Pop Up Swap with Tom Cardamone

Posted on December 9, 2019 by andrew

Hello my long-neglected darlings! Papa’s back (with strange new affectations you may have noticed), and he’s got a long and meaty Pop Up for you.

Wow. That didn’t sound as creepy in my head as it came out on the page. This isn’t that kind of blog. What I have today is my author exchange with horror/fantasy/erotica author Tom Cardamone. I guess the erotica part had double entendres on my brain. I read Tom’s short story anthology Night Sweats, and he read my recently published anthology Slashed and Mashed: Seven Gayly Subverted Stories.

This Pop Up will be a two-parter. Today I post my interview with him, and I’ll post our conversation about me next week.

Here’s Tom’s impressive bio:

Tom Cardamone is the editor of Crashing Cathedrals: Edmund White by the Book and author of the Lambda Literary Award-winning novella, Green Thumb, as well as other works of fiction and non-fiction. You can read more about him and his writings at www.pumpkinteeth.net. And check out Crashing Cathedrals over at ITNA Press.

I met Tom years back when we were both tabling for Bold Strokes Books at the NYC Rainbow Book Fair. How far back? Meh. These days I’m lucky if I can answer that with an accurate range, but I’d say it would have to be somewhere between 2013 and 2015. A few years later, we joined up again at NYC’s inaugural queer comic-con Flame-con. And we hit it off and kept in touch. I’d read an anthology he edited: The Lavender Menace: Tales of Queer Villainy so I was already a fan. Then I read his novella Green Thumb and loved it, and I reviewed his erotic-fantasy The Lurid Sea for Queer Sci Fi.

Here’s the back cover blurb from Night Sweats.

Set in Japan, small town America, midnight Manhattan, ancient Greece and Rome, and beyond, these stories run the gamut of urban nightmare, gay love lost and found, dragons, super villains, a fairy addicted to meth, and Satan on the subway. Readers of Night Sweats will find tales that push boundaries while supplying ample scares, erotic thrills, much wonderment, and some woe.

So let’s dive in!

AP: Tom, you know I’ve been an admirer of your writing for some time. Big thanks for taking part in the Swap.

I loved Night Sweats. It left me with so many lasting images, from Cyclops babies to giant owls descending on small towns in New England to hallucinogenic fairy snot. I’ll get to some of your inspiration points and storytelling approaches, but I wanted to say off the bat, that quality of taking readers to places they haven’t been before is really present across the collection and pretty darn impressive.

I wanted to start though with more of an editing and production question. What was the process like for you selecting and ordering the stories? Slashed and Mashed was my first short story collection, so it got me intrigued about how other writers navigate that process, and maybe you could share with me and my visitors how you saw your stories fitting together as an anthology?

TC: Thank you for that outstanding introduction! I’ve enjoyed your work as well, and think Slashed and Mashed really covers some important ground, so congrats there! It’s one of those books that I wished had existed and been accessible in my youth.

To your question of story selection: years and years ago I read Nabokov’s Dozen, which featured thirteen of the maestro’s stories, and it’s stuck in my head that thirteen is the magic number. That said, I also pay attention to the flow, as if they were pieces of a quilt, and then the greater story tells itself, in terms of which one belongs at the beginning, the middle, the end and so on.

Also, and I think this applies to other writers as well, there are always pieces that are interesting but maybe experimental, too short or too weird to find a home anywhere else but in a collection of your work, where the consistency of your voice gives them buoyancy and permanency, so I’ve always written stories that I’ve never tried to place, but just crossed my fingers and thought “If I ever cobble together another collection, I know right where I’m going to plant this dark little seed. . .”

AP: That’s a great point. I’ve got some dark little seeds myself.

There’s a lot to love about your collection, and related to that topic of theme and subject, I’ve read two of your longer books, which were both on the dark and gritty side. With Night Sweats, you certainly included stories in that vein with characters on the margins like “Honeysuckle” and taboo orgiastic adventures like “Diabolical” and “Halloween Parade.” If I’m remembering correctly, there’s just one love story with a heartwarming, happy ending: “Blue Seaweed,” which I suspect was a germination point for your longer work about Nerites by the way, no?

TC: “Blue Seaweed” reflects my obsession with ancient history and myth, a fascination we share! This story, about a Greek boy during the time of the Roman Empire who meets a Godling from the sea and sparks fly, underwater as it were -this was one that gestated over a long period of time, and benefited from early readers, something I rarely do, but I did want love to win with this one.

AP: Nice. I’ve mentioned with regard to Green Thumb, your writing reminds me of William S. Burroughs in its hallucinogenic lyricism (or lyrical hallucinogenics?), and your work explores similar themes about the gay experience like lust and desperation and cruelty and loneliness and jealousy. Those were major themes from gay writers of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. I’m thinking of John Rechy, Edmund White, and Paul Rogers whose work I devoured in high school and college.

I’m great at long, meandering lead-ins to questions, and I also have a tendency to wrap up several of them together. Who do you see as your influences?

TC: Well thank you for the awesome Burroughs comparison, I’ve certainly read most of his work. And you’ve certainly hit upon some of my major influences. It’s very nice to hear Paul Rogers get name-checked. His lone novel, Saul’s Book, is astounding, more so once you learn he was murdered by his lover and adopted son shortly after publication.

Another writer I admire, Paul Russell, wrote about him in a book I edited: The Lost Library: Gay Fiction Rediscovered. Other writers who have influenced me, especially early on, are Kathe Koja, Octavia E. Butler, Geoff Ryman and John Varley. Stylistically and the breadths and depths of their imaginations leave me breathless, which is what I hope some of my readers feel as well. The gay writers that you referenced, along with Saint Genet, are definite influences as well.

AP: I’m ashamed to say I’m only familiar with Geoff Ryman and Genet, but I can see the connection in both cases. There’s a haunting sadness in a lot of Geoff Ryman’s work and Jean Genet of course was provocative and unapologetic in his approach to sexuality.

I mentioned before I sensed some of the stories fed into your longer work. “Blue Seaweed” and “The Love of the Emperor is Divine” reminded me of The Lurid Sea for different reasons. I also got hints of Green Thumb here and there, not the post-apocalyptic setting but from your depiction of anthropomorphic characters and the eroticization of the unusual and from the tone of death and desperation. All of which makes for great, high impact reading by the way.

I don’t write short fiction nearly as much as you do, but I did have the experience of some of my shorter work leading into writing a novel. Around the time I wrote “Theseus and the Minotaur” from Slashed and Mashed, I wrote an experimental piece about Telemachus from The Odyssey and another based on the Nerites myth. It hit me later: hmm, what would happen if these four gay boys met up and had an adventure? That turned into a YA buddy comedy I’m currently pitching around.

Do you find that your shorter work stimulates an interest in writing longer pieces? I know you write both, and I’m curious if you find yourself more at home with short versus long?

TC: Confession: I write short fiction mostly to avoid novel-length projects, so I can feel productive while still dragging my feet.

AP: Alrighty. I’ll step back from that one.

Back to the fantasy subject, I recognized little reference points here and there — Greek/Roman sea godlings in “Blue Seaweed” and the superhero/super villain theme in “The Ice King” and “Kid Cyclops” — but there’s a lot of originality with the characters and situations. You have a spectacular imagination.

