Elin Gregory

My guest today is E J Runyon, an author I met through the Passionate About Plot Facebook group. I don’t know EJ particularly well so asked her to introduce herself:

Hi, I’m E.J. Runyon. If I were going to talk about myself in the 3rd person, I guess I’d say: EJ strives to make each character she writes real enough for every reader to see their situations and still care about the journey her character travels.
In 1st person, I’m someone working my hardest to make sure each story is told through visceral and moving storylines. As a writing coach I foster my client’s dreams of writing well, and I welcome all stories that come my way, no matter the topic.

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?

EJ: In 2006 I quit a career in Software and sold my 4-bedroom house in order to return fulltime to university. That got me through most of my graduate degree until the economy crashed. Now I teach creative writing to adults at the local CC/Community Ed, I coach and edit online, run my Bridge to Story website, and I write full time. Two books are in the pipeline for 2014, & ’15.
It’s my dream come true.

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

EJ: For me, it’s always character. Who is this girl or guy? Why are they in this predicament? How much of their sexuality will I need make germane to their tale? How can I show them to a reader from the inside-out? What choices will I force them to face? That’s the types of contents I try to get my clients to reach for too.

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

EJ: I think I have questions in my mind about their state of being, before the character can actually be seen on my pages. I even wrote a blog post on that. How an opening paragraph may only describe how they look, but it has yet to tell us who that character is, or what they are after, or how they feel within the scene you’ve set them in.

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

EJ: Sometimes I do find myself thinking of an image, but even then— it’s a character in action. Not what they’re wearing or how their hair is styled. It’s more a prompt for the questions that will lead me to their inner selves over how they look. I ask my coaching clients all the time, “Okay here this one is – what are they thinking as they stand there, dressed that way?’ What does that outfit say about her? Or what He’s up to standing there?

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?

EJ: Since I write Literary Fiction, I like internalized ones – Self-doubt. Regret. Memories. Unspoken apologies. Silence. Confusion. Self-delusion. Missed chances. Those are villains to me. The foes of circumstance or society I funnel into the foe of self.

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.

EJ: My next novel, which will also be published by Inspired Quill Press (UK) is a novel titled, A House of Light and Stone’. It was a NaNoWriMo work I started in 2003. And now here it is with release date set for October of 2014. I’m pretty proud of these characters; some are lesbian and it’s set in the mid-1960s.

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If you would like to follow EJ here are some links:

EJ’s Coaching site, Bridge to Story, http://bridgetostory.com also offers 52 free lessons and a blog you might like to follow.
EJ’s Author site, http://ej-runyon.com also has a blog where she will be interviewing new writers she would like to champion.

“Tell Me (How to Write) A Story: Good, Basic Advice for Novices Ready To Write”
US: http://tinyurl.com/kkcfsjz UK: http://tinyurl.com/kjon5ub
CA: http://tinyurl.com/klq7ls9 IN: http://tinyurl.com/lv8wnwh

“Claiming One” EJ’s collection brings together 17 powerful stories linked only by flight or denial.
US: http://tinyurl.com/mcp64m9 UK: http://tinyurl.com/mjchapr
CA: http://tinyurl.com/m44a9sn IN: http://tinyurl.com/m2l7uyh

Follow EJ:
Skype: e.j.runyon
Twitter: @EJRunyon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ej.runyon.1

My guest today is a British author who has only just dipped a toe into the wild and woolly world of publishing in the past couple of months. Her first book—a novella called Nothing Serious—was only released last month, and he most recent release—The Little Things—is her first full length novel.

Welcome, Jay Northcote.

 

Continue Reading »

*Ahem* Hello.

I’m Dr. Henry Young.

I know you’re expecting Elliot, and I assure you, he is here. He’s somewhat shy with new folks, so I do apologize. I’ve asked Elliot what he would like to discuss with you lovely folks and apparently it’s his teddy bear. I suppose I should tell you a little about him before we get to Mr. Teddy.

Elliot is six years old and my son. I adopted him last year after Johnnie and I came across him in… um, well, a certain large station in Central London. I’m afraid the mere mention of the place quite upsets him, so I’ll leave it at that. It’s a rather tragic tale, but suffice it to say after the events of that afternoon, I found myself in a somewhat attached state.

