BookWenches

Interviewed by Bobby

Hello, gentlemen. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to talk with our readers. We find that getting to know a little more about our writers is not only fascinating, but it also enhances our reading experience.

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When did you start writing your Romentics line? What prompted the idea? Romentics is a line of contemporary romance novels for gay men. What makes them especially for men?

Well, perhaps we should say "about gay men." Because we have discovered over the years that many of our readers are actually women. We started Romentics in 2003 and were pleasantly surprised that many straight people enjoyed our books, too. The novels are all about true love between men; so anyone who wants to see men living happily ever after together will relate to our stories.

The idea  for Romentics came when Scott Whittier watched his mother and grandmother receiving bulk monthly shipments of romance novels. They would share them and jot notes inside the covers. He realized that there was no line of novel dedicated to and promising gay men living happily ever after. Being a writer and a marketer, he saw an opportunity.

What got you started writing as a team? What is your team writing process, anyway?

Shortly after we started dating at the beginning of 2001. We were both writers, both named Scott, and we  were falling in love. It was a perfect recipe for romance and success.

Our process varies depending on workload and schedules. But we come up with ideas together, brainstorm and flesh out the characters and plot. The one of us takes the lead in writing. When he reaches a stopping point--either writer's block or a natural break in the story--he hands it over. The other starts at the beginning, editing and familiarizing himself with the book as he goes. Then he picks up where the other left off. It's like an ongoing editing process. So when we finish, we have a pretty tight manuscript and not a monster that needs tons of cutting and editing. Sometimes we're working on two books at once. Sometimes there is just one in progress.

Your Romentics books have been released in print by BookSurge Publishing as well as electronically by Loose Id. What motivated you to pursue electronic publication of these books? Are the plans to release all of your print books this way? Do you have a personal preference between the two types of publishing?

We generally read print books ourselves, though Scott P has been hankering for a Kindle.  But many of our readers are more technologically advanced than we are. Their requests were what motivated us to publish our books electronically. Originally, BookSurge offered e-books; however, when Amazon bought them, they discontinued that program. "E-male" was published by Palari Books and is available for Kindle. Loose ID is releasing our backlist one by one and we hope to have some new material for them once the backlist has been released.

E-books do not have the same prestige at the moment (but perhaps will soon).  Yet from an author’s and reader’s financial perspective, they make much more sense.  They are generally cheaper to the consumer and yet provide better royalties to the author.  And they are an improvement from an environmental perspective.  Sooner or later, we Scotts are going to join the e-reading world.

The dedication in your novel Surf n Turf indicates that the story may have some loose base in reality. Will you share that story with us?

Anyone who has visited Provincetown, Massachusetts, will recognize the inspiration for Surf n Turf. The real-life location is almost as crazy as "Seaside" in the novel. It seemed like the perfect place to set a  modern gay version of Romeo and Juliet. And we always promised our friend Blake, who hails from Arkansas, that we'd base a Southern belle character on him.  Just don’t tell Blake’s husband Mikey!

Along with writing the Romentics books as a team, you each write separately as well. Will you tell me a little bit about this?

Scott Pomfret published a memoir Since My Last Confession about the humor of being a practicing gay Catholic during the fight for same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. Scott Whittier is a copywriter in advertising, so his writing can be seen in many media and forms. He is also currently working on screenplays. We have both also published erotica and short stories (Scott P has recently published a threesome of Iraq War gay love stories in various literary magazines across the country).  Together, we also wrote the Q Guide to Wine and Cocktails, another light-hearted foray into non-ficiton.  Alas, while some of our short stories are on the Web, neither the publisher of Confession nor the publisher of the Q-Guide released an e-version!

I’ve read that Scott Pomfret calls himself a Boston-based Gay-Catholic fiction-writing lawyer-eroticist. Tell me a little bit about that and about your book “Since my Last Confession.”

People say to stay away from politics, religion and sex in polite company, but I decided to write a book that takes aim at all three.  Focusing on the lovable absurdity of the Catholic Church (e.g., declaring Harry Potter Satanic) as well as aspects that are not so lovable, including pedophilia and injustices against gay people, Confession tries to reconcile seemingly disparate parts of my life: the “tough guy” federal prosecutor, the “good boy” altar server, and the “bad boy” who celebrates in his writing the carnal aspects of same-sex romantic love. 

During the fight for equal marriage rights here in Massachusetts, the conflict among these parts of my life hit a fever pitch and I found the only sensible response was laughter, because otherwise the anger would have burned my spirit to cinders.  So while this book has some serious ruminations on faith and doubt, there are plenty of other diversions: motorcycle lesbians, flaming friars, three “Hale” Marys, Father McSlutty, a 1970s SWAT team raid of a gay Mass, faith, doubt, sex, love, and priestly undergarments.  

Unfortunately, the Archdiocese of Boston didn’t get the joke.  They tossed me out of the church and, worse yet, suspended meetings of the Gay and Lesbian Spirituality Group, which had been around since the 90s.

Scott Whittier, my research indicates that you are an advertiser and copywriter as well as a writer of fiction. Does stringing words together ever get old? Does the creative well ever run dry?

