The Photograph
Get a behind-the-scenes all-access pass to Eve M Riley's The Photograph!
***Synopsis***
The Techboys Series revolves around three friends who meet at college in their first computing science lecture: Janus, Fabian and Adam. The books start ten years later in New York when Janus is running a successful business, Fabian’s life is imploding, and Adam is running a struggling startup.
In the first book,
The Refusal, Janus gets together with Jo (also a techie who has her own company).
The Photograph is the fourth book in the series and features Des, Jo’s second
in command, and starts when Des meets Alex for a hookup. Alex turns out to be
nothing like Des expects: not out, not even clear about his sexuality, and
under a pressure from his family to conform.
What is the sub-genre and trope? Did your characters lead you to this genre or
was that decided before the story began?
It’s an MM romance, Des appeared in book one and I knew right from the start that I couldn’t escape from writing Des’s story.
He’s such a character! Over the top, slightly risqué, and fun.
Are you more character or plot driven?
A really even combination of the two things, I’d say. One drives the other.
With many main and secondary characters, how do you keep them separated in your mind? Do you have a story/vision board above your workspace?
I have lists and spreadsheets!
Lots and lots of detail for everything. Locations, timeline, threads of the story as it unfolds.
I know from previous interviews that characters take on a life of their own. Were any of the characters in this series determined to take their own direction instead of where you initially wanted them to go?
This is so true! My characters always seem to determine their own direction!
I don’t map out books in detail before I write. I have a rough idea of where things are going to go, but I like to follow the right turns my characters often seem to take!
Are any of the male POVs based on anyone you know?
There’s elements of people and experiences I’ve had in all the characters I write, but no one is based on anyone I know.
Are any of the female POVs based on anyone you know?
As above.
Was there any one character/scene that was harder to write about than the other?
Scenes where you don’t know the location the characters are in or the work situation are always harder to visualize. I spend a lot of time on Google Maps and doing research on various locations and situations in the books.
Medical scenes are probably the hardest part to write because they need to be a real event that would happen in a hospital, and it’s hard to get the terminology right if you’re not a doctor. Fortunately, I have some great doctor friends!
What is your favorite book in the series?
Probably the one I’m writing right now! But The Photograph is definitely a firm favorite. I just love the romance between Des and Alex and how it develops.
I know that we aren’t supposed to have “favorites” as far as our children, but seriously, who’s your favorite character and why?
In this book, there’s a crazy dog called Betsy, who belongs to Alex’s grandma. She’s a riot.
Series question - Who is your favorite couple and why did you decide on their dynamics?
I’m a huge fan of MM romance, so I do love Des and Alex. Des popped into my head as an over-the-top character and it spawned a raft of other great characters for the book: his friends, his family. Then Alex appeared as the perfect foil for him.
How do you get inside these characters’ heads to find their perfect HEA?
Characters tend to unfold on the page as I write them, and their perfect HEA stems from their strengths and weaknesses.
I keep their reactions real, but I love characters that realize the truth about something that has been dogging them all their lives and resolving it.
What scene in this book/series sticks out the most for you? Why?
In this book, there is a scene under an awning in the pouring rain when Alex steps into Des to warm up and it’s the first time they touch. I love it. I wrote it in the moment, both of them just feeling and breathing and when I read it back, it still gives me a sense of being there with both of them.
Series - Were any of the books harder to write than others?
Book 2, The Outcast, was hard.
Fabian is one of my favorite characters, but he’s a wild card, a dropout, someone who experiments with drugs and it was hard to keep him on an even keel.
Kate is a doctor, so lots of those pesky medical scenes!
This question is if you write in MULTIPLE POVs not just the hero and heroine - I love the multiple POVs in a book. It’s not just the hero and heroine, but we get inside the heads of multiple characters throughout this series. I feel that it gives the story further depth. Do you think you will write another book or series following this multiple POV outline?
I love this in books too! All my books have multiple POVs.
Quite often a previous character will also have a chapter, and I love characters coming back like this: It’s a lot of fun. So, yes! I’m definitely going to keep on doing that.
The only problem is I have to keep the timeline right so I know what’s going on as time passes for all of the characters in the books, so more of those spreadsheets are needed!
How long did it take you to write this book/series?
A book can take a surprisingly short amount of time to achieve a first draft, but then takes much more time in the editing process to iron out plot holes and problems.
I’d say on average a book probably takes about 3 months to write and then about 6 months to edit, so far. I’m definitely speeding up though as I get better at the process.
How did you come up with the title for your book and series?
I wanted the series to have a THE SOMETHING title, so the titles are all dictated by that, usually based on the core premises of what happens in the book.
If you met these characters in real life, would you get along?
Oh yes! In my mind they are all my best friends! Hahaha.
Series question – Did you know in advance that you were going to write this as a series or did one of the characters in book one demand their own story?
Yes. I knew it was a series and I planned 8 books, but as time goes on and more and more characters crop up with their own crises to resolve, the more and more people I have demanding books!
If your book/series were made into a movie, which actors do you see as playing your characters?
I’ve no idea really, but the one thing I would say is if they weren’t physically right and didn’t look like the characters I wrote, I’d probably find that hard.
People’s characters sprung from their physical characteristics: Jo is small and has red hair and so her fieriness springs from that.
Can you give us a hint as to what we can expect next? Whether a new book and series or a sequel to an existing series? Can you share a small tease?
Oh! There’s lots of exciting stuff to come. Adam’s book is next—the third Techboy—and he’s in a bad way at the start of the book. His business is going under, and he has a bad history with women, so he doesn’t even realize when the woman of his dreams crosses his path.
I love helping people escape their daily lives for a short while with the help of a steamy romance, some fun, strong women and gorgeous fictional boyfriends!
I am a Scottish author based in Edinburgh with my husband and I have two grown up children. When I'm not reading or writing, I love running and can often be found in local cafes or out enjoying the beautiful wilderness of Scotland.
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When you meet a famous guy in a lift and pretend not to know who he is?
Only to find you’re working for him?
No? Just me then?
Now I’ve got to try and dazzle him with my personality and professionalism.
Ha, bloody, ha.
And you haven’t seen him.
Janus Phillips. CEO.
Floppy hair, heart-breaking smile. In and out of the tabloids.
And did I mention his carousel of model girlfriends?
I wear Doc Martens and strange clothes.
Yeah. Riiiight.
Problem is, I think he kind of likes me.
That is, until he catches me with someone else.
Chances: They say you always regret the ones you don’t take. But that’s not true. Sometimes they’re just dead ends, and they’re going to get you nowhere.
I pass up on a chance the night I meet up with a beautiful-but-reluctant, brown-eyed boy; too preoccupied with my imploding job to figure out why he’s so cagey.
But then Alex sends me a tantalizing photograph, and on a whim, I send him one back. And his unexpected reply makes my pulse race.
When he calls asking for help, I can’t say no. And the shy smile, tight body, and sun-in-autumn eyes drag me in, so I bury my poor relationship history and hope that this time it will all be different.
Having Alex in my life makes me want something I’ve never had before, gives me hope. So I don’t think about the consequences until I discover he has some brutal secrets of his own. And then I wish I’d remembered that first rule:
Some chances are going nowhere.
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