When Elliot clung to me, his sobs breaking my heart, I knew I couldn’t give him up. He had no family to speak of, and the thought of him alone and frightened in an orphanage was more than I could bear. It’s been a challenge, to say the least, but Elliot has come a long way in the last year or so. My heart swells when I hear him call me daddy. He’s also grown quite attached to Johnnie. Initially, he insisted Johnnie be his mummy, but after some explanation as to why that couldn’t be so, Elliot grew quite determined to have Johnnie be his daddy also. At times I wonder who’s more stubborn, Elliot or Johnnie? Forgive me, I’m receiving a most dire pout at the moment. He’s a very perceptive little chap. Let’s move onto the teddy bear shall we?

[Attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ambernectar/5946441174/%5D

As you can imagine, Elliot was quite frightened when we brought him home. He would cling desperately to me, fearing that if I were to put him down even for a moment that it meant I was going to abandon him. For some time, I had to have him with me wherever I went, including the infirmary while I tended to patients. Over time, his confidence began to grow due to our weekly sessions, but he was still too frightened to be on his own. Then one morning, I woke up to find him gone. I was beside myself. I ran down the corridor calling for him when I heard Johnnie’s voice. I edged up to his bedroom and found Elliot curled up in Johnnie’s lap hugging a teddy bear, an expression of awe and wonder on his cherub face. It brought tears to my eyes.

You see, this isn’t any ordinary teddy bear. It was a gift from Jacky to Johnnie back when they had first met, when Johnnie had been but a frightened boy at the end of his rope, pretending to be a fierce soldier. That teddy bear had sat by his bedside every year since then through all the difficult times, and now he was giving it to Elliot, telling him it would remain by his side, keeping him company. I admit at that moment, I fell in love with Johnnie all over again. I knew what that teddy bear meant to him. I only wonder if he knew what the gesture meant to me.

Well, Elliot hasn’t let his furry friend out of his sight since. It’s his most treasured possession, and thanks to Mr. Teddy, Elliot found the courage to sleep in his own room. The two are known to cause mischief with the rest of the boys at the manor. The rest of the chaps who run the manor were quite stunned to discover what Johnnie had done, but none of us dared say a word. Johnnie doesn’t do well with compliments and he especially doesn’t like to be made a fuss over. Don’t let his gruff exterior fool you. He is very much a wonderful man, even if at times he needs to be reminded. Oh, I beg your pardon. Elliot would like me to mention that Mr. Teddy enjoys boiled leaf water. That’s what Johnnie likes to call tea. Yes, the two can be quite a handful, but I consider myself a very lucky man to have these two mischief-makers in my life. Do join us on our next stop where you’ll get to meet our latest arrivals, Connor Grey and his brother Edmund. It’s been a pleasure.

Blurb:

Eight years after leaving the deserts of Africa and the French Foreign Legion behind, Jonathan Wolfe has settled into life at Hawthorne Manor in the English countryside. Johnnie helps his adopted family run the manor and provide a safe, loving home for a new generation of “brats”: boys mistreated and discarded for their homosexuality—something all too familiar to Johnnie.

Although no longer an unruly youngster, Johnnie is as stubborn, foul-mouthed, and troublesome as ever. His recent rash behavior becomes a concern for those closest to him, especially Dr. Henry Young, the only man ever to capture Johnnie’s heart. Instead of soothing him, their closeness brings Johnnie’s insecurities from an unsettling past to the surface, and leads to an explosive situation that threatens to tear them apart. Then Henry’s past catches up to them….

Excerpts are in the form of a serial.

Read Part 10 over at Hearts on Fire here.

Excerpt 11

“Good afternoon, ladies.” Henry removed his hat and gave a gentlemanly bow.

“Dr. Young, what a pleasure. Oh, and Johnnie, how lovely—Good gracious, lad, what’s happened to you? You didn’t let that nasty Glen drive your car again did you?”

My hand went to my jaw, which I hadn’t realized was suffering from a scrape or two. I must have looked like a right ruffian. “I’m going to be needing some of your fabulous goodies, Mrs. Henley.”

“You know nothing can bribe Mr. Irving, not even my cakes.” The robust gray-haired woman in flowery apron shook her head with a chuckle as she began refilling the glass displays. It was safe to say our reputations preceded us. I’d been using her exquisite confectionary to bribe and coax my fellow Hawthorne Manor residents for going on six years now.

