Ink and Flame Episode #5
Shay Jinx: Author of Twisted Affairs.

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Transcription

Tina Koutras (00:00)
Welcome to Ink and Flame. I'm Tina Koutras your host, and we're sitting down with Shay Jinx the author of Twisted Rivals and Twisted Affairs. Hi, Shay. How are you?

Shay JInx (00:09)
Hi.

I'm here. I'm excited.

Tina Koutras (00:15)
So, you're going to be telling us about your two books, one of which is already released and one of which is coming out in April, right? That's awesome. And are you super stoked about this new release?

Shay JInx (00:23)
Mm-hmm.

Yes and no. I'm like really scared. Anytime I tell people about it I'm like just so you know like when it comes out I'm packing my bags going into witness protection, changing my name, my identity, everything. You will not find me ever again. Okay, enjoy reading!

Tina Koutras (00:45)
That's fantastic. love that. Witness protection. Okay, so let's get it started. What's your earliest memory of falling in love with books?

Shay JInx (00:47)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

I don't even know, like probably elementary school. By accident.

Tina Koutras (01:00)
Yeah.

Okay, so expand on that one.

Shay JInx (01:03)
My mom was always a reader, so I was always seeing her read and you know as kids do we make fun of our parents for like doing the most simplest things and then I pick up a book and I'm just completely just immersed in it and she's just like hmm and I'm like hey

Tina Koutras (01:19)
Mm-hmm.

Shay JInx (01:25)
So here we are.

Tina Koutras (01:25)
That's fun. And was there any specific book or series that got you interested?

Shay JInx (01:31)
at the time, a lot of people were like, so into like the warrior cat series. If you know what that is. for me, was Geronimo Stilton. Geronimo Stilton. He, I don't, I hope people that are like listening, watching know what I'm talking about. it feels like a very like one person thing.

Tina Koutras (01:40)
What was that, sorry.

Okay.

Shay JInx (01:52)
Like very select people know he was a mouse that was scared of everything. But he would go like on these, yeah, like elementary school, but he like went on like all of these adventures and he's just like scared of the entire thing. And he's like, I'm never doing anything like this ever again. But then like he would.

Tina Koutras (01:58)
Okay. So this is when you were younger, younger. Okay.

That's fun though and probably great reading for that age.

Shay JInx (02:18)
Oh

yeah, I just recently looked on Amazon and for the entire set of 58 books, it's almost like $200, $300. I'm like, oh, okay.

Tina Koutras (02:29)
wow.

Maybe one at a time then. fun

Shay JInx (02:34)
Maybe and he's got like fantasy versions that are like

beautiful covers. Yeah, those are like there's eight or ten of them $300 and I'm like Okay

One at a time.

Tina Koutras (02:50)
So did you always gravitate towards romance as you got older or was there another genres that you kind of got started with?

Shay JInx (02:58)
A lot of the times it was like fantasy vampires, witches, werewolves, fey, that kind of thing. And I feel like with that, there's always like that little romance element involved. And then there was a time both my parents were military. So my mom and my dad, they both deployed. So I was staying with a friend and

Tina Koutras (03:10)
Mm-hmm.

Shay JInx (03:22)
This is not anybody's fault at all, but I picked up a book that was a cartoon cover.

That was about a witch, warlock, whatever. That was not a book I should have picked up at the time.

Tina Koutras (03:37)
You

Shay JInx (03:38)
And

that is when I learned very early on, cartoon covers are not always kid books. wasn't in a specific section. The parent that I was staying with, I was with her when me and her daughter picked out the books and my book was here, her daughter's book was here, so, you know, child appropriate book.

Tina Koutras (03:46)
Friendly,

Shay JInx (04:00)
It was not. So I was like, okay. So I waited a few years. I was a little traumatized after that because you know, 13, like, don't know, I don't know what any of this is. But then after that, I saw a series at my school and it was called Nightshade. And after that, it's like a romance fantasy young adult book. And then after that, it's just.

Tina Koutras (04:01)
hahahaha

took off from there.

Shay JInx (04:27)
The rest

is history.

Tina Koutras (04:29)
That's perfect. So, what was the first story that you ever wrote? Like, have you been writing for, for like little stories and things like that? Cause you write novellas right now, correct? Okay. So have you been writing a lot longer than these or?

