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Cinderfella - Kayla Jameth

12/27/2012

7 Comments

 
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Today it’s my pleasure to host, Kayla Jameth. Kayla's first novel,  "Alexios’ Fate" was set in ancient Greece. Being a student of history, she took great care to ensure all aspects of  that story were as accurate as possible. Her "Next Big Thing" "Cinderfella" is scheduled for release on January 4th .

What is the working title of your book?


From the Ashes is a Cinderfella set in 16th century France. A Cinderfella is an m/m version of the classic Cinderella story.Cendres is the French word for ashes and is the root word for Cinderella, little ash girl. Since Cinderella comes from the ashes, it seemed like the perfect title for my tale of how Cinder rises from the ashes.

Where did the idea come from?

A friend told me about a submission call for m/m fairy tales. I've always loved fairy tales. The romance, the grand gestures, the happily ever after, not to mention the fantastical settings and descriptions. It's all so much bigger than life.

So I tried to come up with a logical, probable explanation of why Cinder would be dressed as a servant girl in his own home. So Dame Constancia was born, a greedy, grasping cold-hearted harridan of a stepmother who would stop at nothing to steal Cinder's inheritance from him.

Thus Cinder finds himself forced into his stepsister's cast offs at the tender age of 8 and renamed Cinderella. Cinder is approaching maturity, but because of a poor diet, he still doesn't look like a young man. Delayed puberty has kept him small, his voice from changing, and hair from sprouting in inconvenient places. But even that won't hide his stepmother's subterfuge much longer because the changes are starting to occur in his body.


What genre does your book fall under?

From the Ashes is an m/m historical erotic romance. It's mostly historical, but Cinder does still have a fairy godmother. It's not really a paranormal either. Maybe I should just stick to calling it an m/m erotic romance. Like Cinder, From the Ashes defies description.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie?

Dougray Scott is not only Drew Berrymore's Prince Charming; he's who I modeled Prince Henri on.

As for Cinder? I think the lovely young model on the cover of From the Ashes is perfect. If I could tell you his name, I would but he's only listed as "a stylish teenager". <Sigh...> He's obviously a young man, but you can see how long hair, a dress, and a known history of being a girl could lead one to overlook the obvious and believe the "fact" that he is a young woman instead.


What is a one sentence synopsis of your book?

Cinder never thought that he could rise from the ashes of his life, but an unexpected encounter with a woman claiming to be his fairy godmother may be just what he needs to send him off to meet his Prince Charming.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

From the Ashes is with Breathless Press and will be available January 4, 2013. They have all my published works.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

The first rough draft of From the Ashes took approximately a week to write and was only about 10K long. I reworked it and the second draft was 15K long. By the time I finished all my beta readers' suggestions, From the Ashes was over 20K.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I'm not sure I can answer that. I haven't read anything similar in the "genre". Whatever its true genre is. M/M erotic romance is a little too broad and the other stories in the category have very little in common with From the Ashes. I haven't even read any Cinderfella slash to compare it to. From the Ashes is a twisted fairy tale.

I have read some fantasy stories by SA Payne, Emily Veinglory, and Ann Somerville, but the fantasy genre was the extent of the similarities.


Who or What inspired you to write this book?

Linda Reilly was originally responsible for the inception of From the Ashes. She was the first of Cinder's godmothers. Rebecca Leigh liked the story and suggested that I go ahead and submit it, but the submission call had closed by that time. She is the second of Cinder's godmothers. Deanna Wadsworth kept pushing me to submit From the Ashes somewhere. She played a large role in finally convincing me and in adding layers and expanding scenes until I had more that the basic form of the tale. Deanna is the last of Cinder's godmothers.

What else about your book might interest the reader?

I think From the Ashes biggest draw is the traditional fairy tale happily ever after. It's nice to know that good people who are treated shabbily can still rise above all that and win the ultimate prize.

The setting, 16th century France, is somewhat exotic and full of interesting tidbits. I try to give you a taste of Cinder's world without drowning the reader in details. As it is a fairy tale, it is told in Cinder's voice, i.e. in the vernacular. From the Ashes doesn't read as a Regency Era novel, mainly because it predates that era.

I guess for me, the most important thing is that Cinder's godmothers love From the Ashes. I hope everyone else does as well.

Thanks, Kayla. I'm really looking forward to seeing the final product. I remember reading a very early draft and look forward to reading the full story. Why don't you give readers a taste of what to expect.
Cinder never thought that he could rise from the ashes of his life, but an unexpected encounter with a woman claiming to be his fairy godmother may be just what he needs. Finding himself flung into his very own fairy tale, she sends him off to meet his Prince Charming. But was the gown really necessary?

Excerpt:

Cinder glanced around. Paper lanterns floated in the trees, lined the walks, and graced the gazebo near the reflecting pool, giving the grounds a mystical air. Their warm glow caught the dancing jets of the fountain splashing merrily to his right. The musical, crystalline tones carried on the night wind’s breath. He was reminded of the enchanted gardens in the fairy tales his father had read to him when he was a child. What would happen to him if he dared walk there?

Henri led him toward the gazebo. Soon he would find out.

The cool breeze caressed his uncovered neck. Cinder shivered at the ethereal touch. Henri turned to him, the question clear in his eyes, but he didn’t know how to answer. Instead he breathed in the tangible scent of rich earth and flowing water, hoping to calm his bounding heart.

Henri lightly stroked his arm. Cinder’s breath caught at the silky brush of the other man’s fingers. He drew another shaky breath. Henri may have meant to soothe him; instead his touch set Cinder’s wayward body aflame.

They left the last of the courtiers behind as they entered the dim interior of the fanciful pavilion. Vines climbed its intricately carved posts, perfuming the air within. The music and voices of the aristocrats faded away. Only a single intrepid nightingale could be heard over the cheerful burbling of the fountain. Hidden from the rest of the court, an unworldly sense of peace filled him. Was his very own fairy tale about to come true?

Bespelled and bemused, he could feel the magic in every beat of his heart, in every trembling breath he drew.

Once inside the bower, Henri reached to cup Cinder's cheek. Unused to being touched, he nearly flinched away but managed to still, heart pounding, before giving himself away. The older man's thumb slid across his cheekbone and came to rest lightly on his mouth. Why did he want to lean into that caress?

The other man's warm, slightly musky scent filled his nostrils, drowning his senses.

Henri's other hand wrapped around his waist and drew him close. He leaned closer while tipping Cinder's face upwards. Cinder's breath left him in a rush, stirring the noble’s hair. Henri was all that he could see, his mouth slowly, carefully descending toward Cinder’s. If he allowed this, the other man might discover his deception. He couldn’t risk that, so why then did he ache to feel Henri’s kiss? Their lips brushed, light as thistle down.

Surprisingly, Henri's mouth was soft and warm upon his own. After a moment, it pressed more firmly against his. Something fluttered in his chest, trying to get out.

Cinder didn't think to pull away until he felt Henri's tongue seeking entrance. The hand on his face slipped to his nape and held firm. He froze in shock, not even daring to breathe, as flames rushed through his body. The very beat of his heart betrayed him.

The questing tongue stroked his lips and pushed between them. It slid over his teeth, seeking to enter. When he protested, Henri swept in and began a lazy, sensuous exploration that left him breathless.

Soon he found himself returning the caress. Henri responded to his fledgling attempts by pulling him closer and moaning into his mouth. He had never experienced anything so sensual and erotic. He fed his own needy pleas to the other man one at a time.

Finally they separated slightly, Cinder panting heavily, trying to catch his breath. Was Henri as affected by their kiss as he was? A quick glance confirmed Cinder was not alone in his arousal. Flushed and gasping, Henri gazed at him with eyes full of wonder and something unnamed smoldering in their depths.

A knight and a former princess, Kayla Jameth now spends her time writing m/m romance. A true Renaissance woman, she has done everything from cross stitch like a proper lady to welding with the best of them. An eclectic life has left her with a unique understanding of the world inhabited by men and an appreciation for the difficulties faced by men in m/m relationships. It is her devout wish that her experiences translate into a richer telling of such tales.

You can find her here:

Blog: http://kaylajameth.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Author.Kayla.Jameth
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KaylaJameth

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Kayla is giving away an ebook copy of From the Ashes. Please comment below to enter.
7 Comments

Grilling Jane Davitt about BDSM

12/19/2012

0 Comments

 
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Recently, I invited a few of my fave BDSM authors to answer the same set of questions about the genre. Here is the first from Jane Davitt who writes BDSM with her long time collaborator, Alexa Snow. You can read another interview I did with Jane, here.

AB: What do you look for when you read BDSM?

JD: A solid, loving connection between the characters and something different. I've read so many that I want something fresh, not the same old, same old.

AB: What do you try to convey when you write BDSM?

JD: That what's happening is based on deep trust and understanding, needs being met on both sides.

AB: Why do you think "Fifty Shades of Grey" appeals to readers who aren't in the scene and have no wish to get into the scene?

JD: Ack, I loathe that series so much that when I try to discuss it, I end up ranting incoherently. Not that I've read it beyond snippets but the betrayal of fandom cuts too deeply for me to be fair. To be honest, I think it's mildly naughty for most of the readers but sanctioned and made safe by its popularity. They’re titillated without really getting what it's about and without wanting it for themselves except in a watered-down way.

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AB: Has "Fifty Shades of Grey" helped the BDSM genre or harmed it? Is kink coming out of the closet?

JD: I suppose it's good that it's opened eyes and legitimized the genre somewhat but couldn't it have been a better book that did it? And one that didn't have such a skewed portrayal of BDSM? Sheesh.

AB: BDSM usually gets classified as erotica or porn regardless of the amount of sex present. Do you think this is fair?

JD: No, but it's a fact that there aren't many BDSM books out there that are sex-free. I'd love to write one about an everyday BDSM couple with no actual sex, just the framework of their relationship coloring their day-to-day life subtly.

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AB: How do you research for your BDSM books?

JD: Online for the most part. It's a treasure trove with many people sharing their experiences with incredible frankness and courage.

AB: Is there something you feel is taboo for BDSM books? Anything you wish wasn't as taboo?

JD: Umm, I'd like to see Doms who didn't care about their subs as much. Okay, that came out all wrong. Strong Doms. Ones who were matched with subs who genuinely felt that what their Dom wanted and needed came first and they got fulfillment through making that happen. Selfless submission.

Yes, I'm contradicting myself from earlier, I know. I don't mean arrogant assholes and doormats, just a whole different dynamic. I dipped my toes in it once with a short story that fizzled on me. Maybe one day I'll get back to it.

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AB: Please give me some details about your next book.

JD: Next one to be published comes out on Dec 18, the sequel to Room at the Top. It's from Loose Id, co-written with Alexa Snow, and it's called "Room at the Edge". She's the best co-writer I could imagine working with. Such an inspiration. We’re working on the sequel to “The Square Peg” now and I have a solo project or two that I'm noodling with.

AB: What do you think of the proliferation of abuse fiction doing the rounds (ie Flesh Cartel) that gets perceived to be BDSM? Do you see that as a problem?

JD: I've read that series and I don't think it's BDSM yet, though it might turn into it down the road. The authors don't consider it to be; I think they describe it as a psycho-sexual thriller. Labels can be tricky. It’s dark and intense but to someone who cut her teeth on fanfic that goes way further than most published works can, it didn't disturb me. I was really annoyed when Amazon banned it. Totally ridiculous decision.

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AB: Why do you choose to make BDSM the focus of your stories? What draws you to that as opposed to writing a story in which the characters are just kinky or even if steeped in the lifestyle it's just a part of who they are?

JD: I write many stories that don't feature BDSM so that's hard to say. I just write the plot that comes with the characters and it's who they are that dictates things. Karl in "Truthful Change" wouldn't think of himself as a Dom, Ben in "The Square Peg" wouldn't either, whereas Owen in "Bound and Determined" would.

AB: Thanks for participating, Jane. Now tell us some more about “Room at the Edge” your latest collaboration with Alexa.

JD: My pleasure and thanks for the interesting questions!