I edged up to the wooden counter to lean on it while I twirled my hat and gave her a wink. “That’s true, but I only need to bribe Mr. Valentine and Mr. Irving won’t ring my neck.”

“You’re too smart for your own good.”

Mrs. Henley’s eldest daughter rolled her eyes. “If he were clever, he’d stop running about with that wanker Glen.”

“Margaret! Honestly.” Mrs. Henley turned to me with an apologetic smile. “She’s got a point, my dear. You shouldn’t be mixed up with the likes of him. You’re a good lad, Johnnie. You should find yourself a nice lass and settle down.”

Popping my hat back on my head, I casually walked behind the counter to where she stood arranging the chocolate-frosted fairy cakes ever so lovingly. “If I found myself a nice lass,” I said as I nabbed a cake, “I’d have to stop pilfering your baked goods.”

“Oh, you cheeky devil! Get out!” She laughed and swatted me playfully. With some fancy footwork, I dashed back around the counter and ended up behind Henry. “Margaret, get a basket ready for this little scoundrel before Anabel comes out here and ends up breaking any more dishes on account of him.”

Anabel was Mrs. Henley’s youngest daughter. She was eighteen years old and for some screwy reason had a crush on me. Every time she saw me, she ended up dropping something. Poor girl. Even if I were so inclined, she could do a lot better than me. While Mrs. Henley and Margaret were busy getting a basket of confectionary treats ready for us to take away, I turned to Henry and touched the frosted fairy cake to his lips, charmed by his surprised expression. At least until his eyes got that familiar lustful look in them.

Part 12 continued on Nov 19th over at Joyfully Jay.

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Available in ebook and print from Dreamspinner Press: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4362

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Comment prompt: Did you have a favorite toy or object as a child?

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About the Author:

Charlie Cochet is an author by day and artist by night. Always quick to succumb to the whispers of her wayward muse, no star is out of reach when following her passion. From Historical to Fantasy, Contemporary to Science Fiction, there’s bound to be plenty of mischief for her heroes to find themselves in, and plenty of romance, too!

Currently residing in South Florida, Charlie looks forward to migrating to a land where the weather includes seasons other than hot, hotter, and boy, it’s hot! When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found reading, drawing, or watching movies. She runs on coffee, thrives on music, and loves to hear from readers.

Website: http://www.charliecochet.com
Blog: http://www.charliecochet.com/blog
Email: charlie@charliecochet.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/charliecochet
Twitter: @charliecochet | http://www.twitter.com/charliecochet

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Giveaway

1st Prize: $15 Amazon gift card + Impetuous Afflictions signed swag pack + signed 8×10 art print.

2nd & 3rd Prize: Impetuous Afflictions swag pack + signed 8×10 art print.

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To Enter

Just leave a comment on any of the blog posts along the tour, along with a contact email address. **If you would still like to enter the contest but don’t wish to leave your email address in the comment, you can also enter by emailing charlie@charliecochet.com.

Winners will be chosen at random and posted on Charlie’s blog at http://www.charliecochet.com/blog on Monday, December 2nd. Winners will then be notified via email.

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Contest ends

Sunday, December 1st at midnight, Eastern Time.

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Tour stops:

11/9 – Welcome to Hawthorne Manor [Excerpt 1] – The Novel Approach

11/11 – Billiard Room Brouhaha [Excerpt 2] – Author Sue Brown

11/12 – A Trip to the Town of Aylesbury [Excerpt 3] – Author Kim Fielding

11/13 – Time for Tea [Excerpt 4] – Author Lex Chase

11/14 – Stopping for a Pint [Excerpt 5] – Author Andrew Q. Gordon

11/15 – Visiting the Furry Hat Man [Excerpt 6] – Author Eden Winters

11/18 – Meet Gideon Brooks [Excerpt 7] – Author Michael Rupured

11/19 – Meet Rori Curti [Excerpt 8]s – Author Shira Anthony

11/20 – Meet Aubrey Jepson [Excerpt 9] – Attention is Arbitrary

11/21 – Meet Oliver Darling [Excerpt 10] – Hearts on Fire

11/22 – Meet Elliot Young [Excerpt 11] – Author Elin Gregory

11/25 – Meet Connor & Edmund Grey [Excerpt 12]- Joyfully Jay

11/26 – The Devilish Duo [Finale] – Mrs. Condit & Friends

New Release from Fantasy Author Andrew J. Peters

Atlantis is besieged by violent storms, tremors, and a barbarian army. For sixteen-year old Aerander, it’s a calamitous backdrop to his Panegyris, where boys are feted for their passage to manhood.

