Elin Gregory

My guest today is Lucy Felthouse, a fellow Brit from Derbyshire in the UK and a very busy woman! She writes erotica and erotic romance in a variety of subgenres and pairings, and has over eighty publications to her name, with many more in the pipeline. These include several editions of Best Bondage Erotica, Best Women’s Erotica 2013 and Best Erotic Romance 2014. Another string to her bow is editing, and she has edited and co-edited a number of anthologies, and also edits for a small publishing house. She owns Erotica For All, and is book editor for Cliterati.
This interview is part of a blog hop in celebration of her latest release – a m/m erotic romance novella, Illicit Relations, which is part of the Boys Will Do Boys series from Ellora’s Cave. At the bottom of the post is a link to a Rafflecopter giveaway so don’t forget to comment and click the link.
Welcome, Lucy.

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

Lucy : I do have a day job, but I’m very lucky in as much as I’m self-employed and run my own business, Writer Marketing Services, http://www.writermarketing.co.uk. So basically I pretty much eat, sleep and breathe books, and I can fit my writing in around my work, and vice versa when I’m on deadline.

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

Lucy : I’ve recently taken up knitting. It was just to make a Christmas present for someone originally, but I’ve ended up getting addicted to it! Now I’ve made wrist warmers, teddies, phone and Kindle cases, and probably by the time this post goes live, I’ll have made a start on a jumper dress. I haven’t written about it in fiction. I’ve done a blog post about it, but haven’t yet written it into a story. Who knows, it could be a good topic!

Elin : What are you reading? Fiction or non-fiction? Can you recommend something that you wished you’d written yourself?

Lucy : I’m currently reading a short story called Chantilly Lace by Em Woods. It’s a gay erotic romance. As for the third part of the question – too many books to list!

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

Lucy : It varies from story to story. Sometimes I get a place, a character, a plot, a situation. Other times it can be something as seemingly irrelevant as an item! But I don’t mind – as long as my brain keeps supplying ideas, I’m happy!

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

Lucy : Mostly they develop as I work with them. In a short story there’s no so much room for development anyway. But when I’m writing novella length or longer, my characters often surprise me. They’ll do or say something I wasn’t expecting, then I have to make sure it fits or gives a reason for it. It’s all good fun, it keeps me on my toes!

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

Lucy : It depends. A great deal of my male characters have uncanny likenesses to my favourite celebrity crushes. In those cases, yes I definitely have a crisp mental picture of them. But if I don’t have a particular Muse in mind, then they’re more a thought and a feeling, unless I have a specific reason to describe them in great detail.

Elin : 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 bigotted society. What sort of villains do you prize?

Lucy : In terms of reading, I like all kinds of villains. But most especially the ones that aren’t obvious. Perhaps they’re “normal” on the surface, but are doing all these evil things in the background.

In terms of writing, I haven’t really written many villains at all, as the conflict in many of my stories is more to do with relationships than outside factors. Having said that, the novel I’m working on at the moment most definitely has a villain. It’s my first thriller – but it’s still got romance and lots of hot sex, so isn’t a massive leap from my other work. It’s been fun so far and a challenge, which is fantastic. The villain is one that I don’t think anyone will suspect – readers and fellow characters alike. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what my beta readers think!

Elin : 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.

Lucy : I’ve covered this a little bit above. I’m writing a paranormal erotic romance thriller, which is rather a mouthful! It’s called The Persecution of the Wolves, and is set in a real village in the Peak District in Derbyshire, UK. The village, Eyam, is famous because back in 1665, the plague came to the village, and the villagers cut themselves off from the outside world to stop it spreading. That’s the very short version of the story, but I’ve been fascinated with the story and the village since I was a child, so I guess it was only a matter of time before it found its way into my work. My book is about werewolves that have lived in the village since before the plague, and how this has impacted on them and their lives, and the modern day village. It’s pretty complex, but I’m having real fun with it.

Elin : Could we please have an excerpt of something?

Lucy : Of course. Here’s a snippet from my just-released m/m erotic romance novella, Illicit Relations, from Ellora’s Cave.

Excerpt:

Terry deliberately averted his gaze as Justin tugged off his T-shirt and dove into the pool. The last thing he needed was to see him topless. His libido was already in overdrive and he was having trouble not jumping Justin’s bones. In fact, the only thing that held him back was the fact that Justin was his second cousin. They hadn’t been brought up particularly closely, so it wasn’t as if he were lusting after someone he considered to be a brother, but still. They were related and it was weird. Or it would be weird if anything happened between them, which it wouldn’t, of course. It would be wrong and they both knew it.
Terry assumed that was the reason Justin was avoiding him, anyway. They got on well and there was an obvious spark between them, but nothing inappropriate had ever taken place. For the most part, they acted as cousins should. Every now and again, though, he’d catch Justin looking at him. Equally, Terry would drink his fill of his cousin when no one else was looking. Apparently it was getting increasingly difficult for Justin, too.
Right now, at the annual summer get together at Terry’s grandparents’ massive house in rural Warwickshire, the tension between them had never been higher.
What made the whole thing ten times worse was that neither of them had come out. So ending up together would be a double whammy for their families. He could see it now. Hey, everyone! I’m gay—and so is he. We’re together. Now as you were.
He didn’t know whether the reaction would be favorable or not.
He also knew that part of his frustration about the situation was because he hadn’t yet seen any point in coming out. His feelings for Justin ran deeper than he cared to admit, and for that reason he hadn’t been in a relationship with anyone—ever. Not a homosexual relationship, anyway. He’d had girlfriends back in the days when he hadn’t realized what his urges meant, but since then he’d been by himself and remained a virgin. He was surprised, actually, that no one in his family had asked whether he was gay. He could only assume that because he was so private generally, they thought he would only introduce them to someone when he felt it was absolutely right. That was his plan, in fact. To come out and introduce his partner at the same time. But until he got over this damn infatuation with Justin, he was never going to be any farther forward.
His thoughts ran on for several minutes until he was interrupted—and startled—by droplets of cold water falling onto his bare shoulder. He turned. Justin stood there, shaking his blond head and sending the droplets flying around. Apparently he wasn’t avoiding Terry anymore.
It was hot and he was wearing casual clothes, so Terry wasn’t bothered about getting wet, but for some reason, he snapped at Justin. “For fuck’s sake, do you have to do that here?”
Immediately Justin stopped and stared at him. They’d never had a cross word between them, not even when they were children. “Sorry, mate. I was just messing around. I didn’t think it would piss you off.”
His blue eyes were wide and Terry felt his irritation dissipating rapidly. He continued to rake his gaze down Justin’s half-naked form. His broad shoulders and wide chest, which was sprinkled with a handful of pale hairs. His toned stomach, the six-pack nicely defined but not too body-builderish. His arms were thickly muscled but suited his athletic frame. Deep-blue swimming trunks hid the area he most wanted to see but he relied on the glimpses he’d had over the years and his overripe imagination.
Thick thighs and calves and, unbelievably, nice feet—he didn’t generally like feet—finished off the package of perfection and Terry was suddenly extremely glad he had a book in his lap, because his cock was beginning to swell and press against the inside of his swimming shorts. He realized that a dip in the pool would be a pretty good antidote—the chilly water should take the heat from his cock. And if not, at least no one would be able to see the bulge unless they swam underwater.
It was stupid, really, trying to hide his erection from Justin. They both knew there was something between them, and he wanted to bury his hard cock inside Justin’s mouth or arse, not hide it beneath a fucking book.
He began to wonder whether they should just get together, and to hell with the consequences. It wasn’t illegal.
Justin sat down on the sun bed next to Terry and flashed him a smile. “Am I forgiven, then? I haven’t got your book wet, have I?” He reached out to grab the book, presumably to try to dry it, but Terry slammed his hand down quickly, catching Justin’s fingers beneath his in the process, not to mention giving his cock a bit of a smack.
“No,” he ground out, wondering how he’d managed to get even a single word to fall from his lips. As soon as their fingers had touched he’d felt a spark that had run straight up his arm and multiplied throughout his entire body. His ebbing erection had immediately jumped back to attention, lifting the book slightly. He hoped against all hope that Justin hadn’t noticed but he had no such luck.
The blond’s gaze dropped to their still-touching fingers and, presumably, to the book and the thing beneath it that had caused the movement. He stared for a few seconds that felt like hours, then looked back up at Terry’s face. He opened his mouth then closed it again. For the first time ever, it seemed Justin was speechless.
A huge splash and a series of laughs from the pool broke the spell between them. Justin snatched his hand back and raked it through his hair. He opened and closed his mouth again, but for the second time nothing came out. He let out a heavy sigh and stood up looking dazed. He appeared to have trouble putting one foot in front of the other, as though he were drunk or had just woken from a very deep sleep. Of course, only the two of them knew the real reason for Justin’s behavior.
Finally Justin got his limbs to cooperate, and he made his way across to the table that held food and drinks, sheltered from the bright sunlight by a large, green gazebo.
Terry watched him go, a tumult of emotions running through his brain. Disappointment, confusion, anger, lust…they all assaulted him, though admittedly the last was screaming the loudest, a fact certainly not helped by Justin’s damp and topless state.
Now a feeling of despair took hold of him. What the fuck was he going to do?

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Illicit Relations
Blurb:
Terry’s had a crush on his second cousin Justin for what seems like forever. He’s hidden it as well as possible, knowing that the other man is out of bounds, forbidden fruit. Second cousins getting together isn’t actually illegal, but for Justin the relationship is too close—he just can’t contemplate them being together.
But when some new information comes to light about Terry’s birth and his place in the family, the whole game changes. Suddenly the relationship isn’t so impossible, and things soon begin to get hot and heavy.

Available from: http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/illicit-relations/
Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18741652-illicit-relations
*****
Many thanks, Lucy, for answering the questions so fully.
To find out more go to http://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk. Join her on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to her newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/gMQb9

And here’s that GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

I’d love to offer an excerpt of something Christmassy but I’ve never written anything myself so here’s a bit of A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas.

