MM Romance/Yaoi Author of the Week: B. D Heywood

I’m pleased to have with me here today M/M Romance and Yaoi author: B. D. Heywood. I am a huge fan of this author! Hey Bee Dee, thank you for joining me this week.

I am delighted to be here. Is everyone comfy? Got a glass of wine, beer? Cuppa tea?

[Gee, (grumbles under breath,) no one else asked for refreshments... tea? she wants tea?] 

Um, sure I have some darjeeling around here somewhere, hang on a minute... Okay, now...

COULD YOU PLEASE SHARE THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE YOU?

Armed and dangerous? Just kidding. That is such a hard one to answer but I’d go with Compassionate. Committed. Creative. (Don’t you just love alliteration?)

Hmmm, um, yeah... they're delightful...  [And now my readers you see why I am impressed: Alliteration: The commencement of two or more words of a word group with the same letter, as in apt alliteration's artful aid.]

PLEASE ORGANIZE THESE WORDS, PLACING THE MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU FIRST AND BRIEFLY EXPLAIN YOUR REASON. FAMILY, WRITING, SEX, MUSIC, FRIENDS, ANIMALS, LOVE, SPORTS, CHILDREN

LOVE: is totally and always at the top of my list. Without love, there is no purpose to our existence as human beings. It is the single quality that makes us human and makes the rest of this world endurable.

FAMILY: I am lucky to have a loving and supportive family that have stuck with me through the many transmutations of my lifestyle.

CHILDREN: I have three, all adults. All somewhat confounded by my writing choices but still standing in the wings giving me high-fives, setting off fireworks and going, “You rock!”

FRIENDS: I have the most wonderful group of friends anyone could ever have. Each one has given me so much more in the way of love and support than I could ever repay. And if that sounds too sentimental, consider this: Genuine friends are rare in this world of instant “friending” and mass-people connecting as in:

“How many FB friends do you have, Marge?”

“Oh, as of yesterday, I have 2,800, Tom.”

“Well, that’s nothing. I just topped 11,200 close, personal, FB friends.”

“Wow, Tom. You are so popular.”

So it is wonderful to have people in my life that I trust with something as intimate as the creation of a fictional story about men falling in love. And all of my friends read my writing in various stages.

WRITING: Now there was something I thought I’d never do again. Four years ago, when I retired from my career in journalism I was totally burned out. Done, done, done. Till the fiction bug hit me after seeing my first shonen-ai anime, Yami no Matsui. Within weeks, I discovered the wonderful world of yaoi fan fiction. Now when I think of a story or part of a story or a scene or even a line, my brain will not stop spinning until those words are written down on paper or ensconced in little megabytes somewhere.  

ANIMALS: Especially horses that have been a major part of my life since I was six. Animals have a closer connection to the Divine. They do not judge. Human beings are the caretakers of other living things and it is our responsibility to ensure their time on this plane is peaceful. And makes us worthy of sharing this planet. (OK, someone bring me a ladder so I can get off this soapbox)

MUSIC: Inspires us, makes us laugh, cry, can wrench emotions from us that we never allow ourselves to express otherwise. Makes us move our feet, our booties, our bodies. Makes sex and the rest of living totally delectable.

SEX: Without it, life would be pretty, damn dull. And books like mine or Alex’s would not exist. Well, I guess they’d exist but in another genre and all the tasty bits would be absent. Sex for fun (only talking safe sex here, folks) is wonderful. When sex evolves from a connection between partners, it is fantastic. And when you add in love, it is utterly sublime.

SPORTS: Blech! I don’t like any conventional sports. In fact, I just don’t “get it” when it comes to those tribal gatherings where people paint themselves with the colors of a particular team and consume massive quantities of food and beverage and in general go berserk. Still, I’ve competed in equestrian sport since I was about twelve-years-old so I admire all athletes for the dedication it takes to participate in any sport.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING?

My career in journalism started about 25 years ago. But I wrote—as in typed on an old Olivetti—my first novel (a sci-fi) when I was fifteen. I began serious fiction writing four years ago.  

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON RIGHT NOW?

Eternal Warrior, the sequel to Eternal Samurai, which follows the story of two of the ES characters, Chain Passebon and Kaiden Galloway. This book includes a third major character, Youji Torres, and by the time the adventure is over, they are a threesome. 

I also have several short stories for an M/M erotic anthology. Not all stories in it though, are HEA or even HFNs. And I have just completed a coming-out play, titled Fourteen Hours to Megadeth, for a local LGBT theater event.

WHICH CHARACTERS IN YOUR BOOKS DO YOU IDENTIFY WITH, AND WHY?

The Irish mercenary, Bana Murtagh, from Eternal Samurai. He is older than most of the other characters. He is irascible, irreverent and despite being disillusioned with the world around him, he will still fight to the death for what he thinks is right. He also uses Berettas, one of my favorite firearms.   

SHARE THE NAMES OF A FEW AUTHORS WHO INSPIRE YOU.

Marion Zimmer Bradley for The Catch Trap. Patricia Nell Warren in which her The Front Runner so poignantly depicts those early years when we were fighting for equal rights. These benchmark novels attest to the fact that women can tell a sensitive yet powerful and emotional story from the POV of a gay man. Eowyn Wood, who is not afraid to write about the controversial topics of teenage prostitution, drug abuse and the enduring power of love in her books Naked in the Rain and the sequel Afterglow. 

