Guests | Elin Gregory

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Guest Post – Rebecca Cohen

Posted in Guests, tagged brit author, new release, series on December 12, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Throughout Saving Crofton Hall I drop in a few hints alluding to some of the earls who have come between Anthony Redbourn, the 1st Earl, from The Crofton Chronicles, and Benjamin Redbourn, the current (16th) Earl of Crofton.
I thought it might be nice to give little history into one of the Ben’s predecessors, so I present Percival Redbourn as if he had his own Wikipedia entry.

~~~

Percival Anthony Richard Redbourn 6th Earl of Crofton, from 1760 to 1790, member of the British nobility
Born: 4th April 1730, England
Died: 9th October 1790
Children: Thomas Redbourn, 7th Earl of Crofton, Ann Hadlay (Duchess of Carroway),
Siblings: Lady Helen Walshington
Spouse: Elizabeth Redbourn
Other notable relationships: Rumours persisted around Rupert Listely, 3rd Earl of Berry and Sir Phillip Gilman, naval captain.
Parents: Frances Redbourn 5th Earl of Crofton, Lady Jane Killen
Education: Harrow School. Trinity College, Cambridge
Memorable fact: Won ‘The Duchess’ a painting by Gainsborough in a drinking games, but hated the painting and hung in a guest bedroom where he housed his least favourite guests

~~~

Saving Crofton Hall

Blurb:

Benjamin Redbourn, Earl of Crofton, has no intention of giving up his beloved ancestral home without a fight. Faced with his mother’s gambling debts, forgery, and the possibility of foreclosure by the bank, Ben vows to make Crofton Hall pay for herself. But opening an Elizabethan manor house to the public isn’t a one man job. With time running out, Ben needs help—and fast.
Ashley Niven has experience managing events, and he also loves history. Being in charge of opening Crofton Hall is a dream come true. As he works with Ben to prepare the house as a venue for lavish weddings and receptions, Ashley finds himself drawn not just to the charm of the house but to the dashing Earl of Crofton. Even if Ashley can look past Ben’s playboy reputation, he fears an affair could prove too much of a distraction.
But Crofton Hall has many secrets, and something hidden for over four hundred years is about to change all their lives.

Buy links:
Dreamspinner Press http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5725&cPath=55_462
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Saving-Crofton-Hall-Stately-Passions-ebook/dp/B00PHX3ANY%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAJBDF5XQBATGDX4VQ%26tag%3Dspea06-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB00PHX3ANY
All Romance ebooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-savingcroftonhall-1685551-149.html

Elin’s Review

Highly enjoyable update in the affairs of the Redbourne family as the current Earl, Benjamin, does whatever he has to in order to keep the great house in his own hands. up to and including – the horror – opening it to the public!

And so his troubles deepen, because Ben, dubbed the Playboy Earl by the red tops, has no idea how to go about it. Luckily his sister has and calls in her pal Ashley, an earnest young man with experience in the commercial heritage field. Playboy Earl and earnest bespectacled history geek have to negotiate all the pitfalls of the heritage business while fending off threats both from without and, even worse, from within. As the saying goes “you can choose your friends”!

I enjoyed this book as a romance and as a quirky comedy of manners but it was the detail of how to make a great private house into a public venue that amused me most. Health and Safety, Fire Regulations, portion sizes, business plans – been there, torn my hair out. Great stuff and I can’t wait for the next instalment.

Author Bio

Rebecca Cohen is a Brit abroad. Having swapped the Thames for the Rhine, she has left London behind and now lives with her husband and son in Basel, Switzerland. She can often be found with a pen in one hand and a cup of Darjeeling in the other.

Author Social Media

Website http://rebeccacohenwrites.wordpress.com/
Twitter @R_Cohen_writes
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/rebecca.cohen.710
Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4515613.Rebecca_Cohen
Amazon Author Page http://www.amazon.com/Rebecca-Cohen/e/B007UEFIXS/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

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Today in the Comfy Chair – Andrew J Peters

Posted in Guests, tagged author interview, comfy chair on December 5, 2014| Leave a Comment »

My guest today is a young man, the progress of whose writing career I have been watching with great delight. I have interviewed him before and am very pleased to be given the chance to catch up with him.

For readers who haven’t met you before, could you please tell us a little about yourself?

Hi again Elin! I’m Andrew J. Peters, or Andy is just fine. I’m a fantasy author with a particular interest in retold myth and legend. More often than not I write about gay characters.

My two main projects are the Werecat series and a series based on the legend of Atlantis, which started with the début novel The Seventh Pleiade.

Besides writing, I’ve spent a good portion of my career as a social worker and an advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. I currently work at a university teaching social work students.

I wish I had some quirky hobby or special knack to share. Between my day job and my writing, there doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day for me to cultivate much in the way of eccentricities, or maybe I’m not cut out to be an eccentric author-type. I am married to a wonderful guy, and we do like to travel outside of the U.S. for vacations and see movies and Broadway shows. Oh, here’s something: a secret confession and guilty pleasure. I sneak in some awful reality TV-watching every now and then. Survivor and The Amazing Race are my favorites, and I will pretty much watch any Real Housewives series.

Thanks so much for having me back. Your comfy chair seems even comfier. Have you restuffed the cushions?

How’s Chloe? Still being a supportive Muse I hope.

Chloë is lovely. We just celebrated her six year birthday last month. She gets more ‘likes’ and ‘retweets’ and ‘shares’ than anything else I post on social media, so I do owe her quite a lot for helping with my author profile; or perhaps it’s just her profile.

In terms of being a supportive muse however, I think the better word might be grudging. She sees my work space as a place to bat around the mouse and keyboard, or sit on top of the keyboard at times.

Since you started the first Werecat book, has the world you built developed in any interesting or unexpected ways? Has this been a help or a hindrance?

The biggest challenge for me has been that the hero of the story Jacks went on the run to places that I’ve never been. In the first two books, he started out in upstate New York, Montréal and New York City, all of which I’m very familiar with. Circumstances have him needing to leave the country and go to the Caribbean. That’s where the third installment The Fugitive picks up.

I chose Barbados as Jacks’ first destination after doing some research. There’s a storyline about hidden assets in an off-shore bank, and it turns out that Barbados is a popular place for such transactions. It was tough for me to take the story there. I really had to approach the setting like a meticulous tourist planning a vacation. I read up on the country’s history, geography, people, points of interest, etc. in order to describe the place with some integrity. I used Google Earth to “look” at certain areas of the island, even tracking out a path for Jacks when he’s snooping around a private yacht club.

Next up for Jacks is Venezuela, the rain forests of the Amazon and possibly the Yucatan in Mexico. If I had the resources, I’d visit those places before writing about them, but that’s probably not going to be possible.

Does having your work on paper FEEL different to a regular e-release?

I am really happy that my publisher decided to put the first three installments of Werecat together in a paperback. I do like having my work in print. I put my books on a bookshelf and glance at them fondly every now and then.

It also feels great to be able to sign my books at events in that old-fashioned way. I know some authors send fans autographed postcards or bookmarks for their e-books, and I’ve done some of that. But it doesn’t feel quite the same as signing the actual book. It doesn’t seem like it’s quite as meaningful for fans either.

Shifter fiction falls within the bounds of the paranormal genre but how do you feel about the paranormal in real life? Have you ever had an experience for which there was no accounting by the normal laws of physics?

I haven’t had any personal experiences with the paranormal, but I keep an open mind. Living with cats has helped in that regard. I almost said being a “cat owner” there, but I think “living with” is a more accurate way of putting it.

Folks who have cats can back me up here. I think it’s pretty apparent that they see and hear things that we humans can’t perceive. If you’ve ever watched a cat staring intensely at a corner of a wall or a ceiling while nothing is going on, you know what I mean.

Sometimes there’s an ordinary explanation – a tiny bug that they’ve zoned in on or a noise too faint for a human to hear. But I don’t doubt that it’s possible that cats sense otherworldly things as well that are imperceptible to us. I see no reason why there wouldn’t be ghosts living among us for example, or perhaps some trace of energy from a deceased person attached to certain objects that were special to them.

That little theory of mine played a role in the development of the Werecat story. It’s a world where house cats or strays have a psychic connection to feline shifters, and they’re able to alert their human companions to a threat, or alternatively do some mischief on behalf of their shifter brethren.

Of all your characters, who have you enjoyed writing most – least – whose voice was the most troublesome to catch?

