7 Questions with Briana Cole

As ya’ll know, I have been dipping my toe rather trepidatiously into the romance pond lately. Well, when The Marriage Pass by new-to-me author Briana Cole crossed my desk, I decided to dispense with the delay and dive right in. 

The cover.

The premise.

The writing style.

It all called out to me.

And now, having finished this novel, I am so glad I didn’t allow it to languish on my “to be read” shelf.

This steamy romance — the start of a new series — hits shelves tomorrow. But before you go out and grab a copy, let’s get to know the woman behind this series a little better.

Check out Briana Cole’s answers to our 7 questions, below.

1. What's your favorite drink? 

Sweet tea for sure. 

If I'm not drinking sweet tea, I'm sipping on a Smart Water.

2. Where and when do you write? 

I usually write best at night, between the hours of 9 PM and 2 AM. Those are the "creative" hours, they say. 

I write everywhere; in bed on my laptop, at my desk, on my iPad, or on my cell phone while I'm riding in the car. Pretty much wherever I can. 

3. What does your prewriting process look like? 

I tend to do a very skeletal outline. Nothing too detailed, just a few bullet points of scenes that I need to include for my story to work. 

I also take this time to develop my main characters on index cards, or get pictures from the internet so I can have physical references. 

From there, I begin writing. 

I tend to say when I start writing, I "hop in the passenger seat" and let the characters drive. But I always have my outline handy as a roadmap; just to make sure my characters stay on track and not deviate too far off the narrative.

4. What's up next? 

I have already finished the sequel to The Marriage Pass. I won't reveal the title just yet, but that book is releasing in November. 

I also have a novella releasing in September and I just finished producing a movie. It's called Pseudo and we are hoping to release that this summer. 

So I have a lot of creative projects in the works for 2021.

5. Reagan and Shantae are about as different as two sisters can be. Is there one of these sisters with whom you more closely identify, or do you see parts of yourself in each of them? 

I can identify a little closer with Shantae. 

She is more level-headed and strategic; thinking before she acts. Readers may feel she is dumb but I don't think so at all. She's just a woman in love and struggling to get over the hurt. We've all been there. 

6. Even though Dorian makes some really cringe-worthy choices, I somehow found myself continuing to root for him. When you wrote this novel, did you expect readers to root for Dorian, or did you think readers would be more team Shantae? 

I wanted readers to feel for both characters. 

They both made mistakes, they both tried the best they could given the circumstances. I actually wanted readers to have a little sympathy for both of them in their own imperfections.

7. As I read this, I could not stop thinking about whether I would ever give my husband a marriage hall pass. Having finished, I can firmly say my answer would be, "Hell no." What do you think? Could you see yourself engaging in any version of an open relationship? 

Lol! I don't think I would ever engage in an open relationship. But I don't know. Part of me finds some elements wildly thrilling and erotic. I suppose we'll just leave that to the fantasies. 😉

Check out these reads by Briana Cole

* Drink. Read. Repeat. is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an associate, we may earn commissions, at no cost to you, from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com