Vicktor Alexander's Blog, page 18

The Purple Fantasy Den is very proud to have author Jaime Samms in the Hot Seat today. Sit back and listen to her interview as she talks about everything from ballet to why she writes what she writes to which author(s) she'd take with her on a deserted island.


Also, leave a comment, for one person who leaves a comment will win a free ebook copy of any book from Jaime's backlist.




1. Jamie, you're known for your skills as a writer, but what else do you feel you're skilled at? Do you ice skate? Ballroom dance? Are you a gymnastic who goes through moments of flip flop turn over moments when you get stuck in a story? A gymnast? Really? Ah…no. lol! But I can draw a bit. See? 

2. how do you write convincingly about things you haven't experienced yourself? Ballet dancing, shin splints, skate boarding, obsession? Is it research, imagination--or what? Yes. As in, all of the above. I do research. I took a ballet class, actually, for three years, so I sort of know the very rudimentary basics, and I have an in-house reference, since my daughter has been dancing since she was three. She’s going to be my biggest help on the YA I’m working on, I hope! Otherwise, I rely a lot on my imagination, and search everywhere for someone who knows or has experienced what I’m writing about to give me some ideas as to how to get it right.
3. Do you have favourite book that you wrote and why? Oooh. That’s like asking if I have a favourite kid. DO you know how much trouble a question like that can get me into?
4. Who would be your favourite character you have written about and why? Yeah. Like I’m going to answer that one, either. They’d all stop talking to me and then where would we be?
5. Have you always wanted to write M/M romance? Always wanted to? I don’t know that I ever put that much thought into it, actually. The very first story I ever wrote was high fantasy, because that was what I was reading at the time, and the main characters were a young, rebellious prince and his best friend, a young man who had almost flunked out of the guard academy. They went on adventures together. I was a kid, and so their adventures were kid adventures. If I were to catch up with them now, twenty years later? I’m sure they’re old lovers still going on adventures, albeit ones closer to home and they’re probably be spending a lot more time in various compromising positions, if you see what I mean. It was bromance back then, I guess. I just didn’t know quite what I was getting into.
6. What would you say to someone that wanted to start writing? Write. What else is there to say? If it’s meant to be, they’ll still be doing it twenty years from now 
7. Have you ever written about F/M romance and if not would you? Once. I wrote a very short tryste between the mother of one of my fantasy characters and his mysterious father. Every other m/f pairing I come up with turn out to be best friends, but no sparks. And actually, I think I want to share that m/f story, because it’s just on my hard drive, and why not? Here it is:
Place of Dreams

Miranda stood on the very edge of the meadow. It looked exactly as she remembered, only lonelier. Once, it had been her favourite place, her sanctuary. She hadn’t come here since the last time she’d come with Vinden, and he’d been dead since winter. She ran a hand over her abdomen, and tears came. She couldn’t stop them. She couldn’t fight them. She’d held them back too long, and now, the one thing she’d had to look forward to in a long life of widowhood, Vinden’s child, would be stillborn and there was nothing she could do but wait for it to come or to kill her. She hoped it would be the latter. She didn’t have the heart to go on.
Sinking to her knees in the soft earth, she could smell the new green growth. Around here, even here on the edge, the beauty of the spring flowers surrounded her. She had thought it would ease her pain coming here, but it only made things worse. This place would never be what it once was. It hadn’t lost any of its mercurial beauty. It just couldn’t touch her any more. Maybe nothing could or would ever again. Maybe, she thought, that was best.
For a long time, she lay stretched on her side, her head on her arm, and watched the grasses waving in front of her. White and purple flowers dipped gently in a breeze she didn’t really feel.
“Why did you leave me?” she whispered, not really sure if she meant Vinden or the unborn child. She closed her eyes, tried to imagine what the baby might have looked like, tried to recall Vinden’s face, his touch, the way his lips felt against hers. “I want you back.”
It was an impossible plea, she knew. It didn’t stop her wishing.
“Some things you can never have again.” The voice was soft, not unkind, and it sounded like an extension of the soft meadow music of wind in the grass, insects and birds. She didn’t remember closing her eyes, but she opened them and looked up. A young… well, she couldn’t really tell if it was a man or a woman, stood before her. The being reinforced the beauty around them.
“What?” She sat up, and the creature settled cross-legged in the grass beside her.
“But that’s the nature of life, isn’t?” Her question went ignored. “That it inevitably leads to death.”
“How did you know?” She watched the silvery-grey eyes drift closed, and studied the creature’s face. It was beautiful, pale, not quite the right colour to be human, and framed with a fall of silky, straight silver hair. It reminded her of this place; fresh, always changing, but somehow old beyond comprehension, waiting for something that never came. “But not death for you.” She wondered how she knew that. It got her a smile.
“If I wanted it.”
“Why don’t you?”
“Why do you?” Its eyes opened, pierced her soul and saw too much.
“I-” She wanted to look away and couldn’t. “There is nothing left for me.” She touched her stomach, and suddenly, more than anything, wanted it out. This child that was no longer a child, that wasn’t anything, she wanted gone. A hand covered hers, cool, gentle, and she realized she was digging her fingers painfully into her own flesh. She loosened her grip.
“Nothing is absolute. That is the trouble. You want black and white. Love and hate. Man and woman. Life and death. In the world, there are so many areas of grey.” The fingers rose from her hand to her cheek, and she found herself turning her head into that touch. It occurred to her, no one had touched her since Vinden. Not like that.
“What do you want?” She murmured, her own eyes drifting closed. But she knew what he wanted, so she wasn’t surprised to feel him kiss her.
“If you could have anything, anything at all,” he said as he tipped her back into the grass, “What would it be?”
That was easy. “My family back.”
The kisses and caresses stopped, though she still felt the weight of the slight body on top of her. “That would be two things.” A tear trickled from her eye and he kissed it away.
“You are cruel,” she whimpered, even as she let his hands strip her clothing away and did the same for him.
“I am limited. If I could, I would give you the world. I have only myself. One gift to bestow.” His hand pressed against her abdomen. “This child still has your life in him.  I could give him mine, could give him back to you.”  As he spoke, his hand moved down over her skin, touching her, and she shivered and parted for him.
It was exquisite, the steady pulsing of his need, as though he existed for this moment, and this moment alone. It wasn’t like anything she’d ever known before. She hit that sweet, shuddering moment of release only moments before he did, and all she could think to say was thank you.
He smiled and kissed her neck, her shoulder, and collapsed on her. He wasn’t heavy. In fact, he weighed almost nothing. There were so many things she wanted to ask him. Who was he, where did he come from, but it sounded like he had drifted into sleep, so she closed her eyes and let herself follow.
Later, she might not have believed it to be anything more than a dream, except that she knew she woke, lying on her back in that field, naked and warm and satisfied, and no longer on the brink of despair. And she felt life moving in her. He had given her so much more than just a child. He gave her hope, and strength and new determination. She lay very still, listening, knowing he would never come back, but hearing his voice just the same, in the singing crickets, seeing his eyes in the drifting clouds overhead, and feeling the feather-light brush of fingertips and silver hair in the wings of the butterflies that danced over her still form.  This place would never be the same.
When her baby was born in the autumn, she was not surprised that he had silver hair and eyes the colour of spring clouds. But he had his father Vinden’s face, his kind heart, his protective nature. The first place she took him, just as the first snows began to fall, was to her meadow. “This is where love happens,” she whispered to him. She kissed his rosy little cheek and listened to him gurgle and added the sound to her memories of this place.

