How did you come to write sci-fi romance? What attracted you to the genre?
Most of my all-time favourite books are science fiction, but sci-fi hasn’t always been the most accessible genre for a lot of people. Likewise with romance, even though it’s the biggest selling fiction category in the world. I love how sci-fi romance combines the strangeness of science fiction with the emotional relatability of romance. When non-SF readers tell me my work has made them like sci-fi, and non-romance readers finding themselves more open to happy-ending love stories after picking up my books, I know this is the genre for me.
You write all different lengths, from novels to short stories. How do you approach each length?
Oh boy … My approach is chaotic and disorganised and very dependent on the story, the season, where I’m at in my hormone cycle (yes, really), and who’s around me at the time. I’ve had novellas just fall out of me (eg. The Only Question That Matters) and short pieces feel like a knife twisting (eg. A First For Everything). Sharing this makes me cringe a bit, because it’s hardly becoming of a career writer. I feel like I should have some neat-sounding process to share, but I don’t. It’s a make it up as we go kind of deal, and maybe that’s just how it works for some of us.
Dot Club is your newsletter and it has many features. Can you tell us how this came about?
After many years of trial and error, Dot Club has become my only “social media” presence. It’s not distracting. I get plenty of space to think and write. My readers can reply to any mailout if they fancy a chat. And I’m fairly certain my email provider doesn’t do the invasive kind of data surveillance you’d find in conventional social media spaces.
This is important to me. I spend a lot of energy worrying about the state of the world – environment, privacy, ethics, sustainable tech – so it helps to have a setup that gives me (and my readers) some peace of mind here. I send mailouts monthly with an occasional “after hours” message, including a plain-text version and dark-mode display for folks like me who can be sensitive to bright light and visual noise. Oh, and I use EmailOctopus (my ref link, in case that’s your jam) to put it all together, because their commitment to sustainability and ocean cleanup gave me such good vibes.
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Are you a plotter? Pantser? Or somewhere in-between?
In between, for sure! If I lean too heavily on plotting, I get bored. But when pantsing too hard, I somehow end up writing about biscuits. Maybe one day, I’ll take the hint and write a culinary sci-fi romance, but … not today. I have wondered if my pantsing tendencies are a sign of insufficient research, since when I’m full bottle on everything a WIP needs, the story and characters seem to come together effortlessly.
Do you have a favourite of your characters?
Usually, my favourite is the one I’m workshopping in the moment. It’s hard, I guess, to go “no, you’re my second favourite” when full-on empathising with someone. From my novel, Yet We Sleep, We Dream, I had such trouble liking Olek. He felt so flat and milquetoast, perhaps because the dreamy artist archetype doesn’t speak to me so strongly. But then he has his moment with the god-king Oberon (my favourite at the time), and I rolled back from my keyboard realising I loved them both equally. Over a year later, sometimes I think about Olek and tear up, realising he’s just one of many who smile through the pain, just to add more love to the world.
Do you have advice for emerging writers?
Let every project, every thing you write or publish, accomplish two things:
Push you to be better at writing than you were before. This will bring you deep satisfaction if you consider writing a lifelong pursuit.
Serve as a small bet, a tiny experiment, to teach you something about the craft and trade. Lean into your successes, get playful with your failures.
What are you currently reading/watching?
Right now, I’m in the early chapters of Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh, this month’s assigned novel from the sci-fi/fantasy book club I’m in. The club brings me lots of joy and amazing reads, and I’ve heard so many good things about this novel. As for watching … is it controversial to say I’ve just finished Season 1 of The Office (Australia)? I have some opinions, but suffice to say I hope they get a second season, just to see if and how the show comes into its own.
Tell us about your latest release?
The Only Question That Matters is a sci-fi romance novella about a one-night stand on an interstellar cruise ship. The day before reaching her destination, young divorcée Sofia works up the nerve to ask writer Alexei on a date, only to discover their attraction means more than just the fun, physical romp she expects. But she can’t give up on her fresh start, and I absolutely can’t tell you more without spoiling the story. This book is a steamy, emotional exploration of human connection. The kind of thing to pair with red wine and a hearty meal.
What can we expect from you in the future?
At the moment, I’m picking at the seams of a time travel romance that was written for a cancelled anthology. I wrote it to sit alongside the specific stories in the collection, not realising how easily publishing projects can just vapourise. It’s fitting, really, since the story itself deals with things that suddenly disappear from your life. Once I’m done rewriting it as a standalone, I’ll be so very delighted to have it out in the world.
The Only Question That Matters
Sofia is en route to Planet Paradiso, ready to start a new life after her divorce. But when she accepts Alexei’s dinner invitation on her final evening, she realises she’s getting more than she bargained for.
As the AMS Celestial Dream arrives at its destination, and their one-night stand draws to a close, Sofia must choose between a newfound possibility with Alexei and the freedom she so desperately craves.
JL Peridot
Visit her website at jlperidot.com.
