I’ve been tagged for this Fabulous Five blog hop by the equally fabulous Chris T Kat, whose latest book Tidal Change is now available from Dreamspinner.

What am I working on?

What I’m hoping to get to work on in the next few days is the final book in the Strength of the Pack series — Karl’s story. I wanted to start it as soon as I finished Blowing Off Steam, but things that were happening in the non-fictional world had to take priority.

How does my work differ from others in its genre?

I think that’s more for a reader to answer than it is for me. I can talk until the cows come home about characteristics of my work, but whether those differentiate it from others in the m/m genre, I really couldn’t say.  If anyone would like to venture an opinion, I’d love to hear! 🙂

Why do I write what I do?

I write M/M because I find the dynamics within M/M relationships fascinating. I read and enjoy M/F on occasion, but I don’have a particular interest in writing it. I struggle to come up with a female main character who interests me (though I love having strong female characters in supporting roles where the story permits) and on the odd occasion I’ve mused over a M/F plotline I’ve ended up entangled in all society’s baggage about gender roles.

As for the genres I write within M/M – I write whatever story comes to me at the time, and I can rarely tell in advance what that is going to be. I never expected to write one about trains, for example, though in retrospect I probably could have predicted the Masquerade series, with my love of all things Regency. I know it’s not exactly a Regency, being the tail end of the Georgian period and set in Venice, but it’s close enough.

How does my writing process work?

I tend to write in very short, concentrated bursts, then take a break doing something completely different (often just sitting quietly, with no stimuli) and wait for the next part to become ordered in my subconscious until it’s ready to be told. I try to capture concepts and feelings as they flow rather than get the sentence structure perfect, which means my first draft is a bit of a mess.

I always have a plan for the book in mind – I’m wary of starting one without knowing how it’s going to end, in case I write myself into a corner – but I don’t plan it all out in minute detail. Probably because half of the time the characters end up doing things that I hadn’t allowed for!  I often end up with themes emerging that I hadn’t expected.

Those who are paying attention will realise I’ve stopped at four questions rather than five. That’s because the fifth element is tagging someone else for this blog hop, but it seems as if I am the last person in the world to have done it!

 

I’m delighted to have the lovely Chris T Kat here today. Her new book, Secret Energy, was released yesterday – and while I haven’t yet read it (something I’m hoping to remedy later today), I’m already in love with the cover.

Welcome, Chris!

Joy, thank you very much for the opportunity to be a guest on your blog. Dreamspinner Press published my new release, Secret Energy, on August 29th. Secret Energy is a shape-shifter story, and the sequel to Secret Chemistry (http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3520).

Shape-shifters are humans that possess the ability to (consciously or sometimes subconsciously) alter their shape. The best-known trope in literature is the wolf-shifter, although the animal world is large. Wolves are followed by cats (big cats, like tigers, etc.) and dragons. Mostly the stories have the humans shift into animals when they’re already grown up.

While I like these kind of stories, I adore stories in which the human shifts into the baby form of an animal. It just gives me the warm fuzzies to portray small animals with their typical baby fur and behavior. It also allows me to portray the characters in a different way. That’s why I chose to write Jay as a child and Tim as a teenager in Secret Chemistry. Although there are no baby shifters in Secret Energy, Robin is a bundle of energy. 🙂 Continue reading “If I was a shifter what animal would I be? – Guest blog by Chris T Kat” →

The lovely Blogger Girls are hosting me today, with a Rafflecopter draw for a copy of Riding the Whirlwind. Drop by to enter, and to find out just how whipped I am by my characters. 😉

My train boys are very close to being finished, at long last. I’m relieved about this for more than the obvious reasons – I’ve discovered the whole myth about trainspotters being one of the most reviled groups in society isn’t just a myth. People really don’t want to discuss the different braking systems of steam locomotives over lunch, it seems. I find this perplexing. I’m obviously going to have to find a more socially acceptable research subject for my next book.

Meanwhile, Riding the Whirlwind has received a terrific 5 star review from Carly at The Romance Reviews – “A stunningly emotional and highly entertaining read” – and Shifting Sands has received a wonderful 10 Pots of Gold review from Tracy Gee at Rainbow Gold Reviews -“ The storyline is gripping, the plot is interesting and brilliantly written.”  

Thank you to both for taking the time to read and review. As always, I’m absolutely thrilled to learn that people are enjoying these books. 🙂

 

Riding the Whirlwind, book 5 in Strength of the Pack series, is now available on Amazon.

And later today, Inner Goddess’s Summer Lovin’ m/m romance party moves to Facebook. Lots of authors, lots of fun, and, knowing my fellow m/m readers and writers, lots of pictures of half-naked men. Do come and join in, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway. I’ll be hosting from 1-2pm EST so there’s a perfect opportunity to ask any questions you might have for me!

