Come on in. Anne Brooke is here! With a Giveaway!!!
08 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Anne Brooke, Riptide Publishing Tags: Anne Brooke, Riptide Publishing
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, Anne. Can you tell us alittle bit about your background?
I was born and brought up on an apple farm in Essex, UK, and then moved to London after University to take up my first job, which was in insurance. I hated it! After living in the country, London was a revelation though – my mother and I were stunned to find shops that opened on Wednesday afternoons when everyone we knew in our part of the world were always closed then – just goes to show how innocent we were all back then … Plus having all those theatres so close was wonderful – I’ve always loved the theatre. I’m now living in Surrey and I work part-time for my local university – which is a lot more enjoyable than working in insurance, I promise you. No two days are now the same.
What was your first book and how long did it take to get it published?
My very first book was gay romance, The Hit List,though it took so long (years and years!) to get published that my first actual book in print was gay thriller, A Dangerous Man.Even though those two books are very different in genre, I reckon the hero in The Hit List is just the fun side of myanti-hero in A Dangerous Man, and at heart they’re more similar than you’d think.
When did youstart writing m/m romance? What about this genre interested you the most?
I started writing m/m romance and other m/m genres just after I got married when I was 29 years old – I suppose I’m just an old softie really, andI love men and I love romance, so it was an ideal combination. Even when I read het romance, I always make the heroine into a second hero in my head, and Ican’t really remember a time when I didn’t do that, so I suppose I’ve been am/m romance fan for longer than I know.
How long did ittake you to get published? How many books have you written thus far?
From memory it took me about 4 to 5 years to get published in terms of fiction, though my poetry in the past has been published in a variety of magazines. I write incessantly – almost obsessively – so, thus far, I’ve written and had published six novels and, taking all my various genres together, 26 short stories. It’s been great fun!
Do you write fulltime?
No, I think that would drive me insane (pause whilst my long-suffering husband laughs crazily …). I need the balance I get from working three days a week in my university job in order to write best for the remainder of the week. If I wrote full-time, I’d probably never talk to anyone and probably wouldn’t be quite so inspired by the amazing things real people do and say every dayeither.
Looking back was there something inparticular that helped you to decide to become a writer? Did you choose it or did the profession choose you?
I’ve been making up stories all my life in my head,and when I met my husband, it was as if something clicked inside and I only began actually to write then. He’s my muse, if you like. Writing stories down is something of a release for me, as it helps clear my head out, and also clarifies for me what I think and believe about life. So, in a way, it’s therapeutic, as well as being one of the most exciting things you can ever do.
On a typical writing day, how would you spend your time?
First off, I spend at least half an hour procrastinating and working myself up to it and then I write a sentence or two to see where it takes me. I like to get about 1000 words down on a writing day(it used to be 2,000 but that was driving me to the edge and getting me veryangsty) but sometimes it can take forever – or seem to! Then, on the other hand, some days it just flows and it’s just wonderful when that happens. Even then, I need to stop constantly and do something else or distract myself for a few minutes so I can come back fresh to the writing. I can’t just sit down and write for hours – that would probably drive me mad too.
Do you write right through or do you reviseas you go along?
I tend to revise stuff as I go along, or if I can’t do it then, I’ll highlight it in blue font on the screen to remind myself I need to change something – and then come back to it later. That said, I’ll do apretty thorough edit of everything at the end as well, as then I know what the big picture is, and I find it easier to edit at that stage.
When it comes to plotting, do you write freely or plan everything in advance?
I do very little planning as I find that kills the urge to write at all. Instead I just start writing and see what comes up. So,I’ll start with a character or a scene, and then build it up from there. It’s much more exciting that way, as I don’t really know what’s going to happen nextuntil I write it down. At the same time, once I’m really into the story I do know roughly what the ending will be and have fun working towards it. SometimesI even write the end before I get there, but invariably it changes quite a lot once I arrive.
What kind of research do you do before and during a new book?
I do research during a book and then again afterwards when I need to, as I find the urge to write disappears if I research beforehand. As I’m writing, I keep the research to a minimum, and make a note about major issues which I can look into after the first draft is finished. Any changes can be included in the first major edit, and often are.
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?
I never consciously set out to put people I know or myself into books, but subconsciously it always happens – a friend of mine once said that writers write the same story over and over again and it’s always their own, and I think that’s true in a lot of ways. As a fun thing though, I will use surnames of people I know (they are aware of this!) though the character has nothing to do with them, and I’ll also put the odd catch phrase or particular interests of friends in a book too. For instance, my lovely colleague Ruth’s new Smart car appeared in gay thriller The Bones of Summer, and she was quite chuffed by that! In terms of character development, I’ve learned to listen to their voices in my head and trust in what they’re trying to say. If I let that happen without shutting it down through fear or pure laziness, then the end book is much richer in my opinion.
How long does it take for you to complete abook you would allow someone to read? Do you write straight through, or do you revise as you go along?
I revise as I go along, as I prefer having something solid behind me when I’m writing the next section. But at the same time I always do a serious edit or two after I’ve finished the first draft and definitely before submitting it somewhere. In terms of how long books take,each one is different. Short stories are quicker of course and may take a month or two to get to a reasonable state. Novels take about a year to eighteen months, and sometimes longer as I may decide to put something aside for a whileas I work on another story, and come back to it later when I’m feeling more refreshed.