Amid a secret web of romances among the celebrants, Aerander’s cousin Dam goes missing with two boys. With the kingdom in crisis, no one suspects the High Priest Zazamoukh though Aerander uncovers a conspiracy to barter boys for dark spiritual power. Aerander’s proof — an underground vault that disappears in the morning — brings shame on his family and suspicions of lunacy. The only way to regain his honor is to prove what really happened to the missing boys.

Tracking Dam leads Aerander on a terrifying and fantastical journey. He spots a star that hasn’t been seen for centuries. He uncovers a legend about an ancient race of men who hid below the earth. And traveling to an underground world, he learns about matters even more urgent than the missing boys. The world aboveground is changing, and he will have to clear a path for the kingdom’s survival.

From Kirkus Reviews (10/2/2013): “A marriage of equality among fantasy, mythology, action and same-sex love. Varied, vivid landscapes will entice discerning fantasy readers, and beefy vocabulary keeps the narrative hearty.”

Buy Links:

Bold Strokes Books

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Barnes and Noble

Indiebound

Excerpt:

It all started when Dam went missing. Not the tempests, or the mutiny, or the ragtag militia sniping at the borders of the kingdom from the frozen mammoth steppe. These things happened, but to Aerander, who was sixteen years old, the world had become a spectacle of horrifying and exhilarating events, lacking reason or connection, for the most part. He tried to mind what was immediately apparent, and before Dam disappeared that was he was entering the Boys’ Panegyris, however bleakly it coincided with the troubles of the day. Every Atlantide principality, across the Fortunate Isles and the continents east and west abroad, had sent young men to the island capital for the quadrennial festival. The families of the Ten Royal Houses were quartered at his father’s palace for eight days of temple services, athletic contests, and feasts. Aerander had a duty to show well for his family, and—as his father said—through example, help restore the kingdom to a normal routine.

Then Thessala came by his room on the morning of the opening day of the festival while he was doing his exercises on his balcony.

Her hair hung loose below her shoulders, she was wearing a simple housedress, and she had something important on her mind. Thessala was Aerander’s stepmother, but there was only twelve years between them. His mother had died when he was two. His father had married
Thessala one year later.

“There’s news,” she said. “Two boys went missing from the palace last night. Kosmos and Leonitos. From the House Eudemon. I heard it from Myron just moments ago.”

Myron, the house porter, had been the bearer of gossip each day since the palace guests had arrived. This seemed like a particularly toothsome bit for Thessala to gnaw on, given the rivalries between the houses to show off their most earnest celebrants in the festival competitions. Still, Aerander minded his curiosity. It probably wasn’t much to-do. Few had done it, but boys talked about breaking curfew to run off into town every day. The pre-festival weeks were their last chance for fun and freedom. Afterward, there were bartered marriages and politicking for their fathers.

“There’s a third boy missing,” Thessala said. “Damianos.”

Aerander stepped out of his stretch against the balcony ledge.

“There’s word the three of them were together last night. Do you know anything about it?”

“Why would I know anything?”

“Dam was your best friend.”

His gaze wandered to the city. Four flights above the mounted Citadel, his balcony was the second-highest perch in the palace, giving view in the weak morning light to a gray labyrinth of canals, boulevards and alleys, and parapet fortifications—stripped of their gleaming bronze
plates for military scrap—that encircled the city in great stone-masoned flanks. In the center of town, the weathered dome of the Temple of Poseidon rose above the terracotta roofs like a giant, blackened scalp.

“Was,” Aerander said. “Dam and I haven’t talked in ages.” He had grown up with Dam in the palace. They were more than friends, actually; they were kin, though the relation was difficult to understand. Dam’s father was a third or fourth cousin of Aerander’s or their two fathers were related through the marriage of a great-aunt. Thessala had explained it once; Aerander forgot. Dam’s parents had died before he could remember, so it was all kind of confusing and didn’t really matter anyway. Dam left the palace at thirteen to become a priest.

