… Jae

1. What’s the time of the day when you feel most like yourself?

I’m a night owl, so late evening/middle of the night—between ten pm and 2 am—when the world is asleep and no one wants my attention. 

2. What’s your coffee order? 

A latte macchiato with as much steamed milk as will fit into the mug but only one shot of espresso. So it’s really more of a “milk order” than a coffee order. 

3. If you could be any dish, which one would you be and why?

Probably a lasagna—lots of layers and there could be some unexpected ingredients, but it’s more of a reliable comfort food than a fancy dish.

4. What do you think of garden gnomes?

Well, I’m German, so when I was growing up, I saw them in gardens and flower beds everywhere. To me, they are a mostly boring and kitschy. Plus, have you ever noticed that traditionally, they are all male? If I had a garden, I can say with confidence that it would be a gnome-free zone. 

5. Red is over here and blue is over there, where are you and why? 

A blue that looks purple in a certain light and that even shades red if you look at it from a certain angle. I think I’m a versatile person who can adapt to different situations. For example, I’m an introvert who loves interacting with people. If you get me talking about the right topic, I come across more extraverted than I am…but only for a little while. 

6. What makes you smile? 

Cat photos! I love cats but don’t have one because my roommate is allergic, so all my friends who have cats supply me with daily photos of their felines. It’s impossible not to smile at so much cuteness.

7. Do you believe in soulmates?

Yes, I do. I even think there are entire soul families—people who fit into the holes in our lives so neatly and you connect on such a deep level that you are a more complete person with them. 

8. What author would you like to switch lives with for a day? 

I’m not so much interested in switching lives (I like my own), but I would love to switch brains for a day and experience the world through someone else’s eyes. Since I have aphantasia, I don’t have a mind’s eye and don’t get to “see an inner movie” or hear my characters when I write. That’s one thing I would love to experience, so I would pick an author who experiences writing like that. Maybe KJ, who has told me that she “sees” the characters, the setting, and the plot and “hears” the dialogue. Or Lee Winter, who said she sees things so vividly that it’s almost like a movie.

9. What makes you cry?

Seeing other people happy, even fictional people. I’ve been known to cry at sappy movies or touching moments in romance novels. 

10. What personality trait gets you most often in trouble?

Probably my kindness and generosity. Every now and then, people take advantage of it.

11.  Describe the best date you’ve ever been on/would like to go on?

I think my ideal date would start out in a bookstore. Of course, it would have to be a bookstore with plenty of sapphic romances. We would each pick a book, then get some ice cream or food for a picnic, find a quiet, sunny spot somewhere and just talk—or maybe read to each other. 

12. Who’d play you if Hollywood made a movie about your life? 

Can I be very honest and say I’m not sure I would want to have a movie about my life? If I had to have one, I would have the people who know me best pick an actress because I’m awful at even recognizing celebrities. To give you an idea: I just asked my roommate who should play me, and she said “Anne Hathaway,” and I had to look up who that is. 

Once I did, my roomie’s choice got an enthusiastic YES…but only if Anne Hathaway can touch-type and make being a writer look believable. 

13. In a crowded room, what makes you notice a woman?

The way she interacts with others—someone who’s a deep listener and laughs in a genuine way. 

14. What’s your one big regret?

I actually think I don’t have one. I’m pretty happy with my life. Of course, there were things that could have gone better, but overall, I think I’ve made the best I could of every situation, and there isn’t much I would change. 

15. What would be the title of your autobiography? 

Dare to Dream.

16. Three women you’d have over for dinner and what would you serve? 

At first, I thought about writers and other known personalities I admire, but due to the pandemic, I haven’t seen most of my friends and family members in nearly two years. If I could just beam them over, I would have my two best friends and my sister over for dinner. 

I’m not much of a cook, so I would order Indian food from my favorite restaurant, and there would be my sister’s homemade cheesecake and, of course, ice cream for dessert. 

17. What is one illegal thing you’d do knowing you cannot get arrested for it?

Hire an army of hackers and expose a lot of things that go wrong in the world—corrupt politicians & systems, rapists in powerful positions, and other people who abuse their power and harm others.

18. What’s in your fridge right now?

A pot of chili sin carne, a bunch of veggies, three or four different cheeses (I’m a vegetarian, but I love cheese too much to be a vegan), and at least four jars of crème fraiche, one of the ingredients of Flammkuchen (a dish from the region along the German/French border, similar to pizza, just with a thinner, crispier crust and crème fraiche instead of tomato sauce). 

19. If you could choose one song to be played every time you enter a room, what song would that be and why? 

A quiet song with an instrumental intro—maybe something by Vienna Teng, Katie Melua, or Norah Jones—so no one would pay attention to my entrance. And because I simply like their music. 

20. Funniest/best/saddest/proudest (choose one) thing that ever happened to you as a lesfic author? 

My best and proudest moments are whenever I get an email from a reader who tells me one of my books changed their life or made them feel seen or helped them in any way. I got a lot of these emails after first publishing Perfect Rhythm, which has an asexual main character. Several readers emailed me to say that they had always assumed themselves to be “broken” and only by reading Perfect Rhythm did they realize they are asexual and there’s nothing wrong with them. 

Jae’s latest release, a friends-to-lovers romance Chemistry Lessons can be found here: http://mybook.to/ChemistryLessonsJae