8. How long does it take you to write a book? Um…depends? Stained Glass just flew out of me in a little less than two months. Better began as a short story over three years ago, so you never know. Hell, *I* never know.
9. How much can you write in a day? If I’m focused and clear? Five to seven thousand words isn’t unheard of. On a steady, ongoing basis, day after day, reliably? Two thousand is reasonable, one thousand is what I try to make my minimum.
10. When did you start writing? I….that information seems to be lost to the mists of time and my bad memory. Before high school, for sure.

11. How do you come up with your stories? This is not a one size fits all answer, even remotely. The stories are all there, in the world around me. Sometimes, I’m lucky to catch the end of a fleeting thought from the universe and reel it in to write it down in its entirety.  Like with Stained Glass, for instance, I saw the image that became the cover art, and the story was pretty much there, fully fleshed out in my mind. It was a matter of typing fast enough to keep up with Laurie as he told it. Off Stage Right came from Adam Lambert, My next Dreamspinner release this fall came from A song called On the Combine by High Valley, and the Free read on my website, The Long Road Home came from the long, winding road through Northern Ontario bush that you can take to get from the city where I live to the smaller town where I grew up.

12. Do you prefer to write in silence or have music on? Depends, but almost always in quiet.

13. What is your favourite genre to write about? I seem to be drawn to contemporary lately, but I have a lot of urban fantasy on my hard drive that deserves a home, some day.

14. What book would you suggest someone who has never ready one of your books? Um, Better, if D/s isn’t really their thing, Off Stage: Right or Stained Glass if they like Angst, and the Rainbow Alley books, if they want to immerse themselves in the world and see the characters again, and if a little D’s action doesn’t phase them.

15. Do you prefer to write about regular romance or do you prefer BDSM? I guess I prefer to pepper my romance with a bit of D/s and light BDSM, since it usually sneaks its way in there.

16. Do you ever include real people in your stories (with names changed to protect the innocent or not so innocent)? I can’t think of a single time when I have done this. The stories come to me as they are, really. I guess they’re coloured by my experiences and my prejudices, but I have never deliberately inserted anyone I know into a book.

17. On a rainy day what is your favorite thing to do? Really? Write. It’s pretty much always my favorite thing to do, unless hubs is…nevermind.

18. If you were stranded in any of your worlds (books) which one would it be?  And who would it be with? Rainbow Alley, because it’s such a close-knit community, and I would either live with Gina, the nurse/barmaid, or right in Rolly’s huge home with the rest of his strays.

19. If you were stranded on a island and could only take 3 people, 3 types of food and 3 things what would they be? Three people, my husband, and my kids. Assuming nutrition isn’t an issue, since we’re making shit up anyway, coffee, peanutbutter toast and potatoe chips., and I would demand internet, have my (endlessly powered) computer, and yarn. I can make anything with yarn.

20. Is there a genre or subject matter that you want to write about but are hesitant to do so (ex. Interracial, Disabled, Transgender, Mpreg, etc.)? I’m struggling with the YA, but I really want to write in that genre.

21. What is your ideal vacation spot? Downtown Toronto with a really nice, quiet hotel room when I want it, and endless things to do when I want to go out.

22. Is it harder to write about menage+ couples than two men? I haven’t found it so yet, though I haven’t gone beyond three, and can’t see myself going beyond that.

23. If you could meet your favorite author of all time, who would it be and what would you say to them? I have two answers. Since I’ve already met Clare London, and I pretty much turned out to be tongue-tied and kind of silly and didn’t end up saying much at all, my next favorite would be Tanya Huff. I imagine the scenario being much the same, sadly.

24. You have a BDSM series (or more, I can’t remember). Did you enjoy writing about that sort of lifestyle or was it difficult? I really enjoy it. The most difficult aspect is getting into the heads of the Doms, since that’s a mindset I only see and understand from the outside.

25. What is your favorite genre to read for fun? Same one as I write. Gay romance. Next would be fantasy, but throw in some gay romance, and I’m all over it.

26. Do you have a favourite book that you have ever read or wrote? The Hobbit has been a huge influence in my writing and my inspiration.

27. If you had to choose who would be your favourite author? I really do have a lot of favorites, but Clare London, Amy Lane, Ariel Tachna  and Mary Calmes all make the list because a) they write like I want to, and b) they are some of the absolute best people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting in my life. As far as writers I’ve never met, Tanya Huff, Lynn Flewleing, Steven Brust and the list could go on endlessly…

28. What is the best thing about being a writer? Hands down, making shit up. I love watching the story unfold as I go, and it’s much the same thrill I get from reading a really good book, because I never know what’s going to happen until I’m writing it down. It’s frickin’ awesome!

29. If you weren’t a writer what would you be? Sad. Or an artist, but that would take a lot more work and practice. I think I’m a better writer than I am artist.

30. If you had to pick only three of your characters to take on vacation who would it be and why? 1) Rory Sanders, from Finders Keepers because I think he’s a better artist than I am, and I’d want to talk to him about it. 2) David from My Rugby Playing Twink (formerly of Irish Lover’s fame, but those short stories have been re-written and expanded to a novella that comes out in the new year) because he’s just bucket loads of fun, and Stan from Off Stage: Right, because he’s filthy rich and he’ll keep everyone out of trouble. Probably.


31. Who would be your ideal? I assume you mean my ideal guy? My husband. 

32. What would this “ideal” have that you would consider as the “best characteristic?” He loves me. How does it get better than that?

