Renae:  Today on my blog I have my fellow Australian author, Toni Griffin.  Now I can honestly say that Toni is an absolutely fabulous person – both as an author and in real life.  Toni holds a very special place in my heart, because she was the first person I met in Real Life, back in January 2014, before I was published.  Toni was visiting my city (she lives in Darwin, I live in Perth 2,000kms away) and invited me to morning tea at a coffee shop.

(Or did I invite myself?  Hmmm…)

Anyway, Toni is a super nice person, and I love having her visit my state, and my blog.

Toni has just re-released her novel Frankie’s Vamp (Hot Encounters #1).

The second Frankie Reynold's boyfriend took a hand to him, he was out of there. Frankie wasn't hanging around to see if the man would do it again. If only his ex-boyfriend would take the hint and disappear from his life. Needing a night out to forget his troubles Frankie heads to Hot Encounters nightclub. Only to come face to face with a master vampire who wants Frankie for his very own.

 Merrick Winters is a 500 year old vampire, who is bored with life and the monotony of the same men throwing themselves at him day after day. He needs a challenge and the sexy little man dancing in his clubs turns out to be just what he was looking for. The mate bond makes the strong attraction between the pair inevitable, but outside forces threaten to tear them apart before they can really get started.

Renae:  Thanks for joining me today, Toni.

Toni:  Thank you for having me and after an introduction like that how could I have said no? LOL. It was an absolute pleasure meeting you last year, and I had a ball catching up with you again a couple of weeks ago.

Renae:  This is a rerelease of this novel.  Can you tell us why?

Toni:  My previous publisher skipped town and left a great number of its authors high and dry. All the rights to my books were thankfully returned to me. It's taken a little while but my boys at the Hot Encounters nightclub finally have a new home and I couldn't be happier.

Renae:  The book was first published in 2013 – and since then you’ve written dozens of new novels.  Do you think your writing style has changed?  Grown?  Can you see differences?

Toni:  Oh god yes. Every time I look back at something I wrote years ago I start re writing the sentences in my head. Even as I write now I catch myself typing something and then yelling at myself for telling and not showing, so I go back and re write.

Renae:  This is a vampire novel.  Tell me, in this world, do humans know about vampires?  What about mate bonds?  Does Frankie need to learn all this stuff?

Toni:  In my world, yes, humans are aware of all the creatures that go bump in the night, so to speak. Paranormals came 'out' roughly five years ago. Different species have different bonds. With my Vampires, there is a mate bond that connects them. Some humans may know about this bond, while others only know that absolute basics about paranormals. Frankie, although he's heard the term before doesn’t understand the full ramifications.

Renae:  What do you think your reaction would be if someone approached you in a public setting and declared themselves a vampire and your mate?

Toni:  I think I would probably do what Frankie did. Escape by any means necessary. LOL.

Renae:  As a society, we’ve gone from being terrified of vampires, to loving the idea of them, and writing books with them as our romantic lead.  What’s changed?  Why do you think the idea of vampirism is so attractive today?

Toni:  For me personally, there's just something about the biting, the intimacy of two people being entwined so close together that they feel like one being. (As I imagine the bond between mates to be).

A great deal of the vampires these days are portrayed as strong, attractive, kind beings. Not the type that will suck you dry (in a bad way) for the fun of it. Vampires have definitely gone from the stuff of nightmares to the stuff of fantasies in recent times.

Renae:  There is another book in this series, Bryce’s Cop which is due for release in two weeks.  Will you be writing more to this series?

Toni:  I definitely will be adding to this series now that it's found a new home. I'd always intended to add more. I have at least the next two books in the rough outline stages for Hot Encounters, so I have no plans to stop anytime soon.

Renae:  When you write a book, do you have the series already planned out in your head?  Or do things flow from each book you write?

Toni:  It all depends on the series. LOL. Most of them have no plan at all. It's just a case of fly by the seat of my pants and hold on for the ride. Some things happen in a book that will set up the basis for the next one in the series and others come completely out of the blue.

Renae:  You’ve had amazing success with your shifter novels.  Do you think it is easier for you to write paranormal?  Do the storylines you imagine just automatically go along paranormal lines?

Toni:  Of the twenty books I've written only one of them is contemporary. That should give you some idea. LOL. I love writing paranormal, when you create your own world, the sky really is the limit in regards to things that you can and can't do. When you write contemp, then you're bound by the laws/rules/physics/reality that govern that place. I'm not so good with sticking to those.  **grin**

I am, however, writing another contemp, I seriously considered making it a paranormal, but I really just don't see that working. Unfortunately, Steps to You, has been sitting on my WIP list for nearly sixteen months now. I started and have written roughly 14k. The poor MS keeps getting shunted to the side as others are taking precedence. I am determined to finish this story this year, so help me, it will get done!

