Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, Patricia, can you tell us a little bit about your background?
I’m currently a full time author. Torquere was the first to take a chance on me and they published my first book back in 2010. Prior to that, I had a mortgage banking career for 18 years and was an AIDS hospice nurse before that.
What was your first book and how long did it take to get it published?
My first published work was “Leather Nights”. I submitted it to five agents and four publishers. Torquere was the only one to agree to it, but that was a difficult learning process for me. I didn’t know how to write in the proper POV so my wonderful, patient editor helped me polish it.
When did you start writing m/m romance? What about this genre interested you the most?
I wrote two m/f vanilla romances, neither of which was published and then turned to m/m because I was already reading the genre almost exclusively by that time. M/M just spoke to my soul. I don’t know how to describe it exactly. Only another m/m author or reader can understand it, I suppose.
How long did it take you to get published? How many books have you written thus far?
I began writing in 2007 and was published by 2010. I’ve written nine and eight are published. Another is coming out in May and another in June and another is a holiday tale, scheduled for November. I’ve also started a series of three that I hope to publish this year.
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 lost my last career in mortgage with the downturn of the economy so with a lot of time on my hands, I began to read. After about 75 books, a light bulb went off over my head and I realized that I could write one, so, I did.
On a typical writing day, how would you spend your time?
I get up, get my daughter to school and then return to begin promo. That includes blogging and social media and then I sit down to write. That takes the better part of my day.
Do you write right through or do you revise as you go along?
I write a complete first draft and then go back for several rounds of self-editing before submission.
When it comes to plotting, do you write freely or plan everything in advance?
I write a full outline. It’s the OCD. I’m not a seat of the pants writer like some of my author friends. I have to have a structure to work from, but that’s just me.
What kind of research do you do before and during a new book?
I use the internet for my research on topics that are unfamiliar to me. I’ve had several careers and I read voraciously so I’m well versed in quite a bit but when a topic comes up that I don’t know, I go to the web to get my answers. Sometimes, I go back to books that I’ve read and pull historical events out of them.
How much of yourself and the people you know manifest into your characters? How do you approach development of your characters? Where do you draw the line?
In some cases, my characters are very much people I know. In my first book, Leather Nights, one of my main characters, Jake Maxfield was me, a man (in his case) that had lost his mortgage career, his house, his credit, and his money and had teens to raise. My characters kind of develop themselves as I write them. They tell me who they are. All of them are packed with emotion. I go deep into my character development to leave the reader with a very rich story.
How long does it take for you to complete a book you would allow someone to read? Do you write straight through, or do you revise as you go along?
It takes me a couple of months to write a full length novel, though it’s taken me less than a month with some and three months with others. Anthology submissions are much quicker, a couple of weeks at most.
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 don’t get blocked so much as unmotivated at times. Most of the time, I try to map out a whole series of books that then call to me to be written. It’s happened twice now and like I said, I’m starting a new series while I dabble in anthologies that I have already under contract.
When someone reads one of your books for the first time, what do you hope they gain, feel or experience?
I hope they feel emotion, love and get a lot of humor and angst. I’m a story teller so I hope they like the stories and I can hold their interest all the way through.
Can you share three things you’ve learned about the business of writing since your first publication?
Yes. Promotion is a lot of hard work and very time consuming. Secondly, writing is a job just like any other and it only pays off in satisfaction when you put your all into it. Last, there are a plethora of resources out there that writers can use to help them with their craft and a lot of supportive authors who will share their own experiences to help you learn from them.
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?
Most of the time it comes to me, early on in the book if not right up front. Because I write series for the most part, the titles are similar with each book (ie) Leather Nights, Undercover Nights, and Warrior Nights.
How would you describe your sense of humor? Who and what makes you laugh?
I’m pretty funny myself, a comedian actually. Most of the time, I crack myself up. If I had to point at one or two performers that make me laugh, I’d say, I love Louis Black’s stand up, and of course George Carlin and Rodney Dangerfield were favorites of mine. My daughter has my wicked sense of humor and she cracks me up all the time.
