Today, I’m at You Gotta Read Reviews. If you’d like to read the interview, click here. During the interview I discuss what I wanted to be as a child and also share a blurb of my upcoming March/April release with Dreamspinner. As always, if you leave a comment, you are entered to win a free electronic copy of 3.
Mama Kitty Reviews is my third stop on my blog tour. I talk about my love of horror, authors who inspire me, and my top comfort reads. Click here if you’d like to read the interview, and don’t forget, if you leave a comment, you are automatically entered to win a free copy of 3.
Literary Nymphs is my second stop on my blog tour. I discuss my two favorite careers as well as share an excerpt from 3. You can read it all by clicking here. Don’t forget: if you leave a comment, you’re entered to win a free electronic copy of 3.
Today kicks off the first stop of my 7-day blog tour! I had a blast answering Annette’s questions at RomFan Reviews. Click here to read what I do to get ready to write and what my warning label and the title of my biography would be.
If you leave a comment at RomFan Reviews, you will be entered to win a free electronic copy of 3.
Thanks to Annette Stone and the Author’s Assistant Agency, I will be going on a blog tour to promote 3.
The tour starts tomorrow, and those who comment at the various blogs are entered to win a free electronic copy of 3. The winner won’t be picked until the end of the blog tour, so if you leave a comment at each of the stops, you have 7 chances to win a free copy!
Here are my blog tour stops and dates:
10/23 RomFan Reviews www.romfanreviews.com
10/25 Literary Nymphs http://literarynymphshotlist.
10/26 Mamma Kitty http://mamakittyreviews.com/
10/29 You Gotta Read Reviews http://yougottaread.com/
11/1 Romance Reviews Today http://www.romrevtoday.com/
11/5 Mantastic http://mantasticfiction.
11/9 Book Wenches http://www.bookwenches.com/
My gracious fellow author, Lou Sylvre, author of Loving Luki Vasquez and Delsyn’s Blues, interviewed me on my new novel 3 and my upcoming release tentatively titled The Gifted One.
Click here to read the interview.
I’ve posted a guest blog on the website of the wonderful and generous J.p. Barnaby. She allowed me to talk about the origin of my new novel 3 and the lesson I learned from the book. If you’re interested on how this novel came about, hop on over and take a look.
J.p. Barnaby–The Uncommon Trio: http://www.jpbarnaby.com/?p=906
The following excerpt from 3 details an important moment in the book–the moment two of the three main characters meet.
I hope you enjoy!
Excerpt:
“I think someone’s growing chicken wings,” Xavier said, clucking like a chicken.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Justin asked as his mind once again returned to the present. The DJ was spinning the latest mix of “We Like to Party” by the Vengaboys, and the gays were tearing it up on the dance floor. “And I’m no chicken.”
“Then go pick him up.”
“Pick who up?” Justin asked, aggravated. “Are you blind to how many people are here?”
Xavier laughed and took another gulp of his beer. “I’ll give you one minute to do it before I go get him and bring him to you. Which, as you know, is a penalty, punishable by—”
“Two tequila shots, I know,” Justin said, cutting him off. “Will you just point him out to me? And be more specific than ‘walking through the door’.”
“He’s the Mexican leaning against the wall on the right.”
“Really?” Justin asked. “Mexican is being specific? We live in San An-fucking-tonio!”
Xavier laughed like a fifth grader at recess, something he did whenever he teased Justin, which meant he heard the snicker on a daily basis. “He’s wearing a black muscle shirt and acid-wash jeans. Thick black hair. He’s also wearing a puka shell necklace that all the fags are wearing these days.”
Justin scanned the crowd and saw him, leaning against the far wall with a pink Cape Cod in his hand. He was muscular and rugged, and way out of Justin’s league. Well-sculpted arms and shoulders framed the black shirt. Even at a relaxed stance, his biceps and triceps were clearly defined. Justin hated him for that. He had been working on his arms for months and had yet to develop such muscle tone.
The muscle shirt also clung to his body as if the fabric was wet, and it revealed an absence of love handles on his tightly packed form. Small, perky nipples poked out from the cloth, and the shirt’s fabric ended about an inch before the jeans began. A treasure trail of hair started at his navel and disappeared beneath the waistband of the jeans. Just below the waistband was a package ready to be delivered.
“Do you see Puka Shell Boy?” Xavier asked.
“Yup,” was all Justin could say.
“Then go get him.”
Justin swallowed hard. This wasn’t going to end well. The image of a B-52 going down in flames flashed before him.
Then he noticed Puka Shell Boy’s friend.