Shay JInx (04:39)
Mm-hmm.

Yes, I don't have them anymore, which thank God. I remember in one of the schools I went to, cause again, military parents moved around a lot. in one class we would have like writing time and this was when like POV writing was really, really in. And it was like,

Tina Koutras (04:50)
Yeah

Shay JInx (05:06)
POV me and like One Direction. And it was just, yeah. So there's a few of those floating around somewhere either in the landfill or in storage boxes. I don't know which and I kind of hope it's the first one because I just know those were embarrassing.

Tina Koutras (05:11)
hahahaha

Hahaha!

So if you could go back and give your younger self one piece of advice about writing, what would you pick?

Shay JInx (05:37)
Don't do that. Stop that. Stop writing that.

write something else.

Tina Koutras (05:41)
Okay. So you, you've kind of had a bit of a journey then going from what you first started out with writing versus where you are now and what you're releasing. Okay. Do you want to talk a little bit about the shift

Shay JInx (05:48)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

I don't really know where like the shift was at.

I think, cause I always knew I wanted to be a writer. Like I remember it's in my elementary yearbook. Whoa, what's your future job? What do you want your future career to be? It's right there, author. I think I always wanted to write fantasy, but then I picked up Haunting Adeline and I was like, this seems easier to write. Like this genre seems easier. And I was very right.

Tina Koutras (06:20)
Yeah, it was a good starting point for you. Okay. So dark romances and mafia romances are kind of known for their intensity. What do you think makes the genre so compelling?

Shay JInx (06:23)
Yeah.

Yeah.

I think it's gonna sound weird. I feel like it's a generational thing within dating because now I'm Gen Z. So our generation for dating is getting cheated on, abused, just being treated like not good in your relationship. And I notice that can carry on to the other generations as well.

And in dark romance, it's very intense. Like the love is very like passionate, powerful, like it's there. And I guess we kind of use like our trauma into it and read it and we're like, so somebody can see what we've been through, but still love us properly and like love us fiercely.

So like we all love that because we're like, this love can exist. And it kind of like raises our standards for like what we want. And it's like, yeah, you think we're being like prissy or whatever, but no, we're human too. We deserve the proper love. And if you're not gonna give it to us, kick rocks.

Tina Koutras (07:18)
Okay.

Kick rocks, that's a great expression.

Shay JInx (07:40)
Yeah,

I've noticed it a lot within my friends that read. Like, it's just, it's crazy.

Tina Koutras (07:46)
So what would you say your favorite romance trope is and why?

Shay JInx (07:49)
Why choose? I lived vicariously through them.

Tina Koutras (07:52)
That's a fun answer. Absolutely. That's wicked. Why choose? Yeah.

Shay JInx (07:55)
as

a jealous girly that wants to experience it but no she won't be able to handle it

Tina Koutras (08:02)
Okay. So your books are described as spicy and edgy. How do you approach those writing styles and those emotional stakes and steamy scenes?

Shay JInx (08:04)
Yeah.

so I'm a free writer, so I can't really even fully tell you. I just type and then as I'm like going, I'm like, stuff could happen here. I type it out and then I'm like, nevermind. Onto the next thing. We're going to end it. So it's a very like push and pull between like my writing and the readers and they're like,

Like stuff was just about to happen, like why did this happen instead?

Tina Koutras (08:38)
So you like to really drag them through it.

Shay JInx (08:41)
Yes,

they get dragged through the mud for sure.

Tina Koutras (08:44)
Mafia romances often involve morally gray characters. How do you find a balance between making them flawed, but still lovable?

Shay JInx (08:51)
Eww. I'm not really sure, it's like...

For me, think I kind of just take the characteristics that happened to me.

For me, I feel like it's more like love bombing than anything. That's how I see it when I write it because like, obviously they have to do like terrible things, but then they're to like other people. But then they turn around and they're like, my God, like I love you. I would burn the world down for you. So it's like, I feel like it's a very fine balance. When reading it, there's no thought to it. You're just like, my God, like thanks God, like.

Tina Koutras (09:05)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Shay JInx (09:23)
But while writing it's like, okay, like.

How do I do this?

Tina Koutras (09:27)
What's your take on the evolution of romance genre? Do you think that their readers are looking for something different now compared to what they have been in the last decade or so?

