Elin Gregory

Writing the controversial

Okay, maybe “controversial” is overegging the pudding in this case, but when authors touch on subjects like politics or disability or religion in their books, they can find themselves losing readers who may not agree with the views they – or their characters – espouse. In the case of my latest novella, I’m being contentious by having a gay priest who (gasp!) has sex and enjoys it.

Now, I guess that the readership for books self selects, so people who are fervent in their belief that a man of the cloth (or any other Christian for that matter) can’t possibly be gay aren’t likely to read the book except to knock it, but that’s their look out. I’m happy to stand up and trade them blow for blow on theological points. And on real life examples such as Harry Williams, who was one of the priests at Prince Charles’s wedding and a well respected authority on faith.

While Dan, the vicar in the story, doesn’t move in quite such elite circles he faces the same sort of dilemmas, and I confess that I put many of my own views on faith and what it means to be Christian into his mouth (and mind) and into those of some other characters. I also confess to having put some of the views I don’t approve of into the mouths of the less sympathetic people in the story.

It’s a delicate balance. Sometimes an author has to put words into the mouths of their characters which they find offensive, or give their characters views the author would find untenable. Yet that has to be done, because these viewpoints exist and plenty of people sound them off regularly. However, an author has to avoid being preachy when they attack these opinions via what their protagonists say and do. I can think of few easier ways of putting a reader off than delivering a sermon to them!

Title: Don’t Kiss the Vicar (m/m contemporary romance, PG excerpt)

Link: Bold Strokes Books

Blurb:

Vicar Dan Miller is firmly in the closet in his new parish. Could the inhabitants of a sedate Hampshire village ever accept a gay priest? Trickier than that, how can he hide his attraction for one of his flock, Steve Dexter?

Encouraged by his ex-partner to seize the day, Dan determines to tell Steve how he feels, only to discover that Steve’s been getting poison pen letters and suspicion falls on his fellow parishioners. When compassion leads to passion, they have to conceal their budding relationship, but the arrival of more letters sends Dan scuttling back into the closet.

Can they run the letter writer to ground? More importantly, can they patch up their romance and will Steve ever get to kiss the vicar again?

Excerpt:

“Vicar!” The shout, the almost friendly wave meant the decision to veer off was taken too late.
“Steve!” A cordial wave back as the distance between them narrowed. “Didn’t think you frequented this place.”
“Is that why you come here, then? To get away from the parishioners you like least?”
Dan tried to find an answer, but somehow the connection between his brain and mouth had become severed. Helpless, he could feel the flush rushing up his neck, and could see—without looking at the bloke—that Steve was less than amused. What the hell else was he going to think other than that he’d hit the nail on the head, and Dan was too dumb to cover the fact up?
“Rex!” A high pitched, agitated female voice broke the awkward moment, as did a huge Great Dane, about the size of a rhinoceros, which came haring out of the woods, onto the path and straight into Steve’s leg.
“Shit!” Steve staggered, arms flailing in a futile effort to keep himself upright. Dan’s attempt to reach out and catch him before he hit the stony path was equally ineffective, but at least he could keep the nasty, snarling brute at bay with the aid of the stick he habitually took when he walked. Jimmy had said it gave him gravitas, now it provided the ideal weapon.
“You should keep that thing under control,” he said, as the woman came up and made a lunge for the Great Dane. “What if it had gone for a child?”
“He’s just nervous,” she said, flustered. “Here, Rex. Here boy.” The dog stood off. “He’s a rescue dog. Doesn’t like men.”
“Then take him somewhere he won’t have to see them. Are you all right?” Dan tried to focus his anger into something useful, rummaging in his pocket for a clean hankie. “You need something on that hand.”
“I’m fine,” Steve said, trying to hide the bleeding while keeping a nervous eye on the dog. “Can somebody not take that bloody thing away?”
“There’s no need for that sort of language,” the woman said, at last managing to get a lead onto the dog’s collar.
“I think there’s every need for it. And worse,” Dan said. “You’d better take him off if you don’t want the air turning blue.”
“Well, really! Come on boy.” She hauled the dog away at last.
“Right. Show me that hand.”
“I’m fine.” Steve got to his feet, brushing the dirt off his trousers and managing to get blood on them.
“That hand’s a mess.” Dan grabbed it, none too gently, which made Steve wince, but it served him right for faffing. “This cut’s full of crap. You need to have it cleaned out and a steri-strip put on. Might even need a stitch or two.”
“I’ve had worse,” Steve said, trying to free his paw.
Yes, you have. There’s that intriguing scar on the back of your hand and the one above your left eyebrow. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. Don’t think I don’t imagine tasting them.
Dan became aware of the strange look he was getting and ploughed on. “So have I. Come on, the vicarage is closer than your house. We can dress this there.”
“Oh, for fu…goodness sake. I can sort it out myself. I’m not a child.” Steve tugged his hand away, clearly avoiding Dan’s gaze.
“Will you not let somebody help you? Must you always be so bloody stubborn?”