Communicating clearly and cleverly has always been a strength of mine. I love a great concept. And I admire concise messaging. Helping companies communicate their brand is the perfect job for me. Sometimes it's more fun than others, but there are always more ways to string the right words together.

Tell me a little bit about your writing schedule. How do you balance work, social life, and writing?

Scott P: I’m much more organized. I wake up at dawn, down mugs of coffee, and write every morning without fail.

Scott W.: I’m more of a procrastinator, especially since I write all day long at my day job. I do better with a deadline and a chunk of time set aside for writing. We love to take quiet writing weekends and vacations. We've already rented a secluded cabin in the Maine woods for a week this summer.

Would you say that your writing has been influenced by anyone in particular? Who and why?

We read a variety of traditional, straight romances before we started Romentics. And then we adapted the formula to fit the lives of modern gay men. We hope that we've incorporated some of the modern wit of Sedaris and Burroughs.  That’s really important to us: to make sure that the romance is leavened with a proper dose of humor.  Sex and candlelight is all good, but it’s a sense of humor that makes the relationship last.  We hope we stand apart from some other, more serious romance writers on this score.

In your opinion, what makes for the perfect chemistry between characters?

Hot sex and lots of conflict. Seriously, there needs to be intense physical attraction at first. And there needs to be something that keeps them apart. Otherwise, they'd just start dating and there would be no story. Throughout that story as they work to overcome their obstacles, they need to discover a deeper connection beyond the sex and arguments that makes it all worth fighting for.

Do you feel that a “Happily Ever After” ending is required in a romance? Do your Romentics stories ever end “Happily For Now” instead?

Happily ever after is the number-one rule of romance. Otherwise it's a tragedy like Romeo and Juliet. And from a political perspective, we think it’s important to model long-term monogamous gay relationships – not because that’s the only or best kind, but because people don’t hear about them often enough and young gay men may not realize they can aspire to them.

On the other hand, no one can know for certain what happens years after the final page of the book--unless we start writing sequels and recycle characters!

What is your motivation behind writing each novel? What causes a small idea to develop into a full-blown story?

The focus is always the romantic relationship. However, the motivation for particular stories can come from anywhere. We have been inspired by friends, places, our own experiences, politics and even a good CD. The concept for the novel must have the "legs" to develop the characters and their relationship. It must be the kind of plot that can allow two men to discovery one another, get to know one another and fall in love as it unfolds.

Do you have a cure for writer’s block? What do you do when the words simply won’t come to you?

Outline the story. No matter how rough the outline is, knowing where the story is going and a few milestones along the way help keep us on track. It also allows us to jump ahead and write another scene if we're stuck. Then patching the scenes together is always easier than plowing through a rough spot. That way we know what we're writing toward.

What is your favorite part of the writing process? How about the most tedious?

Like reading a book, starting and finishing are the most exciting. There are also magical moment in both outlining and writing when things just seem to fall in place beautifully. That's when you know you have great characters and ideas; they just seem to fit together and happen by themselves.

Editing is always the least fun: proofreading and addressing your own boyfriend's annoying comments about what you've written. (Scott P. once wrote “That’s just not sexy!” next to one of Scott W’s sex scenes … guess who spent the night on the couch!)  But it always makes it better in the end. Surprisingly, sex scenes can also get tedious at times. Keeping all those pronouns straight with two men can be exhausting. And finding a dozen different words for "penis" always takes some creativity!

What would you say that people’s greatest misconception about being an author is?

That you make a lot of money. And they have no idea how much time is spent NOT writing. All that marketing and logistics.

So what’s next – what are you working on right now? What can your readers expect from you in the future, from the Romentics line as well as separately.

One tease for Romentics--football.  If you ever fell in love with the high school football captain, this is your book.  We just need a title – any suggestions?

Scott Pomfret always has several short stories in the works, as well as a fiction novel. Scott Whitter is juggling ideas for three different screenplays--one sci-fi, one musical, and even one based on a Romentics novel.

What are you reading right now? If I were to peruse your bookshelves, what would I find? And, just as interesting, what would I NOT find?

Scott W just finished Children's Hospital by Chris Adrian and is now reading One D.O.A. and One on the Way by Mary Robison. Scott P. is always reading 3-4 books at a time.  The lesbian poet laureate Kay Ryan is his latest find, along with Irish novelist Jennifer Johnston.  Our shelves are laden with everything from poetry to porn. Some Russian and Italian text books. Even Tarot and magical herb texts. What you would not find a lot of is romance novels. We did our research on straight novels years ago and gave them back to Scott Whittier's mother.

Now, what have I forgotten to ask? Will you share something with our readers that we wouldn’t think to ask about?

Well, we probably don’t meet most people’s stereotyped views of gay romance writers: we’re avid skiers, hikers and kayakers, and maybe a little romantically challenged in our every day life! 

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If you would like to know more about Scott Pomfret and Scott Whittier and their work, please visit their website at www.romentics.com or email them at scotts@romentics.com. Their novel Surf ‘n’ Turf, which we reviewed for the BookWenches website, can be purchased here: Loose Id and Amazon.com. Their other works – including their newest novel E-Male -- can be found at Loose Id, Amazon.com, and independent bookstores everywhere.  You can also find more about their solo work at www.scottpomfret.com and www.scottwhittier.com.