Shay JInx (09:35)
Yes and no. For me, I'm very, very picky on my fantasy. I've read like witch books growing up, which some would say is fantasy, some would say like, witches are real. But in the context, like fantasy for me and like all these other books. And as long as they have like kind of the same element to it,

obviously fantasy, but also being able to pull me out of the real world and like immerse me in the book. Yeah. but now I think some people are just like reading to read, if that makes sense. just to like get the books in and that makes it a little tricky.

Tina Koutras (10:02)
Some escapism. Yeah.

Okay.

Okay. So I think there might be like a, a balance of escapism and consumption we'll call it. So let's dive into the Mafia seduction Twisted Rivals. What inspired the story and How did you develop the dynamic between Mason and Andy?

Shay JInx (10:24)
Yeah. Yeah.

I just, it was one of those shower thoughts, honestly.

Tina Koutras (10:37)
Okay?

Shay JInx (10:38)
I was just showering and then I was like, huh. Because originally what I wanted it to be is she's a detective and obviously he's the criminal. It did not turn out that way, which is fine. The brain had other ideas and now here we are. Book three is in the works.

Tina Koutras (10:57)
Okay.

Awesome. So they have been described as fiery and intense. What was the most challenging part of writing their relationship?

Shay JInx (10:59)
So.

Trying to figure out who should have which characteristic. But Andy definitely got the fiery and Mason definitely got the intense

Tina Koutras (11:10)
Okay.

Okay. So your readers love the spice in your books. Do you have a favorite scene from Twisted Rivals that you can tease us with? But you know, no spoilers, of course.

Shay JInx (11:15)
Yeah.

Definitely, gosh, I have two. The thorn scene and the picnic scene.

Tina Koutras (11:31)
Okay. Okay, so, we don't want spoilers, so we definitely can't elaborate, I suppose. But,

Shay JInx (11:31)
Yeah.

When you get

to the parts, you'll know.

Tina Koutras (11:42)
So, cliffhangers can be a thrilling and torturous thing for readers. What made you decide to end Twisted Rivals on one?

Shay JInx (11:50)
I knew I wanted a second book, not a third one, a second one. But it was also kind of like a marketing tactic really. Because I know for me, if a book ends on a cliffhanger, I need the second one. And I'm going to be talking about the first one until the second one comes out. So that's just kind of how it was. And it worked.

Tina Koutras (11:58)
Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Okay. And

Shay JInx (12:15)
You

Tina Koutras (12:15)
how do you think it impacts your reader experience?

Like my sister always jokes around with throwing the, when she gets to the end of a book that drops her off a cliff, she's like, I better have some wood in front of my windows. It's going to be a bad day. So what do you think about that?

Shay JInx (12:19)
In a positive? Mm-hmm.

From my personal reader experience or like my readers experience. For me, no, I'm the same way. If I know it's a series, I try to order all of them because I read on my phone most of the time. So if I read the first one and it's a cliffhanger, book two better be out or there's going to be some problems.

Tina Koutras (12:37)
Let's do both.

Mm-hmm.

Hahaha!

Shay JInx (12:58)
And I think

that's the same way it is for my readers. Book two's not out yet. So I'm sure you can imagine the messages I got from some devoted readers. They were like, hey,

Tina Koutras (13:05)
Yeah.

Shay JInx (13:13)
What are you doing? Where's the second book? And I'm like, hey, you're gonna have to take that up with my editor. She won't let me release it. I was like, she won't let me release it yet. You're gonna have to take that up with her.

Tina Koutras (13:19)
I saw that in your Goodreads.

So if Mason and Andy were on a double date with other fictional characters, who do you suppose you would want to pair them with? And of course, why?

Shay JInx (13:26)
Mm-hmm.

gosh.

I'm gonna go back to like 2010 with these characters from a series that I have not seen anyone ever talk about. Kala and Ren. And there's another character in the book, so it's kind of like a love triangle, not quite why choose, but definitely a love triangle. And it's from the Nightshade series. And there, I feel like...

Tina Koutras (13:40)
Okay.

Okay.

Shay JInx (14:01)
The five of them together on a double date would get them kicked out of restaurant.

Tina Koutras (14:05)
That's

fun.