Bio and links:

As Charlie Cochrane couldn’t be trusted to do any of her jobs of choice—like managing a rugby team—she writes. Her favourite genre is gay fiction, predominantly historical romances/mysteries.

She’s a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Mystery People, and International Thriller Writers Inc., with titles published by Carina, Samhain, Bold Strokes Books, MLR, and Riptide.

To sign up for her newsletter, email her at cochrane.charlie2@googlemail.com, or catch her at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlie.cochrane.18
Twitter: http://twitter.com/charliecochrane
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2727135.Charlie_Cochrane
Blog: http://charliecochrane.livejournal.com
Website: http://www.charliecochrane.co.uk

Since it’s my turn to host Liam today, we thought we’d try something a little different. So here is an interview with James, one of the people from Liam Livings’ latest release, Heat Wave Astoria. James, are you comfortable here? Would you like anything to drink? Tea, coffee, gin?

James: tea would be lovely. Do you know how to make it properly?

Elin: I do, thank you very much -shakes head slowly, hands over perfectly brewed cup of tea- I must say, that’s a lovely jacket you’re wearing, where did you get it from?

James: I made it myself.

Elin: you quilted your own jacket?

James: -blushing- I did. -takes sip of tea, looks away-

Elin: -looks at notes- Can you tell me what took you to America in the first place?

James: I was on this project called Snowflake. It’s an operating system for computers. It’s all to do with the internet of things, and mobile technology and ensuring usability for devices is transferrable across a number of platforms.

Elin: -blinks, peers over glasses, checks questions- Right. To what extent is that linked to your interest in quilting? It’s not every day you meet a man who can carry off such a dashing jacket, who’s also made it himself.

James: -adjusts jacket, picks bit of fluff off shoulder, takes sip of tea- it’s my thing I suppose.

Elin: could you tell us a bit more about how it’s your thing please?

James: I spend all day up to my neck in computer code, in user testability studies, in working out how to de-bug programmes and when I get home in the evening I wanted something completely different to do.

Elin: yes, and how did you come across quilting?

James: one weekend when I realised I’d not left my place for almost 24hours I went to a nearby village, where they had a craft fair. Normally I hate that sort of thing. -shakes head-

Elin: -peers over glasses- and why is that?

James: people. People everywhere. Talking. Asking questions, wanting to talk. -shudders-

Elin: – joins in the shudder – but this time, it was different, right? This time you knew you’d found your people and your calling and you struck up a conversation with someone about quilting? Am I right?

James: not really, I’m afraid. I’d plotted the best route to take to cover all the stands at the craft fair, while interacting with as few people as possible. I’ve got an app on my phone that calculates the best route. And as I was just about to walk back to my car, pleased with myself for not talking to a single person the whole time I was at the fair, I bumped into someone. Not sure why I bumped into someone actually. I’d worked out the optimum route to get back to the car avoiding people. And even so, there was someone in my way.

Elin: were you staring at your phone by any chance?

James: yes I was! How did you know?

Elin: -shuffles papers- women’s intuition.

James: yes, someone once tried to persuade me that really existed. I said there was no research that pointed to that conclusion, but she wasn’t too happy to hear that. When I told my brother, he said I shouldn’t have told her that. But I don’t know why.

Elin: -leaning forward, motioning for him to continue- you bumped into someone, and what happened, who was this person?

James: a woman, probably same age as you, maybe younger, carrying a wicker basket of materials and cottons and needles. She was taking some of the quilting materials back to her house. Of course I apologised for bumping into her. Although technically it was her fault, I am a gentleman.