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 rarely find it entirely easy to write anything and sometimes it can be a real exercise of discipline to get me to the keyboard at all, but then again I was brought up in a generation that didn’t expect instant gratification or that anything would be easy anyway if it was going to be worthwhile – so I suppose that background makes it a lot easier to sit down and try to get stuck in. Still, sometimes it’s like trying to get blood out of the proverbial and the most frustrating thing on the planet – but when it’s flowing it’s honestly one of the best and most exciting things too. So I suppose you have to take the rough with the smooth. If things simply aren’t working, then I’ll try another form of writing just to keep – or get back into – the game.For instance, if a novel isn’t going well, I try to start a short story or write a poem, or even a blog entry. It’s all writing and helps to free my head a little when it’s clogged up in one area. The novel will still be waiting whenI get back to it.
When someone reads one of your books for thefirst time, what do you hope they gain, feel or experience?
I hope they can feel the emotions and difficulties of the character in the story, and become involved with them – that’s why I write and it’s why I read, so I hope it’s the same for readers of my own books too. I also like to think, with my darker work, that I can take readers – as I take myself – into the more shadowy parts of their lives they rarely acknowledge. People aren’t always happy or fortunate and there are many things from the past that can hold us back or give us pause for thought. Many of my characters arein that position, but there’s always the possibility of change – that’s what makes reading, and writing, so important. Books change us – that’s a major reason why they exist.
Can you share three things you’ve learned about the business of writing since your first publication?
I think I’ve learnt huge numbers of things since Iwas first published, from fellow authors, publishers and readers. For me, the three most important things to remember are: (a) Never stop learning and listening; (b) Write what most excites and moves you, as those emotions will come through naturally in your work; and (c) your best writing friend is definitely your editor – trust them!
Does the title of a book you’re writing come to you as you’re writing it, or does it come beforeyou even begin the first sentence?
It’s a mix of both, though most usually the title comes at the end orduring the process of writing. Sometimes if I pick on a title as I’m writing,the focus of my story changes so the title doesn’t fit any more because my characters are taking me somewhere else. This happened with Where You Hurt The Most – I started off calling it The Eye of The Beholder and then realised that the main theme was actually what we fear in our inner beings and not outside appearances, so the title was changed, and I much prefer it.
How would you describe your sense of humor? Who and what makes you laugh?
I think my sense of humour is pretty quirky, and both my husband and I can’t resist a good dose of irony. The Friday night unofficial comedy zone on UK TV is an absolute must – we’re huge fans of Have I Got News For You, QI, Mock The Week etc, and I also love Would I Lie To You, though my husband is less keen. David Mitchell is definitely the best comedian around at the moment.
What is the most frequently asked Anne Brooke question?
There are two (am I allowed that?…)! The first is: Why aren’t you in bookshops? To which the answer is I’m published by the small independent press and e-press and theydon’t use High Street bookshops. The second is: Do you really write naughty books? To which the answer is I write erotic fiction, amongst other genres, and I do it well enough to have a regular readership so am both very lucky and very proud of that fact!
What are you working on now?
I’m working on a gay fantasy novella called The Taming of The Hawk, and have also started an office-based short story which I hope to submit to Riptide later in the summer for their Blood in the Boardroom anthology. No idea what the title is yet though.
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?
The best piece of advice Iever received was from my former agent who told me to watch out for the fact that once I had a word I liked, I just kept on using it to the point of insanity! He was right too, and I’ve had to take care over that ever since. I think it’s the poet in me – repetition for effect, you know. That’s my excuseanyway …
When it comes to promotion, what lengths have you gone to in order toincrease reader-awareness of your work?
I’m a regular user of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and GooglePlus, and I also blog twice a week. All my book news can be found there.Being a Riptide author has also meant I’ve been doing blog tours (such as this one!) which have been fantastic and great fun , as well as hard work of course. Most recently, I took part in aBlog Hop over Easter, and that was incredibly successful so I’ll definitely bedoing one of these again.
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?
Actually, I’ve never made my living by writing. I work part-time as an Executive Assistant at my local University, which is how Ipay the bills etc etc. I don’t think any writer – unless extremely best-sellingin a mainstream genre – can make their living through fiction, and 99% of usneed something else to keep body and soul together. In fact, I find the balance between writing and having a “real-life” job I also enjoy itself helps to keep the creative spark alive, as I’m not closed off in my own little world all the time.
What kind of books do you like to read?
I love reading gay fiction, including romance andcrime, and I also enjoy thrillers, contemporary fiction and women’s fiction as well. Other reading includes poetry, Christian books and also a non-fictionbook or biography, so I always have a lot of books on the go at the same time. If there wasn’t anything to read, I’d have to find something, and have in the past made do with a cereal packet at a pinch, but that was pretty desperate …
If you weren’t a writer what would you be?
I’d love to be a ballet dancer, but I don’t have the elegance, the style or the talent – so that’s a bit of a no-go area then! I’d also love to be able to draw and paint, but that’s never happened either –maybe in another life …
Where did you get the ideas for the stories you write?
Sometimes, I dream them, then I have to get up and start writing them down to see what happens. I’ve always had very episodic dreams so that definitely helps. Otherwise, things people say or stories I see on the Newsmight inspire something to start turning over in my head – or, like the Rentboy Anthology, I see a theme I’d like to explore and so write something for that, as I did with Where You Hurt The Most.
When it comes to the covers of your books, what do you like or dislike about them?
I think recently I’ve been really lucky and the covers I’ve had for my books have been great – I love them! Things I dislike in general are pictures that aren’t suited to the story, and also I don’t like naked men on the covers.For me, sexual allure on covers is best conveyed when the men are dressed orpartially dressed – naked just doesn’t cut it!