Shay JInx (14:07)
Like

Andy and Carla, they would become besties. Mason would kind of just be there. And then the other two guys, they would be at each other's throat and Andy and Mason would just be laughing at it being like, girl, what are you doing? I feel like it would just be a very entertaining time for all of them and everyone watching.

Tina Koutras (14:24)
And

if Twisted Rivals was adapted into a movie or a TV series, who would you cast as Mason?

Shay JInx (14:34)
the dude from 365 Days.

Tina Koutras (14:37)
Okay.

Shay JInx (14:37)
don't care so many people were like my god this movie so cringy what is this acting I agree but that man is a dream that man is a dream

Tina Koutras (14:46)
is your Mason. Okay, what about your Andy?

that's okay though. That's the best thing about a casting call.

Shay JInx (14:49)
I don't know.

I don't really know like actresses names. I know their faces and then their names. So it's just like, can't pull one right out of my head. I really don't know. It'd have to be someone younger though. I wouldn't want to do the whole like, like suspected age, you know? So Andy's like,

Tina Koutras (14:59)
Yep.

Yeah.

Shay JInx (15:11)
like in her early 20s, so I'm not gonna cast Angelina Jolie. Like, sorry babes, but you are not this age range.

Tina Koutras (15:14)
Yeah, I gotcha.

Hahaha

Shay JInx (15:20)
Maybe, honestly, probably Emma Watson. Yeah. Because she's pale. It'd have to be someone tan. Oh gosh, yeah, have literally have no idea. I have no idea.

Tina Koutras (15:29)
It's fun watching everybody

trying to piece that together, like to try and establish who matches the image in their mind. And it's okay for that not to exist because there's a lot of unknown actors out there that deserve to fall into somebody's shoes, you know?

Shay JInx (15:41)
Yeah.

yeah.

yeah. I'd probably honestly do that. Get like one big name for a character and then a smaller person. Like smaller actors just starting up. Yeah.

Tina Koutras (15:56)
Yeah, an unknown. Yeah.

Exactly. Yeah. So what's your writing routine like? You've kind of alluded to maybe being what we call a pantser, as in flying by the seat of your pants, the shower scene, and then kind of just writing. Is that what you usually do? Yeah. Do you have?

Shay JInx (16:12)
Yeah. I sit down and

I type.

Tina Koutras (16:16)
So is that part of, you had said that you found the kind of mafia type stories a little bit more easy to write. Is it because of the world building and things like that that might be a little bit more challenging? Yeah.

Shay JInx (16:28)
Yeah,

a lot of mafia books are more present time, more modernized. So, and they take place in like real places a lot of the time. So there really is no huge world building moment. Like if it takes place in New York.

Tina Koutras (16:34)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Shay JInx (16:45)
Everyone knows what New York looks like for the most part so you don't really have to go into all these things

Tina Koutras (16:52)
Yeah, exactly. You just get to focus on the characters.

Shay JInx (16:55)
Yeah.

Tina Koutras (16:55)
Awesome. Do you have any quirky writing habits? Like things like a drink that you have to have or music that you have to play? What types of habits do you have?

Shay JInx (17:04)
So I know a lot of other authors will listen to like the genre of music of what they're writing. I will only listen to the epic saga musical series. It's some fantasy musical that's not quite a musical. It doesn't have any like motion picture, anything. It's literally just a soundtrack.

Tina Koutras (17:09)
Mm-hmm.

Yep.

Okay.

Shay JInx (17:27)
about Spartans going to war and him wanting to get home to his wife after 20 years. Nothing else will get me to like walk in and write like that. And I don't understand it. It does not match the kidnaping and drug trade war and nothing like that.

Tina Koutras (17:30)
Okay.

Gotcha.

very, very different feel, but it still gets you in the mood.

Shay JInx (17:51)
yeah. That's the only thing that will get me in.

Tina Koutras (17:52)
That's awesome.

What do you suppose is the biggest thing that you've learned about yourself through writing?

Shay JInx (17:59)
I don't really know.

can't stay on track. I've already knew that though. Like, I'm very self-aware of everything. So it's like things that most people would learn while writing. Like, I feel like I already knew. Very chaotic. Just can't keep track, which is why I don't plot, why I free write, because then the plot's just gonna get lost. I don't really know.

Tina Koutras (18:13)
Right.

Mm-hmm.

