As we continue our spotlight on LGBTQAI+ authors we are happy to share this conversation we had with AJ Rose. AJ has been writing since the second grade and is the author of novels like The Mind Hacker Series and The Power Exchange Series.
Q) What made you decide to go the self-publishing route? As you have become successful has any publishers tried to get you to sign with them?
My first foray into publishing began with two novellas released by a small indie press. Through them, I learned the behind-the-scenes details of publishing. The only part I didn’t see was distribution center uploading of digital files, but by then there were tutorials for self-publishers that made it seem more than doable. So for my first full-length novel, I hired my best friend—a talented photographer and editor in his own right—for the parts I couldn’t do and I did the rest.
That book was Power Exchange, which hit a nerve in MM romance right around the time that other mainstream BDSM series with Gray in the title hit. A combination of an eye-catching cover, good timing, and luck got Power Exchange a lot of attention. The sequel did even better, and off I went.
As for whether or not I’ve been approached by publishers since, other than language translations, there have been no nibbles.
Q) You have several ongoing series as well as stand-alone books, did you plan for the series to be ongoing or did the novels just lead to more stories to be told?
My current series, The Mind Hacker, was planned from the start to be multiple books. I’m writing the third installment, and the fourth and fifth are mostly plotted and waiting to be drafted. I don’t believe it’ll go beyond that, but I’ve learned from previous work to never say never. The readers want what the readers want, and if my inspiration hasn’t run out, so do my characters.
My other backlist series, including Power Exchange, were mostly unplanned. They expanded thanks to reader appreciation and continued inspiration for those characters.
The exception is The Long Fall of Night, my apocalypse story. I had hopes for more, but after the release of the first installment—which does have a Happy For Now ending—real life intervened. I got engaged to my now-wife, who’s British, and we were elbow deep in the immigration process to move her to the States. It didn’t seem prudent to be researching and writing about the fictional downfall of the USA while the FBI’s very real Immigration department was diving so deeply into our lives (and I do mean deep) to see if she should be allowed into the country to marry me. I had little choice but to put that series on hold. Now, with US’s current political unrest, resuming that story feels like extremely poor taste. While I love Ash and Elliott, and may at some point in the future take up their story, but I can’t promise. I do feel terrible about it, as though I’m letting readers down, but I can’t say if and when I’ll ever feel safe enough to write it again. Right now, I don’t, and I can only hope people understand.
Q) Do you ever experience self-doubt during the writing process? How do you overcome it?
Oh, all the time! Writing can be lonely, and I get caught up in my head like anyone else. I question nearly every scene, whether it’s the best I can do, if the emotions are on track, if my characterization makes sense throughout, etc.
Overcoming self-doubt is, in truth, one of my biggest hurdles. The imposter syndrome is real! My tricks include my extremely generous wife, who reads everything and gives her honest opinion if I’m veering off track. Another source of encouragement is my reader group on Facebook, AJ Rose’s Buds. They get updates, snippets of inspiration, plus a weekly ongoing story, and their cheerleading and feedback breathe life into my work all the time. I’m also hoping to expand that reader connection with a subscription on my website soon, which will include a free tier and a little tip jar-sized tier that yes, will still involve freebie fiction.
I love interacting with readers. They’re my joy, along with creating worlds and characters. Readers keep me doing this.
Q) Do you have a set writing schedule or practice that helps you produce pages consistently?
I sit down to write every day. Most days, that works. There are some days where I do administrative tasks if I cannot get blood from a stone. Valuable advice I read once was if I’m blocked, write descriptions to get some words down—the way characters or a scene looks, whatever that is. Usually that gets me unstuck. I’m an extremely visual writer, and if I can see it, I can feel it, and then I can write it. Once I get started, then it’s just letting the characters do their thing.
Another trick is using music to set the mood. I have a huge music app library. Many, many playlists specific to characters or WIPs, and then a whole host of instrumentals in case lyrics are too distracting. If I need a specific mood—like if I’m writing spicy scenes—I put on that playlist, let the music wash over me, and put fingers to keyboard. When I finish a WIP, I can pick a few songs specific to a book and set that as a promo playlist for readers while they read if they want.
Q) What other authors do you read for inspiration and writing techniques?
This is such a hard question. I have my comfort tropes. I know there are talented authors I haven’t had the chance to sink into. Add how much the LGBTQAI+ romance genre has absolutely exploded in recent years, and I have a huge TBR pile, and not enough time in the day, haha!
Also, everyone’s going to say, “Sure, Jan,” when I say the first name is Kate Aaron, because I also happen to be married to her. But I’m dead serious, her writing pulls emotions out of me in ways not a lot of other writers can. On top of that, she’s a concise writer with tons of heart but not a lot of flowery language, and I’m just…. Maybe I fell in love with her a little bit through her writing, and then when we connected online, I fell the rest of the way. Can’t help it. Sorry, not sorry.
Another one is Jordan L. Hawk of Widdershins fame. I’m not normally a reader of historical fiction because I’m not a big history buff, so I get lost in the context. But his work never makes me feel that way. His recent series, The Pride, is all kinds of amazing, set in Chicago during Prohibition, and has supernatural elements with shifters. I’m also forever a fan of his SPECTR series, which is different from any other vampire supernatural series I’ve ever read.
I have a lot of others, too. L.A. Witt, Alice Winters, C.S. Poe (the research!), S.C. Wynne, NR Walker, Michelle Dare, F.E. Feeley, Kade Boehme, Marley Valentine, Hailey Turner, Gregory Ashe, Eden Winters, Annabeth Albert, Brigham Vaughn, Davidson King, A.M. Johnson, Cordelia Kingsbridge…. That’s just the start.