Aside from writing, what else do you enjoy doing?
I love going to the theatre, and my husband and I are keen supporters of both our main local theatres in Guildford and Woking. Some seasons, we can happily be there every week. I also enjoy playing seriously bad golf with one of my friends on a weekly basis – though she beatsme every time, darnit. We’ve also recently moved house and now have our very own garden at last, so planting as many flowers and shrubs as I can has become a BIG hobby. Oh, and reading’s a given – can’t forget that …
Any special projects coming out soon we should watch for?
The fifth book in my gay ménage Delaneys series, The Delaneys At Home, is out in June, so I’m looking forward to that. It involves a pair of gangster twins and a very cheeky Irish lad, so sparks certainly keep flying between thethree of them! You can catch up with the series both at mywebsite and via the publisher.The final book in the series will – I hope – be called The Delaneys, My Parents and Me, but I have yet to start on that one.
New writers are always trying to glean advice from those with more experience. What suggestions do you have for new writers?
I can definitely recommend attending a writing group,either in real life or online – it doesn’t matter which – and paying closeattention to all comments given so you can improve your work. The really key thing however is to keep reading and read widely – I don’t trust writers who say they don’t read as they’re too busy writing. I think the soul goes out of it if you do that. Reading and writing are two signs of the same coin and you need to do both if you want to write the best books you can. I’d also trust in your unique writing voice and keep on developing it – nobody writes like you and nobody ever will, and that’s a wonderful thing.
What future projects do you have in the works?
Apart from the stories I’m currently working on(see previous answer), I’d like to write a follow-up to my gay BDSM story For One Night Only, and also to write a lesbian crime novel. So I think I’ll be keeping busy in the months/years ahead.
Can you please tell us where we can find you on the Internet
You can find me at:
Could you please share your favorite excerpt(s) fromone of more of your stories with us?
Here’s an excerpt from Where You Hurt The Most, where high-class escort Adrian is meeting his new and facially disfigured client Dan for the first time:
I stood up. Firstly, I unbuttoned my cuffs,and then started on the buttons at the front. When I’d completely undone them,I shrugged the shirt off and let it fall onto the chair or floor behind me withoutchecking which. I just let Dan look at me.
He sucked in a breath. “You’re very beautiful. I hadn’t realised.”
“Thank you.”
He pushed himself up from the sofa and camenearer. I took a few steps to one side where we had more space, and he slowlywalked a full circle around me. I could feel his eyes on my skin, almost devouring me. I swallowed back a protest at being treated like a hooker again.Nothing about this encounter made me feel in control, but perhaps that was theway Dan needed it. “You can touch, if you want to.”
“Sure, thanks.” His fingers were surprisingly cold. I thought he might start with my nipples or chest, but he didn’t. Instead he ran his hand across my back and up to my right shoulder.“What’s this?”
I smiled. Clients always commented on my small tattoo. “It’s a Star of David. My mother was Jewish.”
“Oh, I see.” Then, “Is your name really Adrian?”
Once again, he’d made a leap of thought Ihadn’t anticipated. “No, it’s not. But only Max knows my real name. It’s not something I share with anyone else.”
He let that pass without comment and, as he continued his exploration of my back and then my chest, I wondered how much both of us were hiding, in different ways.
When he came to my nipples, I closed my eyes and breathed deeply as they hardened.
“You like that?” he said, his hand pausing.
I nodded, opening my eyes again. This close,his head was turned to one side, still protected by that hoodie. “Yes. Very much. Is there anything I can do for you, Dan? Anything you’d enjoy?”
He stopped stroking me and stepped away. Behind me, where I couldn’t see.
“Take off the rest of your clothes,” he whispered. “Please?”
Gritting my teeth, I hesitated for a moment or two, but then nodded. I took it slow. This was not at all like my usual encounters, where stripping took place much later on. I wasn’t wearing shoes or socks so there were only my trousers and briefs to deal with, but I made every movement count.
Behind me, his breath jittered as I slipped off my pants, and I thought he might touch me. He didn’t, but his next wordswarmed the back of my neck.
“Do you want me to draw the curtains?”
I shook my head. “There’s no need. Nobody can see. It’s very private here.”
“I suppose it has to be.”
I didn’t respond to that.
“Turn round,” he said, and I obeyed him. He drew in a breath. “You wax yourself?”
“Yes.”
“Does it hurt?”
I smiled. “Only sometimes and only at first.I’m used to it.”
His lips were pursed, as if he planned to say something else but wasn’t sure how. His nearness heated my skin and he felt somehow far too close, so I gestured at the sofa, asked stupidly, “Do you want to sit down?”
“You’re naked,” he said, and then, in a rush, “You’re very beautiful. I envy you, the way you look. I wish . . .”
He swallowed, and before I could think again, I reached out and took his hand. His fingers felt cold in mine, colder than they’d been when he was stroking my skin. I led him to the sofa and pushed him down gently. He disentangled himself from my clasp and shuffled to the edge, where he’d been before. Feeling the loss more than I imagined I would, Isat down next to him, my body turned slightly towards his. If he was minded to touch me again, I was determined to make it easy, for us both.
Giveaway competition details:
The giveaway competition: the prize is THREE ebooks from my backlist if these questions about Where You Hurt The Most are answered correctly:
1. What was Dan’s hoped-for career before the accident?
2. Where does Adrian take Dan on their second meeting?
3. What month is it when Max visits Adrian for the last time?
Answers should be sent to albrookeATmeDOTcom(and NOT left on the post), and winners will be notified as soon as possible after 18 May, when the tour ends. Good luck!
