Interview with Suki Fleet!

It is time for a glimpse, just a glimpse mind you, behind the curtain and into the story behind the story. The story of Skeletons, Suki Fleet's latest release!

Jan has given up on love, at least the romantic kind. He loves his five-year-old son Henry more than anything.

But when Henry starts school, Jan is introduced to Matthew, a very sweet but shy young man who helps out in Henry’s class. Although he tries desperately to ignore his attraction, Jan finds himself falling for Matthew--he's everything Jan needs.

But amid creepy silent phone calls and possible break-ins, things start to fall slowly apart for Jan. Matthew wants to trust Jan, but the skeleton Jan has been trying to keep buried in his closet and the guilt he feels threatens to destroy everything good in his life.

1. Did you set out to write a romance wrapped around a suspenseful mystery, or did that just kind of...happen?

Haha no, I’m not much of a planner. All my stories just kind of happen 

2. How difficult was it to incorporate a kindergartener into your book? Are children harder or easier to write?

I guess I just see them as another character, with as many facets (hopefully) as any adults in the story.

3. Everyone has something from their past they'd rather not have turn up. Does Mathew have sinister secrets? Is his sweet and shy personality really an act?

Actually no, he really is just a sweetheart. He’s had his fair share of pretty serious problems, but he is open about them. I love to write contrasting characters and this is where Jan and Matthew are very different.

5. Villains. Love to love them or love to hate them?

Love, but only if they are complex and tortured.

6. Out of all the books, movies, and TV shows, who claims the cape o' evil as your Most Favorite Villain?

Because I can’t think of any book villains right now I will go with films and Loki from Thor is one of my favourite characters ever.

7. Skeleton is a very fitting title. Is there a story behind how you came up with it?

Titles come to me before stories evolve. I suspect my subconscious is far more intelligent than I am :P

8. What's your favorite part of the publishing process? Editing? Seeing the cover? Reading the galley? Finishing the first draft? Getting the contract? All of the above?

Contract definitely.

9. Recommend some books! What are two or three books you've really enjoyed recently?

The Mating of Michael- Eli Easton

Brute- Kim Fielding

10. What is your favorite thing to drink while reading/writing/editing?

Tea- lady grey (I’m probably addicted)



Thank you for the interview, Suki!

Skeletons is available at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Dreamspinner Press.

 

Suki Fleet currently lives in the heart of England. Her childhood was quite unconventional and she spent some time living on a boat and travelling at sea with her family. Since she was very small she has always dreamed of writing for a living, but though she has written original fiction online for years and encouraged many new writers to keep going and follow their author dreams, it is only recently she got the courage to make her own dream a reality and actually send something off to a publisher.

By day she runs her own business selling fabric (her second love) and juggling family commitments, by night she weaves the stories that the characters in her head dictate. These stories often start with pain or longing but always end with love.

Storytime with Angel Martinez!

Prisoner 374215? Gravitational Attraction? Yeah, THAT Angel Martinez is doing a thing.

A very creative thing, and I am all about creative things. Make good art and all that.

She's reading excerpts of various LGBT books and posting them on her blog. I'm the lucky guest today, with an excerpt from Winter's Risk. I chose a section from the middle of the book to showcase the tension between Alex and Martin they're both determined to ignore with snarky banter.

But I think most getting-to-know-you scenes could benefit from fewer clothes and more confined spaces. Your mileage may vary.

IT IS FANTASTIC so head over to her blog and give it a listen!

*KABOOM* The Contract Has Landed.

It's happy happy joy joy announcement time!

Dreamspinner Press has offered me a contract on my New Adult Gay Romance, Finding Figaro!


Jasper is a pretentious young unpublished writer trying to find out the truth behind his favorite author's pen name, but with the catch of not letting *anyone* realize he likes reading romance, especially not the raw, sweat-slicked, passionate romance Figaro Powers writes. He'd be laughed out of the Serious Author's Club! What would his critic group say?

But his day job at a catering company goes south when he's arrested for helping commit wine fraud, and things go from bad to worse when he discovers the Russian mob is involved. It's hard to remain pretentious when that's all blowing up in his face.


As a bonus, I got my first advance with this book, which was another career milestone. The release date is March/April of next year, which is right in the middle of when I'm moving halfway across the country. So that'll be interesting, and a test of my ability to manage time.  Manipulate time. Possibly time travel. I'll be wishing for a Tardis by then, I know it.

WE HAVE A WINNER!!! Congratulations Kim W!

Sometimes ideas will pop into my head and all the reality around them gets magically deleted in favor of the super-awesome random idea.


'Wouldn't it be neat if I used Basement Cat to choose the winner of the blog hop?'


Yeah, maybe. But like I said, there's some reality around that thought I ignored.


Reality like I have never made a video before.

Basement Cat has never done what I wanted in a timely fashion.

This camera is as nearly as complicated as the Space Shuttle's control panel.


BUT I DIDN'T LET IT STOP ME. After some sweary, sweary words, I made this.

Let this be a lesson to you. With profanity and determination anything can be accomplished.

Someday, I will evolve enough to add music and also make the camera not auto-focus at critical moments.

Because it's important to have goals.

And so we come to The End

Of the Winter's Risk blog hop! Not the end of everything. The pinnacle post is over at Grace Duncan's delightful corner of the interwebz.

I'm speculating about the proper meaning of perspective and the possibility of using Basement Cat as a random number generator to decide the winner of the book. Using a cat? To do something important? How could that possibly work?

Upon further reflection, my perspective in this matter was slightly skewed. The drawing has been delayed a few days, but no worries, the winner (barring more sudden attacks of the creeping crud or techno!fail on my part) should be announced tomorrow.

With a video.

Of a cat.

Using his catly wiles to choose the lucky winner.

If he refuses (although, with pepperoni as a bribe I don't think he will) then I'll draw the winner myself. Either way, there will be a winner announced.

It will be Catnificent.

Ink Splatters and Imagination Patterns

Like a Rorschach test, a blob of imagination smeared all over the page could be whatever you want it to be. Anything. Scientifically speaking, the quantum possibilities are endless.

Perhaps it's...Schrödinger's Imagination! 

A book with a bear paw on the cover could be suspense OR mystery...and you have to open it to find out. A book with an injured man in the wilderness could be a thriller, OR an action/adventure, and maybe even have a healthy dabble of romance swirled around on top. You might hope you know what's going on between those sexy covers, but you don't actually know until you peek for yourself.

The indomitable Anne Barwell graciously invited me over to her cozy corner of the web, Drops of Ink, to discuss Winter's Risk, the zombocalypse, and the magic of how someone who has always lived where it's roughly the same surface temperature as the sun can write about snowstorms.

Imagination is a fascinating thing.

What do you imagine when you see this cover?

What is the scientifically proven ideal number of men?

Obviously, it's more than one. Two Men Are Better Than One is the sixth law of Archimedes.

Or was it the ninth?

Hadrian sees what I did there.

Hadrian would approve. As a Roman emperor, he knew all about conflict. He was the original advocate for the 'Good Fences Make Good Neighbors' school of philosophy.

I blogged about a much smaller conflict-two guys with opposing world views-and illustrated the post with a picture of a micro-conflict I risked my life to take. Really, I did. You wouldn't believe how close I had to get before the camera would focus.

So rumble on over and get a little adrenaline rush yourself. There might even be a free ebook in your future if you comment on my appalling lack of personal safety skills. Or the book. Whatever floats your boat. Puts a little zip in your stinger. Adds a little buzz to your bee.

Did I mention I'm deathly allergic to hornets?