Okay. Well, I mean, you're two books in, and your books are novellas. So your writing style is very much growing. Yeah.

Shay JInx (18:21)
I really don't.

Yeah.

Yes,

book two is a little longer. So Twisted Affairs is just, I think, hundred and something pages longer than Twisted Rivals. And then the third book, I'm hoping, is about 200 pages longer than Twisted Rivals. So I'm hoping to just like grow more. Yeah.

Tina Koutras (18:51)
Yeah. Okay. That's awesome.

So do you ever draw inspiration? You've alluded to it at the beginning of the conversation. You kind of talked a little bit about personal experiences that kind of set you up to know how some crummy people can act. do you draw inspiration from real life events or real people to create your characters?

Shay JInx (19:06)
Mm-hmm.

would say for Andy, yes, me. But like all the other ones, guess they're kind of just what in a perfect world where we could create anybody we wanted to create to live together forever. Boom. There's a there's right there. But, you know, it's fiction for a reason.

Tina Koutras (19:30)
Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah, exactly. So if you could collaborate with any other author, living or dead, who would it be and what kind of story would you write together?

Shay JInx (19:45)
I'd really want to write with the person that actually convinced me to start writing. Her handle is Phoenix, but it's P.H.NIX. So P.H.NIX. Love her. She is my author mother. She's the sweetest person I know in the world.

Tina Koutras (19:56)
Mm-hmm. Right?

Shay JInx (20:06)
yeah.

Tina Koutras (20:06)
And she was the one that got you started, gave you the confidence to get you started.

Shay JInx (20:08)
Yep, it's.

Yep, she put in a candle order for my business and we were talking, we got to know each other because you know, I got to know what she wants for her order. They were custom made for one of her book boxes and I told her I was like, yeah, you know, I'm a wannabe like author or whatever. She goes, do it. She's like, just do it.

I was like, she was like, no, just do it. And I was like, okay. So I did, and now here we are.

Tina Koutras (20:33)
I

find the one thing about the indie world is that a lot of the authors are very inspiring in that way. They like to really promote the confidence that it takes to get started and to just do it.

Shay JInx (20:41)
Yeah.

yeah, mean, aside from all the witch hunts that happen like once a week, it seems, between like readers, which is crazy, the authors are just amazing. And I've made so many friends and I just want to give all of them a big kiss on the forehead. I love them all so much.

Tina Koutras (21:08)
So if you could write a crossover between Twisted Rivals and any other series, what would it be?

Shay JInx (21:13)
So crossover actually, it's not with Twisted Rivals, but I am kind of writing a little crossover with Luna K. Knight. It's gonna, yeah, it's gonna be a little horror erotica moment and there's like, I wanna say six other authors involved. So, mm-hmm.

Tina Koutras (21:25)
Okay.

That's fun.

I'm assuming you can't really go into that.

Shay JInx (21:37)
Brand new to the game.

I'm not 100 % sure. Cause it's gonna be, they're all probably gonna be released later this year. November, about November, October timeframe. She says she wants it out by Halloween, which is like perfect. Makes sense. It's a horror-otica. But I'm not.

Tina Koutras (21:56)
Mm-hmm.

Shay JInx (21:58)
I'm sure. I know all the other authors, including her, they're all working on other projects right now, including myself. So they're all going to be novellas. They're going be really short, simple reads. Well, maybe not simple.

for some reasons. But they're going to be quick reads. So, yeah.

Tina Koutras (22:13)
Okay. So that's,

that's a really cool little, you know, reveal, I guess.

Shay JInx (22:18)
Yeah, I'm so excited.

I'm so excited. Yeah, Luna K Wicked. Me and her. Let me look at this now. Yes.

Tina Koutras (22:22)
Awesome. Cool. So, and she's on Instagram, I assume.

Okay, cool. So what's your go-to comfort read when you're not writing?

Shay JInx (22:33)
That's a tricky one. I've been in such a reading slump for a few... for about a year now. I finished... I'm trying to find on my bookshelf right here. I don't see it. I finished the Salacious Players Club series by Sarah Kate. Nothing has just gotten there.

Tina Koutras (22:50)
Okay.

Shay JInx (22:54)
I just finished The Stars Are Dying, so I'm on the first one. I think it all just depends. I'm really a mood reader, if anything. Yeah, so if I'm not in the mood to read, I'm not gonna pick up a book and force myself to read, because then I feel like I'm not gonna enjoy it the way that the book needs to be enjoyed.