33. What do you think about the New Adult genre for MM? I like it. I think it’s an excellent idea, and there should be more of it.

34. Some actors cannot watch themselves onscreen – as an author, What goes through your mind’s eye when you read your own work? Maybe this is vain, but I’ve always liked re-reading my own stuff. I wrote stories I love and I’m not ashamed of my work. I like it. I read it and I enjoy it. I see what I did back then that I do better now, of course, but that’s true of anything in life you do over an extended period of time. I’m also a better parent and a better wife than I was when I started out, but I’m not ashamed of where I started there, either. 

35. What do you do when you get a writers block to unblock? I rarely get any serious writer block, and when I do, I find sleep is almost invariably the cure.

36. If you were stranded on a island with 3 authors, 3 items, what would they be? 1) Amy Lane and her knitting essentials, because she’s awesome and fun, and I would never want to separate her from her wool, 2) Mary Calmes, with a nice quiet room for her, because she’s like me and likes quiet sometimes, and also because Mary is equally as awesome and Amy, and I I would never want to separate Mary and Amy, and they would get to pick the rest.

37. What is your favorite thing to do to decompress from life(stress) Is it weird to say write? Or listen to an audio book,. That’s my next best thing.

38. Have you ever written about feline shifters or any other types of shifter? I have two paranormal stories on my hard drive, one with mer-shifters, and one with dragon-shifters. I hope I’ll get them published one day.

39. Which if any of your characters is more like you? No one character specifically, because I think they all have a little bit of me in them. How could they not? But I am definitely more like the submissive characters than I am like the dominant ones.

40. Do you plan on writing for a while to come? Like, forever!

41. Would you ever write about Ninja's? Depends. Are they gay? Because they would probably have to be gay….

42. What would you recommend to other people who would like to start writing for the first time? Wrote more and think less. Just write. Write what comes into your head, write what’s in your heart, and as Neil Gaiman says, when you first start out, you’re lucky. “People who know what they’re doing know the rules and they know what is possible and what is impossible. You do not…If you don’t know it’s impossible, it’s easier to do and because no one has done it before, they haven’t made up rules to stop anyone from doing that particular thing again.”  Also, listen to the rest of his speech, because it’s pretty great. http://vimeo.com/42372767

43. Where do you write?  An office, a room, a cubbyhole... I have an office of sorts in the basement of the house. I really do my best work there, because my mind settles an dfocuses when I’m in that space.

44. What are some of your favorite books?  Not just recently but what books did you enjoy as a kid?  teenager?
When I was a kid, I love this small book called “Tigers in the Cellar” by Carol Fenner. Awesome! I still have my copy and the kids loved it, too. I also loved “What was I Scared of?” by Dr. Seuss. Also a favourite of my kids, along with the Hobbit, of course, and The Shanara series by Terry Brooks.

So because of my classes, Labor Day and Rosh Hashanah coming up on this weekend I completely zoned on Ask Author. So it's going to go up later. But here's your chance to submit your questions for the amazing, Jaime Samms!
Send your questions to: [email protected] by Wednesday evening: 11pm/EST

Chain Me is an ARe bestseller! And it jumped 22 places up today alone.
Thank you to everyone who bought a copy! You rock!!

Chain Me is an ARe bestseller! Thank you to everyone who bought a copy. You have made this gay boy very, very happy!
Big Chocolate Kisses to you all!

It's Happy Happy Release Day for me! Chain Me is now available on ARe, BookStrand, Rainbow eBooks, and Kindle for download in addition to the Rooster & Pig website!
W00t!
So in honor of that I am giving away one free copy to someone who leaves a comment and shares this post on Facebook, Twitter, their own blog, Yahoo groups, etc. make sure you give me links or tell me what groups you posted it in so I can verify.
Also, in honor of Trayvon Martin, a young man who died too soon and who I, or any member of my family, could have been, I have decided to donate 20% of my royalties to the Trayvon Martin Foundation.
And now for information on Chain Me!


Blurb:
When Etan Davidovsky and his partner Travis Caballero go to a BDSM club in Chicago they can only hope to find a Dom that will want to take them home to do a scene. Finding one that wants to keep them forever is a totally different story. So when their eyes lock on Ahijit Khan they do everything they can to get the Dom to choose them... even having sex in the middle of the club.
When Ahijit ventures out to the club in downtown Chicago one night he does so to find a sub or two to help train new Dom, Reidel Parthings, on the Lifestyle. He doesn't expect to find two subs that he wants to keep for himself. Nor does he expect to start fantasizing about the one thing he'd sworn to never even consider ever again: collaring a sub, or subs, for a lifetime contract. But Etan and Travis are special and Ahijit finds himself in a position he's never been in before, one where the Dom is being claimed by the subs.
But will Etan and Travis get Ahijit to collar them and claim them for his own or will his past prevent these three men from having their own happily-ever-after?
Excerpt:
“Fuck baby, you feel good,” Etan whispered against his throat and Travis shivered, turning to press his back against his man’s chest. Travis trained his eyes on the hazel ones of the gorgeous tanned stranger who watched them intently and lowered his jeans until his ass was exposed to Etan, his cock still pressed deliciously against his zipper. He moaned when the Middle Eastern man licked his lips as he watched them and felt the press of Etan’s naked cock against the crease of his ass. The two of them had foregone using condoms after their first year together and Travis always looked forward to feeling of Etan’s bare cock sliding into his ass.Etan’s finger pulling out the butt plug made him moan, the vibration of it hitting the club floor after bouncing off the back of his shoes made him shiver, but the press of his lover’s cock into his ass had Travis groaning in pleasure. He bent over slightly and hissed out a breath as Etan bottomed out inside of him. He dropped his head forward and closed his eyes as pleasure swamped his sense before lifting his head and finding his gaze trapped by the very man they were performing for.He and Etan loved having sex in public and were true exhibitionists, but having sex in the middle of the dance floor, for the pleasure of a complete stranger was a first for them.“God sweetheart, he’s touching his cock through his pants,” Travis panted as Etan slowly and deeply pushed and pulled his cock in and out of Travis’s channel.“Fuck that’s hot,” Etan responded. Travis could do nothing but nod, all his powers of speech leaving him in a whoosh as Etan pegged his prostate again and again.“I can’t hold on E,” Travis warned, the tingling at the base of his spine letting him know that he was on the verge of exploding all over the dance floor.“Hold on baby, wait for me,” Etan pleaded.Travis panted and shook his head, before nodding. “Okay.”His breath caught in his lungs as the sexy Middle Eastern man, who was built like the love child of a soldier and a bodybuilder, stood to his feet and headed straight for them, a sexy tall, broad-shouldered, extremely muscled black man with long black hair followed him. Travis noticed the black man, but he only had eyes for the sexy Middle Eastern man with the curly, black hair, chiseled jaw and kissable lips. He watched the sexy man who came and stopped right in front of him. Travis looked up at him, licking his lips and moaning when the other man unzipped his pants without a word.When the stranger pulled out his long, thick cock Travis and Etan groaned. Travis could almost feel Etan’s vibrate through his back.“You boys are very bad, having sex on the dance floor. I think you need to be spanked,” the smooth, velvety voice said.“W-who is going to be the one to spank us?” Travis stuttered. His fingers twitched with the urge to grab onto the other man’s trim waist and suck the tanned cock down his throat.“Depends on how bad you are. If you’re just a little bad, it will be my friend Reidel here, but if you’re really bad then it will be me,” the stranger said.Travis wanted his name, he was desperate for it, but he knew that they had to prove themselves worthy of receiving it.“We’re really, really bad, Sir,” Etan responded when Travis remained silent, his gaze focused on the stranger’s leaking dick.“Prove it,” the stranger said.Without another thought, Travis lowered his head and pulled the man’s cock deep into his mouth.
Bonus Excerpt:

Reidel nodded and then looked at the door they stood in front of. “Are we going to go in?”

Ahijit looked at the door and noticed the colors of the hankies on the nail of the door. Brown, yellow and red. He shook his head at Reidel.

“No, we’re not going in that one,” he said before turning away from the door and heading down the hallway to another room.

“Why not? Maybe I want to see what’s going on in there,” Reidel said obstinately. Ahijit stopped and turned to look at the other man. He nodded.

“Then go on in and I’ll wait out here for you. When you come back out I’ll let you know how I knew not to go in that room,” he said. He bit his lower lip when Reidel opened the door stepped inside and hurried back out mere seconds later.

“Do you know what they’re doing in there?” Reidel asked, his eyes wide, looking terrified and disgusted all at the same time.

“On every door, if you’ve noticed, there are hankies on a nail or on the doorknob,” he waited for Reidel to nod before he continued. “Those hankies let the observer know what’s happening in that room. The hankies on this door are brown, which is scat, yellow, which is watersports, and red which is fisting.”

Reidel shuddered and Ahijit let out a bark of laughter. “It’s a lot to learn, but you’ll be happy you did. Just be glad that when you walked in they’d already started and you were at the edge of the room. When I first got introduced to that aspect of... sex and the Lifestyle, I’d walked into a room, was one of the first there and the three Doms and even the sub smiled at me and asked if I was ready for a ‘crazy time’” he said, making air quotations with his fingers. “Everyone else piled in after me, so I was stuck when the scene started and they eventually got to that part. I was forced to watch the whole thing.”

“But why would people do that?” Reidel asked him askance.

Ahijit shrugged. “We don’t have to understand everything that turns someone else on, as long as everyone consents to it. That’s the biggest thing. Consent must be given by all parties or it’s rape, whatever its form.” He shook his head and swallowed, thinking of Nicole, the young sub who was gang raped at a play party by her ex-boyfriend and his friends after they’d drugged her. So many people stood around watching the young woman as she was flogged, caned, pissed on, bitten, and fucked. She whimpered and cried and softly asked for help but no one could hear her because of the gag in her mouth. Consent was a. Big. Fucking. Deal.

He looked up at the door they’d stopped in front of and noticing that it had every hanky color except brown, yellow, and purple, he decided to step inside. There might be some fisting but he wasn’t averse to that, he’d just never attempted that himself. Fisting involved a level of trust on the part of both parties that he’d never truly established with anyone. Besides, the thought of his entire hand disappearing inside someone’s body freaked him out just a little.

“So this room is okay?” Reidel asked. Ahijit nodded and stepped into the room, Reidel hot on his heels.

They watched the scene together and Ahijit noticed Reidel shifting and adjust the front of his pants repeatedly and then knew by Reidel’s shudders and the huff of breath he expelled that the other man had come the moment when the Dom began preparing the sub to be fisted. Ahijit knew what to expect, in a manner of speaking, but he could tell Reidel didn’t. Reidel’s body grew more and more tense with each minute until finally he turned and stormed out of the room, just as the Dom got his entire fist in the sub’s ass. Ahijit apologized to the people around him and walked out after Reidel. He found the other man pacing the hallway and he leaned against the wall and watched as the black man muttered to himself, running his fingers through his hair repeatedly. Finally Reidel had stopped and stared at him.

“I don’t get it. I don’t understand. I-I have these urges. I want to, but I can’t, I can’t do something like that to someone,” he said gesturing towards the closed door. “But I don’t know what to do. How am I supposed to know what to do?”

Ahijit stared at Reidel, waiting for the younger man to ask him for help but when long minutes passed and nothing happened, he sighed and shrugged.

“You ask someone to help you, to train you and teach you, so you know what to do and what not to do. That’s what you do,” he said.

He’d turned away from the still upset young man and like clockwork heard Reidel’s soft question. “C-can you teach me?” 

Buy Links:http://www.roosterandpigpublishing.com/coming-soonhttp://www.bookstrand.com/chain-mehttps://www.allromanceebooks.com/prod...

Hope you all enjoy Chain Me, the prequel to The Dom series!
-Vicktor Alexander

Don't miss Write On the Edge tonight! I and my cohost Mychael Black will be interviewing Andrea Speed!

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CROSS THE OCEAN

By

Holly Bush

 

BLURB:  

 

1871 . . . Worlds collide when American Suffragette, Gertrude Finch, and titled Brit Blake Sanders meet in an explosive encounter that may forever bind them together. Gertrude Finch escorts a young relative to London and encounters the stuffy Duke of Wexford at his worst. Cross the Ocean is the story of an undesired, yet undeniable attraction that takes Blake and Gertrude across an ocean and into each other’s arms.

 

 

Excerpt:

 

Blake went to the stables, had his horse saddled, and rode to Anthony’s estate. Maybe Elizabeth will ask me to stay for dinner, he thought. Then she’ll go to bed, and Anthony and I can drink a bottle of brandy and get stewed. He could stay there if he couldn’t ride home. A room was kept ready for him with a fresh change of clothes. Blake smiled and felt better than he had in days.