It was on the afternoon of the Christmas Eve, and I was in Mrs. Prothero’s garden, waiting for cats, with her son Jim. It was snowing. It was always snowing at Christmas. December, in my memory, is white as Lapland, though there were no reindeers. But there were cats.

Patient, cold and callous, our hands wrapped in socks, we waited to snowball the cats. Sleek and long as jaguars and horrible-whiskered, spitting and snarling, they would slink and sidle over the white back-garden walls, and the lynx-eyed hunters, Jim and I, fur-capped and moccasined trappers from Hudson Bay, off Mumbles Road, would hurl our deadly snowballs at the green of their eyes. The wise cats never appeared.

We were so still, Eskimo-footed arctic marksmen in the muffling silence of the eternal snows – eternal, ever since Wednesday – that we never heard Mrs. Prothero’s first cry from her igloo at the bottom of the garden. Or, if we heard it at all, it was, to us, like the far-off challenge of our enemy and prey, the neighbor’s polar cat. But soon the voice grew louder.

“Fire!” cried Mrs. Prothero, and she beat the dinner-gong. And we ran down the garden, with the snowballs in our arms, toward the house; and smoke, indeed, was pouring out of the dining-room, and the gong was bombilating, and Mrs. Prothero was announcing ruin like a town crier in Pompeii. This was better than all the cats in Wales standing on the wall in a row.

We bounded into the house, laden with snowballs, and stopped at the open door of the smoke-filled room. Something was burning all right; perhaps it was Mr. Prothero, who always slept there after midday dinner with a newspaper over his face. But he was standing in the middle of the room, saying, “A fine Christmas!” and smacking at the smoke with a slipper.

“Call the fire brigade,” cried Mrs. Prothero as she beat the gong.

“They won’t be there,” said Mr. Prothero, “it’s Christmas.”

There was no fire to be seen, only clouds of smoke and Mr. Prothero standing in the middle of them, waving his slipper as though he were conducting.

“Do something,” he said. And we threw all our snowballs into the smoke – I think we missed Mr. Prothero – and ran out of the house to the telephone box.

“Let’s call the police as well,” Jim said. “And the ambulance.”

“And Ernie Jenkins, he likes fires.”

But we only called the fire brigade, and soon the fire engine came and three tall men in helmets brought a hose into the house and Mr. Prothero got out just in time before they turned it on.

Nobody could have had a noisier Christmas Eve. And when the firemen turned off the hose and were standing in the wet, smoky room, Jim’s Aunt, Miss. Prothero, came downstairs and peered in at them.

Jim and I waited, very quietly, to hear what she would say to them. She said the right thing, always. She looked at the three tall firemen in their shining helmets, standing among the smoke and cinders and dissolving snowballs, and she said, “Would you like anything to read?”

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British firemen are a bit different to American ones, of course, but they are always fun to see.

Merry Christmas anyone who might see this and I hope 2014 brings you everything you might wish for.

My guest today is Kate Sherwood, intrepid horsewoman and multi-talented author of M/M and M/F romance who is just dipping into some YA projects as well. She is here today in celebration of her new release, The Fall, which will be available tomorrow!

Welcome Kate and thanks for visiting today.

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

Kate : I do have a day job – a fairly demanding one. But it has good vacation time, so I get to catch up on my writing then! And I stopped watching TV a few years ago – it’s amazing how much time that freed up for writing.

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

Kate : I think gardening is pretty creative, or at least it can be, and I enjoy that. I think it’s an interesting contrast to writing, because writing is really pretty controlled – I know some people talk about Muses or their characters “doing what they want”, but for me? My characters do what they’re told, and my Muse is me getting my butt in the chair and typing. But the garden is a lot harder to control, and I think that’s good for my humility. I don’t use chemicals, so I just have to accept that there will sometimes be some bug damage, and that’s fine. And sometimes the weather won’t cooperate, and that’s fine too.
I started deliberately planting milkweed a few years ago to feed the monarch butterflies, and every time I see a hole in one of their leaves, it’s a triumph, not a problem. A novel I can finish and walk away from, but a garden is a perpetual work in progress.

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

Kate : Characters and situations kind of work together for me. I guess maybe because the conflict in my novels is so often internal, the situation the character is in really determines the nature of his character. In The Fall, (coming December 16th from Dreamspinner!), one of the main characters is going through a big change in his life and that’s making him question who he is – I can’t really separate the character from the situation for him. The other main character is determined not to change, and that determination comes from his situation.

Plot, though? Plot just comes as I write. I know who my characters are and where they need to get to in order for the book to have a happy ending, but I don’t really know how they get there until they’re well on their way.

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

Kate : I’m a frustratingly non-visual person. When cover artists ask me what I want, I’m, like, “I guess the title should be on there somewhere…”. So, no, I don’t really know what my characters look like. Of course, to complete the frustration of the poor cover artists, I seem to have a pretty clear idea of what the characters don’t look like, so I’m happy to reject models without actually being able to provide any suggestions for what would be better. Yeah, I’m a joy to work with.

Elin : 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?

