacob for giving me some of his time.
Have you read a Jacob Chance novel? Many of his books have 5 stars on Amazon and Goodreads (and there's more than just one review on there, too!). I, myself, have yet to read one of his books, but 2020 is going to be big year for stepping outside my comfort zone and reading some new authors. I vow it!