Kody Boye Stops In For A Chat–AND He’s Offering 5 FREE COPIES Of His Latest Book The Diary of Dakota Hammell!!

Yes, you read that right – 5 Free Copies (Ebooks) are up for grabs. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment to Kody on his interview and he’ll pick 5 winners at random.

*Please note, leaving an email address where he can contact you will expedite the delivery of prizes. Contest ends April 6, 2011 – 11:59pm Eastern.*

Good Luck!

Hi Kody! Thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy writing schedule to be here with us.

Why don’t you start by telling us a little bit about yourself? How longhave you been writing?

My name’s Kody Boye. I was born in Southeastern Idaho and moved to Texas in May of 2010.I’ve been writing since I was around seven years old, after a teacher assigned an object-specific creative writing assignment.

What was your first published story?

My first published story, [A] Prom Queen’s Revenge, was published in the Yellow Mama Webzine in May 2007.

How long did it take you to become a published author?

From the time I seriously began to try and become published until the time my first short story was accepted, it took around six months. The internet is a great tool and I consider myself lucky in that regard. Some people go years, even their whole lives without being published sometimes.

How many books have you written thus far?

Far too many to count. Currently, I have a short story collection Amorous Things out through a small press, as well as a novella entitled The Diary of Dakota Hammellwhich I just released independently via Smashwords, Kindle and Createspace. I’malso in the process of working toward putting out two dark fantasy novels andmy zombie novel is set to be rereleased here soon.

Do you write full time? If not, how many hours per day do you try todedicate to writing?

Currently,I do write full time, though that is only because I currently do not have a jobor attend school.

Do you find that you revise/editas you’re writing, or do you tend to write straight through, then do revisions?

I try to write straightthrough, then revise afterward, though sometimes I’ll find myself fixing littlethings here and there if I catch them while I’m writing.

How long does it take for you tocomplete a book you would allow someone to read?

It all depends. Ifinished a 140,000 word dark fantasy novel in one month, though that is withoutrevisions and editing done from a professional. That amount of progress,however, is due to the fact that I do little but write during the day andnothing else.

Do you outline before you begina story, or do you tend to write in a more freestyle fashion?

Stephen King once said that stories should beginas seeds and grow as trees without the help of fertilizer (i.e, an outline.) Inmy current novel I’m writing, I have to do a bit of outlining if only to makethe world and the revolution that takes place within it make sense, but I usuallydon’t outline. Sometimes I will if I get stuck, but my outlines rarely everwork because the story ends up branching off in another direction.

How much of yourself, your ownlife experiences, and the people you know manifest themselves into your characters?

I try not to let myself manifest into my work. Thesame goes with my friends. The characters in my head are usually their ownentities, but a good amount of them often share my own views or opinions oncertain things.

If you could choose, which of your stories would you say is yourfavorite?

That’s hard to say. Ireally like the novel I’m writing now (Utopia,about a city that lives beneath a floating entity they call God,) and Ilove my short story that’s set to appear in a GLBT-only author anthologyentitled And His Name was Peter,about a man afflicted with Peter Pan Syndrome, but I can’t really name anyspecific one.

Kody, do you ever experiencewriter’s block? If so, do you have any exercises you use too get beyond it?

When I get writer’s block,I carry a tablet around and let my mind wander. First lines usually strike mein the oddest of places.

When someone reads one of yourbooks for the first time, what do you hope they feel, experience, or gain fromit?

I hope, for the mostpart, that people will enjoy my work and will take whatever it is they believethe story encompasses in good light. I try to impart lessons and/or ideas intomy stories, which, in the end, I hope people find, even if they are subtle orhard to notice.

Will you share three thingsyou’ve learned about the business of writing since your first publication?

1. Writing is hard,hard work.

2. Don’t takeeverything too personally. It isn’t worth it.

3. Don’t ever letanyone say you can’t make it.

Do the titles of your stories generally come to you as you’re writing,or do you have titles in mind before you’ve written the first words?

Most ofthe time, the titles come to me fairly quickly. However, some stories stump meand I eventually have to refer to them as ‘untitled’ until something pops intomy head.

What is the question you’re most frequently asked by your fans?

If myname really is Kody Boye. Yes, it is. It isn’t a pseudonym. My driver’s licenseproves that.

What is your most memorable fan experience?

I love itwhen people from other countries contact me. I’ve currently have fans fromAustralia, the Middle East, Mexico, Africa and so many other places who contactme to say they love my work. When someone from other countries get in contactwith you, it just goes to show you how far your influence has spread.

Will you share with us alittle bit about any projects you’re currently working on?

I’m currently working on a science-fiction epic underthe title of Utopia, which tells thestory of a city’s rise and collapse beneath a floating deity they believe isGod.

What was the best piece ofadvice you’ve ever received with respect to the art of writing? Did it causeyou to change the way you write?

Never let negative reviews bother you. It changes theway I write because it allows me to write whatever I want.

When it comes to promoting your work, what lengthshave you gone to in order to increase awareness of your writing?

I spent $200 dollars to promote my short story collection.

How do you keep your “creative spark” alive? Wheredo you find the motivation to keep writing?

I write because, as many people say, the voices in my head keep talking.Also—it’s the one thing that allows me true happiness in this world in mycurrent stage of life.

The e-reader is changing the way people access andenjoy books. What pros and/or cons do you see surrounding the business ofe-publishing? Do you believe the day will come when digital books willeliminate print books, entirely?

I don’t believe eBookswill kill paperbacks or hardcovers. The medium is too old for it to completely die. Also—I see little cons in eFormats because technology is advancing so farand becoming so accessible to everyone. There’s no con in that.

When you have the time to read,what sorts of books are you likely to pick up? Who are your favorite authors?

I like reading horrorfiction, for the most part, but I also love good dark fantasy (though I’mrefraining from reading any until I finish my dark fantasy saga as to notunintentionally leach ideas away from it.) My favorite authors include StephenKing, Poppy Z. Brite, Tristan Egolf, David Wroblewski and Jennifer Haigh.

If you weren’t a writer, whatwould you be?

I have noidea. I’d likely be some kind of artist, given my inclination toward the creativeside.

Do you design the covers of your books, or do you work with a graphicartist?

Isometimes create mockups from stock art to help the artist, but I generallyhave real cover artists create the covers for my books.

Aside from writing, what else doyou enjoy doing? Do you have any hobbies?

I love photography, playing video games, reading, but in the end writingis my true hobby.

If you were to offer any one bitof advice to a writer just starting out, what would it be?

I would say not to lookat reviews of your work unless you directly request them. People can be viciousand for that reason, low self-esteem can ultimately lead to depressingthoughts. If you do want to look at reviews, know that it is just an opinionand it should not reflect on the way you yourself feel about your work.

