It's always a pleasure to welcome Karenna to The Naughty Pages, so let's see what she has in store for us today... Inspiring Flight In October 2012, I was able to attend the GayRomLit convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I really wanted to go to it, to network with readers and other authors and see who and what else was out there. The only problem was that going required flying. I live in Massachusetts. I could have gotten to Albuquerque by bus or train, but it would have taken days, and I didn’t have days. I have kids. So flying was the only reasonable option, but I hadn’t been on a plane since 1989. Understandably, I was a little scared. The flight to Albuquerque was okay. The flight crew was nice, and when I let them know I had some anxiety about flying, they checked in with me off and on to make sure I was handling it. The fun part came on the flight back. The first leg of my flight was from Albuquerque to Chicago. I boarded the plane worried about the takeoff and the landing at the other end, and hoping I wouldn’t be quite as anxious this time since I’d been through it once already. And then one of the flight attendants, a tall, blond guy on the skinny side, took the mike for the pre-flight instructions and said, “Hi, I’m Chris, your flight attendant. There are others, but their names don’t matter.” Those may not have been his exact words, but they’re close enough. And the rest of his instructions to the passengers continued in the same vein. I felt like I was at a comedy show, not waiting for a plane to take off. And I felt much more at ease. I told Chris the flight attendant that he might show up in one of my books someday, and he did. My M/M contemporary novella Changing Planes released on June 4 from Loose Id (http://www.looseid.com/changing-planes.html), and the love interest, a flight attendant named Colin Traynor, is modeled on Chris, including using the pre-flight speech as close to word-to-word as I could remember. The book has gotten mixed reviews so far; some people feel like Oliver Sheehan, the main character, falls for Colin too quickly, and others are annoyed by the fact that Oliver is bisexual and, at the beginning of the story, is engaged to a woman. (Note for those who dislike these things: There is an almost-sex scene between Oliver and his female fiancée in the story, but then they break up.) Here’s the blurb and a short excerpt from the novella: Oliver Sheehan is on his way from Boston to California to marry his fiancée and start a new life, but he isn't sure Sophia and Sacramento are what he truly wants. On the second leg of his flight, Oliver meets Colin Traynor, a flight attendant with a wicked sense of humor and smile to match, and the attraction is immediate. It isn't the first time Oliver's been interested in a guy, but it's definitely the most intense. Even after he arrives in Sacramento, Oliver can't quite put Colin out of his mind, and when his engagement to Sophia unravels in the wake of her confession that she's fallen in love with a woman, Oliver turns to Colin for friendship and comfort. Although Colin refuses to start a relationship with Oliver so soon after the break-up, they can't keep their hands to themselves when Oliver crashes in Colin's hotel room for the night. Following that, a month of texting and video chats--not entirely G-rated--leads to a hot weekend at Oliver's new apartment back in Boston to make up for lost time. In bed and out, Oliver knows he wants Colin in his life; he just hopes Colin wants the same. EXCERPT: The plane took off, and Oliver closed his eyes and breathed deeply. The plane would go up, level out, and stay in the air all the way to California. It would probably hit some turbulence, which was nothing more dangerous than a bumpy road. He would be just fine. “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome aboard flight three-seventy-five, Chicago, Illinois to Sacramento, California. I’m Colin, and I’ll be one of your flight attendants today. The others don’t matter.” Startled, Oliver opened his eyes as the passengers around him laughed uncertainly. Colin stood at the front of the cabin, grinning broadly. “We’ll be serving snacks and drinks a bit later. I promise they aren’t poisoned, though they might taste like it.” More laughter this time. Oliver joined in. Colin’s humor put him at ease, which was almost certainly Colin’s intention. He’d probably dealt with tons of nervous passengers. Or maybe he’d just gotten bored giving the same spiel over and over. “In the event of an emergency, an oxygen mask may drop from the compartment above you,” Colin said. “If it hits you in the head, it will hurt like hell.” More laughter as Colin took a demonstration mask out of the cupboard beside him. “Secure it this way, and don’t worry about how you look in it. We won’t take pictures.” He put the mask on and took it off again. “If you’re traveling with a small child or someone who needs assistance, secure your mask before theirs. You won’t be a whole lot of help if you’re gasping like a fish on the floor.” Oliver was laughing harder than the comments actually warranted, and he knew it was partly due to anxiety. But the guy was also just plain funny. He should have been on a stand-up comedy stage instead of wasting his talent on this plane. “If we crash over water, your seat cushion will double as a flotation device,” Colin said. “If we crash over land, you’ll be pretty much screwed.” At that, the passengers laughed so loudly Colin had to stop talking. He just smiled until the noise subsided, then went on to talk about seat belts, flight magazines, and the location of the restrooms. At the end, the passengers applauded. Definitely not the usual reaction to flight instructions. Then again, Colin obviously wasn’t the usual flight attendant. “The captain’s telling the flight crew to sit down for a few minutes because we’re about to hit some turbulence,” Colin said. “Not to worry. He knows what he’s doing. We hope.” The laughter this time wasn’t quite as loud, though Colin was still clearly joking. He smiled and nodded. “Yeah, yeah, time to be serious. Thanks, folks. You’ve been a lovely audience. Please make sure your seat belts remain fastened until the light goes out, and as soon as the captain gives us the go-ahead, we’ll come around to take your drink orders.” The flight crew took their seats near the cockpit entrance, and the passengers turned back to their distractions, though there was a hum of conversation that hadn’t been present before. Colin’s comedy routine had put everyone in a better mood. Even Oliver, who now wished he could fly again just to listen to Colin more.
