Answering My Own Pimping Questions

What are you working on now? Was there a particular instant when it all just fell into place and you thought that is my next story?

I have just had my first official release of Angels on Top through MLRPress  

Blurb

All Marlowe wants to do is find his place in the world with someone to love. Someone who sees just who he is.

Thrown out of home for not conforming to his parents wishes, Angelo heads to the one place he knows he will be welcomed with open arms.

With a little help from their family and friends can Angelo and Marlowe figure out just who is stalking Marlowe before Christmas morning? Can Marlowe win the heart of the boy next door? Can Angelo figure out that even straight boys sometimes fall in love with their best friends?

 Also through MLRPress I will have the follow on story in this series Hunting for Clay - (I will post cover when I see it.)

Blurb

Two years have passed since Clay and Hunter met on that fateful morning in Tello’s Diner. Getting passed the fact Clay was stalking Marlowe was the easy part.

Clay Montgomery’s life has changed for the better the day he found the man who was meant to be the other half of him. Hunter understood him well, and knew how to give him exactly what he needs to be happy.

Hunter Weldon knows what he wants, and just how to get it. For two years he has loved the man in his arms and now it was time to up the anti. 

Also through MLRPress I have the first book in my series The Lines Of Marsden: Rules Are Meant To Be Broken.

Blurb

The Lines of Marsden were born into existence for a reason: to right the wrongs that had once taken place. Destiny fated that they must destroy the Eldren before evil wins.

Michael Marsden wants to die – for real this time. He wasn’t meant to lead the half-life that he does. He chooses to let it go and let death take what it had already claimed.

But Christian Risely isn’t about to let that happen.  He is drawn to Michael and is willing to do anything to ensure that he lives, even if that means keeping him alive against his will.

How long have you been writing?

I have been writing for a long as I can remember, it was as necessary as breathing. Though, I began writing my first novel when I was twelve years old. Admetus Gaea – Untamed World… it started out as a HET book, when I recently found it after a thirty year absence, I decided to add it to my current list of Wips and convert it to MM.

How do you choose which genre and flavour your story line will take, and what influences your choice?

Honestly, I am a paranormal writer at heart. That is my favourite kind of story to read as well. My love affair with all things paranormal hit me at an early age and it just never let go. You could say they sank their canines/fangs into me.

Usually I just write whatever voice is screaming loudest in my head – sometimes my muse thinks it is funny to unleash them all at once. That is how my NaNo ended up becoming a spin-off to one of my other shifter stories… Vladimir (my Muse) can be funny like that.

What is your specific writing style, if any?

I don’t think I have a specific style of writing – I mainly just write whatever the hell falls out of my head as the mood strikes me. I don’t plot (at all) and when I do try and plot, the story line never ends up where I think it will. LOL – Sometimes I even give myself the Whoa!!! Factor as I write. I have been guilty of ringing my daughter at work and go, “Did you know…?”

Is there anything you find particularly challenging about bringing a story to life?

Yes - I hate it when I start out with the decision of having two characters together and then halfway through it changes. Or like this: I have written most of the first twelve books in my series The Lines of Marsden, one of my background characters, kept jumping out at me screaming look at me – look at me. So in the end I have decided to go back through what I have written and bring Doyle further into the storyline. Mind you, once I started that process I ended up taking out four other characters, which caused the challenging factor in how I reworked the story without changing the story line. Not as much fun as you would think.

Who is your favourite character you‘ve written to date and why?

That is a hard one… I love Michael because there are so many elements of me in him. I love Doyle - I feel that Doyle is a truly beautiful soul. Though, if you ask my daughter she would say Maffa and Jaffa, the twin werewolves.

In other works I think that Tucker the drunken witch from my free Goodreads story Shadows on the Heart. He and Kylfa will be getting their own story: On The Flipside of Reverse. All the spells that have the possibility of going wrong… I am chuckling already just thinking about it.

Which character in your body of works was the hardest to write?

Christian Kincaid – Risely: He keeps surprising me with little twist that makes me have to go back and tweak parts of his personal storyline. He is a 300 year old Vampire that doesn’t remember how old he is – he thinks he is newly made… LOL - you will just have to read series to find out more.

Which stories have you enjoyed working on the most and why?

The Lines of Marsden… It was a something I started writing for my daughter. (For a full explanation, go to Jadette Paige’s blogspot on December 15^th as I am writing the story behind the story.) This is my most fun book - but the hardest.

What will people come away with after reading your books?

