Holiday Romance with Author Maisey Yates

continue our festivities when it comes to reading as we get closer into the holidays. Now I would like to welcome best-selling author Macy Yates. Macy, welcome to the show. Oh, thank you so much for having me. Of course. So you have a plethora of books, like a catalog. Like, how did she come up? Like, I just kept scrolling. I'm like, okay, what are we going to talk about? Like, it's so many options to choose from. So tell us a little bit about who you are and what really sparked your interest into becoming a storyteller? Um, I am just, uh, I'm a small town girl from Oregon and I've always loved books because, um, growing up, I think I went on a plane one time, um, and it was to fly down to San Diego to visit some family. And usually otherwise we drove, like we just didn't get to travel very much or, um, you know, I didn't get to go to like the city or like anything like that. And so for me, books were the way that I traveled. And I loved to read when I was, when I was in elementary school, they used to give us free personal pan pizzas for, you know, reading a lot. And I want a lot of pizza because I just loved reading. And so that's really where like my love of want, like the desire to tell stories came from. I remember. Really clearly in second grade, they taught us how to use quotation marks so we could do dialogue. And I was like, this is the best day of my life because now I don't just have to write a telling story. I can make people talk to each other because I learned this rule. And so I don't know. I think if you get excited by things like that when you're seven, it's probably meant to be. So for me, it was just always there. And then when I discovered romance novels, I picked up a Harlequin Presents when I was 20. one. And I was like, Oh, I want to write this. That sounds fun. So that's really like what got me. And then I published my first book when I was 23. And through that I have gotten to like, go to the places that I've read about and like, you know, do the things that I've dreamed. So for me, books have been like the fulfillment of dreams in so many different ways. How many books would you say you have published now? That's like a hard question to answer, which sounds so silly, but I'm always like head down in the book that I'm doing, but across different pseudonyms, I'm probably a little over 200. Oh my God. Like, how do you keep the story so far? Because I know like a lot of them are within a series. So it's like multiple books within a series. How do you keep like this when it comes to series? How do you keep the story like similar but different? And it's I'm really nosy, like as a person, I want it like if I'm in an airport, I'm going to be eavesdropping on the people around me. I'm going to be like if I'm in the coffee shop writing, I'm actually probably listening to what's happening at the table next to me. And that's kind of how I approach stories, because it's all about people. I make a person up and then I'm really nosy about everything about them. And I always say one reason that people love romance because it'll get people who don't love romance and who don't read it will say that it's very predictable. And I'm like, sure, like a mystery. We know in a mystery, the mystery is going to be solved at the end. We know in a romance, they're going to end up together. But the point is how you get there. And I think the way that you make that journey interesting is by investing in the people because there are as many ways to write a romance as there are for people to fall in love. And we all know that when it's our love story, that's so high stakes. It's the most interesting thing going on in our life some of the time, you know, when you're when you're having that new falling in love experience. And so I just get to have that every time I make up a new couple. And, you know, so there might be tropes or themes that my readers really like to see, like a cowboy, like, like best friends, older brother kind of romance, but the people are different every time. And so that I think is what makes it. For me, as a writer, that's what keeps it fresh. And I feel like anytime it's, like, romance, there's so many different, like, branches. Very similar to, like, fantasy. Like, there's so many different avenues that you could go through when, you know, it comes to romance, whether it's, like, a brother's... best friend or you know like the guy like the sister's best friend or maybe it's like a cougar situation like you never know like there's so many different avenues you could go down to keep the stories fresh and then you like you say you people watch so you get so many different dynamics and ideas just from like all the weird quirks that people have. Yeah for sure and like Um, so I love, I love like a best friend's older brother, but that's something that I often am leading up to in a, in a big long running, like small town series because I am in a small town. I live there. So I'm like, to me, one of the fascinating things about small towns is who does end up together. Yes. And my husband and I are kind of one of those things where people were like, huh. You guys, huh? You know, cause everybody, everybody knows him. Um, and some people know me, but I'm the writer that like stays inside a lot. So it's not quite the same, but you know, so I always love that aspect of writing small town, um, because that's very true to my real life. And so I love those stories of like, Oh, it's the older brother's best friend. And suddenly you're changing how you see each other and all these things. But in, um, this Christmas book that I have out right now, Christmas Valley. That's what I was setting up and then the hero that I had set up for her who was her older brother's best friend like didn't excite me and there was this other guy who I was like oh he but he's terrible I didn't even like expect him to be a hero he did and so this is like an older brother's best friend bait and switch. So that's who everybody thought she was going to be with me too. And then I was like, no, this other guy's coming in and he's ruining what she expected. Cause she's like, I've been in love with my older brother's best friend all my life. And then this other guy is like there and he's inconveniently attractive. And she's got to like work with him on a Christmas, um, trick writing show. And it's just like challenging everything she thinks about herself. So within that, you can take something and kind of turn it on its head too. And when you have written as many books as Because I have, you start really having fun with that too. Yeah. And it's funny that you mentioned that because Christmas Valley, that was actually going to be on my list of one of the books to talk about, but you also have Cowboy It's