Anne’sbio:
Anne Brooke’s fiction has been shortlisted for the Harry Bowling Novel Award, the Royal Literary Fund Awards and the Asham Award for Women Writers. She has also twice been the winner of the nationalDSJT Charitable Trust Open Poetry Competition.
She is the author of six published novels,including her fantasy series, The Gathandrian Trilogy, published by Bluewood Publishing and featuring gayscribe Simon Hartstongue. More information on the trilogy is available at: www.gathandria.com and the first of these novels is The Gifting. In addition,her gay and literary short stories are regularly published by Riptide Publishing, Amber Allure Press and Untreed Reads. Her most recent gay shortstory is Where You Hurt The Most, a tale of unexpected connections and possibilities, published by Riptide. All her gay fiction can be found at: www.gayreads.co.uk.
Anne has a secret passion for theatre and chocolate, preferably at the same time, and is currently working on a gay fantasy novella, The Taming of the Hawk. More information can be found at www.annebrooke.com and she regularly blogs at:http://annebrooke.blogspot.com.
Where You Hurt The Most blurb: 
Adrian is more than happy as high-class escortfor a number of regular clients. When his boss and dear friend asks him toentertain his nephew, Adrian readily agrees, but meeting Dan challenges him inways he’d never imagined. Dan is scarred inside and out from an accident thatdestroyed a promising future. Despite Adrian’s loveless lifestyle and Dan’swithdrawal and anger, the two men forge a deep – if unnerving – connection.Soon they find themselves questioning the choices they’ve made and the futuresthey’ve mapped out for themselves.
Yet even bright young men like Adrian and Danfear the unknown and take comfort in the familiar. Neither may be strong enoughto step away from the life they know and toward the one they dare not hope for.But while it’s true that love can’t heal all wounds, it is the surest balm for whereyou hurt the most.
You can read an excerpt and purchase Where You Hurt The Most here.
Where You Hurt The Most A Rentboy story: by Anne Brooke
08 May 2012 3 Comments
in Anne Brooke, Riptide Publishing Tags: Anne Brooke, Riptide Publishing
Title: Where You Hurt the Most
Author: Anne Brooke
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Pages: 44
Characters: Adrian, Dan
POV: 1st Person
Sub-Genre: Contemporary
Kisses: 5
Blurb:
Adrian is more than happy as high-class escort for a number of regular clients. When his boss and dear friend asks him to entertain his nephew, Adrian readily agrees, but meeting Dan challenges him in ways he’d never imagined.
Dan is scarred inside and out from an accident that destroyed a promising future. Despite Adrian’s loveless lifestyle and Dan’s withdrawal and anger, the two men forge a deep—if unnerving—connection. Soon they find themselves questioning the choices they’ve made and the futures they’ve mapped out for themselves.
Yet even bright young men like Adrian and Dan fear the unknown and take comfort in the familiar. Neither may be strong enough to step away from the life they know and toward the one they dare not hope for. But while it’s true that love can’t heal all wounds, it is the surest balm for where you hurt the most.
Review:
Some of the most painful scars, the ones that hurt the most, are the scars that can’t be seen, whether it’s the end of a relationship or the end of a chapter in life that seemed like nothing but promise until, in the space of a moment, it shifted drastically and left behind the visible evidence of that change like a brand upon the skin.
Where You Hurt the Most is the story of two men, each scarred but in very different ways, who are brought together in what might be described as both a business transaction and an act of mercy.
Dan’s life was irrevocably altered after a tragic accident that left half his face scarred and left him decimated emotionally. Hiding himself from the world, keeping everyone at arm’s length, Dan cut himself off from everything he was and everything he’d dreamt of being before it was all so cruelly stripped away from him. He is the beast who guards himself and hides behind the walls of bitterness left behind in the wake of his transformation.
Adrian is a paid escort, not a whore, mind you, but a warm and intelligent companion for hire who seems to instinctively know his clients’ needs, even if the need is nothing more than a momentary sense of connection to another living soul. But not a single one of those clients truly knows Adrian. He separates himself from them, maintaining a sense of distance even as he draws them out of themselves. He is physical perfection and beauty, but even Adrian has scars and hides behind an identity that isn’t even his own.
Where You Hurt the Most isn’t a literal retelling of the French fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, but whether Anne Brooke intended it or not, the connection is there in this story of patience and acceptance and understanding and compassion that completely alters the lives of these two men. This is a story of seeing and sensing the pain and the promise that lies beneath the surface of the fragile and imperfect skin, of going beyond the physical and delving into the places where the strength of the man, the truth of him, resides, until, finally, he is changed for the better.
This is a short but truly gorgeous story, rich with the hope found in something new.
Reviewed By: Lisa
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Anne Brooke is testing us…and you for a chance to win!!!
06 Feb 2012 11 Comments
in Anne Brooke, Riptide Publishing Tags: Anne Brooke, Riptide Publishing
Anne’s contest and prizes:
1. I have one contest per stop – with the prize being a backlist ebook giveaway for one commenter.
2. I also have a cumulative competition throughout the blog tour involving answering 3 questions from HGS – with the prize being 3 backlist ebooks for one commenter from the tour as a whole. The questions are
• (a) What item of his trade is Richard wearing when Mark sees him in church?
• (b) When Craig discovers Mark and Richard together, what does he do just before leaving?
• (c) What action does Mark take at the end of the story?
