My guest today is that most delightful of things, a brand new shiny author just out of the wrappings. So, if you like, you can view this post as being a bit like one of those unboxing videos?
I certainly ‘unboxed’ the ARC of Golden and found it to be huge fun – pirates, dragons and harem boys – what’s not to like?
Anyhow, here’s RL Mosswood. Welcome and thanks for being such a good sport about answering my questions.
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Can you tell me a little about yourself? For instance, do you have to have a day job as well as being a writer?
Oh yes! I actually pay the bills by originating mortgages, which is more than a full time job because people get very keyed up by the process around buying a house. I’m regularly texting with clients at 9 and 10 at night, and working on emergency approvals over the weekend. I also dabble in audiobook narration and my partner and I grow, preserve, and cook most of our own food on our homestead which is a job in itself.
When you aren’t writing, is there any other creative activity you enjoy? Have you ever written about it?
Everything. I’m a huge crafter. I crochet, knit, sew, spin, paint a little… I haven’t written about it much, but one of the main characters in my current work in progress is a fiber artist who raises sheep. He’s more accomplished than I am, but the idea wouldn’t have ocurred to me in the first place if it wasn’t something I enjoyed myself.
What are you reading? Can you recommend something that you wished you’d written yourself?
I’ve been so overwhelmed with harvest season and the Golden release that I’ve gotten really behind on my to-be-read list. Your book, The Bones of Our Fathers, is actually what’s up on my e-reader right now. I’ve been working my way through it one chapter a night by reading it to my five year old at bedtime (I stop reading out loud if things get steamy).
In that crucial inspiration stage of a new story which comes first? Plot, situation or character?
I often start with a feel. A setting, a mood, a few bits of description that sort of set the tone. From there, I start to get the idea of the kind of story that could happen in that setting and the kinds of characters that would exist there. The story and characters evolve together, informing one another as the whole thing develops.
Do your characters arrive fully fledged and ready to fly or do they develop as you work with them? Do you have a crisp mental picture of them or are they more a thought and a feeling than an image?
They definitely develop as I write. For instance, I had an idea of Hathar when I started: strong, capable, devil-may-care with confidence bordering on swagger, but I had no idea he was funny until he started saying things that made me laugh.
Is there any genre you would love to write, ditto one you would avoid like a rattlesnake?
I love historical, and would love to write historical, but given that I can barely find time to write at all, I feel like I wouldn’t get anything done if I had to add in time to research all the little details that I would want to get right. Some day, when the kid is grown and I have more leisure time, I’ll dig out my list of plot bunnies and start working through the ones I can’t do justice to right now.
What inspired you to write about dragons and harems and treasure?
This is exclusive content I’ll only admit to here: 10 months ago, I was at a queer fiction convention with only the tiniest inkling that it might be fun to try my hand at writing something of my own. There was a call for submissions at the back of the program that became the seed of the idea for Golden. It was all an experiment really, to see if I could even write a story that was more than a couple of pages. Turns out, I can.
What are you working on at the moment? Can you discuss it or do you prefer to keep it a secret until it’s finished.
It might be a little too strong to say that I’m “working on” it, because that implies that I’m currently making progress, but the next thing in the queue is a contemporary romance that takes place on a permaculture sheep farm. It’s fairly quiet and down to earth, based a lot in my real experiences – pretty much the opposite of the fantasy adventure that is Golden, but I hope readers will stick with me and enjoy it.
Could we please have an excerpt of something?
A sample from Golden:
The baths were unlike anything Hathar had ever seen. Granted, it was a palace, so he had expected luxury, but not on this scale. Large enough to easily accommodate twenty men, the room was completely clad in glowing white marble interrupted only by tasteful, intricate mosaics of fanciful sea creatures. It was filled with warm, diffuse light from windows slatted for privacy and vast domes on the ceiling that seemed to be made of a thick, translucent glass. Past an assortment of platforms and benches for preening and lounging, a steaming pool set into the floor took up a large corner of the room. Constantly refreshed by water bubbling forth from the mouths of carved stone fish that appeared to be eternally leaping from the walls above, the pool overflowed into discreet drains set around its edges. As Hathar gawked at the opulent room, the young man who had taken him from the guard was preparing himself for the baths, removing his shirt and hanging it on one of a series of hooks carved into the stone near the door. Hathar looked back now, just in time to see him shucking off his loosely fitted silken trousers. This was another kind of opulence. The boy’s beauty was at least the equal of the room. His form was slender, but not scrawny. His skin was smooth and full over the contours of his modest muscles, a testament to a life without lack and plenty of tender care. He was fair, but there was a golden undertone to his complexion that was echoed in the burnished gold of his curls and his uncanny amber eyes, which came into view as he straightened. Whoever ran this place had taste, Hathar had to give them that.
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Golden
Author: R.L. Mosswood
Release Date: September 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-947139-91-6
Format: ePub, Mobi, PDF
Cover Artist: Natasha Snow
Category: Romance
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Word Count: 33500
Sex Content: Explicit
Pairing: MM
Orientation: Bisexual, Demisexual, Gay
Identity: Cisgender
Purchase Links:
NineStar Press: https://ninestarpress.com/product/golden/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B075DG7WCD/
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/golden-rl-mosswood/1127062192?ean=2940154536094
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/extreader/read/746310/1/golden
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/golden-34
Book Blurb
Harem boy might not be the most appropriate role for someone who’s never really seen the appeal of sex, but Elin’s status as dahabi: golden in a land of tan and brown, has marked him for The Dragon’s service since birth. He’s content enough with his life of uncomplicated, if restrictive, luxury, until an unremarkable chore becomes a case of love at first sight.
Mysterious newcomer Hathar, a roguish “merchant adventurer” from far-off lands, ignites an exploration of Elin’s first taste of physical desire, as well as a desire to experience life beyond the palace. Now, they must find a way to escape The Dragon’s clutches before Hathar’s ship departs, stranding them forever as dahabi of the haram.
If you’d like to follow R L Mosswood she can be found on her website here.
Elin Gregory 
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