Today we have A. J. DeWall in the hot seat, talking about her latest release, Forever Man. There's a $25 Amazon GC (tour-wide) up for grabs for one lucky participant. Read on to meet A.J., get a taste of the excerpt (a hot kiss!) and see how to enter the drawing. Enjoy!
~Mia
~*~
Interview
questions for A.J. DeWall...
Quick
round:
Coffee, tea
or…what’s your vice?
Tequila,
and hot fudge sundaes.
Favorite Movie: “The
Philadelphia Story” is my all-time favorite movie, but movies are my great
love, and it would be impossible to come up with a top ten list.
Favorite Color: Is it weird to
say Martha Stewart green? I’m a little obsessed with that color right now.
(‘Right now’ as in the last six years.)
Favorite
book/author:
“A Prayer for Owen Meany” by John Irving.
How do you feel
about bacon?
Unfortunately, I had to break up with bacon. I no longer eat meat, and I miss
bacon every day. I pine for bacon.
|
It's not as good, but maybe it will help the longing. |
The
REAL questions…
Tell us a little
about yourself.
I
live in a quaint little village on the Hudson River, about 20 miles from
Manhattan. I walk everywhere, carting my laptop with me. When I’m not writing
novels or ghostwriting self-help books, I am usually hanging out with my
nine-year-old son, whom I raise with three other people—my wife of 16 years,
our son’s biological father, and his fiancé. It’s an unusual family, but it
works for us.
What’s under
your bed?
Nothing
sexy, unless you count those dusty old mix tapes given to me by former loves.
What comes
first, plot or characters?
Characters.
Always. I get a character first, learn about his or her life, and then figure
out which part of their life story I want to tell.
Pantser,
plotter, or hybrid? Tell us about your writing process.
I’m
a pantser until I figure out my characters. Then, I’m more of a hybrid,
outlining the next few chapters. I never know the exact ending until I’m done
with the rough draft, though. I would be bored, otherwise.
Oddest thing on
your desk?
A
little troll doll that represents the annoying little voice in my head that
tells me I shouldn’t bother trying. I like to knock him over, dunk him in a
water glass, make him bow down to my son’s LEGO mini figures. Whatever it takes
to shut him up.
What’s your most
interesting writing quirk?
About
writing process, I would say the fact that I write usually start my writing day
at around 3:30am. Is that quirky or just plain scary?
What’s your
favorite thing about the genre you write in?
I
love writing GLBTQ love stories because we, as a community, don’t have enough
stories with happy endings.
What is the
hardest thing about being an author?
Getting the little troll to be quiet
long enough to let me say what I want to say.
What’s the
easiest thing about being an author?
Getting
ideas! I have so many!
What do you wish
someone had asked you for an interview question? Here’s your chance to get the
soap box out!
I
wish someone had asked me why I set the novel in Santa Fe. I lived there for
half of my twenties, and fell in love with it. Santa Fe has a way of waking you
up to desires and dreams you’ve pushed down, or put off. It’s a romantic city
that seems out of time, as if anything could happen there. When I lived there,
I knew many people who came there for a visit and never left. It’s a city where
people make big changes, seemingly overnight, and that is what I wanted for Ren
and Cole.
Tell us about
your latest release!
Forever Man is a story
about getting one last chance to act on your feelings, and maybe, just maybe,
live the life you were supposed to live. In the novel, Ren and Cole are prep
school friends who loved each other deeply but never told each other. Instead,
they went on to live on separate continents with other lovers. When fate puts
them in the same hotel in Santa Fe, they are both faced with the same choice—should
they act on their feelings and give in to the chemistry between them, or stay
friends and go back to the men they settled down with?
This
story explores the question, “What if you had one more chance to get the
love—and the life—you always wanted? Would you take it?”
Thank you so much for having me on your blog!
~*~
BLURB for Forever Man...
A bond forged in Catholic school, an unspoken attraction that
outlasts years of separation and other relationships.
Ren and Cole never acted on that thing that always bubbled beneath
the surface of their friendship, not until a chance encounter in a Santa Fe bar
and a song that would tip the scales forced them to confront their feelings.
Will the influence of a music superstar, a New York socialite and a mystical
property manager finally bring them together, or will a history of missed
opportunities, their own fears and an impending wedding keep them apart? Can
they just have one night, and then walk away?
Forever Man is a story of the consequences of the choices we make,
and how the courage to change can last a lifetime.
~*~
Excerpt from Forever Man...
Suddenly Ren's mouth is on his and
they're kissing. Oh God. This is everything. Cole’s whole body gives over to
the kiss, lips warm, tongue skating across teeth, hands wrapped up in the hair
at the base of Ren's neck.
Ren wraps both of his hands around
Cole's neck, winds his fingers up into his curls and tugs. Cole hisses, loving
the pain; Ren does it again. And again. His are lips strong and insistent and
Cole knew it, he knew Ren would kiss him just exactly like this. Cole nips at
Ren's bottom lip and then Ren's hands are on his hips and his mouth is at his
neck and Cole can't help but moan into Ren's ear.
The song is like a spell, and Cole
feels it coming to an end so he pulls Ren off of his neck. Ren looks confused,
almost hurt, but then Cole takes Ren's face in his hands and gives him a soft,
chaste kiss, the kind he should have given him that day by the chapel.
He wants to give him all of the
missed kisses now, the sweet, innocent, hopeful kisses he should have given him
in the hallways at Saint Benedict, in empty classrooms, under stairs. Cole
kisses Ren's forehead, his cheeks. He nuzzles his nose and then runs his tongue
over Ren's bottom lip like he should have done that day in Ren's bedroom, when
Ren told him he was accepted to Pratt and promised to visit him every month in
Boston. He kisses him deeply now, a bit desperate, like he should have done in
the backseat of Ren's car every damn Saturday night for years, winding
themselves up.
He knows he should kiss Ren like
another missed kiss, like this is goodbye, but instead he gives him everything
like he should have done all along; like he should have done every time this
perfect man graced him with his presence.
~*~
AUTHOR
Bio and Links:
A
professional writer for more than 20 years, A.J. DeWall began her career as a
playwright. She is the ghostwriter behind dozens of nonfiction books, including
several award-winning bestsellers. As a writer of fan fiction, her online
titles have hundreds of thousands of reads. Forever Man is her first novel. She
lives in New York with her wife and son.
Contest Details!
The author is offering a randomly drawn $25 Amazon gift card. Follow the Rafflecopter instructions to enter.
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