Tracey Gerrard Interview Published on: 07, Aug 2024

My writing journey came by chance. As a young girl and teenager, I enjoyed writing but never envisioned myself becoming a writer. I’d been an avid reader of romance novels for many years and in 2016, ideas of my own began to materialise. Later that year I set myself a challenge to write a story and that’s how When We Dance came together. I work full time, so I didn’t have much spare time however by October 2018 I’d finished When We Dance and was halfway through writing When We Hurt. My journey has led me to write a three-book series with three spin-offs. I’m now writing a five-book series, ‘The Summer Knights Series’ with book 1 ‘Protecting Her’ already published.

At the time, I’d been reading mafia books, so I guess the idea of wanting one of the main characters mafia-related came from there.

I only write the steamy scenes when they are relevant to the story and try to keep them as tasteful as possible but enough to have the reader swooning.

‘Protecting Her’ is Book 1 in The Summer Knights Series. The series surrounds five brothers who run a security company. The readers can expect lots of action, five alpha males who will stop at nothing to keep the ones they love safe. ‘Protecting Her’ is Book 1 in the series and tells the story of Kane Summer the eldest of the brothers and Meadow Walters his secretary.

I knew nothing about the writing process when I first started writing When We Dance. I went in blind. I have become more creative with my work and find certain things that I found challenging, easier. My ability to proofread and edit my work is improving and I’m now learning how to format instead of paying a company to do it for me.

Not knowing if I’m keeping the reader in suspense long enough. It’s a challenge that I’m constantly battling with. However, family and friends read my work and tell me truthfully what they think and if I need to change anything.

They are all purely fictional. Although, I wouldn’t mind meeting one or two of them in real life.

My favourite characters are Holly and Vlad from the Ain’t Nobody Series. They were the first characters I put together, and I became very fond of them both.

When I described Vlad’s tattoo on his back, I had to research the parts of a gun. I had to look into the effects of someone who had been shot in the chest and for one of my books the process of someone who had a head injury and was placed in an induced coma. When I was writing ‘LET ME’ I researched the BDSM lifestyle. I’d read many books that included BDSM, but it was definitely enlightening to l research it myself.

I would tell aspiring writers interested in writing romantic suspense to read lots of books by a selection of authors who write in the same genre and ask people they trust to read their manuscripts and give feedback.

I hope, I’ve kept the readers gripped throughout the story and they go on to read more of my work. It would be amazing if they left a review and told their friends about my books.

As I said, I work full-time so my writing time is short. I usually switch my laptop on when I arrive home from work and while I’m cooking or doing the housework, I’m thinking about the chapter I’ve been working on. I try to set a few hours aside for writing at the weekend.

I’m working on a five-book series, featuring 5 brothers who run a security company. The first book ‘Protecting Her’ came out in March 2024. I was hoping to have the second ‘Saving Them’ published by now, but life has been hectic so I’m a few months behind schedule.

My experience with AllAuthor on the whole has been positive. I love receiving my mock-up photo, every week and the tweets they send out. Last year, I entered one of my books in the front cover contest. Although it didn’t win—it came in 7th—it did get lots of exposure which I was happy about. I’m entering my latest book in next month's contest. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!