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“Room at the Edge” now available from LooseId.

Three sexy men, one hot relationship. In "Room at the Top", devoted sub couple Jay and Austin went looking for a no-strings attached Dom and ended up falling for Liam, who, much to his surprise, turned out to be the Dom of their dreams. But their happy ending was only the beginning of their story.

Now Jay is begging Liam to turn up the heat with fire play and Austin wants them all under one roof, no matter what people might think. Caught up in the difficulties and pleasures of their new relationship, it's easy to miss the way they're moving dangerously close to the edge of falling apart, not deeper in love.

My thanks to Jane Davitt for co-operating and being so generous with her time.

Down the track, I hope to get the same set of questions answered by another great BDSM writer, Kim Dare. Stay tuned!
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An Interview with Christopher Koehler

12/13/2012

8 Comments

 
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Thanks for agreeing to an interview, Chris or is it Christopher?

CK: Chris is fine. I reserve Christopher for book covers, legal documents, and overly familiar salespeople.

It was interesting reading “Rocking the Boat” as so many of the aspects felt familiar and reminded me of “Red+Blue”: being on the water, the getting fit and being forced back into the closet to keep a job.

 I’ve only rowed a couple of times (apart from hours spent mucking around in a tinny as a kid) but I do see the boats out on the water when I’m in my kayak. I loved your analogy of the baby-sitting coach in his boat, keeping an eye on them and screaming out instructions through his megaphone. I see that a lot because the Como Boatshed for the St George Rowing Club is directly opposite one of the launching spots.


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When you’re out on the water before daylight and a mist hangs just above the surface, it’s an eerie sight to see an eight or even a single boat silently swish past. Luckily we can see them before they see us.

I think that “going backwards” thing is something that turned me off rowing, even though I apparently have the build and reach for it, and my Dad was in a Varsity crew.

There were so many facets of RTB I could relate to, the blisters, the importance of technique, having to train in less than ideal conditions. I think that’s why I enjoyed reading it so much. Thank you for writing the series.

I’m interested in reading more and understand that you have a new one coming out soon and are in the middle of writing the fourth. So, to kick things off, why don’t you tell me a bit about the new one out.


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CK: The new one, Burning It Down, wasn’t supposed to happen. It’s an outgrowth of a scene in Tipping The Balance, one in which Brad Sundstrom and Owen Douglas, a hot firefighter, make out. That scene is in none of my notes for TTB, either. There was something about Owen that just begged to have his story told, and that short scene in TTB wasn’t enough. So instead of writing Stuart Cochrane’s story, I wrote Owen’s.

Newly promoted Owen has always been the hook-up and never the boyfriend, and he’s ready for that to change, even before he’s almost snuffed by an on the job accident. As part of his rehab, he ends up in an adaptive rowing program run by the former coach at California Pacific, Nick Bedford. There Owen meets Adam Lennox, who has some hidden secrets. To find out more, of course, you’ll have to read it yourself.


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AB: I make it a practice of connecting with gay men who write m/m. I think that they have something special to add to the genre. Yes, women can and do write good m/m but when I read books that I know are written by men, invariably I read something that sets a lightbulb off in my head.

I made some notes when reading “Rocking the Boat” and would like to quiz you on them if I may.


CK: I can’t wait to see where this lands!

First off, though, I need to mention that one thing that concerns me when I read reviews from readers of male written m/m books, there is sometimes a dismissal of something that happens in the book along the lines of “gay men wouldn’t say or do that” or even worse they use the word “shouldn’t.” I won’t go into the quagmire of expectations of monogamy after the first kiss. However, one aspect did intrigue me. (Spoilers here if you haven’t read “Rocking the Boat”) On the first night Nick and Morgan are together, they kiss but basically just cuddle in bed when Morgan stays the night.

Why did you do this?Was that for the female m/m reader? Did/do you consciously censor or adapt your books to suit their sensibilities?

CK: That was strictly plot driven. As I recall (I haven't read RTB since it was published) Morgan needed some reassurance so that's what they did. Also, as a gay man, my own experience has been to defer sex until there’s an emotional bond so that's what I write.

As for censoring or adapting, I'll say that I don't consciously do it, but also that based on what I've seen and experienced in this little community of ours, I'm probably more prudish than some of my readers. 


AB: When I read, I mark paragraphs or sentiments that offer me something fresh (eg terminal sperm poisoning). In this case, I loved the description of the party Morgan went to… the cruising. I’d never seen it depicted so well before. The signals. Wow. Is that common knowledge? How do guys learn the language?

CK: Beats me. :-) I’m horrible at it, absolutely horrible. I don’t recognize anything until it reaches the point of vulgarity, at which point I recoil in utter aesthetic horror. When I was an undergraduate at university, I dragged female friends to parties with me because they recognized it almost immediately and usually put a stop to it.

I do remember at one bar some nelly thing exclaiming as my cousin and I walked by, “How Americana.”

So what Morgan experienced? I basically pulled it out of my ass as an idealized version of what cruising was like when I was his age. I’m 42; he’s half my age. But I’ve also spoken to a number of younger men, and their worlds are much different that the one I experienced back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s when I came out. It occurs to me that people Morgan’s age might not bother with cruising. For all I know, they just approach each other, saying, “Wanna fuck?”


AB: But another paragraph that really stood out for me was the one describing the final race as they pull ahead in the closing stages. Beautifully written. I could feel it, hear it, identify with it.

CK:Racing’s like that, or at least good racing is when you’ve got a lot invested in it, and yes, I’ve seen people puking over the gunwales of their shells. I’ve never done it myself, which I guess means I wasn’t pulling hard enough.

AB: I loved the way you described that empty feeling post sex, when there was no emotional connection. I gather from your remarks above and the fact that you’ve been married for nearly twenty years that this is important to you. Were you always this way or did you go through the slutty horn dog stage? What made you change?

CK: I married my first steady boyfriend, so for me sex and emotions have always been linked. Also, I used my first boyfriend ever for sex and it was really bad sex—did you know you can fall asleep when someone’s blowing you? twice?—so I certainly learned my lesson. That said, in a relationship as long as the one as I’m in, there’s plenty of room for bad sex, or hurtful sex, or sex that leaves you feel alone afterward, really the whole gamut of nasty feelings.

I kind of wish I’d gone through a slutty stage, if only so I had a better idea of what I like before I settled down, but then, I’m not sure I’m capable of that kind of thing, either.

Anyway, I suppose this is where I have to plead guilty to writing to please my market. In some ways, this genre isn’t about physical eroticism at all. It’s actually about the emotional kind, and part of my outlining process is making sure I’ve accounted for genuine emotional responses to various situations, including physical intimacy.


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AB: Reading your books also made me think about why we read. As a writer and reading reviews of mine and other books, I’ve come to the understanding that people read for different reasons so it’s impossible to please everyone. Some like following the slow build of a relationship, some like the sex or just want see the “love” while not being as interested in other aspects such as building respect and understanding, others like the ability to step into someone else’s shoes to see what they’re like. That’s what it was like for me, reading RTB. Yet these shoes were familiar enough to feel comfortable from the start.

What have you learnt about readers since you started writing?

CK: I’ve only been contacted by a relative handful of readers, and all they’ve really said is they like what I write. Not all that illuminating, I suppose. I’ve noticed more of the differences you describe among the publishers. I write primarily for Dreamspinner, and the relationship is definitely a part of it, along with the all-important Happily Ever After. DSP’s readers like the sex, but I’ve seen varying level of physicality in stories and no one bats an eye. On the other hand, I wrote a short story for MLR and thought it was a fine, perfectly lovely and sentimental story, only to have my editor demand dick. As this was a Christmas story, I was a bit nonplussed, but she bought it, and if she wanted a sex scene, then that’s what she’d get.

AB: When did you start writing? What made you venture into m/m romance rather than, say, gay fiction?

CK: I started writing before I was literate, filling notebooks with the swoopy spiral children think cursive writing looks like. I really got into after watching “Clash of the Titans” in the early 80s, one of many occasions I’ve thought, “Damn. Is that all the higher the bar is?”

After grad school, I spent a decade or so unlearning my academic writing style while working on both fantasy and manners comedies. They all lacked something, and that something was emotion. When I stumbled upon m/m romances, one of my first thoughts was, “Aha!” This genre helped me correct what was at the time the major flaw in my writing.

I read a few m/m romances that were wonderful, moving books, and I read a few that made me think, “Is that all the higher the bar is? I can do that.” So that’s what I set out to do, and the result was Rocking the Boat. In some ways, it makes me cringe now. I would write it differently now, but it was the best book I had in me at the time.

Hmmm, m/m vs gay fiction. It’s not a distinction I’ve considered much. Maybe it’s because gay fiction doesn’t seem to speak to my life (sorry, but most of us aren’t NYC sophisticates), but I can usually find something to identify with in most m/m romances.


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AB: I’ve also read, and loved, “First Impressions”. It’s inspired by “Pride and Prejudice” I understand. Would you prefer to see it referred to as m/m romance or gay fiction?

CK: FI is a funny book, I think. I started the original manuscript over a decade ago when I was a member of Sacramento Frontrunners/Frontwalkers (see the dedication). I realized one day on the way to a run that my life was very much like that of an Austen character: I was part of a very small community; we all knew each others business, and we furthermore knew each other’s mating habits; life was a series of dances and parties with one goal in mind, specifically finding a husband; and finally, our little society was a shark tank in that we all waited for someone to make a single wrong move before the feeding frenzy of gossip and social ruination began. Since I was in a stable relationship, I suppose my husband and I were the Gardiners, a bit above all the backstabbing and gossip, but not too far. I certainly did my share of social disciplining.

When I rewrote it, I rewrote it as a m/m romance, but is it gay fiction? To be honest, I don’t have that firm a grasp on what “gay fiction” is. FI has two gay male protagonists who end up in love. It’s written by a gay man. Into which pigeonhole should it go?

AB: What do you think about the m/m romance genre as a whole? Are there aspects you’d like to see change?

CK: I think the m/m romance genre is for the most part a friendly and welcoming one, with a space for anyone who wants for wants or needs it. I’ve met a lot of interesting people, and made some lifelong friends.

What would I like to see changed? I am sick to fucking death about the debate about women writing m/m romance. Sick. Of. It. I refuse to read anything more about it. All it does is get me riled up, which is rather rude, really.

From a purely practical standpoint, this genre wouldn’t exist without our many fine women authors. From an artistic standpoint, women have written better novels than I ever will. Who cares about the gender of the mind that produced it, so long as the story is good?


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AB: I gather you’re a house-husband, have a nine year old child and elderly parents to take care of, do you find it difficult to find time to clear your head well enough to write? Why do you write? Is there an aspect of trying to show the real side of m/m relationships?

CK: Fortunately my parents aren’t quite to the elderly stage. I’ll give them another decade at most, however, and yes, I have a nine year old with ADHD and oppositional-defiant disorder. On top of all that, I have major depressive disorder (sometimes, two types of depression at the same time! Wheee!). Quite frankly, sometimes I can’t clear my mind to write.

When I do sit down to write—and I try to write for at least a few hours every day, including weekends—there’s at least a good 45 minutes or so of social media and music through headphones to isolate me from my life. Now that I think about it, my mother’s getting bad about calling me on my cell phone for the most trivial of reasons when I’m writing. I’ll have to put a stop to that.

I write because I have to, because I must escape a life I find at times quite intolerable.As for showing the real side of m/m relationships, oh God no.Who’d want to read that?

People read fiction because it interests them, because it takes them to places they’ve never been or would never go to, but most of life is quite boring. Someone (Hemingway?) once said something along the lines that fiction is just like real life, only with all the boring parts cut out. Most of life is far from romantic, and I think our readers are only too aware of that. We’d all like life to be a bit gentler, a bit kinder, a bit more gracious, than it is. Also, a lot hotter. We all know it’s not. We’re not stupid or delusional. I’m surprised by the number of damaged people I’ve met in this business, including myself, and if m/m or any kind of romance or science fiction or fantasy provides us a bit of shelter, then so much the better and I’m glad to help.

