Interview Rick R. Reed – Dinner At Home

We at Love Bytes are happy to welcome back to our blog author Rick R. Reed , who just released his his latest novel called Dinner at Home.

Welcome Rick 🙂

Thanks for having me.

First let me ask how you come up with all the different subjects you use in your novels?

I have a detailed spreadsheet of topics that I refer to, based on timeliness and relevance. I have developed a computer program through which I run the topics on the spreadsheet, utilizing algorithms that ultimately tell me which ones will have the most impact with readers. I take the top ten of those and plan out which novels I will write over the course of the next few years.

And if you believe that, I have a bridge I’d love to sell you, located in Brooklyn, NY. I am a very intuitive person and writer. The truth is I follow my instincts. What calls to me is what I write about. I don’t and can’t analyze why certain stories call to me at certain times. I just want to write stories that connect with readers’ minds and, more importantly, hearts.

Your readers talk about the unvarnished reality in your books. You seem to stick with real characters and real emotions. Is that something you are very aware off and try to maintain for a reason?

It’s as I said above, I want to write stories that connect with people on both an intellectual and emotional level, with the latter being more important to me. I want to make people feel as much as I want to make them think, which I guess is the reason I am so drawn to writing love stories and horror stories too—both genres are about strong emotions that we’ve all felt—love and fear.

My stories start with my characters. They need to be real to me and, on many levels, I need to love them. I feel like if they’re real to me, they’ll be real to my readers. I don’t want perfect people in my books—I want people as they come in real life, with warts and all. I find that so much more interesting as both a writer and a reader. How do we deal with the imperfections life has dealt us? How do we get in our own way in trying to find happiness? It’s questions like these that I want to answer in my stories. So yes, I do want to maintain this sense of realtity as much as I can so readers can inhabit the worlds I create and care about the people who inhabit those worlds.

We have seen very different kind of human interest issues in your book to name for example Caregiver who deals with HIV and AIDS , Chaser that deals with weight issues and the impact of that, and now in Dinner at Home where you suspect something not that heavy, yet you surprised us readers with social issues such as homelessness, addiction, and the challenges of being a single parent . Could you tell us a bit why this is important for you to address?

As I said, I don’t set out to write about some topical theme or what’s in the news. I want to write about real people and the issues they face will grow organically out of who they are as characters. Taking the books you mention, I didn’t set out to write Caregiver as being about the AIDS crisis, but how love can come out of loss and how meeting a significant person can, even if you only know them for a very brief time, be transforming and life-changing. In Chaser, I didn’t necessarily want to explore weight issues, but why we love someone and what drives our unique attractions to other people. I also wanted to explore how real love is really about what’s on the inside. I know that’s a cliche, but it’s true. Beauty fades, but a deep meaningful connection of the soul and heart can withstand a lot and, if you’re lucky, can last forever.

In Dinner at Home, my characters are very much about starting over and finding out what you really want from life. Sometimes it’s not what you think, as Ollie finds out when he loses his ad agency job early in the book and rather than find another job similar to what he was doing, he follows his passion for food. For Hank, who has suffered with the issues you mention (homelessness, addiction, being forced into the position of caring for a child when he can barely care for himself), food is also the driving force and motivation for him to make a new life for himself. This is where these men find commonality with each other and ultimately love.

I loved the recipes in Dinner At Home, they made me hungry and wanting to start cooking again.  Are these family recipes or are these ones that you’ve tried before and they just seemed to fit within the story?

These are recipes I have an emotional connection with and they all fit into the story at various moments, reflecting what’s happening in the character’s lives. The recipe I have the biggest connection to is the spaghetti sauce and meatballs one, which my Sicilian mother (she passed in 2007 from cancer) made almost every Sunday for us. I now make it myself and it brings her right back to me; the smell of it simmering on the stove can bring tears to my eyes. The flashback in the back where Ollie is making meatballs with his mother as a little boy reflects my own relationship with my mom. All of the recipes are like that; the bottom line is that food, and feeding someone, equals love in my mind.

Out of all the characters that you’ve written before, are there any who are your favorites?  Why is that?

The ones that spring to mind are Adam from Caregiver, the young man who is dying from AIDS, because he’s based entirely on someone I knew and loved; Pete Thickwhistle from Dignity Takes a Holiday, because he’s always messing up, but always on the lookout for love; Marilyn from Hungry for Love and Legally Wed, because she’s a take-no-prisoners kind of gal and comfortable in her own skin. I’d love to hang out with her. I could go on and on because I really do love all of my characters, even the most diabolical and depraved ones. I couldn’t write them otherwise.

What moves you the most about the characters that you write?

It’s what moves  me most about people in general—when they are kind. Kindness is probably the most touching thing for me. For example, when Bobby in Raining Men, gives a home to the little chihuahua he finds abandoned by a dumpster, it really moved me, both because of the kindness and because the character was beginning to discover the joy of caring selflessly for someone else.

I’ve heard some authors say that their characters come to them and want their stories told.  Are your characters the same way?  If so, who is more in control, you or them?  By that I mean, if you think the story should go one way and the character’s don’t, they just won’t work with you and the story stalls?