Renae:  You are also releasing Corey (Atherton Pack #3) in a couple of weeks.  There’s been a long time between releases for Atherton Pack.  Has the build-up been amazing?

Toni:  I don't know if I would say it's been amazing. I think there are some readers out there that want to strangle me for taking so long. *hides behind Renae* Corey needed a lot of work, where as I was fairly happy with both Ben and Liam's stories. I really wasn't happy with the way Ethan came off in the first version and needed to change that. It took me some time to get my head back into the mode of AP but once I did the story started flowing again and I ended up adding over 13k to the book.

Renae:  Where can people contact you?

Toni:  I can be found on my website www.tonigriffin.net

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toni.griffin.author

Or email: info@tonigriffin.net

Renae:  Thanks for visiting Toni.  I’ve loved having you here.

Toni:  Thank you so much for hosting me today, I've had a blast.

I've decided to put these fascinating points from this news article (link) here so that I can find them again.  (Article from Johan Hari's book, Chasing The Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs).





I have been turning over the essential mystery of addiction in my mind — what causes some people to become fixated on a drug or a behaviour until they can’t stop?

The experiment is simple. Put a rat in a cage, alone, with two water bottles. One is just water. The other is water laced with heroin or cocaine.

Almost every time you run this experiment, the rat will become obsessed with the drugged water, and keep coming back for more and more, until it kills itself.

The advert explains: “Only one drug is so addictive, nine out of ten laboratory rats will use it. And use it. And use it. Until dead. It’s called cocaine. And it can do the same thing to you.”

But in the 1970s, a professor of Psychology in Vancouver called Bruce Alexander noticed something odd about this experiment. The rat is put in the cage all alone. It has nothing to do but take the drugs. What would happen, he wondered, if we tried this differently?

So Professor Alexander built Rat Park.

It is a lush cage where the rats would have coloured balls and the best rat-food and tunnels to scamper down and plenty of friends: everything a rat about town could want. What, Alexander wanted to know, will happen then?

In Rat Park, all the rats obviously tried both water bottles, because they didn’t know what was in them. But what happened next was startling. The rats with good lives didn’t like the drugged water. They mostly shunned it, consuming less than a quarter of the drugs the isolated rats used. None of them died. While all the rats who were alone and unhappy became heavy users, none of the rats who had a happy environment did.

After the first phase of Rat Park, Professor Alexander then took this test further. He reran the early experiments, where the rats were left alone, and became compulsive users of the drug. He let them use for fifty-seven days — if anything can hook you, it’s that. Then he took them out of isolation, and placed them in Rat Park.

He wanted to know, if you fall into that state of addiction, is your brain hijacked, so you can’t recover? Do the drugs take you over? What happened is — again — striking. The rats seemed to have a few twitches of withdrawal, but they soon stopped their heavy use, and went back to having a normal life.

The good cage saved them.


Here’s one example of an experiment that is happening all around you, and may well happen to you one day. If you get run over today and you break your hip, you will probably be given diamorphine, the medical name for heroin. In the hospital around you, there will be plenty of people also given heroin for long periods, for pain relief. The heroin you will get from the doctor will have a much higher purity and potency than the heroin being used by street-addicts, who have to buy from criminals who adulterate it.

So if the old theory of addiction is right — it’s the drugs that cause it; they make your body need them — then it’s obvious what should happen. Loads of people should leave the hospital and try to score smack on the streets to meet their habit.

But here’s the strange thing: It virtually never happens.  The same drug, used for the same length of time, turns street-users into desperate addicts and leaves medical patients unaffected.  The medical patient is like the rats in the second cage. She is going home to a life where she is surrounded by the people she loves. The drug is the same, but the environment is different.




Professor Peter Cohen argues that human beings have a deep need to bond and form connections.  It’s how we get our satisfaction.  If we can’t connect with each other, we will connect with anything we can find — the whirr of a roulette wheel or the prick of a syringe.

He says we should stop talking about ‘addiction’ altogether, and instead call it ‘bonding.’ A heroin addict has bonded with heroin because she couldn’t bond as fully with anything else.

So the opposite of addiction is not sobriety.  It is human connection.