Now that we’ve gotten the seriousquestions out of the way, Kody, how about some just for fun:

What’s your favorite food?

I love cheeseburgers. It’s all I eat most of the time.

What’s your favorite movie?

Black Swan. Though not out on DVD yet, I’ve seen it about two or threetimes and love it even more each time I watch it.

Who are your favorite male and female actors?

My favorite male actor would have to be Jake Gylenhaal. As for women, Iloved Natalie Portman in Black Swan,though I’m likely biased due to how amazing the movie was.

Who’s on your iPod/MP3 player?

Bjork, Madonna, Lady GaGa, Alanis Morissette, Nicki Minaj, MarilynManson, David Bowie. I need to get some Goldfrapp on there. I normally listen tomusic while I write. Marilyn Manson is the soundtrack to my most current album.

If you could travel through time, what timeperiod(s) would you most like to visit? Why?

I would love to visit Gevaudan, France to see if the fabled beast reallydid exist or not.

If you could sit down to dinner with any oneperson, either from the present or the past, who would that be? Why?

I would love to sit down with Tristan Egolf. As the author of one of myfavorite books (Kornwolf,) I wouldlove to get to know him more. Sadly, he committed suicide in the early 2000s,leaving behind the one book of his I’ve read at this point.

How would you describe your sense of humor? Who and what makes youlaugh?

KathyGriffin, Margaret Cho and Loni Love make me laugh. I like absurdist andgraphic, lewd humor, but that’s probably due in part to my fascination withseeing just how far you can push people for a response.

If we were to look under your bed, what might we find there?

I sleepon an air mattress, so you’d likely find nothing more than dust bunnies.

Kody, will you please tell us where we can find you on the Internet?

KodyBoye.comis where you can find me. You can also find me on Facebook and Twitter, as wellas MySpace (though it’s a bit of a dead commodity if you ask me.)

Thanks so much for sharing a bit of yourself withus. Now, would you consider sharing an excerpt(s) from one or more of yourstories?

This will be a firstfor your site, as I’ve shared very little about this novel and have beenagainst doing so. However, for this interview, I’d like to share the beginningscene of my novel Utopia, about acity that lives beneath a floating entity they call God. Please note that thisis an unedited version of the story.

An excerpt from Utopia by Kody Boye

Toanyone looking in the sky at this awkward hour of the afternoon, they wouldhave seen nothing out of the ordinary, save for the God floating in the sky andthe tendrils that dangled beneath Her head. It appeared to be hair, like whipsstriking the greatest of mules or the most troublesome of ground, but it wasnothing of the sort. They flapped about the air as though a mind of their own,hitting nothing and everything all at once, and in this beautiful, gracefulmoment, a person would be able to see the peak of a cycle that began assomething and ended as nothing.

Asthe day began to fade to night, signaling not only the beginning of thegrandest lightshow that could possibly be seen, but the start of a newcommunion, a person would first have seen the tendrils lose their light, assuch was designated at such late hours of the afternoon, then as the air filledwith what appeared to be miniature explosions. From these explosions in red,yellow and shades of gold, dust the color of fresh peach would fall to the airand shower upon not only the citizens, but the ground a blessing that had cometo be known as the great God’s Night—something that, while common, gave anyonelooking upon it hope. Soon after this, however, one’s eyes would eventually bedrawn to the distant walls, where light fixtures began to flicker on and rotateto face the glowing center of the God, and if they already did not have enoughto be distracted about, their eyes would then fall to the city, where lightfixtures arranged along roads and the tops of building would burst intosplendid life. Flowers, these things seemed to be, though flowers no longerexisted, and each and every one of them flickered open to give light to thecity’s dark sky.

Whenthe golden light flowing into the tendrils would stop moving, a newer, darkersource began to take its place.

Snakingfrom the depths of the deity’s center like liquid inside a long, complicatedseries of tubes, light the color of frosty crystal pushed itself against thewalls of the tendrils and pulsated to life. It began as a lifeless nothing,pregnant with infant and bloated with fat, then it slowly began to pulse, firstas a baby, then as an adult. Soon after, however, the tendrils began toflicker.

Anyonelooking upon this sight would have seen nothing in the brief fraction of amoment when what was known as day transitioned to night.

Whatlittle darkness that shadowed the city was lost within the next moment.

Thetendrils burst into light.

Frostblue lit the sky.

However,as impressive as this display was, no one and no thing wandering not only thestreets, but living inside the houses stopped to notice, as this was nothinguncommon and practically namesake in the city of Utopia, where dreams ran freeand where people lived of their own accord. They did not work, as machines didall their labor, and they did not starve, as God offered them all their food.

Toanyone looking upon this great, marvelous place, they would have seen nothingbut greatness, peace in an otherwise empty world.

Outside,darkness reigned supreme.

Barelyanyone stopped to notice.

Review of The Diary of Dakota Hammell

Title: The Diary of Dakota Hammell

Author: Kody Boye

Publisher: Smashwords

Pages: 90

Characters: Dakota Hammell, John, Josh Camble

POV: 1^st person

Genre: Drama

Cover: 4

Kisses: 4

Blurb:

Dakota Hammellwas an ordinary teenager until he ran away from home at the age of sixteen, butafter being brutally beaten, raped and left for dead, there seems to be littlehope in his life—that is, until a man claiming to be a psychologist walks intothe alleyway he’s lying near-dead in and offers him a second chance at life.John tells Dakota he can stay with him as long as he wants, but there’s acatch: For each day he stays, he has to write a journal entry about his life,his problems, and his potential future. With little choice, Dakota agrees, butis wary of the situation, as past experience with strangers has shown to havenegative effects. But when things with John begin to work out and life becomesnothing out of the ordinary, his heart finally begins to open and his journeycan finally be told. 

A story of hope, of healing, and ultimately, offriendship, The Diary of Dakota Hammell offers a brief glimpse into a life offractured teenager who has lost everything but his ability to write.

Review:

At the age of eleven, Dakota Hammell’s life was entirely upended by thedeath of his mother and the subsequent downward spiral of his father intoalcoholism. For Dakota, physical abuse at his father’s hands became a familiaroccurrence.

At the age of sixteen, Dakota Hammell’s life was upended again when leavinghome and his father’s violent attacks meant escaping from one hell and beingthrown into another. For a teenage boy, living on the streets means turningtricks, doing what he has to do to make it from one day to the next. Standingon street corners to earn fast cash and sleeping in alleyways effectively stealshis security and innocence.