Some of the supporting characters in Werecat have been the most fun to write. Farzan, the boyfriend of the main character Jacks, is a self-described “gay Persian with Attention Deficit Disorder.” He’s a high-strung, self-deprecating, long-suffering, funny guy who gets lots of humorous dialogue and becomes pretty instantly endearing I think. In The Fugitive, Jacks meets a roguish shifter named Maarten who was fun to write as well. Maarten is a composite of some young trust-funders I’ve known – disaffected, entitled, yet charming in spite of his faults.

I’d say overall that Jacks actually challenges me the most. I think most hero characters get channeled from the author’s personality, and I’ll cop to that with Jacks to the extent that I went back to some of my own feelings and experiences as a young gay man in writing him.

But for Jacks to do the things he does, being a real “action character,” it had me working on characterization that is quite far aloft of my decidedly mild and introspective personality. He certainly makes decisions I would never have made. He goes home with a stranger that he meets in the park for example, and he takes on big cat shifters who are bigger and stronger than he is.

I’ve had readers tell me that they’re angry at Jacks because of the risky situations he gets into, and some readers think that he’s naïve and dumb. I wanted to write Jacks as a young man who views the world in simple terms. He does get led astray by his hormones at times and his youthful sense of invulnerability. At a glance, I’d probably call him dumb as well. But as the story develops, Jacks is faced with some pretty extraordinary problems, and I see him as a guy who gets through things by not wavering from his convictions. There’s no ambiguity for him, just right and wrong. That makes him quite different from other heroes I’ve written that tend to get caught up in their heads for a while before making a decision.

What are you working on at the moment?

I am polishing up a follow-up novel to The Seventh Pleiade, which is the story of a young gay prince who becomes a hero during the last days of Atlantis. The new book is Banished Sons of Poseidon. It will be coming out in late 2015, and it picks up with the survivors of the flood.

Could we please have an excerpt?

Sure, I’m happy to share an excerpt. Here’s a bit from the opening pages of the novel. People who have read The Seventh Pleiade will remember the character Dam who is at the center of the missing boys scandal while the island-city is celebrating a national festival and coming apart at the seams in many ways. The second book continues the story from Dam’s perspective. His cousin Aerander was the hero of the first book.

~~~

There was a hot water lake that the boys used for bathing not far beyond the Old Ones’ underground city. The lake was embanked in black rock, and in the cast of torchlight, its sediment-rich waters glowed as blue and bright as a summer sky.

Dam pitted his metal torch in a cleft in the bank. It cast an aura of light a few yards onto the water and up the black shore. Beyond that stunted perimeter, everything was obscure and still. Dam had heard that the barren country around the lake had once been crisscrossed with lava floes, but that was in ages past. All that was left was dry craters and scarred troughs through rolling fields of rock, and none of that could be seen at the time when Dam was out. The Old Ones had shuttered the watchtower where they kept their brilliant Oomphalos that washed a thrumming, red, crystalline tide over the underworld. The sun never graced Agartha, the continent below the earth, so the Old Ones uncovered and eclipsed their magical relic at intervals to give the aboveground refugees some routine of day and night.

The boys weren’t supposed to venture out of the city unless they were in threes or fours. Two nights ago, a stranger had been sighted stalking around the deep canyon beyond the city drawbridge. Dam wouldn’t have trekked out that way on his own, but the backcountry of dead lava fields seemed like safe territory. He was used to coming and going as he wanted to. Aboveground, where he had been a novice priest, he had snuck out from the walled priest’s precinct at night all the time just to walk the city streets and feel some freedom.

If his cousin Aerander found out that he had gone to the bathing lake by himself, he’d get a scolding. Those lectures never rooted themselves as much as they groped to find a hold in Dam’s head. Dam was sixteen years old. He had been minding his own way long before they had come underground. Aerander was sixteen too so he had no business telling Dam this or that anyway. Dam thought they had sorted those things out a while ago, but since Aerander had taken on leading the survivors, he fell back on his bossy ways sometimes.

Dam stripped off his sandals and his tunic, laid them on the bank and delicately made his way into the water. It was plenty warm. The whole region around the city stayed at a mild temperature due to heat that rose up from the lava pits in the shelf below. But the initial sensation entering the lake was always strange, going from dry to wet. Since Dam had been living in the sunless underworld, it was like his skin had become more sensitive while his eyes had grown lazy from lack of use.

Dam imagined his body soaking up the minerals of the lake, making him strong like iron. That was what happened when the Old Ones’ warriors bathed there so they said. He plunged his head beneath the water, disappearing into the otherworldly murmur of the pool. Afterward, his skin would feel as smooth as a stone washed by the sea.

There was only one detriment to bathing in the mineral lake. Since Dam had given up the habits of the priesthood and stopped shaving his head, the sediment-rich waters made his thick black hair coarse and unruly when it dried. Whenever he caught his reflection in the silver-plated walls along the Grand Promenade into town, he was startled and amused by what he had become. He looked like the child of savages raised in the depths of a jungle. The Old Ones didn’t have the grooming soaps and oils that people used aboveground. Dam didn’t mind. It suited him fine to look a bit wild, especially considering the strange new country where he was living.

Dam swam out farther from the bank, beyond the patina of torchlight. He didn’t know how extensive the lake was or if it ever got deep. For as far as he had ever swam, he could touch down on the rocky floor. The water only reached to his clavicle. He dove for the bottom, did a hand stand and kicked out with his feet. That made a noisy splash. Dam crested the water and gathered some sense. If he was going to sneak out on his own, he had to remember to be quiet about it.

His ears keened in on a disturbance. He looked across the shrouded lava field. Four then five then six fuzzy globes of light approached the bank of the lake. There were bantering, howling voices. Dam trudged quietly toward his torch and his clothes. It was boys and likely no one he would relish to run into. They had probably come out to practice wrestling in the lake, and they would harass whoever they came across.

Woefully, Dam had swum out too far to make it to the bank before the noisy group pitted their torches in the ground. Dam drifted back to the shadowed side of the lake. He didn’t want to look like a coward scurrying out of the water from the sight of them. It was best to go unnoticed and wait for them to leave. But his torch, sandals and tunic back on the shore announced a bather in the lake blatantly.

From his distance, Dam watched a tall member of the crew step to the edge of the water. He looked like he was peering out to the lake in Dam’s direction. The boy mumbled something to the others, and then they all shucked their clothes and went bombarding into the water.

So much for a peaceful getaway.

~~~

The Werecat series: The Rearing, The Glaring, and The Fugitive
by Andrew J Peters

Blurb:
The first three installments of the Werecat series: The Rearing, The Glaring, and The Fugitive, in one paperback.

Twenty-two-year-old Jacks is on a mission to drown his past in alcohol when he meets the handsome drifter Benoit on a lost weekend in Montréal. It’s lust and possibly something more. Jacks never suspects that a drunken hook-up will plunge him into the hidden, violent world of feline shifters.

Benoit traps him in an arcane ritual to be joined as mates, from which Jacks emerges with fantastical abilities and a connection to Native traditions that were buried by his family. But his new existence pits his human instincts against his wild animal nature. When Jacks meets the young medical student Farzan, who wants to be with Jacks no matter what or who he is, Benoit’s feline jealousy rages like an inferno.

Jacks must figure out how to survive with his dual nature and a boyfriend who will kill any threat to their relationship. When a secret society called The Glaring shows up with a plan to exterminate humankind, Jacks will have to work quickly to gain command of Benoit’s magic before the world shatters into a war of man against beast.

Buy from Amazon US or Amazon UK

Follow Andrew at the links below:

website: http://andrewjpeterswrites.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ayjayp
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrewjpeterswrites
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6908025.Andrew_J_Peters

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Today in the Comfy Chair – Liam Livings

Posted in Guests, tagged brit author, comfy chair on November 24, 2014| 1 Comment »

My guest today is Liam Livings, writer, baker extraordinaire, and fellow organiser of the annual UK Meet conference for lovers of LGBTTQ fiction, who has just released a touching romance called And Then That Happened with Love Lane Books.

Welcome Liam and thanks for answering my questions.

You’re an old hand at this author malarkey by now. 🙂 If you could go back in time, is there anything you would like to tell your newbie self that would have made things easier?

