#Interview with #GuestAuthor Pat Henshaw, author of “What’s In A Name?”
Interview with Guest Author
Pat Henshaw
A barista, a bartender, and love.
Thank you for stopping over to visit, Pat. In case my lovely readers don’t know who are—though I’m certain they all do… right guys?—I thought I’d do a little sit-down visit with you and help us all get to know you a little better.
What makes your stories different from other authors out there?
Pat: I think of my stories as entry level M/M romances since they have no sex scenes, but are primarily about love and how two men fall in love. I see my reader/s as men and women who never thought they’d ever read a romance, but have heard so much about them that they want to read one to find out what they’re like. I also see my reader/s as curious about exploring love, not sex, as we both try to figure out what makes one person love another one.
When did you first consider yourself an author?
Pat: I’ve always been a writer—having been a reviewer (books, art, film, stage) for many decades and for many venues. So in a way, I’ve always thought of myself as a budding author. But the big moment for me was split in two parts: when I self-published my fantasy novel, The Vampire’s Food Chain, and when Dreamspinner offered me the contract for my novella, What’s in a Name?
Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do to get past it?
Pat: Rarely do I suffer from writer’s block. (Have you read David Markson’s Reader’s Block, by the way? Brilliant book. But then I think Markson himself is brilliant.) Writing is like everything else in life. It’s not going to get done if you don’t do it. So sitting down and writing just anything is my cure for the writer’s blahs (uh, block).
I was asked this recently and would love to find out your take on it… If your writing was translated, which would be your preference: TV, movie, play, or Broadway?
Pat: What’s in a Name? would be a cute made-for-TV movie, I think. Honestly, I can’t imagine anyone picking it up for TV, though.
Does your family know what you write, and if so, how did they react when you first told them what and how explicit your writing would be?
Pat: Yes, my family’s been very supportive. My husband is my harshest editor, and our younger daughter is my eager reader and fan. Beck is the daughter who went to the RT convention in New Orleans with me and was more excited than I was to be there and to talk with all the gay romance authors. She’s enraptured with J. P. Barnaby and can’t read enough written by her.
LOL. Sounds like she’s a ton of fun 
Have you ever met someone in real life, or a stranger, that you turned into a MC?
Pat: I taught English composition at a community college for decades, and many of my students were gay men who wrote essays about being gay and their lives as gay men. I’ve put bits and pieces of Curtis and Dennis and Hei and others in my main characters mixed with traits from other men. But so far I’ve never created a character who is totally one of the men I know.
Who is your favorite author and why?
Pat: I can’t answer this question because it depends on the genre and my recent reads. I have way too many “favorite” authors that span centuries and continents and genres and languages.
Boxers, briefs, commando? What’s your favorite way to “dress” your man?
Pat: My men stayed clothed pretty much all the time in my books. Funny story about men’s underwear? I once watched a student de-pants himself in his effort to turn in his essay. His foot caught on the hem of his baggy jeans which pulled down the jeans and the boxers. In front of the entire class. For some reason, he didn’t come back the next class period and dropped the class.
Sad in a way. Hope he kept writing.
We already know you love to write/read in different genres, but why do you feel you share your voice best when writing amongst the different genres?
Pat: I’m happy writing both contemporary gay romance and vampire fantasy. In the gay romances I’m trying to get a handle on how men view love, and in the fantasy, I’m struggling with the concept of god and immortality. One series is a little lighter than the other.
And just because I love to tease 