At the age of nineteen, Dakota Hammell’s life takes yet another turn ashe flees a year long relationship with a virtual stranger, returning to thestreets and preparing to make money the only way he knows how. Dakota is lookingin the shadows of the streets for a place to sleep when he’s brutally violated,beaten, and left for dead.

For a young man whose life has given him every reason to become cynicaland mistrusting, to find suspect anyone who offers kindness without expectingsomething in return, a stranger who finds and rescues Dakota is a savior,delivering redemption and a chance at happiness, not for his own personal gain,but for Dakota’s. John takes Dakota into his home, helping him to healphysically and, more importantly, emotionally, offering him the gift ofkindness and compassion.

At John’s urging, Dakota begins to journal his experiences. Through thechronicling of his life, the young man undergoes a series of epiphanies thatallows him to purge himself of some of the pain he’s endured in his limited years,and ultimately helps him to move forward with the hope of changing the tide ofhis future.

Written in a stream-of-consciousness narrative, The Diary ofDakota Hammell is a poignant, candid, and affecting journey ofrenewal and hope, told by a young man for whom words are a powerful source of affirmationand healing.

In a short fifty-nine days of diary entries, the reader is allowed aglimpse into Dakota’s most intimate thoughts and feelings, witnessing thereturn of belief in himself and in the promise of happiness and love with a manwho, for that one short year, gave Dakota a home and a life from which hewalked away, but to which he hopes to return.

Kody Boye has written a touching story of the power of the humanspirit, the gift of compassion, and the promise of recovery from the past, onethat embodies the concept of strength emerging from adversity.

Reviewed by: Lisa

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>Review of No Apologies by J.M. Snyder

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Title: No Apologies

Author: J.M. Snyder

Publisher: JMS Books LLC

Pages: 32

Characters: Donnie Novak, Jack Sterling

POV: 1st person

Setting: Pearl Harbor, 1941 Genre:

Historical Romance

Cover Rating: 4

Kisses: 4.5

Blurb:

Donnie Novak and Jack Sterling have known each other forever. Growing up together in a small Midwestern town, they were best friends. After high school, they both enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the same time, and somehow were assigned to the same company before being stationed on the U.S.S. Oklahoma together.

One night on leave, Donnie crosses an almost imperceptible line between friendship and something more. A stolen kiss threatens to ruin what Donnie and Jack have built up together all these years, and the next morning, he can’t apologize enough.

But a squadron of Japanese bombers has their sights trained on Pearl Harbor’s Battleship Row, and in the early hours of December 7, 1941, Donnie might not get a chance to set things right.

Review:

In Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 6, 1941, the US Navy was at peace while all of Europe was at war. The Germans were freezing on the threshold of Moscow, while US sailors awaited the approaching holidays, on standby in a tropical paradise, onboard their ships in port near Honolulu.

Rumors had begun to circulate that the Empire of Japan was planning a preventative attack against the United States in order to keep its naval fleets from interfering with Japan’s military actions in the South Pacific. In the morning hours of December 7, 1941, as Japanese fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor’s Battleship Row, what had once been rumor was quickly translated to truth. The attack on Pearl Harbor came as a profound shock to the American government, its military, and its people and directly led to the United States’ entry into World War II. Four days later, both Germany and Italy declared war on the US, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Being the daughter of a World War II naval veteran, I feel a very personal connection to No Apologies, a beautiful and haunting short story about two lifelong friends who share their first kiss on the very eve of the day that is now and forever will be known as “a date which will live in infamy”. Donnie and Jack, spending their final evening of peace on shore leave, are hustled back to their ship, a bit the worse for the drink. The story is narrated by Donnie, who has, for as long as he can remember, been in love with his best friend. Balmy breezes, the sound of the ocean meeting the shore, the smell of tropical flowers, and the after effects of too many exotic drinks propel Donnie into action, and into a mistake that may cost him the friendship of the only person he has ever loved.

As the fateful morning of December 7^th, arrived, the young men were faced with the repercussions of that one kiss, a kiss that leaves Jack wary and remote, a situation that Donnie is determined to fix at any cost, even at the expense of his own broken heart. Destiny had its own plans that day, however, as apologies became affirmations in the face of almost certain death.

J.M. Snyder has crafted a heart stirring story that should be a lesson in never wasting a single moment, being willing to take risks, and living life without apologies, because we never know when fate might step in and strip us of tomorrow. I was moved by the narrative, from start to finish, becoming entirely overwhelmed by the sense of fear and desperation that surrounded the young men on that infamous day. Donnie and Jack are two protagonists whom I can say with absolute conviction that I wouldn’t at all mind running across again soon.

Reviewed By: Lisa

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>Jonathan’s Garden of Eden

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Title: Jonathan’s Garden of Eden
Author: Edward von Behrer
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Pages: 40
Characters: Jonathan Lattimore
POV: 3rd person, Jonathan
Scene Setting: Fire Island
Sub Genre: Gay Contemporary Romance
Book Cover Rating: 3
Kisses: 4½

Blurb:
Properly-brought-up Southern boy Jonathan Lattimore doesn’t begin to question his family’s expectations until his parents come to visit him in New York City. Faced with their blatant disapproval of his lifestyle, Jonathan listens to a friend’s urging to cut their apron strings. This year, rather than using his vacation time to return home, Jonathan take a half-share in a summer house on Fire Island.

The “gay Garden of Eden” may be very different than the one he learned about in Sunday school, but as Jonathan discovers, the freedom it offers comes close to his idea of paradise.

Review:
This is the second of Edward von Behrer’s novellas that I’ve read and I’m just as pleased the second time around as I was the first. Jonathan’s Garden of Eden is really sweet—because of Jonathan—while at the same time somewhat frustrating—because of his narrow-minded parents, primarily his mother. And as a mother myself all I wanted to do was to tell her to get over herself…sheesh! But the story itself is first-class all the way.

The beginning of the story takes us back to a four-year-old Jonathan. He was at the age where the simpler things were, the better…and by that I’m NOT saying that things were simple because he was young. Things were simple because that’s the way children see them…children and those who don’t become world-weary or ‘sophisticated’: People who can appreciate the innocence, the directness and the straightforwardness of childhood.

And I think that’s one of the things that I like most about Jonathan; he didn’t try to be someone he wasn’t. He was himself; he may have striven not to disappoint his parents, but I think that was more because of who he was…a nice and uncomplicated man who appreciated life. And when he did decide to live his life for himself and not for anyone else, well; let me just say that his time at Fire Island was liberating in all the best ways.

I’m not going to say anymore because really this is a story that is best read without a lot of expectations of what, how, who and when. They why? Well, that’s pretty self-explanatory I think…and fun, and sexy!