I wouldn’t go that far; I’ve only been writing to be published since 2012, but I feel I’ve learned how to write quickly, then edit slowly, so I have been able to write quite a bit in 2014. Anyway…I seem to use similar names for characters, so a spreadsheet/list of character names would have helped, rather than having to *find & replace* halfway through writing it.

Also, don’t sweat the details of the first draft too much, just tell the story, get it down on paper. There’s that many stages of editing, with myself, post beta readers, content edits, line edits, proof stage, that worrying at first draft stage whether I’ve used a particular phrase or words too often at that stage is pointless (I think). Just get it down, you can change it when you read it as a reader, not as a writer. My favourite phrases at the moment seem to be: A jolt to the groin (so much so that my BF said the story should be renamed A Jolt To The Groin, and even made me a mock cover for it); For wont of anything better to do (Sue Brown’s comments in that story were hilarious as she worked through the manuscript. Towards the end she just put *not again* in a comment box.)

Dominic and Gabe, the MCs of And Then That Happened, are two very memorable characters. Did you make them up completely or was any aspect of their situations or personalities that were inspired by your own personal experience or that of friends?

As I’ve written more I think I put a bit of myself in all the characters I write. I don’t think I every completely make up characters from thin air. I like to use a phrase, a characteristic of someone I know or have seen, lyrics from a song, an expression in a film, something, then think what if and use that as the start for a character, brainstorming their background, likes and dislikes etc. I have a marvellous questionnaire for characters from Kate Long’s session on characters at the RNA conference, it really helps you get to know your characters.

I met a friend who was in the process of splitting up with his boyfriend, and some of that, and other elements of him have gone into Gabe’s story, but this friend is *not* Gabe. Almost all of Gabe was from my imagination. Dominic’s careful nature with money and how he is with his friends is very much like me I suppose. I think his forthright nature is a bit of wish fulfilment on my behalf. The Di Anne character and actions may have been influenced by my friend’s account of a colleague she worked with at the time, who is not called Di Anne, nor does she work in a hospital, obvs.

Of all your characters who would you be most enjoy pushing downstairs, sharing a taxi cab with, or having them move in next door so you saw them every day?

In And Then That Happened, I’d push Matt (Dominic’s best friend) downstairs as he deserves it. I’d love to share a taxi cab with Carol Anne (Dominic’s mum) as she’d have me in stitches at her (unintentionally) funny stories about her daily trials and challenges. Anyone who doesn’t let you kiss them too close for fear of spotting the surgery scars behind their ears is going to be a laugh to talk to I reckon. I’d love Gabe to move next door, so I could see him every day. His enthusiasm for adventures, and grabbing life by the balls and just getting on with it, would be a great tonic.

Short vs long. As a reader, which do you prefer to read? As a writer, would you say that a short story is harder to write than a long one?

Depends what I’m reading. I read a YA novel of only 350 pages, but it had very few characters and was first person POV. It was just what it needed to be. I love a good multi character saga – Lace, Valley of the Dolls or An Absolute Scandal [read Liam’s blog posts here, here and here] – 900 pages with thirty characters and I absolutely *loved* every single page of it 🙂 However, I read a horror novel and the start was great, the end was great, but it really needed 200 pages removing in the middle. I kept reading thinking, I get it, I get what’s happened, we don’t need to see the same thing happen to a different character *again*. But I’m sure others would make that criticism of my well-loved sagas I’ve mentioned; not me though. There’s something about a long book, I absolutely adore, diving into the story, losing yourself in the narrative. I normally save the big 600page plus ones for holidays.

As a writer, the first thing I wrote was 200,000 words – Best Friends Perfect, which I now know was way too long for gay fiction, so it’s being published as a trilogy. Length depends on genre I reckon. My fellow RNA authors say 90,000 is a normal length for them and saga authors say it’s got to be 135,000 words or it’s not a saga. But in gay romance it seems to be shorter, 65,000 or fewer.

I think a short story is harder to write as you’ve not got any space to faff about with, but it’s easier in that once you get to 20,000 words you’re done. Personally I prefer to write longer, as it gives you more page time to explore the characters, get them to do stuff, think about things, fall in love, fall out of love, all that jazz.

I’ve just finished a first draft of Kev’s story (Kieran’s cross dressing best friend from Best Friends Perfect) and it’s three 65,000 word stories (a lot happens to him, he’s one of those characters who despite everyone’s best efforts always ends up in trouble, but he’s lovely with it) so in total it’s almost 200,000 words. With that many words you can have people coming in, leaving, coming back, have new characters they meet, a variety of romantic interests. But with a short story, you can’t really have that much tooing and froing with characters cos there’s not the time to get to know them, I’ve found, anyway.

What’s next from the pen, typewriter, state of the art word processor of Liam Livings?

In 2015 I have a series of sequels I’m planning to write. For exactly the reason I like longer stories, I think I’ve worked out I like a series, I like to come back to the characters, really go on a journey with them. Also if you have the characters, broadly
the setting, as far as planning the next book, you’re pretty well in to the next story aren’t you? No need to start from scratch, you just have to think about what they’re going to do.

I attempted to write a gay version of Lace/Valley Of The Dolls called Glitzy Gay Saga, and I’d like to revisit that; see if it’s not quite as *disastrously awful* as I think it is at the moment, then see if I can write a sequel and take the characters to a British film industry setting or something similar. Such fun!

Can I please have an excerpt of something?

Here’s the scene when fate throws Gabe into Dominic’s life.

The fourth of June 1999 at eight thirty pm, it was raining, as expected in a British summer. I looked up from my handover note in the staff room; he pushed the door open slowly and sat opposite me, smiling at everyone else.
It was my fourth of a string of extra nights, and I felt the sort of tiredness that comes from a series of night shifts where you grab hours of poor quality sleep during the day, between batting about with housework and other chores. The sort of tiredness only people with young babies or night workers can fully understand. His arrival immediately woke me back to more than normal levels.
My gaydar gave me mixed signals as he wore Timberland shoes and a very plain jacket over his nurses tunic.
He smiled at me, shook his curly dark brown hair so water sprayed around the room, then removed his jacket. ‘Look at me, Ernest! Just look at me! I’m soaking wet!’
The day sister looked him up and down. ‘Ernest, who’s he?’
‘A joke.’
‘I’m assuming you’re Gabriel, from the agency.’
He nodded. ‘Gabe.’
But as soon as he quoted Death Becomes Her—I knew for definite, without a shadow of a doubt, he was as gay as bunting. No straight man quotes that film, not in this world or the next. ‘Spanish, are you?’ I asked, feigning disinterest.
‘My dad is.’ He stared at me, his long brown eyelashes framing his eyes perfectly.
I deliberately allocated myself at the far end of the ward from him. I didn’t want to come across as too keen. Besides, I was happily partnered.

And Then That Happened

Blurb

Should you settle for a nearly perfect happiness or put your heart on the line for more?

It’s 1999 and 28-year-old Dominic’s carefully planned suburban life with his boyfriend Luke is perfect. His job as a nurse, his best friend Matt, his relationship with his parents, everything is just right. He and Luke have been together ten years, seen
each other through friends’ deaths and their parents’ ups and downs, and even had a commitment ceremony.

Gabe isn’t happy with his boyfriend, but he stays with him, because, well it’s complicated.

Fate throws Gabe into Dominic’s life. And then that happened. Gabe’s open relationship, impulsive nature, enthusiasm for life and straight talking advice are fascinating to Dominic. They’re friends, they click over a shared love of Goldie Hawn and Gabe shows Dominic there can be more to life than planned and safe. So why can’t he take his own advice?

And Then That Happened is about finding a new kind of happiness, even when what you have is already perfect. And how sometimes perfect isn’t quite what it seems.

Buy Links:

Author Links:

Blog: http://www.liamlivings.com/blog.html
Website: http://www.liamlivings.com
Twitter: @LiamLivings
Email: liamlivings@gmail.com

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Today in the Comfy Chair – D P Denman

Posted in Guests, tagged comfy chair, gay romance, new release on October 22, 2014| 3 Comments »

My guest today is D P Denman, self confessed coffee addict and hockey fan who lives in one of the few places in the world greener and damper than Wales.

Welcome DP, so glad you could join me.

Thank you so much for having me, Elin. It’s great to be here…and you’re not kidding! This chair is comfy. *bounce, bounce*

Can you tell me a little about yourself? For instance, do you have to have a day job as well as being a writer?

Yes. Like most people in publishing, I have a full-time job that pays the bills so I can pursue the glamourous life of a fledgling author.