Kate : My main conflicts are almost always internal. There may be “Bad Guys” as well, but they aren’t usually the central problem the characters need to solve in order to be together. I guess a lot of the time the external conflict came in the past – some trauma, a bad experience, or an evil character – and then during the time of the book, the characters are working to overcome the aftereffects of the past, not the past event itself.

Elin : 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.

Kate : I’m actually just wrapping up a novel based on a short story I wrote for one of the Goodreads m/m group events. The short story was called “In Over His Head” and the working title for the novel is “In Too Deep”. It’s interesting to see how the story changes in the long version. The events of the short story were meant to be the climax of the novel, but as I wrote the backstory I found I was actually more interested in what happens after the events of the short story. So I’ve changed almost everything about the short except for the basic premise and the characters. It’s been fun!

Elin : Could we please have an excerpt of something?

Kate : Absolutely! The Fall is coming December 16th, and in it spoiled city-boy Mackenzie goes to live in the country and runs into laconic cowboy Joe. After their first meeting, Mackenzie chats with his elderly neighbor about it all:

Lorraine snorted. “He didn’t seem too friendly? I’m not surprised.” She shrugged philosophically. “It’s probably the gay thing.”

It hit Mackenzie almost like a slap. He’d thought he was prepared for small-town attitudes toward his sexuality and had absolutely considered homophobia as a possible barrier to setting up his wedding chapel somewhere like Falls Creek. But he couldn’t believe it was being treated so casually. “You’re saying he was rude to me because I’m gay?”

Lorraine looked startled. “No. I’m not sure I’d call it rude, but the way he acts? Distant, kind of? I always figured it was because he’s gay. You know, he’s always been a bit different, so he’s never really tried too hard to fit in. He just hangs out on his ranch, being a lonely cowboy….” She trailed off and fixed her gaze on Mackenzie. “But you say you’re gay as well? I mean, I can’t say it didn’t cross my mind. But it seemed rude to ask….”

“Joe Sutton is gay.” Mackenzie had always prided himself on being able to read people and certainly on being able to pick up on that little spark from a man who was noticing Mackenzie’s undeniable charms. But he’d gotten none of that from the cowboy brother. “That’s confirmed? Or you’re just guessing?”

“Well, I haven’t been there in the room with him and another fella,” Lorraine said with an arched brow, “but it’s general knowledge. He’s never tried to hide it, not that I ever heard of.”

“Maybe he just couldn’t be bothered to speak in order to deny it. He doesn’t seem like someone who cares a whole lot what other people think about him.” Mackenzie was trying to figure it all out. He wanted to find a mirror and make sure he still looked like himself. First Nathan had dumped him for that twenty-year-old, and now a man living in what must surely be a gay desert had crawled right past Mackenzie’s bountiful oasis?

“You could ask Nancy Yeats’s nephew, if you wanted. Trevor something or other. He lives over in Darton, and I guess the two of them were seeing each other for quite a while.” Lorraine’s grin was a mix of curiosity and mischief. “If you’re interested, I can find out if he’s seeing anyone right now. I haven’t heard of it, and usually that’d be a good sign that it isn’t happening, but like I said, Joe’s a bit different. A bit more private than most folks.”

Private was not a good enough excuse for failing to pay attention to his surroundings or, more importantly, failing to pay attention to Mackenzie. But none of that needed to be shared with a woman who clearly gossiped as a way of life. He smiled brightly. “Oh, no, I’m not interested. You know, not like that. I was just curious. I wanted to know what kind of people I’d be doing business with if I had the Suttons do the work on the church.”
“The best kind,” Lorraine said firmly. “You couldn’t do better.”

Lorraine started telling a story about the Suttons helping out some poor family that had lost everything in a house fire—well, of course the whole community had chipped in, but the Suttons had done the biggest part—and some people might say that’s because they’re blood, but really, they’d be third cousins at best—because it was Susan Sutton’s grandmother? Yes, grandmother, Maggie Johnson—she was from out in Newfoundland, back before it was even part of Canada, and she’d carried that accent with her for her whole life….

Mackenzie tuned out. Joe Sutton was openly gay. And Mackenzie was a model, for Christ’s sake. Maybe his career hadn’t quite taken off, but that was because Nathan hadn’t really liked it. He hadn’t been rude enough to try to forbid it, but he’d be grumpy for days before and after Mackenzie went out of town for even a couple days, and there just weren’t enough shoots in Toronto to propel someone into the modeling elite. The first time Mackenzie turned down a New York job, Nathan had leased him a silver Mini convertible as a reward. Mackenzie had been thrilled by the symbol of Nathan’s affection and by the adorable new wheels. But being a good boyfriend had made it a bit difficult to be a good model. So, no, it wasn’t as if Mackenzie had set the world on fire as a model. Still, he must be a tastier piece of ass than Nancy Whoever’s nephew!