Even after having read the story twice—it is a short story, but it’s also so emotionally wonderful—I know that I’ll be going back to Jonathan’s story again and again. If for no other reason than to enjoy spending time with such a wonderful young man… well, okay and being a bit of voyeur as well. But Edward von Behrer makes it all so easy and deliciously decadent. And honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to think of the story of the Garden of Eden the same way. Between young Jonathan’s and then older Jonathan’s ideas, I’ll be having way too much fun!

Reviewer: Kathy

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Edward von Behrer: The Natural Storyteller

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, Edward. Would you mind starting out by telling us a little bit about yourself?

Thank YOU for your interest in my writing! It’s gracious of you to reach out like this.

I’m a Southern Baby Boomer who fled the South as soon as I could, but there’s still a lot of it in me. The old saying is true in my case: “You can take the boy out of the country, but you can never take the country out of the boy.” Overall, I think it’s given me a valuable perspective on things. My parents divorced when I was six so it was just my mother and younger sister until I went off to college. In many ways it was an isolated childhood—primarily for two reasons. One, we were very poor. Thanksgiving and Christmas we were one of the families who got baskets of food left at our front door by civic groups. The other was my mother’s extremely fundamentalist religion that dictated every area of our lives. So I grew up without a TV, pop music and jazz was forbidden, certainly no dancing, movies were Satan himself trying to ensnare us…anything “wordly” was evil, evil, evil.

What saved me – and I mean this quite literally — were books and music. For some reason my mother didn’t mind me reading voraciously and almost never monitored the books I brought home (by the ARMLOAD) from the library. To this day I’m amazed by that, because she and her church so totally controlled almost everything else my sister and I did. But I’m grateful for it, because it gave me a constant window onto different ways of life. It was a reminder that “out there,” beyond the mountains that surrounded our small town, there were people who lived very different lives than we did.

And the music fed my soul. It’s rather bizarre because classical music was not something that was part of our lives until I started searching it out—finding it on the radio, discovering the library of a neighboring town had recordings I could check out, learning that some of the people on my paper route actually BOUGHT classical records and took the time to just sit and listen to them because they wanted to. Imagine that!! And they were delighted to sometimes ask me to come inside and listen with them….I will forever be grateful to those folks!

Anyway, the two big loves of my life—reading and music—appeared early and still show no sign of leaving. After college I lived in Europe for a bit, then moved to New York City where I’ve lived ever since, with a break for a few years when I lived in San Francisco.

What was your first book and how long did it take to get it published?

I’ve been involved with the publishing industry in one way or another—both books and magazines—most of my life (well, so far, anyway). Through this involvement I ended up doing some writing for hire under another name. But writing fiction that I wanted to write, just because I wanted to write it, is something I’ve only been doing for a couple years now.

One of the advantages of living in NYC is that almost everyone you know comes through here from time to time—on their way to Europe from California; on their way to Hawaii from Berlin—the world stops off in NYC regularly. And a couple of years ago, within a two or three week period several groups of friends – from very different areas of my life—dropped by and they all happened to say: “You really are a story teller, you know. That’s how you see the world, that’s how you communicate you ideas.” Or words to that effect.

And it was a revelation. (“DUH!”) So I started with a short story for a Dreamspinner anthology, figuring if I targeted a publisher’s need that would increase the chances of getting into print. Fortunately “The Cub” was accepted for the Games in the Dark anthology, and I followed that up with other short stories, Jonathan’s Garden of Eden being the most recent.

I just finished my first novel, an historic romance set in New York City and Dresden, Germany, during 1910-11. The period just before both world wars has always fascinated me, so it was great to be able to “live” back then for a while. It took a little over a year….really two quick bursts of actual writing, separated by some months when I just fretted, but didn’t do any typing. I’ve submitted it to a publisher, so keep your fingers crossed!

Do you write full time? If not, how many hours per day do you try to dedicate to writing?

A hunk of my “real” job involves doing some non-fiction writing…though I confess some of my marketing blurbs come perilously close to fiction. I’m still struggling with how to carve out regular time for my own fiction. It still tends to be a hunk of time I steal from “real” life—a weekend when I don’t answer the phone, or a couple days I take off from work.

How long have you been a storyteller, at heart?

I’m told that when I was very small (not old enough to go to school) when my mother and I would take the bus to go downtown, I would tell stories I made up on the spot, just to pass the time. One day, apparently, a woman sitting behind us tapped my mother on the shoulder and said, “Lady, you really ought to write that story down. Some day you’ll wish you had it.” So apparently I started pretty young, though I don’t remember it.

Do you write straight through, or do you find that you revise/edit as you go along?

Thank god for computers because they fit the way I write perfectly! I’ll write a section (a few paragraphs or a page, say) and then pause while I try to figure out what comes next, and as I’m thinking that—to keep myself focused on the characters and their situation—I reread what I’ve just written. Often I’ll think, “Ah, that word needs to be changed” or “No, that’s not QUITE what he was feeling,” and I’ll do those slight revisions as I’m writing. It helps to keep things flowing smoothly. But after the story—or novel—is done I go back and reread it noting things that don’t work with the finished version. That’s when any big revisions get made.

A good friend (a publishing Mucky-Muck) told me after I was three or four chapters into the novel, “Don’t revise and polish what you’ve done until you finish writing the novel. Too many people spent a years obsessively revising a couple of chapters, trying to make them perfect, and they never finish their book.” Very wise words! At least for me.

How much of yourself, your experiences, and the people you know do you find make their way into your stories and characters?

Well, the first rule of writing is to write about what you know. But that’s not the same thing as writing your autobiography. Fiction is not autobiography. But you have to understand the emotions and motivations of your characters. For instance, Jonathan in Jonathan’s Garden of Eden is from the South and a very religious home, but he’s not me. There are lots of differences between us. On the other hand, every adult has to decide how much of their family’s rules work for them, unless you just blindly go through life without examining it.

A very good friend—much older than me—told me he was having a terrible time adjusting to life in NYC until his wise shrink said, “Bill, you’re trying to live your life here by the same rules that worked for your parents in North Carolina in the 1930s and ‘40s. Those are lovely rules, but they’re making you miserable because they were designed for a very different society, and no one else in NY is playing by them.”

I think gay people, especially, get hit early on with the necessity to examining what’s important for us. We’re outsiders—a stranger in a strange land, as Robert Heinlein put it—but that also gives us an opportunity for an early start on deciding what’s important for us, personally, and seeing the world more critically…perhaps.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? Do you have any routines or exercises you use to get past it?

Oh, hell yes. There are times I feel like I’m pregnant and the damn kid just refuses to be born. I fret and obsess and trust that when the kid is ready he’ll appear. But it’s a miserable time.