In that crucial inspiration stage of a new story which comes first? Plot, situation or character?

Always the character. They creep out of the shadows usually trailing a scene or sometimes only a few minutes of a scene. From there it’s a game of trying to figure out how they fit in that scene and how the rest of the story looks.

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?

Sometimes they spring to life with a definite story and a strong personality. Blue from my latest book, Naked Truth, was like that. He stomped into my head demanding a story and has been pestering me to put him in print since book one of the series.

Others aren’t so easy to pin down. Sometimes I try to put them in stories that obviously don’t fit their personality so I start over with basic questions about what environment is best suited for the character.

Villains are incredibly important in fiction since they challenge the main protagonists and give them something to contend with beyond the tension of a developing relationship. The cruel sea. The serial killer. The society itself. Your hero’s inner demons. What sort of villains do you prize?

I love the villains that challenge me as a reader. The kind that start out obviously “bad” in some way, but by the end of the book you see so much of the humanity in them that your view of the black and white definition of them as a villain is muddied. They’re bad and you’re supposed to hate them, but you can deny there is something likable under the surface.

Put together your ideal team of men/women – drawing from all and any walks of life, fictional or non-fictional – who you would want to come to your rescue if menaced by muggers/alligators/fundamentalists?

Maya Angelou because she was so inspiringly eloquent and had a long history of putting fundamentalists in their place. Stephen Hawking because it never hurts to have a genius around…and one with a wicked sense of humor is even better. Last, Indiana Jones because he’s good with catastrophe of all kinds.

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.

I’m working on book four of the Saving Liam Series. It will probably be the end of the central plot but not necessarily the end of the series.

Could we please have an excerpt of something?

Of course!

NAKED TRUTH, book three of the Saving Liam Series

The next night Liam plodded up the stairs at the club. He trudged into the combined locker room and employee lounge to eat his lunch in a space that smelled of sweat, feet, and five kinds of body spray. Like everyone else, he spent at least half his break downstairs where the customers could paw him, tip him, and maybe ask him for a private dance. It paid better than sitting on his ass.

He opened his locker, grabbed his sandwich and a clean pair of socks, and collapsed into one of the folding metal chairs. He sat for a moment enjoying the feel of the cold frame against his skin. Alex was in a chair at the other side of the room playing on his phone. He’d almost forgotten about the promise to discuss his mystery topic yesterday. Their lunch breaks hadn’t lined up right and he’d only seen Alex long enough to pass him on the stairs.

“How’s it going tonight?” Alex got up and moved to a closer chair.

“About average.” Liam took off his shoe and peeled off the sweaty sock. Several folded bills plopped to the floor and he picked them up. “How about you?” He asked as he carried them to his locker to stuff them in his gym bag.

“Same. You think they’ll be safe in there?” Alex jerked his chin toward the locker.

“As long as I remember to lock it. Why? Where do you keep yours?”

“In my jock.”

“All night?”

“Yeah. Before we start each set I wrap a new layer around my dick.”

Liam clunked back to his chair with one shoe off and one shoe on. “Why the hell do you do that?”

“Because I like my Johnson to smell like cash.” Alex shrugged, followed by a grin. “I’m kidding. I wrap them around my dick because nobody’s going to steal it that way and it gives me a little something extra to shake at the ladies if you get my drift.”

“Until you end up with a paper cut.”

“Hasn’t happened yet.”

An unidentified pickpocket had taught them all a lesson a few months ago about not keeping bills in their pockets.

Alex sat back in the chair. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Okay.” Liam tugged on a clean sock.

“Some of the guys say you have a brother in porn.”

It was funny how fast a person could go from perfectly calm to freaking out. Actually, it wasn’t funny at all. He tried to hold onto his calm facade as his heart sprinted a fifty-yard dash in his chest and his stomach squeezed into a knot. That topic had emerged months ago and he’d silenced it with a lie. A lie that Angel’s life was someone else’s nightmare, someone who looked remarkably like him, someone he admitted he knew, but that was close as he could come to telling the truth.

~~~

The Naked Truth

Blurb:

Buried lies never die.

Liam has a new career, a new condo, a newfound sense of control and none of it is quite right. Shadows drift behind the bright sparkle of his life; things he’s determined to ignore until a shocking revelation makes it impossible. With the help of Justin and a new friend, Liam must face the life he’s buried.

Book 3 of the Saving Liam series

Release date: October 2014
Publisher: North Shore Publishing dba North Shore Press
ISBN: 9780989612364
Word count: 63,000

Award winning author DP Denman writes character-driven contemporary romance about gay men. Her stories are real and intense but always resolve in the type of ending that makes readers want to start the book all over again. She is from the Pacific Northwest and bases all of her stories in Vancouver, British Columbia.

In her spare time she is a dedicated LGBTQIA rights activist fighting for those who have been marginalized and abused. To that end, 25% of the royalties from every book go to support LGBT charities.

Author links:

Website: http://www.dpdenman.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dpdenman
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dp.denman
Blog: http://dpdenmanauthor.blogspot.com

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Guest Post – Author Jake Biondi discusses the BOYSTOWN Experience

Posted in Guests, tagged gay romance, serial on October 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Over the past year, since the first episode of Boystown hit the web, the series has gone from strength to strength and has become justifiably famous. Both critically acclaimed AND a popular bestseller, rare in this digital age, the characters go from strength to strength, story arcs draw to satisfying conclusions only to flail and whip into new exciting shapes – it shows no sign of ending and for that the many fans can be grateful.

So with that impeccable pedigree, you can imagine my shock when Jake emailed to ask for a guest post. It was a little bit like getting a missive from the Brontes. Any how – that sets the scene so over to Jake:

~~~

Writing the BOYSTOWN series has been one of the most fantastic experiences of my life. From the moment the idea came to me in the Spring of 2013 until now, I have enjoyed every moment of the writing and marketing process. But what I have really enjoyed the most about the entire experience has been the interaction with the BOYSTOWN readers. BOYSTOWN fans are, quite simply, the best.

I have been so touched and humbled by the outpouring of kindness and support I have received from BOYSTOWN readers since the moment the first episode hit the internet in June of 2013. People began to email me from all over the country – and beyond – to share with me their thoughts and ideas about the BOYSTOWN characters and story lines. I made it a priority to respond to every email that I received not only because I valued the readers’ feedback but also because I want my readers to understand that I want them to reach out to me. I want to hear from them — their ideas, their suggestions, their reviews, their feedback. In fact, their comments and ideas actually can and do impact the future of the series because I have written some of their suggestions into the series. In short, by contacting me, the readers can actually impact what happens to their favorite characters.

Several dedicated fans voluntarily created online BOYSTOWN book tours simply because they loved the books and wanted to bring the series to the attention of others. Some readers have allowed me to post BOYSTOWN promotional materials on their websites and blogs, and others have contacted me to see how they can become involved with BOYSTOWN.

When I held a nation-wide photo contest looking for “models” whose images we could use in the BOYSTOWN promotional materials, the response was overwhelming. People from all over America submitted their photos in the hope of becoming one of the “faces” of BOYSTOWN. I ended up selecting five winners for that contest because I wanted to include as many people as possible. Even after the contest was over, people continued to submit their photos asking to be a part of the BOYSTOWN team and I have welcomed several more of them on board.

I met my new BOYSTOWN Director of Art, Design & Advertising, Michael Vargas, and my new BOYSTOWN Director of Social Media, Patrick Murphy, because they were fans of the books. They contacted me on Facebook, we chatted and got to know each other, and now they are running all the promotional and advertising campaigns for the BOYSTOWN series.

I have also been intrigued by the fans’ responses to certain couples in the series. For example, I never anticipated that so many people would be fans of “Kemmett” (Keith and Emmett). Fans are very vocal about what I did to that couple at the end of “Season One” and provided many ideas for how I should write those characters in “Season Two.”
Fans of “Dole” (Derek and Cole) are also very vocal. While most readers like and connect with the character of Cole, some like him with Derek and others don’t. Many fans want Derek to stay with his wife Joyelle. Finally, I was really taken aback by people’s reactions to Justin, who only appeared on the BOYSTOWN landscape at the end of “Season One.” Readers really found him appealing and interesting – and wanted to know everything about him: his sexuality, his motives, his plan. Those fans will be happy to know that Justin is a central character in “Season Two.”