Thessala drew up beside him by the balcony ledge. Though just out of bed, she still smelled of fennel oil, which she used to wash her hair each evening. “It was stupid, but I had the most horrible idea when Myron told me,” she said. “I felt certain for a moment you’d gone with
them.”

“That was stupid.”

Thessala’s eyes followed his. “The city is a dangerous place.” Her hand closed lightly on his arm. “You must promise me and your father you would never do anything like that.”

“Why didn’t he tell me about Dam?”

“He was out of the house before sunrise, gathering his courtiers. He wanted to deliver, personally, a salver of fish to House Eudemon. If there was to be any question of the security of the Citadel, you know Governor Eulian would be the first to raise it. Now two of his nephews
are missing. The sentinels are searching the palace grounds, and they’re embarking on a street-by-street search of the city.”

On the balcony ledge, there was a bronze monocular that Aerander liked to use for stargazing. An impulse hit him: pick it up and scan the city for Dam. But he quashed the idea as idiotic. There had to be an easy explanation, late-night hijinks gone mildly wrong. But it looked bad,
Dam being associated with his family, and it would look even worse if certain other things came out. He had to catch up with Calyiches.

“Sorry to get Opening Day off to a sour start.”

Aerander headed to his bedchamber. “I ought to get dressed.”

Thessala followed him. “You—rushing to your dressing? Has the festival changed you already? What is it they say—boys go in, they come out men?”

“There’s nothing particularly manly about sitting for a bath and getting fitted with a cape and shoulder clasp.” He looked to his attendant, Punamun, newly appointed for his Panegyris, a Lemurian slave. He was hunched drowsily at his gypsum bench. Aerander’s eyebrows shot
up, and he clapped his hands. The young man’s bowl-shaped head of hair jostled. He stood and ambled about the room collecting the strigil and the drying cloths for the bath.

Thessala hung back by the archway to the balcony with a smirk.

“Still, you used to like to dawdle.”

“I want to get an early start.”

“Is it Calyiches?”

“Haven’t I a right to privacy? You’re always pulling at me like a knot of yarn.”

Thessala ventured farther into the room. “It’s hardly private that he gave you his house ring.” Her gaze was narrowed on the House of Mneseus signet band on Aerander’s finger.

“So, what of it?” He watched Punamun tottering about the place with nothing to show for it. A strange fellow. Had he forgotten already where he kept his bathing cloak?

Thessala went on. “Boyhood lovers—I think it’s quite romantic. He’s very handsome. And popular. But you’d be wise to keep it from your father. Your family still has its prejudices.”

Thessala liked to say your family when there was something she didn’t agree with, though her ancestry was a mix of House Atlas and House Mneseus by intermarriage. Aerander knew what prejudices she meant, and his stomach twinged. Boys who romanced other boys didn’t produce sons. House Atlas had a hard enough time raising heirs due to a blight of stillbirths that went back many generations. They called it the family curse. Aerander had been well aware of his responsibility to marry and continue the family legacy. Then Calyiches had come along.

Thessala stepped near with a look of being instructive. “House Mneseus is fond of their boyhood traditions,” she said. “Being a favorite of their governor’s son could be an excellent way to win your father allies on the Council.”

Aerander wondered what was she talking about. His relationship with Calyiches had nothing to do with politics. He would have corrected her, but there wasn’t time. He had to find Calyiches before he spoke to anybody else. He pointed Punamun to the hutch where he kept his bathing clothes, and he pointed Thessala to the door.

“Good cheer,” she called over her shoulder. “And don’t forget to let them cut your hair for temple.”

About the author:

Andrew J. Peters likes retold stories with a subversive twist. He is the author of the paranormal e-novelette series Werecat. The Seventh Pleiade is his first novel. A former Lambda Literary Foundation Fellow, Andrew has written short fiction for many publications. He lives in New York City with his husband Genaro and their cat Chloë.