Tina Koutras (23:03)
Okay, that's good.

Yeah, for sure. And I'm, I totally get that. the challenge when you're a writer to read a lot is real, I find. Being able to put down what you're working on to pick up with somebody else's done is sometimes a little bit challenging.

Shay JInx (23:21)
I

Yeah, so I started doing that I started reading while writing and I'm so glad that I did because I realized that some of my books were Lacking a lot of like elements like even though I'm reading a fantasy It's my books still they still had like internal thoughts of like what was going on inside like the merit the characters minds and emotions but

Tina Koutras (23:52)
Mm-hmm.

Shay JInx (23:53)
I realized like, I can go more into depth with how they're feeling, what they're thinking, what their thought process is and everything. And I realized that like as I was reading, the stars are dying. So it actually kind of helped me out a little bit in my writing progress and journey.

Tina Koutras (24:02)
Right.

Yeah, that's good. Having different perspectives on how to, the whole show don't tell and those type of lessons that some of those writers are really, really good at displaying in their work.

Shay JInx (24:18)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Tina Koutras (24:24)
So what's your favorite guilty pleasure in a romance?

Shay JInx (24:29)
I don't really know.

Tina Koutras (24:31)
Cause yours are pretty spicy, yeah?

Shay JInx (24:33)
They can be, I will say. The Stars Are Dying was definitely...

I can't say not my favorite because someone on my street team, you know, she was like, this book is so good. So I went and read it. So I'm like texting her like throughout my entire reading thing. And I'm like, this is this, isn't it? And she's like, I don't know. And so I was like, this person dies, huh? And she goes, maybe.

And I'm like, I'm going to cry, aren't I? And she goes, once? Maybe? So I don't really know. just, I like things that make me react.

Tina Koutras (25:05)
Hahaha

Okay, that's a good answer. Because, know, to my best example was I started reading ACOTAR and like most people despised Nesta until her book and that book I actually almost stopped because I was like a hundred and I don't know 110 pages in and I wanted to put it down. I'm like, this is not

Shay JInx (25:13)
Yeah.

Same. Guilty as charged.

Tina Koutras (25:35)
the same. And I, my sister's like, just keep going. And I did. And I was really glad that I did because by the end of that book, I loved Nesta and I was bawling like a baby.

Shay JInx (25:41)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

I can't say ACOTAR got me out of my reading slump. I was in a reading slump for two years and nope, was the Fae Chronicles. It's like a 12 book series and it like lost the plot a little bit with in book like seven or eight. Not fully sure if it picked back up on it, the rest of them, but it was fine. And then I picked up ACOTAR and

I finished the whole series in like a week. I feel like the one I wanted to like put down was the winter one. The really like the novella one. I loved Nesta's story. Thought she was the worst person ever. I was like, how could you not support your sister? She literally just like saved your life. You ungrateful.

Tina Koutras (26:11)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Shay JInx (26:36)
And then

like, get to nest this story and we get like an insight of her and I'm like, I get it. I get it.

Tina Koutras (26:41)
Yeah

Okay, so back to Twisted Rivals and Twisted Affairs. If you could have dinner with one of your characters, who would it be?

Shay JInx (26:43)
Thanks

Romero.

Tina Koutras (26:51)
Okay.

Shay JInx (26:51)
Give me that man.

Tina Koutras (26:53)
hahahahah

Shay JInx (26:55)
I love my

boyfriend, I do, I do, I do. But if like my character, if he stepped out of my book and was like, let's go to dinner, I'd be like.

Tina Koutras (27:03)
Yeah

Shay JInx (27:04)
Like, I love that man. He is my sappy, scary man. I love him.

Tina Koutras (27:04)
you

what's the most mafia boss thing you have ever done in real life?

Shay JInx (27:16)
I don't think I can legally talk about that.

Tina Koutras (27:18)
No.

Shay JInx (27:19)
Would I still get in trouble if I did it as a minor

Tina Koutras (27:19)
you

I don't know. Let's, let's just assume that we should probably not.