His friend was a few inches taller than both Puka Shell Boy and Justin. If he had to guess, he would put him at almost six feet tall. Sandy-blond hair lay perfectly manicured and parted to the left. Longer strands of hair curled inward at his cheekbones and lightly kissed the most unbelievable alabaster skin Justin had ever seen. His skin looked smoother than silk, as if a sculptor had spent hours chiseling the precious stone into perfection. Draping his skin was a green short-sleeve button-down, neatly tucked into his dark-blue denim jeans. The shirt was fitted but not painted on him like Puka Shell Boy. His lean body resembled a dedicated runner and was neither waifish nor frail.
Then Justin noticed his eyes. Dark-green tinted eyes decorated his features, magically cutting through the dimly lit bar and outshining the sparkling disco ball. They weren’t a green he had seen before. He had seen light green and even olive green eyes, but these eyes looked to be made of jade. They were a deeper, richer green hue than he had ever seen before in his life. They looked exotic and expensive, found only in jewelry from a faraway Asian country like China or Japan.
They were breathtaking. Justin didn’t understand how people were walking by him and not staring into those eyes. He could stare at them for the rest of the night.
“What’s the matter with you?” Xavier asked. “You’re standing there with your mouth open like a fucking retard.”
“He’s so beautiful.”
“No shit!” Xavier exclaimed. “Think of him as my New Year’s present to you. You just have to close the deal.” Xavier put his arm around Justin’s neck, Xavier’s sign of friendship and love. “By the end of the night, Puka Shell Boy will be on his back looking up at you, or you know, looking down at you on your back.” Xavier then pushed Justin forward. “Now, hurry up. It’s almost midnight.”
Justin didn’t know what came over him. All it took was a simple shove, and he was crossing the room toward the stranger with the perfect skin and the amazing green eyes. He felt drawn to him, as if he were caught in an unbreakable gravitational field.
Puka Shell Boy noticed Justin coming first. He elbowed his green-eyed friend and flashed a disinterested grin, most likely thinking Justin was coming to talk to him. He wasn’t. Puka Shell Boy no longer existed in his world.
As he approached, the crowds around him got louder. Apparently, the stroke of midnight was approaching. Someone was speaking on a microphone, most likely the drag queen hostess for the night’s festivities, but he couldn’t make out what she was saying. All he could see were the green eyes and the white skin pulling at him like the moon pulls on the ocean.
“Ten, nine, eight…”
Closer still he drew, passing by couples with their arms around each other, preparing for their New Year’s kiss.
“… seven, six, five, four…”
Six feet from the most beautiful man he had ever seen, Justin found he was holding his breath. He had to remind himself to breathe for fear that he would pass out only a few feet away from his intended. Up close, his eyes were more radiant than from across the room. Flecks of gold glinted within the green irises.
“… three, two…”
Then he was standing before him. Puka Shell Boy leaned next to his friend, amazed that he wasn’t the object of Justin’s attention. He whispered something in his friend’s ear, but his friend wasn’t paying attention. He, too, was staring straight at Justin.
“… one ….”
Justin reached up and put his left hand around the green-eyed beauty’s neck. Pulling his head toward him, Justin crossed the remainder of the distance.
Their lips met, and the world suddenly came crashing back to life. Noisemakers exploded throughout the club. People were yelling “Happy New Year,” and confetti and glitter were tossed about. The DJ began playing “Auld Lang Syne.”
Through the noise, the revelry, and the singing, the two never stopped kissing. Their tongues jostled in each other’s mouths as they each inhaled the other’s hot passionate breaths.
Never had Justin been more excited about a new year.
I can’t believe that the release of my first book from Dreamspinner Press is less than a week a way. The word “excited” just doesn’t adequately define how I feel.
I’ve created a book trailer for 3 that I wanted to share with everyone. I hope you enjoy it!
Today, I’ll be concluding my three-part interview series with characters from 3, which releases October 15, 2012, from Dreamspinner Press. I interviewed Justin Jimenez and Spencer Harrison in Parts 1 and 2 of the series. Those interviews can be found here and here.
Joining me today is struggling photographer Dutch Keller.
Dutch, I’m glad you were able to make it to the interview today.
Dutch: Thanks, buddy. I appreciated being asked, but then I read the interviews you did with Justin and Spencer, and I thought about canceling.
Really? I thought the interviews went rather well.
Dutch: Oh, they did. You just asked some pretty tough questions. You have me kinda worried about what you’re gonna ask me.
Good. I was concerned I offended either Justin or Spencer.
Dutch: (laughing) Not at all. They’re big boys, although not as big as me (winks).
Why do I get the feeling you’re a bit of a flirt?
Dutch: I guess I kinda am, but it’s all in good fun.
Does that get you in trouble? Being such a big flirt?
Dutch: Hmmm, I’ve never really thought about it. I’m not much of a thinker. I’m not saying I’m stupid or anything, but I act mostly on impulse, with what feels good or right to me, whether it is or not. So, yeah, I guess it can get me in trouble. I’m a lot like Yosemite Sam in that way, at least that’s what my dad used to say.
