In this installment of the author feature we get twice the fun as we are joined by co-authors Rowan Amaris & Theo Behr. They write sweet and spicy MM romance with a dash of magic and a subversive kick.
The two of you co-write your books, how do you organize and split up the duties?
The writing is about 50/50. Each of us handles different characters, and we write back and forth for what we call the zero draft.
e.g. For Citrus and Snow, Theo wrote Bo and Rowan wrote Everil. Theo would write Bo, say, knocking on Everil’s door. Then Rowan would write Everil’s reaction, and back and forth until the book was done.
As you can imagine this means our first drafts are ridiculously long. We cut 25% to 50% of the text during edits.
For the rest, Rowan handles the social media, advertising, talking to people, book posting, marketing in general, and formatting.
Theo does most of the newsletters and correspondence when people reach out via email, art (chibis, character art, covers), the website, and merch.
What is the most challenging part of about self publishing?
Rowan: Staying on top of everything! There’s just so much. However much your doing, there’s always more. And my very ADHD brain is always in squirrel mode, running from task to task and trying to do 5000 things at once.
Theo: Getting over the fact I’m finishing stuff that people will see. Before this, I completed exactly nothing creatively except some horror short stories I showed maybe Rowan. Total crippling fear of messing up or being told I should never write or draw again. But doing this with Rowan makes it way less scary and so much more rewarding than if I were just doing it for myself.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to become a writer?
Rowan: Read. Write short fiction. Don’t listen to anyone who claims there’s a best way to do anything. Don’t trust AI. Ever.
Theo: Remember that everyone sucks at first, and you’ll never be everyone’s favorite. Be your own favorite. Or, if you write with the best human (hi, Rowan!), be their favorite. And seconding Rowan on everything she said.
What were the authors that inspired you to become writers?
Rowan: The list is endless. Patricia A. McKillip’s book, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, always stands out in my mind. It stuck in my brain and I couldn’t let it go. That was a new feeling for me. But also, my comfort reads: Mercedes Lackey, Tamora Pierce, Tanya Huff. All authors who included queer characters in their worlds at a time when I was desperate to find representation. I wanted to give that to people. The comfort of escape and of feeling seen.
Theo: Billy Martin (published under as Poppy Z. Brite), Christopher Pike, and Bruce Coville were the driving forces of my imagination. (Why yes, I did read those first two far too young.) I devoured mindscrew fiction. Clever, morally questionable characters with motives? Yes please. Existential horror and trauma? Bring it on. The My Teacher is an Alien and The Magic Shop series by Coville were instrumental in my world view on human connections and, especially MTiaA, systemic and systematic injustice and bias. There’s a reason one of my very favorite boys to write ever is a terrifying nightmare anarchist sluagh. Loved Tamora Pierce and Patricia Wrede too, as my comfort reads.
How did you come up with the idea for the worlds you created?
Rowan: I … have no clue. None at all. I just write and a lifetime of love of magic and folklore pours out. Theo is a huge part of why our worlds are thought out and explored at the depth they are. For me, all that exists is what needs to exist. The immediate moment of what’s on the page. Theo needs to know what’s going on elsewhere, what happens next, what happens to the minor character after. I love that about them.
Theo: A lifelong obsession with fae helped. Our writing style let us build out of an idea of knowing we wanted Faerie there, but we also wanted a world where jeans exist, and hammer it out when we go back from revisions. Like, we have a whole list of things about the lore and world that weren’t initially planned that we’ll post after the series rounds to a close. Plus, we talk all day. Like, every day. All the time. Off the wall ideas turn into … well, this.
what is your next project you are working on?
If we’re talking next book, that would be An Embrace of Salt & Storms and a holiday-themed short collection in our Fallen for a Fae series. We’re also publishing a short story as part of a multi-authored series. That’ll be out in October. It has an incubus! And once the Fallen for a Fae books are done, we’ve got a whole new series planned that dives into themes of inequity, systemic abuse, commodification of people, and friendly, soul-eating tattoos.
If people want more information about your or your projects, where should they go?
Our website: www.rowanandtheo.com
Our instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rowanandtheowrite/
Final four questions –we ask everybody.
When the zombies take over the world where will you be?
Rowan: So, I used to work at the largest Goodwill in the country. And I know that warehouse. Pretty sure it contains everything needed to restart society. And it’s built from concrete. I’m headed straight there.
Theo: Oh, yeah, no, I wouldn’t make it through the first wave. Too many health issues and zero cardio prowess. I’d be a very satisfying meal for my cat while he waited it out, though.
What is your favorite Fandom (could be sports, pop culture, favorite director or author)
Rowan: Weird thing about me? I’m not good at being a fan. I like things, but I rarely love them. I will say I currently find a deep, healing comfort in watching TaskMaster. And more people need to read Lois McMaster Bujold. She’s brilliant.
Theo: Gundam Wing will always hold a deep, dear grip on my heart. More recently, though, it’s Dragon Age. I wrote an entire 2k breakdown of my theories on DA2 and why I think most of it is made up by Varric that has never seen the light of day and yet I stand by it.
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?
Rowan: So, here’s a story. I was at an art gallery, and there was a piece that I barely glanced at, all neon and texture. Then I noticed the girl sitting in front of it, utterly transfixed. She was in awe of this piece I’d immediately dismissed. And I love that about art. How everyone connects to it differently. I don’t want people to see my thing, I want them to find their own. That said, I then turned a corner and saw Untitled (Portrait of Ross in LA) and immediately burst into tears, just like I always do when I see it. I do think anyone who claims that “Modern Art is meaningless,” should take in that piece.
Theo: Stranger Than Fiction. Love that movie. I used to watch it on DVD every night before bed. It deals with all sorts of things you wouldn’t expect a movie with that cast to. One good thing about writing paranormal is that I’ll never have to be in Karen Eiffel’s shoes.
Give one fact that most people would not believe about you?
Rowan: Until a few years ago, I was emphatic that I was incapable of writing a romance. Not just romance books but romantic subplots. It turned out that all I needed was Theo and a bit more spice.
Theo: I now work in data analytics and project coordinating all because I got irritated at a virtual lion website changing their stat calculations.
Paper Phoenix ink 