Mackenzie forced himself to pay a bit more attention to Lorraine’s chatter, but the biggest part of his brain was still focused elsewhere. He was not going to be ignored by some desperate hick pretending to be a damn cowboy. No. Joe Sutton was about to get his world rocked. “Nobody puts Baby in a corner,” he muttered to himself, and then he smiled when Lorraine shot him a quizzical glance. “I’ve got to go,” he said without trying to explain. “But thanks so much for catching me up on all this. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

He beat a hasty retreat inside and went to sit in the sanctuary of the church. A lot to think about. And a lot of things to do, things actually based around the important points of building a successful business and keeping himself out of the poorhouse. But his mind kept drifting back to the tall cowboy who’d told him he had bats in his belfry. And then ignored him. What the hell was Joe Sutton’s problem?

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The Fall by Kat Sherwood
Blurb: Every relationship leaves something behind. Dumped by his sugar daddy, part-time model Scott Mackenzie somehow ends up owning an abandoned church in rural Ontario. He dreams of using it for gay weddings, even if he’ll never have one of his own.

Joe Sutton is trying to keep his family together after his parents’ deaths. Between the family ranch, his brother’s construction company, and commitments around town, he doesn’t have time for a relationship. But Mackenzie is hard to ignore.

As both men fight their growing attraction, challenges to Mackenzie’s business threaten their relationship. If he can’t make it work, he’ll have to crawl back to the city in defeat. But the only solution involves risking the ranch Joe loves, and each man has to decide how much he’ll sacrifice for the other.

Available from Dreamspinner on December 16th

If you would like to follow Kate you can find her on her website and blog, on her Facebook and on Twitter.

My guest today is Ashlyn Forge, one of the most secretive authors I have ever met.  But, as the About page on her website says, she is too busy producing new stories to do much of anything else.

Welcome Ashlyn and thanks for answering my questions.

˜˜˜

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

Aren’t writing? I only write.

Can you name any author/authors, past or present, who have been a great influence on your work?

I love Terry Pratchett. I wish I could have his humor. There aren’t many authors now that influence my work, but there are so many good m/m writers out there that I wish I could stand on par with. I’m a long way off but once in awhile I talk to one or two. Those times feel a bit surreal and even more so because they are quite friendly.

What are you reading? Something to be clutched to the bosom or tossed aside with force? Fiction or non-fiction?

I’m actually not reading anything right now but I have a hefty ‘to read’ list.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Definately a pantser. I’ve tried being a plotter and even if the main goal is achieved, the major bulk wasn’t planned. I tip my hat to plotters, though.

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

I think neither. They sort of come in looking whole but start showing wear pretty fast.

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

I get weary when it comes to being strict on anything but their personality. I hope that the MC can be a suit readers can wear and say they see some part of the character within themselves. Their personality is chiseled, the image of them otherwise can be toyed with.

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?

Definitely. I’m flexible but if I had to choose, then I would prefer the former. The romance is good, but sometimes the romance just ‘happens’ like, the characters just suddenly love each other and I wasn’t aware of it till they said it. In a story with the romance as a sub plot, we can see it unfold as it goes.

Put together your ideal team of men ・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?

I’d want Doc Savage, Broc Sampson, Blade, Hellboy, Peter Griffin (because we need a fall guy), Snake Eyes from GI-Joe, and Chuck Norris, because he’s Chuck Norris, and he’d probably finally meet his end on this mission. And finally, Jayne from Firefly because I’d like some eye candy on the trip back home.

Villains ・incredibly important in fiction since they challenge the main protagonists and give them something to contend with beyond the tension of a developing relationship. What sort of villains do you prize? A moustache-twirling nightmare or ・?

I like the villains which have an agenda to protect. I don’t want them to just be bastards for the hell of it. And I like a smart villain which I might actually come to love. The best bad guys, are the ones you love to hate.

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.

Since my debut “In Liam’s Wake” and “From Johann to Tannenbaum” are coming out, those two are my primary focus. After that however, I will rip into book two like there’s no tomorrow.

Could we please have an excerpt of something?

Here is an excerpt of Liam’s Wake.

“Well,” Liam sighed as he reached into his jacket to take inventory of his blades. “Wished this on myself by the looks of it.” His fingertips grazed a hook, but he thought better of it and selected one of the shorter daggers. “Got my fucking unwinnable fight at last. But it serves you right, Liam. Serves you bloody–”

“You certainly are building the suspense,” Paddy’s voice boomed from the bleachers. “Deloris here does love to play with his food, so make sure and flail around a little. It’s more fun that way; the crowd loves it.”

Paddy spoke so loudly that Liam looked back to the bleachers to make sure the man was, in fact, at a distance. He seemed far away at first, then close, then far away again. Liam realized that his vision was playing tricks on him. He had been so focused on the imp—and the prospect of dying—that he hadn’t thought to check his left hand. When he opened his palm to see the two tablets safe. He pocketed them and tossed the dagger from one hand to the next.

The imp moved. That is to say, Liam saw the green-skinned creature’s head bob, following the blade. At that moment, Liam tossed the knife from left to right experimentally to confirm that the imp’s yellow eyes were fixed on it.

“Oh, so you like shiny things, huh?” Liam used the back of his hand to wipe his face, brushing the sweat from his eyes. “Right. Don’t suppose you’re bloodthirsty but unable to actually draw blood like the Elementals, huh?”

