![\"\"](\"https:\/\/elizabethhollandauthor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Black-and-White-Beauty-Quote-Pinterest-Graphic-200x300.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a YA MxM multi-genre short story\/novella author based in the UK. I am a history nerd as well as a complete geek over anything to do with the military and RAF. I\u2019m often to be found exploring historic houses, military museums and ex-RAF airfields whenever I\u2019m not writing. I am a metal-head, and my favourite bands are Grandma\u2019s Smuzi (from Ukraine) and Rammstein (from Germany.) My favourite animals are leopard geckos and reptiles in general. I actually have a leopard gecko of my own as a pet.<\/p>\n
I always describe myself as a \u2018multi-genre YA author\u2019 as it\u2019s very hard to pin down what it is I actually do! I mostly do write Fantasy of different flavours (paranormal, epic, high, urban etc). I also write about just pure paranormal as I have a certain fascination for ghosts. I also have a sci-fi series that I\u2019m working on. I also write crime novellas which feature a spy and his gangster husband. Which leads me to say that my stories always feature LGBTQ+ characters as I am LGBTQ+ myself. It\u2019s important to me to have that representation there. As to the books I have published, well, I\u2019m working on about eight different series and have about half a dozen books published thus far. I have just actually published my seventh book which is the second entry into my \u2018A Spy\u2019s Villainous Suitor\u2019 series. The novella itself is called \u2018Becoming the Devil\u2019 and features a Ukrainian ex-spy and an English mob boss. It\u2019s set in Essex as that\u2019s the (UK) county I was born in (yes, I\u2019m English!) I must add here though that I usually publish my books via Smashwords, Rakuten Kobo et al rather than Amazon. I used to publish on Amazon but I\u2019ve long since taken my stuff elsewhere now.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/elizabethhollandauthor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Copy-of-Copy-of-Home-Thriller-E-Book-Cover-188x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
In my bedroom as it\u2019s where I keep my computer. My desk is right beside my leopard gecko\u2019s vivarium as well, so I can care for my pet while I write. My gecko helps me to write as she\u2019s my muse. My bedroom is also quiet and (mostly) free from noise. I say mostly because if there\u2019s any noise made \u2013 it\u2019s usually me making it!<\/p>\n
By completely pantsing it! I generally have a rough idea as to what I want to achieve with whatever story I\u2019m working on, but I prefer to let the words flow by themselves for the most part. Usually, if I do that, the resulting plot surprises me with twists and turns I didn\u2019t initially plan for (literally and figuratively)<\/p>\n
I will literally read pretty much anything and everything, but I would say\u2026 fantasy is probably my favourite. At the moment. That may change at the drop of a hat, though. Depends on where my head\u2019s at I suppose!<\/p>\n
I suppose so. I\u2019ve been writing for about forty years, since I was six years old, so writing is something that I\u2019ve always done. I\u2019ve only taken writing seriously (as more than just a hobby) over the past ten years or so.<\/p>\n
I usually write a lot of nonsense or a short surreal story, just to get the words flowing again. It doesn\u2019t have to make any sort of sense at all or may seem implausible\u2026 but it helps me to get my head out of that block.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think I had to edit any scene out of Becoming the Devil. Not that I can remember anyway. I actually wrote the story in 2025 but have only just published the book now about a year later. Although I\u2019ve read through the book checking for additional errors and trying to find clarity in the words, perhaps, I don\u2019t think I remember editing anything out of it.<\/p>\n
Absolutely! I will read and write pretty much anything, and I think it helps me to read stuff in the same (multiple) genres as I write in.<\/p>\n
Yes. Sort of. Partially. This might not make any sort of sense \u2013 initially \u2013 but there is a method behind the ambiguity of that answer! Actually \u2018Quinn\u2019 is my real first name. \u2018Raye\u2019 is not my real surname. I wanted to (partially) keep my anonymity so chose a partial pen name. \u2018Raye\u2019 is actually a calculated misspelling of my father\u2019s first name! (His name is Raymond or Ray for short). So, I\u2019m honouring my father with my pen name.<\/p>\n
I usually pick a pertinent phrase from the text itself, to tie the title to the text. For my \u2018A Spy\u2019s Villainous Suitor\u2019 series, I always have \u2018Devil\u2019 in the title. The first book was \u2018Running with the Devil\u2019, the second book is \u2018Becoming the Devil\u2019 and the remaining books in the series also have \u2018Devil\u2019 in the title. I just liked the idea of having that continuous theme for that particular series. One of my main characters is always described as a bit of a devil as he\u2019s a ruthless mob boss. So, I\u2019m tying each title into my secondary main character.<\/p>\n