People often ask me how many books the BOYSTOWN series will have. I simply tell them this: as long as the fans are interested in the series, I will keep it going. “Season Three” is already in the works and, if the fans want more, “Season Four” will be right behind it. I hope fans will continue to reach out to me and let me know their thoughts and ideas.

BOYSTOWN truly belongs to the fans!

http://www.jakebiondi.com
https://www.facebook.com/JakeBiondiBoystown
Twitter: @boystown_series
IG: BoystownTheSeries

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Today in the Comfy Chair – Andrew Q Gordon

Posted in Guests on October 9, 2014| 5 Comments »

My guest today is Andrew Q Gordon, a new-to-me author who has some titles that look just my kind of thing. I plan to familiarise myself with his work ASAP.

Welcome to the Comfy Chair, Andrew, and thanks for being such a good sport about answering my questions.

Can you tell me a little about yourself? For instance, do you have to have a day job as well as being a writer?

First let me say thanks for having me today. So a bit about me. I’m boring, to be honest. My husband and I have been together for almost 20 years, married a bit over a year – thank you voters of Maryland for passing marriage equality. Our daughter—’lil q — turned three in September. I refer to her as ‘lil q because of my day job—I’m a criminal prosecutor. Beyond that, we have one dog—hopefully we’ll have two more soon—I like baseball and soccer, football to most of the world, like superhero comic books, high fantasy and the occasional MM Romance.

When you aren’t writing, is there any other creative activity you enjoy? Have you ever written about it?

Not really, unless you consider singing poorly being creative. Once upon a lifetime ago I took piano lessons for a year as a kid and played trombone in school. I’ve not written about any of those, but I have written a fair bit about playing soccer. Something I’m still involved in.

What are you reading? Can you recommend something that you wished you’d written yourself?

Right now I’m reading A Heart for Robbie, by J.P. Barnaby. Not sure I can say I wish I’d written it, it’s kind of a tough subject for me as a parent to write about, but it’s still a great book. I’m a huge Anyta Sunday fan, so I wish I’d written Bird Meets Cage because it’s so sad and lovely and wonderful all at the same time.

In that crucial inspiration stage of a new story which comes first? Plot, situation or character?

Oh wow, that’s a good one. I’d say a situation comes up first followed shortly there after by the character. I think most of my stories have started as a vivid scene that I can see clearly. Then everything—forward or backward—follows.

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?

Very few characters arrive fully developed. I think they ‘appear’ to me and I’ve always got this image of them that never changes even as they evolve as characters. They are almost always an image before a thought. I see them—sort of like the picture prompts for the Goodreads MM Romance group’s Don’t Read in the Closet event—then they get fleshed out as more than just a face.

Is there any genre you would love to write, ditto one you would avoid like a rattlesnake? What inspired you to write about A Closed Door?

I prefer fantasy, with urban fantasy/paranormal a very close second. I love the world building, even if it’s a modern day story, but the idea of creating new things—like a society where paranormal beings are a part of life—is more appealing than a typical contemporary story.

I’d say I avoid mystery and comedy. Why you ask? Because I’m not all that funny and I suck at keep secrets.

A Closed Door was something of a challenge. I’ve wanted to write some contemporary stories—in fact the very first story I wrote and shared was a 300K freebie that I posted on Gay Authors. I think quite a few readers know me as a contemporary writer and are surprised to learn I prefer Sci-fi/Fantasy. I’m not sure exactly what inspired the story, but for whatever the reason, I tend to write stories that are grounded in loss and from that loss, a new love arises. Weird I know.

Do you find there to be a lot of structural differences between a relationship driven story and one where the romance is a sub plot

No. Can I leave it at that? No? Drats. Well no, there really aren’t any structural differences between them in my mind. Mostly because everything – no matter the type of story – needs conflict and tension. That comes in all forms. Then there are the sub plots that wend through the story – again, it doesn’t really change fundamentally, just the type of conflict or tension.

Put together your ideal team of men/women, drawing from all and any walks of life, fictional or non-fictional, who you would want to come to your rescue if menaced by muggers/alligators/fundamentalists?

Well since I’m so important, nothing less than the Silver Surfer would do for who I’d want to come to my rescue. 😀 Being a huge comic book fan as a kid and young adult, having him show up, let alone save me would be pretty damn cool.
But for something a bit more ‘normal.’ I’d really like for Will – the main character from Purpose to come save me. Him and Connor McLeod from the Highlander movie.

Villains are incredibly important in fiction since they challenge the main protagonists and give them something to contend with beyond the tension of a developing relationship. The cruel sea. The serial killer. The society itself. Your hero’s inner demons. What sort of villains do you prize?

As you say, villains come in all forms. I think one of the pitfalls of writing is we sometimes make our villains over the top bad with no redeeming qualities. I suspect that is how we see our real life antagonists so why not write about them in that vein? The answer changes, however, depending on the genre. For fantasy/sci-fi they villains can be badder than bad, like Sauron or Darth Vader, but for contemporary romance, they need to be more realistic. For contemporary ‘villains’ I strive for something less evil and vile and more commonplace, something we all experience.

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.

Ugh, the problem is I have TOO much I’m working on. But let’s see. The second book in the Champion of the Gods series – The Eye and the Arm – is due out in April so I’m working on book three – Kings of Lore and Legend. I’m also trying to finish my first pure contemporary novel – Harp Strings. That is about a gay teen who decided to prove he was straight and ends up being a single dad. I’ve got a bunch more I’ve started but set aside so I can focus on those two for now and I want to have something for the Wayward Ink Publishing Heaven and Hell anthology so I’m working on something for that too.

Could we please have an excerpt of something?

Here is an excerpt from A Closed Door.

“Orin, I won’t.” Thomas stood a bit straighter and his eyes lost the sad, pleading shine. “I won’t hurt you again.”
“You can’t promise that. Things happen.” Orin watched as his words dragged Thomas back from the brink of hope.
“If you truly believe that, then there’s nothing I can do. You have to believe there’s a chance or else I can’t prove it.”
“That’s not what I’m telling you.” He locked his gaze on Thomas’s. “If I say yes, I’ll have to take down the walls I surrounded my heart with to keep it safe. Once it’s gone, I won’t be able bring it back if I get hurt. Not now.
“So what I’m saying is, think about what you’re asking me to risk. If you really love me, ask yourself if are you willing to risk what will happen to me if you can’t keep your promise.”
He knew how unfair he’d been, but self-preservation had been a skill he’d honed over the past fifteen years. He needed Thomas to know just how serious the repercussion could be for his actions.
“Orin, I . . . I . . . how . . .?” Their faces were inches apart, and Thomas moved in for another kiss.
This felt different than the first—less urgent, but no less intense. Orin trembled at the leap he was about to take. When they stepped back, Thomas rubbed his thumb across Orin’s cheek.
“I do love you, Orin. More than I can say. So much, that I’m not willing to risk what will happen if I fail you again. I don’t have that right.”
Thomas’s lips quivered and the tears welled at the bottom of his eyes. He kissed Orin’s forehead gently.
“Good-bye, Orin. Please be happy.” Without looking back, Thomas walked to the front door, opened it, and walked away.

Cover Artist: Lily Velden and Jay Aheer
Publisher: Wayward Ink Publishing.

Buy Links:
Wayward Ink
Amazon UK
Amazon US

Author Bio:

Andrew Q. Gordon wrote his first story back when yellow legal pads, ball point pens were common and a Smith Corona correctable typewriter was considered high tech. Adapting with technology, he now takes his MacBook somewhere quiet when he wants to write.
He currently lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his partner of eighteen years, their young daughter and dog. In addition to dodging some very self-important D.C. ‘insiders’, Andrew uses his commute to catch up on his reading. When not working or writing, he enjoys soccer, high fantasy, baseball and seeing how much coffee he can drink in a day.

Author Contacts:
Website: http://www.andrewqgordon.com,
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/andrewqugordon,
Twitter: @andrewqgordon,
Email: andrewqgordon@gmail.com

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Blog Tour Stop – Project X by Nephylim

Posted in Guests, tagged brit author, new release on October 5, 2014| 1 Comment »

Currently on tour with her new release, Project X, is fellow Welsh author Nephylim *waves ‘boro da, cariad’* and I would like to wish her every success. Below are the details of the book, of the author and a generous giveaway, don’t forget to enter.

~

Title: Project X
Author: Nephylim
Publisher: Wayward Ink Publishing

Synopsis

Morgan Bentley is a bastard. Always was and always will be.

