cornerofmadness

mamculuna gave me a meme the other night and I decided to fill it out for this week's writerly ways. It details both the novel I'm finishing and the one I plan to write for nano. Both are m/m erotica (and if anyone would like me to do this for my non-erotica work, let me know). It was a lot of fun to do.

What is the title of your book?
The one I’m currently finishing is Kept Tears and is about a young man, Aaron, who lost his arm and suffered other injuries in Afghanistan. He’s currently studying biologic myoelectrodes at the University of Pittsburgh and he has a LUKE arm he’s learning to us. He hooks up with a young man he met at a steampunk event. Rhys (formerly called Sebastian) is a Tylwyth Teg prince, unbeknownst to Aaron and it puts Aaron in the way of another sidhe who wants to reclaim Rhys for his own.

The one I will begin in November’s Nano is currently title Soldiers of the Sun. Caleb, Temple and Agni are now more than just partners in the Soldiers of the Sun organization. These three demon hunters are involved in a three-way relationship and Temple is still healing from losing his lover, Li. Temple finds himself partnered with his boss’s niece, unheard of really as women are partnered only with other women but there is no room in their troops for Guiseppina (Jo). It doesn’t take long before bodies start dropping and the SoS have to pair up with the Knights Templar from France, making Temple face his abusive father and his bully big brothers.

Where did the idea for the book come from?
Kept Tears started with an idea from one of the m/m publishers for an anthology about scars. I’ll be honest I was never sanguine about that idea (this publisher does a lot of edgy stuff, much of which squicks me). But Aaron popped up and insisted he had a story to tell. I didn’t feel, once it was underway, that it fit the prompt of fetishizing the scars so I didn’t turn it in. Besides, by that time it was a novella and now nearly a full blown novel.

Soldiers of the Sun is the sequel to The Darkest Midnight in December, Snowbound and A Brief Respite. I loved Temple, Caleb and Agni since I first penned them in Snowbound and I just know they have a longer story in them and it would be a shame not to at least try.

What genre does your book fall under?
Kept Tears is m/m erotic and urban fantasy

Soldiers of the Sun is m/m erotic, urban fantasy and historical (the 1930s)

What actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I utterly suck at this.

Kept Tears I literally have no idea. Let me think. Aaron - Nicholas D'Agosto (who looks way too young but since he was born in 1980 he’s actually OLDER than Aaron. Gah, I’m so so old), Rhys – Tom Weston-Jones…with long blond hair mind you

Soldiers of the Sun I had this written down for someone else. Bradley James would make a good Caleb Davies, Jithan Ramesh would make a good Agni, and there aren't too many auburn haired actors who spring to mind for Temple (Shaun White wouldn't be too far off the mark for his coloring only and maybe the smile. His face is too long for Temple’s). For Jo, Allison Scagliotti would work (if she had curly hair)

What is a one-sentence synopsis of the book?
Kept Tears - Having fallen in love for the first time since losing his arm, Aaron finds himself thrust into a world filled with warring fae and may not survive his introduction.

Soldiers of the Sun - As struggling millionaires begin to sacrifice the poor in order to kept their wealth, the soldier of the sun must fight the demon hoard these greedy men have summoned.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Neither. m/m erotica is usually small indie publishers with no need of an agent. For both, I’ll probably head to Dreamspinner press first. Actually I have no choice if/when I finish Soldiers of the Sun. They own the right of first refusal on those characters.

What other stories would you compare it to in your genre?

For both, probably other stories in the UF genre like Buffy or the Dresden Files, if you know, they had tons of gay sex.


Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Kept Tears as I said above started with the short story open call. Also I was a VA doctor for a while and veterans still hold a special place in my heart. I’m looking into giving part of my royalties, should this sell, to the Wounded Warrior Project which is mentioned in the story. Aaron is part of it.

Soldiers of the Sun was my chance to do a demon hunter/monster hunter story like Buffy or some of the manga I read but I wanted it to be a bit different so I made it historical.

What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
Kept Tears deals with real issues facing wounded veterans in the real world. It might also appeal a little to those who like steampunk or the city of Pittsburgh.

Soldiers of the Sun would appeal to those who like historical fiction or monster hunter stories

I'm not going to tag anyone. Do it if you want to. I'd love to read any take you all will have on it.

Yearly word count -

153253 / 175000 words. 88% done!

Kept Tears -

56554 / 60000 words. 94% done!