Merri Bright was so nice to agree to being this month featured author after I slid into her DMs, fawning over Lost Feather, the first book in her hilarious new PNR series. Book two is out next week, you don't want to miss it!
Let's get into the interview.
1. Tell us about yourself.
Hi, y’all! First off, I’m a native Texan, married to a Scotsman, and living out in the sticks where I can dream up love stories in relative peace and quiet. In addition to writing steamy romance, I get paid to yell “slap that @ss” at a bunch of 20 to 80-year-old gals… as a Zumba instructor. There are only a few things in the world I couldn’t live without: coffee, ice cream, and books are at the top of the list. My perfect retirement job would be working as Smut Quality Control in a bookstore that serves phenomenal cappuccinos in the morning, and gelato in the afternoons.
2. How did you get into writing romance? Was it something you always wanted to do?
I’ve been reading romance since I can remember, and wanted to write it for about as long. My teachers in school despaired as they watched me read through dozens of paperbacks every month. (I’m so glad no one can see how many books I read now. E-readers are the best.) I started trying to write angel smut a couple of decades ago, and I was really bad at it. During the pandemic, I had a lot of time on my hands, and I dove back in. My new book, Lost Feather, was only one of the books I wrote and stacked up during the lockdown.
3. Tell us about your latest release!
Lost Feather is technically an “angel PNR” but there’s not any others quite like it. At the beginning, Feather has no idea she’s an angel. She’s been lost for over 400 years on Earth, and has taken it on herself to protect the vulnerable and innocent, at a heck of a spiritual cost to herself. When the head honchos in Sanctuary catch up with her, she’s literally covered in foul-smelling, mud-like spiritual “smut.” ;) Yes, I wrote a sexy, funny, reverse harem tearjerker where the main character is covered in $h!t for most of the story. The next book in the series, Fallen Feather, is out August 24th.
4. How did you find making the shift from fantasy omegaverse to paranormal romance? Have you always had an interest in writing both?
4. Three years ago, I was writing Lost Feather and stalled out. Then I started reading Omegaverse and loved the knottiness of it all. I decided to write The King’s Omega, a mashup of historical fantasy, Omegaverse, and romcom. Eventually, I peeked at my angel smut file again… and fell back in love. I’m juggling two series now, and having fun with both. I like to sneak Omegaverse in-jokes into the angel PNR. And since they’re all reverse harem, it’s not as different as it might seem. Well… the smexy scenes are a little less knotty in the angel books. But only a little.
5. What are you reading right now?
5. I just devoured two phenomenal Omegaverse novels. Sam Hall’s Problem Child is a found family story that delighted me. Grace McGinty is one of my favorite authors in the world, and her latest, Tryst in the Dark, was equally amazing.
LOST FEATHER - OUT NOW
I’m no angel… or am I?
Nameless. Forgotten. Lost on Earth for centuries with a disembodied voice as my only friend. Protecting the vulnerable without any help from above. No one to explain the rules. Nada. Zip. Zilch.
So when High Angelus Gavriel finds me killing a very bad man, can he really blame me? Before I can explain, he drags me back to the place he swears is my home: Sanctuary.
Halfway between Earth and the Celestial Realm, Sanctuary would be paradise if it weren’t for the daily decontamination showers, hours spent carving the murder-marks off my skin to discover my true name, and thousands of prim and proper angels who tell me I stink. Literally.
I’m the dirtiest Protector they’ve ever seen, but I can’t stop fantasizing about Gavriel and his best friends. Those sexy-as-sin High Angeli don’t know what to do with me, but I have a few ideas. I just need to find out my name so they’ll see who I am deep down… even if I have a feeling I’m no angel.
But what happens when my name is revealed, and it’s worse than anyone ever imagined?