How did it go then? I hope you all enjoyed a pleasant stress free Crimbo and that you had fun. Now we’re back to normal and it’s time for another six sentences.
Six Sunday is on its last few weeks and that is a very sad thing, but Skye Warren is interested in setting up an alternative, depending on levels of interest. I’ve signed up, how about you? [I’m sort of making the assumption that it’s only other authors who read these posts, but I think it’s quite a fair one.]
Anyhow – to business. Last weeks post ended with Cynfal finally finagling his way into Gwion’s bed. Gwion appeared to be calmly going back to sleep. Yeah right.
I’m putting this week’s six behind a cut because sixth century Dark Ages warriors had never heard the term “euphemism” and I don’t want to upset the easily upsettable.
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How much love does it take to heal the wounds of hate?
Cameron: Both have their constraints. It is possible to convey a world of feeling and relationship in a short story but it’s harsh. Every word that isn’t working its hardest has to be cut. In a novel the author has the luxury of being able to develop characters, play interaction, deepen relationships (or break them) which can be difficult to keep up. I usually hit half-way point and want to gabble on til it’s finished, The End.
Cameron: I’d like to think I could handle it on my own but in this wonderful imaginary situation, I’d have my big dog Titch who would disembowel anyone who laid a hand on me. Jack and Rory of course, who would stick up for their “mum” and an entire gang of French firemen (yes, sterotype!) but because over here they do all the same things as other firemen but they are also the ambulance, paramedics etc. So if it all went wrong they could rush me to the hospital. From fiction I’d want Jordan C Price’s Wild Bill so he could bite a few people and give me one of his cigarettes;
Cameron: In this genre? No, not really. I dived into m/m and just went for it. As far as romance goes, I suppose subconsciously I’ve been influenced by the fact that as an unreconstructed tomboy I read every Biggles book (Capt. W.E. Johns) which could be why my boys are military. The masculine camaraderie between Biggles and his chums always appealed to me … maybe Bertie Lissie was his lover, who knows?
Tara: I’ve only written one actual MF romance. It’s a little holiday novella called Be Bad, for Goodness Sake. I wrote it mostly to see if I could and I wanted a book to self-publish. So that was my experiment. Aside from that book, all my stories are either MM or MMF ménage. In the ménages, all three people are lovers so there is still a MM element to the books. My first novel, Genetic Attraction, is a MMF ménage and the only book I’ve ever written with a woman as the main POV character. So I guess the ménages came first, but I quickly learned that I loved writing the MM portion of the books, and started writing purely gay romances as well. I love the interesting fluid dynamic and lack of gender roles you get in MM fiction. The ménages are definitely more complex to write because I’m dealing with the desires, goals, back-story, and emotions of three people. All must be motivated and all must have great reasons to love each other. The most complex book I’ve ever written from a plotting point of view is Golden Dancer. It’s a MMM romantic suspense so it has both three main characters and a complex mystery.
Elin: You write fantasy M/M – Spell Cat and Brush with Catastrophe – as well as contemporary romances such as the Balls series. Which do you enjoy most? Is there any genre you’d love to try?
Tara: I loved writing a bunch of my characters. Roan Black who plays a role in four of my ménages is a wonderful combination of gentleness and ego with a touch of pure wisdom. The inimitable Rodney Mansfield in Fire Balls was a kick to write, as was JJ LaRousse in Snow Balls, my new release. I love flamboyant men with a twist! There are some minor characters that have been a blast and who will be getting their own books. Jerry, who everyone adores from Fire Balls will have his own story, as well the twins, Robin and Bobby, in Snow Balls. I’m looking forward to writing those books! Hardest to capture? Hmmm. My villains can get a little two-dimensional because I don’t love conflict and don’t like to live in the bad guy’s mind too long. LOL
Tomorrow I’m going to have to be all professional about it so I’m allowing myself a yelp or two today because I’ve just got my formatted copies of On A Lee Shore. I wasn’t sure whether it would happen or not because I didn’t get the proofs until Monday evening and 110K is a hellacious amount to read aloud! But – I did it and the book is formatted into all the different necessary files and ready to go. I just need a blurb to go with it!
Elin Gregory 