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A Conversation with B. G. Wolfe, a Romance Author
B.G. writes under two pen names, BG Wolfe and BG Thomas.
B. G. constantly has several fictitious storylines playing out in her head—especially when she’s trying to go to sleep. She aims to write diverse characters and storylines, with emphasis on those in the LGBTQ+ community and those who struggle with their mental health like she does. B. G. can often be found chasing after her toddler or one of her various pets whilst in desperate need of (more) coffee (or wine, depending on the time of day).
She writes under two pen names, BG Wolfe and BG Thomas. “His grip was warm and electric. The opening band came on to the stage then, and his hand lingered in mine for a second too long before I retracted it.”B. G. Wolfe, April Renegade
Let’s get started with a quick rapid fire.
Q1.If you could be transformed into one animal, which one would you choose?
This is a hard one for me, because I’m a huge animal lover. I think I’d happily be a house cat, though. Naps and free food? Count me in.
Q2. Finish the phrase “the way to my heart is…”
The way to my heart is taking me to a bookshop (one that sells coffee!) on a rainy day and being in no rush to leave.
Q3. Are you more of an introvert or an extrovert?
I’m an extroverted introvert. I need a large amount of alone time but I love seeing those close to me when I’m up for it.
Q4. Do you watch shows one episode at a time or binge whole seasons?
It depends on the show. If I’m really into it, I’ll binge watch seasons (like how I am with Stranger Things and a few others).
Q5. Would you rather travel to the past or to the future?
The past. There are many concerts I’d love to attend from the late sixties through the seventies.
Q6. What is your last Google search?
What do Native Americans call their father?
Q7. What object do you misplace or lose the most?
It’s always my Birkenstocks. And my husband doesn’t let me live it down!
Q8. What is the kindest thing someone ever did for you?
My husband is my best friend, and he showers me with kindness every day. The greatest thing he did was surprised me with dinner with my family on the night of my first book launch. He also had a cake made and put on the book cover sugar sheet himself. It was amazing.
Q9. If given the chance to start your life over, would you take it?
I don’t think so, no. “I cradled his body as close to mine as I could and tried my best to memorize the duet that was his steady heartbeat and even breaths.”B. G. Wolfe, April Renegade
Q10. What is the best present you have ever received?
I had to beg my parents, but they allowed me to adopt a black kitten when I was eleven. His name was Jackaboo (a mix of Jack from the Titanic and Boo because he was what my mom refers to as a “Halloween cat”) and he was my very best friend. He passed away a couple months ago and almost lived to be seventeen.
Q11. Describe your style in one word.
Real.
Q12. If you were to devote the rest of your life to philanthropy, what cause would you choose?
That’s a really hard choice—there are so many things in the world I want to change. But I think I would have to go with ending pollution and stalling global warming, because without this beautiful Earth, where will we be?
It’s time for a more detailed conversation, B. G..
You’ve answered our rapid fire brilliantly, B. G.. Now, it’s time for our readers to know more about the person behind the book.
Q. There’s a grand stage surrounded by fifty thousand people listening to authors introducing themselves. They are bored and restless of listening to introductions all day. It’s your turn. How would you introduce yourself?
I’m an awkward individual, especially in regard to public speaking. I’d more than likely make some horrible joke about the audience in a coma, or I’d make someone blast one of my favorite punk rock songs to wake them up and then segue into my punk rock romance novel.
Q. Well, that will keep you in our thoughts. So, what books did you grow up reading?
Holes was the first book I ever truly loved. After that, I was introduced into the survivor/disaster genre when my 3rd/4th grade teacher read us Hatchet. I didn’t really get into reading until 5th grade, when I read Harry Potter. After that, I read almost anything. I also enjoyed reading the Little House on the Prairie books with my mother when I was young.
Q. Interesting. Has writing and publishing a book changed the way you see yourself?
I think I realize now that I am capable of writing a whole novel, and that was something that seemed impossible to me for a very long time. The greatest change that my publication journey has caused is that I believe in myself a great deal more than I used to, and I’m grateful for that. Other than that, though, I’m still me. I start projects I often don’t finish; I procrastinate; I don’t let too much of an ego come my way, because I want to stay humble no matter what.
Q. Would you share something about yourself that your readers don’t know (yet)?
I got married very young! I was ten days away from my twentieth birthday. I’m married to a cisgender, straight man and a few years after we got married, I finally came to terms with being bisexual. A lot of people ask me if I want to explore my sexuality/have an open marriage—I don’t. I’m married to my best friend, but he supports me in a way that I don’t feel bad about myself for checking others out or reading various gay fiction.
Q. Now comes the most anticipated question that every author must answer. How do you process and deal with negative book reviews?
I thought I’d be a mess when I got my first one star review, but I really wasn’t. No one likes bad reviews. I’ll often screenshot them and send them off to my stepmother so she’ll hype me up and remind me that I’m a good writer (we all need a cheerleader in our corner). I do read all of my reviews, but I take them with a grain of salt. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. I remind myself of that and move along.