Plus lately, I’ve been reading darker—Bey Deckard, Howl Avery, R. Phoenix, Onley James. That’s sending me down entirely new rabbit holes. Oh yes, plans are being made.
Q) What is your next project you are working on?
Also a difficult question because my muse is a crackhead with ADHD (literally). OOH SHINY!
I’m drafting the third book in The Mind Hacker series with late-summer/early-fall 2025 release intentions. Alongside that, I’m writing a fake marriage trope standalone that’s not yet titled, which has the potential for publication in 2025 as well.
I’ve just had my head turned with another, darker storyline that miiiiiight end up under another pen name, but I’ll very much need to study my marketing bandwidth for it (though I have begun laying the groundwork, just in case). That one involves a morally gray medical examiner with a personality disorder that might or might not be a wee bit obsessed with a certain enby salon owner who doesn’t mind using occult practices to get what they want and protect those they care about. And together, they might be a powerhouse couple who are also personally affronted by corruption, for which murder is a tidy solution, if they can stop being brats to each other first. Perhaps. Maybe. But that’s a story I’m working on as time permits, and I’m trying very hard not to let how much fun it is to write to sabotage my schedule. Down, dudes. Down.
Q) If people want more information about you or your projects, where should they go?
The best place for immediate updates is my Facebook reader group, AJ Rose’s Buds. However, things with META are getting messy, and while I refuse to comply with their oppression in advance and leave voluntarily—they’ll have to make me go—I’m working on setting up other fun places to build an inclusive and safe community in solidarity with readers.
My newsletter sign up is http://eepurl.com/beyR89, and I’m not the most frequent sender, but I do push out major update news now and then.
I’m also on BlueSky as @ajrose.bsky.social, where I also have built a few starter packs for people to find quite a few other people in the LGBTQAI+ romance world (I named it MM Romance because that’s who I mostly followed at first, but it’s not limited to only mm accounts.)
Final four questions –we ask everybody
Q) When the zombies take over the world where will you be?
Wherever my son is. I introduced him to World War Z years ago when he was an impressionable age (oops), and from there, he’s become a walking, talking zombie expert. I’ll do whatever he says and we’ll survive, probably. I just know I will NOT be on a cruise ship. shudder
Q ) What is your favorite Fandom?
I have a few, some new, some old. The latest is Buddie from 9-1-1 (roll on March! It’s gonna happen this season!), and Interview with the Vampire on AMC. OMG so many layers, and Sam Reid and Jacob Anderson were made for these roles. Their chemistry is on fire. As for long-time fandoms, Hannigram, of course. #MurderHusbands for the win.
My longest standing fandom, though, and the one I credit with rebooting my love of writing is K/S, the OG fandom, although I found it during the Trek reboot years. So it was with Chris Pine’s Kirk, and Zach Quinto’s Spock in the fanfiction I was involved in. And no, I’m not sharing any of what I wrote then. It’s terrible. If I seem wordy now… omg.
Q) What piece of art, be it in the form of music, a book, a film or picture, do you think people must experience before they die?
Edmond Manning’s The Lost and Founds series. It’s MM, but it’s not the typical MM romance, even if, by the series end, the MC Vin Vanbly gets his ultimate HEA. This series pulled more tears and ugly crying outta me than any other book ever has, or probably ever will (and no, I’m not paid to say this).
I approached Edmond on socials after I read King Perry, the first book, and met him in person not too long after talking online. Edmond was at my wedding. He’s a cherished friend, and his soul is gold. He’s a beautiful human being, one of those people who shines so bright, he’s almost blinding. I love him, and I found him through his art. I’m even planning a tattoo based on this series on my arm (with his permission) when I can get the design right.
I rarely review books publicly because I feel as an author, I have a different platform than as a reader. But this one, I needed to. Here’s a snippet:
“…impossible to put down. I wanted to crawl inside it, stretch my limbs against its boundaries and get some of that beautiful mess of language rubbed on my shirt. It would have been a stain to cherish.
…tendrils of story woven throughout… that it literally stole my breath a few times. Things like:
‘A thousand leaves in the enormous tree above us participate in my deception, rubbing their veiny little hands against their neighbors.’
‘Like every other tourist, we gawk and photograph the most magnificent alien creature ever witnessed, the Pacific Ocean. Instead of a body of water, I behold a twitching leviathan, slumbering on its side. This all-encompassing monster, Ocean, defies explanation. How can a thing hold all the colors at once? Every shade of midnight blue and saffron teal bob away, gradations of black and green in combinations I have never experienced. How can glittering orange and yellow crest each wave’s tips before cheerfully drowning? Ocean lies motionless on its side while every surface inch shivers with the ecstasy of life.’
See what I mean? I could fall headlong in the images Manning evokes with just a few well-placed descriptions.”
Every single installment of the 6 Lost and Founds books has these mind-blowing descriptions. But the deeper story is beyond me to describe. While the plot is wild, and as a reader you just have to trust it at first and let yourself be led, the journey is WORTH IT. My affection for the fictional Vin Vanbly surpasses every other character I’ve ever loved, including those in my deepest fandom attachments. These books literally changed my life for the better. They have me asking frequently, “Did I live? Did I touch the world?” (that’s my tattoo.)
Q) Give one fact that most people would not believe about you?
I’m cripplingly shy and awkward in real life, which makes public appearances for the books an interesting experiment. I’m either quiet and listening to others talk, or I’m a rambling, oversharing hot mess. There’s no middle. Then I often replay conversations and cringe at myself for days afterward. At least that’s how I see it. I’m told by others I don’t necessarily come off that way, thank your chosen deity.
Paper Phoenix ink 