So once again I'm back to discuss three more questions authors don't like being asked. These three questions are suggested by fellow author Dy. "You must be good at sex." Obviously specific to romance and erotica authors, this question is extremely confronting. An author's ability and confidence to write hot sex scenes is no reflection on their skills in the bedroom, and in fact it's quite rude to ask. It's natural to wonder, of course. But to actually ask an author such a personal question, or make the statement, is a little bit more information than an author usually likes to provide about themselves. The fact that an author writes about steamy sex scenes doesn't mean that they're asking for such questions, either. Rule of thumb: if you wouldn't want people asking about your sex life, don't ask other's about theirs. Even if they are a writer of erotica and/or romance. "What does your mother think?" There are a number of reasons why this question is a drag. Not every person knows their mother for one thing; you can't be sure the author hasn't lost their mother, or that they're in contact with their mother. Aside from that, this is a question that suggests writing certain genres is shameful. Many authors have open relationships with their mothers, and so their mother might fully support their son or daughter in the genre they write; or maybe it's a sore spot between author and mother. This is another question that, although is natural to be curious about, is one best left unasked. It's personal, and only between the author and their family. "Where do the ideas come from?" I've been asked this in a few blog interviews, which I don't mind. But when you're asked by every fan you come across, it can quickly become a hated question. Ideas come from many places. Maybe the author sees something on the news and the mind goes in to overdrive, spinning out possible story lines to follow or lead up to that event. Or maybe an odd conversation with a friend or fan sparks a story. Let me list two different examples for where some of my ideas have come from. The Wolf in the Neighborhood, for example. I was lying in bed, trying to drift off to sleep but my mind just wouldn't pipe down. A random scene (the opening scene, in fact) popped in to my head vividly; I could feel the satin dressing gown, the heat of the sun and the cool breeze. It started writing itself in my mind so I flipped over to my stomach, grabbed my phone and started typing away in Drafts. That little snippet, probably only about 150 words, sparked the entire story, which then sparked the two sequels. Acapello's Lady is one that I always share for a laugh. I was dancing around to Zumba with guilty pleasure song Cotton Eyed Joe on repeat, blasting away. The idea began to tease me. After the zumba session, the song still on repeat, I jumped in to the cold shower and the idea started forming in to something solid. Allowing it to form a bit more, I hopped out, straight to the computer and started writing. I always shake my head and grin at how random that one came about!
So while a newbie like myself might be happy sharing a story or two about how some of our ideas come about, not all authors like hearing that question. Sometimes the ideas just come out of thin air; there isn't an interesting story behind everything we write. So just keep it in mind next time. Just because we write interesting stories, doesn't mean we have something interesting behind them. And so ends another episode of "Questions authors don't like." To see what other questions I've discussed so far, you can view the previous blog posts here and here. For the next two Fridays, I have two new guests, Karenna Colcroft and Kharisma Rhayne will be joining the roster due to busier schedules of Liz and Delena. These two ladies are quite lovely and very interesting, so I hope you're looking forward to see what topics these saucy ladies come up with!
Well, it's pretty obvious, isn't? When we're surrounded by others doing well, it inspires us to do well. And when we're all doing well, nay-sayers and doubters only make us strive to do better to prove them wrong. Can you say you disagree? I sure hope not! I have been surrounded by quite a few successful authors for months now, and I do believe it is rubbing off.
Warning: This is a total suck up, gratuity blog! I love my fellow authors and will take every chance to brag about them that I can get!
So who do I start with? Well, I won't put these in any particular order, just random.