 

As the butler escorted Blake down the hall of Anthony’s home to the drawing room, he heard a loud but feminine . . . snort and Elizabeth’s trill laughter in reply. Damn. He remembered now. A cousin of Elizabeth’s from America, sent as an escort to another cousin, was staying with them. Anthony had described and dreaded the arrival of Cousin Gertrude with horror. A spinster remotely connected to Elizabeth’s father’s side, she was big, bold and here for a month. Her arrival had curtailed Anthony’s visits.

 

Blake stopped and hissed at the butler. “Think I’ve changed my mind, Jenkins. I don’t want to disturb their company.”

 

“Quite the coward are we, Your Grace? Leave your life-long friend alone with this Amazon from America.” Jenkins stared as he spoke. “In any case they saw you ride up the drive.”

 

Jenkins spoke his mind to all including Anthony and Elizabeth. There’d be no expecting servile behavior for him. “I’m sure you did not miss the opportunity to point out my arrival,” Blake said.

 

“Of course not, Your Grace.” The butler opened the drawing room doors with a flourish. “The Duke of Wexford.”

 

“Blake,” Anthony said and jumped to pump Blake’s hand. “I am so very happy you are here.”

 

Blake watched the woman sitting beside Elizabeth stand, and walk across the room to him. She was every inch as tall as he, and Anthony made the introductions. She held out her hand. Blake grasped it and bent to place a kiss there and was surprised when she began to shake it, hitting him squarely in the nose. Blake covered his face with his hand.

 

“Oh, dear,” Miss Gertrude Finch exclaimed. She threw a look at her cousin Elizabeth.

 

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AUTHOR:

 

Holly Bush was born in western Pennsylvania to two avid readers. There was not a room in her home that did not hold a full bookcase. She worked in the hospitality industry, owning a restaurant for twenty years and recently worked as the sales and marketing director in the hospitality/tourism industry and is credited with building traffic to capacity for a local farm tour, bringing guests from twenty-two states, booked two years out.  Holly has been a marketing consultant to start-up businesses and has done public speaking on the subject.

 

Holly has been writing all of her life and is a voracious reader of a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction, particularly political and historical works. She has written four romance novels, all set in the U.S. West in the mid 1800’s. She frequently attends writing conferences, and has always been a member of a writer’s group.

 

Holly is a gardener, a news junkie, has been an active member of her local library board and loves to spend time near the ocean. She is the proud mother of two daughters and the wife of a man more than a few years her junior.

 

 

@hollybushbooks

www.hollybushbooks.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Holly-Bush/247399131941435

 

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Cross-the-Ocean-ebook/dp/B00D381HR6/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1369907100&sr=1-1&keywords=Cross+the+ocean

 

Itunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/cross-the-ocean/id655238415?mt=11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My newest release, Chain Me, from The Rooster & The Pig Publishing, is now available for pre-order at ARe, BookStrand and the R&P website and will be available for download tomorrow at R&P and Friday at ARe, BookStrand, Rainbow eBooks, and Kindle!


Here's the blurb:

When Etan Davidovsky and his partner Travis Caballero go to a BDSM club in Chicago they can only hope to find a Dom that will want to take them home to do a scene. Finding one that wants to keep them forever is a totally different story. So when their eyes lock on Ahijit Khan they do everything they can to get the Dom to choose them... even having sex in the middle of the club.

When Ahijit ventures out to the club in downtown Chicago one night he does so to find a sub or two to help train new Dom, Reidel Parthings, on the Lifestyle. He doesn't expect to find two subs that he wants to keep for himself. Nor does he expect to start fantasizing about the one thing he'd sworn to never even consider ever again: collaring a sub, or subs, for a lifetime contract. But Etan and Travis are special and Ahijit finds himself in a position he's never been in before, one where the Dom is being claimed by the subs.

But will Etan and Travis get Ahijit to collar them and claim them for his own or will his past prevent these three men from having their own happily-ever-after?


Here's the Excerpt:

“Fuck baby, you feel good,” Etan whispered against his throat and Travis shivered, turning to press his back against his man’s chest. Travis trained his eyes on the hazel ones of the gorgeous tanned stranger who watched them intently and lowered his jeans until his ass was exposed to Etan, his cock still pressed deliciously against his zipper. He moaned when the Middle Eastern man licked his lips as he watched them and felt the press of Etan’s naked cock against the crease of his ass. The two of them had foregone using condoms after their first year together and Travis always looked forward to feeling of Etan’s bare cock sliding into his ass.
Etan’s finger pulling out the butt plug made him moan, the vibration of it hitting the club floor after bouncing off the back of his shoes made him shiver, but the press of his lover’s cock into his ass had Travis groaning in pleasure. He bent over slightly and hissed out a breath as Etan bottomed out inside of him. He dropped his head forward and closed his eyes as pleasure swamped his sense before lifting his head and finding his gaze trapped by the very man they were performing for.
He and Etan loved having sex in public and were true exhibitionists, but having sex in the middle of the dance floor, for the pleasure of a complete stranger was a first for them.
“God sweetheart, he’s touching his cock through his pants,” Travis panted as Etan slowly and deeply pushed and pulled his cock in and out of Travis’s channel.
“Fuck that’s hot,” Etan responded. Travis could do nothing but nod, all his powers of speech leaving him in a whoosh as Etan pegged his prostate again and again.
“I can’t hold on E,” Travis warned, the tingling at the base of his spine letting him know that he was on the verge of exploding all over the dance floor.
“Hold on baby, wait for me,” Etan pleaded.
Travis panted and shook his head, before nodding. “Okay.”
His breath caught in his lungs as the sexy Middle Eastern man, who was built like the love child of a soldier and a bodybuilder, stood to his feet and headed straight for them, a sexy tall, broad-shouldered, extremely muscled black man with long black hair followed him. Travis noticed the black man, but he only had eyes for the sexy Middle Eastern man with the curly, black hair, chiseled jaw and kissable lips. He watched the sexy man who came and stopped right in front of him. Travis looked up at him, licking his lips and moaning when the other man unzipped his pants without a word.
When the stranger pulled out his long, thick cock Travis and Etan groaned. Travis could almost feel Etan’s vibrate through his back.
“You boys are very bad, having sex on the dance floor. I think you need to be spanked,” the smooth, velvety voice said.
“W-who is going to be the one to spank us?” Travis stuttered. His fingers twitched with the urge to grab onto the other man’s trim waist and suck the tanned cock down his throat.
“Depends on how bad you are. If you’re just a little bad, it will be my friend Reidel here, but if you’re really bad then it will be me,” the stranger said.
Travis wanted his name, he was desperate for it, but he knew that they had to prove themselves worthy of receiving it.
“We’re really, really bad, Sir,” Etan responded when Travis remained silent, his gaze focused on the stranger’s leaking dick.
“Prove it,” the stranger said.
Without another thought, Travis lowered his head and pulled the man’s cock deep into his mouth.