Renae:  Hi Felice, and welcome to my blog!  I’m very happy to have you visit me.  For those who don’t know, Felice was an outstanding debut author for 2014.  Her first novel, Rescued went to #1 on Amazon.  Congratulations!

Felice:    Thank you! No one was more shocked than I. But I’m very grateful people loved the guys and the puppies.

Renae:  Now Felice is getting set to release her third novel.  Memories of the Heart is due out in February.

Ruthless, Controlling, A Loner. All words used to describe Dr. Micah Steinberg by the hospital staff for their next head of surgery. When a letter arrives from his grandmother’s friend at the assisted living facility, his orderly world tilts dangerously out of control. 

Josh Rosen had everything until it was revealed much of his world was a lie. Forced to re-evaluate his life, Josh gives up his career and returns home to New York City to care for his beloved grandmother. What Josh didn’t figure on was an attraction to a man who on the surface, appears to be exactly like the life Josh chose to leave behind.

As Micah struggles with the reality of his grandmother’s illness, the bond these two share deepens, as Josh helps Micah heal, then open his heart. Micah discovers there is more to life than work, control and success. Josh is in deep but has yet to tell Micah who he really is.
When the fight for the hospital’s head of surgery turns ugly, Josh’s past and present collide. Micah must let go of the past and accept who he is, if his life is going to move forward.

Life is full of surprises, and as both Micah and Josh learn, love can happen whether you plan for it or not.

 

Renae:  This is another book with a medical theme in it (A Walk Through Fire also has a medical theme).  Is it just a coincidence?  Or are you drawn to writing about medical stuff?

Felice:    It’s funny because I’m not a doctor (nor do I play one on TV. Lol) It is a coincidence. I know many doctors but maybe its years of watching soap operas set in hospitals or all the drama that surrounds people. So basically, yeah, it’s a coincidence.

Renae:  In Memories of the Heart, Josh gives up his career and moves on.  In A Walk Through Fire Ash is running away from his abusive life.  In Rescued Ryder is turned away.  Do you think rejection is also a part of your writing?

Felice:    I think rejection is so often a part of our lives, whether we are gay or not. We apply to college and get rejected and never know why. We fall in love and one day our SO may turn to us and say they’ve fallen in love with someone else and walk away. The dream job we thought we were perfect for was given to someone else.  Growing up one of my closest friends was gay but never felt comfortable telling us until she was in her twenties. And I recently found out another friend whom I haven’t seen since we were young, committed suicide because of family issues. So yes, rejection is an important aspect of life almost everyone comes across, one way or another.

Renae:  Your first two books were published through Loose Id, now this one is self-published.  Is there a reason for this?  Or are you just trying new things?

Felice:    I am trying something new. I love my editor at Loose Id and the entire staff there are a pleasure to work with. I am curious to see how it will work.

Renae:  Is self-publishing scary?

Felice:    Yeees. What’s even scarier is that my computer is on its last legs and I never know when I open it, if it will turn on. But I’m trying to wait for the new Macbooks to come out, so I won’t so completely out dated the second I buy a new one.

Renae:  Your blurb says you are a lawyer.  Is writing a hobby for you, or is it much more than that?

Felice:    I don’t think writing and trying to get published could be a hobby. It takes years of hard work; I took classes, belong to critique groups and wrote, wrote, wrote. I belong to RWA and several chapters. It is very hard with a full time job, two teenagers and a husband who doesn’t quite get it yet, but I’m balancing it all, at least for now.

Renae:  What are your hopes for your writing?

Felice:    To grow with each book I write. I want to progress to make each book better than the next.

Renae:  Do you think you have a certain type of character you write about?  A certain scenario?

Felice:    I love a broody alpha man with the heart of gold. **grins**

Renae:  What is next from you?  What are you working on now?

Felice:    Well…on February 24th, the second book of my To Hell and Back series is coming out. The tentative title is “After the Fire,” and it is Luke’s story. He is one of Ash’s foster brothers he’s been looking for. I am in the middle of writing the third and final book in the series. I’m also thinking about a character in Memories of the Heart and how he needs his own book. 

Renae:  Where can people contact you?

Felice:    I am almost always on FB, in some capacity or another thanks to technology 

https://www.facebook.com/felice.stevens.1
https://www.facebook.com/felicestevensauthor
Twitter @felice stevens1
Website: http://www.felicestevens.com/

Renae:  Thank you for coming along to my blog for the day.  I wish you all the luck with your newest release.

Felice:  Thank you for having me!   

