I’m pleased
to have with me here today MMRomance Authors Jane Davitt and Alexa Snow. Thank
you for joining us today.
COULD YOU
PLEASE SHARE THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE YOU?
Alexa -
Practical, persevering, pacifistic. I'm not sure what it means that once the
first two words both started with a “p” I felt that the third one had to as
well. Probably nothing good.
Jane - Enthusiastic,
well-meaning, self-sufficient
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
Alexa -This
is hard! Children, Family, Friends, Love, Animals, Writing, Music, Sex, Sports.
But I didn't have an easy time separating children from family, family from
love, etc. The easiest one was sports. I am not a sports fan. Writing probably
belongs somewhere further up the list, to be honest, because even though a long
vacation is great, I can't go long-term without writing something.
Jane -
Family, Children, Love, Friends, Writing, Sex, Animals, Sports, Music.
As Alexa
said, this is hard because it depends how you interpret the words. 'Love' is a
vague one. Family contains the subsets children and love for me, so they're all
together at the top of the list. Music was more important to me than it is now.
I think if reading had been on the list it might've edged into the top! Sport
to me means supporting my football (soccer) team, Stoke City. Been a Stoke fan
all my life. Other than that, sports don't interest me much. Animals really
means cats. I've always had one or two, always rescue cats or strays, and
they're part of the family so maybe they should be higher up.
HOW LONG
HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING?
Alexa –
I've probably been writing since maybe 5th grade/11 years old. I
remember writing in a notebook, with a pencil, on the school bus. The characters in the stories were usually my friends, with a guest appearance by the occasional unicorn.
remember writing in a notebook, with a pencil, on the school bus. The characters in the stories were usually my friends, with a guest appearance by the occasional unicorn.
Jane – I
used to make efforts to write from an early age, nine or ten, but they rarely
got beyond a page or two and were heavily influenced by whatever I'd been
reading most recently. I guess school essays when we had to write original
stories were a start; I found some old exercise books and read a few of them
recently. It wasn't
until I was thirty-eight and discovered fanfic that I consciously set out to
write in a meaningful way though. Once I began, it was impossible to stop.
Words flooded out as if they'd been building up and had found an outlet. A few
years after that, I took a step in the dark and subbed a short story to a
publisher and in time achieved the ambition of that nine-year-old and wrote a
book that got published.
 |
| Their first book! |
Jane and
Alexa's first published novel together was Loose Id's Laying a Ghost.
WHAT ARE
YOU WORKING ON RIGHT NOW?
Alexa –
I've been plugging away on a vaguely supernatural romance about a guy who can
see ghosts for quite a while, but it's slow going. Writing with Jane has
utterly spoiled me for solo writing!
Jane – Now
that Killing Time has been submitted I'm working on a novella for Riptide set
in the future in a faraway galaxy. Lots of fun. I'm also playing with expanding
a short BDSM story into a longer one, maybe even a novel, but that's more for
my own enjoyment. Not sure what I'm going to do with that. Maybe try and sub it
somewhere, or offer it as a free read.
Together,
Jane and Alexa have just completed a M/M urban fantasy novel with the working title Killing Time; not sure
when it will be coming out, so keep an eye on their websites!
WHICH
CHARACTER IN YOUR BOOKS DO YOU IDENTIFY WITH, AND WHY?
Jane – I
honestly don't think I do. I sometimes put elements of me into them; many love
to read or like the same food as me, but a character has to have traits that
are right for him and often they're not ones I identify with because they're
them and I'm me.
Alexa –
This was the hardest question for me to answer out of the whole bunch. Like
Jane, I don't strongly identify with any one character. Maybe that's a side
effect of being a woman writing m/m fiction! I have some things in common with
many of my characters, but no one of them is all that much like me.
 |
| Stephen King |
SHARE THE
NAMES OF A FEW AUTHORS WHO INSPIRE YOU.
Alexa –
I've been a big fan of Stephen King since I was too young to be reading his
work; I love the way he writes dialogue. I adore Jennifer Crusie's romance
novels. Her characters are so sarcastic and there are multiple places where
I've literally laughed out loud when reading her books. (My favorite of hers is
Bet Me.)
Jane – I
love that Alexa mentions Crusie because I love her books too. I read a book a
day so my favorite authors would fill a large room. I love Tanya Huff's work
and the way it incorporates gay characters in mainstream fantasy in a very
organic way. Big fan of Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher detective series set in
1920's Australia and Charlotte Macleod's cozy mysteries. They're well-written
and tell an entertaining story.
SHARE THE
MUSIC/MUSICIANS THAT YOU LIKE AND HOW THEY ADD TO YOUR LIFE OR WRITING?
Alexa – I love music. Love, love, love it. Some of my favorite artists are Damien Rice, Snow Patrol, Mumford and Sons, Heather Nova, Bush, Carbon Leaf, Counting Crows, Jonathan Coulton, Matt Nathanson, Pink, Shawn Colvin, and Vienna Teng. The list could go on and on, though.
Jane – I grew up a rocker in a household where my parents were as likely to be going to the same concerts as me rather than forbidding me to go. I met my husband at the Donington Monsters of Rock concert. Gradually though, I just dropped out of keeping up with music and bands I loved; sadly many of the band members are dead now or too old to perform. Love Queen, Tesla, Dogs D'Amour, Judas Priest…
Alexa – I love music. Love, love, love it. Some of my favorite artists are Damien Rice, Snow Patrol, Mumford and Sons, Heather Nova, Bush, Carbon Leaf, Counting Crows, Jonathan Coulton, Matt Nathanson, Pink, Shawn Colvin, and Vienna Teng. The list could go on and on, though.