Http://www.bookstrand.com/chain-me

Http://www.roosterandpigpublishing.com/coming-soon

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-chainme-1271471-147.html

I am BEYOND thrilled to have the amazing Ariel Tachna here today for Ask Author. Ariel answered over forty questions that you all asked about her writing and her goals (even her trip to Peru) and I know you all will enjoy the interview. I have a special prize for two lucky people who comment and leaves their email address, so make sure you do so.

And now.....





1. Who are/were the hardest characters to let go when their stories were told?
That’s a really good question. The ones who were hard to let go tend to show up in other stories, either sequels or spin-offs: Jean and Raymond from the Partnership in Blood series or Caine and Macklin from the Lang Downs series, for example. I find that characters stay with me while they still have a story left to tell, but the Partnership in Blood characters are certainly the ones that have stayed with me longest. I’ll have lived with them for nine years in October, and I’m still not completely done with them, although I have started work on what should be the capstone of the series.

2. How was your trip to Peru? Did you find any inspiration for your stories while there?
The trip was amazing. The Inca Trail was quite possibly the most physically demanding thing I've ever done in my life, and anyone who tells you differently is either lying or trying to sell you something. Every muscle in my body ached. I'll probably lose three toenails to blisters despite wearing the best pair of hiking boots I've ever owned. I'm covered in bruises and bug bites. I'm sunburned. When we finally left the trail, I slept for 36 hours straight (no kidding, I really did), waking only long enough to move from train to bus to hotel bed to airplane.
Sounds like hell on earth?
It was one of the most incredible four days of my life.
Imagine, if you can, because I was there and I can only barely imagine it, coming over a rise at 11,000 ft, the Andes rising and falling all around you, having walked 26 miles in the last three days (including 1.5 hours already that morning and it's only now sunrise). You're sweaty, you're exhausted, you ache, but it's been fascinating, because every little trace the Incas left behind is fascinating in its detail and in its mystery. And then you reach the top of the pass, the fabled Sun Gate, and as the sun breaks over the top of the mountain and into the valley below, this is what you see laid out below you. (insert Machu Picchu picture attached)

There are no words for the marvel that is Machu Picchu. I stood there looking down at the city, and I cried because there was nothing else I could do, no other way to possibly begin to express the overwhelming surfeit of emotion that swamped me. And then to get down into this amazing city and hear that archaeologists best estimates suggest only about 40% of the site is currently excavated and then to hear further that the Incas built this wonder (and all the other, smaller ones we saw over three days) without a single bit of slave labor.

I've always been fascinated by ancient civilizations, but I have a new favorite now! I'm pretty sure Peru now ranks second on my list of places to recommend for people to visit. The Peruvians were amazingly warm and welcoming. Our guides were fantastic (yes, there's a plot bunny in there). The food was delicious. I ate better in the campsites than I have in some five star restaurants.

I doubt I'll ever hike the Inca Trail again, as amazing as it was. My asthma only barely allowed me to finish it this time, and that's not something that's going to get any better, but the experience is one I will cherish always.

As far as story ideas are concerned, I’ve already started the book inspired by the Inca Trail, our two amazing guides, and the incredible country that is Peru. If all goes well, it’ll be finished and ready to send off in four to six weeks with an early 2014 pub date. Of course that assumes all goes well, but it usually does when I’m inspired like this.