My characters are more in control and they continually surprise me with what they do and say. No book ever turns out as I expected, because the characters take over and shape the direction. I think that’s a good thing—it’s what makes them real and their growth and decisions are more logical than what I might intellectually plan out for them. I follow my instincts (and theirs).

Are you an outline kind of author or do you just let the story come as it comes? 

I write by the seat of my pants. I have a general idea of where I want each story to go, but the process of writing it as much of a journey of discovery for me as it is for the reader.

What would be your perfect dinner?

That’s a tough one, because I love food so much, all kinds. It’s also why I run 20-25 miles a week. I suppose it would involve either chicken or fish (preferably halibut), arugula, asparagus, artichokes, a good sharp cheese, fresh strawberries, sea salt, and basil and thyme. The perfect dinner, really though, is more about the people you share it with than the food. And my perfect dinner would be with my family.

What place feels most like home to you?

Where I am now: Seattle, WA. I have never lived in a city more beautful and well-suited to my temperament.

What can we look forward to coming from Rick R. Reed in the near future?

I have two books coming out in the near future, both from Dreamspinner Press. Next up is re-release of my hate crime novel, Bashed, which comes out in June. Here’s the blurb:

It should have been a perfect night out. Instead, Mark and Donald collide with tragedy when they leave their favorite night spot. That dark October night, three gay-bashers emerge from the gloom, armed with slurs, fists and an aluminum baseball bat.

 

The hate crime leaves Donald lost and alone, clinging to the memory of the only man he ever loved. He is haunted, both literally and figuratively, by Mark and what might have been. Trapped in a limbo offering no closure, Donald can’t immediately accept the salvation his new neighbor, Walter, offers. Walter’s kindness and patience are qualities his sixteen-year-old nephew, Justin understands well. Walter provides the only sense of family the boy’s ever known. But Justin holds a dark secret that threatens to tear Donald and Walter apart before their love even has a chance to blossom.

 

And then, in September, my next contemporary romance comes out, Husband Hunters. Here’s the (tentative) blurb for that:

You never know where you might find the love of your life. When Matt Connelly suggests to his best buddy Cody Mook that the pair make their way to downtown Seattle to audition for the gay reality TV show, Husband Hunters, both guys think the experience might be a lark and chance to take a grab at their fifteen minutes of fame. What they don’t know is that the show, modeled after HGTV’s House Hunters, will open doors of longing neither expected. For Matt, the secret love he has long harbored for his best friend Cody might be flung into the spotlight. Cody may come to realize that his search for his perfect-forever man extends no further than the man who’s always been right there at his side. Husband Hunters always promises laughter, tears and the possibility of a happy-ever-after. But will Cody and Matt’s story be one of best-friends-to-lovers? Or an outright distaster?

 

Thanks for joining us today 🙂

Rick R. Reed Biography

 

Rick R. Reed is all about exploring the romantic entanglements of gay men in contemporary, realistic

settings. While his stories often contain elements of suspense, mystery and the paranormal, his focus

ultimately returns to the power of love. He is the author of dozens of published novels, novellas, and

short stories. He is a three-time EPIC eBook Award winner (for Caregiver, Orientation and The Blue

Moon Cafe). Lambda Literary Review has called him, “a writer that doesn’t disappoint.” Rick lives in

Seattle with his husband and a very spoiled Boston terrier. He is forever “at work on another novel.”

 

Web: http://www.rickrreed.com

Blog: http://rickrreedreality.blogspot.com/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/rickrreedbooks

Twitter: www.twitter.com/rickrreed

E-mail: jimmyfels@gmail.com

 

Blurb

It only takes a few days for Ollie D’Angelo to lose his boyfriend, his job, and his home. Instead of

mourning what he doesn’t have, Ollie celebrates what he does: the freedom to pursue his real passion—cooking. He begins Dinner at Home, a home-catering business, and it takes off.

 

Late one night, Ollie catches Hank Mellinger, a streetwise hood down on his luck, about to rob his car. Ollie soon discovers that appearances aren’t necessarily what they seem. Hank isn’t a criminal caught red-handed, but a hungry young man trying to make a life for himself and the four-year-old niece he’s trying desperately to take care of.

 

Instead of calling the cops, Ollie offers Hank a job and a way to pull himself up by his bootstraps.

 

Together, they discover they can really cook… and that their shared passion for food just might lead to a passion for each other.

 

 

Buy Links

Dreamspinner Ebook 

Dreamspinner Paperback

Amazon Kindle

AllRomance eBooks

 

GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!

 

Want to check out a title from my backlist you haven’t yet read (or become my new best friend and tell me you want to read again)? Leave a comment below and you’ll be entered into a drawing for an eBook copy of your choice of one of these titles:

 

• Legally Wed

• Hungry for Love

• Chaser

• Raining Men

 

Love Bytes will pick a winner from all comments received one week after the date of this post and I will be in touch with the winner to see which book you’d like. Good luck!

Check out Roberta’s 4.5 star review on Dinner At Home here:

https://lovebytesreviews.com/2014/05/09/release-day-review-dinner-at-home-by-rick-r-reed/