Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

Zilla: Zilla here! A quick note for our readers. There’s a pre-order giveaway contest for this book, so make sure you read to the end of the interview to find out how to enter!

Sabitha: Laura May joins us to talk about her LGBTQ+ romance novel, The One Woman. Laura, we’re delighted to have you! Can you tell us a bit about your book?

Laura: The One Woman is a story of a girl meets a girl. But what if the girl is already in a steady relationship with a long-term boyfriend? 

The main character, Julie, a graphic designer, is in a mundane relationship with her boyfriend Mark. Until she meets Ann. Ann is successful, beautiful, and charismatic. Julie can’t deny the spark during their chance meeting. When their present entwines once again in Barcelona the spark is impossible to extinguish. When tragedy strikes, Julie must decide between her devotion to Mark and her love for Ann. Can true love survive when the timing is all wrong?

Sabitha: Okay, I’m intrigued! So what inspired you to write this book?

Laura: The dedication to this book says, ‘To all the books that came before.’ All the books that I’ve read before were my inspiration. From my childhood I always found friends in books—later, they managed to evoke such a magnitude of feelings that I sat stunned, dreaming of one day writing something as remotely emotional as the book I was holding in my hands at that moment.

When the pandemic struck, and we all were confined to our homes with no way to travel, instead of looking out, I started to look in.

The One Woman started in my head as a woman walks into a bar…

Sabitha: What was your favourite thing to write in the book?

Laura: It was not a thing, but a character, Ann. I loved everything about her, and meeting her and writing about her was my favourite thing.

Sabitha: Falling in love with a character is such a magical feeling. But writing isn’t all high points. What advice would you give to someone who’s writing or querying?

Laura: Writing requires just showing on the page, so if you do show regularly, something wonderful will be on that page. You cannot edit the empty page, as they say.

With querying I have only one piece of advice, which I constantly say to myself: don’t stop. In the end, you need only one yes.

Sabitha: How did you choose the title?

Laura: It’s kind of a funny story, or a strange one. I wrote The One Woman by hand and it took two and a half notebooks. The first notebook had a floral cover, with two words: The One. So these two words were with the story from the beginning. Later I added Woman. Because it’s a story of two women, and I hope the readers will find something to relate to in each of them.

Sabitha:  If you could pick any author to read your book, who would you want to read it? Why them?

Laura: I’d be honored if one day TJ Klune, Leigh Bardugo and Taylor Jenkins Reid could read my book. They broke my heart and healed it back with their books, I cried, pressing their books to my chest. Their ideas and stories are so beautifully written, that I would love them to read this, or any of my future books.

Sabitha: This book sounds like a great read. When can the Night Beats community find you and your book?

Laura: Thanks for the interview!  You can find The One Woman here and on Amazon here. You can find out more about me at my website, Instagram and Facebook.

We’re running a pre-order giveaway! Anyone who completes this form and uploads proof of a preorder will be entered to win a $10 Amazon gift card. The prize will be announced at my launch party in August.