A common thread is alienation and the line between beauty/desire and the grotesque/repulsive. I mean, you have two stories with men fellating a pretty gory, reptilian devil. “Halloween Parade” concerns a guy looking to have sex with Michael Myers. Here comes my deep question, what do you think your choices of subject and I guess I’d say aesthetic have to say about your worldview and/or just your own experience in the world?

TC: I think it’s my commitment to going in a different direction, to figure out what we avoid talking about and having a full discussion right there, no matter how uncomfortable the subject matter.

AP: Interesting. I think that’s what makes your work high impact for me as I said. It’s confrontational, and whether or not you like the characters or the situations, they stay with you because they make you stop and think.

I have to confess, I used to read gay short fiction regularly, but that was before I hatched the great idea to start plodding through writing novels about ten or so years back. So I’ll share some of the short fiction writers I admire, but I bet you’ll be much more up to date than me.

I like Sam J. Miller, Victor Banis, Lawrence Schimel, Scott Hess, and Charlie Vazquez to name a few. Back in the day, I was a big fan of the queer fantasy journal Collective Fallout, which sadly folded in 2013. This year, I reviewed a similar anthology Broken Metropolis, edited by Dave Ring, and it was fabulous and made me appreciate the next generation of up and coming queer writers.

What short fiction writers are you reading these days?

TC: You mentioned some great names! Sam’s in The Lost Library, and Charlie wrote a great piece for a book I’ve recently edited: Crashing Cathedrals: Edmund White by the Book, which is a celebration of Ed’s work, book by book; his oeuvre is seminal, beyond impressive, it’s historical, and putting that together was an adventure.

I’m currently reading Trebor Healey’s latest short story collection, Falling, and I love it. It’s astounding how stories that are thematically linked can also be so diverse yet well-drawn. And Craig Gidney is a favorite of mine. I interviewed him about his collection Skin Deep Magic a few years ago, and definitely recommend it as well as his first collection, Sea, Swallow Me and Other Stories. Both are stellar, fans of Tanith Lee will be impressed, and gay boys will see a multitude of reflections in his work that are otherwise hard to find.

As you’ve recognized the influence of 80s and 90s gay writers, I must say that I did not know Andrew Holleran had a short story collection, he’s so known as a novelist that this escaped my attention, but earlier this year a friend recommended his book, In September the Light Changes, from 1999. I found a perfect hardback at the Strand and devoured it. So of those times yet timeless.

AP: Great suggestions! Both Healey and Gidney have been on my TBR list for too long. I’m bumping them up per your testimonials.

Onto another topic, the two of us have talked about the state of the gay publishing before, most recently over drinks perhaps to numb the pain. Like me, you’ve bounced around a bit in terms of publishers, and we’ve chatted about the joys and discontents of the changing market and the limited reach of the few remaining small presses for gay fiction versus m/m romance. Perhaps you could share your view based on your experience?

TC: Let me turn that around and reposition it as advice for an up and coming writer: decide now if you’re a commercial artist or an outsider. I knew early on I was in this for the story, and the stories I was going to tell would be from the margins, for the margins. So if you choose the latter, be prepared to do a lot of the heavy lifting, and know that you’ll be genuinely proud when you break new ground, but when you do break new ground, it will be midnight in a wet cemetery and you’ll probably be alone.

AP: Egad. Too true. Well, I do see your point. I think I mentioned this to you before, it’s a sad reckoning that even queer books that garner acclaim through programs like Lambda’s annual awards program often only achieve a small readership.

My last Swap with fantasy author J.P. Jackson got me thinking about how my writing has, and hasn’t, changed over the years. I could go back to what I wrote in grade school as an extreme example, and even though the kind of hack jobs I did back then were pretty hysterically awful, I can recognize some similarities in the way I approached character even those many years ago.

On the other hand, since I started writing with the goal of getting published, I have noticed that my interests have changed a little. My early work was quite serious in tone, and I mentioned my latest work is a buddy-comedy and overall, I’ve been drawn to writing humor more.

Do you find different inspiration points since your first short fiction pieces came out? I’ll attribute my switch to lighter stories as something of a safe zone in which to write about my observations of the world and perhaps, just perhaps as I get older I’m learning to not take myself so seriously. Do you think getting older has influenced your writing?

TC: Aging has had a huge impact on my writing because it has deeply affected my reading. I’ve always read one author biography a year, just to sharpen my literary interests and see what else I can learn about the craft. At some point, during the last ten years, my interest in nonfiction has really perked up. I struggle to finish a novel but can consume a biography in just days. Something inside of me is hungry for the truth, not that fiction doesn’t often lead there, sometimes profoundly so, but I’ve felt for a long time that so much of our history remains untold, uncovered, so that as my readings take me in that direction, I see my writing following that same compass.

AP: I’ve noticed you’re editing and writing nonfiction lately. Selfishly, I hope you’ll return to fiction down the line. What are you writing these days? Do you have upcoming projects?

TC: I’m working on a true crime piece to see if it grows into a book, so stay tuned.

AP: Awesome. Anything else you’d like to say you wish I’d asked? 🙂

TC: Yes, to meet for drinks! We should go to Julius again, though now that it’s cold out, maybe Metropolitan, I love their fire place.

AP: Deal!

Pop Up Swap with J.P. Jackson

Posted on September 10, 2019 by andrew

Well lookie here. I’ve got another Pop Up Swap! This one is with fellow fantasy author and fellow NineStar Press author J.P. Jackson, who also goes by Jeff.

Here’s a bit about the guy.

J.P. Jackson works as an IT analyst in healthcare during the day, where if cornered he’d confess to casting spells to ensure clinicians actually use the electronic medical charting system he configures and implements.

At night, however, the writing happens, where demons, witches, and shapeshifters congregate around the kitchen table and general chaos ensues. The insurance company refuses to accept any more claims of ‘acts of the un-god’, and his husband of almost 22 years has very firmly put his foot down on any further wraith summonings in the basement. And apparently, imps aren’t house-trainable. Occasionally the odd ghost or member of the Fae community stops in for a glass of wine and stories are exchanged. Although the husband doesn’t know it, the two Chihuahuas are in cahoots with the spell casting.

J.P.’s other hobbies include hybridizing African Violets (thanks to grandma), extensive traveling and believe it or not, knitting. For more about him and his writing, visit his website or his Facebook page.

Jeff and I met through the NineStar authors’ Facebook page. He’s a social media whirlwind, and I quickly became a fan of his posts sharing book marketing ideas as well as his super friendly personality. Then I saw one of his books was called Magic or Die, which on title alone hooked my interest.

To back up a bit for anyone new to the Pop Up Swap, it’s where I exchange books with another author and we interview each other. I told Jeff Magic or Die was on my TBR list and maybe he’d be interested in doing an exchange. He said: “Sure, why not?” and he’d be happy to take a look at my Werecat series and here we are. You can check his interview of me here.

So I’ll start out with the book synopsis, and we’ll jump right into the interview.

James Martin is a teacher, a powerful Psychic, and an alcoholic. He used to work for the Center for Magical Research and Development, a facility that houses people who can’t control their supernatural abilities, but left after one of his students was killed, turning to vodka to soothe his emotional pain. The problem is he still has one year left on his contract.

When James returns to the CMRD to fulfill the rest of his contract, he finds himself confronting the demons of his past and attempting to protect his new class from a possible death sentence, because if they don’t pass their final exams, they’ll be euthanized.