What is the most frequently asked Patricia Logan question?
It depends on who’s asking. If it’s a fan, it’s “When and where can I buy the next release?” If it’s an author friend, it’s “Can I have a spot on your blog for promo?” I have a really popular blog because it features a lot of naked men and I get a ton of hits so I host other authors a lot.
What are you working on now?
Two books. One is a submission for a summer anthology called “Hot Summer Hogs” for the “Hot Summer Fun” anthology being released June 20th. My two characters from Leather Nights are back in that book for a sweaty, leather clad ride, to Sturgis, for the famous bike rally. The second is “Silver Bullets” and is the first of my Silver series where I pair older (silver) men with younger hotties. Ironically, one of the main characters in that book, Tyler Winston, was a secondary character throughout the “Nights” books in the Armadillo Series with Torquere.
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?
An author has to work every day at their computer, even if it’s to put only a few words or an idea down, or even to write out a plot bunny. It keeps the mind focused on what we do. I try to hold tight to that unless I absolutely can’t. One of my close author friends, GA Hauser, is the most diligent worker I’ve ever seen. She gets up, jogs for miles, eats a hearty breakfast and works all day and well into the night. She’s super prolific as a result of it.
When it comes to promotion, what lengths have you gone to in order to increase reader-awareness of your work?
I have two blogs, one naughty and one sweet. I write for two writing groups, Tuesday Tales and Flash Fiction Friday. I put snippets of WIP’s in my social media sites all the time. I tweet, I blog and I just plain talk to everyone I can about it. Last year, I marched with GA Hauser in the gay pride parade in June and passed out a ton of swag along the parade route. I’ve done book signings in West Hollywood and this year I’ll be going to GayRomLit in Albuquerque. I also submit guest blogs to author friends blogs and I do interviews like this one.
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 interact a lot with fellow authors and have made some amazing friends. I visit their blogs, read their works and look at pictures that inspire plot bunnies, some of them that make me drool.
What kind of books do you like to read?
All kinds of M/M, although I go through phases where I’ll read only paranormal, then sci-fi, then historical and finally contemporary, which happens to be my personal favorite.
If you weren’t a writer what would you be?
I wouldn’t be anything else although I’m a decent artist so maybe, that.
Where did you get the idea for the stories you write?
Sometimes it’s a picture prompt or something I read that moved me to write about that subject.
When it comes to the covers of your books, what do you like or dislike about them?
I like covers to have pictures of my characters on them. I just think it makes a reader intrigued enough to buy it if it’s a pretty cover.
Aside from writing, what else do you enjoy doing?
I watch a little T.V. I have a few must see shows like Torchwood and I read. I also have a busy family life with three grown kids and a little girl that I adore with all my heart.
Any special projects coming out soon we should watch for?
The summer anthology piece and my new “Silver” series of novels as well as three more anthology submissions stretching into next May.
New writers are always trying to glean advice from those with more experience. What suggestions do you have for new writers?
Don’t give up. Don’t give up. Don’t give up. Every one of us that is published is a success story that you need to use for encouragement and advice. Authors are the most generous people I’ve ever met and they are there to help you. Try to write every day if possible and don’t get distracted by bad reviews. Grow a thick skin because you’re going to get bad reviews because not everyone is going to like your work. Take it with a grain of salt. Don’t take rejection from a publisher too hard. Just resubmit it.
What future projects do you have in the works?
I have a full slate until next summer of contracted works but there’s also a fully written m/f novel that I want to rewrite. I wrote it when I didn’t know POV from a hole in the wall. I may pick that up after all of the other projects are dealt with.
Can you please tell us where we can find you on the Internet?
Yes, my links are:
http://naughtypassions.blogspot.com/?zx=f1b7069ece4afd88
http://patricialogan.wordpress.com/?blogsub=confirming#subscribe-blog
https://www.facebook.com/
patricialogan.author@yahoo.com
Could you please share your favorite excerpt(s) from one of more of your stories with us?
