Author Interveiws

LOVE AT THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN: Author Interviews

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Spring 18 Digital

LOVE AT THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN
A YA Romance Anthology
From Stars and Stone Books

It’s never easy to go through the fraught transition into adulthood, but the teens in this anthology have more to deal with than most: super powers, magic, illness, prejudice against sexual orientation and gender identity, and even death. Fortunately, they all find love at the edge of seventeen.

Featuring: M.T. DeSantis, A.E. Hayes, Serena Jayne, Cara McKinnon, Mary Rogers, and Kylie Weisenborn.

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Kindle | iBooks | Nook | Kobo | Google Play

For this stop on our blog tour, we asked our authors to interview their characters! This is part two of two.

A.E. Hayes, “Her First Fever”

What do you want to be when you “grow up?”

Madeline: My path is pretty clear—get into an amazing college to study medicine, graduate with honors, and become a doctor. Nothing can stand in the way of those goals.
Johnny: She’s more—driven than I am. But good for her.
Madeline: Johnny, you have other things to focus on.
Johnny: Fair point. Get back to me on this question in about five years. Though as for when I’ll “grow up?” Get back to me in ten years regarding that.

What do you like best about your partner(s), physically, and why?

Madeline: I’m not really one who focused on aesthetics, to be honest with you. But Johnny is cute in this natural, I-don’t-have-to-try way. And he can be vulnerable, which I like.
Johnny: I’m not vulnerable! Geez. Thanks for making me sound like a puppy or something.
Madeline: You’re welcome. 😉
Johnny: ANYWAY, Madeline is incredibly hot… I mean, beautiful. She doesn’t like “hot.” I understand. But to me, she is. It’s not just her eyes, and her hair, and her body… it’s not like that. She’s just a gorgeous human being. I’m pretty damn lucky she tolerates me.

What drives you crazy about your partners(s), and why?

Johnny: She’s stubborn. I get the first word on this.
Madeline: And you’re an arrogant jackass.
Johnny: You know you’re changing your mind on that.
Madeline: I love you, but no.
Johnny: See? Stubborn!

Do you love high school or hate it? Why?

Madeline: It’s just means to an end. I can’t wait for college.
Johnny: Same. I don’t know about college, but high school is just—passing time. I’m learning more through experiences, and sometimes, what happens in the real world teaches us more.

What’s next for you and your partner(s)?

Madeline: We’re taking it slowly. For Johnny’s sake and for my goals, slow and steady is the way to go.
Johnny: I know better than to argue this point. Slow is fine. It’s better for my long-term health, too. Madeline is right.
Madeline: Say that again.
Johnny: Hell no.
Madeline: Can’t blame a girl for trying, can you?

Spring 18 Book Promo 3

Cara McKinnon, “Three Jagged Pieces”

What do you want to be when you “grow up?”

SAM: I have no idea. I’m enjoying wrestling, but I don’t think I’ll go pro, and definitely not WWE-style. I’m not a good enough actor for that. I really enjoyed my college-level chemistry classes this year, so maybe something in that area.
NOAH: I want to do something with music. I would love for our band, Panphilia, to be super successful, and I’d like to write a musical and maybe score movies or video games.
SAM: Obviously I also want our band to be successful! If we can make a living with our music, that would be awesome.
AVA: I’m all for the band doing well, too, but I’d also like to be involved in sociological work. I’m interested in studying intersectionality, bias, and prejudice. I’ll probably end up working for a non-profit or as a professor.

What do you like best about your partner(s) physically, and why?

NOAH: I think what I like the most are the parts that they might like the least. I love how soft Ava is, especially when we’re cuddling. I like how Sam is slim, but strong. I know he wishes he were more built, but I am a fan of tall and lean.
SAM: I second loving Ava’s curves. They’re super sexy, and she should know that from how much time I spend touching them. I adore Noah’s hair, which he hates. He says it’s too fluffy and curly, but I love it. Of course, he’s also solid muscle, which is also a turn-on.
AVA: Sam and Noah are both beautiful to me. But I have to say I like that I don’t have to stretch so far to kiss Noah. But then, I also like how comforting it is to be wrapped in Sam’s arms, and part of that is because he’s so tall. There are pluses and minuses on both sides.

What drives you crazy about your partners(s), and why?