James also discovers that his class isn’t bringing in enough sponsors, the agencies and world governments who supply grants and ultimately purchase graduates of the CMRD, and that means no profit for the facility. James and his students face impossible odds—measure up to the facility’s unreachable standards or escape.

AP: Jeff, thanks so much for agreeing to do my Pop Up Swap. First things first, from our correspondence, it sounds like you’ve had an interesting life. You told me you’ve moved around a lot. Now you live in Edmonton, Alberta. I don’t know a lot about Edmonton or Alberta, and I suspect my website visitors don’t either. I tend to mainly get Americans around here and the occasional Brit. So what do we need to know about Edmonton to get an idea of what it’s like to live there?

JJ: Edmonton is a really pretty city, probably the prettiest city I’ve ever lived in. In the summer months all you can see are trees. Our downtown area has dedicated park spaces in between high-rises. We also have the North Saskatchewan River that flows right through the middle of the city.

Downtown borders the northern embankment, and the banks are high, so you get an excellent bird’s eye view of the river valley from most office towers and high-rise apartment buildings. We have a huge parkway through that belt along the river with paved paths, sculptures, and picnic areas. It connects twenty major parks and has over 160km of trails. It’s about 22 times larger than Central Park in New York.

We also have the largest mall in North America if shopping is your thing. I avoid the mall at all costs. Too peopley.

Edmonton is just under a million in population size, but with neighboring suburbs we’re over 1.3 million. It’s the most northern city with its population size in North America. We have great festivals here, including the largest Fringe Festival other than the original in Edinburgh, Scotland.

AP: Wow. I can tell you’ve adapted and fallen in love with the city, which is awesome to hear.

Let’s dig into the book. I really enjoyed it! For me, two things stood out. You write magic action sequences so well, with really vibrant imagery. I loved the scene where James gets all his students together for the first time, and they use their magic to hover in the air, cast light, make flames and snowflakes. I imagined the whole room spinning around like a kaleidoscope, and it was a sweet experience for the students who had been treated like their magical powers were freakish and dangerous, like they were freakish and dangerous.

Then, I really liked the main character James and his love interest Isaiah. I’ve got some questions about your approach to both of those aspects of the story, but I think I’ll start with something more general.

The story kind of straddles the YA/NA line. While I got the impression the main character and narrator James was at least in his late 20s, his students are in their late teens or early twenties, and there’s lots of young adultish snark and bonding and dramatics. Did you have a particular audience in mind?

JJ: This probably sounds like a bad thing to admit but I didn’t have a particular audience in mind. I simply wrote a story. The idea was spurred on by my editor at the time. Ninestar Press was asking for submissions for an anthology, and the theme was “Teacher’s Pet.” I was asked to write something, and it really wasn’t striking any chords of interest until my editor said, “Think of a werewolf in an anger management class who falls for his facilitator.”

That got me thinking and then before I knew it, Annabelle and Isaiah were born, and the idea of a really broken teacher…the rest of it just kind of happened!

AP: Your bio mentions magic. I assume (hope!) in a playful way. But it did make me curious about how you accumulated your knowledge of demon possessions and witchcraft, which are big facets of the story. Have you explored arcane arts in real life?

JJ: Yup. Absolutely. I was obsessed with horror and paranormal movies and books in my early teens and still am. I read books on psychic phenomenon, UFO’s, and unexplained happenings. Ghosts and poltergeists too. And then when I was in my early twenties, I stumbled upon an adult learning class on Wicca.

I signed up and met some folks. We eventually formed our own coven, and after several years I was initiated as a Third Degree High Priest. I’ve taken Comparative Religion classes in University as well.

I’d say I’m more spiritual than religious. I‘ll light candles and say a quick ‘thank you’ to whoever might be listening. I thank inanimate objects. I touch trees with respect and reverence. I often hear things others do not, and I see shadows and spirits everywhere. I am superstitious and regularly cast protection spells. I completely respect and believe thoughts have energy and when directed with intent can have an effect on my surroundings. All this history and experience have exposed me to some rather unexplainable situations.

AP: That’s deeper than what I expected! You’re basically talking to an atheist who was raised in a Lutheran Christmas Eve-and-(sometimes)-Easter church-going family, but I do find spirituality fascinating.

So, getting a bit personal again, I dig stories that have main characters who aren’t physically perfect and conventionally beautiful. It actually makes it harder for me to get behind that kind of character because some sour place inside me always rises up to say: [sarcastic voice] Oh, look here, another hero/heroine who has it all, but I’m supposed to be on the edge of my seat wondering if they’re going to succeed against all odds.

James starts out as a bit of a wreck physically, and he mentions he’s got a little extra around the middle. One of the reasons he’s attracted to Isaiah is because Isaiah is a hairy-bodied guy with a beard, pretty much a bear cub I think you’d say. I thought it was really cool the two guys weren’t worked-out, smooth hunks, which you see so much in gay fiction.

Now the personal question: how much of that reflects your own preferences and attitudes toward gay male body image? I mean, I couldn’t resist since your Twitter handle is CanuckBear88.

JJ: HA! Busted. In all honesty, I love me some muscle-bears. Thing is, most of us are not dedicated to doing what it takes to achieve and maintain that kind of body. I know several body builders, and it’s not for the feint of heart.

via GIPHY

So when I set out to write Magic or Die, I wanted my characters to be more ordinary Joes. The cast is extraordinary in other ways. James and Isaiah didn’t need to be gym rats as well. Besides I think it’s more interesting to read about people who are a little more like you and me. And I think it makes the characters more relatable. People can see themselves easier.

AP: 100% agreed about relatability. Another thing we have in common is we both started writing professionally later in life.

What’s your story? I’m especially interested in how you picked up your writing craft whether through traditional writing classes or something else. You definitely have a keen sense of pacing for genre fiction as well as incorporating sensory imagery into the action.

JJ: WOW! The compliments. Thank you. I’ve always been creative. Whether it was drawing, painting, sculpting, music, writing, or theater. Even raising African Violets has a touch of art to it. When I hybridize, choosing the characteristics you want to get out of the progeny is science, but having the foresight to see the potential in crossing two plants to possibly get something new and fantastic? That’s creative. I have no idea how I ended up in IT, yet, here I am.

Confession time: I’ve only ever took one creative writing course. I was an international student studying in the United States, and because I was ‘international’ I had to take English. So, I went to my Dean of International Studies and pleaded my case as to why taking English was a waste of time and money. But the credit was just part of the program, so in a compromise they let me choose the English course I wanted to take. I took Intro to Creative Writing. Towards the end of the semester my professor asked if I’d be interested in changing majors. That wasn’t really part of my plan, so I declined.

But here’s a secret – I read a lot. Up to 50 books a year. And everything from NYT Best Sellers to emerging LGBTQ+ authors, horror, mystery, romance – all of it. I think that helps me in many other ways.

AP: Oh, it definitely does. By most definitions I’m self-taught as well. I tried to take as many creative writing courses in college as my major would allow, and then as an upperclassman, I had to submit a writing sample in order to get into advanced creative writing courses, which were pretty much limited to English majors. I was crushed when I wasn’t selected for the twenty-seat class.

Back to reading though, I’m not as well-read in urban fantasy as I probably should be. I’ll share with you some of my favorite authors and titles, and I’m curious about yours since you’re so involved in the genre.