Cold Outside. Oh yeah. And I just like love all the covers and how everything, I was like, you know what, this is making me want a cowboy, you know, maybe I just kind of need to go somewhere with horses and, and find mine. So tell readers a little bit about what's in this particular story. In Cowboy It's Cold Outside? Yes. Yeah. Oh, I love that one. So that one came about because I went And you get inspiration from such weird places, too. And you're like, who knew that would be a story? And that's the last book in a pretty long running series, though I do think you can read it on its own. So I knew who the hero was because he had been there part of this family group for the whole series. And so I knew Denver was going to be the last hero in the book, Denver King. But I didn't know who his heroine was. And I had this bartender character who had kind of been on the page. And then I went on kind of a girl's trip and we went axe throwing. We were in Bend, Oregon, which you do things like that there. We went to an axe throwing bar and I was like, this is really fun. And there was a woman in our group named Sheena and she was loving the axe throwing and she was kind of having like a, like an empowerment kind of thing happening on the trip. And I said, I'll name a heroine after you and she'll throw axes. And so that's where the whole plot of the book came from. It's dedicated to her. If you get the book, you'll see it. So shout out to Sheena. Thank Um, yeah, so it's like this heroine is trying to open her axe throwing bar and she's using a location on his on his ranch and they're like, very, very, very. So they're the same as each other. you, So rather than like grumpy sunshine, it's like grumpy, grumpy, like they're both just like very intense people because both of them are the oldest sibling in a family where they had Gina. to take care of their younger siblings. And so they're both. And actually, his dad was a really bad guy and her dad was kind of a really bad guy and they did things together and her dad ended up. getting killed as a result of those things. And so he has kind of sent them money over the years and sort of help, but she doesn't, she's resentful of him a little bit. So they have to work together. So I love situations like that, where there's a lot of tension and I love to wrap it in Christmas stuff because to me, Christmas is when you deal with family issues and family drama. And I know that like, sometimes people are like, Oh, it was a Christmas book. I was expecting it to be really sweet. And I'm like, I think there is sweetness in that. But it's sort of this uniting thing that a lot of us have where we're like, it's, it's cold, it's dark, I probably have to see family members I don't want to deal with. And you go or it's reminding me of things in my childhood that maybe I don't want to unpack. And so that's one of the things that I like to have in a Christmas book is that sort of beautiful. Um, aching, like melancholy that can be there along with the cheer and kind of bring that around to where everybody gets to have their, their happy ending and find like a more beautiful Christmas. Now, what would you say is like the best part out of all the stories you've done, whether it's tied in Christmas or it's just romance, what is like the most, the, the, the most fun and the most fulfilling when it comes to your stories? I think any time. I'm going to quote a friend of mine, Megan Crane, who also writes as half of Hazel Beck. We were talking one time about sort of tragic endings and how people often find them to be more like literary or more worthy. And this was actually in the context of a TV show. But she said one time, anyone can take a character down into the darkness and leave them there. The hard work is how you rebuild after the terrible thing has happened. And I think a lot of times in romance, that's what we're focusing on. It's how do you find hope again when things in life have hurt you, when people have let you down? Like, it's just the very light business of figuring out how to love and give love when you've been hurt by the world. So very not light business. And so for me, that is the that to me is the fulfilling thing is healing broken people over and over again, because I can't fix the world. I wish I could. But I can do that in fiction. And for a minute, I can give other people that feeling of hope. And that's really what I want to do. Like we've called each other hope junkies, me and my romance writer friends. I'm like, that's what we are. And that is not light work in this world. So for me, that's what's so fulfilling. Yeah. Especially because reading does give people like a sense of getting away. It kind of takes you into a different world. And then too, you might have people like when it comes to romance, say for instance, they feel like they've gone through so much and they're not easy to love, or is there anybody for me? Or, you know, I like this kind of guy, like, could it be something real? And I think like when you have those stories that you're able to see yourself in, you resonate with it more. And I think that says a lot to the author Because you're evoking. You know, all these different emotions, whether people don't like it, if they don't like it, you're still evoking that emotion out of them. So I think you guys are doing such a great job because you're keeping hope alive when it comes to romance, but then you're also giving us a chance to escape as well, which is very needed nowadays with everything. Oh yeah. Yeah. I'm like, And that's another thing for me, too, because I've had people say to me, like, does it upset you when somebody reads a book and in two hours that you spent however long writing? And I'm like, absolutely not. Because when I had my daughter, and she was in the NICU, what was I doing? I was sitting there reading a romance novel. And if you can sit there and do that, and I've had people write to me and say, you know, I was in the hospital with my sister, and she's very sick. And I'm sitting here reading one of your books. And it's like, no, if it if all it is, is an escape, that's actually monumental. And sometimes something, you know, is extra meaningful because of the content of the book, because it gets somebody in a personal spot. And that's great, too. But genuinely, if it's just your if it's your beach read, if it's your escapism, that's valuable to me as well, because we all need that. Like we all need it. Yes. Well, Macy, thank you so much for what you're doing, you know, contributing to all these like hopeful stories and telling, you know, using your brain and your free time to keep us entertained and most importantly, for taking the time to come and chat with me and fellow book lovers out there. Thank you, Sydney. It was really nice to chat.