Happy National Book Month, fellow bookworms! 📚🐛 We know it’s hard, but you’ve gotta put your Kindle down for a few minutes and read this weekly segment. Throughout October, we’ll be interviewing authors we love about their careers, books, and what they’re currently reading. So, prepare to add some titles to your TBR.

First up is New York Times bestselling author Elena Armas (she/her).
 

Have you always wanted to be a writer?
I don’t think I ever allowed myself to acknowledge being a writer as a dream. At least not until it was a possibility and I somehow realized, “Wow, this is something I’d love to do for the rest of my life.” Until then, I was content with being a book lover and considered myself extremely lucky to be a book reviewer and blogger with a following that trusted me for recommendations.You’ve had an interesting (and thrilling) journey to literary success! Can you talk a bit about publishing The Spanish Love Deception and how it was received?
When I self-published The Spanish Love Deception, I did it with no expectations or big dreams. A good friend had read my manuscript and encouraged me to consider publishing it. To this day, I don’t know what might have crossed my mind at that moment, perhaps it was a, “Why not?” or maybe it was more wishful thinking. I really wish I had written down in a diary whatever I was thinking. I do know, however, a few months after that I was quitting my job at the engineering firm I was working for to pursue a career as a romance author and had a book deal in my pocket.

Your Spanish heritage shows up a lot in your work. Why is that important to you?
As a writer, I find it nearly impossible not to leave little pieces of myself in my work. It could be fears, insecurities, little or bigger things that might have happened to me or loved ones—and naturally—heritage and culture. I love having all of that in my books because it’s part of who I am, yes, but above all, because in the real world both life and love are diverse, rich, and distinctive and so they should be the stories we read in books.

You have a new book out right now. What’s The Long Game about?
It’s a small town, soccer, slow burn rom-com that follows a Miami-based female soccer exec who’s banished to North Carolina after an incident involving her goes viral. There, she reluctantly enlists the help of a retired soccer star to manage the local team. Think Ted Lasso and some of Schitt’s Creek all rolled into one, but with spice—and goats.

As romance lovers, we’re very familiar with tropes here at The Newsette. Which are your favorite and least favorite?
I love all tropes ever!

What’s the best book you’ve read recently? What’s next on your TBR list?
My latest obsession (and book I’ve decided to make my whole personality) is The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson. Next on my TBR is Bride by Ali Hazelwood.

Lastly, is there anything exciting coming up for you that you’d like to share?
Oh, absolutely! Now that I’m done with my tour, I’m thrilled to be able to say that I’m back to writing duty and spending all my time working on The Short List (coming out fall 2024). This is an engagement of convenience book that will follow Matthew and Josie, characters that we meet in The Long Game.