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My guest today is on a blog tour to celebrate not one but TWO releases in the Blue Notes series:  “Encore” (Blue Notes #5) on November 11, 2013, and “Symphony in Blue” (Blue Notes #4.5) on December 25, 2013 (Christmas Day). Anther cause for celebration is that “Symphony in Blue” is Shira’s 10th Dreamspinner Press release!

Shira has been kind enough to answer some interview questions and has put together a very generous giveaway! More details at the bottom of the post.

Continue Reading »

In Liam’s Wake: The Makeshift Soldier
by Ashlyn Forge

“All gambling is a secret wish for destruction. Every day you step into the ring, knowing you might not get out. You take a risk.”

Series Toys and Soldiers, Book 1
Genres: Dystopia, Fantasy, M/M Romance, Sci-Fi
ISBN: 9780989506007

For eight years, Liam has been trapped underground in The Colony — a sanctuary so determined to stay hidden it forbids anyone from leaving once they’ve entered. His only hope of returning home rests on his best friend Riley who, on the eve of their escape, slipped into a coma. Every night, Liam stares at the listless man who not only holds his escape, but his heart.

This book is available on ebook, paperback, hardcover, audiobook

BUY LINK

A Rafflecopter Giveaway

The prizes:
1 Paperback copy of In Liam’s Wake
3 ebooks of In Liam’s Wake
1 In Liam’s Wake Audiobook (Available Dec 15)
1 Personalized audio message from Liam
5$ Amazon Gift Card

Ashlyn Forge Bio

Ashlyn Forge spends most of her days self-editing, writing, and editing. Her love of storytelling, and the imagination in general, has put her in an on-and-off relationship with Writing for a number of years. She is particularly drawn to anything resulting in blurred lines between magic and science, as is evident in the surreal world of her Toys and Soldiers series. Her literary ambition in life is to see one, if not all, volumes of the Toys and Soldiers Series tucked neatly under everyone’s pillow. If it were not for the discordant jumble of ideas clamoring for attention in her head, she would also take up crocheting.
Social Links:
Blog: http://www.ashlynforge.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ashlynforge
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ashlynforge
Goodreads: http://goodreads.com/author/show/7079034.Ashlyn_Forge
Google+: http://plus.google.com/104492834731918361056

I always get excited to hear there’s a new Beecroft available and this looks a really good one.

 

Too Many Fairy Princes
by Alex Beecroft

Happily ever after doesn’t always come quietly. Sometimes it puts up a fight.

Kjartan’s family is royally dysfunctional. He’d prefer to ignore the lot of them, but can’t since his father has set him and his brothers on a quest to win a throne Kjartan doesn’t even want. Worse, his younger brother resorts to murder and forces Kjartan to teleport — without looking where he’s going.

Art gallery worker Joel Wilson’s day has gone from hopeless, to hopeful, then straight to hell. One minute he’s sure his boss has found a way to save the floundering business, the next he’s scrambling to sell everything to pay off a loan shark. If anyone needs a fairy godmother right now, it’s Joel. What he gets is a fugitive elven prince in a trash bin.

They’ll both have to make the best of it, because fairy tales run roughshod over reluctant heroes. Particularly when there aren’t enough happy endings to go around.

Warning: This sweet romance contains a starving artist trying to scrape together a living, extreme sibling rivalry, royalty behaving outrageously, and elves being unreasonably beautiful, grotesque or deadly.

Click HERE for an excerpt.

Amazon UK BUY LINK
AMAZON US BUY LINK

My guest in the Comfy Chair today is a multi-talented fellow-Brit with more than one string to her bow. Susan Mac Nicol has a successful string of titles to her credit including het romance as well as M/M.

Welcome, Susan. Thanks for coming.

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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?

Susan : I’ve had a day job all my life apart from the last month when I was made redundant from my last position. So now I’m actively looking for a new one. Writing is wonderful but I need a salary cheque at the moment 😦 One day perhaps I’ll be able to focus on writing as a full time, lucrative occupation.

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

Susan : There isn’t much else I do -writing is my release, my passion. I walk the dog, socialise, love going to movies and theatre and days out in London or at the coast, but I have no other real hobbies. I enjoy going to the countryside on weekends, walking down the pier, or just browsing the antique of craft fairs, as there are a lot of beautiful old places here in England to do that. I really enjoy taking photographs too, as a reminder of where I’ve been and what I’ve seen.