AVA: Noah snores. Like, a lot.
SAM: I don’t think that’s what they mean.
NOAH: I don’t snore!
SAM: Well, you kinda do. But it’s adorable.
AVA: It really is, which is why it drives me crazy.
NOAH: What drives me crazy is when they gang up on me.
SAM: Hey, you two gang up on me sometimes, too.
AVA: You two do it to me, too. So it’s a mutual method of driving-each-other-crazy.

Do you love high school or hate it? Why?

SAM: The school part was fine, but I couldn’t wait to get out of that town and away from my parents.
AVA: School was OK for me. I never really stood out in a major way, positive or negative. I went, and I hung out with my friends, and that was it. I did like my classes, and singing, so that was nice.
NOAH: I was bullied a lot for being trans, so I wasn’t a huge fan. But it was an easy way to see my friends and the people I love every day, so it had that going for it. And the fact that most of my senior year was independent study in various musical disciplines was nice.

What’s next for you and your partner(s)?

SAM: As we said before, we’re all in a band called Panphilia, and we just put out our first music video with Ava on keyboards and vocals. Making the video was very stressful, but it’s been getting some good reviews and steady traffic on YouTube and Vimeo, so that’s positive.
NOAH: We have an apartment that we share with several other friends now, and though Sam and Ava will still be in dorms on-campus during the semester, this is a good place for us all to come and be together on weekends and breaks. It helps with the long-distance aspects of our relationship.
AVA: Finishing college and finding work in the same place, geographically, is the biggest thing in our immediate future. In my field, I’ll probably go right into a master’s program after undergrad, and I’m going to try to stay close by. We don’t want to be apart any longer than we have to.
NOAH: Whatever comes next, we’ll be up for the challenge together.
SAM: Damned straight.
AVA: Absolutely.

Spring 18 Book Promo 2

★ STARS AND STONE BOOKS ★ GOODREADS ★ FACEBOOK RELEASE PARTY ★ TWITTER ★ ANTHOLOGY WEBSITE ★

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The Scarf

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Owned by the Alpha: Manlove was a best-seller on Amazon in the LGBT Anthology Category.

Get it here from Evernight

Or here from Amazon

My story in Owned by the Alpha is “The Scarf”

When a teenage lioness covered in bites and blood shows up outside his office, Tru, a lone wolf and police consultant, investigates her claims that a wolf pack is sexually assaulting other shifters in Down City. Tru starts with a scarf, used to bandage the lioness’ wounds, and becomes obsessed with the scent of a fox he doesn’t know, can’t trust, but badly needs.

Selection from “The Scarf”

“Do we have the alpha?”
“No. But the lioness says he’s all over Down-City.” Uzegar reaches into his coat to bring out an evidence bag. “Had to wrestle this from her.”
“What is it?” Something sky-blue and blood-brown is inside the plastic.
“Scarf. She got help on her way out. Won’t tell us about it, but…” Uzegar scans his report. “Figure it’s a place to start.”
Joyce’s blood soaks one end of the scarf. Otherwise it’s soft and clean as I bring it to my nose and sniff. That may be the last sane thought I’ll ever have.
The scent strangles me with longing.
Fox. Cedar-rose cologne. Touch of magic. Notes of wine. Clean, deeply arousing fragrance. Not that I have a thing for foxes. Not that I would think twice about cedar-rose cologne—applied sparingly, just enough to mask the animal musk for humans—if I passed a shifter wearing it in the street. Except, if I passed this fox in the street, I’d have to haul him into the nearest dark place and fuck the shit out of him.
Uzegar doesn’t notice. “You done?”
“No.” I breathe deep at the scarf. I’m not giving this back. I need this smell. Need to hold it in my lungs until I can hold that fox. “It’s, uh, faint and … important. I need to keep the scarf.”
Uzegar shrugs. “There’s a history of wolf attacks below Tenth Street.”
I don’t care about wolf attacks. The lioness, her blood, and desperation, are a distant memory. My world has turned into the scent of a fox. He wore this scarf often. Days of his life are imprinted in the slippery silk.
Uzegar is still talking. What about?
“…sniff around Down-City. See if there’s anything to her story.”
My fox is effeminate, the type of man who wears women’s scarves. He needs my protection. Maybe he’s scared … alone. He’ll catch my scent. He’ll want me. He’ll trust me.
“Tru, you listening?”
“Uh…” My head swims and my eyes hurt from too much light. My cock throbs and I’m in awe Uzegar can’t hear my heart banging.
His eyes narrow. “You mad or something?”
Mad? Sure. Stark-raving mad. Wild-animal-who-shouldn’t-live-in-a-city mad. “No, I hear ya. I just need…”
To find and fuck this fox. Right now.