AB: I’m an online writing course junky. How have you developed your craft?

CK: I just keep writing. There’s no rest, no vacation. I never stop.

AB: What is the best piece of writing advice you ever got and what is the most useful thing you could pass on to would-be writers?

CK: I’m going to steal from Hemmingway again, which is odd because I hate reading his books. Throw out your first million words.

Also, read as much as you can. If you don’t read, you can’t write. Lots of authors have said this and there’s a reason for it.


AB: As a writer, what comes easier to you? The plot or the characters?

CK: The plot. The characters tell me who they are only gradually.

AB: “First Impressions” had some brilliant witty and catty dialogue. Does that come easy to you?

CK: Oh my, yes.

AB: Tell me a bit more about what made you write “First Impressions”.

CK: I guess I’ve covered that a bit above. But I tried not to hew too closely to the plot of P&P because I wasn’t trying to write a gay Pride and Prejudice. I was trying to tell a story somewhere between what I’d realized about my life at a certain point in time and Austen’s keen insights into human behaviour. Likewise, while there are some obvious parallels in characters, none of them in FI is too obviously one to one, and there are certainly far fewer in FI than in P&P.

AB: Are any other remakes planned?

CK: No, but that said, I’ve got a wonderful book of Restoration comedies that no one’s read in a century or so. If I run out of ideas…

AB: The books had some great secondary characters: Thad, Van, Desmond. Is there any hope of a spin-off for these three?

CK: No. They drove me crazy at times. Darren Jessup, on the other hand? Maybe…

 AB: What would you see as your strengths as a writer and what do you need to work on?

CK:One strength is my rather meticulous outlining. By the time my first draft is done, it’s almost ready to be submitted. Because I work so much out ahead of time, I rarely have to delete large chunks of text.

What might I need to work on? I tend to be sparse on description. In part, this is deliberate. I want the reader to fill the blanks with her imagination, what she thinks a given scene should look like. With a few exceptions, I even try to be vague about race. Ideally, I’d like a reader to be able to fill in her own race with her imagination. I’m not sure how often I’m successful at that, but as I writer I’m rather a coward at writing cultures or races other than my own. I don’t want to offend anyone with an inaccurate or oafish portrayal.


AB: Okay, let’s get back to your next release, and your current WIP which I gather is about the eight’s cox, Stuart. How real do you try to make your books? Do your draw on real life for your characters and their trials and tribulations?

 CK: I try to make the books as real as I can, so I do draw on real life, yes. So for example, Stuart’s starting medical school at the UC Davis Medical School. I’ve bookmarked the curriculum page for the school, I’ve read it carefully, and what Stuart will be taking his first quarter is what medical students at UC Davis take. As for the scene depicting one of his first days of school, my husband (a physician specializing in internal medicine) kindly told me all about his first days of med school at the Medical College of Georgia. It keeps changing its name, so I’m not sure it’s called that anymore, but whatever.

I’m also a vulture when it comes to scavenging people’s experiences. I don’t say a lot in social situations, and that’s because I’m listening intently to what people say, even in other conversations.

But I also remember that I write fiction, and sometimes it’s enjoyable to make things better than they are. I’m indulging in a bit of that with my WIP, Settling The Score.

AB: I’m happy to post an excerpt, and it doesn’t have to be a sex scene. Give me a taste of what ‘Burning it Down” is all about. (Edited slightly for context)

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Adam wasn’t just a pretty face, plus whatever he was packing under those workout clothes. He must’ve handled their boat like a pro, because Brad hadn’t said anything about it, and yet somehow Adam had managed to keep up a steady stream of low-voiced corrections that had kept Brad from riding him too hard. Owen adjusted his semi. He’d had one all day. Okay, not all day, not like get to the ER now all day, just when he thought about Adam and rowing. Mostly Adam.

Adam.

From the moment they started rowing, the two of them had been involved in an extended flirtation. No, he corrected, something stronger than that. More of a slow-burning seduction, like they’d both known what the outcome would be, but they had plenty of time to get to there and they didn’t feel like bothering Brad or anyone else with the details.

Then they touched for the first time thanks to Owen’s bum leg, and stars had exploded in his head. Something about the way Adam had said, “You’re safe.” He’d known instinctively that he truly was. He’d relaxed as soon as he’d heard Adam say that, deeply, almost totally. Sure, he could’ve been seriously hurt by a fall, but then there was Adam before he’d barely done more than wobble. He hadn’t even had time to get pumped up on adrenaline before Adam had swooped in to save him.

Then Adam had helped him down the ramp to their boat. It felt so nice under Adam’s arm, so protected. So intimate. He never wanted that to end, and okay, sure, he’d hadn’t really needed any more help after getting down the ramp on the dock, but he hadn’t wanted to leave that shelter where his broken body didn’t matter. He never wanted to leave that shelter.

That wasn’t to say he hadn’t been perving on his pair-partner, although to be fair, Adam had been macking right back. Holeeee shit, Adam helping him into the boat? He’d had lovers who’d caressed him less intimately than Adam had. He hoped his hard-on hadn’t been too obvious, because it had been nearly instantaneous. Sure, it had been an accident, but the one time Adam had grazed his nipple? OMG. He hadn’t groaned, had he? 

AB: Thanks, Chris, for agreeing to be grilled by me. If your next book is anywhere near as good as others in the series or “First Impressions”, we’re in for a great read.

CK: My pleasure.

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All of Chris's books are available at Dreamspinner Press and why not visit his webpage here





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What happens after the last page is turned...?

7/2/2012

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Here's a blog I did recently with fellow Dreamspinner Author,
Clare London*

 
Sequels and Series - to do or not?! Please feel free to join in the discussion.

There are also equally interesting chats on:
The End ... at Anne Barwell's blog.
Choosing a POV ... at the Dreamspinner blog.
As I see it, there are a few different options:
  1. The Epilogue where all loose ends are neatly tidied up.
  2. A short story, published separately, showing the characters living happily together. Clare’s own trilogy of shorts that follow “True Colors” is a good example of these as are the many Holiday themed stories that authors write involving their popular characters.
  3. A follow up story where unresolved external issues from the past intrude, eg stories like Jane Davitt’s “Wintergreen”, the follow-up to “Wild Raspberries”.
  4. A sequel where the nature of their personality differences or their living conditions provide new / unexpected conflict. (the factors that can tear them apart)
  5. Ongoing books in a series where their jobs and/or world allows for ongoing adventures that are as interesting and significant as the parallel romance plot which develops over the series.
  6. Spin Offs involving minor characters in the first book which show the ongoing relationship of the initial characters in their own secondary role.

Each of these has a place depending on the characters and circumstances of the initial book.

Problems can arise, however, with readers noting that follow up books where all the edginess and tension has gone can be boring, no matter how hot the sex.

In other instances, readers have developed certain expectations based on the first book and are disappointed if these aren’t met.

All books need conflict. That’s what gets readers turning the page to see if this can be resolved. However books that rely just on arguments between the two characters can lead to this sort of reader reaction:
“It was like going one step forward and two steps back.” and another reader commented on a different story:
“I just wish they didn't argue about little things so much.”
One of the features I like to explore in my stories is the concept of opposites or characters who are immediately attracted to each other but have significant hurdles to overcome before they can get together.

My first novella, “Mardi Gras” which is centred around Australia’s “Pride” parade has two guys from different countries, different age groups and different backgrounds. A common reaction after that was disbelief that the characters would be together long term. I have yet to write the sequel, but I believe they can, and do.
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My next novella, “Caught” featured men from different cultural backgrounds.

In this case, the quickness of their hooking up also made some readers query whether common ground can be found in the long term.

“Red+Blue” again is posing these sorts of responses.   

While “Opposites Attract”, do they “Stay Together”? 

I could have written a single chapter epilogue, based it a year in the future and shown them playing “Happy Families” followed by a hot fuck. But I want to do more than that. I want to explore the concept of meeting these problems and overcoming them in a book “Give+Take”.
Clare had an interesting comment to make at the time, likening her characters’ lives to a Work in Progress.

So, here’s our discussion. 
A.B. Gayle: What’s your attitude to sequels?

Clare: I've personally never deliberately considered them because I write the one story, and that's that :). However the first story I had published at DSP had a bittersweet ending - before they launched that specific range - and on accepting it, they asked me to write a sequel that would bring the main characters around to a HEA. I was happy to do that and it didn't feel like an uncomfortable compromise, but a further development (now published as one volume BRANDED).

Otherwise, I don't necessarily wrap up all the ends, but I strongly feel the story should stand on its own. Freeman's a good example - he and Kit will always be an odd couple, and they've only just come back together at the end of the book.

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 I don't think either of them ever mentions love or commitment aloud! Freeman will continue to skate close to the edge of legality, and Kit will remain rash and independent. But I felt it had enough of a settlement to stand alone. That said, I have started a sequel but it's in very early stages *g*. Freeman gets caught up in yet another dodgy deal and Kit helps - and this continues to add layers to their personal interaction.
A.B. Gayle: Freeman is a favourite of mine and I often quote it when talking about first person POV.  It would definitely lend itself to follow up books in the style of options 3, 4 or 5!

Clare: Yes, I think that's the one book I could imagine equally tense and messy and sexy sequel(s), while they *both* grow up! They may spend time apart as a result, but I'd still hope to bring them back together.

A.B. Gayle: What I find is that these two concepts “Hooking Up” and “Staying Together” don’t always fit comfortably in the one story. What’s your take on that?

Clare: You raise a very intriguing thought - how much do we truncate our stories at an early get-together stage to fit the romance HEA trope, yet the characters are so sparky with each other it's possible they won't stay together long-term? I'd say all my characters have long-term potential - but that's because I'm publishing in the romance genre. Some of my free fiction explores less stable and/or healthy relationships, and that can be both fun and challenging for an author.

A.B. Gayle: Sequels would be easier for me, because my heroes are "Opposite" and have already got major hurdles that aren't going to go away, eg Danny and Taylor - cultural, Patrick and Damien - age, Ben and Adrian - location as much as anything. These things are already built in so sequels are almost being demanded. Are there any sorts of sequels you don’t like?

Clare: The HEA sequel where nothing happens except they cook dinner and have perfect sex all the time *lol*. I don't mean any disrespect to "slice of life" sequels - and you're right, they tend to come up at holiday periods - but they're not as interesting for me as a reader, however much I liked the characters first time around. However, I'm pretty sure that's because I don't read much in the cosy romance genre anyway, whereas many readers love to feel part of the domestic life of their favourite characters.

A.B. Gayle: What sort of series do you think work best?
Clare: This relates to my response to the last question. My favourite characters are ones who struggle in the first place i.e. the HEA in book#1 is the beginning of a story, not the end. Look at Jordan Castillo Price's PsyCop series - there's no doubt Jacob and Vic are a great couple, but they still have plenty of friction. That's actually what makes me love the series so much. There seems to be scope for more stories, and she feels that way too. Whereas her Channeling Morpheus series - while I love that even MORE - has a definite arc that it followed, with a beginning and end, and that was that. Perfect!
Dennis Lehane wrote an excellent series with Pat and Angie as P.I.s, but the last in the series had them breaking up over a point of moral principle that was very powerful. I've just read a new sequel to that, when they're back together and married, although re-addressing the case they broke up over. It's still a good thriller, but the break-up one made a far stronger impact on me.
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A.B. Gayle: Would you like to explain your rationale behind the writing of the sequels to True Colors?

Clare: They were a chance for me to revisit the guys after they got together, essentially to explore sex scenes, but also to progress the relationship further. Admittedly it establishes them more firmly rather than examines their conflict, but I still wanted to show *some* conflict, even if it's only personality-based like your (option 4), and ways they find to compromise and complement. A pretentious theory for 3 short sex scenes I suspect :), but that was why I wrote them.
 Mind you, several people had expressed disappointment they didn't see Miles bottom in the original story. I wouldn't have written the sequel showing it if that wasn't true to the characters, but I felt that Miles *would* want to explore that - though not enough for a whole novel!
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A.B. Gayle: Speaking of Spin Offs, is there any chance to see if Red and Carter hook up?