At least that’s what Matthew Hopkins thinks. Unfortunately, Morgan is also a brilliant law student, and easily eclipses Matthew, academically and socially.

Matthew insists he hates Morgan. According to Matthew’s best friend, Cory, perhaps he doth protest a bit too much.

Cory has received the chance of a lifetime in the form of an internship with ITM—Information Technology and Medicine—the prestigious research company where Morgan’s father is the CEO. Too inquisitive for his own good, the naturally curious Cory stumbles on a deadly secret inside of ITM. What he has learned will tip the balance of everything, but for good or bad?

Just what is the mysterious Project X?

What is Morgan’s involvement?

Matthew has to sort fact from fiction, friend from foe, as his world is turned upside down and inside out, and nothing can be the way it was.

Click here for the book trailer

Buy Links

WIP: http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com/product/project-x-by-nephylim/
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NMHC4EI/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NMHC4EI/
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/project-x-nephylim/1120380974?ean=9781925222005

About the author

Nephylim was born into a poor mining family in the South Wales Valleys. Until she was 16, the toilet was at the bottom of the garden and the bath hung on the wall. Her refrigerator was a stone slab in the pantry and there was a black lead fireplace in the kitchen. They look lovely in a museum but aren’t so much fun to clean.
Nephylim has always been a storyteller. As a child, she’d make up stories for her nieces, nephews and cousin and they’d explore the imaginary worlds she created, in play.
Later in life, Nephylim became the storyteller for a re enactment group who travelled widely, giving a taste of life in the Iron Age. As well as having an opportunity to run around hitting people with a sword, she had an opportunity to tell stories of all kinds, sometimes of her own making, to all kinds of people. The criticism was sometimes harsh, especially from the children, but the reward enormous.
It was here she began to appreciate the power of stories and the primal need to hear them. In ancient times, the wandering bard was the only source of news, and the storyteller the heart of the village, keeping the lore and the magic alive. Although much of the magic has been lost, the stories still provide a link to the part of us that still wants to believe that it’s still there, somewhere.
In present times, Nephylim lives in a terraced house in the valleys with her son and her two cats. Her daughter has deserted her for the big city, but they’re still close. The part of her that needs to earn money is a lawyer, but the deepest, and most important part of her is a storyteller and artist, and always will be.

Social media links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SevenPointStar
Facebook: Private: https://www.facebook.com/cheryl.headford.1
Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/Nephylim.author
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/nephylim-author
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4462803.Nephylim
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=140237118&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile
Adult Blog: http://nephylim-author.blogspot.co.uk/
Young Adult Blog: http://cherylheadford.blogspot.co.uk/

Giveaway

Click here to take part in a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Today in the Comfy Chair – Jayson James

Posted in Guests on September 25, 2014| 1 Comment »

My guest today is multi-talented educator, author and artist, Jayson James.

Welcome Jayson and thank you for agreeing to be interviewed today. Can you tell me a little about yourself? For instance, do you have to have a day job as well as being a writer?

Yes, I am a teacher. I work with other teachers, teaching workshops and trainings as well as doing teacher observations.

When you aren’t writing, is there any other creative activity you enjoy? Have you ever written about it?

I like to draw. More recently I’ve taken up painting too, with wet watercolors and water color pencils. A friend of mine showed me how to take my drawings and water color them, so I’ve been having fun with doing that. As a matter of fact, the cover of my next book releasing will be a cover I drew with pencil and then used water colors to finish. Yes, I have written about it. One of my favorite characters to write, Justin Parker from my Finding Our Way series of books is an artist and I have written about him doing various artwork.

What are you reading? Can you recommend something that you wished you’d written yourself?

I have about fifteen books on my Kindle right now, waiting for me to take a break and get to reading them. After this book tour, I plan on taking some time off from writing, promoting and other assorted author duties to do some relaxing, which will include reading.
The only books that come to mind that I wish I would have written myself were The Hunger Games or the Twilight series. I think that it would be so cool to have a series with their popularity and have them turned into several movies. My friends are always telling me that I need to put out a book in other genres, convinced that I could have that kind of success. I have a few more books that I want to get out of my head that are in my genre first.

In that crucial inspiration stage of a new story which comes first? Plot, situation or character?

Plot typically, closely followed by character. The situations come in and out of my head, often times not in the order they end up in my books. Without having the plot in mind, I am unable to start on a new book.

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?

When I sit down to write, I have a pretty good idea of what I want my characters to be. As I sit down and write them, they evolve further. If I find myself getting away from the person I had them planned to be in my head, I will either go back and make changes to keep the continuity of the character.

Do you find there to be a lot of structural differences between a relationship driven story and one where the romance is a sub plot?

For me, I write about relationships people have. When I wrote Finding Our Way, I had not intended on it being a romance. It bothered me immensely when people would refer to the book as such. Then when I put out the second book, Tormented Discovery, people were even more thrilled by the romance continuing with Derrick Wilson and Justin Parker, the main characters. By the time I wrote Drifting, the third book I was all right with it. It was clear to me by all the response of readers, they were in love with this couple and wanted to see them do well together. It just happens that I wrote about two best friends falling in love and their relationship ended up romantic. I feel with T.E.D. people related to the characters and their relationships. Everyone who has talked to me about T.E.D. always has something to say about how they connect with at least one of the characters and feel for them as if they were someone they knew and wanted to help. So in so many words, I do not think there are much in the way in structural differences as far as writing, just in the way the reader perceives it.

Villains are incredibly important in fiction since they challenge the main protagonists and give them something to contend with beyond the tension of a developing relationship. The cruel sea. The serial killer. The society itself. Your hero’s inner demons. What sort of villains do you prize?

As far as the villain I would like to write, I think it would be fun to write a book from the perspective of a serial killer. In my books, my true villain is Kristian Kirkpatrick. He has been in three out of four of my books. He is a manipulative, evil little sociopath. I created him and even I loathe him. Even though I am sure it will not be well received, I would like to give him his own book someday. I have the plot in my head already.

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.

My current work in progress is a book that features the twins, Tyler and Tyson Hensley from the Finding Our Way series. This book takes place when the twins are in middle school living in Ashville, Oregon and the story follows them until they move to Chandler, Washington. There will be some familiar characters from a few of my previous books in it briefly. I started this book a few years ago and it has been long awaited to have me finish it. Right now, I am trying to decide if I want to keep the content geared towards young adults or do my own thing.

Have you got anything else you would like to share with us?

Yes, I have a question about 1988! What is your favorite happy song from 1988?

I’d like to hear from you! Please post your response in the comments below!
Be sure to check out other stops on the tour for more questions.

###

PIECES OF US

“Into the lake?”
“Into the lake.”

For Jesse Stetson, a boy who knows he is different and Dylan Sterling, Jesse’s best friend, Sander’s Lake has served as a sort of scrapbook for them with sentimental items being dropped into the lake from their dock after significant events in their lives.
Life in 1988 was different from today. A boy and a girl being best friends were uncommon. Not that Jesse or Dylan cared, they had each other and that’s all that mattered. Or so Jesse wished. While Dylan has been meeting and dating guys, Jesse has yet to find the same connection with a girl. The closest he’s come is Dylan, but she’s a girl and a friend not a girlfriend. Jesse is struggling with his feelings and trying his hardest to be normal.
Dylan and Jesse are growing up and possibly growing apart. Dylan has a new boyfriend and is now splitting her time between him and Jesse. To further complicate things, Jesse meets Orion, a new boy in town. Jesse knows that his feelings towards Orion must be wrong, yet it feels so right. Even if Orion feels about Jesse the same way that Jesse feels about him, should they act on their attraction?
This story is a journey of friendship and discovery, finding out who you are as a person, and then being okay with who you are.