When someone reads one of your books for the first time, what do you hope they feel, experience, or gain from it?

Pleasure. And I hope they’ll feel a bit of warmth inside, a glow that means their world is a better place—even just momentarily—because they read it.

Now that you’re a published author, would you share three things you’ve learned about the publishing business?

Mainly that if you genuinely have something to say, then there’s an audience for it. It might be very small, and you might never know how much they like it—in fact you probably won’t. But that’s not our job. Our job is to let the story inside come out and then let the Universe (or Life or whatever word you want to use) take over from there.

Does the title of a book you’re writing typically come to you as you’re writing it, or do you title your stories before you even begin the first sentence?

It varies. The short story titles all came before I finished the first page, but I’m still not sold on the title to the novel.

What was the best piece of advice you’ve ever received with respect to the art of writing? How did it change the way you approach your work?

It was from a good friend to whom I was complaining about some of the really badly written novels I had to deal with in my “real” job. She said, “I’m tired of listening to you bitch about other people’s writing. Shut up and write your own damn book.” So I did.

If you weren’t a writer what would you be?

HA! I would love to be a symphony and opera conductor. And I’m fascinated by the idea of doing something totally different in another country—making Parmesan cheese in Italy, say; or being a baker in Dresden; or making champagne in France. Or making oboe reeds in Vienna. Maybe in my next life…or six.

Aside from writing, what else do you enjoy doing? Do you have any hobbies?

I have to hear some good music every day. If I don’t I get really cranky. I love hanging out with friends, but with everyone’s schedules that doesn’t happen as much as any of us would like.

I love traveling, being in a different culture and, with any luck, meeting people who were raised very differently than I was. For instance, I have a good friend who was born and raised in East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall. (In fact, he was in the East German Army during the time the wall came down!) He was raised in one of the most repressive Communist regimes, his parents – who are just a wonderful as he is–grew up under the Nazis and during World War Two, and then lived most of their adult lives under the Communists…that gives you quite a different perspective on life than growing up in the American South!

Speaking as a published author, what words of advice would you give to someone just starting out in the business?

Trust yourself. Learn to listen to your inner guide and trust it.

What future projects do you have in the works?

As far as gay fiction goes, I’m toying with a couple things—a fantasy novel where the greatest magic comes through singing the magic into being and shaping it with the voice; and the people who do that are society of gay adepts, who are valued for their healing powers, but also viewed very suspiciously before they’re “different.” And I’ve started working on novel set in the closing days of WWII, an American B-17 pilot who’s shot down over Germany in the months just before D-day and rescued by a German Army doctor who’s home on leave. We’ll see what happens.

Now some questions just for fun:

How would you describe your sense of humor? Who and what makes you laugh?

I think Blazing Saddles is the funniest movie I’ve ever seen. It still cracks me up. As do the old “Thin Man” movies—such marvelous style they had back then! I love that deft, rapier wit. I’m currently reading Germania: A Personal History of Germans Ancient and Modern by Simon Winder, a Brit, who has a wonderfully droll, and often quite baroque, way of describing a town, or a era, or a cultural point of view. He spent three pages describing a room in a museum and explaining why it summed up an era in history, then said, “This must all be understood to be in brackets (indeed, there could be an argument that this entire book should be understood to be in brackets).” And I thought, “Oh damn! I’ll never be able to use that without plagiarizing it.”

What’s your all-time favorite movie?

Bertolucci’s The Conformist—that made an appearance in Jonathan’s Garden of Eden. But there are other movies I wouldn’t live without. Casablanca, the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films; Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich (hey, I’m a gay man, they’re in my DNA). I’ve already seen The King’s Speech twice, so it’s likely to end up on a Permanent Must Re-See List.

What’s your favorite food?

Anything Italian, especially pork or pasta. Or German Christmas food.

Cake or pie?

Ice cream.

If you could sit down to dinner with any one famous person, either past or present, who would that person be and why?

You know the person with whom I really would like to have a nice long dinner? My mother’s father. He died when I was not yet two so I have no memory of him and knew very, very little about him as I was growing up. It was only a few years ago that I discovered he left the Michigan farm where he was raised, went to South African to mine diamonds, and then spent a few years traveling around Europe going from opera house to opera house, until his fiancée (my grandmother) told him if he didn’t get his ass back to the States she was going to accept another offer of marriage. I had no idea anyone in the family even knew what an opera was, much less was so passionate about it he spent a couple years reveling in it in Europe. (How did HE learn about opera and develop a passion for it?) And since I love great singers of the past, my first thought was “I wonder if granddaddy heard Claudio Muzio at La Scala? Was he in Vienna when Richard Strauss conducted his own operas? Did he hear Rosa Ponselle when he stopped on in NYC on his way back to Michigan….to start his ‘real’ life.” My mother had no idea about this, it was her youngest sister who told me. Apparently granddaddy brought back a whole trunk load of programs that disappeared not that long ago—but before I knew anything about them. AUUUUUGH!

If time travel were possible, what time period(s) would you most like to visit and why?

First of all, Ancient Greece because their way of life was so different from ours, and yet so much of the basis of Western Civilian was created by them. Plus I’ve very curious what their performance of drama was like. Apparently not at all like us going to the theater today to hear one of their plays.

I’d love to go back to the 17th and 18th century and hear what the famous singers known as the castrati sounded like (and it wasn’t ANYTHING like countertenors of today sound like!) And, as I said, I’m fascinated by the periods before both of the world wars, especially the first world war. We think we know a lot about it, because many of us have family pictures from then and we can relate to seeing the early forms of things we know today—early cars, early forms of movies, recordings, things like that. But their expectations of life, the structure of their society was so completely different from ours. I’d really like to inhabit it and experience it.

Or maybe I did in a previous life?

Edward, thank you again for taking the time to be with us today; will you please tell us where we can find you on the Internet?

I’m still working on the internet thing, though I have a Facebook page I haven’t really done anything with.

Thank you for asking the questions! I appreciate your interest.

 

>Review of Bodies of Work by Etienne

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Title: Bodies of Work

Author: Etienne

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Pages: 350

Characters: George Martin and Mike Foster

POV: 1st Person

Setting: Florida and Virginia

Genre: Mystery, Suspense

Cover Rating: 3

Kisses: 4.5

Bodies of Work, the first book of Etienne’s, An Avondale Story series, was also my introduction to this author and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the story. The main characters, George and Mike, start the story off as best friends. The two have known each other since childhood and are closer than brothers. Yet, even though they are that close George is totally clueless when it comes to Mike’s true feelings. It isn’t until one of the men is seriously wounded that their relationship moves from friendship to something much more. I loved the way the men’s relationship moved so smoothly from one form to the other. The fact that they were already so close makes the transition believable. This is not a page burner however, as the sex scenes in the story reminded me of the old fade to black scenes in old time Hollywood movies.