Clare: Funny you should say that :). I have started another story with Red and Carter - that's me giving into peer group pressure again *lol* - but I don't intend to have it feature Miles and Zeke's relationship too strongly, just them as friends of the couple.

A.B. Gayle: What sort of follow up stories don’t you like?

Clare: I can get irritated by the manufactured conflict, just to make another book. A previously-unknown stalker turns up, or a long-lost - and threatening - relative suddenly reappears, or one of them suddenly reconsiders his love and they break up over something daft just to be able to re-live finding the HEA, etc etc.

A.B. Gayle: One reason I end my books where I do (and explore this further in Anne’s blog) is that I like to think I’ve shown enough about the characters’ personalities and strengths that the reader, using their imagination, can develop their own futures for them. How do you feel about that aspect?

Clare: That's a great viewpoint and I agree. It ties in with my opinion that a book should be self-contained, although it's fine if threads are left for a potential sequel - and for the readers to develop their own ideas, as you say. I often won't read a book in the first place if I know in advance it'll end on a cliffhanger - it feels like I'm being "tricked" into buying a long-running series before #1 is even out. I like to read a book, love it, then find there's another about the characters that I'd also like to read. The difference is difficult to explain! and I'm struggling to think of an example. Maybe for me it's the difference between the Black Dagger Brotherhood books, which are fascinating individually, and some of the long-running crime series, which start to pall and become repetitive after too many.

For me, it's all about contrivance - if another book rises out of the ending of the first, all well and good. I find it less justifiable to set out to write a series - and also tricky in the m/m genre because it implies an endless supply of gay main characters, all in the same setting! The Sean Michael series is an example of handling this logistical problem, with the BDSM clubs.

A.B. Gayle: I was advised that rather than write a sequel, I should write a totally new story as sequels don’t sell as well.

Clare: I got similar advice from a publisher, too - that sequels don’t sell as well unless they *are* a fully-fleshed plot on its own. It's heartening to hear on one level. However, I can see plenty of series books doing excellently! It must have its pros and cons - on the one hand, a much-loved book will have an established and supportive market for a series, but on the other hand, if a reader didn't like #1, they're perhaps unlikely to try #2 through #12.

A.B. Gayle: Well, thanks for letting me pick your mind, Clare. I’ll be interested to hear your readers’ thoughts on the subject and maybe even hear examples of ones they think work and ones they don’t.


Clare: Great to see and chat with you!   

* This interview and blog originallty appeared on Clare's Live Journal here
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Fires and other Catastrophes

6/22/2012

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Today it's my pleasure to welcome author P.D. Singer whose book, "Fire on the Mountain" is being released today by Dreamspinner Press.

First off, the blurb for her new release:

Take a break from academics, enjoy the Colorado Rockies, fight a fire now and then. That’s all Jake Landon expected when he signed up to be a ranger. He’ll partner with some crusty old mountain man; they’ll patrol the wilderness in a tanker, speak three words a day, and Old Crusty won’t be alluring at all. A national forest is big enough to be Jake’s closet—he’ll spend his free time fishing. 

Except Old Crusty turns out to be Kurt Carlson: confident, competent, and experienced. He's also young, hot, friendly, and considers clothing optional when it’s just two guys in the wilderness. Sharing a small cabin with this walking temptation is stressing Jake’s sanity—is he sending signals, or just being Kurt? And how would Kurt react if he found out his new partner wants to start a fire of a different kind? Jake’s terrified—they have to live together for five months no matter what. 

Enough sparks fly between the rangers to set the trees alight, but it takes a raging inferno to make Jake and Kurt admit to the heat between them. 

Bonus Short Story: Into the Mountains 

Long before he met Jake, Kurt Carlson climbed Yosemite with his best friend, Benji. But after a storm traps them halfway up the face of El Capitan, Kurt has to accept that their friendship isn't what he thought. 

The First Electronic Edition of Fire on the Mountain was published by Torquere Press in 2009. I asked Pam the background to the re-release and other questions about her writing. 
  

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We've got the fire, now for the grilling!

Thanks for agreeing to an interview, PD.

First up, can I say how much I enjoyed “The Rare Event”. There’s so much m/m released these days,  around 200 a month according to Elisa Rolle. So when someone writes a book that stands out from the crowd, I think it’s worth noting.

The m/m Romance group at Goodreads has a poll of preferred jobs for our heroes. Cops and Private Eyes top the list with 17.3%, followed by cowboys, shifters and military. It wasn’t until near the bottom at 2.3% that business men featured.

I wish I’d known that statistic when I was planning “Red+Blue”! 
I remembered a gay guy commenting in a thread that he wished authors would write about people in everyday jobs. So as I can’t resist a challenge I wrote about an actuary working for an insurance company. I did mention I liked a challenge didn’t I?

However, the thought of writing about hedge fund traders like you did in “The Rare Event” never crossed my mind. Brilliant! And you did it so well.

Now to make you sing for your supper!

AB: What fascinates me about your writing is that both "Maroon" and "The Rare Event" centre on a worldwide catastrophe, yet in neither case do you actually include the catastrophe in the story. Was this a deliberate decision?

PD: With the Rare Event, the whole catastrophe was just too large and spread over time, so I had to tackle a chunk of it. With Maroon, the call was for a story to go with a color, and being Attila the Pun, maroon meant ships to me. I have an Age of Sail story meant for that call, but I couldn’t make the ending come out happy without bending history to the breaking point. Then I found one of Walter Lord’s Titanic books, which had a tidbit that became a central plot point. With the Titanic, you are limited to a few possible outcomes to get a happy ending, and a reunion in heaven has already been done. If you can’t pick out the event, let me know; I’ll tell you.

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AB: Are there other catastrophes out there that you'd like to use as backdrop?

PD: Disasters tend to reveal character. I’ve set mountains on fire, dropped avalanches on characters, sunk ships, it’s all good fun. I’ve thinking of doing one centered on Krakatau but it would have to be a Dreamspinner Bittersweet. Might manage with Tambora better. I have a big book of catastrophes that could keep me in plot bunnies for years.

AB: When did you start writing and what made you venture into m/m?

PD: I’m an old fanficcer; I started with vampires, were-wolves, and necromancers, all of which are conspicuously absent in my published stories. Eden Winters and I started as crit partners in fandom, and teased each other into attempting original work. She led me into reading m/m, and then we decided we could try writing what we enjoyed reading. We’ve been together since our early head-hoppy messes, and anything one of us bumps our nose on, the other tries to learn from. It’s like getting double the experience.

 AB: What did your hubbie say when he found out you were writing m/m?

PD: Oh, My husband knew early on about the m/m romance; he lifted an eyebrow initially but encouraged me to publish. He’s my trusted resource on rock climbing, camping, distance cycling, guy anatomy, and guy-speak. And he loves research nights.

AB: But why do you write when you can probably make more money in your EDJ?

PD: I’m fortunate with the day job in that it’s steady, socially useful, and interesting, but it doesn’t feed all parts of my soul. Money is one way to know you’ve resonated with readers, but I write because I want to tell the stories.

AB: I’m an online writing course junky. How have you developed your craft?

PD: Holly Lisle’s novel revision class was very valuable, and so was getting edited by Vincent Diamond. My action sequences are more exciting after Vincent took a red pen to the original lyrical sentences. Every book provides a new learning experience on some aspect of the craft; the latest lesson was how not to commit ellipsis abuse.

AB: What is the best piece of writing advice you ever got and what is the most useful thing you could pass on to would-be writers?

 PD: The most useful writing advice came out of Holly Lisle’s novel revision course and distils down to: a true scene contains a protagonist, an antagonist (someone or something preventing the protagonist from getting what he wants), the conflict between them, a setting, and finally, a twist, where something changes. When one or more of those are missing, it’s not a scene, it’s pretty writing. Putting this information to work will probably keep me honing my craft for the rest of my life.

AB: You mentioned that you have revised and are re-issuing "Fire on the Mountain" what did you see as the flaws in the original version and how are you fixing them?

 PD: Fire was a pretty good book initially, but when I brought it to Dreamspinner, it was too short to be a novel. Bringing it to length allowed me to flesh out Jake, Kurt, and their backgrounds, and to improve “tell” sections into “show” sections, which are more vivid and interesting. Would you rather watch Kurt struggle with the tanker (and see why it’s a sore spot with him) or just know it happened? And because an author does tinker with sentences, flow is improved.

AB: You're very lucky in having a regular beta reader who is also a writer. Has it strained the friendship?

 PD: Only if she sells more books than I do. Please, nice readers, keep peace between us!


AB: As a writer, what comes easier to you? The plot or the characters?

PD: I usually have the plot sketched out before I know what characters will inhabit it, but my true struggle is to get all the scenes on the page they way they play in my head.

 AB: What would you see as your strengths as a writer and what ... apart from overuse of ellipsis ;) ,,, would you see as the things you need to always work on?

PD: I think my strength lies in being open to learning new methods of both writing craft and being willing to tackle a new subject if there’s a potential plot attached. I develop a new writing quirk with every piece—I stamp that last book’s lesson out and promptly have a new issue to edit. The ellipses weren’t a problem in previous books, but abounded in The Rare Event’s first draft. (They aren’t there now!) It remains to be seen what quirk an editor will point out in Blood on the Mountain.

I gather  that's your sequel to Fire on the Mountain. Well, good luck with this release and maybe when the next one comes out, I'll have you back to grill you some more.


If you want to know more about P.D. and her books, visit her at her website. 

3 Comments

Striking a Different Chord – The Perfect Third

5/10/2012

2 Comments

 
To date, most of my interviews have been with established writers. Here's one with someone new on the scene, Morticia Knight.

AB: Hi, Morticia. Welcome to the hot seat. Let’s start by finding out a little bit about you. When did you start writing?

MK: I’ve been writing since I was a little girl, but I was led astray by the lurid siren call of rock ‘n’roll, so concentrated on my music career for 15 years. In that era, the only writing I did was lyrics to songs. It was odd – I would have these crazy sci-fi or paranormal romance stories running around in my head – but if I tried to write anything down, it would come out in a rhyme scheme! I guess I just needed to be in that zone during that time.

AB: It’s always fascinated me that there seems to be a special mystique about male rock musicians. There is almost a cliché about the beautiful actress and the definitely less attractive male rock star. What do you think is the appeal?

MK: Definitely the bad boy persona. I’ve always found myself more attracted to that than the classically handsome guy. I’m sure a psychotherapist could work that all out for me – but I’m happy with my bad boy (it can be an illusory image) husband of the last 6 years – so I wouldn’t want to change it!

AB: Men are often accused of not being romantic or not being able to express their emotions well, yet by far the majority of the ballads that tug at the heartstrings are written by or sung by males. Is that the secret? They feel it is permitted for them to express these sorts of feelings in song, but they could never speak or write these words normally.

MK: Absolutely! I fear I might fall in that category as well. I look back at some of the things I would write and then sing about on stage and I think “No way would I ever actually say that to anyone!” There’s a weird sense of freedom of expression that you get when you take on that rock singer persona on stage; you feel as though you can hide safely behind it. I feel that way as an author too, but I believe it helps my writing to be more truthful.

AB: What exactly was your involvement in the scene? Were you in a band?

MK: Two, actually. But the last one was the one that burned me on the business. We got some college radio airplay and charted, did some regional college tours, sold a few CD’s, but the business aspect of music destroyed it for me.

AB: You mentioned getting “burned out by the music business in L.A.” Was that from the back stage people eg promoters and managers or the performers. Do you miss those days?

MK:  – Sometimes I miss the synergy that you can achieve with other musicians on stage or in the studio. It can be like a very spiritual human connection moment. However, the beauty of that gets degraded by the record companies, distributors, etc, behind the scenes. It takes something pure and magical, and turns it into a commodity no different than a box of cereal. I get that we all want/need to make money – but there was a special type of viciousness associated with the music and film business that I haven’t encountered elsewhere.

AB: Would you ever write a romance novel based on the music scene?

MK: I actually have a few bouncing around in my head. There’s a rich well to draw from that subject matter!