ARTWORK
Over 100 drawings were created, modified, merged, cropped and manipulated to create the cover for Pieces of Us. This by and far was the most labor-intensive cover on any of my books to date. I feel with how it turned out, it made all the work worthwhile.
[Insert PoU Artwork here]

WHERE TO PURCHASE
Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00MR1DCAA
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/jayson-james
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/470080

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
My name is Jayson James. I am an Indy author of several novels and novellas. I was born and have lived most of my life in Washington State. My interests beyond writing include drawing, reading a variety of books, watching movies and hanging out with his friends, family and dog. Besides an author, I am an artist. The cover art on every one of my published works are one of my own drawings. I take the drawing I do for each cover and then design the rest of the cover around it.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Website: http://www.jaysonjamesbooks.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jaysonjamesbooks
Google+ & email: jaysonjamesbooks@gmail.com
Twitter: @jaysonjamesbook

MORE BY JAYSON JAMES

How It Was Supposed To Be

Reese Kennicott and his family were living the carefree life of an upper middle class life. That was until one day when his father arrives home from work and shares the company he has worked for since he was Reese’s age has gone out of business. Adding to the stress of being out of work for the first time in the worst economic downturn the United States has ever faced. Hope comes in the form of a new job for Reese’s father. The downside is this job is across the country, forcing Reese to leave behind his friends and the life he’s always known.
Releasing Fall 2014.

~~~

T.E.D.
Tim-Eric-Delsin

Tim is being bullied. No one in high school wants to be known as a tattle-tale and to do so would only make things rougher for him. The repercussions would most likely make him an outcast, and without any friends.
Eric is frustrated with life. His parents are overbearing and if they ever knew the person he really was, they would throw him out of their house. His friends are not much better, they only like him when he is who they expect him to be.
Delsin is gay and ready to come out. Unfortunately, life at home is on the brink of falling apart with his parents constant fighting. Admitting the truth could bring his whole world crashing down around him.

Each of these three needs to decide whether the risks of being honest about who they are outweighs the importance of being true to themselves. This could mean ruining life as each of them knows it. Maybe it is better to remain miserable in order to play it safe. On the other hand, doing nothing doesn’t seem to working either.

~~~

Finding Our Way

Justin Parker and Derrick Wilson have been best friends since meeting back in middle school. Currently they are in their junior year at Chandler High School, and living the good life as teenagers. They have great girlfriends, plenty of close friends, their own cars, and parents who are well off. As nice as things might look to an outsider, something is missing from each of their lives.
Justin has become the invisible son in the midst of his parents failing marriage. In an effort to get his parent’s attention, Justin keeps getting into trouble. So far he has been able to get away with anything without facing any repercussions, while Derrick is feeling distant and tired of what he feels is a too “perfect family”. He just wants to have a normal social life and spend time with his friends without the pressures from his family to spend time with them. With blurring the lines of friendship in the process to realizing what was missing and discovering who they really are.
Justin and Derrick take turns narrating the story of their junior year in high school and all of the events that take place in their lives. Being a teenager can be tough. Being gay can be tougher. For Derrick and Justin they are both, and life cannot get any more complicated.
What happens when two best friends cross the boundaries of friendship? Will they be able to be happy together? Will they keep their secret?

~~~

Tormented Discovery

Justin and Derrick have a secret that they revealed only to their closest friends. They are gay and are now a couple. The story of Justin and Derrick continues as they learn more about being a gay couple in their senior year of high school and the complications that arise from it. Some friends will have their backs while others simply stand on the sidelines. Other friends will be accepting and others will ridicule them.
Sometimes love is almost not enough to save a relationship and both Derrick and Justin begin to have their doubts as they watch relationships around them rise and fall. Justin and Derrick both want to have new experiences, new choices and make new friends, which leads to them questioning their own relationship. They soon discover that some of the people they consider friends have their own secrets, some darker than others. The couple begins to see how people react towards homosexuality and just how people want to deal with it and them.
Will Justin and Derrick be able to hold onto each other while their lives and secrets spiral around them?
Or will they decide to step back and give up on themselves and each other?

~~~

Drifting

What happens when the person you love is having doubts?
These two boyfriends have been through a lot. Best friends since childhood, fell in love in high school and thought they would be together forever. They stuck together even when their friends and family found out about their relationship. Struggling with challenge after challenge, they have finally made it to college and are living on their own. Living together is a whole new world and being open with their relationship is even more so.
Spending every day together as a couple they begin to learn about their differences. Things that never bothered them are now annoying traits driving a wedge between them. Can their relationship survive their differences? Can it handle new friends and new romances? Will they find their way together or will they drift apart?

WHERE TO PURCHASE

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Jayson-James/e/B009FQAR44
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/jayson-james
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jaysonjamesbooks
SOCIAL MEDIA
Website: http://www.jaysonjamesbooks.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jaysonjamesbooks
Google+ & email: jaysonjamesbooks@gmail.com
Twitter: @jaysonjamesbook

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Today in the Comfy Chair – Taylin Clavelli

Posted in Guests, tagged author interview, brit author on September 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

My guest today is Taylin Clavelli, whom I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time this year at the UK Meet. A lady of many talents, as you will see, she currently has 4 short stories published within anthologies fro Dreamspinner Press and Wayward Ink and a lovely old school Western novel, Dakota Skies, recently released by Wayward Ink Publishing.

Hi Taylin and welcome.

Can you tell me a little about yourself? For instance, do you have to have a day job as well as being a writer?

No I don’t have a day job, but I do run a Martial Arts Club in Taekwon-do. I am pleased to say the parents of my students know what I write and many read my website and buy my books.

When you aren’t writing, is there any other creative activity you enjoy?

I tried my hand at flower arranging once, but they ended up more like something that had fallen out of the back of a van. It is only my writing that I am creative with, but I do enjoy horse riding and my Taekwon-do.

Have you ever written about it?

Horse riding, yes, TKD no. I am an experienced rider, capable of cross-country and show jumping. I’ve even ridden western and tried my hand at barrel racing. I enjoy putting horses into my stories. Some of the horses are based on a combination of equines I have encountered over the years.

What are you reading?

Not currently reading anything as I am busy with my current projects. But when I do read, I generally read something with an historical background or something with a touch of sword and sorcery and a good dose of how’s your father in it. The last book I read was The Book of Chaos by Nick Drake. Before that it was Echoes of Mercy by Lily Velden.

Can you recommend something that you wished you’d written yourself?

Yes, it’s not an M/M book but I loved the Ramses books by Christian Jacq. I love Egyptian history and his books delve into the life and trials of Ramses the great. His attention to detail and his scene setting truly makes the reader believe they are in Egypt in the court of Ramses himself.

In that crucial inspiration stage of a new story which comes first? Plot, situation or character?

It varies, but for the most part a situation enters my head, followed by plot and then the characters. A scene can bug me for days and longer. That’s when I know I will have to write it down. Then I start thinking about what events could have led to that situation and so a plot develops. Last as the plot thickens the characters come to life, because an image builds in my head of the type of person who could end up in such a situation and the characteristics such a person would have.

Do your characters arrive fully fledged and ready to fly or do they develop as you work with them?

They develop as I work with them, and as the story progresses I sometimes go back and change something about the characters. Characteristics develop first, then size and shape, followed by wardrobe and finally specific features. When I’m writing a short story I often don’t delve into the fine details of a look as I prefer to let the reader fill in some of the blanks.

Do you have a crisp mental picture of them or are they more a thought and a feeling than an image?

Yes, they are more of a thought and feeling to begin with. Although, for example if I am writing about someone who is an experienced horse rider, I already know they won’t have spindly legs and their core will be strong. So depending on the background of a character certain physical images will be in place. Usually by the time I am three or four chapters in, the main character is established in my head, even if sub-characters are still developing.

Is there any genre you would love to write, ditto one you would avoid like a rattlesnake?

I would like to write a good corset story, as I love history. I would say a story involving Egyptian history, too, but I already have one of those planned. As far as avoiding a genre like a rattlesnake, one can never say never about any subject or genre, but I don’t think I’d ever write a BDSM book. It’s not that I haven’t read a few BDSM stories – I have. It’s just that I like to have good research to back up my writing and BDSM isn’t an area I would be able to read a book about – I think it’s something I’d have to physically experience to be able to understand.

Do you find there to be a lot of structural differences between a relationship driven story and one where the romance is a sub plot?

My novel Dakota Skies is primarily a love story, but the there are plenty of action scenes where romance takes a back burner. When I write the romance elements I work purely from emotions, they dictate who does what, how and when. I write purely from the gut, letting logic take over later when I realize that a certain position isn’t even possible.

Writing action scenes is different again. It is more like plotting a war game. Heart comes into it later, if I kill off any characters, but primarily, it is a logic board of angles, trajectories, forces and reactions to what can be seen, or not. It is more of a game of chess than anything else. Who is going to be the pawn, or the knight and who will be left standing at the end.