Q. What comes first for you — the plot or the characters — and why?
For April Renegade, it was the plot: In my head, I saw the lead singer of a band on stage. After the concert moved to the encore, I envisioned him and the drummer of the band having an affair. It then flashed to the end with the lead singer “coming out.” The characters came to me naturally after that, as did the rest of the plot. For my new book (which is actually the first book I ever finished), A Mare’s Nest I already had Daphne’s character, my FMC, well thought of in my head. She has been on the back burner for a long time. The plot and characters for that story were more of a puzzle for me to figure out, so I did a lot of research and used the 27 Chapter Method to make a plan. “How do you even pack for a space mission when you’ve never been to space, the world around you is dying more and more each day, and you have no idea how long you will be gone–or if you will ever come back?”B. G. Thomas, A Mare’s Nest
Q. How do you develop your plot and characters?
I keep journals for each Work In Progress I have going. I start out by writing myself a permission slip; something I learned while taking a creative writing workshop at Hybrid Pedagogy Lab in 2018. I give myself permission to be imaginative, to scribble all over the pages, and let my creative juices flow. Then, I start with research if I need to. Then come the characters and my major plot points. I often jot down the main things I want to keep in mind for the plot. Then I move toward plotting via that same 27 Chapter Method because I need some form of structure to keep me organized, even if I change things along the way.
Q. What does literary success look like to you?
One day, I’d love for my main income to come from writing to the point where I don’t have to work a 9-5 anymore. I want to do it for a living because it’s truly what brings me the most joy. I don’t need fame or wealth. I just want to live comfortably and wake up every morning and be able to write.
Q. Let’s talk about your book. Tell us about it. No major spoilers.
Well, I have two books. The first, April Renegade by B. G. Wolfe, was released on July 12th, 2022. It is a coming-of-age, punk-rock ‘n roll, gay romance. I got the idea while attending a concert—it was never “my plan” to write it, but the story came into my mind and I had to let it out. It follows Ash, the lead singer, and Drew, the drummer. In the present day, their band (April Renegade) is very successful. But it goes back to the past when Ash met Drew for the first time. It follows their initial love story and gay awakening and where they are in the present, and how Ash is still living in the shadows publicly in regard to his sexuality. It’s spicy, angsty, and full of punk rock.
As for A Mare’s Nest by my other pen name, B. G. Thomas, it will be released on October 1st of 2022. It’s the first book in the series. The second book will follow, hopefully in January of 2023. Unlike April Renegade, this book is a multi-genre: science-fiction, apocalyptic, space adventure, and romance. It takes place one hundred years in the future when a worldwide plague that affects people, animals, and plants slowly begin to rot the Earth. My FMC, Dr. Daphne Blaine, is recruited by NASA to shoot off into the stars in search for a livable planet. She brings her young son and her father with her on the expedition. In space, she comes to terms with her sexuality for the first time since losing her husband years prior and has to face fears she’s kept under locks for her entire life.
Q. What part of the book did you have the hardest time writing?
For April Renegade, it was having Ash hurt Drew. It’s never easy to write hardships, but it’s those hardships that made that book realistic to me. For A Mare’s Nest, it was trying to make all of the science elements feel believable to my readers. I often had to research how spacesuits operate, different chemical make-ups of various atmospheres, and the like. I’ve learned a lot about the world in doing so, but taking those factors and altering them to fit my storyline has been challenging.
Q. If you could meet your characters, what would you say to them?
I’d want to thank Ash and Drew for getting me to where I am now. Without them, I don’t think I’d be published quite yet. But they came to me and screamed in my head until their stories were told. I’d also want Drew to teach me how to play the drums because that’s been something I’ve wanted to learn since writing his story. As for Daphne—I’d tell her I look up to her for taking on some of the hardest and scariest things a human being can face, both mentally and physically.
Q. What is your writing process like? Are you more of a plotter or a pantser?
I like to say I’m a chaotic blend of both. I plan in my journals, but often change those plans as I’m actually writing. My current WIPs depend on my mood, so I guess I’m a mood writing and a mood reader.
Q. Let’s talk about the process of writing. When you’re writing an emotional or difficult scene, how do you set the mood?
Listen, I force myself to write whenever I can. I work full-time, have a very opinionated toddler, a husband, and have four pets, so time is limited. My husband often has to tell me to get my ass in gear and get some words down. Sometimes, I write in the notes section on my phone while at a break at work or while I’m “relaxing” at night. Preferably, I eat breakfast, have my coffee ready to go, and sit in my office for a few hours and knock out 3-6,000 words. I put on a Spotify playlist and try not to open Facebook or Tiktok, because then I’ll get nothing done. I tend to allow myself to stop writing around the 2,000-word mark on days I don’t have much time. “And there it was. We sat between many layers of quartz glass and the universe, but that was all that separated us.”B. G. Thomas, A Mare’s Nest
Q. What has helped or hindered you most when writing a book?
Social media has hindered me the most because I feel like if I’m not posting on various platforms daily, my following will dwindle. I try not to fall too far behind on it, but it also serves as a distraction to actually writing. Having the proper discipline in place to work on my novels/marketing a little every day has helped me the most. I don’t have to write a lot, but I try to write some every day; even just a paragraph so that I keep my WIP front and center in my mind.
Q. It’s been fun. Now, before we wrap this up, do you have any suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?
Get in the habit of writing or working on your novel every day (unless you’re sick or on vacation—rest up and take time for yourself!). Competing in last year’s NaNoWriMo got me conditioned to write every day, and it’s a discipline I’ve tried to keep up with. Find what works best for you: writing when you first wake or staying up a little later to knock out some words; plan it out or dive right in—everyone is different. You just have to find your creative process and run with it. Also: BELIEVE in yourself. I think we’re all capable of writing, we just have to eliminate as much self-doubt as possible. Thank you so much!
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