Renae:  Hi, Vicktor.  Thanks for visiting on my blog.  People may notice I’ve squeezed you in, and it’s because I really wanted you to visit.  I’ve been having visitors each Wednesday, but for you, I’ve made an exception!  **wink**

Vicktor:  Awww thanks so much Renae! I love being “squeezed in” places. I’m actually really good at it. **winks back**  Glad to be here.  **waves at everyone**  Hiya all!

Renae:  Today Vicktor is here to promo his newest release Delicious Mistake, which is the third in his series of Mistakes, following on from The Perfect Mistake (#1) and Glorious Mistake (#2).


Delicious Mistake (Mistakes #3).

Miguel Rodriguez believes that love makes the strongest of men weak and wants no part of it, but when he meets Julian Canton, he makes one delicious mistake that will change both their lives forever.

Miguel Rodriguez stood by his friend Xavier’s side when evidence of his affair with another man came out. He also stuck by Xavier when he disappeared from Atlanta and moved to the mountains of Wyoming. But he will not stand by Xavier when he decides to marry his young lover and still run for the Senate.

Hopping on a plane to Wyoming, Miguel finds himself meeting Julian Canton, a young man who has no political ambitions and doesn’t even vote, and yet Miguel finds himself fascinated. Miguel makes the mistake of upgrading Julian’s ticket so they can get to know each other better and somehow finds himself in Riverton, WY, holding Julian’s hand as he says goodbye to his brother. Giving in to his attraction to the young man, Miguel struggles not only with his physical attraction but with his emotional one as well. When he compounds his mistake by inviting Julian along with him to talk to Xavier, he soon finds himself feeling something he has never felt before. Will he join his friend Xavier in listening to his heart or will he walk away?

Renae:  You write a lot of books that are in a series.  Does it come easily to you as an author?  Do you prefer series or stand-alones?

Vicktor:  It comes really easy to me and I think it’s because I actually prefer series books myself. I think it’s because I was always the kid who wanted to know what happened after Prince Charming and the Princess rode off into the sunset together. I needed to know that they were still happy after the kiss, after the wedding, after they said I loved you to each other. And I’m so big on wanting everyone to be happy that I even wanted the friends and secondary characters to get their HEAs while I found out what happened with the first couple. So when I read books I want that epilogue, but I want the series as well. I want to be assured that they don’t get a divorce later on. That one of them doesn’t end up cheating on the other one, or taking advantage of the other one, or abusing the other, or being a gold digger, or whatever. LOL. It’s probably a little bit because I’m a child of divorce and probably also because I’m a cynical, paranoid, suspicious asshole. So even if it is a HEA, I need another book just to be sure. Which is why I end up writing the same way.

Renae:  I love the theme of these books – “mistakes” that turn to love.  Do you think it happens like this in real life?

Vicktor:  Oh yeah I totally do. I think the belief and the expectation that falling in love will be all rainbows, sunshine, roses, unicorns, and perfection is a fantasy and a miracle. It’s rare. Extremely rare. Most of the time when I hear people talk about how they ended up with their SOs it’s a story that is different. They talk about the mishaps, the “mistakes,” the way their relationship is different from the norm. To them it may not seem like a mistake anymore, but at the time maybe they thought it was. They went into the wrong room at the dorm and met the love of their life, they bumped into someone who ended up being the love of their life, they went on a blind date that went horribly and when they stormed out they met the love of their life, they tried to call someone and ended up calling the wrong number and the person who picked up the phone ended up being the person they married. These “mistakes” are these delightful ways and curveballs that life throws us in order for us to meet those who will end up being very special to us. It’s beautiful and makes for a great story as well.

Renae:  One of the things I love about your writing is that your characters are not always white.  I stand and applaud you on this, because I enjoy reading this, and after all, it is a true representation of our society.  Why do you think there aren’t more books out with non-white characters?

Vicktor:  -sigh- You know, I ask this question of other authors ALL. THE. DAMN. TIME. I will say that there are more non-white characters now than there were when I first started reading and writing books in this genre. That makes me happy, we are making progress. 

But too often I hear the “I don’t want to get anything wrong or offend anyone,” answer when it comes to writing a non-white character. I try really hard not to roll my eyes when I get that because I understand it. I do  (And I’m not so sure I’ve done so well not rolling my eyes, if I have rolled my eyes at you, I apologize.), the problem is, by saying that, they’re already offending me. Because the fact of the matter is they’re stereotyping. I’m not exactly sure how much more difficult it would be to do “research” of a non-white character than it would be for a straight woman to do research of a gay man. There are plenty of non-white readers out there who would no doubt be happy to talk all about their childhood and cultures, as would I. 