When not addressing the relationship between George and Mike the story involves a few mysteries, with George being a cop more than one case comes into play. The many twists and turns in the story are sure to hold your interest and one plot twist really took me by surprise. There are a wide variety of secondary characters that help move the story along as well.

There were at least two follow up stories listed on the author’s website, and I for one can’t wait to see what George and Mike will be up to next.

Reviewed by: Lydia

BUY LINK

>And it is Beautiful, And it is Victory, And it is Powerful by K.R. Foster

>Titles: And It Is Beautiful, And It Is Victory, And It Is Powerful

Author: K.R. Foster

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Pages: each ebook is about 40 pages

Kisses: listed beside each title below

Blurbs:

And It Is Beautiful (4 kisses)

“Making love is a wonderful and emotional experience. It is giving all that you are to another person. It is surrender. It is submission. And it is beautiful.”

Trained by the Master himself, Sidian and Phyre are two of the Marble Pleasure House’s most prized possessions. But with only one Courtesan available for

contracting, the Master forcibly promotes them to Consort rank. Sidian and Phyre can only watch as their secret love is torn apart by circumstances they cannot escape… unless fate gives them another chance.

And It Is Victory (3.5 Kisses)

“Seduction is a game that cannot be played without worthwhile opponents. It is fun. It is challenging. And it is victory.”

Bryne is the ranking Coquet of Slate Pleasure House and his Mistress’s current favorite. But after escaping a hellish childhood to reach the top, Bryne has yet to find anyone who can play the game of seduction well. Leaving the Pleasure House to live with his brother, Phyre, who contracted with the Second Lord of Nyph, Bryne finds himself playing against the consummate Slate, Raith. But Bryne is still haunted by the past, and he can’t seem to understand that Raith is playing a different game… a game Bryne might lose before he realizes how important winning is to his future.

And It Is Powerful (4 kisses)

“Sexual gratification is achieved through control and self-actualization. It is submission. It is dominance. And it is powerful.”

Synge is an anomaly in the Granite Pleasure House: a Sadist who is not aroused by pain. He’d entered Granite to learn to master the pain of his tormented childhood, not to inflict it on others. That doesn’t stop those who relish pain from seeking him out, but Synge is used to refusing them – until a desperate, virginal slave named Rown offers himself. Afraid that someone else will break the beautiful boy, Synge accepts – and Rown will learn that what his new master wants from him is not at all what he expected.

Review:

This series takes its readers on a journey into a world where men and women are trained to become sexual slaves of many different levels. They are all trained by different houses, which could be referred to as different types of pleasure slaves. Some are taught how to pleasure their lovers in gentle ways, others in pain, and some with both. Submission is a big part in the story lines.

We are introduced to three houses: Marble House, Slate Pleasure House, and the Granite Pleasure House. Each of these houses offers different submissive slaves being trained for their lives with their own Masters. Some are trained for the vanilla type of sex, some are trained at being the best at seduction, and the last house offers pain slaves. It’s a very interesting concept in all reality. The stories are connected as well, where one story has a character who is related in some way to another slave in another house. It’s important to read these three shorts in order so you don’t get lost with who the characters are and where they came from.

The author does a great job with the stories, the characters are well done, and the plots in the three really belong in one big story. Give this series a try, you won’t be sorry.

Reviewer: Michele

Buy And it is Beautiful HERE

Buy And it is Victory HERE

Buy And it is Powerful HERE

>Ike Rose – "The Leather Jacket" – Available at Smashwords

>
I’ve published a new book: The Leather Jacket

Although it only costs $1.99, for a short time I’m offering coupons for 100% or 50% off (Your choice – a few readers wish to support the writer) for those who visit my Blog, follow it, and leave a Comment with their email address there.

While you’re at the Blog, go down two posts and download a FREE read PDF.

Blurb for The Leather Jacket:

A gay erotic short read, “The Leather Jacket” is the first of a series of stories about unconventional relationship between men, Manlove Miniatures.

Thirty year old Jack, a hairy young stud, can’t afford to buy a used leather jacket to enhance his growing role as a BDSM leathersex top in the 1970′s leather scene.

One Friday night, in a new bar, he sees an ad on the bulletin board: “FOR SALE: authentic Used leather NYC Police jacket, $35, see bartender.” It’s Jack’s size & he has the money with him.

He’s been flirting with the cowboy tending bar, Sam, who interviews Jack about the jacket. After calling the owner, they begin to make out over the bar.

A man sits down next to Jack. It’s Officer Paul, a handsome cop in his 40′s who makes his mutual attraction known when he escorts Jack to the men’s room to see how he looks in the mirror. The brawny stud’s selling the jacket because he had to buy a new one due to a bigger build from a bet with other gay cops involving body-building.

They engage in some power-games to determine who will be “top-for-the-night”. Paul loses, and invites Jack to baptize his new jacket in cum at his nearby apartment.

Jack loves dominating the hot cop, who is eager for a rematch, hot to get his turn to dominate the young bear.

He agrees, and they begin a passionate affair that’s memorable.

Is it love or is it lust? Does it matter as long as it’s HOT?

>A Hundred Little Lies — Free Book Giveaway

>Hi there, Jon Wilson here, guest-blogging on Michelle and Lisa Reviews!

To celebrate (announce? market? shout about?) the publication of my first novel, A Hundred Little Lies (Cheyenne Publishing/Bristlecone Pine), I’m giving away TWO FREE COPIES of the print book! They will be awarded in both a drawing and a contest (of sorts)…

Here’s the thing. I’m looking to buy a domain name. Naturally, http://www.jonwilson.com is taken…Which is basically the story of my life with the name Jon Wilson: a host of predecessors have not only been there and done that, they’ve purchased the rights to the being and doing as well. Of course, I’ve thought of options: jonwilsononline.com, jonwilsonbooks.com, jonwilson.info and jonwilson.us…

To enter the drawing/contest, let me know your suggestion for a domain name (and, no, no matter how true, I’m not buying isuck.com—and, seriously, it’s got to be taken!). You can either email your suggestion to me at JonWilsonBooks@aol.com or simply post a comment here or over on my own blog, http://jonwilsonauthor.blogspot.com/. The entries need to be in before 11:59 pm Pacific Time (US) on Friday, April 1, 2011. I will then randomly pick two winners unless someone suggests something so amazing and original (and available) I absolutely have to have it, in which case they will receive the second free copy of the book. So, hopefully I’ll hear from at least two people…

I’ll announce the winners on Saturday April 2, over at my blog, and contact the winners personally via email (so be sure you give me some way to reach you).