I like some Anne Rice, which maybe doesn’t count since she’s so gothic, but she’s taken on some paranormal themes I loved like her Songs of the Seraphim series (angels) and The Wolf Gift (werewolves). Recently, I discovered a début author K.D. Edwards who launched a gay-themed series The Tarot Sequence that’s a lot of fun. And, one of my inspirations for Werecat was Allison Moon’s awesome lesbian werewolf series Tales from the Pack.

What are some of your faves?

JJ: Anne Rice was a go-to for many years, but for me it was The Vampire Chronicles and The Mayfair Witches. Then there was Stephen King. I’ve read most of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series and Piers Anthony, Melanie Rawn, and Stephen R. Donaldson.

But when I was growing up, the literature I was coming across either fell into the realm of horror or fantasy. It wasn’t until the late 90’s when I started coming across urban fantasy and read books by J.K. Rowling, Stephanie Meyer, Charlaine Harris, and Patricia Briggs. Deborah Harkness’ The All Souls Trilogy is another good one, as is Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files.

AP: Cool. I can tick off a couple of those authors like Robert Jordan, Rowling of course, and Jim Butcher. Because of my Werecat series, a lot of people tell me I should try Charlaine Harris, but I haven’t gotten around to it.

JJ: Nowadays I spend my money and read books by folks who are representing the LGBTQ+ community across genres. M.D. Neu (sci-fi and paranormal), Brooklyn Ray (dark paranormal), Glenn Quigley (historical fantasy), E.M. Hamill (sci-fi and urban fantasy), S.A. Stovall (fantasy and crime noir), Brandon Witt (fantasy, cozy mysteries, and M/M romance), Rick Reed (horror and M/M romance), Rob Rosen (sci-fi and urban fantasy) all top my list.

AP: Great! Thanks for the suggestions. Let’s move back to your book. Beyond the non-conventional physical aspects of James and Isaiah, I’d say you got pretty gutsy in depicting a teacher/student relationship. To be clear, both guys are beyond college-age so it’s not an illegal or even a barely legal situation. But it does raise questions about professional boundaries. Did you set out to tackle that kind of relationship? What are your hopes regarding what readers will take away from your portrayal of their relationship?

JJ: Yeah, I struggled hard with that. It was one of the reasons I wasn’t that interested in the premise of the story to begin with – remember, the one my editor really wanted me to write?

So, I had to think of a way around it. And the only way I could was to make sure everyone was an adult. Even still, some readers were really put off by the relationship – and hey – I get it. It’s, as one reviewer put it, squicky.

But at the same time, that’s exactly where I wanted people to sit when it came to James. Sure, he’s the hero, but he’s a little broken and maybe doesn’t always make the best decisions. I think that makes him more relatable. James thinks with his little head. I never really say that, but let’s face it, what’s the motivating factor for even considering a relationship with someone when there’s that power imbalance like a student/teacher set up? So, if readers are wriggling a little while reading it, that’s good. I kind of wanted them to.

I also know what some gay men are like. I sure as hell know what I was like when I was young and single. I couldn’t wait to get my paws on whatever guy would have me, and if he was older and hairy – fantastic! And that’s what I was remembering when I wrote James and Isaiah meeting for the first time. Not everyone is the same, but for me, if I find someone physically attractive then the flirtation gets dialed way up until I get what I want. Isaiah was kind of like that in the book. As much as James liked Isaiah, the attraction was quite mutual.

Readers will find in the next books their relationship will begin to deepen and go beyond that initial lust.

AP: Okay, I’m going to throw one of those deep questions at you. You write in first person POV, and I found James’ voice assured, a bit snarky and cynical (which certainly fits considering what he’s been through), and fairly circumspect about the world. The only thing he knows for certain is it’s his job to protect the people he cares about, which includes his sister who’s gone down a dark path and then Isaiah and the other students.

This is a two-parter. First, how much of that would you say is you?

Second, the deeper part, what do you hope to say about the world through Magic or Die and your other work? Obviously, you write fiction and it’s far removed from the world we live in, but I’m always curious about the underlying values and assumptions, which provide the foundation for any story.

JJ: To answer your first question: None of it. I doubt EVERYTHING I do, but then I give in to “well, let’s just see what happens.” My husband plans for everything, all the contingencies, all the emergencies, and always has a plan of action. I kind of wish I was a little more like that. Do I care about others? Maybe. Those close to me for sure. Do I want the best for mankind – sure, but am I the kind of person to go out there and be altruistic – not really. James is that hero, despite his piss-poor decision-making skills.

Regarding your second question, I think Magic or Die is about possibilities. What would Ning be like if she could control her Yuki-ono? How about Chris? If he wasn’t so angry would the fire wolf come out as often? What change could they affect on the world?

I think there’s an undertone of general acceptance of those who are different from us – that underneath our differences we’re really all just people who love and fear and bleed.

But mostly I want readers to walk away from my stories wondering ‘what if?’ What would it be like in a world where magic was truly possible? And who’s to say that it isn’t – maybe we just don’t see it because the vast majority of us don’t believe in it.

AP: Cool. Magic or Die is the start of an adventure series for James, Isaiah and their magical pals. Are you holding your cards close regarding what happens next, or can you tell me what direction the story is headed in? Also, do you have a title and a release date for the next installment?

JJ: Well, I can tell you this. I plan to have one book for each of the main characters but as seen through the eyes of Isaiah and James. Magic or Die is told from James’s perspective, and then the next book, Blood and Sacrifice, is told from Isaiah’s perspective. I think I’ll bounce back and forth with those.

The first book is very much an origin story, how the group came together. Blood and Sacrifice is about tough choices and testing the saying “blood is thicker than water,” so this book is really centering on James and his sister.

But while that is happening, the rest of the gang are going through their own issues. Ning’s Yuki-Ona wants her body found so I think we’ll be travelling to Japan for that book. Chris makes an interesting discovery about his mirror twin who has died, which prompts a difficult decision that won’t be resolved until his book. And that may end up taking the entire crew back to the CMRD.

Annabelle requires training so she’ll be off to Varna, Bulgaria where her Coven is located. That book will be super creepy and fun to write. And then there’s Isaiah. His Asmodeus demon is going to make a super difficult request, and Isaiah already knows what it is, but he has no idea how to handle it.

So there you have it. That should be it. Sounds simple, right? It isn’t. LOL. What did I get myself into?

AP: Piece of cake. 😊So how’d you end up at NineStar Press?

JJ: By complete chance! My first book Daimonion, Book One of the Apocalypse took me about three years to write, and then another two to edit. Once I had a polished manuscript, I started querying agents and publishers, but I had not come across NineStar Press. I had many rejection letters and even more agents and publishing houses that never responded to my inquiries. I was starting to get to the point where self-publishing was looking like my only option.

Then I found #pitchmas on Twitter – basically it was pitch your book, tell us your genre and intended audience in 144 characters or less, and any agents/publishers who like your tweet want you to submit your manuscript to them. So, I threw a tweet out into the universe, and then promptly forgot about all of it. It was the Christmas season and that’s always really busy.

That year, the hubby and I went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for Christmas, and I remember a couple of days after arriving in Mexico, my phone buzzed while we were sitting in a café and I had WiFi. The notification was “NineStar Press likes your tweet.” Honestly, I had no idea what NineStar had liked. So I put my phone away, because I was on vacation and it wasn’t until the next day when I checked it out – NineStar Press had liked my #pitchmas tweet!