One of the biggest things that I always point out, of course, is that if I, as a “non-white”, multi-ethnic, black man can write a white character then why can’t other authors write black gay men? There are black gay men out there. –points at self- Hello?! 

One of my favourite books featuring a non-white character, not written by myself, was Bolt-Hole by Amy Lane. She captured the personality and the thoughts so well that I told her I was Terrell at different points in my life. So all of that to say, I think that there are authors who want to write non-white characters but are nervous because they don’t want to write stereotypical characters, but stereotypes come about because there are people out there who are like that, but they also don’t want to write a character who doesn’t have the “ethnic markers,” which is hilarious to me, my friends Taylor Law and Max Vos are both waaaay more black than I am. I also think that maybe they just haven’t had any characters who are non-white who have spoken to them yet. And that’s fine if that’s the reason. 

But I’m hoping that slowly but surely there will be more books out there with non-white characters as the lead MCs finding love so that when non-white teens, YAs, NAs, and even older adults read these books they’ll know that love is possible for them as well and they don’t have to be pale skinned, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, thin, muscled, and gorgeous to get it.

Renae:  Vicktor-thy-name-is-kink.  I understand that there is BDSM in this story?  Do you think it is a suitable book for those looking to dip their toe into the kink-pool-of-endless-depths?  Or is this story designed to rev the engines of even the hard-core readers?

Vicktor:  Oh yes there is. I love myself some BDSM. Delicious Mistake is more on the tame side of kink. So it’s more of a dip-your-toe type of book. Nothing too hard-core is going to happen here, though, as with any and all BDSM books and anyone thinking of swimming the depths of the SSC (Safe, Sane, and Consensual) Lifestyle, reading the book should only be read for entertainment purposes, and no part of the book should be followed with a trained professional. Hard-core or not. But, compared to some of my other works, like It’s You, Then Breathing or Before You Go or The Alpha King this is very tame. There’s even going to be a book in the Scandalous Whispers of the Remmington Realm series that’s going to be more hard-core than this one. But this one is still BDSM yumminess, for sure.

Renae:  Your Mistakes series seems to be very much “opposite attract.”  Do you think this is representative of life too, or is more that “oil and water don’t mix”?

Vicktor:  I think it’s different for each couple. I think having some similarities are good, you want someone who wants the same things in life (I was with someone who inevitably didn’t want to have kids, wasn’t versatile and wasn’t open to having a menage relationship so I’d never be able to be on the receiving end-granted, it’s not all the time, but it happens, and was staunchly opposed to certain things that are important to me. Those are similarities that are important in a relationship) so you don’t wind up being with someone for years only to find out that it won’t work or harbouring resentment because you gave up on your dream or compromised on it to make them happy, like Jennifer Aniston did with Ben Affleck in He’s Just Not That Into You. But I think too, most people tend to be drawn to people who have some differences with them, because it helps to keep the relationship fresh. It’s nice to have someone who challenges you, who is different from you because then it’s not like dating yourself. However, there are those who like dating someone similar because then they’re assured that they will have someone with whom they can hold a conversation and have fun with. So yes, I think the Mistakes series is representative of life, but only one-aspect of it.

Renae:  Reading the blurb and excerpts of this book, it seems to be that Miguel is fighting his attraction, and one of the reasons is the age of Julian.  Some people seem to have a “type” of person they are attracted to, yet if they come forward with this particular attraction, they are crucified for their narrow-mindedness.  Attraction to only older/younger guys is one of the things that are not always seen as “politically correct.”  Do you think it’s sour grapes on behalf of those protesting?  Or do you think they are cutting themselves off by not being more open minded?

Vicktor:  I feel bad for anyone who says that they would “never” date someone who is [insert restriction based on gender, race, body type, interest, age (as long as they’re legal and consenting), religion, education, etc. here] because they could be missing out on the greatest love of their life because of some preconceived prejudice or bias. Now, if it’s something like BDSM or watersports or something like that, I understand, that’s a sexual interest, but never wanting to date someone who’s an athlete? Or never wanting to date a black person? Or never wanting to date someone who’s much younger/older than you? Just because of those things? That’s ridiculous to me. And I do think that sometimes people who protest against those who do date someone who is younger/older than them are doing so because they are jealous, but I also think it’s because they have some idea of what is “acceptable” when it comes to relationships and couples and love. It’s also the reason why interracial couples had to fight to be able to marry after they were being killed if they were caught together, and why same-sex couples are fighting for that right still today.

