Meet Rae Lamar At #WineWithWriters!

The first time I read a Rae Lamar book,  I was excited for days. I read Dawn of Aris  and immediately moved on to The Aris Effect. So, why was I so excited? Her voice. It was so different, and fresh, and unique. Her heroine was flawed, quirky, real and relatable and she quickly became one of my absolute romance faves. And then I got a chance to meet and work with Rae and she's become a friend, who's just as awesome as the books she creates. 

If you're coming to #WineWithWriters on March 10, you'll get to see what I mean. In the meantime, check out #10Questions with Rae Lamar. 

Would you like to see into the future? Why?
No. It’ll come soon enough.


If you could only choose one vacation destination where would you pick and why?
One? This is too hard. All I know for sure is that I must have waterfront views.


What show on Netflix did you binge watch embarrassingly fast?
The first season of Riverdale. I was curious, and I think the CW does high school soaps very well, so I decided to give it a shot. They got me, man. I think it’s because it was such a blend of shows gone by – Cruel Intentions meets first generation 90210 meets Gossip Girl meets another show I can’t remember right now. I didn’t expect it to be as dark and creepy as it is, a definite plus for me. And it’s a trip to see Luke Perry playing Archie’s dad and doing a good job at it so that means Dylan McKay is officially dead. Oh and he co-parents with his ex-wife, Molly Ringwald, in a city led by Mayor Robin Givens. Yeah. Creepy. I enjoyed my two-day binge though. Very entertaining.


Are you spring, summer, fall, or winter? Please share why.
Fall. Football season is in full swing by then. Atlanta is a forest, and the colors are gorgeous. My favorite holidays happen, including my birthday. And I can wear all my boots.


What technology from science fiction do you wish existed?
Personal energy shields and force fields. And when activated, it would be like The Glow from The Last Dragon.


If you could level up humans as a species, what stat or ability would you increase?
Empathy.


What’s the most crucial thing for a healthy relationship?
Connection. Depending on who you are, that could mean physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. Whether one or all of them matter to you, that connection must exist between you and your significant other or the relationship suffers.


Why is it so hard for people to make real connections when almost everyone wants to make real connections? Vulnerability is scary as hell and some people are unwilling to take that risk, so there’s that. Also, people have differing definitions of “real” – if you’re able to find a person who has the same interpretation as you, it’s a win.


What are the most common roadblocks that stop people from achieving their dreams?
Overthinking, fear, insecurity – the usual suspects. Lack of faith in yourself. No clarity of what “your” dream truly is; some people are out here living others’ desires for them so they’re running fast in the wrong direction. Blind spots that are never realized. A variety of things could be a reason, but these are the first that came to mind.


If you suddenly found out that your internal monologue for the last week was actually audible, how screwed would you be? Totally. My week was too peopley and full of meaningless stuff, challenging my personal freedom which is my core value. When that’s violated, I’m not my best self on the inside. Not proud of that; it’s something that I continue to work on by respecting my rhythms and setting better boundaries.


Excerpt from ‘Blur’:

Another game of Gin with drinks of the same name.

“Five… four… three… two…” Jade rapped along with the song before she flashed an Ace of Hearts, the final card in her grip, then slammed it down to win her third hand in a row. “One, run, ya done when I see… you…”

Kyle smirked as she celebrated. “All that and you ain’t nowhere, playa.” After calculating the score, he raised the notepad so she could see the score for herself. “I’m still up forty… but keep dancin’.”

Jade stopped and frowned.

“Your deal. Just make sure you don’t give me what I need to get this last seventy or this game is over.” Kyle sat back and watched as she snatched the cards, stacked them up and began to shuffle. “But I must say that I appreciate how you don’t let all those L’s get you down, baby. Didn’t expect you to catch up this quick either… then again, you do tend to take these bitches down to the wire—”

“Cut,” Jade snapped, narrowing her eyes.

“My pleasure.” He cut the deck and nodded for her to proceed. “Run it.”

Jade tossed cards back and forth between them as they continued talking shit.

Just like old times.

This was exactly what she was hoping for on the way to his house… a chance to press the reset button on their friendship and get back to whom they’ve always been — two homies stretched out with nothing but dap, digs, drinks and no drama between them. They were still avoiding what happened the other night and Jade was completely okay with dodging that conversation because it was the last thing she wanted to talk about… and because it never should’ve have happened. Even after the “enjoy the dick” pep talk that Rachel delivered earlier in the day, Jade couldn’t hype herself up to accept such a casual arrangement with Kyle. Reducing him to a fuck buddy to relieve her of a self-imposed drought felt wrong on so many levels, and she refused to risk their friendship again due to another weak moment. So now her new plan was to get things back on track. Back to the way things were. Back to what they had always been to each other.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Buy Blur and meet Rae Lamar at Wine With Writers in Atlanta March 10, 2018.