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

Susan : I read fiction, never having developed the taste for nonfiction. I prefer escaping into the imaginary worlds, losing myself for a while rather than being in the real world. I used to read mostly thrillers, horror, detective and psychological novels, from writers like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Jonathan Kellerman and Phil Rickman. Now though, since getting hooked on M/M romance, it’s about all I read. There are so many great authors out there in this genre that there just isn’t enough time to read them all. One book I really enjoyed and wished I’d written is a book called ‘Billy’s Bones’ by Jamie Fessenden. It’s dark, gritty, emotional and simply superb.

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

Susan : I generally get an idea for a story, then look at the characters who are going to write it. Note I say my characters write the story as they have this overwhelming tendency to tell me exactly how things are going to work :). I don’t do much plotting at all. I have perhaps a half a page of a story line, a page full of the two main characters and perhaps a few support ones, with relevant physical and emotional details and that’s about it. One thing I do insist on doing is keeping a timeline of events as things happen within the story. There’s nothing worse than writing something like ‘He had only known Sam three weeks’ to find out actually the way you’ve placed it, it’s been longer/shorter than that and in fact a whole season has come and gone! I prefer this to re-reading the story trying to find out exactly how much time has elapsed between important scenes.

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

Susan : I have a very good idea how I want my characters to be when I start out, but the honest answer is, as I mentioned previously, they tell me how they want to develop. They slyly nudge me in the right direction, putting words in my mouth and placing a warm hand on my back as they let me know how they want to develop. Sometimes I manage to rein them in with a gentle word but boy! They can be damn bossy….

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

Susan : I have very much a mental image of them but they certainly do get under my skin emotionally. One of the ways I write, and how I used to study at school, is via visualisation. I’m a very visual person, seeing scenes in my mind eye as I write them, knowing exactly what the bedroom/lounge my characters are in looks like even as I’m typing away. It’s one of the things I have to be careful of. I know what I’m seeing but my reader might not and sometimes I assume they see what I see in my head and forget to give enough description. I normally am inspired by people I see when I start a character’s physical profile, such as the English actor Benedict Cumberbatch for my MC of Bennett Saville in my contemporary romance Starlight series, or the sexy Jared Padalecki from Supernatural as the character of Nick Mathers in my latest WIP, ‘Worth Keeping’. It makes things real to me when I’m writing the story.

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

Susan : I’m already writing in my chosen genre of M/M romance. I just love it. There’s something about writing the tale of two strong men coming together as lovers and friends that makes my heart leap with excitement and my creative side of the brain go crazy. It’s extremely rewarding, and the possibilities are endless. The one genre I doubt I could ever write is historical romance. I take my hats off to the authors who do this with such apparent ease. The research involved must be phenomenal, the attention to detail incredible and the love that these authors have for their chosen genre is apparent in every word they write. I doubt I would have such dedication and feel I wouldn’t be able to do it justice. So I write something more familiar, like contemporary romance.

Elin :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?

Susan : As I’ve written mostly romance so far, I have to say that there is a certain structure to writing in this genre. It’s very loose but for my publisher, it would involve a definite happy ever after, if you’re writing a series, each book should stand alone-no cliff-hangers – and generally there are committed relationships in play- if I write about two men falling in love, then generally these men should be faithful to each other for the duration of the book while they are in their relationship. Of course, sometimes you may wish to introduce the aspect of infidelity as a sub plot, providing it ends HEA. It might sound like a formula which it isn’t, as this is basically it. Anything else goes -multiple partners falling in love,(ménage) any setting, any scene, any idea, controversial or not. I guess this isn’t something that applies to crime writers, or even historical authors. Romance is an under lying theme in these cases.

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?

Susan : I’d want said Jared Padalecki to be my ‘bodyguard’. Sexy , strong, tall and just downright tough. The amazing Benedict Cumberbatch could serenade any would be attackers with his gorgeously English voice, like a siren on the sea luring them to their doom. I wouldn’t mind having Cassie Wallace, one of my female characters, by my side as my BFF, as I really think we’d get on together and she could swing a handbag as well as I would. And just to be on the safe side, Eminem could be there, with his street wise talk and his uncompromising attitude to knock the hell out of the bad guys.

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?

