Posted on August 2, 2017 at 12:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Finding success as an author isn’t easy, and not everyone manages it.

But Emma Dawn, however, has pulled it off twice — as two distinct authors, no less.

She started pursuing career as a writer in a different genre about ten years ago, went full time with it about four years after that, and has since adopted her current persona: a paranormal romance novelist.

Specifically, she writes reverse-harem romances now ... yep, that means one woman, multiple male lovers.

Here’s what she had to say about branching out into a genre that was new to her as well as to many readers.

SADYE: How did you get into the reverse harem genre?  

EMMA: I was already a successful author in another genre, and I wanted to push myself by trying something new and totally different than anything else I'd written.

An author friend suggested Reverse Harem and I'd never heard of it. I did some research and it sounded way too fun to pass up, and Harem of Fangs was born! ...

Taking a shot at a new genre, with a brand-new pen name, was something of a leap, but I'm glad I did it.

It's been a real blast to see how the industry works now, with a name that is unknown. It tells me that new authors can still make a good living even if they didn't start years ago in the “golden age” as it is sometimes known.

SADYE: So you didn’t already have a plot in mind or a character who just wouldn’t shut up?

EMMA: I have done well enough with my other pen name to be able to take a bit of time here and there and dabble in something that is purely for fun, with no constraints or expectations other than that I enjoy it.

Like most authors, I have nothing but ideas coming through my brain, and some just didn't fit the category that I normally write in. I'd been wanting to explore a paranormal romance for awhile, and these books gave me the opportunity.

Even if they sold no copies, I had so much fun writing them I would do it again in a heartbeat. As it is, I've found a really wonderful fan base in the reverse harem readers!

SADYE: Were you nervous about changing from a genre I assume was working really well for you and going “incognito”?

EMMA: I think I was more excited about trying something new. I equated it with cheating on my first pen name LOL!

It was a little bit taboo, and terribly freeing in that there were no expectations. I could be a total goof and write the dirtiest of sex scenes and no one would say it reflected on my other pen name.

I truly have enjoyed building the new name up, while continuing to work on my other pen name as well. It’s fun to jump back and forth between the two vastly different styles.

SADYE: If you Google “reverse harem,” you’ll find a lot of anime/manga but not a ton of novels. Is it still relatively uncommon in the romance world?

EMMA: Reverse harem is still growing in the novel market.

It was there to some degree for years with books like Laurell K. Hamilton’s Merry Gentry series, but I believe that between the popularity of the anime and the excitement of readers when they realize that a woman could have more than one man to fulfill her needs, the genre has exploded.

I don't think you will see it go away anytime soon :) Or at least I hope not, because it is way too fun to write in!

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Learn more about Emma Dawn on her website, where her books can also be purchased, and like her on Facebook.

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Categories: Author Interview

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