Shay JInx (27:26)
can say though, it was in high school. I was dating this guy. It was on and off. And one day he had, I had enough. I had had enough of him and his attitude and everything. So I pretended that everything was fine. And then when the halls cleared out for class, I threw my science textbook.

at the back of his head.

Tina Koutras (27:49)
Okay.

Shay JInx (27:49)
And then he turned around and looked at me and I just go, what? And walk away and go to my class and went about my day.

Tina Koutras (27:54)
Yeah.

Interesting choice science textbook.

Shay JInx (28:00)
It was the heaviest book I had.

Tina Koutras (28:03)
So if you could give Mason and Andy one piece of advice, what would it be?

Shay JInx (28:07)
Get your shit together.

Tina Koutras (28:08)
Okay. I love how there was no hesitation there whatsoever.

Shay JInx (28:09)
Get it together! Get it together!

Tina Koutras (28:13)
What's your favorite spicy scene from another book, if you're comfortable sharing?

Shay JInx (28:17)
I have so many...

Which one is it? It's one from the Salacious Players Club. I think Madame. And I can't even say that it's fully spicy. It's more like sweet. She's a dominatrix. And she like has this crush on one of the main male characters, but he has a girlfriend. The girlfriend loves her as well.

So it's like during one of like a scene play where the couple was like, hey, like join us. And I'm just like, and like she runs away from it for a little bit. And she's like, I can't, I can't do this. Like trauma type thing. And then they give her her space. And then they're just like, like we want you. Like we can all like work this out. And I'm just like.

Tina Koutras (28:46)
Ha ha.

Okay.

Shay JInx (29:03)
Right in the feels, Madam from the Salacious Players Club.

Tina Koutras (29:03)
And what book was that you said?

Okay. So if you could swap lives with any fictional character for a day, who would it be and why?

Shay JInx (29:12)
I don't think I'd want to swap lives with any of these characters.

Like, let's be real and honest here. With what I read, that would be awful.

Tina Koutras (29:18)
you

fair enough.

Shay JInx (29:24)
because it's fake.

Tina Koutras (29:26)
That's a really good point.

Shay JInx (29:29)
Like,

keep me out of that, really.

Tina Koutras (29:33)
So what's next for you Shay?

Shay JInx (29:35)
so many things. have...

Tina Koutras (29:36)
So I know that

Twisted Affairs is coming out in April.

Shay JInx (29:39)
Yes. And then we have this third book. I don't know when that's coming out. I'm only like six, 7,000 words in. And then we're doing the erotical horror. And we're also dabbling in some dark romantasy.

Tina Koutras (29:51)
Mm-hmm.

Okay, working together again with someone? Okay, just for you. Awesome. So definitely flexing those writer muscles there, are you?

Shay JInx (30:02)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yes

Tina Koutras (30:08)
So where can listeners find you online and stay updated on your work?

Shay JInx (30:12)
Mostly on Instagram, my handle is authorshayjinx Just one word. No periods, no nothing. And honestly, that's like my username for all of my author stuff. So if they wanted to find me on like TikTok, authorshayjinx. They want to find me on Patreon, authorshayjinx. It's all just the same, kept it real simple.

Tina Koutras (30:27)
Okay.

And if you could give any piece of advice to aspiring authors, especially those that are interested in writing dark romance, what would it be?

Shay JInx (30:41)
I'ma tell you what was told to me, just do it. Do your research and take your time, depending on how dark you want dark romance to be, but just do it. You never know what's gonna happen. Yeah, you never know what's gonna happen.

Tina Koutras (30:44)
I just...

I figured that was what you were going to say. Yeah.

That's awesome. So thank you so much, for joining us today and to give us a little glimpse into both your writing style, who you are and your stories in general. And I look forward to taking a look at both of them. Like I said, I really love the fact that they're a little bit shorter to be able to put those into my day because it's...

Shay JInx (30:56)
Mm-hmm.

Tina Koutras (31:17)
sometimes a little daunting when you really want to a big series. It's nice to have those novellas to get in there. So I really appreciate having the chance to chat with you today. Thank you so much.

Shay JInx (31:21)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yes,

it was so much fun. Thank you. Maybe we can catch up when a few more books are out and see if anything's changed.

Tina Koutras (31:35)
Yeah, for sure. Absolutely.

That sounds like a great idea. All right. Thanks.

Shay JInx (31:39)
Yes.

Thank you.