Renae:  When you wrote the first book in this series, did you already have the others planned out?  Or did you just write the book, then pick up on the thread laid down in front of you?

Vicktor:  LOL. I always say that when I start a book I never know that it’s going to turn into a series, but when I wrote The Perfect Mistake I knew it was going to turn into a series. When I submitted it to Totally Bound I actually told my editor, Jenny Douglas, that it was going to be an eight book novella series. I only recently told her that the Mistakes series was going to spinoff into a three book novel series entitled Lovdorish. Yeah, she thought that was funny. I actually let TB know what each of the books were going to be about in the series when they were getting ready to contract the first book. They ended up contracting the entire series. So they know everything that’s going to happen in the series and so do I which is awesome. That doesn’t usually happen.

Renae:  How many books are you planning for this series?

Vicktor:  Eight for the Mistakes series and three for the spinoff: Lovdorish.

Renae:  So what is next from you?  What are you releasing?  What are you working on?

Vicktor:  LOL. What’s next? Well, Delicious Mistake just released. My first F/F novella just released under my other penname: Veronica Victorian with Rooster & Pig Publishing, Inc. 

But as far as Vicktor Alexander goes, I am trying to recover from almost losing everything when my computer crashed. I was almost finished with four different books: Happiness in All Sizes for some publisher… not sure which yet, The Servant Duchess of Whitcomb (Scandalous Whispers of the Remmington Realm, 2) for Dreamspinner Press, Unfit (The Undesirables, 1)—written under my M/F penname V. Vee—it’s an Urban Fantasy for Rooster & Pig Publishing, Inc., and The Beta Prince (Passion’s Hero, 2) for Rooster & Pig Publishing, Inc. and I lost everything that wasn’t backed up since December 14th or saved since January 5th. 

So I’ll be getting back to those as well as working on Wonderful Mistake and Best Mistake books four and five in the Mistakes series for Totally Bound Publishing. 

My next release is Layne, River, & Damion from the Storming Love: Blizzard anthology from MLR Press, which releases February 13th the day before Valentine’s Day (what a great V-day gift, huh?) and is the short that leads up to novel: Real. Love. Divine. (Nice play on the initials from River, Layne, and Damion, there.). 

And I’m also going to be working on Ready Made Family (Flip the Coin, 1) which is the full-length novel of what was once Chocolate Vanilla Swirl and was released with the “Publisher that shall not be named” and I’ll be submitting RMF to Dreamspinner Press. 

Other than that? I’m pretty sure that should get me through to February. Maybe.

Renae:  Where can people find you and contact you?

Vicktor:  
http://www.vicktoralexander.com 
http://www.authorvicktoralexander.com 
vicktoralexander@vicktoralexander.com 
http://www.facebook.com/AuthorVicktorAlexander 
http://www.tsu.co/VicktorAlexander 
http://www.facebook.com/VicktorAlexanderB 
http://www.twitter.com/VVeeB 
http://www.vicktoralexander.tumblr.com 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VicktorAlexander

Renae:  Thanks for visiting!  I’ve had great fun.  I hope this series is a wonderful success.

Vicktor:  Thank you sooo much Renae! I had fun being here. Thanks so much for having me. I look forward to coming back sometime and thanks for the well wishes. Spank you later!

Renae:  Hi CJane!  Thanks for joining me on my blog today.  I love meeting new friends and new-to-me authors.

CJane: Hi Renae! Thanks so much for having me on your blog. I appreciate it!

Renae:  I see you’ve had a wonderful new New Year’s present – a new release.  Congratulations.  For those who have been partying too hard, CJane’s new book is called Wild and Precious.

Aspiring writer Brent Granger has good friends and a great job at an arts magazine in DC, but he’s batting zero in the arena of love. Brent begins to get a clue why things aren’t working with women from his strong attraction to his gorgeous, gay, and already attached boss, Graham Stoneford. When he sees a personal ad from a man that quotes his favorite poet, Brent decides to do something wild and answer.

Enter Cody Bellstrom, easygoing bisexual musician, who is happy to initiate Brent in the ways of gay sex. Brent now has a new problem: he realizes he’s gay and no one in his life knows it. Cody tires of hiding their relationship, but Brent finds it challenging to come out to family, friends, and especially to Graham. In the end, Brent must confront the truth of where—and with whom—his heart lies.