In the meantime, you can enjoy the excerpt below as well as another (BONUS!) excerpt over at http://glfictionexcerpts.blogspot.com.

Synopsis

Everyone knows Jack Tulle as a widower, a doting father, and an honest businessman. The problem is, it’s all a lie.

For eight years Jack has enjoyed the quiet life in the sleepy little town of Bodey, Colorado where he owns and operates the General Store. He sits on the town council. He dotes upon his eight-year-old, headstrong daughter, Abigail. He is even being sized-up as a prospective new member of the family by the bank president.

But when the local saloon announces plans to host a grand prize poker tournament, Jack realizes it could spell trouble. One of the many secrets he’s been hiding is that he used to be a con man — mainly underhanded poker, but he wasn’t above the odd swindle when the situation presented itself. And a contest like the one his town is planning is sure to draw some old business acquaintances — fellows Jack would really rather not admit to knowing.

Of course there’s one man in particular Jack is worried about seeing — Tom Jude is the only person who knows the truth behind all his secrets. Tom wasn’t just Jack’s partner-in-crime, he was also the love of his life. And Tom knows things — like the fact that the little girl Jack is raising, really isn’t his…

As Jack scrambles to maintain his deceptions by lying to friends and neighbors as well as the child he has grown to love, he discovers the real truth: when your world is built on A Hundred Little Lies, exposing a single one of them can bring the whole thing crashing down.

EXCERPT from CHAPTER FIVE:

“Are you a marshal?” Abigail was looking down at Tom’s gun.

He grinned. “No, miss, I ain’t. Your pa was just fixin’ to take me over to the hotel so I could rid myself of this blasted thing. Maybe you’d like to accompany us?”

“Oh, yes! I could take you myself.” She pointed down Main Street eastward. “It’s that way and then that way.” She swung her arm around northward. “My friend Lizzie owns it. She watches me sometimes. She is a terrible bad cook, but Fred is really a good cook. Fred is her husband.”

Miriam Vaughn twittered, there’s just no other word for it, and I thought if I was ever going to come back to life, right then was as fine a moment as any. “All right, Abs,” I said, stepping forward to scoop her up in my arms. “Poor old Tom just arrived and you’re apt to talk his ear off.”

She was so busy looking at every inch of him, she didn’t have the presence of mind to object to getting picked up. I said to Davie: “Watch the store. We’ll be back before closing time.” He nodded without saying a word, also too busy looking at every inch of Tom, I suppose. “Good day, Mrs. Vaughn, Miriam. So long, Ethan. Say so long to Ethan,” I told Abigail.

The most she could muster was a wave, which I admit was both friendly and cute, but her manners certainly had taken a holiday.

“Goodbye, Abby,” Ethan said. He finally, after the nearly quarter of an hour they’d been standing there together, offered his hand to Tom for a shake. “Good afternoon, Mr. Jude.”

Tom took Ethan’s hand, returning his farewell and reminding him again to call him Tom, then tipped his hat to the ladies. He looked slightly embarrassed, since not having been introduced to them he couldn’t very well wish them a good afternoon. I started walking away down the street, long since finished with that gathering. “It’s this way, Tom.”

He hurried a few steps to catch up with me, and then, after we’d progressed perhaps a half block, told me: “Neighborly folks.”

I had always found them so, but wasn’t sure if he was being sarcastic, so held my tongue. Abigail was still scrutinizing him and I whispered to her: “Stop staring, it isn’t polite.” That proved a mistake as it reminded her of where she was and she immediately starting squirming. I put her down. “Stay close,” I said, which wasn’t really necessary as the only thing she was interested in was right there beside us.

“So, Miss Abigail,” Tom said, “do you attend school?”

She laughed. “Natur’ly. I’m in the third year at Miss Weatherly’s school. Miss Weatherly is my teacher.”

“You don’t say?”

“Yes, sir. I’m very good at ’rithmatic.”

“Yeah? What’s seven plus four?”

“That’s easy, eleven. I can do up to five figgers. Can’t I do up to five figgers, Pa?” She did look at me when she asked that, but didn’t bother waiting for a response. She told Tom: “Miss Weatherly always gives me a gold star in ’rithmatic.”

“That sounds an awful lot like bragging to me,” I said.

Tom said: “You know, your pa was always really good at ciphers too. I use to tell him he oughtta get a job in a bank.”

“Mr. Knowles runs the bank,” Abigail said. “It’s over thatta way.” She pointed back the way we’d come. “Just round the corner from our store. On Cottonwood Street, same as my school. Did you know that Mr. Knowles is Miss Weatherly’s uncle?”

“I did not know that.”

“Yep. Her folks live in St. Louie but she lives here. Not with her uncle though. She lives at Mrs. Tanner’s Boarding House. It’s up that way.” She pointed north. “Where do your folks live?”

“My pa is in heaven,” he said, “with the angels I reckon. My ma lives in New Orleans. You ever heard of that place?” When she shook her head, he told her: “That city is in the state of Louisiana, and it is where I was born. Your pa and I used to go there together.”

She looked up at me as if amazed I’d ever gone anywhere before she was born, but I was really not feeling obliged to react to anything they were saying, so she went back to Tom: “With my ma?”

He laughed. “No, that was before your pa married your ma.”

“My ma had lots and lots of suitors. She was very beautiful.”

“That she was.” Then he grinned at me. “And, boy, did she ever have lots of suitors. I don’t believe I ever saw a lady—”

“Abigail knows all about her ma,” I said. “She was born in San Antonio and her folks came over from Ireland. Isn’t that right, Abs?”

Abigail nodded. “She had ginger hair and freckles. My hair’s ginger but I don’t have freckles.” She held out her arms for Tom to examine.

“I reckon you got your daddy’s complexion,” Tom told her.

She looked at him as if he was confused. “No, silly, look how dark I am compared to him. Oh, there’s the undertaker’s!” She ran ahead about a quarter of a block and stopped in front of Mr. Pearl’s establishment. I thought about taking the opportunity to push Tom off the sidewalk into the street and see if he didn’t get run over by something—it was about what he deserved—then we could stop at Pearl’s and not bother going on to the hotel. When we reached her, Abigail told Tom: “This is where they took Mr. Thompson when he died. He’s buried now. He used to live over there.” She pointed south and then up ahead to the next corner. “Right there is where we turn to go to Fred and Lizzie’s. If you keep on going on this here street you’ll get to the liv’ry on this side and over yonder is the Diamond Plow. Down at the end is the train station where we go to get stuff for the store.”

“Tom rode the train here,” I said.