3. When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
That question has two answers. I started writing novels when I was twelve and dreamed them of being published, but at twelve and even at twenty when I was in college, I didn’t have the courage to follow that dream. Then about ten years ago, I found an online writing community and watched people around me beginning to get published. That inspired me to take a serious look at that old dream and decide to pursue it.
4. What do you do when you have writers block?
Writer’s block for me tends to arise from one of two sets of circumstances. Either I’m not writing the book my muses really want to be writing or I’m trying to make my characters do something that doesn’t fit who they are. If it’s the former, I switch to a different story. I wrote my upcoming release, Conquer the Flames, in about five weeks after I finally accepted that the muses wanted to work on it instead of the book I’d been working on set in Montréal. If it’s the latter, I throw myself on Anne Regan’s mercy and get her to point out where I took a wrong turn and then I can fix it and move on. In Chase the Stars, I had to do that and rewrote or threw out about half of what I had currently written (over 20,000 words of revisions or deletions) because I’d pushed Chris and Jesse into getting serious about each other too quickly.
5. How did you come to start writing M/M romance?
About ten years ago, maybe a little more, I was in an online forum dedicated to discussing Lord of the Rings. Someone on that forum asked for links to fan fiction. In my innocence, I asked what that was. Another commenter explained and I was intrigued. I couldn’t get enough of Aragorn and Arwen, but there was only so much of them in the films and even less in the books, certainly not enough to satisfy my fascination with them. I went searching and stumbled across a very inclusive archive that included both m/f and m/m pairings. I devoured the entire contents of the Aragorn/Arwen section in about a week, but I wanted more, so very hesitantly, I opened an Aragorn/Legolas section.
I was hooked. Some of the stories were incredible, others were not, as is always the case in fandom, but most importantly, I’d had my eyes opened. It took me about a month after that to start writing m/m into my own fiction.
6. Do you prefer regular romance or do you like writing about paranormal romance and why?
I love pretty much all genres of romance, as witnessed by the variety in my backlist. I think the only genre I haven’t written is humor. I tend to follow the muses in terms of what genre a particular story is. These days, my ideas tend more toward contemporary or western than paranormal or science fiction, but I certainly wouldn’t rule out a return to any genre. I take great pleasure in the world building that goes into a paranormal, science fiction, or steampunk novel (or even a historical, although that’s fact-based instead of made up). On the other hand, there’s something to be said for a simple love story.
7. If you had a favourite author and why?
I have had a great many favorite authors over the course of my life. Susan Cooper introduced me to fantasy. Anne McCaffrey carried that from childhood to adulthood. Janelle Taylor introduced me to romance. J.R.R. Tolkien brought me some of my dearest friends. Melanie Rawn defined foreshadowing and pacing for me. Mary Calmes made me love alpha men. Rhianne Aile and Nicki Bennett are my comfort reads, together or separately.
8. Which one of your books would be your favourite and why?
Checkmate is my absolute favorite of anything I’ve written because I think it’s a book that has everything: suspense, swashbuckling heroes, a powerful plot and a tender love story. Of the things I’ve written by myself, The Inventor’s Companion is probably my favorite, although I’m really in love with my upcoming release as well. Both are examples of books that took over my brain and didn’t let me up for breath until I was done, and I think that passion shows in the stories and in the writing.
9. How did you feel did you feel when your first book was published?
My first book was Size Matters: Short Stories Long Enough to Satisfy which is now out of print. The six authors in the anthology got together for the weekend so we could sign the initial print run. It was incredible getting to meet the others and to be a part of the founding of Dreamspinner Press. I sat there all weekend just stroking the cover of the book. Come to think of it, I still do that when a new one comes out.
10. If you could have one of your books put in to a movie which one would you like it to be?
I think the Partnership in Blood series or Checkmate would make the best movies because of the inclusion of non-romance plots along with the romance.
11. What inspires you to write a book?
That is as varied as the books themselves. Sometimes it’s a dream (Partnership in Blood, Out of the Fire), sometimes it’s a chance comment by a close friend (Inherit the Sky, Reluctant Partnerships, Lycan Partnership), sometimes it’s a song (The Inventor’s Companion), sometimes it’s personal experience (Once in a Lifetime, Her Two Dads, Seducing C.C., Sutcliffe Cove), and sometime the characters just show up in my head demanding to have their stories told (Conquer the Flames, Stolen Moments). I do my best to take it however it comes.
12. Where would a new reader start, which book would you recommend?
That depends a bit on what the new reader enjoys reading. If someone loves paranormal, I’d recommend Alliance in Blood.  If they prefer contemporary romance, I’d recommend Her Two Dads or Inherit the Sky depending on how they feel about kids and westerns.
13. Do you have any favourite characters?
All of them at the moment I’m writing them, but in terms of the ones who still make me smile to think of them, Caine Neiheisel from Inherit the Sky because he’s one of those men you can’t help but root for, Jean from the Partnership in Blood series because he’s the character who made me believe I could be published, Teodoro from Checkmate because everyone needs a hero like Teodoro in their lives, and Alexei from Under the Skin because he’s just so damned sexy.
14. If you were stranded in any of your worlds (books), which one would it be?  And who would it be?
I think I’d like to go to Lang Downs, if I could choose. Caine and Macklin have created such a marvelous safe haven there. I’d probably be Molly, the foreman’s wife, because I certainly couldn’t be Sarah since I’m a dismal cook.
15. Do you prefer creating characters for series, where they have a lot of growth and development, or for stand alone novels, where readers get a faster impression. You’re great at both, but which gives you the most satisfaction?
Honestly, it’s not something I plan until it happens. Inherit the Sky was intended to be a single title, but Caine and Macklin weren’t done and Isabelle Rowan made a comment about Christmas in Australia, which made me want to write Caine’s first Christmas. Partnership in Blood wasn’t intended to be a series, but it got too long to be one book, so I ended up with four and then Elizabeth (Dreamspinner’s Executive Director) and Nicki Bennett kept giving me ideas for more books.
16. Which if any of your characters is more like you?
Actually, the character who is most like me isn’t one of my heroes. Spirit in Seducing C.C. is the character most like me. Everything in Seducing C.C. (except the actual romance) happened to me or was inspired by people I knew in the sixteen summers I spent at a Girl Scout camp in Eastern Kentucky.
17. Do you plan on writing for a while to come?
At this point, I have no intention of stopping. I love it and my readers seem to agree, so I’ll keep writing as long as I have inspiration.
18. Do like to write series or do you prefer to write single stories?
I love both. I’ve always loved reading series, so that comes naturally to me, but not all stories are meant to be series. As much as I love Her Two Dads or Sutcliffe Cove, those stories are complete as they are. They don’t need a sequel to finish the tale and they were narrow enough in their original scope not to have provided me with secondary characters I could use for spin-offs. On the other hand, Inherit the Sky was supposed to be a single story, but it wasn’t long enough to finish their story, plus the setting provided me with a cast of characters I could keep writing about.
19. How long does it take for you to complete a book?
That depends on the book, but usually 4-6 weeks unless it’s very long or very difficult.
20. What is the longest story you have ever written?
That depends on whether you count the first four books of Partnership in Blood as one book or four. If you consider it one book, which is the way I intended it when I started writing it, then it’s just shy of 500,000 words long. If you consider them separate books, then it’s Covenant in Blood, which is 164,000 word and change.
21. What is the shortest story you have ever written?
I wrote a flash fiction story in 100 words once. Since it really is so short, here it is for anyone who might be interested.
Eyes meeting.  Cheeks grinning.  Hands seeking.
Foreheads touching. Noses bumping.  Lips kissing.
Fingers undressing.  Arms reaching. Shins rubbing.
Breaths quickening.  Tongues licking.  Toes curling.
Teeth nipping.  Pulses pounding.  Palms gliding.
Skin shivering.  Nipples peaking.  Touches pleasuring.
Muscles straining.  Cocks hardening.  Legs parting.
Mouths sucking.    Bodies stretching.  Thighs quivering.
Hips rocking.  Groins slapping.  Chests heaving.
Backs arching.  Sweat glistening.  Voices pleading.
Eyes meeting.  Lips locking.  Tongues plundering.
Hands groping.  Throats gasping.  Balls tightening.
Cocks pulsing.  Flesh clinging.  Fingers twining.
Breaths calming.  Sweat drying.  Arms encircling.
Pulses slowing. Lips brushing.  Legs tangling.
Eyes closing.  Whispers murmuring.  Bodies resting.
Lives joining.
Hearts loving.