Probably the only advice that immediately comes to mind Is something I was told\u2026 after I published my tenth book on Amazon some years ago. (yes, really.) It\u2019s as follows \u2013 The number one rule of writing is that that there are no rules. I found that oddly liberating and is something I want to pass on to others. Just do what you want and don\u2019t try to emulate others. Your voice is exactly that \u2013 YOURS. Write like yourself and don\u2019t listen to any rules as they usually are too rigid. Or maybe I\u2019m just a punk rule breaker at heart. I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
Yiss! I usually watch a load of videos on YouTube primarily if there\u2019s something in particular, I want to know or learn about. I\u2019m a visual learner, so watching videos really helps me out. Also, visiting appropriate landmarks helps out to. I\u2019ve visited loads of historic houses near to where I live as well as ex-RAF airbases and other such landmarks \u2013 all of which helps in one way or another.<\/p>\n
As much as I can and whenever I can! I\u2019m not usually online or even on the computer during the day. It\u2019s usually in the evenings that I\u2019m tied to that keyboard trying to fit in as many words as I possibly can in the limited time that I have.<\/p>\n
I usually base my worlds on the real world so there\u2019s not much building to be done! I either usually set it in places that I\u2019ve visited or know a little bit about (due to research) or even if it is a fictional fantasy town, I base it on pre-existing ones. In my Dragons of Fire and Ice series for example, I have towns which are basically fictional versions of ones in Germany, Denmark, New Zealand, Ukraine etc just as a touching point. In my \u2018A Spy\u2019s Villainous Suitor\u2019 series, I mostly base it in Romford in Essex (well, technically, Romford\u2019s actually counted as being a borough of Greater London, these days but I still count it as Essex. It once was in Essex!) As mentioned in an earlier response, I was born in Essex (not Romford though). Although I live in a different English county now, I\u2019m honouring my birthplace because I obviously know the patois really well. (rhyming slang and the like as I usually am heard employing it myself on occasion!)<\/p>\n
It depends on how it\u2019s delivered. If it\u2019s ninja-style bare-faced criticism from a complete stranger that I distinctly didn\u2019t want or ask for, then\u2026. Yeah. My reaction is not a good one and that\u2019s putting it very politely. If it is genuine constructive criticism, which I\u2019ve specifically requested from someone I trust, then I will listen and implement it if I really think it genuinely will help. It usually does help, actually.<\/p>\n
My perfect character has to be relatable but not perfect. Everyone is flawed so I like my characters to be flawed or compromised in some way. They do have to be nice though and not obnoxious or sarcastic. I prefer to read characters in the LGBTQ+ community (of any flavour of the rainbow) as I like to recognise myself in the books I\u2019m reading.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m currently between projects at the moment, although I do have more ideas planned for various short stories and novellas in the very near future. They\u2019ll be in various genres but at least one of them will be another entry in my \u2018A Spy\u2019s Villainous Suitor\u2019 series. The boys need a holiday, and it won\u2019t go as planned in one way or another!<\/p>\n
I have too many main characters to mention, I\u2019m afraid! I\u2019m working on eight different series, so I have the same number of main characters! I think that would likely be a very long and boring answer if I described them all, so I\u2019ll just focus on one. I\u2019m choosing the main character from my \u2018Becoming the Devil\u2019 story seeing as I\u2019ve mentioned that story a few times already. His name is Mykhailo Koval, but he\u2019s also known as his diminutive of Misha. He\u2019s of Ukrainian descent but he was actually born in Chigwell in Essex himself. He\u2019s directly descended from Zaporhizhzhian Cossacks, so he has a sort of Cossack hair style. He\u2019s 6\u2019 4\u201d and he loves boxing. He\u2019s an ex-MI5 agent and now works for an owner of a chain of high-end fish restaurants in the Essex and London area. Misha is also getting married to the owner of the restaurants, Zakariah Quantrell, who also happens to be a mob boss!<\/p>\n
Yes! To any of the series I\u2019m working on! That would make my entire life if that happened. As long as the films actually adhered to the plot I actually wrote. Many other films-from-books veer quite wildly from the source material which is always a disappointment to me.<\/p>\n
I have literally no idea to be quite fair! I\u2019m not trying to flex but at a guess, I\u2019d say over a thousand? That\u2019s physical books. I couldn\u2019t even make a guess as to how many books I\u2019ve got for my e-reader. I read A LOT!<\/p>\n