Yosemite Sam? The angry little guy from Bugs Bunny with the red hair and a mustache?
Dutch: That’s the one.
Would you mind elaborating on that, please?
Dutch: Well, you remember how stubborn Yosemite Sam was? If he wanted to do something or go somewhere, he kept on trying to do it. No matter what Bugs did to stop him. That’s kind of the way I live. I charge through life with both barrels ready. Life’s short after all, so I try not to waste time weighing pros and cons on whether I should or shouldn’t do something. If I want to, I usually just do it. If not, then I don’t.
If I remember correctly, Yosemite Sam also possessed a pretty hot temper. Are you similar in that way too?
Dutch: Not really. I’m an easy going guy. I’m not quick to anger or anything like Sam was, but if someone’s intent on poking this bear, they better be prepared to deal with the consequences. Just because I may not want to fight doesn’t mean I won’t.
You mentioned earlier that your dad compared you to Yosemite Sam, and I couldn’t help but see the smile in your eyes when you mentioned him. Were you two close?
Dutch: Oh, man, my dad was my best friend. I could always count on him to be there for me. As a kid, we always hung out together, just tossing the football or eating pizza. Those were good times. He also had no trouble showing me affection. Most dads are kinda distant with their sons. To try and teach them how to be a man, I guess. But not my dad, and I’m a better man for it. If I needed a hug, I got it, and he just knew I needed it. When I told him I was gay, I was worried how my big, man’s man dad would react, but he didn’t care. Didn’t miss one beat. He just nodded his head and laughed, saying how he should’ve bought me a Playgirl instead of a Playboy. He was my rock, you know? When he died, it was hard on us all.
He sounds like a great man, and it’s easy to see that his death still affects you deeply. What about the rest of your family? Are you all close?
Dutch: Yeah, we are. My mom recently passed away too, so it’s just me and my sister Heidi and my crazy niece and nephew. But they’re still living in Boston, and I’m here in San Antonio. It’s tough being so far away from my family, but Heidi and I talk at least twice a week, if not more.
It’s very obvious that your family dynamics differ greatly from Justin and Spencer’s. Spencer barely speaks to his family, and Justin hasn’t spoken to his father in years. But you seem to come from a loving family, who knew exactly how to show love and to remain together.
Dutch: Yeah. Justin and Spencer both had pretty tough childhoods. I feel for them sometimes.
Okay then, here’s my first tough question. You ready?
Dutch: Do I have a choice?
Not really. You come from such a loving family, with two parents who obviously loved each other and provided a good role model for a loving relationship, yet your love life is a veritable disaster. You became involved with Justin, who was for all intents and purposes a married man. How does someone who comes from such a functioning household fall into such dysfunctional relationships?
Dutch: Ouch.
I meant no offense, but you have to admit it’s a valid question.
Dutch: It is, but ouch all the same. I don’t know if I have an answer that’ll satisfy you, or anyone else. It’s true that I’ve gotten into some pretty bad relationships, and Justin wasn’t the first. Well, he’s the first “married” man, as you would say, that I’ve become involved with, but I approach my love life the same way I do everything else. Like Yosemite Sam. I wasn’t thinking about consequences or anything else. It just felt right, and I went with it. I don’t want anyone to think I intentionally set out to hurt anyone because that’s so far from the truth. I know that people did get hurt, and that’s part of what the book is about. Dealing with that guilt and what the consequences of my actions helped do to Justin and Spencer’s relationship. As well as to me.
I assume you’re referring to the fact that you “sought solace in a bottle” as the book’s blurb mentions?
Dutch: Yeah. Now that was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, and I paid the price for that too, but I won’t go into too much detail because that’ll be revealing more than I’m supposed to.
I understand. As the final question, the book blurb also mentions that “friendship, passion, and betrayal” are key components to the journey you, Justin, and Spencer undertake. With such a complicated dynamic already, can there really be friendship amidst the passion and betrayal that causes such heartache?
Dutch: Wow. Let me see if I can answer that without once again giving too much away. The three of us made some pretty big mistakes, individually as well as collectively. Those mistakes, or betrayals, rocked all of our worlds. We each paid a price for them, but I think that the reader will see three very flawed man, trying to survive the crapstorm that their lives have become. Granted, it’s one of their own making, but who hasn’t made a mistake? Who hasn’t done something they shouldn’t have and then tried to make it better? Whether it’s made better or not, we all try and that attempt comes from a good place, whether it’s motivated by love or friendship. The three of us aren’t any different really from anyone else. Justin, Spencer, and I are just trying to fix what we are all responsible for breaking. Whether we fix it or not, well, that I can’t say.
Dutch, thank you for stopping by. It’s been enlightening, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know you better. I wish you, Justin, and Spencer the best, and I also hope that there is happiness in your futures.
*blog post image from FreeDigitalPhotos.com by imagerymajestic