Q&A Series— Women Writers: Maggie Gates

Mar 9

Author Maggie Gates writes raw, relatable, romance novels packed full of heat and humor. Maggie calls North Carolina home. In her spare time she enjoys daydreaming about her characters, jamming to country music, and eating all the barbecue and tacos she can find! Her Kindle is always within reach due to a love of small town romances that borders on obsession.

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

Research is one of my absolute favorite parts of the book process. I will spend hours on end going down internet rabbit holes! I love living vicariously through my characters, discovering new careers, and learning about different lifestyles and cultures. The amount of research varies from project to project. When I’m in the planning stages of a book, I like to put together character resumes: figure out where they are in their lives when the story begins and work backwards to fill in their educational and professional histories.

When I’m writing military romance particularly, I do a lot of general research into the branch that my character serves in, their rank, and their MOS. (Military occupational specialty/their job/career in the military.) I like to find servicemen or women in the career I’m researching and watch interviews or hear first hand accounts about how their time serving has shaped or affected their personal lives.

It’s always a treat to write characters who have similar life experiences to me. I’m a pastry chef by trade, so when I was writing Maddie, my sassy southern pastry chef in Poker Face, I got to incorporate some of my lived experiences.

I prepare as much as I can before diving into writing the first draft, but there is a lot that I don’t realize I need to know until I’m in it. Sometimes it’s a very stop-and-go process.

The balance I strive for is being well-versed enough in my characters’ worlds that I can write confidently from their perspective, while not bogging the story down with too much exposition.

What was your most complicated scene to write?

The firefight and battle scenes in The Stars Above Us took me forever to write! I watched hours of body-cam footage from conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan to get it as close to real-life as possible! Since my books are romances, it’s a delicate balance between having those heart-pounding, action-packed moments and still focusing on the attraction and growth of the hero and heroine.

In the Beaufort Poker Club Series, the books follow a group of friends that are more like family. Navigating dialogue with an ensemble cast of twelve makes writing group scenes pretty tricky!

Does writing energize or exhaust you?

Both! When I started writing it was because I had a story in my head that I couldn’t shake. It’s a need. I love figuring out what makes my characters tick; I love getting in their heads. However, sometimes that means sitting with them in their struggles and pain. While every single one of my books has an epic love story and a happily ever after, my characters go through very real struggles and traumas. It can be exhausting and emotionally draining to write those storylines. Because I’m a sympathetic crier, I keep a box of tissues by my desk at all times!

Out of all the characters you’ve written, which one would you want to be for a day and why?
Oh! That’s a tough one! I think I would love to be Becks (from The Stars Above Us), Hannah Jane (from Square Deal), or Jason (from Not in the Cards). Becks and Hannah Jane have larger-than-life personalities. They’re my complete opposite! It would be so cool to be Jason. I love flying and would love to know how to pilot a fighter jet!

Do you find it more challenging to write the first book in a series or the subsequent novels?

The first book in a series is usually the easiest for me to write. There are no rules! I get to write a brand new world and establish new places and people for my readers to fall in love with. As I get further into a series—especially a series like the Beaufort Poker Club that is meant to be read in order—the world is already established and it takes an extra bit of work to keep things new and exciting for my readers.

What was something you learned about yourself throughout the process of writing your first book?

Hard things are possible. Just because writing is hard doesn’t mean you’re not good at it. On a deeply personal level, writing has helped me work through past traumas. Like Neil Gaiman says, “Fiction is the lie that tells the truth.”

What’s your favorite romance trope to write? I know you’ve done a couple of enemies to lovers stories, would you say that’s one of your favorites or something else?
I love enemies to lovers! Writing the banter and tension is so much fun! I try to figure out what sort of “enemy” dynamic my lead characters have and then come up with a list of insults and comebacks to sprinkle in the story.

Best friends to lovers is quickly becoming one of my favorite tropes. I love the comfort of two people who have a history and then slowly fall for each other.

You started your writing journey with fanfiction for a show we both loved; at what moment do you remember saying to yourself that you wanted to try that and become a writer?

I had always loved dabbling with writing short stories, and had the desire to try to write a book, but something about it felt too daunting. I was a pastry chef! What business did I have trying to write a book?
Surprisingly, a lot of authors have kick-started their writing careers by dabbling in FanFiction. It’s a great way to build your writing muscles and get feedback while not having to deal with doing your own “world building.” You can play around with characters and storylines and see what works and what doesn’t.

The “ah-hah” moment for me was when I started adding original characters to my fandom stories and having readers love them just as much as the canon characters. It was a huge boost of confidence knowing that I could not only hit the required word count for a full-length novel, but that people really enjoyed the ideas that were swirling around in my head!

What can you tell us about your following projects after the Beaufort series wraps up soon?

I can’t believe that the last book of the Beaufort Poker Club series is coming out soon! While I’m going to miss those crazy characters, I am so excited about what’s to come! I have three more releases planned for 2022 and many more in years to come!

This summer I’ll be diving into the world of professional (American) football with a hot, forbidden sports romance set in coastal New England!

I will also be kicking off a new small town series! The series will be based in the quirky, fictional town of Falls Creek, North Carolina and will feature first responders as the heroes and/or heroines! The first book, slated for this autumn, will be a fake engagement, grumpy-one-is-soft-for-the-sunshine-one, opposites attract romance! Layla Mousavi, our flight nurse heroine, was first introduced in the Beaufort Poker Club Series and I’m super excited for readers to get to know her!

I’ll be ending the year with a fiery enemies to lovers romance! I am SO excited for this one! Businessman Vaughan Thompson isn’t going to know what hit him when he’s plucked from his cushy office job, thrown into the country, and meets kick-ass agricultural aviator, Joelle Reed.

Advice for people wanting to be romance writers?
Protect your writing time. Schedule it into your day. Make it a priority. Protect your creativity and your mind. For me, that means I don’t watch heavy or depressing TV shows when I’m trying to write a rom-com! Being mindful of your headspace is super important! Your thoughts and feelings come through your characters.

It’s cliche, but write the story you want to read. Mostly because you’re going to be reading it hundreds of times! But apart from that, it’s a product that has your name on it. If you’re confident in the story you have produced, readers are going to be confident in you. You are your own biggest advocate. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else is going to do it for you. Some of the best advice that I have received is to not worry about what you don’t know. You can hire people to do what you don’t know how to, you can hire people to teach you how to do it, or you can teach yourself. Focus on writing the story. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Write your story even if you don’t have all the answers.