Reveiws from Goodreads:

“Wonderful fantasy world building. Great relationship development. Sex was hot and sensual.”

“The story by Longo was so original – it had the feel of an old Sam Spade crossed with a western with just a dash of steampunk or Mad Max. That’s not the story at all, just the feeling it evoked in me. Dimi and Truman are great characters and work to understand each other in the dangerous and precarious world they live in. I enjoyed witnessing their beginning.”

Whatsits

Support the Arts

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If you like post-apocalyptic stories, want to save the environment, and are looking for meaningful work of art to support, please support our kickstarter running to Dec. 15th.

The Promised Lane is an original work, that premiered at Stockton University in 2015, first as a reading in the spring and then a full production that fall. It is about the world after climate change has rendered society apart. It takes the structure of the Farmer, his wife, daughter and traveling salesman, uses a scientific foundation, with religious language set around a life or death drama.

We have done everything in our power to make this piece a success. We are now at the point though where we are attempting to raise funds to make this happen. Funding on Kickstarter is all-or-nothing and we are so close to reaching our goal:

Click here for the project!

Don’t fear, we’re doing this PBS style, and I would never, ever, do this kind of pledge drive without offering a PBS style gift (there is such a thing as a tradition after all). The Tiers are below. There are so many good causes out there, especially now, to choose from.

Tier One: Up to 60 dollars. Contributor receives a personalized thank you card. Also, you are given access to our registration week, a week that allows them time to buy a ticket before it is open to the public.

Tier Two: 60-119 dollars One free ticket. Access to the registration week. And a signed playbill. If you are unable to make the show, you will receive one of five professional illustrations.

Tier Three: 120-180 One free ticket. Access to the registration week and one of five professional Illustrations. If you are unable to make the show, you will receive a working script.
Tier Four: 181-240 Your name announced the day of your arrival in the house managers speech. A working copy of the script. A signed meet/greet photo with the cast and crew.

Tier Five: 241-300: Your name with a thank you is put into the Program. Abraham sends you a novelty judgment card. You are also put into a limited pool of our internet auction where you can bid on props, set and costume pieces from the show.
Tier Six: 301-500 One of three options
1: “Patrons Night” (This requires a minimum of 10 to go and a maximum of 40). A limited engagement performance is put on. This finishes with a talkback, including an expert in climate sciences and a small celebration with cast and crew.
2: “Scrap-book” A detailed leather-bound photo and hand-drawn guide that shows how the production went from concept to execution. Will include changed pages from earlier drafts of the script, a few rehearsal logs (especially when something funny happens), notes from the actors and designers, finalizing in the professional photos taken during the show nights.
3: “Abbey Program” A program that includes not only the director’s notes, actors, and their name but also a complete professional quality copy of the script. Inscribed with a personal thank you from the director and cast. All three of these also include a DVD of the production.

Writing Advice

Three Weeks into Nano and I want to die.

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I gotta say, The Writing Workshop Notebook by Alan Ziegler is the best craft book I’ve come across. I love the format which is literally notes and the pithy quotes. I read it all in one day and then started it again the next day. I wish they had it on audio.

In particular I loved this quote:

It bites
Terrible Advice for NanoWrimo

I’m gonna hang this poster at my desk, not just because I love the image of a helpless little girl about to be eaten by a monster, or because I have an unhealthy fixation on wolves and witches, but because Little Red Ridinghood ends with her defeating the beast that consumed her. Yes, she had to be saved the first time, but once she learned how to fight wolves, she was able to go on her way safely and merrily.

And that’s how it is with novels.

Most of the writers I’ve worked with have at one time or another been overwhelmed by the bigness of the task. Writing an entire novel, keeping it all organized and coherent seems overwhelming, and many people give up. In my experience, it happens when they are about three-fourths of the way done.

When they’ve been swallowed. By the doubt, or by poor planning, or by existential ennui, or by life. By the fact that the ending seems so far away and unapproachable. Or the beginning looks like such a mess and its impossible to wade through it and find something that will hook an audience and tie to the end and introduce the entire world and all the characters at once.

Every problem gets bigger and bigger and seems harder and harder to solve.

And that’s the time to take that step back, to permit yourself to leave that particular monster alone for a bit. Maybe beat the crap out of a short story. Or a novella. Or a poem, which I’m told are wicked little brutes on their own.

The most important thing is to come back to that fight when it’s fair again. When you’re prepared to tackle the material and wrestle it into submission. When you can look at it with fresh eyes. When being left alone has made the monster a little smaller and more willing to be tamed.

When I first read this, Ziegler’s quote just slapped me silly. I’ve been periodically fighting with and backing off from my thesis novel since I started writing it in 2015. And since I’m the type who feels guilty writing another project, like I’m cheating on my novel, I’ve been frantic every time I’ve taken a break to work on something else. I’ve worried it will make Finding Lost Sound disjointed or that I’ll lose the characters because I’ve left them alone. But when I look back, I think about how renewed I was coming back to Finding Lost Sound. Everything falls a little more into place after each absence. I’m beginning to think I was drowning under the sheer mass of my epic fantasy sci-fi romance and the novellas I’ve been releasing through Evernight were the little sips of air that have let me swim with the thing as long as I have.

 

Behind the Scenes, Whatsits

The Promised Land: Make it a Reality.

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No, I’m not having a come-to-Jesus moment. The Promised Land is a post-apocalyptic play about climate change, terrifying family dynamics, and dictator/farmers.

This play, written and directed by my husband, is Dunvegan Production’s first show and we’re trying to bring it to audiences in New York City. If we raise enough money on Kickstarter, we’ll be able to perform the play in an Off-Broadway theatre. We have a script (which is a gift if you donate), we have a cast (which you can’t have even if you donate), and big plans for The Promised Land.

Here’s the pitch!

 

If you can help us out with a dollar or with a share, we’d appreciate it.

For cast interviews, photos, and other suchness, Like Dunvegans’ facebook.

To learn more about the kickstarter and to donate, Click here.

 

Author Interveiws, Behind the Scenes

Katherine Wyvern’s LGBT tales series features… me!

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Fellow Evernight Author and erotic rambler, Kathertin Wyvern was kind enough to let me talk about my first two novels and how my sexual fantasies were forever changed by watching “Miller’s Crossing.”

I realized what I wanted most was not graphic descriptions of the great sex I was not having as a teenager (though I wanted that in spades), but the wholeness of the gay character. In the Cohen Brothers’ film, the love triangle between three men is integral to the plot, yet they stand out not as gays who happened to be gangsters, but as gangsters who happened to be gay. They are sexual characters defined by things outside their sexuality.
I started writing those stories.

 

Click the picture for the full interview!

 

Visit my Website for all the blurbs, excerpts and news!!

 

Behind the Scenes

Cover Reveal

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Lawless-Antho-MM_evernightpublishing-Sept2017-smallpreview

There it is! The future home of Sunshine and Snakes. I’m in such good company. As always I’m more excited to have this book in my hands so I can read the other stories!

No release date yet. But I’m thinking it will be out by Christmas.

 

Blurb

Meet the hardcore heroes of LAWLESS! They’re fearless, dangerous, big on revenge, and defiantly walk on the wrong side of the law. Although their morals may be compromised, their loyalty to that one man is never in question. 

 

Our five hand-picked novellas are dark, dirty, and will make you see bad boys in a whole new light. From bikers to hitmen, these dangerous men won’t be satisfied until they have everything they came for—until they have him. 

Behind the Scenes, Writing Advice

Sunshine and Snakes: The End

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This session of “wasting my writing time writing about writing” ought to be backdated.

I finished Draft 2.3 let’s call it, by the deadline and wrote up my synopsis. I was feeling rushed and unhappy about it, but I’d just re-written 15 thousand words in three days, so I wasn’t not going to submit. Though given the unpolished state of the synopsis and the general lack of cooling time for the project I would expect a rejection.

But, praise the Smiling God, the deadline was extended to the 15th.

This brought much joy to El Longo. I plan on combing through it after another couple of days and performing my revisions ritual, more on that on the day. But this extension gives me time to reflect a little more on Sunshine and Snakes and to talk about what changes happened between the first draft and this 2.3 business.

But first! Eye Candy!

Riccardo-Scamarcio This guy is Riccardo Scamarcio, an Italian model and actor. I honestly have no idea who he is; I found his name while I was looking up how to spell Riccardo and spent the next couple of hours just looking at Those Eyes.

He very quickly became my image, not for Rico, but for Burgess because…

Riccardo-Scamarcio2

Oh My God, Italians are so delicious.

However, this is the image that’s been living on my desktop and getting me dirty looks from people in Starbucks.

tumbler

I have no idea who this is. I googled ‘Sexy Latino with an Attitude Problem’ and I got this dream.