Elin: -smiling-

James: she wanted to talk to me. I don’t know why, she didn’t know me, and I tried to walk away, but she continued talking to me and telling me all about the quilting, the boxes, the materials. Somehow, I don’t know how, I was returning to her stall where she showed me more about how it all worked. The patterns, they were what really got me interested. It shows you exactly where to sew, which bits, and how it’ll look when it’s finished. It’s very systematic. -snaps fingers- women’s intuition, I’m sure that’s what she’d say persuaded me to follow her back to her stand.

Elin: or something similar. And then what happened?

James: this woman, I forget her name. I don’t need to remember it because I have her number in my phone and I know her number, so that reminds me to check my phone for her name before I meet her. People like it if you remember their name don’t they?

Elin: yes, they do.

James: -showing his mobile phone- her number is zero seven, nine…

Elin: -putting hand on his arm- thanks, but no need, James dear.

James: before I knew it, I was going to her monthly meetings in a primary school on Saturdays. We sit there in the classroom, there are no children, because it’s the weekend, and we sew, knit and quilt and talk. I don’t talk too much. They tend to talk around me and I concentrate on my pattern, and asking any questions I have about the quilting. Once I finished the first quilt I tried another one, and another one, and before long I was asking her, this woman. Now, what is her name…Anyway, asking her if I could make a jacket out of quilting, would that, technically, be possible.

Elin: and you’re wearing it now.

James: I love it. Turns out not everyone felt the same, but I’d better not say more because, spoilers…I’ve been warned about those by Liam Livings. He was very clear on that point.

Elin: what have you learned since living in America?

James: most Americans do not know how to make a decent cup of tea. Not one clue. There was a whole incident with luke warm water and creamer in a hotel in Astoria, but I’d better not go into that or spoilers…

Elin: I’m sure you can tell us about that without spoiling the whole story about you and Brad. -smiling-

James: I asked the hotel for something to boil water. A tea kettle they call it apparently. And once I had that I asked for some milk to put in my tea. The hotel receptionist told me to use creamer. Creamer in tea. I almost walked out. I didn’t know what to say to her. She repeated down the phone there was creamer and told me to have a nice day. Have a nice day? With creamer in my tea? How on earth did she expect me to do that?

Elin: impossible! what else have you learned since living in America?

James: so much about people. About the kindness of people. About how sometimes when you have a list of things you must do, sometimes they end up not being important. And how sometimes what you thought was important can turn out not to be important at all. That things are less important than people. That complicated and messy isn’t always a bad thing. And to be grateful when you find the right sort of person. I mean people. You know what I mean. I hope I’ve not…spoilers.

Elin: I don’t think you have, James. It’s been lovely to meet you, James. Do you think you’d make me a jacket like yours if I paid you for time and materials? I used to quilt, but don’t seem to have the time now.

James: no. I don’t take commissions.

Elin: and on that note, I think we’ll close the interview.

If anyone would like a chance of winning an ebook copy of one of Liam Livings’ books, please respond in the comments to this question: What things have you learned from travelling?

Heat Wave Astoria by Liam Livings

Brad’s shop is known as the most popular tourist attraction for certain men in his home town, Astoria. Brad doesn’t do relationships – why would he? Brad is an unashamed slut, and he loves it.

British IT programmer, James is much happier working with software and computers than people. He finds escape in his encyclopaedic knowledge of childhood films like The Goonies & Short Circuit.

When James walks into a quilting shop in Astoria, he decides he’ll take his brother’s advice and talk to the stranger. That stranger is Brad, melting slowly behind the counter during the longest heat wave America’s had in years.

Can a man who thinks in binary code and always plans things to the finest degree, cope with the twists and turns of emotions? Can someone who never thinks before he leaps allow himself to leap into the biggest unknown, a relationship? And how will they cope with James’ impending return to England?

Can two men who never to meet learn to embrace the whole messy relationship that love brings into their lives?

Buy links:     JMS Books                Amazon.com             Amazon.co.uk

About Liam Livings

Liam Livings lives where east London ends and becomes Essex. He shares his house with his boyfriend and cat. He enjoys baking, cooking, classic cars and socialising with friends. He escapes from real life with a guilty pleasure book, cries at a sad, funny and camp film – and he’s been known to watch an awful lot of Gilmore Girls in the name of writing ‘research’.

He has written since he was a teenager, started writing with the hope of publication in 2011. His writing focuses on friendships, British humour, romance with plenty of sparkle.

You can connect with Liam

Twitter @LiamLivings

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/liam.livings

Blog http://www.liamlivings.com/blog

Website www.liamlivings.com