Over the next week or so, I’m going to be interviewing each of the eight authors in the Only One Bed: A Steamy Romance Anthology Vol 1 (Romancing The Trope)
Renee Dahlia is me. Yes, I’m going to be completely socially awkward and interview myself on my own blog. My full bio is on my About page, including the long story of how I ended up a romance writer when I started out studying science. I’m a bisexual cis woman who discovered romance and became hooked reading HEAs! I’ve always loved genre fiction and the way it gives you a satisfying ending; from a HEA through to the resolution of a mystery. I write contemporary and historical romances, with a range of pairings – fm, ff, and recently I’ve written a couple of mm stories.
Your story in the Only One Bed anthology is Uplift. What was the inspiration for behind the story?
A couple of years ago, while renovating our house, we had a tradie over to do the brick pointing on the front facade. He was a young guy and initially was very keen to quote the job and do the work. We had three quotes; one was ridiculously high and the other two were about the same. Of the two, one tradie was late to the appointment for doing the quote and other arrived on time. I went with the guy who arrived on time. He started well, doing the first half of the job with no drama and good quality, but it all went downhill when he stole our ladder. It went something like this:
“Hi, have you seen our ladder?”
“Yeah, it’s on my truck.”
“Excuse me?”
“I needed it for another job.”
“And you thought you’d just take it without asking? You do realise that’s not great business practice.” Yes, I was trying to be patient given that he hadn’t finished our job yet.
“I will return it.”
“I should hope so. I also expect to see our job complete.” We had only paid a deposit at this stage, so we did have some power in the situation. He returned the ladder about ten days later, and almost finished the job. We ended up retaining the final ten percent payment until he actually finished.
What do you love about the Only One Bed trope?
Forced proximity is all about banter and emotional connection. Banter is my favourite thing to write. It’s two people bouncing ideas off each other and is so energising and illuminates their character so well.
Are any of your other books connected to your story in the Only One Bed anthology?
Ode to the Banh Mi is another novella set in the Margaret River region of Western Australia. Anvita appears in that novella as the TV producer who is involved with chef Etienne and gardener Bianca’s show Homage. You can grab it for free by signing up to my newsletter.
Buy Only One Bed: A Steamy Romance Anthology Vol 1 (Romancing The Trope)
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