We are delighted to welcome Renae Kaye to Love Bytes today ,on the release day of her new book “Shawn’s Law”.
Renae talks to us about writing about Australia and she brings a copy of Shawn’s Law with her for a lucky winner.

Welcome Renae!

 

I love writing Australian novels.  For a start, it’s home to me, and before I was a writer I used to love discovering Australian novels that were so me that I adored them from the start.

But the second part of writing Australian novels, is showing the rest of the world about my beautiful country.  I’m convinced that any person who watches an Australian Rules football game will immediately be hooked on the sport, and that our wonderful weather and scenic beaches are reasons for never leaving home.

The fabulous world of social media these days brings me in contact with a lot of overseas people, and I am often amused by their impressions of what it’s like to live in Australia.  Some of the more amusing impressions are that the country is smaller than Britain, we all have kangaroos in our backyard, and that Hugh Jackman hangs out at our local pub.

But the bit I find the most amusing is the terror that things like snakes and spiders can draw in a non-Australian.  It’s not like we have snakes in our houses (often) and that spiders bite us every day.  These things are rather rare.  It becomes “normal” to not stick your hand in little holes were something may be living, to stomp our feet as we’re walking through the bush, and to obey the signs that tell us that sharks have been sighted at our local beach.

Shawn’s Law aims to rectify some of the misapprehensions about Australia’s “deadly wildlife” by showing you that people rarely die and that sometimes it can be funny.

Now, anyone who has read me before should know that I am funny.  I don’t write dark and somber.  Life’s too short to not laugh.  In Shawn’s Law I’ve amped the comedy another notch to make you not only laugh, but split-your-sides, pee-your-pants, chortle-until-you-chuck cack yourself.  For this, I’ve channelled my favourite authors of TJ Klune and Anne Tenino who both make me laugh.  So fair warning: this is not a serious novel.

I have to mention some great Perth original species in my book of course – things like black swans and Carnaby’s Cockatoos.  Just before I started writing this story, I had a guy from World Wildlife Fund knock on my door and ask for money to save the Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos.  At that stage, I was unsure if I would be able to pay my mortgage for the month, so I had to decline a donation, but I promised to do my bit and spread the word about their endangerment.  You see, these are majestic birds, and their feeding and nesting grounds are being cleared.  I am heartbroken because this is happening in my suburb and the politicians and developers don’t give a stuff about their plight.

http://www.wwf.org.au/our_work/saving_the_natural_world/wildlife_and_habitats/australian_priority_species/black_cockatoos/

So, here is my bit to spread the word.  I didn’t have money at that stage, but I have a voice.  So if there is anything you can do to put pressure on the government to help, or to save these beautiful birds, then do.  These birds regularly visit my backyard and I sit in awe when they do.  I just hope my children get to experience their awesomeness when they are adults.  I will be donating part of my first royalty cheque to this fund.

Another of the animals I mention in the book is a quokka – think miniature kangaroo and you will be close.  These little fellas are soooo damn cute, you just want to pop them into your bag and bring them home with you.  Off the coast of Perth is an island called Rottnest Island – it is beautiful, pristine, gorgeous, and home to the quokka.  If you visit Perth, make time to go and see Rottnest Island.  There is a daily ferry to the island, but all vehicles are banned, so it’s bikes and walking all the way.  It was originally named “Rat’s Nest Island” by the original European explorers who thought that the quokka was a giant rat.  But in reality, quokkas are small marsupials.

So there are some unique Western Australian experiences you will get from my book.

Yeah, yeah – but what about the romance?  Okay – you want to know about my guys?  If you’ve ever read a Renae Kaye book, you will know that you not only get humour, but you also get everyday guys.  It’s something that I love doing.  Romance, love and great sex are not reserved only for the beautiful in this world.  Everyone can have the sweeping romance.

Shawn is your anti-hero material on the outside.  He’s short, “rounded” and dresses casually.  His life is so crazy while he’s the sole carer of his mother it is lucky that he is dressed at all. On the other hand, Harley is a deliberate discarder of clothes.  He rarely wears underwear of any kind, prefers loose, free flowing fabrics and swims naked in his backyard.  Harley is a regular hippy – wearing his hair in a long plait down his back and drinking green tea with his organic vegetables.

Harley is laid back, comfortable in his skin, and thinks that Shawn is the cutest thing he’s seen in a long while.

Shawn is a highly excitable, hysterical being who can make a simple thing ever so hard.  He’s sure that since he hasn’t had sex in such a long time, his bits that gay men use will be dried up and shrivelled.  He’s sure he will find more things to kill him in the bush than even Bear Grylls could manage.  He’s sure that he’s going to get Harley killed, because things just often “happen” around Shawn.

(Oh – and can I mention that Harley finds out that Shawn’s gay bits are not dried up??)

I hope you have fun, and I hope you enjoy.

Blurb:

Shawn is single, twenty-nine, the full-time carer of his Alzheimer’s-stricken mother and a frequent victim of Murphy’s Law—although his family call it Shawn’s Law.  Other than caring for mum, his day consists of painting nude men and spying on the guy who walks his dogs along the street every day at four o’clock. When he takes a spectacular fall on his front steps, who is there to witness it other than the man of his dreams?

Harley doesn’t believe in Shawn’s Law – but he soon changes his mind.

The two men make it through a memorable first date and Shawn’s sexual insecurities to begin a relationship stumbling toward love.  But when Shawn’s Law causes Harley to be injured, Shawn is determined to save Harley’s life the only way he knows how—by breaking up with him.  Not once, but twice.  Throw in a serial killer ex-boyfriend, several deadly Australian animals, two dogs called Bennie, a mother who forgets to wear clothes, an unforgiving Town Council, and a strawberry-flavored condom dolly, and Shawn’s Law is one for the books.

Buy links:

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon

ARe

Barnes and Noble

 

Renae Kaye is a lover and hoarder of books who thinks libraries are devilish places because they make you give the books back.  She consumed her first adult romance book at the tender age of thirteen and hasn’t stopped since.  After years – and thousands of stories! – of not having book characters do what she wants, she decided she would write her own novel and found the characters still didn’t do what she wanted.  It hasn’t stopped her though.  She believes that maybe one day the world will create a perfect couple – and it will be the most boring story ever.  So until then she is stuck with quirky, snarky and imperfect characters who just want their story told.

Renae lives in Perth, Western Australia and writes in five minute snatches between the demands of two kids, a forbearing husband, too many pets, too much housework and her beloved veggie garden.  She is a survivor of being the youngest in a large family and believes that laughter (and a good book) can cure anything.

How to contact Renae:

Email:  renaekaye@iinet.net.au

Website:  www.renaekaye.weebly.com

FB:  www.facebook.com/renae.kaye.9

Twitter:  @renaekkaye

Renae offers a copy of her new release of Shawn’s Law to one Lucky commentor!