AB: I gather that your path to writing stemmed from ghost writing or helping to write someone’s memoir. Care to elaborate?

MK: I had been involved more in the behind the scenes aspect of the music business and found myself working in P.R. with a crazy ex-music journalist who had interviewed everyone from Bowie to Chuck Berry to Led Zeppelin. I collaborated with him on his memoir, and that was when the writing juices got flowing again. I got out of the music business, moved to the mountains 2 hours away from L.A., and began to focus all of my creative energies on writing.

AB: How long ago was this? What sort of writing did you do in those days?

MK: This was about 10 years ago. I hadn’t gotten to the point yet where I was ready to start writing fiction again, like I did when I was a kid, so writing about other people, other fellow musicians even, helped me to flex my writing muscles.

AB: What prompted your re-location to Oregon?

MK: Two hours was still too close to Los Angeles, so a couple years ago I moved to the northern Oregon Coast. It is savage and dreary and gorgeous and peaceful here. In this environment, I have been able to get to a wonderful place where I can write down my romance stories. It was a little over a year ago, while I was laid up for a little while, that I discovered Total-E-Bound Publishing. I researched the internet; discovering that there was a huge market for books and stories of erotica. For some reason, it clicked for me. It felt like I could write some of my wild stories down under the erotica genre, and not worry about whether it was too questionable for a mainstream audience or publisher.

AB: Did you have any background in Creative Writing or are you totally self taught?

MK: I began to study towards an English degree before I left L.A.. I wanted to make sure I was grammatically coherent before I made a complete idiot of myself. But after I’d devoured all of the writing, literature, philosophy and history classes – I was done. I’m still not a hundred percent sure why I need a lab science class to get an English degree. Especially when they charge you so much money!

AB: What appeals to you about writing romance?

MK: I like it when romance (whether erotica or not) tackles the real challenges that all of us go through - we all have some physical or emotional block to believing we’re the perfect partner. So what happens when we have a very intense block – such as a massive injury like your hero Ethan did in “Isolation”? Does that mean we are no longer deserving of love and sexual fulfillment?

Sure - some readers might be uncomfortable with that, but I think it’s a worthwhile subject. There are plenty of women who read, write and enjoy rubenesque romances for that same reason. I think you should write what moves you, and the right readers will be moved by it.

 Also, I like literature to push boundaries the way books like American Psycho, No Country For Old Men, and The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty have done. I’m not at the stage of my erotica career where I could even hope to compare my writing to such illustrious authors and works, but I am striving to remain creative and true to the craft of writing. At the very least, I want my characters to be real and vibrant, and a part of stories that have a strong arc and remain with my readers. This is my hope!

AB: What sort of stories do you write and why?

MK: It seems as though my erotica writing has remained in a contemporary setting, primarily using BDSM and ménage as a back drop. But I also have several sci-fi and paranormal storylines in the works, and am currently working on an M/M contemporary men in uniform series. So I suppose I’m going where my heart takes me at the time!

AB: BDSM and ménage seem to be the flavour of the month or even year, and is even come to the attention of the NY publishing scene. Do you have aspirations to write the next “Fifty Shades of Gray”?

MK: Not at all. Unless you mean it in the sense of reaching a wider audience with my writing. It’s ironic – and I know several erotica authors who feel this way – I have a BDSM series “Bound by Pleasure”, that has been on Amazon since last summer, and the scenario is very similar to the one in Fifty Shades. Since I never even heard of Fifty Shades until a few months ago, and have never read it, I find that interesting. I truly believe there’s a little of the collective consciousness out there when it comes to that sort of thing. But I do hope that the success of Fifty Shades will help other erotica authors such as you and I to get our books seen.

AB: Bondage and bit of lightweight caning with a paddle can be seen as healthy kink, but have you ever had any contact with or desire to write about the full-on BDSM scene with its rules, safe-words and protocols?

MK: I was in rock ‘n’ roll, remember? (*wink*) I had a little contact with the scene back in the day, and the “Bound by Pleasure” series is fairly hardcore, and might be too much for some readers to handle.

AB: What writers inspire you?

MK: Stephen King was my first (*blushing*). From there, it’s been an eclectic swirl. Cormac McCarthy, Karen Marie Moning, Charlaine Harris, Phillip K. Dick and Hunter Thompson, to name a few.

AB: You mention that you have had scifi and paranormal stories swirling around your head, would you ever write these? Would they be erotica, or would you be aiming at a different market?

MK: I would like to write some sci-fi/paranormal erotica. I started one about an evil djinn during NaNoWriMo, but I have had other deadlines I’ve needed to attend to. I have a few sci-fi’s outlined that I may try to pitch to a mainstream romance market. We’ll see!

AB: I gather you have a new story coming out soon with Total E Bound. Tell me about it.

MK: I have an M/M/F story, “The Perfect Third” included in the new ménage anthology All Together Now that has just been released by Total-E-Bound Publishing.  There are a total of six scorching hot ménage stories included in this anthology set in all different settings, and it’s available by clicking on the cover at the botom of the page. 

I’ve also included a little excerpt from “The Perfect Third” for your enjoyment!

Adult Excerpt from “The Perfect Third”, a contemporary MFM Menage that is included in the All Together Now Anthology available May 7th from Total-E-Bound Publishing. All rights reserved.

After a large swallow of wine, Lorne set his glass on the coffee table and leaned into Alexa. He looked directly into her eyes, and locked his lips on hers once again. She melted into him, allowing herself to shut her eyes and feel the moment. Lorne used both hands to explore her body, sliding up and down her, briefly fondling her breasts, stroking her hair, petting the side of her face. Alexa began heating up again, and reciprocated by rubbing his broad, muscular chest, and caressing the stone-hard tops of his thighs.

Abruptly, Lorne pulled back and stood up. He looked down at her as she leant back against the arm of the sofa, and began to unbutton the white tuxedo shirt he was wearing, throwing the bow tie to the ground. His chest exposed, Alexa feasted her eyes on just how well built he was, with just a light smattering of golden hair. He undid his belt and slacks, which were also then cast aside. He was left standing in black briefs that strained under the hardness of his generous cock.

“Would you like to do the final honours?” he said to her, a mischievous tone to his voice.

Alexa wanted to rip the fabric from his body to get at what was being held prisoner beneath. She leant forward so that her face was even with his crotch. Feeling lightheaded from the wine, and maybe a little dangerous, she grabbed the elastic waistband with her teeth and began tugging it downward. He was so hard, it was difficult to get the underwear to cooperate, so she gave it an extra tug with both her hands.

Finally his large prize was free, and she immediately caught it with her lips, licking and tonguing the shaft, teasing the tip as she eased it in and out of her mouth. Lorne placed both hands on her head, moaning, and began to thrust his cock deep into her, pushing at the back of her throat as she opened up to take as much of him as she could.

Lorne held her head fast in his hands, so Alexa was free to begin sliding out of her silk dress. As it fell to her waist, she lifted up slightly to get it the rest of the way off. She sat perched on the edge of his white couch in a red satin lace bra and thong panties. She saw Lorne looking down at her and hoped that the sight of his thick prick ramming into her face and her full C-cup breasts bouncing in the red push-up bra was bringing him true delight.

She was briefly unsure of herself as he pulled his dick out of her mouth, but he reassured her. “You are way too sexy in this outfit, with a sweet, sumptuous mouth. I’m afraid I won’t be able to contain myself.”

He knelt down in front of her and began to kiss her again, and she could feel that her mouth was sloppy and her lips were swollen from the recent assault of his shaft. Her cheeks were flushed, and he watched as her chest rose alluringly with fast breath. He began to explore her again, and he made it clear it was time for the rest of her clothing to come off. He undid her bra, and she helped move things along by sliding her panties off.

“I appreciate your enthusiasm,” he said, locking with her eyes again. “I plan to reward it.”

If you would like to learn more about Morticia or some of her other available titles, you can find her at these usual hangouts:

Blog: www.morticiaknight.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/morticia.knight

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/MorticiaKnight

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2 Comments

The Depth of Field - Ryan Field

12/26/2011

4 Comments

 
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For those who don’t know, to quote his bio: “Ryan Field is a fiction writer who has worked in publishing for almost twenty years. He has worked as an assistant editor and editor for magazines and non-fiction publishers. And aside from writing over eighty-four distinct published works, his short stories have been published in anthologies and collections by Alyson Books and Cleis Press.”

One of the most valid criticisms levelled at male writers in the m/m romance genre is about their inferior “craft”. Let’s be brutally honest here, some just don’t write as smoothly as the majority of good female writers. So for starters, that is one thing Ryan does well. His writing flows beautifully. This allows you to focus on the plot and the characters.

I’d heard of Ryan for ages, but never read any of his books, because I’d been put off by criticisms like “Oh, they’re just rip-offs of classic romances and not as good as the original.” So, for all those reviewers out there who try to protest that readers aren’t put off by your comments, think again!

Silly me! Now I have a hefty chunk of reading to “catch up!”

When I finally read “Four Gay Weddings and a Funeral” (FGWAAF), I was very pleasantly surprised. Perhaps because a) I hadn’t seen the original and b) I started to understand what Ryan was doing. So, I posed a number of questions which Ryan was kind enough to answer.


AB: As a writer, your “specialty” seems to be writing gay versions of m/f romance classics. Do you do these scene by scene and translate/equate that to what would be equivalent in the gay world? Or, am I reading too much into it?

RF: I actually see it as more of an overall picture, rather than scene by scene. And some things from the original story don’t work with m/m, so I had to change a lot. Sometimes, what I find works, is to take the opposite of what’s happening in the movie and put it into the m/m book. As in FGWAAF, I hated the movie and the weird love story. I wanted to just shake them both and say “grow up”" This is why I added a new character, changed the ending totally, and gave it my own twist. For me, the original was too boring and too sappy. So, when people say the books were rip-offs, they most likely haven’t read the books in full, to grasp what I’ve done. I change each and every storyline. It’s only the basic formula from which I draw the ideas. And it’s really my publisher who insists on using titles similar to the movies. If I had my way, I wouldn’t do it. But this is something that seems to be working and the publisher is right, so I let the publisher do what they want. The collaboration works.

I’d also like to mention  “My Fair Laddie”  wasn’t based at all on the play/movie. And I’ve been slammed by that over and over by “some” anonymous reviewers,  “My Fair Laddie” was based on the classic “Pygmalion,” which most of these people/reviewers have never even heard of. It’s been remade by me, and tons and tons of others over the years. The basic storyline is classic: wealthy older man/woman, takes in poor uneducated man/woman, and transforms them into a well-polished socialite. Again, the reviews and things you read don’t even know about this, which is sad on a large scale...that people are so uneducated about classics. I love the classic storyline. I wish I could redo it and write it all over again in a completely different way sometimes.


AB: Personally, I think you have every right to do this. It’s a form of appropriation as I see it. Saying these sorts of romantic dreams are not the sole prerogative of females, but this is the gay man's slant on it.

RF: There are no such things as totally original storylines...at least I don’t believe there are in romance of any kind. It’s the same basic seven to ten storylines in each book/movie that's always being remade. Here's one link that touches on the subject. http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=210539

The other huge reason I started doing these quasi movie tie-in books was also because gay men like me, and the tons of others who read my books, have never had things like this to read before in the mainstream. There was nothing for us to identify with in mainstream movies/love stories at all. The only books and movies we saw, until recently, were depressing, downtrodden, “arty” things that only touched certain fringes of the gay community and revolved around suicide, depression, and dark subjects. I’m sort of making up for all the things I always wanted to see and read, but no one would take seriously.


AB: Can we go back to something you said above: “And some things from the original story don't work with m/m, so I had to change a lot.” I’d like to revisit that if I may. One of the fascinating aspects for me are these places where you can’t just change the sex of the participants, you have to change the scenario as the two aren’t interchangeable.