I didn’t have my laptop with me so I couldn’t respond until about a week later. I found out about NineStar Press, what their submission requirements were, and sent off a query to them with a copy of Daimonion, and hoped for the best. Again, completely forgot about it, as work was nuts.

Then on January 12, 2017, I got an email from NineStar Press, “We’d like to offer you…”
I was at work when that email came in. Jumped around and screamed like a schoolgirl. It was insane, and I’ll never forget it.

AP: I love those stories. And I’ll say maybe the only good thing about having a full-time day job while being a writer is those crazy moments when you check your phone in the office and you get some good news and have to figure out a way to contain yourself and focus on what you’re supposed to be doing. It keeps life interesting!

Anything else you’ve got coming up you’d like readers to know about?

JJ: I’m about half way through first draft of Blood and Sacrifice, Book #2 Inner Demons. I have several chapters written of Nephilim, Book 2 of the Apocalypse. And then, because my brain does this to me, I’ve started another project, Summoned. This one is an M/M paranormal romance with witches, werewolves and the Fae. I’m about halfway through the first draft of that too.

AP: You’re a busy guy! Best of luck and thanks again for coming over to my blog. 😊

Curious about Jeff’s Magic or Die? Pick up a copy at the NineStar Press webstore, Amazon, iTunes, or BN.com.

Pop Up Swap is Back! With Author M.D. Neu!

Posted on June 25, 2019 by andrew

The Pop Up Swap is back! Well, from so long ago, I’m probably the only person on earth who remembers it ever existed. So let me explain…

A couple years ago I had this marvelous idea to exchange manuscripts and dialogue with fellow authors whose work I admire, and who write in similar genres, and it would be a scintillating, fresh approach to the typical author interview one finds in the blogosphere. Plus it would provide an opportunity for my readers to get to know some of the authors in my life. Here’s my Pop Up with historical fiction author Elin Gregory, for example.

I called it a pop-up because I knew it could come and go quickly and be a bit unpredictable. Life happens, and I generally don’t have a ton of time to do big features here at my site. That most definitely proved to be true, but this year I found new motivation and some new friends who were willing to do the swap. Yee-haw!

So for the rebirth of the Pop Up Swap, I ~~politely asked~~ strong-armed fellow NineStar author M.D. Neu (Marvin) into reading each other’s work and interviewing each other based on that. He read Irresistible and you can find my interview with him here. A bit about M.D.…

M.D. Neu is a LGBTQA fiction writer with a love for writing and travel. Living in the heart of Silicon Valley and growing up around technology, he’s always been fascinated with what could be. Specifically drawn to sci-fi and paranormal television and novels, M.D. Neu was inspired by the great Gene Roddenberry, George Lucas, Stephen King, Alice Walker, Alfred Hitchcock, Harvey Fierstein, Anne Rice, and Kim Stanley Robinson. An odd combination, but one that has influenced his writing.

Growing up in an accepting family as a gay man, he always wondered why there were never stories reflecting who he was. Constantly surrounded by characters that only reflected heterosexual society, M.D. Neu decided he wanted to change that. So, he took to writing, wanting to tell good stories that reflected our diverse world.

When M.D. Neu isn’t writing, he works for a nonprofit and travels with his biggest supporter and his harshest critic, Eric, his husband of nineteen plus years.

I had read and reviewed Marvin’s vampire novel The Calling for Queer Sci Fi about a year back, and we subsequently connected at NineStar’s author Facebook page as well as Twitter. I always enjoy getting to know fellow LGBTQA+ authors, especially the ones who write fantasy. Many thanks Marvin for letting me rope you into this! Oh, and here’s a link to my review of The Calling fyi.

And let’s get started!

AP: Hi Marvin! Thanks for taking part in the swap! I read your vampire story The Calling a little while back and really enjoyed it.

MN: Thank you for having me. I always enjoy chatting with fellow authors.

AP: I think I understand the appeal of gothic horror a bit as a writer, having written shifter fiction myself (Werecat). Besides it being a fun, atmospheric genre, it makes for an interesting milieu in which to tell gay stories because of the romantic themes, the hidden worlds, and the sense of ‘otherness.’

What drew you to writing a vampire story?

MN: For me it’s always been the ‘what if.’ I wanted to know if vampires were real how could they exist, especially in modern society were one viral video and it would be all over. Plus, I’ve always had a thing for vampires so I figured why not combine the two; my love of vampires and my wondering how they could exist today with all our technology.

AP: You have an interesting premise for vampire living in that it’s fairly approachable for the average person like your hero Duncan. There are ‘marks’ he must go through, and those are physically unpleasant for sure while his body goes through violent changes. But vampires have worked out a way to get blood without killing, making it more palatable with flavors like chocolate and cinnamon; and they’re involved in charitable causes, and they keep a lot of human traditions like celebrating Christmas. What would you say was your intention with that portrayal?

MN: Oh, I had a lot of fun with all that. The idea came back to the whole thing of how would they exist and operate in our modern society. It’s all about adapting or dying. The vampires in my world have learned humans don’t like being the bottom of the food chain, and they know if humans ever found out vampires were real, we humans would hunt vampires down and kill them. Despite all the vampire’s gifts, humans have the numbers and my vampires know it. So, the vampires have learned to play our games and live by our rules.

Remember, vampires in my world can’t just create anyone to be a vampire. They have to share a bond, and it’s part of the calling (the process of selection). Plus, my vampires were all human so why not keep the human traditions they know and like? Just because they are vampires doesn’t mean they don’t know how to have fun and enjoy life. It makes them more human, which I think they would need to be to survive, especially nowadays.

Now when it comes to working in charitable causes. That is just Juliet and Duncan. Not all of the vampires are that altruistic. Victor has many businesses he controls. Kirtus is a financial consultant and tax accountant who works a lot with both humans and Immortals. Other vampires have other jobs, and really that is born out of the need to live. They need money and ways to launder money so having jobs and owning companies gives them that ability. Again it all goes back to adapt or die.

AP: I thought you did an amazing job establishing Duncan’s voice, and it’s extra amazing because he’s not such a big personality or a snarky hero. He’d rather blend into the background, but I still found his forthright storytelling really engaging, and the fact he’s such an agreeable, non-presupposing kind of guy, you want to root for him.

Though there’s one thing he’s adamant about I found curious. He doesn’t like queer politics and makes the point a couple of times that gays should be “people first, not gay first.” Did you see that as a defensive position—not wanting to draw attention to his gayness—or is it a deeper part of his make-up—believing the only way forward for progress is for queer people to “act less queer?”

MN: I really wanted to go for an Everyman with Duncan. I wanted him to be your brother, your neighbor, your friend, or that stranger you see on the street that you don’t think twice about. That said, the point I try to make, not only with Duncan, but all my characters, is that queer people are more than their queerness. We are all people first with the queerness secondary. Why should it matter who any person loves or how they show their love? It shouldn’t. It also shouldn’t be the most interesting thing about them. I don’t see it as a defensive position, more of a general philosophy Duncan has. If that makes sense.

AP: So I want to follow up about “people first with the queerness secondary.” I did get that vibe from the book, and not just in the queer context. Since the vampires are literally in hiding and spending a lot of their time very carefully trying not to rock the boat with humans (the “light” vampires I mean, who are the primary focus), they’re also following that mantra in a sense.

via GIPHY

[just a little vampire interlude]

MD: In the book, yes. The light vampires don’t really stir things up, and they are in a position where they don’t have too. It’s kind of the same with the Dark. They deal with humans and live with them, but humans don’t really factor into what is happening in their world unless it comes to being exposed. There is good motivation to stay hidden, they don’t want to cause a war which would end up killing a lot of people and the vampires wouldn’t win, at least they don’t believe they would win.

When my characters talk about being people first and whatever second it has to do with how they see the world. At one point Juliet asks Duncan why didn’t he tell her he was gay when they met. His response is ‘why does it matter? Would you have done or treated me any different?” When she says she wouldn’t, she realizes he’s right, she wouldn’t have done anything different so why does it matter to her? It’s a question and answer she hadn’t thought of and I think in the context of the story it makes a nice moment between the two of them.

What I want to show in the book is how ordinary being queer is. We talk about how we all want to be treated equal, so that is what I strive to portray in my stories. Unless it’s part of a character’s issues, queerness will be treated as ordinary and a non-issue. Showing one’s queerness is important to some people, but in my books the queerness comes second because it shouldn’t matter. If we want to live in an equal society then we need to look past what we see and focus on the contents of one’s character. That’s what’s important in my stories. You’re queer. GREAT! Yay! Now what? Can we have an adventure? I want to show the what happens after you know the character is queer. I want to show the adventure, not the coming out.

AP: I also like stories where the main character’s queerness is already established, and I found the focus on Duncan’s vampire trials refreshing. I read a lot of coming out stories and a lot of tortured queer stories when I was “new” to being gay in my twenties, and part of it is that—[cough], twenty some years later—my reading interests have changed. I’m more interested in how queer people navigate other kinds of situations, and I think of that as another dimension of positive representation.

You mention worldview being part of that decision to portray queer characters as “people first with their queerness secondary.” One of the reasons I was drawn to try out this author-interviews-author thing with you, is we have a lot in common, being white, married, gay men who write gay fantasy. Also, we both grew up in middle class families that were pretty supportive. I won’t call us “older men” – I turn 50 this year – but we’re both Gen Xers. Add to that, we both like fantasy that’s more adventure vs. fantasy being a context for exploring coming out or gay relationships.

Yet from your book, from this discussion, it’s interesting how we developed somewhat different worldviews. Like, I wouldn’t describe my writing as “people first, queerness secondary.” I don’t see a separation between the two or an ordering of those characteristics, i.e. don’t queer people have an essential ‘personhood’ already? Plus when you talk about character, that comes from myriad life experiences including queer experiences. For example, if I were writing my autobiography, I see lots of ways my queerness would be pretty essential to understanding who I am. Being married to a man is one obvious aspect, but my passion for social justice is another, as well as I’d say my curiosity about people who are different from me, choosing to live in a diverse, urban community over where I grew up, and my interest in traveling to an extent.

Even my development as a writer was linked to being queer in part. I started as a shy, withdrawn kid who escaped through writing fiction, and as an adult, while few of my stories are directly about overcoming queer oppression, I’m inspired by subverting heteronormative stories, reclaiming them for queer readers.

You talk about making queerness secondary as something of a message to queer people about equality. How do you think you arrived at your particular worldview concerning queer people?

A little queer Gen Xer memorabilia.

MN: When it comes to how I was raised and my coming out, I was raised in a very conservative and moderately religious family. When I came out it was harder on me then it was for my family. They didn’t treat me any different and accepted me for who I am. As conservative and religious as my family is they judge people on character not on who they present to be, who they love, or how they show that love. Sadly, you can’t really say that to people because they don’t believe you. Because they have this belief that all conservatives are bigots. As an example my dad is very politically and socially conservative and yet he wanted to walk me and my husband down the aisle; a lot of people are shocked by that. Some don’t even believe me when I say it, but it’s true and important to me, and that’s why when I write it’s not overly important to represent whether you’re gay, conservative or whatever, it doesn’t really matter. What’s important is how you treat people.

In the case of my family they are people first and conservatives second… does that make sense?

So, that is the world I chose to write about and show. In my novel, it’s never about being queer. It’s about the adventure and the person. I’m not writing a coming out story. My novels and The Calling especially, is about a man who happens to be gay deciding to become a vampire and how that affects him as a person.

At the end of the day all I know for sure is that I treat people how I want to be treated and I think that is something we should all strive for. It is how I write my books, and it is how I tell my stories. I want the reader to have an adventure and enjoy, if it causes them to reflect on life and how they live it great. If it shines a bright light and society and affects change that would be amazing.

AP: Let’s turn back to your story then. How did you come up with the way the vampire world works? I recognized some of the conventions like mind control and the idea of vampire factions, but others were new to me. Did you use particular sources to develop that mythology and ‘world?’

Vampire image from Pixabay

MN: When it came to the world building, I studied traditional vampires, and I found they all had some baseline abilities so I started there. Then I dug into what additional powers and abilities they could have and pulled from there, which was a lot of fun. I also decided that vampires don’t reproduce in the way we’ve seen, they don’t get to just pick someone at random, there is more to it, much more, as we learn in the book. Further, I developed a set of rules for the vampire abilities and tried to keep them. For example, Juliet’s ability to calm people and alter mental states does take a toll on her. It causes her migraines. With Duncan his ability causes him headaches, and he gets tired. So, for each of the vampires they have a down side to their ability. It’s not major, but it’s there for all of them. It’s much more in the background and most people won’t even catch it. Especially since most of the vampires in my novel are older.

The mythology was much the same. I pulled from various sources and created my own. The over all goal was, again, how would they be alive now and what would a vampire community look like.

AP: The Calling ends with a host of possibilities for Duncan’s next adventure. Are you working on a follow-up?

MN: Oh yes. I have the sequel almost finished. Then I will start the editing process. The sequel picks up right were book one ends and we go from there. People will get to see just how imperfect all these beings are. The working title is The Called.

AP: How did you end up finding a home for your work at NineStar Press?

MN: Well, after sending out The Calling and getting various rejections, an author friend of mine sent me a message saying that his editor at NineStar was looking for novels from gay men. He asked if I had anything. As it happened a week prior, I had just sent in my manuscript for The Calling. He told me he would let his editor know, but no promises. About a month later I got an email from NineStar saying they wanted to publish my story. It was awesome.

AP: Very cool. I know that feeling. 😊 On a more personal note, some other things we have in common per your bio: I’ve also had a long career working at non-profit organizations (more recently at a non-profit university), and congratulations on your 20th anniversary with your husband! My husband and I just celebrated our 18th this past May.

Regarding the career part, what’s your secret for finding time to develop your craft and write outside of your day job? Did you have training in writing previous to your career with charities?

Regarding the husband part, my husband also reads everything I write, though he’s not as you say my harshest critic. That could be a diplomatic choice. But he’s also pretty modest about being a reader not a writer so occasionally he’ll say how he responded to this or that, though he’s respectful of the creative process (not just for me, for any author). So he’s more of a support than an early reader with whom I vet ideas.

What’s it’s like getting tough criticism from your husband? Also, of personal interest, how do you balance quality time together with your writing time?