3. One signed cover flat and magnet for one commenter per stop – with this NOT being the winner of Item 1 (see above)
4. One gift certificate to be drawn at the end of the tour – with this NOT being the winner of Item 2 (see above).
Contest ends Feb. 16th at 11:59PM Est. Standard Time
Please send all entries to: Anne@ albrooke@me.com
Ten Interesting Facts about Anne Brooke
06 Feb 2012 12 Comments
in Anne Brooke, Riptide Publishing, Uncategorized Tags: Anne Brooke, Riptide Publishing
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Anne Brooke
10 Things You Didn’t Know about Me
1. Bizarre though it seems, my great grandfather was the chappie who founded Brooke Bond PG Tips, though the family don’t own it any more so the company has dropped the BB part of the name. And yes, (UK joke alert for those of A Certain Age …), it is embarrassing that the only thing everyone remembers about it is the long-running poshly-dressed chimpanzees tea-party commercial. Ah the shame … I always buy Sainsbury’s Red Label tea, myself.
2. At one of my previous churches, I used to be the Sacristan – which is the person who looks after the wafers and the wine, the vestments, the altar cloths, the candles, the posh platters and chalices, and anything else no-one knows what to do with. All these glorious items are usually kept in a church Sacristy (hence the job name). It involved a heck of a lot of getting up excruciatingly early, wearing fingerless gloves (of necessity in winter) and cleaning as a near-Olympic sport. At their best, you’ll never see a Sacristan as everything should (ha!) be ready before a service and they’ll only clear up after you’ve gone. But if you see anyone scampering around frantically at the back or processing to the vestry with a frown during a service, it’s probably the Sacristan and something terribly serious (such as an unfortunate lack of wafers or the priest fainting – and yes, both of these have happened in my time …) has just taken place. The Church of England trick during any Service Disaster (SD, for short) is to smile calmly and sing a hymn, while the backroom boys and gals deal with the crisis. Hey ho. I gave it up in the end as I was dreaming in incense and wax. Never a healthy sign.
3. I once drove ten miles along a variety of busy A roads with a vast amount of raspberry netting attached to my rear bumper. I’d picked it up as I reversed out of my stepfather’s drive and never once looked in my rear view mirror. Well (coughs), the view ahead was surely more important … I did wonder why I was getting hooted and flashed by so many lorry drivers on the opposite side of the road. In my late teenage naivety and unaccountable confidence, I just assumed it was because I was looking particularly stunning that morning (I wasn’t …) and kept waving happily back. I finally realised what had happened when I arrived at my destination, after almost having netted a cyclist in the final fifty yards. I never really knew how he escaped, hey ho. My stepfather wasn’t too impressed either as he did love his raspberries.
4. I inherited a ceremonial sword used by my great-grandfather (a different one from the tea man!) during his time as a British officer in the Indian army. I have looked for suspicious rust stains but, as it’s not for battle use, I don’t think he ever actually killed anyone with it. However, it’s a great talking point at dinner parties, and a source of endless fascination for my ex-major friend.
5. I was once running for a crowded London bus when my wrap-round skirt fell off. Thank goodness I was wearing knickers. Really. Thankfully, the bus-driver was laughing so hard he was forced to stop, thus giving me time to pick up the skirt again and hold it round myself whilst I staggered onto the bus. After he’d recovered from the trauma, the driver gave me a safety pin so I could maintain my modesty on the daily commute, which just goes to show that London bus drivers are worth their weight in gold after all. And I wasn’t late for work.
6. Yes, my hair really is this colour. No, honestly. My answer to the regular question: Where did you get that hair colour? is: From the gene-code bottle. With age, it’s to all intents and purposes brown now and will no doubt soon be salt-and-pepper (the standard ageing progression for female redheads), but I come from a long line of redheads – on both sides – and all our generation, including myself, were born with ginger hair. Or, as I like to describe it, hair the colour of golden cornfields swept by summer breezes. Dream on, eh. So, yes, I do actually need to wear Factor 50 suncream at all times if I’m outside for more than five minutes, so please don’t make a big thing of it, and I absolutely do need that hat! Which, of course, explains why there are so many red-headed people in my fiction. I’m used to them, you see.
7. I used to meditate for about an hour or so every day, and attend a regular Julian Group meeting (a group of like-minded Christians who spend half an hour in silence together) and still not feel it was enough. In recent years, this practice has severely fallen away (my loss, entirely) but I still value the quality of silence and have a very soft spot for the Quaker tradition. The more quiet in a church service there is, the more I like it. An odd thing to say for a writer, I know. But I think silence is hugely creative, in every sense, and I’d love to get back to it properly one day.
8. At school, our class had to do a year’s detention – every Wednesday evening for one hour – for the crime of talking to boys over the school fence. We were an all girls’ school. We had to write out over and over again: I must not talk to boys over the school fence. It’s given me a horror of fences ever since, but not however of boys. We also weren’t allowed to go into town and eat ice cream in our school uniforms – but we were never caught out at that. I do wonder now if it would have been more acceptable to be naked and eat the ice cream so we couldn’t be traced back to the school, but I never had the courage to ask. A missed opportunity, eh.
9. The very first time I approached an agent directly with my first ever novel, at a writers’ conference, I was told I was “unpublishable, unmarketable and unreadable”. Really, after the tears, I felt quite proud – and my husband was delighted, saying that with those qualities surely I would be shortlisted for the Booker Prize any day now. What a hero. Interestingly, after I’d got over the trauma, and sharpened up the book a fair amount, it did eventually get published, and some people have even enjoyed it, though it’s very English in tone! Which just goes to show that writers simply have to keep going, even in the face of apparently insurmountable obstacles. For the curious, the book in question is gay social comedy, The Hit List.