22. Would you ever write about a man and a woman?
Yes, I’ve actually done that more than once, and there are het couples in my Partnership in Blood series. If I write the sequel to Inventor’s Companion, it will be m/m/f. At the moment, my passion is m/m, but I’ve never started to include a het couple and then stopped.
23. Have you ever wanted to write any other types of books like horror, mystery?
I think if I ever wrote something that wasn’t romance, it would be high fantasy of the Tolkien or Rawn variety. The nice thing about romance is I can write fantasy with romance in it.
24. What would you recommend to other people who would like to start writing for the first time?
Read, read, and read some more. And then find a writing group that’s open to new authors and write. Share your writing. Listen to people’s feedback. Ask for help with technique. Then read some more and see how other authors deal with the same issues you’re having. It’s amazing what you can learn by studying the techniques of others.
25. What gave you the writing "bug"?  Was there an influence such as a person, an event or a song maybe?
I was twelve years old when I started writing, painfully shy, socially awkward, light years ahead of my classmates in terms of maturity, and feeling totally alone. Writing was a way to escape all that and channel my emotions at the same time. I’m pretty sure I survived middle school and high school with my sanity intact only because I had my writing.
26. How did you decide what you wanted to write?
I always have a list of story ideas and usually an idea of what order I’m going to work on them in. And then when it’s time to start a new project, I look at the list and see if one of them jumps out at me strongly. If so, I write it. If not, I start what’s next on the list and see how it goes. If it works, great. If not, I try something else.
27. Where do you write?  An office, a room, a cubbyhole...
I have a beautiful (cluttered) office all to myself with high ceilings, purple walls, and plantation shutters. If it weren’t such a mess, I’d share a photo.
28. What are some of your favorite books?  Not just recently but what books did you enjoy as a kid?  teenager? All-time favorite books: Dark Is Rising series, Dragon Prince series, Lord of the Rings, Dragonriders of Pern series, Cursed and Betrayed.
29. What author or authors would you like to collaborate with?
I’d love for Nicki Bennett to have time for us to collaborate again. We have ideas. She just doesn’t have time. I’d gladly work with Mary Calmes or Amy Lane, but time is as big a problem for them as it is for Nicki.
30. What genre do you find the easiest to write in/about?
Fantasy is probably the easiest because it’s the genre I love the most. (See that list of favorite books a few questions up.) I love the world building and the chance to make my own rules.
31. What genre do you find the hardest to write in/about?  Is there a genre you shy away from?
Humor. My characters might occasionally be funny, but I’ve never been good with jokes or anything like that, so I don’t know that I could ever write a humorous novel.
32. Do you write about more than one story at a time?
It depends. If I’m co-writing with someone, yes, because I’ll have the co-written project as well as an individual project. If I’m not co-writing, it depends on how deeply the primary project has its claws in me. Sometimes I’m so caught up I can’t possibly work on anything else. Other times, I find it helps to jump from project to project.
33. Is there a genre that you would never write about (Male pregnancy, Interracial, BDSM, menage, polyamorous, etc.)?
I’m not sure there’s anything I wouldn’t write as long as I had a story that allowed it. I’ve done interracial, BDSM, menage, polyamory, even tentacle sex. I haven’t written male pregnancy to date because I haven’t had a story where it would work. That said, maybe my next fantasy series will feature a species that defines gender differently than we do and/or where the males carry the young. We’ll just have to see.
34. Is there a character type that you would never write about (transgender, disabled, older, etc.)?
The answer to this is the same as the answer above. I’d have to have a story where it would fit. Transgender is the one I think I would struggle with the most because it’s the one I’m least familiar with, and I wouldn’t want to write something if I didn’t believe I could do it justice.
35. Why do you think that so many women write in the M/M romance genre?
There’s an easy answer to this, which is that we like men, and more men are better, and for some authors, that may be as far as it goes, but there are other issues at stake as well. Het romance on the whole is very stereotypical in its gender roles. There are certain expectations of a heroine, and most of them are not things I enjoy as a reader or an author. In m/m romance, it’s wide open. There isn’t a heroine to assign certain roles to, and so I’m free to explore the characters and how their dynamic plays out. There’s also a certain amount of social activism in it for me. I hope that someone who reads my books will look at the next gay couple they meet with a more open mind.
36. What do you do when/if you get a bad review to get over it?
Honestly, I don’t read reviews unless the review coordinator from Dreamspinner sends them to me, and she only sends them if they’re useful for publicity, which means four stars or above, so I tend not to see bad reviews.
37. In the name of “research” what is the craziest thing you have ever bought? What is the naughtiest?
Honestly I’m not sure I’ve ever bought anything in the name of research. I’m not sure if that makes me cheap or if it means I just have a really good imagination.
38. Who is your favorite couple in your Partnership in Blood series? [From Vic]
Jean and Raymond are my favorite couple in that series. I love Alain and Orlando and Sebastien and Thierry as well, but Jean and Raymond were completely unexpected. They were supposed to be (and stay) dysfunctional. Instead they turned into the bedrock of the series. It’s kind of hard not to love that.
39. Do you listen to music when you write? What kind? And who is your favorite artist?
When I’m writing, I listen almost exclusively to instrumental music, usually soundtracks, because I find they’re good for evoking emotion. Howard Shore is my favorite soundtrack composer. When I’m not writing, I love listening to 80s music. (Yes, I’m dating myself here.)
40. Does your family know what you write?
Everyone knows except my father, and we’re going to do our best to keep it that way. My mother has no interest in reading it because she’s not interested in reading explicit sex of any variety. My sister has bought several of my books. My husband is pretty much boggled by it all, but he’s supportive because of how happy it makes me.
41. If you were president for the year what changes would you make?
Unfortunately being president isn’t a guarantee of being able to make changes, but legalizing gay marriage and adoption for gay couples on a national level would be one big change. Doing away with No Child Left Behind and replacing it with a program that allows teachers to tailor their instruction to the specific needs of their students rather than to a formulaic test would be the other big thing.
42. What do you think about authors getting involved in politics, debates, equality marches, and being an advocate for different things online?
I think that’s an individual choice, just as it is for actors or musicians who choose to become involved in politics. I admire anyone with the conviction to get involved in advocacy, even when I don’t agree with what they’re advocating. If their fame can help raise awareness of a good cause, I think it’s fantastic they would use it that way.
43. Do you snack while you write? On what?
Planter’s Deluxe Mixed Nuts. They’re my weakness.
44. Do you talk to your characters like they’re real people like some other authors?
All the time. They are real people in my head after all.
45. Have you ever wanted to give up writing?
I actually did for a while. For almost ten years, post college, I didn’t write anything. Then I started writing again about ten years ago, and I haven’t looked back.
46. Where do you see yourself in 5 Years? 10? 20?
Ideally, doing pretty much the same thing I’m doing now. I have twenty years (or more) before I reach retirement age, and I’d love to still be writing stories that entertain and inspire readers as well as helping to build Dreamspinner into the best company it can be.








*I want to thank Ariel again for stopping by The Purple Fantasy Den for Ask Author. Don't forget to leave a comment with your email address below for a chance to win a prize, donated by a very generous author.*

Time for questions for Ariel Tachna for Ask Author! Send your questions to [email protected] Ariel's going to be in the Hot Seat!