MN: Wow, okay let me see if I can answer each question you posed. When it comes to finding time to write while working a 40-hour week. I try and stick to a schedule (which has fallen all to hell the last few months) I tend to write on the weekends when we aren’t doing anything, or in the evening after we have dinner (assuming I’m in the mood). With regards to writer training. Not really. I took a few writing classes in college, but nothing formal. Mostly I’ve written for fun. I would make up stories and go from there. Most of them were rubbish, but some were pretty good. I try and write as often as I can. I also do a little writing for work, not a lot, but some.

I wish saying Eric was my harshest critic was a diplomatic choice on my part. The first thing I gave to Eric, my husband, to read, he told me it read like a text book and he couldn’t get through it. He didn’t say it was awful, but I’m almost 100% sure he would have. Getting criticism from Eric is hard, but it all comes from a place of love and to make the story and my writing better. I know he won’t tell me something is good when it’s not. So, as hard as it is to hear I know it all comes from a place of love and support. The other thing about Eric is, he’s a total sweetheart and would never go out of his way to hurt anyone. So I take all that into account when I have him read stuff.

As for that first time he gave me feedback, it took me about a week to get over it.

When it comes to balancing quality time and writing. I try and make sure that, unless I’m under deadline, that our relationship comes first, so we have movie night if there is anything good we want to see. We travel. We spend time with friends (not as much as we should, but we do). So, I don’t let the writing consume me. He’s also very respectful of my writing time. If I decide to write on a Saturday, he won’t interrupt or bother me, until dinner time. He’ll come in and let me know, which is his way of getting me off the computer. Now if I’m really in the groove I tell him and he will let me work. I think it works quite well.

AP: Excellent. I’ll try to learn from your example. Well, you survived my interview! Big thanks for sharing your time and some inside scoop on The Calling. I’ll make it easy for folks and include some buy links: Amazon, iBooks, BN.com, NinePress Webstore

Connect with M.D. Neu on Facebook, Twitter and his website.

Pop Up Swap! With Elin Gregory!

Posted on October 27, 2015 by andrew

I’m quite excited to introduce a new feature to my blog. It’s called the Pop Up Swap. Basically, it’s an opportunity to get to know some of my favorite authors better by exchanging our books and having a virtual dialogue about them at our respective blogs.

I’m calling it a pop-up because I am offering no guarantees on when or how often I’ll be doing these swaps. They could pop up at any time and disappear faster than a New York City landlord can raise the rent and send starving artists out on the street.

For my inaugural swap, I’m thrilled to have strong-armed, or rather politely convinced the delightfully talented and all-around delightful Elin Gregory to participate!!

Elin is a tad camera shy, but this is her favorite avatar

Elin Gregory is a British author from South Wales who writes historical fiction primarily in an M/M romance vein. She has a really interesting bio.

Elin Gregory lives in South Wales and works in a museum in a castle built on the edge of a Roman fort! She reckons that’s a pretty cool job. It certainly provides more than enough inspiration for her writing.

Although Elin usually writes on historical subjects, she has also written contemporary and historical paranormals, science fiction, crime and a Western, none of which have, as yet, been published. She likes her heroes hard as nails but capable of tenderness when circumstances allow.

Elin’s first published stories appeared in the British Flash and Tea and Crumpet anthologies produced by the UK Meet team. Her historical novella, Alike As Two Bees, and her first novel, On A Lee Shore, were published in 2012. Elin still can’t quite believe it. However, there are always new works on the go and she is currently editing a novel about the British Secret Service between the two World Wars, finishing one set in 6th century AD England and contemplating one set during the Second World War. For more about Elin, visit her blog.

Hereford, South Wales, where Elin calls home

I’m a bit abashed to say I don’t recall precisely how Elin and I met. It was somewhere in the ether of the Internet, whether the blogosphere or the Twitterverse or the Triberr kingdom. I think our correspondence grew out of participating in the Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

In any case, across an oceanic divide, we struck up an online friendship. A shared love for ancient world stories helped with that. I won Elin’s Alike as Two Bees in a contest, and I instantly became a fan. I persuaded her to swap our recent releases and have a conversation about them.

This is my interview with Elin after I read A Taste of Copper, which came out from Love Lane Books in 2014. Here’s the book’s back cover blurb:

Olivier the squire worships the Black Knight and takes a fierce joy in his prowess as he defends a bridge against all comers. Olivier only wishes that his master loved him as much in return instead of treating him as a servant and occasional plaything.

Then word comes that the King desires to cross the bridge. With an army approaching, a bright eyed archer enticing him to desert and the first cracks beginning to show in the Black Knight’s gruff demeanour, Olivier is left wondering if his honour is worth more than a chance for happiness.

Andrew Peters: Elin! Thanks so much for agreeing to this experiment of mine. I loved Alike as Two Bees, and I just fell in love with A Taste of Copper. There are many aspects of your work that I admire, and the first question that comes to mind is: where and how did you learn to write so well?

Elin Gregory: Well? My goodness, I think my editors might take issue with that, but thank you very much anyway. 😀

I’m very old school, brought up with books that had lavish descriptions, no inhibitions at all about using adverbs, and believed in taking their time to allow a story to develop – a very far cry from today’s style of ‘grab the reader by the throat in the first sentence or don’t bother’.

It’s been very hard to walk the line between writing what I want to write and what is acceptable in a modern market. As for learning, I’ve always told or written stories. I’ve aped the styles of the authors I most admire, and I try very hard to accept with good grace the advice of beta readers and editors. A book can’t be written by committee, but no author should be above taking the hint whether something is working or not.

AP: Before I quiz you about A Taste of Copper, I’m always curious about female authors who primarily write gay male characters. Of course, many authors in the M/M genre are women as are many readers. What draws you to writing M/M romance?

EG: I suspect that you would get a different answer for as many authors as you questioned. In my case it’s partly identification.

Herefordshire countryside

I was convinced as a child that there had been a horrible mistake and that all this pink and dollies and ‘but you’re a girl’ shit would stop at some point and that when I grew up I’d be the Lone Ranger. Sadly, as time passed that didn’t happen and, in a time where there were no words for what I felt and no apparent alternatives, I had no choice but to lump it.

Thank God for books and films with wonderful amazing heroes with whom I could sadly and secretly identify. I didn’t want to be their girlfriend, I wanted to BE Aragorn, Mr. Darcy, James Bond, Hephaistion, or Francis Crawford of Lymond. And I could never understand why the hero would be yearning over some tedious female when he often had a strong and brave friend with whom he could share adventures.

You have to remember that this was in the days when ‘the love that dare not speak its name’ was literally silenced and books that did feature same sex relationships were either pulp porn unobtainable in rural Herefordshire or so heavily coded as to be almost unintelligible. But in my pre-teens I fell in love with all Mary Renault’s characters without understanding the subtext and I wrote my own stories about “jolly good pals.” Eventually a friend pointed out that there were hardly any ‘feel good’ historicals with happy endings for gay men. Most focused on angst and persecution and weakness. He wanted something where the relationship wasn’t the source of conflict so I wrote Alike As Two Bees.

AP: I’m a huge admirer of Mary Renault as well. She’s pretty much the gold standard for ancient world historicals in my view. But I think you and your friend make a good point about the traditional place of gay men as tragic characters in historical fiction and elsewhere. Speaking of Alike As Two Bees, I thought you captured an ancient Greek time period with compelling authority in that book. A Taste of Copper moves ahead a thousand years and then some. I know you work in a museum so I’ll hazard to say you have another area of expertise outside of writing. What is the research process like for you? There’s such detail in A Taste of Copper, from the description of armor and costume to daily life.