With the belief that no matter how hard of a struggle you go through to be with the one you love, in the end it is all worth it because sometimes true love and soul mates really do exist… Or…That Michael is a whiner, (just ask my daughter she tells me every damn day – LOL.)

What are you currently reading?

Lavinia Lewis - her Shifter Haven series. I am a total sucker for re-reading my favourites over and over again.

What music is in your stereo at the moment? And does it influence the way you write?

Nickelback: Dark Horse. I listen to them when I am working on all things in the Lines of Marsden Nickelback is kind of Michael’s theme music. Yes I am one of those authors that has to have music for each character – Doyle is Good Charlotte. & Christian is any music that you can dance badly to… Christian & Doyle kind of have my dancing skills. (At my wedding I had to dance to The Cure’s – Friday I’m in Love… just to cover up my bad dancing – Awesome wedding, it lasted three days and rained the whole time.)

Are you still as passionate about writing as you were when you first started?

Honestly, barring the last month, which was a real horror month for me. I had a relative die; my whole family came down with a virus that we just couldn’t shake. I had relatives rock up to stay at my house and then on top of all that I wrote a novel for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) I wrote the first book in a shifter series called Watson Falls: Between One Heartbeat & The Next – turns out it is a spin-off to Pack Matters. Total count: 50,707.

Okay, totally got side tracked… yes I do still enjoy writing as much today as I did when I started. I get a kick out of telling our workers that if they misbehave they will end up as a character in one of my stories… we own a construction company… my husband quite often fills the guys in on what I am up to – nothing better than running into one of the and they ask me. I have even had them tell me what sort of paranormal creature that they want to be… puts a huge grin on my face – it is times like that that I think – Yes; it is so worth it.

Name three Authors you read over and over again?

Gabrielle Evans

Stormy Glenn

Andrew Grey

ZA Maxfield - Bonus

Lynn Hagen - Bonus

Carol Lynne – Bonus

Z Allora - Bonus

Lavinia Lewis - Bonus

Can you share any of your current WIPS?

First: One Last Kiss Goodbye - This is story of young love that finds itself again after six-years has passed. Jacen Ives & Kayne Henderson, have to struggle through their trouble and mixed up lives to find their way back together.

Second: Pack Matters 1: Chasing Dreams of You – Is the first book in a shifter series. In this book we follow Todd Creely and Micah Adams as they fight the Alpha for the right to leadership of the Lockyer Valley Pack and to save that same pack from the Current Alpha’s destructive and volatile behaviour.

Third: The Diamond Rose - This is a one off book (I think) that starts with the death of a policeman and involves a drug cartel and a strip club.Officer William (Billy) Martin is an undercover cop in the in the strip club The Diamond Rose and gets put into protective custody with Officer Cole Jackson.

Fourth: Roxy's Heart ~ Harlin's Hands - This is the first book that sets up the whole universe of S.P.A.M. Inc. Roxy  fey heir finds himself mated to the very human Harlin Edwards. We delve into their mating and all the problems that come with it from interfering C.O.P.E members, evil witches (yes of the magical kind) and a whole slew of characters that you will all fall in love with.

On the back burner:

Shadows on the heart (extention): GoodReads freebie invloving a werewolf, a vampire, and a viking (sounds like the start of a very good joke.)

Admetus Gaea: Fey and Elven Kind

Windblown Kisses: My Knight In Tarnished Armour: This is almost ready to submit

Day Walkers: Paranormal

Upcoming Guest Blog Appearances:

Jan 16 - Gabrielle Evans

Feb 11-14 Valentine Blog Hop

Feb 22 Jana Downs

Apr 27 Karenna Colcroft

What's Happening!!!

In the life of N.J. Nielsen

Okay, I know you are all dying to find out what is going on in my life well I can tell you there isn't much happening in my everyday real life - except laundry - I swear the washing multiplies when you aren't looking and we have been having a very wet week which isn't helping. I love the rain for the tank water - but other than that it drives me nuts - and we all worry about another flood happening.

On the writing front honestly I have done Sweet F A, but I will get back into it I swear. I spent yesterday reading other peoples work and loving it.

Everyone in my home life are all hunky dory, though Em and I both have peeling tattoos, so they are at that whole annoying itchy stage.where you just wanna scratch the skin off your arms.

ON WRITING

Well I have been keeping busy, I am waiting for the galley proof for Hunting for Clay, and then that is read for release around Feb 10th I think.  I am also waiting for the next round of edits on The Lines Of Marsden: Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, hopefully they will be easy as the last lot. I am working on Windblown Kisses: My Knight In Tarnished Armour, I just got the first half back from my beta reader Sue. I am also tweaking book two in TLOM: Living In Shadows, just making minor changes, hopefully to make it flow better. I am working on a Father's Day submission called When Souls Collide, I am about 1/3 of the way through it. I am still working on Pack Matters: Chasing Dreams Of You. Plus I am working on one for my daughter called The Diamond Rose which is a police story. And last but not least is the series I am working on with Embry Carlysle S.P.A.M. Inc. My first book is Roxy's Heart ~ Harlin's Hands & Embry's is Can't Get You Out Of My Head.

My Girl Embry is working on: Saving Souls: Saving Jamie. I am asking everyone to keep on encouraging her to finish her story and submit it. I can tell you what I have read of it you won't be disappointed. Check out her blog story Finding Will... I am already hooked. And today you can even find her gas-bagging over at  Gabrielle Evans Blog  drop on by and leave her a comment for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate at BookStrand.

Em's Turn

These 2 songs have been stuck in head all weekend..

Pimping Erica Pike

Today I am introducing my good friend Erica Pike... Erica is one of those people that I go to when I need a shoulder to lean on and an ear to vent into. I class Erica as a diamond among the autumn leaves.

How long have you been writing?

Four years of continuous writing, but before that there were snippets of periods where I wrote fan fiction, short stories and poetry.

How do you choose which genre and flavour your story line will take, and what influences your choice?

At the moment, I only write contemporary romance with explicit adult content. What happens within those boundaries, however, varies. Sometimes I have a general idea where I want the story to go, but sometimes I just start writing and it comes to me. It’s usually at night, when I’m trying to fall asleep and my mind’s working overtime. I have to write it down or I won’t get any sleep at all. What influences my choice and story flavour (blueberry: sweet, sour, and yummy) would really just be the characters themselves.

What is your specific writing style, if any?

I write in the controversial first person present tense. I wondered if I should follow mainstream, but I had a hard time finding my voice in third person past tense. This style comes naturally to me and I’ve been told I do it well, so I’m confident enough. What it does is get me (and the reader) into the here-and-now, but also much deeper into the character. There’s no hiding what he’s feeling, thinking or planning. The mystery is all about the love interest, whose mind I never enter because I write from a single-person’s point of view.

This style is most often used in sci-fi and fantasy, but it’s been making ground in YA books. It hasn’t been done a lot in M/M. People are getting used to it though, after successful books like The Hunger Games, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, and Matched (all YA dystopians), so I think people are more willing to give it a chance than they were before.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging about bringing a story to life?

I can’t say that I do... I’m trying to think of something, but nothing pops up. Maybe the hardest part is making it come to life in the hands of the readers – or more specifically getting it into the hands of the readers, because promoting is a jungle of do’s and don’ts! I’ve already made two big mistakes after only two weeks of being published, but I’m learning as I go.

Who is your favourite character you‘ve written to date and why?

Eric Wesley. He’s short, quick, and snazzy, but more importantly he never behaves. Honestly, I have plans for what he’s supposed to say or do, but he does the opposite. May I post a snippet to explain? 

This is from A Life Without You:

“I get these flashes of stuff. Did you really soap me up in the shower?” I ask Eric who’s munching on a cookie in the cafeteria as we both work on our literary projects.

“I did,” he says with a shrug, crossing out a sentence with a red pen.

I push the meatballs around on my plate. “I wasn’t…you know…active, was I?”

“Dude, your stuff was the only thing indicating you were still alive.”

Here, this last line, my mind was saying “How should I know? I didn’t look”, but instead my fingers wrote the snippet line and the next couple of lines turned into a nice little joke. It’s things like that. He’s so unpredictable. Then the little snitch insisted I write a book about him, and he pushed me so hard that it only took a month to write (and I was giggling most of that month). Anyway, MLR just signed me up for “Absolutely Eric”, so that’s my next release from them.

Which character in your body of works was the hardest to write?

Adam Maxwell, from A Life Without You. He’s so intense, and fierce, but at the same time he’s very emotional. I needed Adam to go through some very difficult feelings, but still be very reluctant to show them.

(Adam is my favourite – I love him so much.)

Which stories have you enjoyed working on the most and why?

Absolutely Eric ;) And I mean, I absolutely enjoyed writing Eric’s book the most. For that whole month, and another month after during edits, I couldn’t be separated from my journal, because I just kept getting these funny little things for him to say and do. What people see of him in A Life Without You is only a taste. He’s a very real person, with his mistakes, shortcomings, but also his love of life and men.

(Eric comes in after Adam for me – but he is also so damn gorgeous – sigh.)

What will people come away with after reading your books?

Hopefully, a sense of realism, a few chuckles, and fond memories of likeable characters. I try to keep things as real as I can. My guys are guys, and although guys come in all shapes and sizes with a an infinite array of personalities and ways of dealing with things, guys are not girls. Or usually not. So even when I’m writing effeminate guys, or queens, I make sure they’re still guys.

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading Left of Center by Zathyn Priest and Totally Bound by Elizabeth Nobel. I’m a die-hard Zathyn Priest fan and his books are on auto-buy for me. His writing is so unpredictable and clever, there’s nothing else out there like it. Aussies have what it takes for me.

(New favourite of mine as well – Zathyn listen up, these same questions will be headed your way soon.)

What music is in your stereo at the moment? And does it influence the way you write?

I don’t have a stereo and I don’t have a lot of music. This is because my ex got the stereo and I used to listen to his music ;) It’s no great loss, because I can’t write with music in the background. It distracts me and makes it hard to focus. In my DVD player is Go Diego Go (my kids love it), but if I were to put music in it, it would be my favourite Icelandic pop artist Paul Oscar, who’s just super awesome and has done wonders for GLBT acceptance in Iceland over the last 20+ years.

Are you still as passionate about writing as you were when you first started?

I’m passionate about it in a different way. I wrote my very first full-length manuscript (not m/m) with blind passion, not knowing a thing about structure or style. Now I’m very passionate about developing myself in my writing by trying different things. Do I get as engaged when I start on a new project? Absolutely. And then I get a hundred of story ideas knowing I’ll never be able to write them all.

Name three Authors you read over and over again?

Zathyn Pirest, S.J. Frost, and N.J. Nielsen ;)

(I read Adam over &over even before it was released.)

Can you share any of your current WIPS?

I think I’ve talked enough about Absolutely Eric, the manuscript I’m currently editing with my MLR editor. Other than that I have four upcoming short stories from No Boundaries Press – all parts of the College Fun and Gays series where each story is independent of the others. Hot Hands was the first, about Casper who’s been a victim of sail-by goosing for weeks and wants to catch the guilty party. A Grade-A-Sex Deal come out in February about a teacher and student relationship. As for writing (not editing), I think I’ll start on a novella-length sequel to A Life Without You.

For those readers that have yet to know you please tell us something about yourself.

Hmm...I live in Iceland with my four and a half year-old twin boys. For some unexplainable reason I studied business at the uni and I’ve been taking classes at the English department for a couple of years now. I love my boys, Christmas, snow, my laptop, and I can never wear socks while I write. I’m also thinking about getting another hamster after the tragic loss of the other last December.

Other news on Erica Pike.

It just so happens that there's a giveaway of A Life Without You at "Stumbling Over Chaos" on the 18th and it'll run for a few days.

You can also find Erica at these places:

Amazon ~ No Boundaries Press ~ MLRPress

Pimping Me!!!

Just a quick note to let you all know that I am Guest blogging over at Gabrielle Evans blog today... Come and listen to me Ramble.

Gabrielle Evans Blog

Also my new friend Drea Beacroft made me this wonderful banner - when I have my website up and running it will be my header.

Plus I will be posting yesterdays blog story on Thursday- I just have to finish writing it (had to get the laptop fixed yesterday - so I am sorry it is late.

Em's Turn

I'm posting this song - from a band I just recently discovered... I like it!!!


And Mum is over At Gabrielle Evans Blog tomorrow.

S.P.A.M.Inc.

Last Profile Sneaky Peak:

It has been pointed out to us that it might not be wise to give too much away on our series. So Embry and I are going to show you the last half of our main character profiles for the first two books. After that you will all have to wait until we get a contract for it... LOL... sorry for teasing you all like this.

Introducing Joel Roxby (Roxy)

Series Title: S.P.A.M. Inc.

Book #: 1

Book Title: Roxy’s Heart ~ Harlin’s Hands

Name: Joel Roxby (Roxy)

Age: 21

Species: Fey – Second in line to rule the water realm (Fey Realm)

Realm: Water

Hair Colour/Type/Length: Jet black -Shorn close to head.

Eye Colour/Shape: Green almost a milky green colour

Skin colour Type: Very Pale – has a tendency to glow when near his mate.

Scars/Blemishes: N/A (His skin is perfect)

Height: 5”9’

Weight: 80 kg – 176 lbs

Clothing preferred: Silks he likes the way it feels against his skin. He wears nice dress trousers and purple is his favourite colour to wear.

Mannerisms: Very Flamboyant very affectionate to other people & a bit of a slob.