Tay Mo'Nae on Urban, Contemporary, and Dark Romance: Writing Across Black Romance Genres

Are you a fan of Black romance across multiple genres, from cozy contemporary to spicy dark romance? This week on We Read Smut, I'm joined by author Tay Mo'Nae to discuss her unique journey writing across urban romance, dark romance, and contemporary romance. We dive into what gives her books that signature "Tay Mo'Nae feel," why she writes unlikable, hyper-independent female characters, and what makes her book Hear My Heart (featuring a deaf heroine) so special.

Tay Mo’Nae is a 30-year-old urban romance author who loves writing about black love. She fell in love with reading in the fifth grade and grew a love for writing her freshmen year of high school. Since then she’s written a plethora of unpublished short stories, until 2017 when she published her first novel. 

With five years of writing under her belt, Tay Mo’Nae has published over 70 books with more in the chamber. With her books, she wants to create movies in her reader’s minds and gain a new reader with each release. She enjoys writing about complicated characters who grow through the pages to find their HEA. 

When she’s not writing she’s binge-watching anime, baking, reading, & being a dog mom. 

Key Takeaways

• Tay Mo'Nae shares the surprising challenge of switching mindsets between dark romance (binging true crime and thrillers) and lighter contemporary romance, and why she releases them alternatingly to satisfy her core readers.
• Tay Mo'Nae purposefully writes hyper-independent, headstrong, and sometimes "bratty" female main characters who are often unfairly criticized by readers. She sees this as a reflection of real-life women who fight for what they want.
• Learn about the inspiration behind her popular book, Hear My Heart, which features an almost entirely deaf female main character who deserves a hero who is willing to do the work.
• Tay Mo'Nae shares how her personal lack of a close "Sex and the City" style friend group influences her books, ensuring her characters always have a strong, supportive network of found family or close connections.

Ready to experience the signature "Tay Mo'Nae feel" for yourself? Tay Mo'Nae provided a quick start guide for each genre:

• Urban Romance: Start with Tattoo My Name on Your Heart or Drunk in Love.
• Dark Romance: Start with Captured Beauty.
• Contemporary Romance: Start with Hear My Heart or The Sweet Spot.

Go find Tay Mo'Nae on social media at @_authortaymonae and tell her which book you're starting with!

Website

Amazon

Transcript

Alesia Galati 0:00

I have officially found an author that writes across multiple genres, urban, contemporary, and dark romance, in really fun and exciting ways. Today we have Taymo Neon to talk all about her black romances and what she puts into each and every single one, no matter the genre. We also talk about what you can find in her books. We dive into a few of her books individually and where to get started in each of the genres if you aren't sure where to start. If you like black romance and you like it across multiple genres, this is the episode for you. Listener discretion is advised. This podcast contains mature content intended for adult audiences only. Hello, Tay. I'm so excited to have you on the podcast. So if you could start by telling everyone a bit about your author journey. How did you get into writing?

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Honestly, I've always kind of liked to write, whether it was poems or short stories. I used to do short stories in authors reading groups. My old publisher was made aware of some of the short stories I was putting in the groups and reached out to me or whatever and was like, you know, why didn't you tell me you write? And da-da-da. So it's kind of like this back and forth thing. She wanted to sign me. I didn't want to sign. And she was like, let's just do three books. And I was like, okay. And we did three books, and now here we are. Wow. And that's pretty much it. Never thought I was gonna go this far. Never thought I was gonna be doing this, but here we are.

Alesia Galati 1:39

So tell me a little bit about that initial feelings of not wanting to sign with a publisher.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

I'm one of those people who I don't take rejection well. I don't like to put like myself out there to be judged or rejected. So it was just like, no, I don't, you know, whatever. Like, I just know. But thankfully, it did the complete opposite of that. And it did really well. And my first book did like amazing. Like my first series in general did like amazing and everything. But yeah, I'm one of those people. I don't like to put myself out there in a position where I could be judged or criticized and stuff like that. I guess that's my childhood trauma playing a part. But yeah, so I was just like, no, no. Then she was, you know, she was like, let's just do one book, like one series, three books, see how it goes. And that series did good. And then I was like, I wonder if I can, you know, come up with more. So she was like, let's just do six books now. And I was like, okay. And it kind of just went from there the whole time I was signed until it went indie.

Alesia Galati 2:44

Wow. And what was that kind of transition like for you going from having a publisher backing you to then going indie? Because I know a lot of readers don't understand like the differences that go into it. So what was that like for you?

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Um honestly wasn't any different. The biggest difference was just coming out of pocket for everything. Like I feel like besides like, you know, having to pay for my own editing and covers and stuff, it wasn't really that much different. And I guess having more creative control over what I wanted to write, my titles, genres, stuff like that was a big difference. When I first started writing, urban was more of a focus. So romance wasn't really encouraged. So like my publisher mainly like had us like we were urban per publishing house. And I'm not really an urban girly. Like I read it, but you know, writing-wise, it was kind of a struggle. But once I got indie and everything, I feel like it got easier for me to find my niche and find, you know, what works for me, my writing style and my voice and tone and stuff like that. So that's probably the biggest transaction or transaction transition that was, you know, different for me was being able to find my voice and my niche on my own without having someone kind of like, this title doesn't work, or this doesn't work, or you know, that you know, XYZ. I was kind of able to experiment with different things and find my own lane, essentially.

Alesia Galati 4:14

I think it's really interesting. You said you have like a fear of rejection, but then you like write books where people could reject you.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

I know, and that's why I didn't want to do it at first. I played sports in junior high and then through my ninth grade year, and like even then, like I just hated like like I played basketball, and I always said, like, I wish best why I was like football. I was really good with defense, but I wasn't the best offensive player. And I'm like, don't give me the ball. Like, if when I had the ball, I wanted to hurry up and get rid of it. But I was a good defender, so I was like, why can't it be like football when we switched? I don't like having that pressure on me. But I ran track, but I liked track because I was a fast runner for one, but it's more of a freelance type thing. I can just go and kind of blank out. But even like with sports, I was the same way. Like I did not like being that center of attention where I could be judged and I can be, you know, but I'm the same way. Like, even this is fine, but I don't like public speaking. I'm not a public speaker, even in college. That was one of my worst classes. I had to take oral communication, and we had to do like speeches because I don't, I'm not that no, which is kind of crazy because I'm always telling them outgoing and stuff. But when it comes to stuff like that, no. So yeah, writing books was definitely a game changer and a like kind of stepping out of my comfort zone, yeah, for sure. You can imagine.

Alesia Galati 5:42

So you kind of alluded to this, but you write across different genres, all black romance, but quite like across different ones where you have contemporary romance, you mentioned urban, you got some dark romance in there. So, like, what has been maybe one of the most surprising things of writing across those different ones? Like, maybe it's like what mode you get into for one, or like what does that look like for you?

SPEAKER_00 6:11

I think it's just being accepted, I guess. That like my urban romance journey from I don't really do too much urban fiction anymore, but my urban romance and contemporary romance, those are genres that are easily I'm able to kind of bounce back and forth and my readers, you know. But it was more the dark romance that kind of was like a, you know, because I know a lot of the stuff that's written in mine aren't there are a lot more darker books. Like mine aren't, at least not right now, or not super dark. Right. Mine aren't super, super dark, but I do know it does have some things where some people will be like, like, you know, she okay. So I think that was the biggest thing, getting like basically not caring and kind of blocking out everything and not worrying about the reception it would get, you know, if it was morally okay. I was actually talking to somebody about this. It's kind of hard writing about black women and some of the stuff that happens in dark romance because we're like attacked and stuff every day, you know? So it's like in a fiction, you want us to be basically princess treatment all the time. And given like in my dark romances, essentially we kind of end up there, but some messed up stuff happens to get there sometimes. Like the guy isn't always so ethical or morally, you know, whatever. So that's kind of like hard at times to kind of like tiptoe on because there's a lot of people like, why would you run a black woman to go? And it's just like it's fiction, you know, not everything has to be so serious. Just because I'm writing that she's tied up and gagged, and maybe he shoots her in the foot. Doesn't mean I want that to really happen in real life to a black woman. That was something I was worried about. It's fiction, and I'm one of those people who, as long as certain boundaries aren't crossed, like I would never actually play the race thing into it and everything like that. That was probably my biggest thing. And then I watch a lot of true crime. I'm a true crime junkie, thrillers, documentaries, all that stuff. That helped play a lot of the role too. So, like whenever I'm writing like a dark romance, I usually am like binging that. Like for my family stock I'm doing now, I like binge criminal minds because it plays a lot of role, like a lot of their characteristics, like how they do their cases and stuff like that. So I was like binging criminal minds. My TikTok is always like true crime stuff like that. So that plays a lot of roles. I get a lot of ideas from some of the true crime stuff I watch or the thrillers. Or when I want to go back to like my romance, like you know, regular romance, I try to find something that's a little bit more, you know, either funny or lighter to kind of get back into that space.

Alesia Galati 9:00

Yeah, I think it's so interesting the idea of going back and forth. Because at least from the last two-ish years, the way you release them might not be the way you write them, right? Of course, there might be differences in there. But I remember reading, I'm pretty sure my first introduction to you was a dark romance. And then I was like, oh, okay, I dig this. I'm pretty sure it's the one where she was like tied up in a basement.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

And then Capture Beauty, probably. Yes.

Alesia Galati 9:29

And then the next one was not a dark romance, and so I was like, I love both of them. Like, usually it's a little more difficult to be like, wait, yeah, no, you're only supposed to, and and I think readers can tend to do this where we almost put authors in a box of like you have to write this way. I had Naima Simon talking about her getting into writing her first actual like dark romance, and like what was that transition like? Because she had only been writing more lighter romance. I think it's so interesting, but we do put authors in a box. And so I love that my introduction to you was not in a box at all. It was like, oh, she does all this stuff. Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 10:11

And it's kind of hard. Like when I went from Captured Beauty to Inflamed, I had like the whole, like at first I was trying to write them at the same time, but I was like, I can't do this. Like they're the two genres, like the two different mindsets. I like I couldn't do it. So I just did capture beauty and then I went to inflamed. And even though I had inflamed outlined and worked out, it was hard because I was still in that headspace of Capture Beauty. Like I still wanted to kind of have that crazy action stuff going on. And Inflamed wasn't that. So it took me longer to write Inflamed and even write Hear My Heart from Stolen Matrimony because they were completely two different speeds, they were two different genres. So sometimes it is harder for me to kind of transition back to regular romance from a dark romance. But thankfully, right now I'm writing an urban romance, so I can still have that same mindset without the dark qualities. So it still can kind of be in the same type of momentum. But yeah, it is sometimes hard to switch back and forth between the two, like back to back. Because I try to um I try to do every other because I know a lot of readers have tried my dark romance and appreciate that it's still my style. It still gives that Tay Monet feel. I know a lot of readers aren't dark romance readers, so I try to go back and forth so that I'm always including my core readers, but I'm still doing my dark romance thing. But sometimes it is definitely hard. I'm not gonna lie.

Alesia Galati 11:40

Yeah, I'm thinking like, hear my heart. Oh my god. First of all, everybody go go read that book. It is so good. I don't know what I was going through in June, July, but I read a lot of cheating books in that month. And I was like, okay. It's summer session, yeah. A little summer fling. Here we go. Yeah. But that one is so good. And let's go into this one for a little bit. What was kind of like the character development for you in your head? How you come up with the characters for this one specifically, for anyone who has not read it, shame, shame, shame. But you have a female main character who is almost entirely deaf, and she's engaged to an absolute asshat who refuses to learn sign language after they've been together for years. And then, you know, he gets to an accident, he's in a coma, brother comes into town, rolls up, and is literally everything that she deserves. How did you come up with that story? But then, like, what was kind of like the idea behind having a character who was deaf?

SPEAKER_00 12:51

So, one of my favorite tropes, I think we'd be considered a trope, um, is like disability. Like, I love reading about disabled characters, whether it's blind, deaf, missing a leg, missing an arm, missing an eye at this point, you know. I love, like, I'm a trauma reader. I love trauma. I don't know why, probably more fat childhood stuff coming into play. But um, so like I love disabilities and seeing the characters overcome them. I've always wanted to write a disabled character, you know? And I actually was reading or watching an anime, I'm an anime girly, and it's called Signs of Affection. It's about the girl's deaf and she falls for a hearing guy and everything. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is so cute. I was like, I want to write about a deaf girl. Like, that's gonna be my intro to the disabled thing. And it kind of just went from there. As for the brothers thing, originally I was going to do it as a dark romance, and I was gonna do it as a spin on the Lion King. But I was like, I don't really want to play into her deafness and like the dark element thing as my first book as a disabled rep thing. I was like, I don't really want to do that, so I switched it to a regular romance, and yeah, and then here my heart kind of came into play, and there we go.

Alesia Galati 14:08

I love it. One of my favorite tropes is ex anything, it could be the ex's mom, it could be the ex's brother.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

A lot of people don't like it, but I am a slut for the ex's dad. Treat me better than your son, yes, daddy. So I am the same. Yeah, I am definitely that shameless taboo person. Bring it all. I love it.

Alesia Galati 14:36

That's so good. You kind of mentioned this a little bit, but that kind of tamonet feel. What is that for you in your books? Maybe it's something that you're always including, or something that you're like just giving me. Or maybe it's just how the characters are that it's like little pieces of you.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

I feel like all my books, even when I try to make them simple, there's like never anything simple about these damn characters. There's always some type of trauma, messy situation, something. I'm really big with character development. That's like one of my biggest things to read about. So, like that always plays a role in my books. I feel like I always have like in nine times out of ten unlikable female character for the most part. They're either too bratty, sneaky, or just bitchy. Like, and I always like kind of feel like my books, well, I get told a lot, they're kind of like movies. Like they play out kind of like movies, how they develop out from beginning to end. People can see everything playing out in their head. I feel like my men are always whether they're like overly obsessive, like in my dark romance or not, I feel like they're always very protective of their women. Both my men and women are always willing to fight for what they need. There's always a strong core friendship somewhere. Sometimes you might get like a shitty parent. Um, I feel like that's like a common theme. There might be more missing, but yeah, those are pretty much like the main things you pretty much always can suspect from like my books.

Alesia Galati 16:11

Anyone who said that you have unlikable female main characters can kick rocks, okay?

SPEAKER_00 16:16

Because Oh, I get told that all the time. Nine times out of ten, the masses hate my female character more than they like her. What? And I'm like, a lot of my female characters have traits of me. So like, are y'all telling me something about myself? But yeah, a lot of times my female characters are very bratty, they're very like, I said what I said, I don't like what do I gotta apologize? It's my way or no way type thing. So I get it, but yeah, a lot of time, like most of the time, my female characters are not liked. So it's kind of funny. Like, like the one I'm writing now, I already know she's not gonna be liked. But you know what? It's fine, it's fine. It works, you know, it fits with the story. She's not supposed to be liked, but that's where that development comes in. So hopefully by the end of the book, she will be liked, but she's definitely not gonna be liked. I already know.

Alesia Galati 17:11

That is so interesting because all right, I think as women of color, and especially black women, we have to portray ourselves a certain way, especially when it comes to like the job versus home. Like you have to be one way to present yourself a certain way, to be accepted in a certain way. And honestly, that's one of the reasons I loved working in manufacturing because it was like five women to 150 dudes. I could be a bitch, and I didn't have to be like pre-m proper, please get this to me at your no, I need this now, and if you're not gonna get it to me, we're gonna have a problem and I need to know now. So, like, and then I'd have the coworker, one of the guys would I'd get back from lunch and there'd be Snickers on my desk. And I'm like, thanks, you knew what I needed, right? Appreciate it, or like the first thing in the morning, they'd come around the corner and kind of peek and like, see, has Alicia had her coffee yet? No, okay, let's give her a few more minutes and we'll be back, right? Like Philip. So I feel like in books, we expect the women to be this prim and proper and like they do.

SPEAKER_00 18:25

They're definitely way harder on women than they are on the men for sure. That's why I never care if they like my female characters or not. Because I'm like, at the end of the day, y'all have very, very high standards and expectations for these female characters. I don't know what to tell you. Write a book, right? Like, write what you want at this point. Cause I mean, every little thing, y'all are like, I don't like she's too outspoken. I don't like she don't know how to accept a man's love. And it's just like that's everyday women, babe. Like, I'm sorry, there are a lot of hyper, like I'm a very hyper-independent woman. And it's something I'm working on. But like, if that character's in a book, oh, they're why wouldn't you let him do this? Or why would you, you know, da-da-da. And it's just like that's how some females are, like, especially the stronger ones, the career-driven ones, they're not submissive females. Like, they kind of have to be taught. So yeah, they definitely make it hard on the female characters, like, to write them in the personalities. But at this point, when I'm writing, I pretty much go in knowing, like, oh yeah, this one's gonna be hated. This one might be hated. This one they should like, but I could pretty much determine as I'm writing and planning the character out now if they're going to be liked or not. Which nine times out of ten, they probably are not liked, but you know, it's fine.

Alesia Galati 19:52

I mean, one hyper-independent woman to another. I love them.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Yes, yes.

Alesia Galati 19:58

It feels seen. I had my 11-year-old kiddo. I was like, hey, buddy, can you help me with something? He was like, You need my help for something? Wait, I I get to help you with something. No, I feel it.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

I was like, Really? Am I really like that? I remember I was at the take out the garbage once, and I was staying, like, you know, with some friends or whatever, and their dad was like, Don't touch that. And I'm like, huh? I'm like, I'm gonna have to just take it out. And they're like, no, just leave it outside the door and I'll grab it. And I was like, Oh, okay, like, sure, like, you want to take it downstairs? He's like, no, just leave it outside the bedroom door, and it was like, okay. So yeah, I definitely get it because I do everything for myself. If I'm asking you for help, I really, really need it. That's how a lot of my female characters are. They're very headstrong, they're very, and which is crazy because I love reading like damsels in distress stories. I feel like rarely do I have a damsel in distress. I'm trying to think. I know I have a couple, but I don't think like a good amount of my books are damsel in distress, but I love reading about them, you know. Like, I honestly don't know what readers want the female characters to be or whatever. And then like with the guys, like they could be I rarely see them get like the main thing I see them criticized for is like if they're cheaters. I think that's like the main thing, like if they're cheaters or an abuser or something. But besides that, like I rarely see males get any criticism. So I just be like, well, oh well. That's one reason I like the dark romance genre too, because the rules don't technically apply right there. You can have some leeway when it comes to a lot of things too. So that's one reason why I love the dark romance genre as well.

Alesia Galati 21:50

I think it's DD where it's the surprise baby. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

One of my favorite tropes. Love it.

Alesia Galati 21:59

It's the surprise baby. Surprise baby, and she's got her network. He comes back later and is like, wait, you have my like she's like, Oh, by the way, I had your kid, you were not around. I didn't know where you were or who you were. So uh sorry, not sorry kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

No, literally, Luna, my girl Luna, didn't she was not one of them. She's like, The fuck I need you for, like, I got this.

Alesia Galati 22:22

And she had her network, right? Of people that were with her, and like you mentioned earlier, those strong family networks sometimes, or those strong friendships. And I noticed you do have that in almost every single one, at least of the ones that I've read, yeah. Where there is maybe it's a family member that's a really good connect, or it's the best friend, or something like that. Why is that important for you as you're kind of developing and bringing support for these characters, even as independent women?

SPEAKER_00 22:51

One reason is because so I never watched it. Like I've seen like episodes just because it was on TV, but like I never actually sat and watched it straight through. But I always thought when I got older, I was gonna have like a sex in the city. Like I was gonna have girlfriends, we go out, we shop, we do brunch, we do this. No, not that. Even now I'm 30 and I don't really have a tribe or people I'm close with or consider I can necessarily like depend on or whatever. Like, I just don't feel like I have that like support, you know. A couple people, you know, I know I can call for like certain things, but I don't feel like I have that genuine, like so I put it in my books, you know? What I don't have in real life, I put in my books. So that's why they always have either they're real close to their sisters or a best friend, a cousin. If they have nothing else, my person could be homeless on the street, but they're gonna have one person. And I just think it's important for everyone to have at least one person they can count on and everything. Like I said, I don't really have that support, so I just give it to my characters, you know, and I kind of live through them.

unknown 24:01

Yeah.

Alesia Galati 24:01

I think it's like writing that uh the fantasies and kind of exploring fantasies of things that you want in real life, yeah. And it's a safe way to explore because it might feel like opening yourself up to friends is hard, especially as you get older. I'm at that stage where the people I know, because I wouldn't like classify them as friends, right? I feel like the people I know are like my kids' friends' parents, and I'm like, okay, I guess we gotta find something we enjoy that we can talk about.

SPEAKER_00 24:35

And see, I don't have like I don't have kids, and then because I'm a full-time writer, I write from home, the older I get, which is crazy because I used to be extroverted. I used to love going out, socializing, partying. I don't like any of that anymore. I think I overdid it in my early 20s, late teens. But now like I just like being in the house. I like to read, bake, binge, watch TV. Always say I love social media without the social. Yep. So it's harder, you know, being this age and not really going out as much and trying to get friends. I know you have to like go out, socialize, and find friends, but it's hard not having that from your 20s or you know, whatever. And so it's like another reason why usually my friendships start in my books when they're young because I feel like as we get older, it's very much harder to befriend people and find people you vibe with and stuff. Like by this age, we know what we're looking for in a friendship, we know the type of friend we are. Same with like relationships, we know exactly what we're looking for, what you know. Pretty sure a lot of us have been like burned by something, you know, so we're more guarded, stuff like that. So I don't know. I just kind of I guess, yeah, like express what I want in my books in real life, and maybe it'll manifest into real life. Not yet, but we'll see. We'll see.

Alesia Galati 26:04

Uh yeah, man. Friendships are so hard. Like, I think about the friendships that I had when I was younger, even like a teenager, and the two friends that were like, like one I and I don't know if this is just like how I was or what, but like my best friend was like my best friend, and they weren't allowed to be anybody else's best friend. I am gonna hold you hostage with like arms and legs. Like that's just how I was, especially as a teenager. And so the one friend, she ended up starting to date my cousin, and he's a little hoe bag. Then they broke up, and that meant we broke up as friends, and I was like, what? And then it happened again in college with the same cousin.

SPEAKER_00 26:50

Oh guys, y'all need to stay away from my homebag of the cousin. No, I hated that. Like when my friends would try to get with anybody in my family, I'm like, that has nothing to do with me, bro. No, I didn't even play them type of games. I get it. And I feel like I'm one of those people who give more in friendships than I receive. Yeah, and I don't realize that until it's too late, you know? That's why now I just enjoy being by myself. At this point, I just don't have it in me to keep on trying to befriend people who only like I'm more of a convenience for them. So, and I'm like, maybe I'm just picking the wrong type of girls to be friends with or whatever, but it's just like I feel like most of my friendships end like one-sided, and it's just like, no, like I just don't have time for that.

Alesia Galati 27:38

Yeah, totally understand that. All right, so you mentioned you're working on a book right now. What is it about? And when can we expect it, maybe?