Susan : I’ve written some really cruel villains into my stories. ‘Cassandra by Starlight’ featured a female celebrity stalking man rapist who turned Bennett’s world upside down. ‘Stripped Bare’ has a homophobic father and his side kick, both whom, from the book reviews I’ve seen, were universally hated and reviled. (My work here is done, she cries!) My latest WIP, ‘Worth Keeping’, has an emotionally and physically abusive ex boyfriend. And in my paranormal M/M romance series, ‘Double Alchemy’, there are two villains- a power hungry, nasty Warlock on a mission and a fifteen year old Witch Hunter with murderous tendencies. Not to forget the chilling Blair Malcolme, a bisexual yet charming serial killer in another WIP, my erotic crime romance ‘ Born Human’. So I prize damaged and flawed human beings, people who perhaps have black and white views of the world and aren’t prepared to be tolerant. It’s a bit of a personal hobby horse of mine, as I don’t believe in persecution of any sort whether it be colour, gender or beliefs.

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.

Susan : I’ve actually got a publishing schedule that’s pretty gruelling. I’ve just submitted ‘Worth Keeping’ to my publisher, and I hope they like it. Next I start work on revising my two book paranormal series, ‘Double Alchemy.’ It’s the story of Quinn Fairmont, powerful Warlock and book collector, and Cade Mairston, anthropologist ,with a supernatural secret of his own. It’s so secret, even he doesn’t know about it….
It’s only thanks to Quinn that Cade’s true nature in the Fey world becomes known. Both these books were written as M/F with Cade actually being Kate. So I begin the process now to ‘male’ up the books and change them completely to make them M/M as this, after all, seems to be where I’m headed. The same is happening to every other book I have written that’s in the pipeline, of which there are currently another two. So that should keep me busy for a little while.

Elin :Could we please have an excerpt of something?

Susan : Absolute pleasure! Here you go…

Alex had just taken a sip of coffee and at Sage’s words he laughed and spluttered his coffee all over his chin and the keyboard in front of him.
Sage came over to him, chuckling at his predicament, taking his shirt out of his jeans and offering it to Alex as a cloth. “Sorry about that.”
Alex accepted the oddly intimate gesture and dabbed his mouth with Sage’s shirt tail and glimpsed Sage’s naked torso as he wiped his mouth.
Alex definitely liked what he saw.
Taut stomach muscles and the indentation of Sage’s hip bones in their V shape as they disappeared into the waistband of his jeans, a line of hair down to his groin that looked very inviting for either his hand or mouth to trail down. The man had an amazingly sexy torso. Alex’s cock moved in his pants like a small animal trying to get out. He was glad he was sitting down, hidden from view.
Sage said teasingly, “I can take the shirt off if you like and you can wipe down the computer?”
God, had he seen him looking?
Alex found his voice. “Sage, I think that might be taking it too far, as much as I’d like that. I’ve got tissues somewhere in the drawer; I’ll use those.”
He scrabbled around in the desk drawer, becoming aware Sage had gone quiet. Alex looked at him and saw Sage regarding him with eyes that suddenly looked quite sultry.
“Really?” Sage’s voice was now an even more pronounced soft Irish lilt that turned Alex’s bones to jelly. “You’d like to see me with my shirt off? Is that an invitation?”
Alex swallowed, not sure what to say. This sudden openly uber sexy and flirtatious Sage was someone he wasn’t sure about although he was causing havoc with his nether regions.
Sage moved around to Alex’s side, taking the tissues from his clenched hand and slowly wiping the keyboard free of coffee. Alex leaned back in his chair, breathless. The pressure between his legs grew in intensity. Sage was so close to Alex he could smell his aftershave and see the dark hairs on his arms at his wrists. Alex could also see the hardened ridge of Sage’s own erection lying against his leg in his tight jeans.
God, he must be able to smell how bloody aroused I am. And he feels the same about me, obviously, if that monster in his pants is anything to go by.
They were both aware of the effect they was having on the other. Alex saw it in the slight smile on Sage’s face and the way he deliberately moved closer to him as he used the last of the tissues.

~

All my books can be purchased here :
http://www.boroughspublishinggroup.com/authors/susan-mac-nicol

Susan Mac Nicol’s links

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Twitter – @SusanMacnicol7
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