We had the good fortune of connecting with Marie Sexton and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Marie, what do you attribute your success to?
Honestly? Luck was probably the most important factor early on. I was incredibly lucky that my first book was published at a time when Kindles were new and digital publishing was booming. It also happened to be at a point when my genre (gay romance) was first becoming popular and readers were desperate for new content, and my first book happened to contain a lot of tropes that were popular at the time.
But that was all back in 2009/2010. I’ve published roughly thirty stories since then, and the most important factor has been persistence. It can be easy to be derailed and/or disheartened in the current publishing landscape. It’s important to keep parking myself in my office, pushing forward on my current book, day after day, even when it feels pointless, because once the book is finally finished, it will all feel worth it.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m just a regular sports-loving mom who happened to start writing romance books after quitting my job of eleven years. My first novel, Promises, was published in January 2010. Since then, I’ve published over thirty novels, novellas, and short stories, all featuring men who fall in love with other men. My works include contemporary romance, science fiction, fantasy, historicals, and a few odd genre mash-ups. I’m the recipient of multiple Rainbow Awards, as well as the CRW Award of Excellence in 2012. My books have been translated into six languages.
The publishing landscape has changed a great deal over the last twelve years, and those changes haven’t necessarily worked in my favor. I’m constantly having to revise my definition of success, and to re-assess whether this is where I want to be and what I want to be doing. Some days, it can be hard to convince myself to keep writing. Other days, it’s the only thing I want to do. Maybe the publishing landscape will change again in the coming years, but for now, I just have to keep putting words on the page and hope for the best.
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I have a sticker on my fridge that says, “Adventure starts where plans end.” I love to play things by ear. Some of my most memorable days have been a matter of luck and circumstance more than planning (like the time my friend and I went to Paris for a whirlwind trip, and stumbled across a wine festival in Montmartre). But that being said, I do love to eat. So, I would probably take this friend to some new city, and pick out which restaurants we’d eat at. And if there was a hockey game in the vicinity, we would definitely attend that. But beyond that, I probably wouldn’t make any solid plans. It can be a lot more fun to just see what happens.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My entire family has been very supportive of my writing career, but my husband especially has been very helpful and understanding. I definitely could not stay home writing books if it weren’t for his ongoing support.
Website: www.MarieSexton.net
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