Jane – I grew up a rocker in a household where my parents were as likely to be going to the same concerts as me rather than forbidding me to go. I met my husband at the Donington Monsters of Rock concert. Gradually though, I just dropped out of keeping up with music and bands I loved; sadly many of the band members are dead now or too old to perform. Love Queen, Tesla, Dogs D'Amour, Judas Priest…
IF YOU
WEREN’T A WRITER, WHAT OTHER CAREER WOULD YOU CHOSE?
Alexa - I
was a nanny for a few years before I became a mom and I really enjoyed that; I
love kids, especially little kids. I've always thought I would enjoy being a
vet tech but sadly I am very allergic to dogs (and horses, and guinea pigs, and
many other animals.)
Jane - I was
a civil servant for ten years and though I didn't hate it, I didn't love it.
Working in a library or owning a book shop would suit me down to the ground.
EXCERPT FROM THE BROKEN TRIANGLE
(sequel to The Square Peg, published
by Loose Id Press.)
“Vin, can you give these to Shelly?” Dave held out a
basket of fries as Vin walked by the kitchen door, and Vin took them
automatically.
“Yeah, sure. Just this?” French fries on their own weren’t an uncommon
request—people who came to the Square Peg were usually more interested in a
snack to go along with a few drinks than an actual meal—but Vin didn’t want to
deliver half an order.
“Uh-huh. Thanks. Busy night!” Dave stepped back into the kitchen, humming
tunelessly the way he did when he was happy.
The smell of fried food was making Vin hungry. He was used to his new
work schedule, but his meal schedule was another story. Some nights he didn’t
have dinner until after last orders, his blood sugar so low that his hands
would shake as he lifted the first bite to his mouth. That was an indication of
the bar’s success since it’d reopened six weeks before, with Vin moving into
Shane’s apartment above the bar to keep an eye on things. The renovations
following the fire had gone as smoothly as anyone could’ve asked, but the
months when it’d been closed had been hard on everyone. It was good to be back
to normal.
A quick glance at his watch as he handed Shelly the fries to deliver told
him it was later than he’d realized—Helen and Patrick were both due in anytime
for the late shift.
“Hey, Vin!” One of the regulars lifted a hand as Vin walked by his table.
“You see that game last night?”
“Sure.” It was a lie Vin told easily, but only because it was a running
joke between them. Weird how he could have a joke with someone whose name he
couldn’t remember. It definitely started with a C, but after that it could have
been anyone’s guess. Cody? Colin?
“And that play near the end there? That was amazing.”
“Good thing our favorite sports team is so talented.”
Vin raised a hand in greeting to Helen as she came in. He saw a few empty
glasses that needed collecting at the far end of the room, but the guy was
talking again. “Hey, my friend last week was asking about you.”
Now the friend Vin did remember. Tall, strong jaw, dark hair, and tight
little nipples visible through the thin fabric of his shirt. “Was he?”
“Yeah. He was hoping I’d have some suave way of finding out if you’re
seeing anyone, but I couldn’t figure out how except just asking.”
Vin shook his head. There’d been a time when the subject made him
uncomfortable, but he was over it now. “Sorry. I don’t date.”
“What, guys?” Possibly-Colin’s eyes widened. “You aren’t straight. My
gaydar is not that rusty.”
“Your gaydar’s fine,” Vin assured him. “I’m gay, and I don’t have a
boyfriend or a husband, but I’m single and not interested in changing that.”
“Is it one of those taking-back-your-virginity things?” The man was
curious; he wasn’t being an asshole about it, so Vin was okay with the
conversation continuing, at least a little longer.
“Nowhere to take it back from,” Vin said. Telling the truth had always
been simple for him; he was built for honesty, not deception. Living his life
as an open book meant no complications, and that was how he liked it. “Patrick
here, on the other hand…”
Patrick had arrived for his shift less than a minute after Helen had, and
he stopped when Vin reached out to snag his sleeve. “That’s what I like, proof
that I’m wanted,” Patrick said. His cropped blond hair was spiked with gel,
tinted contacts turning his eyes a startling shade of blue tonight. “Good to
see you, Cal. How’s everyone?”
While Patrick and Cal—he’d known it started with C—chatted, Vin let his
gaze move slowly across the room, taking it all in—the crowd, the mood, and the
way money was changing hands. He liked to think he could sense when something
was off.
With a nod to Cal, he went to collect the glasses, putting them behind
the bar in a plastic bowl, ready to be carried through to the kitchen for
washing. After dumping his jacket in the break room, Patrick joined him,
nibbling at a fry he must’ve snagged from Dave.
The front door opened again, and a young man about Vin’s age and height
entered. Blond hair like Patrick’s, nervous the way so many guys were the first
time they came in, unsure of what to expect from gay bars in general or the
Square Peg in particular. The guy’s chin rose as he looked around, and when his
eyes met Vin’s, all the air seemed to go out of the room.
“Vin?” The note of uncertainty in Patrick’s voice would’ve captured Vin’s
attention any other time, but with Riley standing a few yards away, it barely
registered.
The tattoo on his arm, with Riley’s initials worked into the dragon’s
tail and inked into Vin’s skin, was a reminder of the young man he’d fallen in
love with during high school, but Vin had never needed it.
Riley was impossible to forget.
That's all folks! If you want more of this excellent, steamy MM Romance, The Broken Triangle, look for it at Loose ID or Amazon.
Reviews for The Broken Triangle and The Square Peg can be found here.
Thank you for joining me this week Jane and Alexa. Readers looking for more on these two charismatic authors, find them at these respective websites:
