Setting, chemistry, banter, and go!: a chat with sapphic romance author, Jae, about her new series

Jae is one of the most successful authors in Ylva’s history! She’s been with us since 2012, publishing lesbian romances and sapphic love stories. Last January, we released her new sapphic medical romance, Bachelorette Number Twelve, and in February came a short-story sequel, Impulse Buy. So, today, we sat down with her to chat about her writing process and the inspirations behind these incredible wlw stories.

“How did you create the sizzling chemistry between the protagonists in Bachelorette Number Twelve? Were there moments during the writing process when you found yourself enchanted by the sapphic love story you created?”

Most of the time, it felt as if the chemistry and sizzle between Regina and Ellie basically wrote itself. It helped that it’s an enemies-to-lovers romance—or more like a dislike-to-love romance—and that Regina and Ellie couldn’t be more different from each other if they tried.  Regina is a businesslike ice queen, while Ellie is a warm, sunshiny character. Their clashing personalities created a push-pull magnetism between them.

They started out having preconceived notions of each other: Ellie perceived Regina as a cold, arrogant doctor who thinks she’s God’s gift to medicine, while Regina saw Ellie as an overly sentimental tattletale.

What adds to the sizzle is that they both found each other physically attractive pretty much from the start, yet didn’t want to admit it, even to themselves.

When I was revising the manuscript, I spent a lot of time re-reading, then read it several more times during the editing and the proofreading process. But even after reading the entire story half a dozen times, I never got sick of it. I had to remind myself that I was reading to find mistakes and not just to enjoy the dynamic between Ellie and Regina. I took that as a very good sign!

“In addition to many romantic moments, Bachelorette Number Twelve also has plenty of humorous passages. How do you achieve the perfect balance between laughter and love, and do you have specific techniques or sources of inspiration that helped you with that?”

I don’t think of it as a balance between laughter and love because laughter isn’t the opposite of love—it’s a huge part of love for me. Personally, a great sense of humor is one of the things I look for, both in friends and in a romantic partner. Laughing together and being able to make each other laugh is a form of intimacy that helps us bond.

I don’t have a specific technique for writing humorous passages. My source of inspiration is my own life. I grew up in a family where banter and a light-hearted sparring with words were the love language, so writing banter comes naturally to me. It’s actually one of my favorite things to write.

“The setting of Bachelorette Number Twelve is very important. How significant is the place where love unfolds to you, and how does the setting contribute to intensifying the sapphic relationship between the characters?”

In general, the setting is essential to my stories. In some of my books such as Paper Love, the setting is almost like an additional supporting character.

Bachelorette Number Twelve is set in Kansas City, Missouri. I wanted a city big enough to make the ER where Regina and Ellie work busy but also have warm-hearted Ellie live in a neighborhood that feels cozy and intimate. I also chose Kansas City because it’s close to Fair Oaks, the fictious little town where my Fair Oaks Series takes place. I wanted Sasha from Not the Marrying Kind to teach the baking class that is part of the date package that Ellie bids on.

Some of the key scenes in Bachelorette Number Twelve were only possible because of the setting—the first auction-mandated date at the outdoor ice-skating rink, the water show they attend during their first “real” date, Regina’s heartfelt confession on the Town of Kansas Bridge… These are all places that actually exist, and these scenes might have played out differently if they took place in any other setting.

The most important setting is the hospital where they work, though. Work in the ER is fast-paced, and we see Ellie and Regina in life-or-death situations where they have to work together to save a patient’s life, ignoring the tension and attraction between them. The medical setting definitely heightened the emotional intensity between them.

“In Bachelorette Number Twelve, you present us with another wonderfully sapphic love story. How do you create authentic lesbian and queer characters that not only touch readers but also appeal to a broad audience?”

I spend a lot of time on character development before I start writing. My goal is to create “real” people, not two-dimensional characters, so I create a detailed backstory and personality with strengths and weaknesses for each character. The characters don’t just start existing on page one; they each have a past that shaped them and that influences how they react to what happens in the story.

Even larger-than-life ice queen Regina needs traits that make her human and that readers can empathize with. She might be perfect in her job, but she’s afraid to make herself vulnerable in front of co-workers because of something that happened in her past.

I think it’s that human aspect, along with a certain decency that my characters have, that appeals to my readers.

Well, dear readers, this is it for now. We hope you enjoyed this interview with Jae and got some insight into her process of writing sapphic romances. All good things must come to an end, but here at Ylva we make sure that those are happy endings! So, check out Jae’s Bachelorette Number Twelve here and delight yourself with this wonderful lesbian love story.