10. I have a plan for world domination, but alas I can’t share it for fear that my enemies might get wind of the idea. Suffice it to say that it involves a great deal of chocolate, the legalisation of suncream, and compulsory cupcake farms. The future is indeed bright – but we might need bigger chairs and non-slip clothes. Prepare for the revolution, as they say …
Blurb for The Heart’s Greater Silence:
Mark isn’t sure he believes in love, especially when he finds himself torn between two very different men: his reliable boyfriend, Craig, and his illicit lover and priest, Richard.
Mark knows what he should do, but he can’t bring himself to give Richard up. The sex with Richard is unlike anything he’s ever known with Craig, and he hungers for it as much as—if not more than—the truer intimacy he finds in his boyfriend’s arms.
When Craig discovers his betrayal, Mark is forced to look at his life more closely, but the path to self-knowledge is never an easy one. Richard seeks the way back to God, but Mark finds no solace there. Can he ever discover the truth of his own soul, or is he too afraid of what he will—or won’t—find inside his heart?
Read an excerpt and purchase The Heart’s Greater Silence here.
Where can we find your website?
Anne Brooke and Gay Reads.
I also have a Facebook page.
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Anne’s blog.
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The Heart’s Greater Silence by Anne Brooke
13 Jan 2012 4 Comments
in Anne Brooke, Riptide Publishing Tags: Anne Brooke, Riptide Publishing
Title: The Heart’s Greater Silence
Author: Anne Brooke
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Pages: 31
Characters: Mark, Craig, Richard
POV: 1st Person
Sub-Genre: Contemporary Drama
Kisses: 5
Blurb:
Mark isn’t sure he believes in love, especially when he finds himself torn between two very different men: his reliable boyfriend, Craig, and his illicit lover and priest, Richard.
Mark knows what he should do, but he can’t bring himself to give Richard up. The sex with Richard is unlike anything he’s ever known with Craig, and he hungers for it as much as—if not more than—the truer intimacy he finds in his boyfriend’s arms.
When Craig discovers his betrayal, Mark is forced to look at his life more closely, but the path to self-knowledge is never an easy one. Richard seeks the way back to God, but Mark finds no solace there. Can he ever discover the truth of his own soul, or is he too afraid of what he will—or won’t—find inside his heart?
Review:
Mark is a man who burns his candle at both ends. And he did so quite successfully for a while, until the two ends ultimately met and he got burnt in a most painful and consequential way. Mark is a man whose mind and body are divided between want and need. He is a man who had everything but ended up with nothing when the battle between pure lust and possible love made a casualty of his heart.
Richard is a man of the cloth, married to his God and his vocation, but is physically compelled to carry on an illicit affair with Mark. Craig is the man who could have been everything to Mark, a partner in every way, if only Mark’s feelings for Craig could have outpaced his desire for Richard. When the three men come face to face to face with the truth, the decisions and aftermath of Mark’s duplicity leave him aimless and uncertain of where he will go from there.
Anne Brooke has written a somber and beautiful story of a man who had everything and lost it all because he coveted two very different men. It is dark and solemn and resonates with a sense of conflict and despair that wove the ideal atmosphere. It was moving and played beautifully against the knowledge that sometimes free will and human nature simply don’t leave room for happy endings.
This is the story of a man who was commanded by his desires and driven by a compulsion for one man who ruled his body and the other who fulfilled his need to belong to someone. When their worlds collided, the destruction of life as Mark knew it was profound.
I’m hopeful the ending of this short story leaves room for more of Mark’s journey.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Dating the Delaneys (The Delaneys #4) by Anne Brooke
29 Nov 2011 5 Comments
in Amber Allure, Anne Brooke, authors, publishers Tags: Amber Allure, Anne Brooke
Title: Dating the Delaneys (The Delaneys #4)
Author: Anne Brooke
Publisher: Amber Allure
Pages: 42
Characters: Liam, Mark and Johnny Delaney
POV: 1st Person
Sub-Genre: Contemporary Romance/Erotica/Ménage
Kisses: 5
Blurb:
Liam and the sexy Delaney twins embark on their dating experiment with gusto. Their first encounter at the local cinema proves explosive, but Liam still wants more from them than just hot sex. Luckily so, it appears, do the Delaneys.
With this in mind, the twins whisk him away one weekend for a late-summer picnic in the countryside. Once there, Liam is delighted to see the lengths the Delaneys have gone to in order to provide a romantic dating experience. As their date comes to a climax, however, the twins have a startling proposal.
Is Liam really ready for what they have in mind?
Review:
With her signature humor and impeccable knack for leaving the reader just a little bit hot and bothered by her boys, Anne Brooke delivers yet another winning chapter in the relationship between Liam and his twin gangster lovers, Mark and Johnny Delaney.
The boys have now embarked upon their six week dating trial period, determined to get to know each other beyond their sizzling sexual encounters. Well, they do go to the movies, have a romantic picnic, reveal a little bit about themselves on a personal level, but those salacious and sensual scenes? Oh yes, they’re still there—these boys can’t seem to keep their hands (or other body parts) off each other. Thank the gods.
As things appear ready to escalate to an even more solid foundation with the threesome, including a hysterical meet-the-parent encounter at the end, Anne Brooke brings the curtain down, guaranteeing that I’m keeping my seat in the audience and waiting for the next installment in this sexy series.