Take for example in FGWAAF, the straight husband coming onto gay guys. (I’m not talking so much about couples who swing, but “straight” guys who cheat on their wives, but feel it’s okay because it’s “only” with a guy). Do gay guys just see it as an example of Kinsey’s sliding scale at work? Do they feel demeaned because these guys have totally no respect for them? Or are some gay guys just so desperate for cock that they’ll take anything?


RF: It really depends on the individual gay guy. I personally would never even consider anyone married. I think it is demeaning to me, and some guys are just too bold and don’t care. I actually took that part from my own experience. I’ve never been to a wedding where I didn’t get hit on by a married guy. Sometimes old, sometimes younger. But for me, it’s just ick. For other gay guys, they would love it. In this case, like straight people, gays are just as diverse.

AB: So Neil’s comment here: “Neil despised infidelity of any kind. He’d had more than enough chances to cheat with married men, gay or straight, and he’d always turned and walked away—with pride, and not an ounce of remorse.” is you. But then later you have this:“With gay marriage being so new to gay men, it hadn’t occurred to him that cheating only counted now when someone was, in fact, legally married. Neil wondered if this was how the straights looked at it. He had to ask Portia or Thai. That would be an interesting question to ask on Facebook.

RF: Well, it's something I agree with, but I wouldn't say it was me. It would be impossible to remove myself completely from my characters in any book. And, I'm trying to write modern romances, and I don't think readers want to read about infidelity in a flighty, carefree way. Infidelity is so common these days in real life, I think romance readers want the escape from that sort of thing...Yes, the second part of this question would be interesting to ask on social media. I honestly don't know the answer to this. But I'm sure there would be a variety of comments and replies.

AB: There’s also some interesting and informative facts about the reality of being HIV positive. I remember reading your blog about it back in April: http://ryan-field.blogspot.com/2011/04/hiv-condoms-and-what-so-many-dont.html So I'm glad you brought things you said in that blog into your story.

RF: Thanks...the hard part about m/m romance is that it’s still romance, and it’s escapism, and it’s all about happy endings. So I try not to get too heavy in my books. I like to touch on subjects I think are important, like HIV and people living with HIV, though. There's not enough information out there, and I'm always astounded that people don't know all the facts. Most people don't know that HIV is considered a chronic illness now, not a death sentence. However, I don't think people read romance to get into heavy topics. I save those things for the blog and go into more details. 

AB: Okay, now we’ve got all that out of the way, and I can see where you’re coming from, I’d like to get down to some specifics. If I were to ask you what point you’re making in FGWAAF, not the plot or description of characters what would you say?

RF: In this case, with this book, I would say the main point is that sometimes we are all blinded by what we think true, passionate love is. And we ignore the real aspects of love by chasing a dream or a fantasy, when we had it right there in front of us all the time and never knew it. This is the ultimate dream/fantasy. 

AB: Neil comments at one stage that a character “plays the gay card” and how much it annoys him. Is this something that resonates with you also?

RF: Oh yes (smile). I see this happen sometimes and it makes me cringe. I don't want to be treated differently because I'm gay...or for that matter, treated better and given free passes. Most LGBT people only want to be treated the same as everyone else. But I have seen some capitalize on their sexual orientation and get away with it.

AB: See, I find a lot of Neil’s observations on life fascinating and wonder how much are they your little digs on life, the Universe and everything in it. Here’s another one: “There were no limits to what some gay guys would do for a buck.”Anything further to add, or does that say it all?

RF: I have seen gay men lay on the camp and effeminate mannerisms on purpose...for the sake of entertainment. And many times it's because these people profit financially from this kind of exploitation. It's insulting to those of us who don't live or act this way.

AB: I know the reader should never equate the character with the writer but some things inevitably creep in. Neil’s love for rap music?..... “They did the toast as a staged rap song, which took almost as long as the rap vows they’d sung for the ceremony. Neil applauded when they finished.” Sarcasm much? Or am I being too bitchy!

RF: I absolutely love rap music and can't get enough of it. I *despise* Broadway and show tunes. If you want to torture me, sit me down, tie me up, and force me to listen to Jerry Herman songs (or the TV show Glee). Show tunes make me gag. Piano bar sing-alongs make me heave. If I could choose to come back in another lifetime, I would come back as a rapper. So this, I will admit, was taken from my love for rap music. And the only thing I wanted to show was that we (gay men) don't all like Broadway music...or the music those kind folks who write movies like Sex and the Citywould have you all believe we like.  

AB: A lot of your writing is little snippets of things I get the feeling you’ve seen or experienced, am I right? Here’s another one: “Poor Kevin had to pry Larson away from Blaine. The two of them started to sob on each other’s shoulders. If Kevin hadn’t pulled them apart, they would have continued to hug and cry for the rest of the afternoon.” In this case, the college buddies had slagged the guy off all the way to the wedding and then when faced with evidence of his happiness (however bizarre) found their cynicism disappearing. Do you find a lot of gay guys wear this cynicism as a brittle veneer to protect a mushy interior?

RF: This is one of those "it depends" answers. I wish I could pinpoint it. If anything, I've seen straight people do the same thing at weddings (smile). I think it's human nature, especially when people are so wealthy it's almost disgusting. So it's hard to really answer this one exactly. It worked with the characters this time. I didn't want them to come off as being too vicious...even though it would have worked both ways.  

AB: Again I know we shouldn’t be gleaning facts of life from romance novels, but this statement also resonated: “Gay relationships are complicated sometimes. It’s never been about the sex for us.” This is one factor I feel a lot of females miss, and I have only started to understand after corresponding with gay male writers. A few have, or are in relationships with guys who are their best buddies (in some cases almost carbon copies of who they are). I sometimes wonder if finding someone “just like them” is reassurance that they are “okay” and from this springboard they are able to go out and have (casual) sexual relationships with other men. Most hetero people have had this “reassurance” from one of their parents when growing up, but by always feeling “different” gay guys have felt lost until they find someone to have this basic relationship with. To outsiders looking in, this is seen as promiscuity and unfaithfulness where, if they understood the true relationship of the “couple” in the first place, the rest would make more sense. I’m possibly not making a lot of sense myself here, but can you see what I’m getting at?

RF: I know exactly where you're going with this. Again, this really does depend on the individuals. I know many long term gay male couples who have been in relationships for a long time and the sex dwindles and yet they remain together. Some do, in fact, have arrangements where they can go out and fool around. But not all do this. There doesn't seem to be a set standard. I also think this happens with straight couples over a period of time, too. This is why they hit 40 and have a mid-life crisis. It's the strong couples that survive, gay or straight.

AB: You seem to draw a lot of your life experiences when writing or real people you’ve met and I’m correct in saying this?

RF: I take bits and pieces from everyone I've known. And then I put them together and form something new. But sometimes you can't write about all you know...people wouldn't believe it. So you have to make up it totally, which I do often. Besides, making it up is more than half the fun. I'd be too bored writing about people I know and I wouldn't want to do it. 

AB: A couple of things get repeated quite often in your books: bad driving, guys whose legs bow slightly at the knees, the hand to the chest/throat/mouth yet I rarely see other writers using them. Is there any reason why you use these?

RF: I know a lot of gay men who are attracted to guys with slightly bowed legs...maybe it's the cowboy fantasy. And the hand to chest/throat/mouth is just a way to show how a character is feeling...or a way to express an emotion without actually getting into it. If you observe actors on stage or in film, they do it often. A character says, "You're an idiot." The other character presses his palm to his chest to show shock; that's he's been insulted, instead of actually saying "He was insulted." "He clenched his fists," shows anger instead of saying, "He was angry." Bad driving creates conflict and humor at the same time. I'm always looking for something that will do this. And, a lot of my books involve road trips and cars. 

AB: One statement: “He said he could depend on Warren and he never had to worry about anything when he was with him.” And later the same character says: “I’m marrying for security and companionship. I need stability. I need to know what to expect next.” Is this a lot of what gay men are looking for? Not so much a sugar Daddy but someone they can trust? And they will forgo some of the other aspects for this?

RF: In the book, I wanted him to be more sensitive than a true gold digger, but that's really what he was. Neil just didn't want to face it because he was in love with the "image" of him and he couldn't see clearly. And in real life, there are certain younger gay men looking for sugar daddies, just like this character. I even know a few. But most gay men aren't looking for this, especially these days when more and more younger gay men are coming to terms with who they are. They are looking for the same things straight people are looking for: love, security, companionship, and happiness...family. They are hoping to find it in marriage, in a traditional sense, just like everyone else. If I had a choice between a rich sugar daddy and going short of a buck for someone I loved, I'd choose the love over the sugar daddy any day. I think most gay men would agree.

AB: One aspect that rang true for me was that Neil’s brain was often saying one thing but his body (cock) was pointing in the other direction (literally): “Just because they had an arrangement didn’t mean Neil had to adhere to it or agree with it morally. But he’d just kicked off his shoes and his pants.” Should gay guys get the guilts in these circumstances or is it the expectations of a hetero nuclear society with its different needs and standards kicking in when it shouldn’t? In other words, in the gay community, is their growing pressure to be monogamous and labelling guys who sleep around as “sluts”. The original trend when the laws changed was for a lot of free sex. AIDS put a damper on that. Assuming everyone takes precautions (another topic of conversation) is there a need for gay guys to be monogamous?

RF: This depends, too. Gay or straight, everyone has a different guilt level, so to speak. I've met straight women who can cheat on their husbands and look you right in the eye and deny it completely. This varies from person to person. In the book, I wanted Neil to feel something.

AB: the concept of “romance” is important in FGWAAF. Especially when one character, is described as: Evidently, Tom wasn’t the romantic, sentimental type. And later this In its own peculiar way, Neil thought it was romantic. It wasn’t by any means the kind of tender romance he’d once craved from a lover... But at this point, Neil decided to settle for what he could get. and also this priceless bit: “I love your ass so much.” Neil laughed. He wiped a few beads of sweat from Tom’s forehead and kissed him. “And I love your dick just as much.” A common criticism by female reviewers is the lack of “romance” in male-written m/m romance, but Neil (and Tristan in Gay Pride and Prejudice) actually seem to prefer this rough and ready non-romantic approach. Do you expect to get flak from some reviewers?

RF: Romance can be as complicated as it can be simple, and I don't like anyone to define what it is to me. I also think that straight couples joke around this way all the time. It's just that sometimes it's a bit too realistic for readers who are looking for more traditional romance. They'd rather have it less graphic. And I can understand this, and I never fault a reader for getting upset about it. But I try to diversify. In my story, "Strawberries and Cream at the Plaza," there's hardly any sex and most of it is along the lines of classic romance. It depends on the book and the story.  

I don’t get freaked by bad ratings and reviews. Sometimes they work just the opposite. I would rather have ten bad reviews and ten great reviews, than twenty mediocre reviews. I know that sounds backward, but nothing kills a book more than “meh” reviews. To get a bad review, it means you had to piss someone off, and you had to spark an emotion of some kind. That’s better than not "touching" them at all.

I also receive hundreds of e-mails from readers that don't post reviews or make ratings or online comments. Erotica, and erotic romance is a discreet genre and the majority of readers never make public comments at all. It's a nice little secret erotic authors know, and we respect the discretion of our readers. They trust us.

AB: The scene mentioned above concludes with this statement: When the experimenting with other guys was over, they agreed to be monogamous. Is this something you think readers should expect/allow gay guys to do? It was interesting reading (in a private FB group) about how a gay guy had sex with a straight guy and years later talked to him about it. Turned out he enjoyed the experience but related much better with his wife as a person. He never regretted “experimenting” and actually found it invaluable when his son admitted he was gay. Is there a place for “experimentation” even with committed couples as a reassurance/reminder that what they have is special? Neil describes this episode as “sordid at best”. I suppose I’m just wondering why you included it?

RF: I tend to think all relationships are complicated in this sense. And what happens in the bedroom is different for everyone. In the book, they experiment this way because they are getting to know each other and building something even though they may or may not know it. In other words, they weren't taking themselves seriously at this point, at least not Neil. He thought he was only having fun and games. 

AB: Given your sweet innocent outer shell (judging by your photos) can you relate to this or is there a “type” like this? Maybe he’d been a dirty little fucker all along and it just hadn’t occurred to him until now.

