Drew Jessop wants a life without ghosts. He doesn’t want to see, hear, or talk to them. Ignoring them should be relatively simple.
But Drew soon finds that Benji Richards, an eternally gorgeous ghost from the fifties, is not so easy to ignore.
Halloween night is approaching and both Drew and Benji know what it could mean for them. From sunset to sunrise, it is the one night of the year when a mortal can feel the touch of a ghost.
1. How did you start writing erotic romance?
I ended up writing erotic romance rather by default since I
write m/m stories and they do have a tendency to get automatically put into the
erotic romance category simply because of the pairings. This is actually one of
my pet peeves since not all of my stories are particularly erotic. Some of them are. I recently had one story’s sex scenes
described as hot enough to boil the oceans. But there are others that are very
much sweet romances, though they are probably fewer in number because people
tend to want hotter stories when they read about two (or more) men together.
How I started writing romances at all is through fan fiction. I am an escapee from the Harry Potter fandom
where I wrote a lot of genres including “slash” romances. From there it was
only a small step to writing original fiction and romances, erotic or
otherwise.
2. Plotter or pantster?
I am probably a little bit of both. I plot out my stories before I start but I
often find my characters have minds of their own. This results in my often finding my neat
little notes of the plot flying out the window and my pantsing my way to the
end of the story.
3. What are three things you have on your writing desk?
I don’t actually have a desk. Well, I do have one but it isn’t where I
write. I write on my laptop which is on one of those cushioned trays on my lap.
There isn’t even room on the tray to fit so much as a pen – though I often find
I have a cat on it – usually sprawled across the keyboard! What I tend to have nearby – scattered on the
sofa – is my iPod, snacks, and whatever book I happen to be reading at the
moment. The latter sits there until I have been a good writer and got some
words down each day.
4. Favorite food?
Probably chocolate with pizza running a close second. Neither of which I have very often as I am on
a constant diet.
5. Tell us a little about your new release. What character
in the book really spoke to you?
My new release is a ghostly romance called Touch of a Ghost.
It is the story of Drew, a psychic who has had enough of interfering ghosts in
his life and is determined to ignore them from now on. Unfortunately, when he moves into his new
flat he finds himself being haunted by the ghost of a sexy young man who died
in the 1950s, and Benji is not easy to ignore.
Of the two main characters in Touch of a Ghost I had thought
Drew would speak to me the most since he is very much alive and a firm believer
in the paranormal, much like myself.
However, when I wrote the story I found Benji was far more talkative.
Each time I do a character interview I find Benji is the one who speaks to me
while Drew merely watches from the sidelines.
Benji is an optimistic and engaging young spirit who is very
difficult to ignore. I guess it was only natural he would be the one to speak
to me too.
6. I write because ____...
I would probably go crazy from all the voices in my head if
I didn’t. There’s that and I just love
getting stories down onto paper (or the computer screen to be precise). There is a certain feeling of accomplishment
when you type “the end” that makes it all worthwhile. Even if I never found a publisher and had an
inbox full of rejections I would still want to write, just because I love it.
7. What is your favorite type of character to write about?
I am not sure I have a favourite type, though I do have a
fondness for paranormal characters with special abilities. As well as my ghost, Benji, I have written
about aliens, angels, demons, and mermen.
I like characters who are not quite human because they are so much fun
to play with.
8. What is the sexiest scene you ever wrote?
Probably one of my threesome scenes from either the Heavenly
Sins series or the Mermen & Magic series.
There are plenty to choose from where there are three people present, as
well as some where an invisible voyeur is watching the other two. In my ménage stories it is very much the more
the merrier.
Touch of a Ghost is actually quite tame compared to those,
although I know the “couch scene” was pretty popular when it was first
released.
9. What advice would you give new authors in the
erotica/romance field?
Not to give up and to keep writing – the same as in any
other writing field. Specifically for
the erotica/romance field – learn not to overuse a certain four letter word
starting with C. ;-) Apparently it is very overused by all of us,
so start as you mean to go on and find other names for that particular body
part.
10. What is next on your writerly horizon?
I have a lot of projects on the go right now, though with
five releases/re-releases before the end of the year most of them are on hold
until 2015.
Once my Heavenly Sins series are all available as well as my
novella One Perfect Wish I have two big projects to get back to. The second
Mermen & Magic book needs some polishing and submitting to my publisher and
then I have four fairy tale novellas to find a home for – one is a re-release,
the rest are all brand new. Two are actually not completely written yet, but I
am hoping they will be by the end of the year.
I also want to find homes for some more of my orphaned books
following the closure of one of my former publishers. It is slow going as I want to make revisions to
some of the stories, but I am hoping to get at least a couple of them submitted
in 2015.
So, yes, I have quite a lot on at the moment and I suspect
2015 is going to be just as manic, though I am going to try to manage my time
better if I can. It is only September
(at the time of typing) and I am already looking at what my New Year Resolution
is going to be.
Links:
Website & Blog – http://lmbrownauthor.wordpress.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/L.M.Brown.author
Twitter - @LMBrownAuthor
Author bio:
L.M. Brown lives in England, in a quaint little village time
doesn't seem to have touched. No, wait a minute—that's the retirement
biography. Right now, she is in England in a medium sized town no one has ever
heard of, so she won't bore you with the details. Keeping her company are
numerous sexy men. She just wishes they weren't all inside her head.
L.M. believes there is nothing hotter or sweeter than two
men in love with each other… unless it is three.
L.M. Brown loves hearing from readers so don't be shy.
Book excerpt:
Drew leaned forward and put his empty bottle on the table. The match had
finished and the commentators were recapping the highlights, so Drew reached
for the remote control.
"Well, thank you for having us." Flora stood up and stretched,
as though her joints were still giving her grief as they had apparently done in
life.
Drew turned off the television and
picked up the crisp packet together with the nearly empty bowl. He tossed the
last few crisps into his mouth as he stood up and walked into the kitchen. He
left the beer bottles on the table as he contemplated whether to have another.
Remembering he had an early start in the morning, he decided against drinking
too much. He had a feeling Flora might have an opinion on alcohol intake too.
However, when he turned back toward the living area, Flora had vanished.
Benji, on the other hand, still lingered. He remained on the sofa, his
arm stretched along the back and his chin resting on it as he stared at Drew
directly.
"You're very rude, you know?" Benji commented idly. "Not
saying a single word to us all evening like that. You could at least have said
hello."
Drew ignored him as he turned off the lights.
"I know you can see us. Your eyes give you away."
Drew suspected Benji might be guessing, but if he said a single word in
response that guess would be confirmed. He had to keep quiet. That way he could
still maintain a normal life.
"Not going to admit it, huh?" Benji said. "Well, I'll stop
by again tomorrow. Maybe you'll be more talkative then. If you are, I might
just tell you how I know you're gay, if you ask nicely." With that
comment, Benji flashed Drew one final killer smile and vanished from the room.
Drew reacted to Benji the same way he would any other handsome man. His
mind may tell him Benji was off limits, but his body thought otherwise. Drew
wondered whether he could keep up the pretense of not seeing and hearing the
ghosts who were as real to him as the rest of the human race. If this evening
was anything to go by, it might not be as easy as he thought.
Thank you for having me here today.
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