“I rode a train once,” she told him. “Me and Pa and Lizzie and Fred. All the way to Denver. There was snow on the ground there and oh so many pretty dec’rations on everything.”

“It was Christmastime.”

“Sounds lovely,” Tom allowed, and then pointed to a building across the street. “Is that the Diamond Plow?”

“Yes, sir,” Abigail said. “My friend Ethan is the marshal and he’s arrested fellahs there before. Teacher says it is not the sort of place young ladies visit.”

“Teacher’s right,” I told her, thinking it had to happen eventually.

Liam O’Mara’s dusty jewel stood a bit further down from us, near the edge of town. It was a handsome establishment, white-washed and trimmed in blue window frames and shutters, nestled like a queen amongst a staid group of commoners. Abigail was looking at it through narrowed eyes. “I seen ladies coming in and out,” she told us confidentially. “I reckon I wouldn’t mind a look-see one ah these days.”

“If you ever plan on being able to sit down again, it better be a day far off in the future. “

>Anitra Lynn McLeod Stops In For A Visit…

>

Anitra Lynn McLeod

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, Anitra. We are very excited and can’t wait to learn more about you.

Thanks for hosting me!

Can you tell us a little bit about your background?

Well, uh, the walls are off white, lots of oak furniture–oh, not that background! I started writing when I was twelve because I couldn’t stand what a doormat Betty was in the Archie comics. In my version, Betty told Archie to get bent and then dated much nicer guys who weren’t all hung up on a bitch like Veronica. I also had Archie and Jughead hooking up so even then I knew I’d write m/m.

What was your first book and how long did it take to get it published?

My first novel will never see the light of day! It was horrible but I l

earned a lot and kept on writing.

How many books have you written thus far?

I wrote twenty full novels before I published Wicked Harvest in 2009 with Kensington. I’ve since written seven more and four novellas.

When did you start writing erotic romance? What about this genre interested you the most?

I started in 2008 with Wicked Harvest. I wanted to combine all my favorite elements; erotic, futuristic, historical, fantasy, and romance. The Onic Empire series has all of that and more!

Your series has come from m/f to m/m/f. What made you decide to cross over so to speak?

It was the characters. Wicked Empress is the forth novel in the Onic Empi

re series and one man just wasn’t going to be enough for her. The more I w

rote about her consort and his teacher, the more I realized they were falling in

love too.

Do you write full time?

Yes.

Looking back was there something in particular that helped you to decide to become a writer? Did you choose it or did the profession choose you?

I think I just always wanted to tell stories and this just seemed a n

atural extension of that.

On a typical writing day, how would you spend your time?

I get up, have coffee, read my email, check in on Facebook, eat breakfast, write for a few hours, workout, shower, write, eat, write, watch something on Netflix, write. Lather, rinse, repeat. So, I work 16 hour days but I take breaks in between.

When it comes to plotting, do you write freely or plan everything in advance?

I am a seat o’ my pants writer. I know my characters, the beginning, the ending and then I just go.

What kind of research do you do before and during a new book?

I do my research as it comes up.

How much of yourself and the people you know manifest into your characters?

They are all a part of me, the best and worst parts of me.

How do you approach development of your characters? Where do you draw the line?

There is no line, not that I’m aware of. I’ve had some very dark villains that freaked people out by their actions. A character can do anything provided he/she is well motivated.

How long does it take for you to complete a book you would allow someone to read?

About 6-8 weeks. I’m not a perfectionist; I’m a perfection enthusiast!

If you weren’t sitting there right this very moment answering our book of questions, what else would you be doing?

Masturbating. Just kidding! I just want to see if anyone’s paying attention. I would be working on Sinful Empress.

Do you write straight through, or do you revise as you go along?

I revise as I go along. I start out reading what I wrote the day before, tweak a bit, then dive in.

Writers often go on about writer’s block. Do you ever suffer from it, and what measures do you take to get past it?

I had a big block after my dog died and I just let my heart heal for a while. Then, to force myself back into the daily routine, I did NaNo for the first time. Worked like a charm and now I’m back to working steadily each day.

Does the title of a book you’re writing come to you as you’re writing it, or does it come before you even begin the first sentence?

I almost always know my title first.

How would you describe your sense of humor? Who and what makes you laugh?

Sick and twisted. Everything has the potential to make me laugh, especially my own foibles. If I can’t laugh at me then I’ve got no right giggling at anybody else.

What are you working on now?

Sinful Empress, book six in the Onic Empire series. This will be m/m/m/f as was Dark Empress.

What was the best piece of advice you’ve received with respect to the art of writing? How did you implement it into your work?

Read, read, read and write, write, write. Also, don’t write to trends.

When it comes to promotion, what lengths have you gone to in order to increase reader-awareness of your work?

I honestly suck at promotion. I do interviews and blog sometimes, but people mainly find out about me by word-of-mouth.

Writing is obviously not just how you make your living, but your life-style as well. What do you do to keep the creative “spark” alive – both in your work and out of it?

I go outside my comfort zone with music, books, TV, etc. Trying something new gives me more ideas than I would have if I did the same old thing all the time.

What pros and cons surround the e-publishing industry, and how do you envision the future of e-publishing?

I love my switch to e-pub! The turn around is faster and I have more freedom. The downside is the piracy. I always thought everything is better with pirates but not in this case. People who love my work and steal it hurt my ability to keep writing the books they love. What kind of books do you like to read? Everything. Cookbooks, westerns, true crime, romance, text books, dictionaries, hell, even the back of the cereal box!

What is your favorite TV show?

I’m not a big fan of TV but I like South Park, Dexter, and Judge Judy.

What is your favorite fast food restaurant? Just thought we’d throw that in for fun…

I rarely eat fast food but I like those greasy Burger King hash brown things. I could eat those all day!

Without getting up, can you tell us what’s under your bed? (yep, another sneaky question.)

Yep. Drawers. It’s a platform bed with 12 drawers under it. Those drawers are filled with clothes, VHS porn, and shoes.

If you weren’t a writer what would you be?

Very sad and probably extremely sexually frustrated.

When it comes to the covers of your books, what do you like or dislike about them?

I have been seriously blessed by the cover gods. I love that at Samhain I can give input into the creation of the cover. Wicked Empress went through about 10 drafts to get to the final stage, which I totally love. Kanaxa is the artist and she is simply a joy to work with.

Aside from writing, what else do you enjoy doing?

Reading, writing, and white-water rafting are my three favorite things but I also love to cook, eat, and sleep. Pretty much in that order.

Any special projects coming out soon we should watch for?

During NaNo I wrote my first m/m romance and will be shopping it around soon. I’m also collaborating with another writer on a sexy humorous romance.