Reviewed By: Lisa
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For One Night Only by Anne Brooke
09 Sep 2011 2 Comments
in Amber Allure, Anne Brooke Tags: Amber Allure, Anne Brooke
Title: For One Night Only
Author: Anne Brooke
Publisher: Amber Allure
Pages: 41
POV: 3rd
Kisses: 4.5
Blurb:
Jake Morrison’s position as Dom has been deeply shaken by his unwitting role in the recent death of his sub. When he’s allowed back into Langley’s Pleasure House after a six-month ban, he longs to make amends in any way possible.
Club-owner Langley’s surprising request for an unexpected encounter, however, tests Jake’s sense of purpose to the core. He’s willing to learn, but the lesson might not be one he expects..
Review:
Ms. Brookes does a wonderful job in the telling of this almost heartbreaking tale to the table for us. Jake Morrison opens the scene with him in his favorite BDSM club, a place he hadn’t allowed himself or hadn’t been allowed in since the death of his sub months before. He is there to find comfort, if not in the patrons who scorn him for his irresponsibleness, then in the atmosphere and the comfort it brings to his Dom side. He is approached by the club owner, Langley, who grills him and invites him to his office so Jake can tell him in his own words what happened the last night of his meeting with Andrew his sub, who killed himself shortly after their scene went horribly wrong.
Langley surprises Jake with a proposition that will test Jake’s ability to be a Dom in his own right and that scene is by far very well written and very true to what a broken Dom must think like when his inability to be sure his sub is good on all fronts of their lives. He must learn there is more to being someone’s Master than an occasional sexual meeting of the bodies.
I loved this short and can only say that Ms. Brooke has once again brought to us a wonderful story with a strong couple I hope to see more of.
Reviewed By: Michele
The Gifting by Anne Brooke
12 Aug 2011 7 Comments
in Anne Brooke, authors Tags: Anne Brooke
Title: The Gifting (The Gathandrian Trilogy Book #1)
Author: Anne Brooke
Publisher: Bluewood Publishing
Pages: 298
Characters: Simon Hartstongue, Johan Montfort, Isabella Montfort
POV: 3rd person
Setting: Alternate Universe
Sub-Genre: Fantasy
Cover Rating: 3
Kisses: 4
Blurb:
The mind-dwellers of Gathandria are under siege. For two year-cycles their people have been decimated, their beautiful city ruined. Legends tell of the Lost One who will save them from their enemy – the mind-executioner. Time is running out. Johan and Isabella journey to the Lammas Lands searching for their cousin and lowly scribe, Simon Hartstongue. The elders hope that he is who they seek. But there is one amongst them bound to the enemy, who plans to betray Simon.
Powerful lessons are learned as they travel through the kingdoms of the Mountains, the Air, the Desert and the Waters. Story-telling weaves a protective net around them, but the enemy has absolute power with the stolen mind-cane. To his surprise Simon hears its song and tries to understand his gifting. If you are branded a coward and a murderer, how can you be a saviour? Is Simon truly the One?
Review:
The Gifting is a journey for both the characters and the reader. It is the story of a brother and sister who set out on a mission to find the Lost One, the man who will help vanquish the enemy and restore peace to the land of Gathandria. They must travel to the Lammas Lands, through trials and hardships, to find a distant cousin, Simon Hartstongue, a simple scribe who has no idea who he is, nor has any inkling of the power he possesses.
Theirs is a journey of magic and mayhem, of betrayal and deception, of treachery and vengeance. The cousins, along with a little boy who has become Simon’s pupil and one true friend, trek through a land of enchantments, through earth, air, fire, and water, through danger and subversion, as a traitorous heart lurks among them, set upon destroying Simon before he can fulfill his destiny.
Simon’s journey began with the death of his mother, branded a criminal and outcast, rejected and scorned because of his abilities. His gifts led him to the arms and bed of Ralph Tregannon, Simon’s Overlord and protector—his Lord, Master, and lover. Becoming a pawn in a wicked game of power and deception, Simon is seduced into using his magic to help execute the innocent. Branded a murderer and coward, and ultimately forced to answer for those crimes by the one person on whom he thought he could depend, Simon is forced to flee for his life, with the strangers who’ve come to his rescue.
Sometimes pragmatism is branded as cowardice. Sometimes love and the need to be loved make a man commit cowardly acts. Sometimes cowardice is nothing more than a healthy and innate sense of self-preservation. Sometimes courage can be found in compassion, in friendship, and in the desire to right the wrongs of the past. Courage is facing and conquering fears, against all odds, for the good of others.
The Gifting is merely the introduction to the Gathandrian Trilogy; it’s a big world, filled with intrigues and magic, loss and redemption. It’s a fantastical place where almost anything is possible, where a coward can become a hero, where the promise for more excitement and enchantment are guaranteed, and I look forward to seeing where Anne Brooke will take us next, as well as discovering what Simon’s future holds.
Reviewed By: Lisa
The Art of the Delaneys by Anne Brooke
06 Jun 2011 2 Comments
in Anne Brooke, authors Tags: Anne Brooke
Title: The Art of the Delaneys (The Delaneys #3)
Author: Anne Brooke
Publisher: Amber Allure
Pages: 42
Characters: Mark and Johnny Delaney, Liam
POV: 1st person
Setting: Contemporary
Sub-Genre: BDSM/Ménage
Cover Rating: 4
Kisses: 4.5
Blurb:
Liam is determined to prove to the Delaney twins that he’s more than just a good bed-partner for them. His chance to show them what he’s worth comes unexpectedly soon when his boss at the art gallery, Melissa, is asked by the Delaneys to take part in an art scam, and Liam agrees to help her.