Something stung his cheek. It distracted him momentarily, and when he looked back at his opponent an instant later, the imp was gone.

The clattering of clawed feet drew Liam’s gaze upward, where he saw the creature directly above him, its feet anchoring it on the ceiling.

“Well, fuck me,” Liam muttered.

Looking upward for long wasn’t an option, however, because Liam was starting to feel dizzy. Once he looked away, the creature jumped down from the ceiling, its body twisting so that it landed on its feet.

When the imp sat down, Liam narrowed his brow, confused. Next, the creature did a strange thing: it began to suck at its right middle finger. Liam was well aware that he was in no position to make any sort of assessment, but if he didn’t know any better, he’d think the thing was flipping him the bird.

There was blood on the imp’s digit, and it took a second more for Liam to touch his cheek and make the connection. His fingertips came away bloody, the redness making his body go rigid and cold.

He’d been cut. The damn imp had cut him, and it was so fast that he didn’t even know he’d been struck.

In an instant, Liam loosened his grip on the dagger, allowing it to fall.

###

Home Page:

http://www.ashlynforge.com

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My guest today is Dean Pace-Frech, who has a brand new novel out – Disappear With Me.

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Thank you for having me today! I am new author, L. Dean Pace-Frech and my second novel, Disappear With Me, was just released on December 6.

In 2006, a co-worker shared with me that one of her bucket list goals was to write a novel. That comment awakened a desire in me that had been buried since I was in the fifth grade. After a visit to Pea Ridge National Military Park near Pea Ridge, Arkansas, my characters and their story revealed themselves to me and I started writing.

I have always loved history. I grew up reading the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The Young Adult category didn’t exist when I was growing up, so I graduated from those books and went on to read historical dramas like Roots, The Blue and the Gray, the Kent Family Chronicles, and the North and South Trilogy. It’s inevitable that I write historical fiction.

Disappear With Me is the story of the search for love and acceptance. First of all, orphaned Reverend Leander Norris searches for self-worth and unconditional love. Once he discovers unconditional love, he gains the courage he needs to fight the accusations against him.

Although my characters are gay, the book is classified as LGBT fiction, and I am gay, my goal was to make the story universal. Frank and Gregory could be any couple facing parental influences, natural disasters, or societal prejudices.
My goal was never to create an allegorical story or political statement with my novel. I started out writing what I wanted to read: historical fiction with strong LGBT characters. With our current political climate and the issue of marriage equality, it’s difficult to deny that there are some thematic elements that support equal rights. I read in the mid-1990s that just being an out gay man at the time was a political statement. I think it’s hard not to be an LGBT writer right now and avoid any thematic messages about marriage equality or other civil rights issues.

As a writer, I try to create stories that are interesting to different types of people. If just one person who doesn’t understand the fight for LGBT equal rights is persuaded by my novel to be open to those discussions, then I have done my job.

Thanks for having me. You can join the discussion on social media using the hashtag #disappearwithme and I will join in.

Here’s a little more about Disappear with Me:

Love is greater than hope or faith, but can Reverend Leander Norris convince a jury that the love he shares with another man is natural?

In 1910, the United Kingdom was in turmoil. King Edward died after only nine years on the throne. The social class system that upheld British society for centuries was being chipped away by social, political, and economic unrest across the Commonwealth. Amidst this backdrop, Reverend Leander Norris is accused of sodomy. After discovering his own self-worth and unconditional love, Leander finds the courage to stand up for what he believes is right and pleads not guilty to the charges. Throughout the trial, Leander’s past is revealed, including the temptations that bring the accusations against him. By the end of the trail, Leander is once again reunited with a romantic interest from the past, but it may be too late to rekindle any love that might remain, given the circumstances of the era and Leander’s likely sentence.

Excerpt:

“Are you not a scholar?” Weeks asked. “Do you not know the Bible that you preach from each Sunday?”
“I know it very well,” Leander answered. “But the Bible has many interpretations. I think you can guess that mine might be a little less than conventional.”
Weeks reclined back in his chair. He made a steeple with his fingers and rested them on his pursed lips. “You’re actually sitting here telling me that, as a man of God, you’re all right with buggery and feel you’ve done nothing wrong?”
“Mr. Weeks, do you realize you keep asking me the same question over again, using different words?”
“As your counsel, I need to be sure that I understand your position, the one you expect me to defend.”
“You sound shocked that I would suggest such a thing. I can’t have you defending me if you don’t believe it yourself.”
“Reverend, my beliefs about the situation are irrelevant; it doesn’t matter what I believe. I need to be able to defend our position in court and hope our defense can refute what the prosecution will present.”
“I have to have conviction in my sermons each Sunday morning. I think you also know you need to have conviction when defending your clients.”
“And I can assure you that I have that same conviction to make sure that you receive a fair trial. I will do my best—”
“Do your best to what? Go through the motions and make sure that the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed so it looks like I’ve been given a good defense?”
Weeks didn’t answer and that was all the answer that Leander needed. After a moment, Weeks tried to start again. “Look, Reverend, I am your assigned counsel for this trial. I am on your side. I want to see you get a fair trial, but you must understand what we’re up against is quite overwhelming.”
“I know; I’ve never done anything the simple way.”
“Sir, you must understand that we are going up against laws that are rooted in two thousand years of Christian tradition and about as many years of British attitude.”
“Mr. Weeks, do you love your wife?”
Weeks let out an impatient sigh. “Of course, but here you go asking intimate questions about me that have no bearing on my defending your case.”
“Humor me, sir. Do you love your wife?”
“Yes, I very much love my wife and family.”
“What if you woke up tomorrow and a constable showed up on your doorstep and arrested you because they said the love you share with your wife was illegal?”
Weeks didn’t answer him. Instead, in a quiet voice, he said, “You know you and I are just two people. We’re not going to change these laws overnight.”

