Was It Chance?

Welcome to the vibrant world of queer romance with author Alison Cochrun on this week's episode. Hear about the stories behind her heartwarming novels that celebrate love's many hues and the courageous journey of self-discovery that echoes through her pages. From the award-winning "Kiss Her Once for Me" to the charm of "The Charm Offensive," and the excitement building around "Here We Go Again," Alison bares shares her thoughts on crafting the quirkiest, most endearing characters that resonate with readers everywhere. Discover how a feverish six-day writing stint morphed into an international bestseller, and why taking risks can lead to the most beautiful of love stories — in books and in life. Grab your favorite cozy blanket and a cup of tea; this is one conversation about life, love, and literature that you won't want to miss.

Connect with Alison on her website and Instagram.

Get copies of her books The Charm Offensive, Kiss Her Once for Me and Here We Go Again.

• Make sure to follow this podcast everywhere you find podcasts, leave a rating and a review, and slip into our Instagram DMs at @wasitchance.
• More about Heather via @heather_vickeryandco on Instagram, @Braveheather on TikTok, and listen to The Brave Files
• More about Alan via @theatre_podcast on Instagram and listen to The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales

**Content warning: We do talk about mental health and suicide towards the end of this episode. 

EPISODE TAKEAWAYS

• Alison Cochrun chose “quirky, Queer romance” because she’s always loved a “Happily ever after” but after reading “The Wedding Date” by Jasmine Gulliory she wanted to start writing her own.
• Alison didn’t always intend to write Queer books because she didn’t know she was gay until she was 33.
• Most of her writing when she was younger was Young Adult Fantasy
• Writing “The Charm Offensive” helped Alison come out and embrace her Queerness
• From a young age Alison knew she wanted to be a writer or a teacher. Low self confidence got in the way of writing at first.
• In her mid twenties Alison was super risk adverse and had a massive fear of failure that turned her off of writing and taking the teaching path.
• Alison wrote the first draft of “The Charm Offensive” in six days - it felt like a fever dream.
• Sharing that messy first draft was the intentional risk Alison took that lead to what is now an international best seller.
• Alison writes very personal stories and, thus, gives a lot of herself to the audience when she writes a book.
• Writing characters that are based on different parts of herself allowed Alison to develop a beautiful feedback loop between herself and readers. It allowed her to continue to be more vulnerable in her writing.
• Alison shares that there is a lot of writing that happens that isn’t writing. It’s about getting to know your characters and really understand them.
• Alison is a big fan of former Was It Chance guest, Venessa Kelley who has done art for Alison’s work.
• Advice to up and coming writers: write the story you want to write - there are readers out there! Trust yourself.
• Winning the Lambda Literary award for best LGBTQ Romance in 2023 was an amazing moment in Alison’s life.
• She is currently finding opportunities to teach writing and stretch her writing skills in new genres.
• Leaving her teaching career to be a full time writer was the greatest risk of Alison’s life.

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