Elin Gregory

Happy Humpday!!

Firstly, in case you are looking for the Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia post please click here You can still comment for a chance to win a gift card until 24th May.

Secondly, to celebrate that it’s Wednesday, as if we need a reason, here’s another interview with an author contributing to the Not Quite Shakespeare anthology from Dreamspinner Press. My guest today is Annabelle Jacobs 🙂

Have you always lived in the UK? If not what drew you back?

I have always lived here. I was born up in Nottinghamshire, and ended up in the South West when I moved jobs.
Is there any place that is a must-see for any visitor to the UK? In how many counties have you lived?

Cosmopolitan or rural?

I have only ever lived in the UK. I grew up in a rural area, which was great— lots of greenery and forests to explore. The Major Oak (where Robin Hood and his men were rumoured to have slept) was just down the road in Sherwood Forest, so that was always fun to visit
.

Apart from that I’ve also lived in Coventry and Bristol, both nearer to the center of things than where I grew up.

I think London, of course, is a must see if you’re visiting the UK, but there are loads of other great places to go. For me, personally, I love driving down to Cornwall. The beaches and coastal paths are beautiful, and there’s also a lot of historical sights down there to see too. Like Tintagel Castle, for example, believed to be the birthplace of King Arthur.

What inspired you to write your story for the anthology?

Hmm… good question!

I wanted to write something that struck me as being particularly British, and playing Sunday League footy with a hangover seemed about as British as anything. I distinctly remember my friends playing when we were in college, (I did an engineering course, so mostly boys!), and they would almost always have a hangover from being out on the Saturday night.

Could you tell me a little about it?

Well, Alex meets Josh while out celebrating his birthday. Alex is really drunk, and sort of comes on to Josh but doesn’t remember much about it the next morning. His friends do, though, and tease him about it. Alex brushes it off, assuming it’s just one of those things and he’ll never see the guy again, so it doesn’t really matter if he made a fool of himself or not.

Except Josh is playing for the opposition when Alex and his mates turn up to the footy match. And Josh remembers Alex.

It was really fun to write, especially with it being based in Bristol this time.

Could you please tell me about your other work?

I have three books published with Dreamspinner Press. My first book, The Choosing, came out in Oct 2013, and is a paranormal romance about feline shifters and hunters.

The other two books, Capture and Union are part of my Torsere series, and they were released this year. Torsere is a fantasy series, following the growing relationship between Ryneq, the king of Torsere, and Nykin, a dragon rider in the king’s army.

What are you working on at the moment?
I finished writing Alliance, the third and final book in the Torsere series at the beginning of April, so I’ve been taking a little break in between projects. I am itching to start something new though, and have lots of ideas. After writing Rough Tackle for the anthology, I’m tempted to try writing a contemporary romance this time.

Please could we have an excerpt?

This is a little extract from Rough Tackle, my Not Quite Shakespeare story…

Ben pulled on his arm to tug him down, and Alex was just about to fall into his seat when he spotted dark hair and cheekbones over by the bar. The guy was side-on to him, ordering a drink, and Alex could see faint stubble covering a strong jaw. Alex licked his lips and shook Ben’s hand off him, ignoring his friend’s protests in favour of stalking over to the bar.
The guy was leaning forward, arms propped on the bar and arse sticking out a little. Alex grinned at the way the tight black jeans hugged his body, and he itched to stroke his fingers over the guy’s denim-clad cheeks. Before he knew it, Alex had reached the bar and sat himself down on an empty stool.
“Hey,” he said, attempting to rest his elbow on the counter and missing by a mile. He slipped to the side, and would have fallen right off the stool if the guy hadn’t grabbed him by the arm.
“Steady on there, mate.”
Alex looked up into brown eyes, slightly crinkled at the corners where the guy was smiling at him. He had short soft-looking hair that appeared black in the low lighting of the bar, high cheekbones, and full red lips slightly wet from his drink. Alex’s stomach fluttered. “I’m Alex, and drunk.” He had no control of the words coming out of his mouth.
The guy laughed as he paid for his pint and turned to raise an eyebrow at Alex. “Yeah, I can see that.”
Alex leaned into him, feeling really tired all of a sudden. His head began to ache with a dull throb, the room going blurry around him, so he closed his eyes and rested his head on the shoulder next to him. He breathed in deep, getting a noseful of sharp, spicy aftershave. It smelled good, and Alex wanted to ask what it was, but even the thought of speaking seemed like too much effort. He just needed to rest his eyes.
Only for a minute.

Many thanks, Annabelle for answering my questions. Readers, if you would like to follow Annabelle’s work links are below:

Website
Twitter
Facebook Profile
Author Page
Annabelle’s books at Dreamspinner Press
Annabelle’s books at Amazon US
Annabelle’s books at Amazon UK