Cassandre Dayne: A wonderful author published with many presses and a truly wonderful lady. Cassandre was one of the first authors I reviewed, and that book, Spankdown, opened me up to the world of BDSM. She is a fantastic role model for aspiring authors, and a testament to just what one person can do when they put their minds to something. In my opinion, she is the poster girl for success! Sherry Tooker: A fellow starting author. We have become super close over the past few months and are so similar it is a little spooky at times. Being so new to writing for publishing, we both have a lot of moments where we are filled with self-doubt. Sherry has helped me out of some severe funks, and I will always be grateful that I can call her friend and writing sister. We bounce ideas off each other, read over snippets from the other to make sure they read ok and are always ready to give a shoulder to lean on. That is what true family is about.
Vampirique Dezire: A naughty Mother Hen, in my eyes. Without her, I wouldn't have met Gina (whom I shall speak about momentarily), and been encouraged to get back in to writing. I wouldn't have ever considered reviewing. And I certainly wouldn't be writing books two and three of Wolf Smitten since The Wolf In The Neighborhood was accepted by Naughty Nights Press. My first submission accepted. I cannot tell you how thrilling that was, but I owe a lot of my success to this wonderful lady. She, like Cassandre, is supremely busy as Director of Marketing for NNP, as well as writing her own blog, writing her own stories from time to time and spending time with her family. (And I'm not just talking about her writing family) This lady is definitely an inspiration and a wonderful person I'm honoured to call friend.
Gina Kincade: What can I say about this woman. She's strong, professional, intelligent and knows what she wants, when she wants it and how she wants it. Gina is the CEO/Owner of Naughty Nights Press, a writer, a mother, and a good friend. We all jokingly refer to her as the Bosslady, but it is a term of endearment. This is one woman who will give everything she has to something she is passionate about. She has one of the highest levels of commitment I have seen in anyone. This company is only six months old and most of the feedback any of us have received has been positive. She is doing really well as the captain of this ship, and I am excited to see just where she steers us: Success! Pablo Michaels: A wonderful writer, and a loving friend. He has so much going on in his life and yet he still tries to keep up with his friends. Pablo gives so much, and I am honoured to know this man. He was one of the first people to sign up for The Twelve Days of Naughty Giveaways, and one of the first participants to submit his Naughty Shorty, a beautifully naughty tale involved the Greek Gods and Demigods. His participation in Six Sentence Sundays paved the way to my willingness to start reading m/m, and I am so thrilled that I had the opportunity to read from him. Pablo always has something nice to say and is ever encouraging. He has got a lovely way of writing that warms the heart and opens eyes. I can not wait until he starts writing again.
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Brenda Woody and Steve Tindle: Another couple of authors, these two write books together. It is quite wonderful the way they work together to produce such fantastic writing. I had the pleasure of reviewing them a few months back, and was delighted when Brenda nominated me for Xcite Books awards for Best Reviewer. I didn't make the final six, but it truly is an honour to be nominated. I know, only losers say that. That's far from the truth. To be nominated goes to show that there are people out there who recognise your work and appreciate the time you take. I am so touched to have been nominated by Brenda. I also have to admit it comes in handy having the two of them as friends, because if I ask one a question and they aren't sure, they work together to get an answer. It's brilliant and another inspiration.
There are so many other people I would love to mention, but I don't want to bore everyone. I just wanted to say thank you to all those who have, in one way or another, helped me strive towards success. This time last year I was struggling to write. Now, I have my first accepted work, two follow up novellas, a short story just written, two full sized novels started and an idea for my own compilation. With so much success surrounding us all and so much encouragement from others, may 2012 be our year!
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To everyone wanting to achieve something, surround yourself with wonderful people who are revelling in their own success and celebrate with them. That positive energy will then reward you with your own celebrations. The Universe rewards positivity, and we must all strive to shake off negativity. If someone is doubting you when you know that you will succeed, ignore the doubting. If you make a mistake, that's just life. Shake it off and keep on going. And when you're feeling down, crank up some inspirational music like Katy Perry's Fireworks or Blue Lagoon's Break My Stride, and dance like crazy. Absorb the positive messages and use it in your life! You'll be amazed at how much things will change for the better! And to all the doubters out there, stand aside and let us pass. As someone once said "The one who says 'It cannot be done' should never interrupt the one who is doing it."
The plane took off, and Oliver closed his eyes and breathed deeply. The plane would go up, level out, and stay in the air all the way to California. It would probably hit some turbulence, which was nothing more dangerous than a bumpy road. He would be just fine.