EG: It’s SO handy to be able to put on a helmet to see how much you can see through the eye slits! Also I work in a castle so I know how appallingly cold and damp they can be. Apart from that I’ve got friends who are re-enactors so have been able to poke around their very well made and accurate kit to handle weapons and to experience the God-awful smell of tallow candles and the scarier aspects of medieval food production.

I’ve also attended lectures by experts in various fields and have access to a terrific library. Then there’s the BBC. Yes, they are scraping by on a licence fee so sometimes they cut corners, but when they decide to do something properly they put a lot of effort into it. In a recent programme about the development of Celtic culture they had managed to source proper early Roman Republican army kit. Was it 100% accurate? I don’t know, but I really appreciated that they had made the effort.

Gates to the Castle-Museum where Elin goes to work each day.

I make an effort too, though I know I’m never completely right. You have to know that you don’t know something in order to look it up and there’s always, always someone who knows more than you do. My advice is to do your best and accept the criticism with good grace.

AP: My very favorite character in the book was the rakish archer Hywel. For people who haven’t read the book yet, please scroll down a few inches on the page to skip some spoilers. I was rooting for Olivier to choose Hywel, and while his other love interest, the bullish, withholding Black Knight Maheris, evolves a bit into a softer and more expressive mate, I felt like Olivier and Hywel could have made for an interesting pair. Is there the possibility for a future for the two of them, perhaps in a further installment of the story?

EG: I’m so glad you liked Hywel. He’s my favourite too. In fact Olivier and Hywel enjoyed a much ‘closer’ relationship in my original manuscript, but I was warned that readers wouldn’t like it so had to cut that scene. But I love Hywel dearly, and I have an idea for a story where the cast is assembled again and Hywel finds someone who can keep up with him. I just need to find the time to write it.

AP: I enjoy romantic stories, and I especially like stories that show me something about the world that I didn’t know. For the lay reader, such as myself, there’s an assumption that England in the Middle Ages was a brutal place for most people, though it’s appealing to romanticize that era with visions of lush castles and chivalrous knights and beautiful princesses bedecked in fancy gowns. I know your book is essentially a romance, but I wonder if you thought about that balance of realism versus fantasy as you developed the story.

EG: Oh yes. I had to make some changes from the original manuscript mostly because medieval attitudes to hygiene would be unpalatable to modern readers. This was a culture for which washing was purely cosmetic, practical or a matter of comfort. Clean skin suggested that one was rich enough not to have to work. Greasy hands might slip on a sword hilt. A man would use his knife to cut his toenails, slit an enemy’s throat and cut his meat at table, with just a perfunctory wipe of the blade in between so the iron didn’t rust in the sheath. It was believed that one got sick by God’s will. To be clean was valued but most people had only one change of clothes and there’s no way to launder the heavy padding under armour. All fighting men stank.

Painting of a man getting a bath, something that didn’t happen too often in the Middle Ages. Retrieved from medievalists.net

Likewise one has to adjust one’s language and mind set. The idea of human rights and the words used to describe them have changed radically over time. There are also words in common usage in the past that cause real distress if used in fiction now. One has to be aware of all that and walk yet another tightrope between historical accuracy and offending your readers. Historical inaccuracy, of course, offends a whole other set of readers. But decisions have to be made.

AP: I’m gathering from your books that you like a story where true love wins out in the end. Do you consider yourself a romantic? And if I might be so bold, have you had experiences that shaped that optimism which pervades the two stories?

EG: Sorry if this is a disappointment but I’m the least romantic person I know. I was never a flowers/perfume/intimate dinner type of person. I would sooner go abseiling or shoot my longbow or watch a film with plenty of explosions and then go for a round of darts and a pint of properly kept beer. This is British beer by the way, which is refreshingly cool to the lips but doesn’t give you a brain freeze.

That said I do like characters, my own as well as other people’s, to enjoy a good happily-ever-after or happily-for-now once the serious business of saving the world, defusing the bomb, getting the serum to Nome, has been accomplished. They’ve earned it. They deserve it. And at least in my fiction I can provide the type of happiness that often had to be very cautious in real life.

AP: What does the future hold for your writing? Are there other historical periods that you would like to explore?

EG: I have a bit of my bookshelf filled with hard backed spiral bound notebooks, one for each potential book. There’s a massive battered one for an untitled book set on the plains of 4th century BC Scythia. A Gleam of Splendour is set in 4th century BC Thebes and is about the Sacred Band. The Hounds of the North – 1st century Rome and Britannia. The Fierce Reaping – 6th century Northumbria. Plans for a sequel to On A Lee Shore – more 18th century pirates. A Perfect Shade of Blue – early 19th century Wales. Calon Lȃn – Wales 1916. Eleventh Hour – London 1928 [almost finished]. The Shepherd’s Hut – England 1940. I’ve got a few for contemporary fiction too, and they scare me worse than tigers because experts on say 6th century Northumbria are rare and few of them read M/M but everyone’s an expert on the modern day.

AP: Those titles sound amazing! I hope they make it out of your spiral notebooks and onto retailer shelves soon! You do a lot to support fellow authors through posting interviews and features on your blog and generally being a cheerleader for our work (do they have cheerleaders in the UK, or am I imposing my American sensibility?). Where does your passion to do that come from?

Elin’s Comfy Chair feature on her blog where she interviews fellow authors.

EG: Ah no, I don’t think we have cheerleaders. Or at least, not yet. We have WAGs – Wives and Girlfriends – who are supposed to turn up, cheer in the right places and generally be a credit to their menfolk. My British sensibilities sort of admire the cheerleaders’ athleticism while being a bit saddened at both groups’ objectification.

BUT – supporting other authors, that was the question. I started off my engagement with the LGBT writing community as a reviewer of m/m historical fiction so I’ve always felt that publicity/promotion is a more important part of my function in the community than my writing.

I do a bit of hosting, I do a lot of beta reading and I’m on the organizing committee for the UK Meet, a weekend long conference for writers, readers, bloggers, publishers etc of LGBT fiction. This year I think [hope] most attendees enjoyed themselves most of the time.

The colorful UK Meet 2015 Team (from l to r) Elin Gregory, Clare London, Cathy Laird, J. L. Merrow, Liam Livings, and Charlie Cochrane.

It’s such a relief to be in a place where one can chat to other people who are just as passionate about their books, where one doesn’t have to explain, excuse or justify what one writes or reads, where one can pick up help, advice, recommendations because everyone understands. I try to foster that type of atmosphere on my blog too. All are welcome from the grittiest realistic gay fiction to the toughest genre fiction to the fluffiest romance. Everyone should be able to find books they will enjoy with characters in whom they can see a little of themselves. That’s something really worth getting passionate about.

AP: Very well said, and thank you Elin for everything you do for our community. Many thanks for collaborating on the first-ever Pop Up Swap!! For readers wanting to learn more about Elin and her work, please do take a trip over to Elin’s WordPress blog, follow her on Twitter and check her out on Goodreads.

Andrew J. Peters

Author, educator, and activist

Tag Archives: Pop Up Swap

Pop Up Swap with Tom Cardamone

Pop Up Swap with J.P. Jackson

Pop Up Swap is Back! With Author M.D. Neu!

Pop Up Swap! With Elin Gregory!