Buy Links:
Directly from Musa Publishing
Check my Author Page at Amazon US for availability here.
Check my Author Page at Amazon UK for availability here.
Check Barnes and Noble for availability here.

About the Author:
With inspiration from historical tourism sites, the love of reading, and a desire to write a novel, L. Dean Pace-Frech started crafting his debut novel, A Place to Call Their Own, in 2008. After four years of writing and polishing the manuscript, he submitted it for publication and Musa Publishing offered him a contract in early 2013. Disappear With Me is his second novel.
Dean lives in Kansas City, Missouri with his partner, Thomas, and their two cats. They are involved in their church and enjoy watching movies, outdoor activities in the warmer weather and spending time together with friends and family. In addition to writing, Dean enjoys reading and patio gardening.
Prior to novels, Dean did some technical writing in his career. He plans to write a sequel to both A Place to Call Their Own and Disappear with Me.

Email deanfrech@aol.com
Blog: Dean’s Web Site
Facebook: Dean Pace-Frech, Author page or send me a friend request Dean Pace-Frech.
Twitter: @deanpacefrech
Google+: +deanpacefrech
Goodreads: L. Dean Pace-Frech
Pinterest: Dean Pace-Frech

Check out Dean’s first book, A Place to Call Their Own, at Musa Publishing, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other great sites!

A Place to Call Their Own on Musa Publishing
A Place to Call Their Own on Amazon US
A Place to Call Their Own on Amazon UK
A Place to Call Their Own on Barnes and Noble

My guest today is Sara Alva whose tender M/m and LGBT YA novels and short stories are getting a great following. I was very pleased to see that her novel, Social Skills, is a Finalist in its category for the Rainbow Awards. 🙂

Welcome, Sara.

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

Sara : I have a day job and another side job. My day job doesn’t really allow me to think about anything else while doing it, so it can be tricky to find time to write, or even brainstorm. But writer was always my childhood dream-job…the kind you’re positive you’re going to have when you’re nine or ten, then slowly begin to doubt as you reach high school, the push aside for more “practical” things in college…and then dive right back into with the joy of finding a long-lost friend as soon as the opportunity presents itself. So more and more these days I’m finding myself being drawn to the “author” title as a primary identifier.
Other than that, I’m from a small town in the South (of the U.S.) but I live in Los Angeles now. I have a husband, two cats, and all the characters in my head to keep me company.

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

Sara : I always tell my friends I have zero artistic ability, and they shoot back at me that music is art. I suppose I know what they mean, but I consider it a completely different art zone. If you give me a blank piece of paper and a paintbrush and tell me to make art, I’ll probably end up in tears (hopefully laughter-borne ones when I look at the mess I’ve made).

But I am a violinist, though in recent years I’ve taken a break from the classics. I occasionally perform and sing with a folk band, and I’ve played my fair share of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star during the lessons I give to little ones.
As a chance to step outside my relatively shy persona, I also dance with a troupe and participate in as many flash mobs as time permits.
I’ve incorporated what I know about music into a novel, but not dancing…at least not yet. =P

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

Sara : It’s probably character, for me. I won’t begin writing (or I’ll scrap everything I do attempt) if I don’t really know my characters inside and out. Of course, they can’t go anywhere without plot, but that’s something that takes a little more time to develop in my head. Plots I can change, but characters are usually stubborn and don’t like being altered too much mid-stream.

Elin : Can you name any author/authors, past or present, who have been a great influence on your work?

Sara : I read so much as a kid that it would be hard to pinpoint a specific author’s influence. One of my favorites, Anne McCaffrey, wrote sci-fi and fantasy novels, but I haven’t written any of those yet. However, her amazing ability to craft a moving, emotional story is something I aspire to.
Libby Drew was the first published m/m author I ever read. She was my introduction to the genre, and it was through her work that I realized there were good stories out there and people willing to read them, so that definitely inspired me.
Dani Alexander is a monumentally talented writer, and also my crit partner. He published his first novel a year before I did and with some gentle nagging, err, nudging, got me on the road to publishing as well.