AI NO KUSABI

        My first exposure to supernatural M/M erotica was Shadow Harvest by James Buchanan. First vampire book? Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Now, that’s a book rife with homoeroticism. Other influences include the Master of all Sci-Fi Isaac Asimov. Diana L. Paxson and Anne McCaffrey who created believable, fantasy worlds I’d love to live in. 

I devoured the Japanese novels Taiko by Eijo Yoshikawa and Cloud of Sparrows by Takashi Matsuoka (the English translation of course). However, my personal bravo goes to the manga/anime series Yami no Matsui by Yoki Matsushita, which was the magic wand that began my fiction writing. Dozens of science-fiction novels influenced the dystopian world in Eternal Samurai but I feel it echoes the setting of the anime series 

Ai no Kusabi by Rieko Yoshihara. I followed the style of James Clavell’s Shogun in my use of the Japanese language and subsequent English meanings. And I can’t resist a quick shout out to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (novels and TV show) for its sheer quirky, campy, bite-me enjoyment.

SHARE THE MUSIC/MUSICIANS THAT YOU LIKE AND HOW THEY ADD TO YOUR LIFE OR WRITING?
When I am writing action scenes, I blast out… erm… “old school” metal like Sepultura, Slayer, Anthrax, Metallica, Pantera. Although I also play Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. Things get a bit mellower when I am striving for an emotional scene or a sex scene and, generally, I switch to classical or opera that could range from Haydn to Tchaikovsky. Love J-pop, hip-hop, rap, contemporary music like Lady Gaga and Jefree Star when I am driving. And sorry, absolutely do not like anything Country Western.

IF YOU WEREN'T A WRITER, WHAT OTHER CAREER WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

Equine veterinarian. I’ve had horses all my life and there have been many times when I wished I knew more when they got injured or sick. DVM was my initial goal in college but I broke my back in a riding accident couldn’t complete the pre-med requirements. I ended up with a degree in English Lit. and another in Secondary Education-Language Arts.

WHERE CAN WE FIND YOUR NOVEL ON THE INTERNET? 

My book is available on Amazon and through Smashwords. My website is pending.

The book will be available for free Kindle download on Oct 1.

ETERNAL SAMURAI @ AMAZON

EXCERPT  FROM  ETERNAL SAMURAI 

In which Tatsu Cobb and the vampire, Arisada Saito, meet for the first time after Tatsu saves the mercenary, Bana Murtagh from a pack of rogue vampires.

Tatsu spun. Too late. Four fangs drove into his nape. He roared, arched his back, struggled to twist the katana backwards into the monster. But the blade caught on the rogue’s bulky overcoat. Tatsu reached over his shoulder clawing for the wakizashi but it was trapped between their bodies.

At any moment, those fangs would ripe his spine in two. With a roar of desperation, Tatsu clawed at the vampire’s head trying to gouge out an eye, tear off an ear, anything to pull that mouth from his neck. No good.

Then the weight fell away from his back. He spun around and saw a man brandishing a bloody tanto in one hand and holding the struggling rogue by the hair with the other. With one incredibly swift slice, the stranger cut the vampire’s throat, avoiding the blood gushing from the corpse with a graceful step back.

The man was dressed in the clothing of a samurai, black keiko-gi and flowing hakama that fell in perfect folds from his narrow waist. Tatsu got a sense of a strong, lean body. A pair of split-toed tabi hid the small feet. A katana rested beneath his wide obi. A samurai!

Tatsu was riveted by his rescuer’s face. Clearly Japanese and beautiful yet with no loss of masculinity. A face that held the exquisite blend of the strength found in the finest katana tempered by the delicacy of a sakura blossom. Sensual full lips that Tatsu wanted to kiss with a sudden, irrational passion. Above that mouth, a regal, straight nose, nostrils slightly flared. High cheekbones, the left marked by an odd scar. What should have been a disfigurement only added an exotic allure. Some trick of shadow hid the eyes, yet Tatsu mentally colored them a rich, chocolate brown.

Every cell in Tatsu’s body resonated with an inexplicable call to this man. Tatsu’s heart, already pounding from the fight, dove straight down into his groin. He hardened so fast he hurt.

“Who—?” The question was cut off by the press of the man’s mouth—hot, demanding, a tiny slip of a wet tongue, the taste alien at first then turning achingly familiar. An accepting moan slipped from Tatsu’s throat.

Those warm lips moved again, a briefer kiss filled with the sense of discovery and promise in the fleeting touch. Then gone. Tatsu opened his eyes. Stood alone, body pulsing with want, cock hard beneath his jock. Mind reeling, he turned to ask Bana if he’d seen the stranger. Needed confirmation that he was not crazy. Saw with dismay that the Irishman, head bowed, was still talking on his phone.

“You are kurutteiru.” Tatsu called himself all kinds of crazy. Flustered, he snapped his katana into its saya and stepped toward Bana who looked up in confused surprise.

Thank you so much for joining me, Bee Dee, It's been a real pleasure.

Readers, if you haven't had a chance to pick up a copy of Eternal Samurai, I highly recommend it. Read review here