Featured Interview With M.C. Rayne
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Hull, UK and moved to Leeds to go to university to study a degree in Textile Design. I’ve always been creative, and had stories in my head, but art was my first love and I wanted to spend a few years developing my skills and creativity.
It was while I lived away from home I began to listen to my feelings, and eventually admit to being gay. Since then, I’ve never looked back 🙂
Currently I live with my best friend and his husband, and my baby – a guinea pig named, Bean.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve always read books. Initially it was horror, and I devoured a lot of Stephen King. Overtime I drew more towards classics like Turn Of The Screw, By Henry James, and fantasy.
While at college I dabbled in writing, but nothing serious enough to make me put down the paintbrush. Then, when my mum passed I was directed to FanFiction by a friend as a way to distract myself, and from there I was encouraged to begin writing. I found I could express myself a lot more in writing, and say the things I struggled to open up about verbally.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Still a lover of horror, but now I’m a little obsessed with dark fantasy and young adult. I like vampire stories, but I’m more drawn to wizards, witches and faries for reading. I loved J K Rowling, and the Hunger Games books. Anything that will take me away from the real world for a few days is my kind of story.
It’s hard to say which authors inspire my writing, because I don’t want to say I’m like this or that author, because I’m not = I’m just me and write for the love of it. If I had to make a choice though, it would be the likes of Rowling and King, with a mix of Jodi Piccoult because I like to reave a reader with a little tear in their eyes if I can.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My novel, Flavours Of Our Life, is a contemporary romance about Eren and Alfie who meet by chance. Both men are total opposites in every way – Eren is looking for love in all the wrong places, and moving from bed to bed, while Alfie is struggling to hold his small family together.
With the weight of his world on his shoulders, Alfie reluctantly agrees to meet Eren when he accidentally ends up with the strangers wallet. What should have been a thank you meal, turns into the two men struggling through Leeds city centre back to Eren’s flat when a snow storm hits.
Throw into the mix an eccentric neighbour, and the reason Alfie seems so lost and the story will have you sobbing into your tissues.
The whole novel took be just under a year to write, mainly because I get distracted very easy by real life. It is semi based on real events I experienced as a child, and is very personal to me as all my writing is.
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