Yes. This is from my latest release with Torquere, “Gypsy Knight”
Gavin groaned when he felt Malik’s thickness rub
along his chausses, his arse covered with two very large
palms as his lover drove him harder and harder against
the strong body. He knew that since they had been many
days apart, their coupling would be fast and hard.
Malik bent and lifted Gavin right off the floor and,
walking straight back to the bed, the large warrior
dropped him directly onto the fur coverings.
Gavin laughed at the anxious treatment but if the
truth be known, he was just as urgent to feel Malik as
the giant was. He hurried out of his clothes and he
watched Malik do the same before his lover climbed up
onto the bed and over Gavin. As Malik found Gavin’s
mouth, Gavin’s legs were spread by two large knees and
within seconds, their cocks once again surged against
each other.
“I want you, Malik,” Gavin panted between kisses.
“I’ve so missed you these past days.”
Malik answered with another glide of his large
erection against Gavin’s and Gavin nearly cried out as
Malik muffled his moans with his mouth.
“I want to suck you, Gavin; I need to taste you.”
Malik groaned against Gavin’s lips.
“And I you,” Gavin repeated. He felt Malik roll away
and reposition himself upon the furs so that he could
take Gavin in his mouth. As he did so, Gavin was
presented with Malik’s own dripping cock and he
reached out to take the large member in his hand and
bring the head of it to his mouth. He pulled the foreskin
back and licked away Malik’s delicious pre-come,
sucking strongly on the head as he strained to get his
lips around it and draw on it deeply.
Malik moaned loudly, fucking into Gavin’s willing,
hot mouth as he grasped Gavin’s erection in one hand
and his soft sack in the other. Gavin’s cries vibrated
around Malik’s cock as he rolled the man’s balls in his
large palm. Malik slid Gavin’s cock expertly in and out
of his mouth, drawing back strongly as he pulled off and
scraping it lightly with his teeth in the rough manner that
drove Gavin mad.
Gavin felt as though he would explode with his cock
in Malik’s mouth. His lover was so adept at giving him
exactly what he wanted, when he wanted it, Gavin
constantly marveled that Malik knew him so well. He
felt a burst of pre-come as Malik groaned, obviously
enjoying the suction that Gavin applied on him as well.
Saliva ran down Malik’s cock as Gavin took him deeper
and deeper and Gavin used the lubricant to steadily jack
Malik’s cock harder and harder with a twisting motion.
He slipped a finger down the wet perineum and slid the
long blunt digit deeply into Malik’s arse, massaging him
as deep as he could, searching out the magic gland that
Malik had shown him.
When Gavin slid his finger into Malik, his lover’s
orgasm began. The tingling came nearly from his toes as
Gavin searched out the spot that he knew would throw
him over the cliff. Gavin pumped him with one hand,
applied hard suction with his glorious mouth and
pummeled his arse with the longest of the digits on his
hand. Malik writhed on the bed and sucked Gavin
harder, rougher, wanting Gavin with him as he came.
When they sucked each other in this manner, one
orgasm generally triggered the other almost immediately
and both were aware of the effect they had on one
another.
Gavin rammed his finger as deep as it could go into
Malik’s tight hole and finally connected with the peasized
gland that he searched for. Within seconds, Malik
was humping his mouth harder and crying out around
Gavin’s cock as he took him even more deeply into his
throat. Gavin began swallowing around the thick head of
Malik’s cock, milking his lover’s orgasm as he felt the
first wave of semen hit his tongue. He closed his eyes as
he allowed his own fierce orgasm to claim him, feeling
it shoot out of him as he felt Malik swallow around him
as well.
They swallowed each other down, bucking into
willing mouths, savoring their flavors. Only much later
did they pull off of one another. Gavin felt the little
licking teasing as Malik lapped at his slit and he
repeated the gesture on his lover. When Malik again
shifted on the bed and pulled Gavin into his arms, he
took his lover’s lips with gentleness only two in love
could convey. Malik held him until he dozed and much
later Gavin was only vaguely aware of the large man
sliding off the bed and putting on his garments before he
exited the room.
Thank you so much for having me and letting me babble on a bit about myself.