SPEAKER_00 27:48

So my birthday's November 1st, and so I'm trying to have it out by my birthday, if not by my birthday, at least like a week after. So November, I'm hoping. And like I said, it's the urban romance, and so she's a rich girl. When I think of her, I kind of think of I guess London tipped in in a way, just not that ditzy. Like, my girl is not gonna be no airhead, but like kind of London tipped, you know, like the heiress. She's used to getting whatever she wants, and she sees a man and she's like, I want him. So basically, the guy, without ruining the plot, the guy is kind of forced to marry her. So that's the beginning. And then the book actually starts off with them and their marriage for a couple of years and just seeing how their dynamic is. Their relationship is going to be, I guess, marriage before love. It's gonna be very one-sided at first, and just kind of seeing them play out and their different personalities. Like I said, she's going to be, like I said, yeah, readers probably aren't gonna really care for her because she's gonna be very spoiled, very bratty, like she's gonna be like Lyndon Tipton, like literally. And he's not like that at all. He is going to be an owner of a tech company, like a cybersecurity tech company. He's like gonna be like a millionaire, you know, and his personality is kind of like not serious, but he doesn't respect those who don't work for what they have. He doesn't like that she's just like entitled, that she doesn't work for anything, that she just expects. So they're complete opposites. And the whole reason they have to get married is a really messed up situation. So he's like resentful, and there's gonna be some revenge, there's going to be some sabotage, some secrets coming out. So it's just a little bit of everything, some plotting. So that is that. And I am excited to get a little further in it so that I can start sharing stuff about the characters personally. I already have the cover, I already have their character art done. Yeah, so yay! I'm so excited, and I was trying to think of what to say without giving away too much, but yeah, it's going to be very fun to write, I think, because they are polar opposites, and because she's so like I'm used to getting what I want, and he doesn't do that. And you like learning a lot about her and her growing up and the way she was brought up, and has a lot to do with why she is how she is. And he grew up with money too, not as much as her family, but he also knows like how to be humble and you know, hard work and everything, so their morals are completely different. That's gonna play a part in their marriage. I love writing about the rich entertainment, like she wants like she's like lifestyle vlogging and you know, influencing and all that, and so yeah, it's gonna be real fun.

Alesia Galati 31:00

If someone has never read your books before, if you could direct them in all right, here's the urban romance to start with, here's the dark romance to start with, and here's the contemporary romance to start with, where would you kind of put them?

SPEAKER_00 31:15

For urban romance, I would say either Tattoo My Name on Your Heart or Drunken Love. For Dark Romance, I only have three out right now, but I would probably say Capture Beauty just because stolen matrimony and merciless obsession, like there are still two brothers' books that need to be done, even though they are technically standalones, there's still an ongoing plot. So Capture Beauty, and I feel like that is like my true opening to dark romance. Like stolen matrimony was dark, but it wasn't as dark as Capture Beauty, and then contemporary, I would say probably Hear My Heart or the Sweet Spot. Because everything in Maple Hills is like a contemporary-based romance. So I would say the sweet spot or Hear My Heart is a good one to start with there. And I've read all of those, so I agree.

Alesia Galati 32:14

Where you placed them. I wasn't sure if you're gonna throw in one that I hadn't read yet, and I was like, oh, maybe nope. Okay, yay. This has been so much fun. Where can people find you, get to know you, buy your books, all that fun stuff?

SPEAKER_00 32:29

I am on all social medias. Underscore author Tay Monet is my threads in Instagram, and all my other ones is just authortay monet, TikTok, all that. My website is tame rights.com. I have a mailing list too where they get the sneak peeks, the cover stuff first. If I do any sales, they get first access. Sometimes I do certain promo codes for them. Specifically, if I'm doing like an overstock sale and there's limited quality of stuff, they get it first. I have a reading group, the Tayverse on Facebook. And that's it for now.

Alesia Galati 33:03

Awesome. And I will make sure we have links for all that in the show notes as well as the YouTube description for anyone doing other things while they're listening to us. Tay, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 33:12

No, thank you for having me.