**Renae’s eyes light up**  Oooh, good story line!  What gave you the idea to do this story?

CJane: Wild and Precious came out of a prompt in an m/m writing community, to re-imagine a movie as an m/m romance. The movie I chose was Kissing Jessica Stein.  It’s a cute movie about a woman in New York City who tires of trying to find a man and decides to try out being with a woman.  She answers a personal ad and meets Helen, with whom she starts a relationship. The relationship doesn’t last, and neither does Jessica’s adventure in same-sex relationships.

In my re-imagining of the story, Brent is Southern and living in Washington, D.C.  And I have Brent’s “adventure in gay-ness” evolve into Brent claiming his true sexual identity as a gay man.

The other theme in the movie which I kept in the story is that of having the courage to pursue what you’re passionate about. For Jessica, that was being an artist and for Brent it’s being a writer.

Renae:  One thing that is often bandied around in M/M romance is whether stories are “true” to how it is to be gay.  Do you really think that a man could make it to adulthood without accepting he has gay desires?  Does this happen in real life?

CJane: I think it can happen. Brent was raised in a small town in Kentucky with the traditional conservative and Christian values that are often part of those communities. Everyone attended church and everyone knew each other’s “business.” There wasn’t much room for same-sex exploration in Brent’s younger life and it was easier for him to not deal with it. He had a girlfriend in high school who everyone thought he would marry, and he dated her through most of college. I think Brent was aware of his attraction to men, but was going along with what was expected of him. Why didn’t Brent break free sooner, especially when he moved to the big city? Brent is unassuming in general and rather passive in the area of romance. He was focusing on other things like his writing and his new career, and letting his friends try to figure out his romantic life by setting him up with women. One of the great things in the story is how Brent finally starts to take on his own life and make choices that are scary but more true to who he is.

Renae:  In this book, Brent is a writer and Cody a musician.  In Aiden’s Journey, Aiden is in theatre and Patrick an actor.  In Serpentine Walls the characters are in film.  Your other characters are usually actors, artists or musicians.  Is this an interest of yours?  Do you have acting and music in your background?

CJane: Yes, I acted in school plays in high school, and played piano and sang in choirs through college. I’ve always loved movies and one of my nieces is in film school. I enjoy being on stage and although I didn’t pursue acting as a career, I had a job as a course leader for large groups of people. It felt quite natural being up there in the spotlight. I love creative artists of all kinds.

Renae:  Your author blurb says you’re a psychotherapist.  What is that?

CJane: Basically a shrink, as in someone who provides mental health therapy. In the U.S. therapy can be provided by a number of professions, and I am a licensed clinical social worker.

Renae:  Do you think your training helps or hinders your writing?

CJane: Hmm, that’s an interesting question. I said “helps” but then I stopped to think. My fascination with the human psyche does help in understanding character motivations, I think. And Aidan’s Journey, for example, was one big psychological exploration. But not every book has to delve so deep, so now I wonder if it doesn’t hinder me in writing that frothy romantic comedy that I so love to read!

Renae:  Serpentine Walls has turned into a series.  Is there going to be more in the series?

CJane: Yes. I had no plans at first for Serpentine Walls to become the Serpentine Series, but when I was writing that novel, the character of Aidan was so compelling to me that I wanted to write his story, which became the second novel, Aidan’s Journey. I’m now writing the third novel in the series, which is the story of Jed, another character from Serpentine Walls, and two more spin-offs are planned from that book. One will be the story of Jed’s older brother Kent and Kent’s sexy college roommate Tucker. The other will be the story of Morocco, a transgender female and the cousin of Charlie, Jed’s love interest . I also have a few other characters floating around, such as Lee who was in both Serpentine Walls and Aidan’s Journey. He goes off to work on a cruise ship as an entertainer … love on the high seas!

Renae:  With Wild and Precious, is one of your characters wild, and the other precious?

CJane: Not exactly! The title comes from a Mary Oliver poem, The Summer’s Day, which has this great final line: Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? The story centers on how Brent answers that question for himself.

Renae:  What’s next from you?

CJane:  I’m working on the third novel in the Serpentine Series now, with a projected release date of August, and hope to have the fourth one out by the end of this year.  As I said, the third novel has Jed Carter from Serpentine Walls as the main character.  If you haven’t read Serpentine Walls, Jed is the nice, shy guy that the main character Pete starts a “friends with benefits” relationship with, even though Jed would like more. Readers identified with Jed and I wanted to write a book where he gets his own happy ending.

Renae:  How can people contact you?

CJane:  
Email: cjaneelliott@gmail.com
Website: www.cjaneelliott.com
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/CJaneElliott
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CJaneElliott

Renae:  Thanks for visiting CJane!  It’s been great having you.  I wish you luck with your wonderful releases and I can’t wait to get into it.