When the Delaneys turn up with their henchmen on the night of the scam, Melissa and Liam are startled to discover that it will involve a painting by one of their best artists. Can Liam make sure the gallery doesn’t get too seriously involved and keep the Delaneys satisfied, in the only way he knows how, at the same time?
Review:
Loved-up receptionist Liam and those sexy bad boys, the delectable Delaney twins, are back in The Art of the Delaneys.This time around, Liam has a plan to establish himself as something more than a casual sex toy for Mark and Johnny’s entertainment, regardless of what measures he has to take to make it happen.
The Delaneys are mobsters who deal in drugs, threats, and whatever else catches their attention, including art forgery, it seems, when Liam and his boss Melissa become willing accomplices in the boys’ plan to sell a counterfeit painting by one of the gallery’s most popular artists. It’s a scam in which Liam places his hope that his cooperation will ingratiate him to Mark and Johnny. Liam wants a more permanent and secure arrangement with the men, and in spite of their dominance over him, he’s determined to pursue his goal by proving his loyalty. Plus, a little topping from the bottom might work to his advantage too; with a man like Mark, however, that might be risky business. But Liam will do anything for the sake of the love of his twin Masters.
Will Liam be dating the Delaneys from here on out? That remains to be seen in the next installment of this funny, erotic and sensual series, and I’m looking forward to seeing what Anne Brooke has in store next for these lovely, lovely boys.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Brady’s Choice by Anne Brooke
01 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
in Anne Brooke Tags: Anne Brooke
Brady’s Choice
by Anne Brooke
Amber Quill Press
29 Pages
POV: First Person Narrative
Characters: Brady, Phillip, Tim
Setting: contemporary
Genre: Gay Fiction
5+ KISSES
Blurb:
Thirty-six-year-old potter Brady Treherne is shocked to come face-to-face with his ex-lover, Philip, during what appears to be a simple job interview. Philip was both the love of Brady’s life and the man who got away, and seeing him now catapults Brady into revisiting memories he’d hoped he’d left behind.
Later that evening, Philip calls on Brady at home, and Brady finds himself having to make a choice between the man he used to love, and the new relationship he has just begun with another man.
Which man will Brady choose? And will he be able to reconcile his past with his future?
Review:
Brady is thirty-six years old, and he’s been single for the past five years. He was in a very serious relationship with a man named Philip, and the breakup was devastating to him. Finally, Brady does begin to date again, but he does so with trepidation. He’s begun to see Tim, and he’s taking things very slowly. They have not yet been intimate.
Brady works as a potter. He began making pottery when he was with Philip, and in the beginning Philip was his muse. He has a line of pottery, in fact, which he had named after his then partner. In the early stages of the relationship with Philip, Brady had been pursuing a career in finance. He was taking classes, working on a degree. Eventually he realized his career ambitions were off track when he found his true passion.
Now Brady has an interview. He is trying to land a job making pottery, and he’s quite hopeful that with his skill and experience he will be offered the contract. When he arrives at the interview, however, he discovers that one of the interviewers is Philip.
When Brady leaves the interview and heads for home, he is overwhelmed with memories. He recalls in vivid detail the early years with Philip, and remembers how blissful that time was for both of them. This nostalgia sweeps over him, and he feels a sense of melancholy. He feels sadness and regret and wonders about what could have been. He also recalls how it all had declined, and the bitter way things had ended. He remembers his former partner’s infidelity and how terribly it had hurt him.
Most significantly, Brady remembers how heartbroken he was, how he’d lowered himself to begging. He offered a compromise, suggesting the possibility of an open relationship. He was willing to do anything to hold onto what he had with Philip. He was willing to take any measure to reclaim the happiness they had originally had. He was terrified of losing the sense of security he’d grown accustomed to.
Brady receives a phone call from Tim, checking on the interview, and Brady is honest, telling his new love interest of how he’d been revisited by a ghost from his past. Tim knows that Brady has not fully recovered, even after five years, and Tim is supportive and patient. Tim offers to come over, but Brady tells him he needs to be alone.
Moments later, Philip arrives and Brady is confronted with an excruciating decision. Does he allow himself to return to the arms of his former lover? Does he try again with Philip? Will physical intimacy with his ex finally bring him the closure he needs, or will it merely make things worse? And how will his decision impact his blossoming relationship with Tim?
As a reader who has been in a long term relationship which ended, this short story resonated with me. My heart went out to Brady as I related to the manner in which those emotional waves swept over him. Nostalgia is a very powerful thing. It is so easy to allow the fond memories to overshadow the reality of why the relationship actually ended.
I think the reason this short story is so powerful is because it causes the reader to ask questions about him/herself. Questions like: What if? What if I had that opportunity? What if I had to make a choice like Brady did? Would I try again and hope that history would not repeat itself? Would I convince myself that I’d matured and learned life lessons, and that I would not make the same mistakes the second time around? Would I simply have sex with my ex merely because it was familiar, and it was something I had once so deeply cherished?
Or would I look to the future? Would my rational mind overrule my emotions? Would I have the courage and willpower to say no… and to move forward as a better and stronger person?
Those were the questions Brady’s Choice raised in my mind, and quite possibly you too can relate to this scenario. Regardless, it is a very powerful and thought-provoking piece, perhaps one of the best I’ve read of “the one that got away” theme. Anne Brooke did it again… she wowed me!
Review by Jeff