Elin : Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Sara : A bit of both, I’d say. I don’t really do outlines, but sometimes I will scribble down scenes…and then ‘pants’ my way from one to the next. But I usually (preferably) ‘live’ with my characters in my head for up to several months before I touch fingers to keyboard. I work out the plot in those moments when I’m staring into space and my husband is waving a hand in front of my face, asking “what is going on in there?”

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

Sara : Again, both. I usually feel like I know them very well before I begin writing, but every once and a while an extra layer or some added depth will reveal itself as the story progresses. This particularly happens when a character has to experience some kind of growth…I may know it’s going to happen, but it’s almost as if it occurs as I’m writing it.

Elin : Do you have a crisp mental picture of your characters or are they more a thought and a feeling than an image?

Sara : I have a pretty crisp mental picture—part of why I never thought I’d want photos on my covers. What’re the odds of finding someone who matches the picture in my mind?
Of course…my first novel has a huge photo on it—one that I selected after having a jaw-drop this-is-him moment. I guess the odds aren’t that bad after all.

Elin : What inspired you to write about the inner city in Silent?

Sara : When I was formulating the plot for Silent, I realized there was a world within Los Angeles that even many Los Angelenos didn’t get to see. I wanted to give voice to characters and lives that may be less visible in America. There are many difficult, heartbreaking issues that inner city teens face, and I think it’s important to take notice of that, but I also wanted to show the courage and the hope I’ve witnessed in my time here in Los Angeles.

Elin : 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?

Sara : My husband, because he puts up with my insanity.
Austin, from Dani Alexander’s Shattered Glass, because he’s got means and money.
Dani, too, because you always want an experienced rabble-rouser on your side. Also I hear he has some ass-kicking abilities that could come in handy.
Madison Parker, because she has math smarts and if you need to calculate an angle of escape or break a code, she’s your gal.
Anne McCaffrey’s dragonriders (and their dragons). Because awesome.

I have an urge to list a bunch of hot fictional guys now (Thor, Horatio Hornblower, John Barrowman in every role he’s ever played…even when he’s a villain) but I think I might be getting off task here. 😛

Elin : 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 bigoted society. What sort of villains do you prize?

Sara : I don’t do “pure-evil” villains. I prefer my villains to have a touch of humanity in them…or at least have something in their past that shows how they may have lost that humanity. It makes things more tragic.

Elin : 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.

Sara : I’m going to be secretive for now. 🙂

Elin : Could we please have an excerpt of something?

Sara : Here’s a little snippet from my recent release, Silent. I have part of the first chapter up on my blog, so I picked something from chapter six this time, when Alex is entering foster care.

Blurb:
Alex’s life as a teenager in South Central L.A. is far from perfect, but it’s his life, and he knows how to live it. He knows what role to play and what things to keep to himself. He’s got it all under control, until one lousy pair of shoes kicks him out of his world and lands him in a foster care group home.
Surrounded by strangers and trapped in a life where he could never belong, Alex turns to the only person lower on the social ladder than he is: a “special” mute boy. In Sebastian, Alex finds a safe place to store his secrets—those that sent him to foster care, and the deeper one that sets him apart from the other teenagers he knows. But Sebastian has secrets of his own, and when tragedy rips the two boys apart, Alex will stop at nothing to find the answers—even if it means dragging them both through a past full of wounds best left buried.
It might just be worth it, for the slim chance at love.
***
A sickly-thin gray street cat dashed across the road when we reached my neighborhood, just barely making it to the other side in one piece. I was pretty sure I’d seen that cat before.
In fact, I’d seen it all before. I’d seen the homeless man curled up in the green flannel blanket under the freeway bridge, one arm slung protectively over a plastic bag that contained all his worldly belongings. I’d seen those same wrinkled old señoras digging in the gas station trashcans and pulling out plastic bottles for the measly five-cent return rate. And I’d seen that ice-cream truck with the dent in its side, playing its obnoxious song over and over again as it rolled through the streets.
Everything was exactly as I’d left it.
Only I was different. I was the sell-out, being “escorted” to my own home by a cop and a social worker. God, I could only pray no one I knew would catch sight of me and set their tongue to chismes.
There goes Alex, hauled off by the police. And he thought he was so smart…

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Available From: Amazon | ARe | Barnes&Noble

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Thanks Sara for being such a good sport. If you would like to follow Sara please click on the links below:

Website || Facebook || Twitter

My guest today is Joann Lee, a long time writer who has stepped up her production since the Millenium.

Writing mostly lesbian romantic fiction, Joann has a new release, Unbroken, to celebrate.

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

Joann : I attend a local college and I’m majoring in Child Development and Criminal Justice. I’m also a photographer and website designer. I’ve always been fascinated by anything that allows me to express some form of creativity. One of these days I do hope to put my studies to good use and work in law enforcement.

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

Joann : I love photography. I have since I was a teenager. My mom raised dairy goats and I would always dress them up in children’s clothes or pet costumes to take photos. I like to dress the dogs up for cute pictures too. The dogs don’t try to eat the clothes usually like the goats did, lol. I’ve never actually incorporated photography into one of my stories though.

Elin : What are you reading? Fiction or non-fiction? Can you recommend something that you wished you’d written yourself?
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