In August 2024, I’m excited to combine two of the loves of my life: cruising and LGBTQ+ fiction and romance. I hope you’ll consider joining me on the first Rainbow Readers Cruise! Until then, I’d love to introduce you to one of the attending creators…me!
About J.L. Gribble
J.L. Gribble writes speculative fiction and romance, but she’s happiest when combining the two and adding a dose of the unexpected or nontraditional. When not writing, Gribble reads an eclectic range of books, adds to her LEGO collection, and plays video games. She lives in Ellicott City, Maryland, with her husband and three vocal Siamese cats. Find her book review blog and info about her publications at jlgribble.com.
Interview
If drinks by the pool are already a given, what are you most looking forward to about the Rainbow Readers Cruise?
I go on a decent number of cruises with my spouse and extended family, because my idea of the perfect vacation is to chill in a floating hotel that brings me to cool places. And while I’ll never get tired of it, it is possible to get a bit tired of the same onboard activities (the spouse and I once made everyone think we were Star Wars geniuses because they’d repeated the same trivia questions from a previous sailing). So, I’m really excited to take a cruise with a ton of cool people I only know from online that I’m looking forward to hanging out with in person, but also to all the unique events and activities that we’ll be offering for the conference portion of the trip!
Which of your books would you recommend as the best way for readers to get to know you before meeting you on the cruise?
The easy answer is Earth and Water, my only currently available MM romance (though I’ll have two more available by the time we set sail). The more interesting answer is still Earth and Water, but because it’s set in the same urban fantasy world I’ve previously published, so you know my heart is firmly rooted there.
The kismet answer is, again, Earth and Water…because it involves a cruise! I didn’t plan it that way, because I did not even know about the Rainbow Readers Cruise when I started the project. In addition, the events of Earth and Water overlap with those of a previous book in the same world, Steel Magic, written back in 2015 and heavily inspired by the trans-Atlantic cruise I took between Florida and Barcelona in 2014.
Which of your characters (from any story) would you most like to go on a cruise with?
The characters in Earth and Water travel in style during their voyage due to their connection with the family that owns the ship. So, for the royal treatment on a cruise, I’d definitely want to travel with Hal — werewolf nobility, heir to a shipping empire, and all-around fun guy. We’d get the best of everything and access to all the cool behind-the-scenes stuff, and he’d probably be a blast to hang out with.
Even if you don’t use this trip as fodder for a future project, most stories require a bit of research. Can you tell us the coolest thing you’ve learned while researching for your work, regardless of whether it made it into the text?
Since Earth and Water takes place in an alternate history world in which magic and the supernatural have always been an open part of society, I have a lot of fun tweaking the familiar in unexpected ways. I decided that Kevlar does exist, but I wanted to call it something different so went searching for information on its history and development. It turns out that a woman invented the material Kevlar uses! Thus, it only made sense to be called “Kwolek” after American chemist Stephanie Kwolek, who developed the polymer in the 1960s.
Hey, this is supposed to be a review blog! Recommend your favorite book that I should read and review by another author joining us on this high-seas adventure.
I’m so freaking excited to meet quite a few of my fellow authors that it’s impossible to narrow it down, especially since I’m such a voracious reader that I’ve read so many amazing titles by them.
However, while I’ll be trying not to accidentally and awkwardly stalk Cara Dee, Nora Phoenix, and Jordan L. Hawk, who have been massive inspirations to me as both a writer and as I began my self-publishing journey, I have to give a special shout-out to Rory Maxwell, who will be my roommate on this adventure! We write very different types of books, but that doesn’t make me love her small-town contemporary romance series any less.
Finally, what other projects are you working on currently?
While I’m excited to dive back into the world of Earth and Water, I’m currently limited chronologically by waiting for my publisher to release the final book in the original urban fantasy series so that I’m not spoiling events that take place later. In the meantime, I’m trying my hand at something completely different. Service Before Self is an M/M contemporary military romance planned for release this summer. I’ve also got a few other secret projects in the works that I can’t wait to shout about!
Connect With J.L. Gribble
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About the Rainbow Readers Cruise
The Rainbow Readers Cruise celebrates the readers and creators of LGBTQ+ fiction and romance. The cruise departs from the Port of Fort Lauderdale on August 19, 2024, and returns August 23, 2024, with stops at Key West and Coco Cay (Celebrity’s private island). Along the way, meet and mingle with some of your favorite LGBTQ+ fiction and romance authors and creators, as well as attend panels, meet and greets, small group social activities, and the Signing at Sea. Plus, the cruise itself, with fabulous destinations, food and drinks, entertainment, and more. You can find all the details about the Rainbow Readers Cruise on our website: https://rainbowreaderscruise.com.
