Love Gaia by T.L. Clark

I am so excited to introduce you to my next Indie Author, T.L. Clark! Love Gaia is one of the many novels this talented author has published. I felt like a kid in a candy shop trying to pick out one of her books to read. Ultimately, the cover of Love Gaia spoke to me and I knew that I had to pick it up!

Before we chat, let’s read the synopsis for Love Gaia:

Can love truly conquer all? First the bees died out. Then the fighting started. As nuclear war (or meteor if you believe the authorities) looms, Dr. Rachel is taken to safety along with the rest of the best of humanity. But safe and best are relative terms.

Who really controls their lives? Under an authoritarian regime, life becomes ever more challenging. Soldiers guard every route. But one guard has the glint of compassion in his eyes. May be love can grow even down here in the darkness of a New Zealand bunker. Conditions could get steamy as Dr. Rachel is pushed to her limits.

In the distant future, Aroha and her friends are confronted with the secret diary of Dr. Rachel left from behind – can they learn important lessons from their past?

J.C. - Welcome T.L. Clark. I am so excited that you are joining me today. Can we start the interview by having you introduce yourself to our readers? ​T.L. - Hello! I'm excited too. So, I'm TL Clark, or Teal as some readers have called me. I'm a romance author. My authory mission is to explore love in its many forms. I have a whole blog post if you want to know more about me: https://tlclarkauthor.blogspot.com/2021/02/about-tl-clark-author-bio-who-am-i.html

J.C. - Love Gaia is just one of your many novels and the genre is a bit different than most. What made you come up with the idea? ​T.L - I'm passionate about the environment and wanted to include our wonderful planet in my world of love. But also, my dark side got set loose - I had to try to kill as many humans as possible. I researched meteors and super volcanoes etc. but the instigator of the most devastation turned out to be the humble bee - or the loss of, anyway. Clifi is an upcoming genre, apparently. I wasn't overly aware of it before writing though. My books tend to come to me in the place between sleep and awake. J.C. - When I read dystopian fiction I am usually plagued with so many questions. What happened? How did it get like this? What I loved the most about your book is that you flash back to the Before when Aroha and her friends read through Dr. Rachel’s diary. In doing so, I really got a good sense of what happened. What made you want to tell the story that way? ​T.L. - I love that you love that. When I was writing, Hubby kept telling me how he like the not knowing the why. But Gaia had her own way. I wrote the story how it demanded to be written. Like many aspects of life, it balances the dark with light. A dystopia with a utopia. I didn't want to be all doom and gloom. I wanted to show people a possible future of harmony. J.C. - I couldn’t imagine going through what Dr. Rachel Rose endured in this story. Do you think you could have? ​T.L. - I definitely wouldn't like it, but I'd probably end up a bit of a Dr. Rachel - there's only so much I'll take before letting you have it full blast, especially if others are taking damage. I'll often jump to the defence of others faster than I would my own - doh! From someone who's written Self Love, I should maybe re-evaluate my own defence strategy!? J.C. - She is whisked away down into a heavily guarded underground bunker, yet she finds compassion in another. How important was it for you to add the element of love to this story? T.L - ​Hugely. I believe there is goodness in us all - but sometimes it takes a bit of coaxing. And I had to believe love could survive even down in that hellhole. J.C. - What is your favorite thing about writing? T.L. - ​I'm a Pantser (make it up as I go along), so I love discovering the story. It slowly reveals itself as I write - it's such fun. J.C. - Who has been your biggest support system while on your writing adventure? ​T.L. - I've got many author friends. And Pusskin was a great writing buddy (rest her soul). But Hubby has got to be my number one - he holds space for me, buys the coffee supplies and ensures I eat. And when it all gets too much, he hugs my broken pieces together until I'm whole again. J.C. - Finish the sentence. In ten years I’d like to… ​T.L. - Be living in my farmhouse, helping frazzled horses and humans, living as naturally as possible. There will be writing retreats too. I seem to have many fans of my food from Instagram, so I suppose it ought to have a big kitchen and dining area. However, I honestly have been saying this for over ten years, so hopefully it won't take another ten to manifest. J.C. - The ending of Love Gaia comes full circle but I do have a thirst to learn more about Aroha. Have you considered writing a sequel? T.L. - ​A couple of other people have said this too. Other readers want more of my Love Bites books too though. I think it was P.T. Barnum who said, "Always leave them wanting more." I guess it's a good sign. And never say never - maybe I will write more, but there's other stories waiting to be told. I'm currently writing a medieval romance set in 15th century England. Ah, still hopping around the romance subgenres like a loved up froggy! J.C. - Lastly, where can readers find you and your work? ​T.L. - All my books are at least on Amazon. Most are in ebook and paperback. The easiest place to find out more along with buy links is on my own blog: https://tlclarkauthor.blogspot.com/p/my-books-tl-clark.html I have a whole bunch of links if you want to find me:

Amazon (author page) - https://www.amazon.com/TL-Clark/e/B00JCYWQ48 Books2Read (for all other ereaders) - https://books2read.com/ap/xLe9ER/TL-Clark Waterstones - https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/tl+clark Social Media: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TLClarkAuthor/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/TLClarkAuthor Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tlclarkauthor/ Facebook readers/writers group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theindiebooklounge Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/tlcauthor Indie Book Chat (episode 1): https://www.instagram.com/tv/CFzocirHyjI/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link ~ a monthly indie author support Instagram Live discussion