RF: Ha! I'm laughing because I think we can all relate to this. I know I have at certain times in my life thought about this. I've always been more conservative than outrageous. I'm still wondering, though. 

AB: Okay, and now to my continued study of Gayology 101, the mechanics: He’d once been with a guy who had so much trouble coming he usually lied about it and pulled out before Neil had a chance to examine the condom. Neil had learned straight men weren’t the only ones who often suffered anguish of fake orgasms with their female partners, especially when there was a condom involved. Gay men could be just as tricky.

RF: This happens for a variety of reasons. And I have heard stories from gay friends where this has happened to them. Sometimes the guy isn't into the other guy and he wants to be polite so he fakes it. Sometimes the guy is just tired and has other things on his mind that night so he fakes it. And sometimes he's just not in the mood but doesn't want to hurt the other guy's feelings. It's not always personal, yet people tend to take it that way. I would imagine it's the same way with straight couples. This "image" about men being horny all the time is highly overrated on TV sitcoms like "Raymond."    

AB: And can you expand on this? Is it accepting it hard and dry or does emotional comfortableness allow for easy entry” They’d reached that point in their relationship where Neil knew how to take him without needing any foreplay.

RF: It's a combination of physical and emotional. People get used to each others’ bodies and they know what to expect, which is a nice point to reach in a relationship. It's also easier when you're with someone you love and know than it is with someone you don't. I once had a friend who couldn't bottom unless he felt something special for a guy.  

AB: (His) dick had a slight upward curve, which hit one of the most sensitive spots inside Neil’s body. Is this the prostate or are there other “sensitive spots”?

RF: It's usually the prostate, but there are, indeed, other spots. Depends on the person...and the connection between the two people.

AB: And another aspect interests me (if you have time, even a link would be fine) namely, the political aspect: Neil wasn’t about to go into a long explanation about same-sex marriage on a federal level. I assume it’s things like inheritance taxes etc that “Gay Pride and Prejudice” deals with. So the ability to “get married” is only one aspect I gather.

RF: It's very important to same sex couples, especially as they get older together, to have the same rights and legal protections as straight couples. It is about romance and love and all those good things, but it's also about cold hard facts of life and legal issues like owning property, businesses, etc... There are many links that get into this. But I haven't found one yet that actually spells it all out in one place. The American dream is different for gay couples who aren't allowed to legally marry, especially if they own property together. Inheritance taxes can wipe them out.

AB: If you ever read my reviews (and my book “Mardi Gras”) you’ll realise how interested I am in the whole concept of how the changing laws and society in place when gay guys first realize they are gay have had a profound effect on their attitudes and their ability to relate to gays from different generations. So I found this bit interesting: But when it came to gay weddings Tom did a turnaround that left Neil speechless. To me, there is a difference in attitude between those who came out pre-legalisation (still angry and bitter – resigned – the optimist who has been stepped on too many times), then you have those who came out during the AIDS era (fearful). Those that came out after, but prior to HIV becoming deemed “chronic rather than a death sentence” (cynical) to today’s generation (idealistic and not very sympathetic to those coming before) I know these are broad brush statements, but do you see generational differences?

RF: I see certain generational differences. But for the most part I think it really depends on the people. I know some older couples who think very differently than other older couples. I think this is just another example of we're all very different, which is important in breaking down the stereotypes.  

AB: Apart from the characters at the core of the story, the tale of Craig and Luke really stood out for me. I loved this bit: The minute he walked into my classroom as a college freshman, a bright white light flashed before my eyes for a split second and I knew I had to get to know him better. I really loved the twist in this (I mean, I didn’t it was very sad) but I love the way you avoided the cliché. You had me in tears, not easy when it comes to books.

RF: I actually took that from a real life experience I had once. I met someone, I saw a flash of what I can only describe as a bright white light, and I did get to know him better. I think we all experience this at least once...I hope so anyway. It's a great feeling, even though it doesn't last.  

AB: You’ve been very patient, so far, many thanks. Before we finish off, I’d like to touch briefly on your other writing. The first book of yours I ever read was “You Missed a Spot, Big Guy” which is pure erotica. No romance. Books written more for guys than gals. Do you think readers in general understand that writers slant their books to what publisher’s loyal reader base like and expect?

RF: I try to explain this on my blog whenever something new is released, so readers understand. I try to put it in the blurbs, too. I'm always telling readers that when they are shopping for books please check out author blogs and web sites. Most authors I know explain what they are doing in detail on their web sites. We really do care about giving readers all the information. And I'm always asking people to e-mail me if they have a question about buying a book or story I wrote. Many do this. I once had a woman e-mail me just to find out the ending of a book so she'd know whether or not she wanted to buy it. She didn't like the ending, didn't buy that book, but went on to buy others. I'd rather see a happy customer not buy something than a disgruntled customer. 

AB: To wrap up. Neil didn’t see the same “white light”. Just standing next to Andre was an emotional roller coaster.... Oh, he was sick and tired of the drama, most of which he’d created on his own. The question for the reader then, is this settling? Or being realistic? To me, FGWAAF is a great exploration of what it means to commit, who to choose to commit to, and the perils and pratfalls that can occur along the way. I think readers of both sexes will relate to many parts of the story. It’s not even unusual to have these doubts at the altar. Relationships are tricky things at the best of times. There is no “Mr Right” and “Mr Wrong”. So who do you choose? The one who chooses you for who you are in reality?

RF: I wanted Neil to see that he came very close to losing true love because he was more focused on a dream. It wasn't settling, not in this case. And I agree, readers of both sexes can identify with this. I know I've been there myself.

AB: So, to get back to the original “rip off” accusation. I prefer to see Ryan’s “Covers of Classics” as first and foremost romantic love stories from a genuine gay male perspective, often with that twist and occasional stark reminder of how their world differs from ours. Sure there is diversity and you can’t make generalisations, however I found the insight into different standards/morals/codes of behaviour/fantasies and fears of gay men fascinating.

RF: Thanks, this is what I've been trying to do. It's not always easy because I don't want to get on a soap box and preach. And, even though the gay community is different, we are all individuals and it's hard to give definitive answers. There are times I honestly don't even know when I am giving stark reminders.

AB: Thanks again to Ryan for being so willing to answer my questions. Knowing what he’s trying to achieve and why sure makes me appreciate his writing just that much more in both this series as well as others not directly related to existing books, eg “Hot Italian Lover” and his less romantic books published by lyd. Check out my reviews if you want to know more, or better still read his books for yourself!

http://ryan-field.blogspot.com/ 
4 Comments

Delving into the mind of Jane Davitt

9/30/2011

1 Comment

 
The first book of Jane Davitt’s that I read was “Bound and Determined”. I loved that, so I bought “Drawing Closer” and “Wild Raspberries”. That led me to “Wintergreen”.

I make it a practice to email authors when I really enjoy their work. Call me a crazy fangirl, whatever! I like to tell author's what really works for me. As well as being a great story teller, Jane’s writing style is very fluid. The sort of thing that possibly escapes most reader’s notice, but as a freelance editor as well as a fledgling author, I appreciate well written prose when I see it. So another congrats are in order to Jane (and/or her editor *grins*). This is from the email I sent about a year ago:

Can I just say “Wintergreen” has to be one of the best "sequel" books I’ve read. To me, the anticipation of a couple getting together in the first place is what makes a romance, so sequels often don’t cut it. However, the way you handled the story and the knowledge from the get-go that the pairing would have its difficulties was fantastic. The conflict didn’t feel manufactured and the resolution was well done. I’m not a fan of external conflict being brought in just to create tension in a story. However, in this case, the action in book two had almost been foreshadowed in book one. The tension and conflict still centred around the characters’ past and personalities, with the action being the vehicle to carry that forward.

So, I sent the above to Jane and a discussion followed which I’m blogging here with her permission.  Firstly, her response:

JD: Thank you so much for taking the time to write to me; it’s much appreciated!

I’m so glad Wintergreen worked for you. I loved Dan and Tyler and I wanted to do a sequel and see just how they were getting on a few months down the road. I think there were a lot of pointers in Wild Raspberries that it wasn’t going to be easy to them, yes; just too much dragging at them from the past.

I like to think that now they finally made it on their journey :-)

AB: I’m glad you're not tempted to drag it out further with another book. So many authors do.

JD: I don’t think I could really get into it; one book is usually enough, though Alexa and I did do a trilogy together and enjoyed it.

AB: Though, the next time it would be interesting to be a “fly on the wall” when Tyler gets to retirement age and Dan is at his peak (ie in his thirties). Transitions in relationships are a great source of conflict.

JD: They are! But they’re only, what 14 years apart? When Tyler’s 65, Dan would be 51 :-) ; not that far apart maybe? So, if they last that long, I don’t see it being an issue because they’d have adjusted to it by then.

AB: I’m interested in your collaborative process with Alexa. Do you do it character by character i.e. in role-play or are there elements each adds?

JD: We usually write a character each and tag back and forward, sometimes a paragraph, sometimes more. And we’re not possessive; we often borrow each other’s characters for a few lines. I wouldn’t write:

Would you like a cup of coffee, X

and then send it to her; I'd use her character to answer and pass it over when it got to somewhere more interesting.

With each book, we've become less attached to a single character; in our most recent one, “Room at the Top”, though we each dreamed up a character, when we came to write, we would write long tags, using each other's characters freely until it got to the point where they were jointly owned, really. It made the writing go much faster and the story flow better, I think.

Because, I also collaborate with other writers in an online soap "Redemption Reef", I followed up this question with a couple of other to clarify matters:

AB: I gather you each take a particular character then and write the next scene from that viewpoint by yourself, is that correct? But, that would mean you would have to have some idea about what each of your characters is going to do in that scene, so you must have plotted something out. How much pre-plotting do you do when you're co-writing?

JD: We don't do a whole scene on our own; sometimes it's a paragraph, sometimes even a line.  It's totally dependent on the story. We alternate POVs so if the chapter's from 'my' character's POV, maybe I'd handle anything that added something new to what we know about him or write a particularly emotional bit, but the more we write together, the more the lines blur. We used to add notes, 'hope it's okay, I borrowed your character for a few lines' but we don't now, we just do it and we're way faster and the voice is more consistent, I feel. Think of us as being parents to each character; one of us gave birth to him but we bring him up together :-)

Plotting we do outside the story via email. We'll sketch it out roughly, with a few highlights to include, get started, try to incorporate the highlights -- sometimes the story shifts direction and they don't work -- and plot in more detail as we write. It's a very fluid, easy process. Mostly, the story tells itself.

AB: If you each "own" a character. Which ones are yours and which are Alexa's?

JD: See above :-) To start with, we have a character each and swap their bios, maybe include a photo so that we get a mental image. But once we start writing, these days it's all a melting pot. This is a snippet from Room at the Top, written from Jay's POV (Jay was my character, Austin was Alexa's and we shared Liam). From memory, I'll try and divide it as we wrote it, but honestly, it's hard to remember because we have such a close joint voice so I can't swear who wrote which :-). I'm in italics. So you can see that we're both writing both of them.

“It’s not—” Jay took a deep breath and abandoned the argument before it began. “I’ll be good.”

“If you are, I’ll buy you something special,” Austin said. “It’ll be like Christmas. Really late Christmas.”

“Or really early.” Jay didn’t care either way. He loved Christmas, and the most recent one he’d spent with Austin had been as close to perfect as he could have wished for. They’d had an amazing tree and piles of presents, and Christmas breakfast had consisted of the two of them snuggled on the couch in their almost identical new bathrobes, sipping hot chocolate and eating fresh cinnamon rolls. The apartment had smelled like cinnamon for days. “Too bad there won’t be candy canes.”

“Yeah, I think those are a seasonal thing. Have a good afternoon, okay?”

“Love you.”

“Love you two.”

“Love you three,” Jay said. If he’d heard anyone else say that, he’d have rolled his eyes at the sap overload, but when it was between them, it felt like a joke only they got.

He tucked his phone away and left a scatter of bread crumbs for the ants.