I wanted Rico to have a quiet intensity; he’s the kind of guy who literally sits in bus stops and thinks about different ways to murder the people around him and get away with it. It’s kinda of his job.

But I also loved how defiant this guy is. He’s probably not big enough to win a fight, especially if he’s pulling punches because he doesn’t want to get caught killing anyone, but he’s going to try. Really though he just wants you to back off. Yeah, you with the camera, fuck off.

Possibly because I set this picture as my desktop and not the reclining beauty above, Draft 2.3 took a turn I didn’t expect. As I was writing through 2, with Sexy Glare in the corner of the screen, I realized I didn’t have room in the word count for two POVs and I knew I could write faster in first person. So right in the middle of the draft, in the middle of a Burgess POV scene in fact, I restarted the project with this:

     The things I know for sure about Bruiser Accorsi couldn’t fill a Chihuahua’s nutsack.
I know his real name is Burgess. He says it’s his mother’s maiden name. He goes conversationally by Bur, sometimes Burg if you go way back.
I know the Accorsi’s are the biggest family in the ‘adult entertainment industry.’ He says they don’t do human trafficking, though he’s quick to say that’s a financial decision not a moral one. Most of the Accorsi prostitutes are for high-end clients.
I know he’s an amateur body-builder. I know his thick black hair is soft not greasy. I know his eyes are the color of sun-shot grapevines.
But I also I know he’s worth 60 thousand dollars dead.
And I can get close enough to kill him.

The next 15k words came fairly easily. There’s old scenes re-filtered through Rico’s POV. So for example this:

     Later on, after light’s out, Bur climbed into his cell-mate’s bed. Rick pressed himself tight against the wall, but that was the most resistance he ever gave. His muscles tightened when Bur reached under his shirt to stroke his chest and he practically vibrated when Bur nibbled his ear. Bur ran his hands through Rick’s neatly trimmed hair, pulling his head back and exposing his neck to little kisses. He smelled like wintergreen gum and he shivered. Bur hoped with arousal.
Rick tolerated the caresses, the kisses, and the slow grind of Bur’s cock, but he grabbed Bur’s arm when he reached into the front of his pants. “You’re not supposed to do that.”
“I do what I want,” Bur said softly and Rick’s hold weakened.
Bur stroked the slick curls at the base of his cell-mate’s cock. He wasn’t doing what he wanted. He wanted dinner dates in nice places and lounging on the couch watching stupid shows. He wanted easy conversation, thoughtless kisses, a lover who didn’t tense up under his touch.
He circled his fingers around Rick’s cock, found him hard. He’d settle for that.

Became this:

     The fantasy came back, unasked for that night when Bur climbed into my bed. Like always, I pressed tight against the wall partly to give him room, but also to make it like I didn’t want him to touch me.
He always touched me.
Every muscle in my body tightened when he reached under my shirt and stroked my chest. I practically vibrated with lust for him when he kissed my exposed neck and ran his hands through my buzzed hair. He smelled like my wintergreen gum tonight and my desire for him quickly moved past the point of toleration.
And still he caressed, kissed, slowly ground his cock against my ass through our clothes. My dick pressed against the cell wall and when he pumped slowly forward it rubbed against the flat surface and offered me a little relief.
Bur reached down into my the front of my pants, sliding his fingers below my abdomen towards the base of my erect cock.
I grabbed his arm and pushed back. “You’re not supposed to do that.”
“I do what I want,” Bur growled and since he was stronger than me, his hand crept forward. He stroked the curls at the base of my cock, maybe afraid of touching it at first. It’s not like he’d tried to jerk another guy off before. Then he circled his fingers around my cock.”
“Jesus Christ, you always get this turned on?”
I did. But I’d go to Hell before I admitted that.

That’s how I always take the advice to ‘kill your darlings.’ I really like Bruiser’s sensitivity in that first one. How concerned he is about Rick’s reactions (he learns at the end of the scene it’s Rico, not Rick) and how he dreams of having a normal boyfriend situation with Rico.

There’s no way to have Rico know about Bruiser’s internal monologue, so I have to rely more on physical gestures to convey Bur’s insecurities and desire for consent and I had to let go of that lovely moment where a convict assaulting his cellmate is dreaming about dating him instead.

Anyways, I got a couple more days with this thanks to that extension and I’m going to go make the most of them!

Embrace adventure, magic, romance, and the power of escapism.