Put together your ideal team of men/women ? drawing from all and any walks of life, fictional or non-fictional ? who you would want to come to your rescue if menaced by muggers/alligators/fundamentalists?

Thranduil from the Hobbit, purely because he’s a lethal good looking bastard with the experience of ages who I believe could get a person into or out of any situation. My husband, because he has nerves of steel and is one person who can stop me panicking, he’s like my own Spock. Tony Jaa and Jet Li – two totally awesome martial artists. Loki from Thor because he’s a cunning SOB and the one liners he comes out with are brilliant. The Avengers’ Black Widow because she is just awesome, and the Incredible Hulk, because – well, he’s the Hulk.

Villains are incredibly important in fiction since they challenge the main protagonists and give them something to contend with beyond the tension of a developing relationship. The cruel sea. The serial killer. The society itself. Your hero’s inner demons. What sort of villains do you prize?

Mm, a difficult one. There are two villains which I think I’ve ever liked. Loki from Thor and The Wicked Witch from Snow White and the Huntsman. I like both for very differing reasons. Charlize Teron hasn’t made a movie yet that I don’t like and I’d prefer her character over any other, even if she played a stunted troll. Loki is evil with a sense of ironic humour that for me, makes the movie.

As far as prized villains go. I like them to be either downright evil with no redeeming features or incredibly intelligent. Worthy of making our hero a champion.

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. Could we please have an excerpt of something?

At the moment I am working on a story called Secret of the Manor. It a ghost story set in the UK, where a modern man has an encounter with life in the 1500’s. It is an m/m story, but how it is going to finish, I haven’t a clue yet. Here’s an extremely rough excerpt – please forgive the lack of grammar, it is the first draft.

Warren had never been out on his horse at night. Only the moon lit his trail as his black stallion gingerly put one hoof before the other.
“It’s okay boy.” Warren soothed, stroking the silken neck.
He had an idea of the direction he was going – basically up, through trees. Wind fluttered the leaves and branches creaked.
He heard a cheer in the distance and rode towards it.
A patch of mist marred his path, and a twig hit Warren’s face, but he kept going. Argo stopped fretting and suddenly seemed to know where he was going. He puffed in excitement and upped his pace. It was all Warren could do to hang on.
To save his skin Warren leaned against Argo’s neck and put his trust in his steed. All he could hear was the 1 2 3, 1 2 3 thunderous beat. Warren almost lost his seat when Argo took off over a fallen tree and burst out of the mist and wood.
With a whinny and a rear, Argo announced his presence. Warren clung to the saddle and prayed.

###

If you would like to follow Taylin’s career she can be found on her Website, on Twitter or at Wayward Ink Publishing

Dakota Skies

Blurb:

Born in the wrong time…

In 1875 Dakota, Sheriff Jamie Carter has to hide his interest in men, even from his gutsy twin sister, Anna. On a good day, the truth can mean a bullet between the eyes, and on a bad, one in the back.

A man on a mission…

Jamie leaves Anna in charge of Blackrock and he hits the bounty hunting trail, along with his faithful equine companion, Houston. Five territories, scores of ‘Wanted’ posters, and many bullets later, his path unexpectedly converges with that of enigmatic loner, Kit Brooks.

Two men with one soul…

Will the smoldering fire between them rage into an inferno and break down protective barriers, allowing them to find love? Or will it separate and kill them?

Beneath Dakota skies…

Jamie and Kit’s story is a sweeping saga of cowboys, Indians, persistent broads, and vengeful villains, where the cowboys aren’t always the good guys, and love can’t be taken for granted.

[Click here to see the trailer]

Buy the book:

WIP: http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com/product/dakota-skies/
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NHPMJ7C/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NHPMJ7C/

About the author:

Taylin Clavelli lives in the United Kingdom, about 15 miles south of Birmingham, and a short journey from the world famous Cadbury’s Chocolate factory. She’s married with children and loves her family with all her heart.

Her love of books has been a long standing affair, with Taylin liking nothing better than to lose herself in an imaginary world.

Until she met Lily Velden, she never considered trying her hand at writing. However, after talking ideas, Lily encouraged her to put pen to paper—or rather, fingers to keyboard. Since, with a few virtual kicks in the right place, she hasn’t stopped. Her confidence eventually led to her writing an original work for submission.

Her first published work was Boys, Toys, and Carpet Fitters, developed for the Dreamspinner Press Anthology – Don’t Try This At Home.

Now she absolutely adores immersing herself into the characters she creates, and transferring the pictures in her brain to paper, finding it liberating, therapeutic, and wonderful.

Outside of writing, her interests include; martial arts (she’s a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Taekwon-do), horse-riding, all of which facilitates her love of a wide variety of movies. Her action heroes include Jet Li and Tony Jaa—finding the dedication these men have for their art combined with their skill both amazing and a privilege to watch. If pressed, she’ll admit to thinking that the screen entrance of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean – Curse of the Black Pearl, and Shadowfax in LOTR, to be the greatest screen entrances ever. Her all-time favorite movies are Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.

The simple things in life that make her day, putting a smile on her face are:

Laughter – especially that of her children.

The smell of lasagna cooking – it makes her mouth salivate.

The dawn chorus – no symphony ever written can beat the waking greetings of the birds.

Social links:

Website: http://www.taylinclavelli.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005234535413
Twitter: https://twitter.com/taylinclavelli

Please note:

Earlier this year Taylin had stories published in anthologies from Wayward Ink. Now they are being released for sale individually.

Sleepwalking will be available from 18th November 2014
Invisible will be available from 28th October 2014

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New Release – Project X by Nephylim

Posted in Guests, tagged new release on September 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Title: Project X
Author: Nephylim
Publisher: Wayward Ink Publishing

Synopsys

Morgan Bentley is a bastard. Always was and always will be.

At least that’s what Matthew Hopkins thinks. Unfortunately, Morgan is also a brilliant law student, and easily eclipses Matthew, academically and socially.

Matthew insists he hates Morgan. According to Matthew’s best friend, Cory, perhaps he doth protest a bit too much.

Cory has received the chance of a lifetime in the form of an internship with ITM—Information Technology and Medicine—the prestigious research company where Morgan’s father is the CEO. Too inquisitive for his own good, the naturally curious Cory stumbles on a deadly secret inside of ITM. What he has learned will tip the balance of everything, but for good or bad?

Just what is the mysterious Project X?

What is Morgan’s involvement?

Matthew has to sort fact from fiction, friend from foe, as his world is turned upside down and inside out, and nothing can be the way it was.

Reviews

Sinfully sexy Book Reviews
Rainbow Gold Reviews

Book Trailer

Buy Links

WIP: http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com/product/project-x-by-nephylim/
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NMHC4EI/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NMHC4EI/
Amazon AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00NMHC4EI/
Amazon DE: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00NMHC4EI/

About the author

Nephylim was born into a poor mining family in the South Wales Valleys. Until she was 16, the toilet was at the bottom of the garden and the bath hung on the wall. Her refrigerator was a stone slab in the pantry and there was a black lead fireplace in the kitchen. They look lovely in a museum but aren’t so much fun to clean.

Nephylim has always been a storyteller. As a child, she’d make up stories for her nieces, nephews and cousin and they’d explore the imaginary worlds she created, in play.

Later in life, Nephylim became the storyteller for a re enactment group who travelled widely, giving a taste of life in the Iron Age. As well as having an opportunity to run around hitting people with a sword, she had an opportunity to tell stories of all kinds, sometimes of her own making, to all kinds of people. The criticism was sometimes harsh, especially from the children, but the reward enormous.

It was here she began to appreciate the power of stories and the primal need to hear them. In ancient times, the wandering bard was the only source of news, and the storyteller the heart of the village, keeping the lore and the magic alive. Although much of the magic has been lost, the stories still provide a link to the part of us that still wants to believe that it’s still there, somewhere.

In present times, Nephylim lives in a terraced house in the valleys with her son and her two cats. Her daughter has deserted her for the big city, but they’re still close. The part of her that needs to earn money is a lawyer, but the deepest, and most important part of her is a storyteller and artist, and always will be.

Social media links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SevenPointStar
Facebook: Private: https://www.facebook.com/cheryl.headford.1
Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/Nephylim.author
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/nephylim-author
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4462803.Nephylim
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=140237118&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile
Adult Blog: http://nephylim-author.blogspot.co.uk/
Young Adult Blog: http://cherylheadford.blogspot.co.uk/

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