Did they even eat bread? Maybe he’d look it up when he got back to the library. He was going through Dewey numbers in his head as he crossed the road, but he made it to the other side, so he must’ve looked both ways.
end of chapter

Hope that helps!

AB: Why do you collaborate?

JD: Alexa and I both started off writing fanfic (still do!) and worked together on several fics in the Buffy fandom years ago. We enjoyed it so we decided to try co-writing a novel. At that point we’d both had solo novels published. I find it fun, because you get to read at the same time as writing. I once collaborated on a fic with three other people and we posted a new chapter daily for eight months, each taking turns to write it, and we were as much fans of the fic as writers of it. I find that there’s no writer’s block when you’re collaborating; if you’re stuck, you do a short tag and your partner digs you out and then you return the favor. It gives it a very organic feel, especially in the sex scenes; you’re not controlling events and it’s looser, more natural.

AB: Do you find it difficult to write by yourself?

JD: No, not at all. I'm pretty prolific :-) I do find it’s much faster to collaborate, though. Solo, I aim for 1000-2000 words a day; with Alexa, we can knock off 5,000 a day easily.

AB: Do you have other things you’ve written that you are looking for publishers for? Or are you flat out writing for your current publishers?

JD: I have four publishers, Torquere and Ellora’s Cave for my solo novels, Loose Id for the books with Alexa and Total-e-Bound for short stories (it just sort of happened that way) and no, everything I write is usually at their request so I don’t have anything hanging around. I aim for a solo novel and a co-written one a year plus a few shorts.

Recently Jane responded again when I reviewed her book “Hourglass” at Goodreads which also appears in m,y previous blog post.

JD: That is such a great review; thank you! I don’t just mean it’s good because you liked the book either; I love that you really took the time to detail your feelings and responses to the story as you read it. It was so interesting to see the book through your eyes that way.

Emboldened, I asked her some more questions which she was kind enough to answer:

AB:. When you set out to write “Hourglass” did the concepts about the structure come first or did they grow with the story? In other words, was the “how” you were going to write the story always there from the start?

JD: It was, yes. I had the idea of the TV show first and then I decided it'd be fun to not just refer to it in the book, but to plot it out in detail. From there, I got the idea of starting each chapter with a snippet of script or a show-related article. They were masses of fun to write and of course, I could use them to echo something going on in the ‘real’ story (though in some ways, both sets of characters felt equally real by the end).

AB: What prompted that decision? Did something else inspire you?

JD: Nothing in particular. I guess as a fan myself, I know just how it feels when a show is cancelled so I drew on that, and I own many scripts of shows, which I love reading. They came in handy as templates so that the scripts were as authentic as I could make them.

AB:. How much of what I interpreted as being deliberate was, or am I reading into it much more than you did consciously?

JD: Sometimes, I’ll write something and people will read more into than I consciously intended, but with Hourglass I was very deliberately setting up echoes between the actors and the characters they played and structuring it in quite a complex way. It was like someone sitting between mirrors and seeing endless reflections of themselves. There was a story within a story within a story.

AB: Would you ever write something so untraditional again (not necessarily using the same methods but other more deliberate devices)?

JD: If an idea comes to me that would fit that format, sure, why not?

AB: How did Torquere receive the story?

JD: I don’t recall any issues at all. I sent it in; my editor, Vincent Diamond, liked it, and we worked together to polish it up.

AB: Do you have an editor there who encouraged that style or was it more of a case of “Well you’re a well-respected author of the genre so people will forgive you for your untraditional story telling style?”

JD: I work with different editors there but I’m sure whoever edited it would have been supportive. To be honest, it never occurred to me that it WAS all that untraditional or out there. I thought the concept with the chapter headings telling a parallel story was interesting but I’m sure it's been done before (what hasn’t? :-)). Ben introducing and ending it, well, I liked Ben and I didn’t see why the story had to be solely about Ash and Lee; there seemed room in the story for him. They were actors; they needed to be directed, if that makes sense.

AB: Do you regret that m/m romance particularly is becoming formulaic?

JD: I read a fair bit of it now that I have an e-reader, and I don’t know if it is or it isn’t really. The genre of romance itself does have a framework that readers like because it’s reassuring and that goes for m/f, m/m, or f/f romances. I definitely like stories to push the boundaries, but I’d be pouting if there was an unhappy ending so maybe I don’t want them pushed too far!

AB: What would you like to see more of in the genre?

JD: Nothing comes to mind. There’s a huge variety of settings and heat levels as it is, plus crossovers with SF, horror, mystery and such. I think it’s a vibrant, growing genre, especially with the surge of interest in e-books and I’m proud to be part of its growth.

AB: Any other comments you’d like to make on reviewers, readers and your future writing plans?

JD: I’m currently writing a solo novel for Torquere that’s my first novel not set in a contemporary setting. It’s a pre-industrial fantasy world, no magic, no dragons, but definitely not our world, with a theatrical background. An actor sees a young man fresh from the country in trouble and steps in to help him only to find he's unable to walk away once his good deed's done. I’m having a lot of fun (in a vaguely Hourglass way!) in having the actor quote from plays that I invented, and coming up with dozens of titles.

And to reviewers and readers alike, I have only one thing to say which is : thank you! Thank you for reading and for being interested enough to comment. It’s much appreciated.

"Room at the Top", Jane's most recent collaboration with Alexa is now available from LooseID.

A big thank you to Jane for so patiently answering my questions. I do enjoy knowing more about the why and how they write.
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Delivering a Double Interview with Heidi Cullinan

12/26/2010

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Back in April, I won “Double Blind” in a Dreamspinner Facebook chat. I sent a message of thanks to Heidi for the book, discussed some coincidences and we exchanged a few emails. I also discovered the existence of “Special Delivery” which I immediately read.  As a Christmas present to myself this year, I re-read “Special Delivery” and was reminded again what a great book it was. Judging by the number of awards it’s won as “Best Book” of 2010, I’m not alone in feeling this way. You can read my review at Goodreads and below.  I’ve also turned the discussion I had with Heidi into a Q&A and, with her permission, I’m posting it here.

HC: Hi, Alison. I’m glad you enjoyed Double Blind!

AB: What prompted you to bring in Kylie, Missy Higgins and Olivia? As an Aussie, you can imagine how stoked I was to have them in the story. But I didn’t think they were very well known in the States. Did you get any feedback in that regard?

HC: Ah, the Kylie. People keep asking me about that lately. I think it’s because she’s referenced in Special Delivery AND Double Blind. Well, I know about Kylie because my husband has always listened to her, though I’ve now outstripped him (nearly) as a fan. While she’s not generally well-known in the US, she is VERY well-known in the gay community here. When she announced her US tour here last year, the Entertainment Weekly article read, “Kylie Minogue to Start US Tour: Or, Why Your Gay Co-worker Just Screamed.” Of course, Dan and I did as well, but it didn’t work out that we could go. I think that’s why I put Kylie at the end. If I can’t go see her, at least Sam can.

Then Kylie starred in Special Delivery because it’s such a good themeing for Sam: light, fun, innocent-feeling, but very, very sexy. And I brought the Oz Triplets in because I needed something big at the end, couldn’t think of anything, and decided it was fantasy, so why not. The Missy Higgins reference is obscure, but a good friend of mine LOVES her, so it was a subtle nod to her. Also, I enjoy her as well and got to see her in a fun little local concert last year (with that same friend). As long as I was going Aussie, I figured I better stick with it, and she was one I knew would actually be possible. The ONJ (Olivia Newton John) is because my husband fell in love with her at age twelve and never fell out. He did get to see her in concert, though.

AB: Funnily enough, one of my stories, “Caught”, mentions Kylie. It involves a Chinese guy called Daniel who gets dressed in drag and refers to himself as Dannii, mentioning she is Kylie’s sister.

HC: I will say less US people know Dannii than Kylie. (An online friend waged a campaign to convert me from one sister to the other, so I know more than most.) For US audiences, tacking on Minogue after Kylie would be a good crutch. Some won’t know no matter what, but they’ll suss it out.

AB: What about Crabtree though. Will he ever find someone??????

HC: As for Crabtree--well, a friend of mine is feeding me plot bunnies

AB: Obviously Las Vegas is one of the stars of “Double Blind” it’s funny but I’ve never wanted to go there. I don’t mind card games, but the slots don’t interest me, neither does shopping. I really got a good picture of the city from the story, maybe I’ll get there one day!

HC: I actually have not been to Vegas except for a few minutes, to be honest. We blew through on a vacation last year (if you read Special Delivery, we took the same trip as Sam and Mitch except we went all the way to LA and didn’t have sex because our eight year old was along), but we got in at ten at night and were gone by noon the next day. I got up the Stratosphere tower (where I had Sam’s reaction, not Randy’s) and took a cab ride down the Strip. I did a lot of research for it, from movies to YouTube videos. Now, however, I really want to go. Except I’m like Sam and hate gambling. I can play a little poker, but I probably wouldn’t, as I hate to lose money. (Even though in theory that’s where you make it.)

At this point, I read SD for the first time and sent another email to Heidi commenting on the research that went into both books, click on "read more" to read the rest of this great, long interview.


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Syd McGinley gets given an even dozen.

12/12/2010

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Intro: Thank you so much for taking the time to answering my questions. First off, I’d like to say how much I've enjoyed your books. You write some beautifully complicated Doms and sluttily submissive subs. Twink (Charlie) has to have become one of those characters who will be remembered by anyone who reads your stories. Not that I don’t like Dave and some of the other subs you’ve written about. Each has their own personality and needs.

 Thank you! Twink took on a real life of his own once I’d introduced him. 

1. Your other pairings intrigue me: Hugh and Ryan, Rick and the Chef, Matt and Nick. I gather these were some of your earlier works. How do you see these stories today?

Yes, they were relatively early.  I’m very fond of these guys, and I had a lot of fun with them.  They’re more like visitors to my brain than inhabitants.  They don’t pester me like the Fell characters do. I’m pleased with the stories as they work in smut, plot, and character – which is a lot for short form erotica!  I’m an old-fashioned writer in many ways.  I like plot and people -- they need to be entwined.  Plot comes from the characters and their reactions, but – love yaoi and its “no plot no point” reputation as much as I do – I still want my characters to do something and grow – even just a bit.

2. Were there aspects of their relationships you especially enjoyed exploring and may revisit?

I’m a tongue-tied person when I’m in an emotional place and, for some reason, it rarely occurs to me to just ask!  I think I’ve convinced myself that I’m not allowed to ask. Ryan, Rick, and Nick all try to figure out what they are meant to be doing.  I think I let these three boys be my guinea pigs in the emotional consequences of saying or not saying things.  Tommy in the Felliverse seems to have claimed that trait in his dealings with Dr. Tanaka. 

I’m also intrigued by hierarchy (surprise!) and like to see what happens when someone is a literal superior in the eyes of the world -- by professional or social rank --  as well as a top.  

3.  I've been doing lots of reading of the m/m BDSM scene (in fiction) in preparation for writing one of my own books. Yours seem to be more about the D/s relationship and the needs of the sub rather than the techniques and rules of S/M that others seem to explore. Does this aspect of the BDSM scene interest you the most?

Yes, I’m interested in D/s as a lived life rather than as ritual and scene.  Rituals and scenes are grand, but for me discipline has never meant rules.  That sounds contextually silly I know, but it’s the spirit of submission and obedience -- finding a place that’s true to you – not being a cog or a crushed drone.  And I really really don’t mean I see structured BDSM that way – it’s just for me the draw is not about regulation.  I’m awful at following imposed arbitrary rules – school was bad and cube jobs were hell – but I do deeply value discipline, training, craft, and so on. A ritual that calms, sure, so long as it feels true to you and not artificial.  I think rituals have real power to center and ground a person. Whatever path gets you to your own inner discipline is what is right.  Some folks like rules and techniques to get there. I’m not a formal person, or a tidy one, or impressed by ranks.  But I do like structure, method/routine, and acquired skill/expertise. 

(Click on Read More to read the rest of this great interview).

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    This is a collection of reviews I've posted at Goodreads and
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