CJane: Thanks so much, Renae! You asked some interesting questions and it was a pleasure answering them.

Recently the furore went around about fake people behind pen-names.  Yes, unfortunately I speak about the Emmett Skipper situation.

I was hurt by this individual.  Really hurt.  Because although I wouldn’t have said I was a close friend of “Emmett”, I’d had several long conversations and supported the author on my website.  Just like I do for all authors.

The sad thing, I wouldn’t have done a single thing different if this person had put themselves out in the world as female writer.  I was supporting the writer not the person.  The hurt bit came from the dishonesty surrounding the creation of the fake person, one that hurt many of my friends.

Recently something else has cropped up to my attention where it was shouted loud and clear, 
                     “I use a pseudonym to protect my family.”  

The comment was directed at me, and I was surprised.  Because don’t we all?  Talk about grasping the wrong end of the stick. I don't believe I have ever once implied that pen names should not be used. I’ve talked to a LOT of authors and really, most of us use pen names.  I have absolutely no problem with someone using a pen name.  A pseudonym.  A fake name.  A name of the opposite gender.  Initials.  Nope.  I have no problem with people who protect themselves.

Do you know those quizzes we get on Facebook?  And the question pops up again and again: What do you value most in a friend?  My answer is always HONESTY.

And I’m not talking about an “honest” name, I’m talking about what is on the inside.  That ability to be honest with me about who you are and your motives.  Not to be someone else because that’s what you think I want.  Not to fake it.  Not to fake friendship.  Not to fake interest because of something YOU want out of me.

I’d rather you were honest with me, because, do you know what?  I’m accepting of all people.  (Except the dishonest ones).   You vote for a different political party? So what?  You like Fan Fic and I don’t?  So what?  You like pop music and I don’t?  So what?  Honest friendship survives around differences.

So to that person who thinks that they can stomp on the friendship that once existed between us?  To use me and abuse the hand of friendship?  To do your own thing without thought to feelings of the other?  Yes.  I call you dishonest.

Oh, wow.

That phrase just keeps echoing through my head.

Oh, wow.

Yeah – I know.  I’m being dorky.  But, oh, wow.  **wink**

Sunday morning I woke to the news that my first novel Loving Jay had been voted the winner of the Goodreads’ MM Romance Group’s Member’s Choice Awards in the category of Best Book Debut.

Nah!  Couldn’t be!

But I checked, and there it was.  And look – they even sent me a badge!

But even more amazing, is my lovely little book won a third place too!




Even though I am still sitting here stunned at the news 36 hours later, I want to say thank you.  Thank you to many, many people who helped get to this spot.  Because I in no way delude myself in believing that this book came to win this award from only my sole effort.  Let’s see who:

1.  Thank you to my BFF who gave me the encouragement to write.

2.  Thank you to my husband and children who I ignored while I was writing.

3.  Thank you to Aaron for the inspiration behind Jay.

4.  Thank you to NR Walker who encouraged me to do something with my story.

5.  Thank you to Dreamspinner for having faith in me.

6.  Thank you to Liz who had the daunting task of editing the story.

7.  Thank you to the second editor, the proof readers and everyone else who polished with me.

8.  Thank you to Paul Richmond who organised me a cover, and Maria Fanning who did my great cover.

9.  Thanks to all at Dreamspinner who did all the little bits to get this published.

10.  Thank you to Nic Starr who held my hand through the wait for it to be released.

THEN

11.  Thank you to every single person who bought a copy and read it.  THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!

12.  Thank you to the reviewers who took the time to share their thoughts on their websites.

13.  Thank you to the readers who took the time to send me emails, messages and pretty pictures – YOU GUYS ARE BRILLIANT!

14.  Thank you to every person who gave me a great rating or wrote a great review on sites such as Amazon, Goodreads and ARe that helped spread the word about my book.

15.  Thank you to those who wrote reviews that weren’t so good, because they helped show me where I was going wrong.

16.  Thank you to the authors and readers who said to their friends, “Hey, this isn’t half-bad.”

17.  Thank you for the friendships on social media and through my website.

18.  Thank you to the tireless efforts of the MM Romance Group’s mods who set this award up.

19.  Thank you to those who nominated my books for the categories.

20.  AND FINALLY thank you for all those who voted for me. 

BECAUSE:  without all of these little steps, I wouldn’t have received this great award.  So every person who contributed to this, deserves a tiny piece of the award.