Hi everyone! Today I am very excited to welcome author Kerry Freeman to the blog. She is here to talk about her new book, What We Deserve, which I reviewed here yesterday. And she brought a copy for a giveaway so check out the end of the post for details.  

Welcome Kerry and thanks for stopping by!

Thanks so much for having me!

I really liked the way the book balanced so many themes. We have lovers reunited with Sean and Jamie (as well as the whole young love/virgin hero aspects in the early years). It also covers an established couple taking their relationship to the next level (Sean and Tyler). And then of course the ménage with all three men. That is a lot packed into one story! Was it hard to balance all of these themes in one book?

When I originally planned the story, it wasn’t going to be a ménage. One of the poor guys was going to get dumped. But as I got to the point in the story where Sean was supposed to begin gravitating to one particular man, he just wouldn’t cooperate with me. I struggled with the story until I realized that Sean was never going to choose between Tyler and Jamie. Once I began to approach the story that way, balancing everything became easy.

I thought this story was interesting because even though Tyler was the one in the current relationship with Sean, in some ways he seemed more vulnerable because of the long bond between Jamie and Sean. I think you did a great job making sure he wasn’t overlooked in the story (or in the relationship). Was it difficult to create that balance where the reader can feel for Jamie and his remorse and loneliness while at the same time not making Tyler the odd man out?

Tyler is definitely in the most vulnerable position, but he’s also the one who has had an adult relationship with Sean. Jamie has to not only repair the damage he did when he left, but he’s also got to get used to Sean as a grown-up and not a wide-eyed kid.

I wanted to make it clear that Jamie wasn’t just suggesting the ménage as a way to get closer to Sean. He has feelings for Tyler too, although he’s a bit confused about them. The next book will explore Tyler’s feelings more in depth and show how he’s dealing with the new relationship.

I wrote a post earlier on what I need to see in a ménage story to make me believe in a happy ending for a threesome relationship (and I think your story satisfied all of them). What do you think makes a believable ménage HEA?

As in any relationship, you can’t truly be happy if you’re hiding who you are and who you love. I think for the HEA to be believable, it should include the characters admitting their love to each other and revealing it to the people who mean the most to them. In What We Deserve, the guys struggle with not only establishing their relationship but how they’ll reveal it to their families.

I’d love to hear more about you as an author. How much time do you spend writing each day? Do you work on more than one book at once?

I have an evil day job, so my writing time is somewhat limited. I try to write a hour in the mornings and an hour or two in the evenings. If I’m making really good progress on a story, I’ll take my laptop or iPad to work so I can write during my lunch hour. I usually write one story at a time, although I might edit another at the same time.

How did you get started writing? Did you always know you wanted to be an author? What made you turn to m/m romance?

I started writing fan fiction a few years ago as a hobby. Slash fan fiction was my first exposure to m/m romance, and I started reading books by authors like Z. A. Maxfield and Marie Sexton. My husband and friends began encouraging me to write an original story, and I decided to try to write one for NaNoWriMo 2010. I ended up writingWhat We Deserve.

Can you tell us more about what you are working on now? Do you have anything coming up soon?

I’m currently working on a Christmas short story for the Goodreads M/M Romance group, and I’ll follow that up with a short story about two hockey players. I’ve got several books planned, including two sequels to What We Deserve. [Yeah, so glad there will be more of these guys!]

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. If readers want to learn more about you or your writing, where can they find you?

Thank you! Here are my websites:

Thank you again so much for stopping by today! You are always welcome to visit here at Joyfully Jay!

And we are especially lucky today because Kerry has brought a copy of What We Deserve for one lucky reader! Leave a comment at the end of the post for your chance to win.  The contest closes December 19th at 11:59 pm EST.  Thanks Kerry!

  • By entering the contest, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number.
  • If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay and leave your email address if it is not in your profile.