 

 

I’m over at Romancing the Book today, as part of their sixth anniversary celebrations! Do drop by and join in the conversation if you have a moment.

As well as finding out just why I can’t have a cat (or, more accurately, why a cat won’t take me on as staff), there’s a copy of one of my Strength of the Pack books on offer.

Where on earth has this year gone?  It probably hasn’t helped that I’ve had my head buried in my work in progress for the last few weeks, as my planned 30k word novella grew into a 65k word novel. All I need is one more clear day of writing and the first draft should be complete. Words that may come back to haunt me, of course.

Anyway, that’s why I’ve been so quiet of late. I have various things planned for August to make up for such a quiet month. I’m participating in the Facebook event which Inner Goddess are running from 14-17 August for lovers of m/m romance. There will be giveaways, and more, from 25 authors. Do come and join in the fun!

Romancing the Book are celebrating their sixth anniversary by running a series of themed weeks, all of which have been lots of fun so far. GLBT week is 11-15 August, and I’m guesting there August 14th.

Then on August 28th, I’m with the wonderful Blogger Girls, with a guest post and giveaway.

And finally, the lovely Chris T. Kat will be a guest here on August 30th to talk about her latest book.

I’ll post links here as each post goes live.

On a slightly different note, Serena Yates has given Riding the Whirlwind a lovely review at Rainbow Book Reviews:

“…exciting, suspenseful, and deeply emotional as the main characters battle it out…”

When I sat down to write this series, I had no intention of writing the full story of Christian and Dave’s trip to New Mexico. It was going to be covered by a couple of lines in the final book. But somehow these two wormed their way into my head, and Riding the Whirlwind is the result.

Five years undone in just five days.

Dave Mitchell and Christian Taylor are on a mission from their alpha—to discover what happened to a pack of Argent shifters thirteen years ago. Away from their pack and out of their usual routine, they find underlying tensions in their relationship coming to the surface.

When their investigation leads them to the resident pack, Christian seeks respite from his demons by throwing himself eagerly into the cage-fighting ring the pack runs. He knows Dave hates him to fight, but he also knows Dave will understand. Dave always understands.

But when Dave meets a kindred spirit among the pack members, all Christian’s certainties come crashing down around him. It becomes clear that their relationship might not survive this. And when things between them reach crisis point and the local pack gets involved, it may prove to be the death of more than just their relationship.

It’s now available from Siren BookStrand, with a 10% new-release discount until July 22nd.  It will also be available from the usual third-party retailers (Amazon, B&N, etc) in a few weeks time.

Riding the Whirlwind, Book V in the Strength of the Pack series, is now available for pre-order here. Released on July 15th, it follows the adventures of Christian and Dave in New Mexico during the events of Shifting Sands.

 

Five years undone in just five days.

Dave Mitchell and Christian Taylor are on a mission from their alpha—to discover what happened to a pack of Argent shifters thirteen years ago. Away from their pack and out of their usual routine, they find underlying tensions in their relationship coming to the surface.

When their investigation leads them to the resident pack, Christian seeks respite from his demons by throwing himself eagerly into the cage-fighting ring the pack runs. He knows Dave hates him to fight, but he also knows Dave will understand. Dave always understands.

But when Dave meets a kindred spirit among the pack members, all Christian’s certainties come crashing down around him. It becomes clear that their relationship might not survive this. And when things between them reach crisis point and the local pack gets involved, it may prove to be the death of more than just their relationship.

It’s been a while since my last post but I have a good excuse – I’ve been deep in writing a new book, and also doing edits for Riding the Whirlwind, which comes out next month.

I know a lot of you are waiting for Karl’s story in the Strength of the Pack series, and I’m thrilled and grateful that you’re enjoying the series so much! I will write it – I shudder to think what he’d do to me if I didn’t – but after finishing Riding the Whirlwind, I needed a temporary break from the shifters of Elk Ridge.

I’m very placid by nature, despite my red hair, and I hate confrontation. Christian, on the other hand, is a tightly wound ball of anger with a hair-trigger temper and offence is his defence. I found writing him to be quite exhausting. Added to which, the atmosphere is a little different from the other books in the series, and when I reached the end of it, I felt the need for a complete change before I start writing Karl’s story. That way I can ensure I do him, and the series, justice with the last book.

So in the last few weeks, I have learned more than I ever wanted to know about steam locomotives and their maintenance requirements in my research for a book that has a very different tone from the Elk Ridge pack. It features an engine driver, a trainspotter, and a spider called Mabel. Have I mentioned I’m arachnophobic?  These characters are determined to kill me.