I had a bit of trouble with this one… *g*
I should be flattered? Adam thought, resting his hand under the back of Zelda’s thigh. Triumph flashed in her eyes, curled on her mouth and she gazed down at him with the imperious confidence that never failed to enrage him. She really needed to take off her skirt for this? Does she think I’m that easy? He patted her shin and her smirk grew. Somehow he kept his smile in place. Oh, well, back to the role-play… “And madam wishes to try these pumps in a size 10?” he asked smoothly.
His supervisor nodded. “Excellent salesmanship under extreme pressure, Banes.”
* * * * *
For more fun 100 word interpretations of the above prompt pic from my friends in the FFF padded cell, clicky on the links…
…………………………………..
Lisa Worrall : www.lworrall.blogspot.com
Benjamin Russell : www.incubuschronicles.blogspot.com
Laura Harner : here
Sara York : http://sarayork.blogspot.com
Muffy Wilson: http://MuffyWilson.blogspot.com
Jp Archer: http://jp-archer.blogspot.com/
Lani Rhea : http://lanirhea.blogspot.com/
Rhea Archer : http://rheaarcherbooks.blogspot.com/
Katie Harper : http://katieharperwrites.blogspot.com/
Bonnie Sansom : http://bonnisansom.blogspot.com/
In Chez Chris today, I have an interview with–no, let me rephrase that. I have a conversation between RJ Scott and her partner in crime, Diane Adams. Foolishly I’d said to RJ, “I’d like something from you and Di about your new werewolf book and how you came to write it.”
“Oooh!” she said, “I’m sure we could do something.”
Then this arrived… I love these crazy girls!
***
Poor Chris Quinton said we should do a chat for her blog. So, Diane and I dived in…
RJ: So I get to ask a question first… what is Sam’s hell did you think you were doing writing a book with RJ Scott?
DA: I figured “Hmmm, I want to sell a gazillion books, what should I do?” The answer to that was pretty obvious. Oh, I mean, I wanted the challenge of writing with a well respected author. (Really I thought it’d be fun, but that’s the boring answer)
RJ: well it’s certainly been fun… hard work as well given the Americans are always in bed when I am up…
DA: That’s cause you UK sorts have the oddest hours. Strange way of talking too (Oh wolfie 2, change the “que” to line), but mostly you’re okay. And it was fun when I managed to catch up with you, lol.
RJ: We need someone to ask us questions…this isnt working… who can we find… BEANY!
DA: LMAO – okay, yeah, that’ll be good, um, I mean she’d be good 
. Though I think I’m pretty amusing.
DA: We can start over.
DA: You know I’ve been trying to get you to write with me since our days of writing that unmentionable F word stuff. So, I finally got my way (it only took about three years). And it was fun! So tell me, why did you agree to do it?
RJ: Because I think you write awesome stuff… I love your writing…it’s very poetic…lyrical… also you can make sure I get rid of all the wardrobes, trousers and torches….
DA: Oh, such lovely reasons (blushing now). You know I think you are an awesome writer. We can’t have any que’s lingering around and the what is it you said about the road construction? lmao. You know it’s a wonder we understand what the other is saying at all! I’m not sure how you do it anyhow. I could never write a book with characters based completely in another culture. I’d never remember boys can wear jumpers in England and wash up with a flannel.
RJ: See, the difference is, in England, in UK, we are clever…ROFL…
DA: ummm huh. I thought you were supposed to be polite too. (is it bad to say England? Is England still there? I really don’t keep up with things well).
RJ: Is it still there? Yeah… I am English, BUT the Welsh and the Scots and the Irish are clever too… hence the UK…
DA: I see it’s just us American, European, Australians who fall on the wrong side of clever LMAO ( I think we have made a wrong turn again haha!)
RJ: Anyway back to the book… coughs… so… Jamie was totally your creation… did he just pop into your head fully formed as a character?
DA: Well, he introduced himself to me but I didn’t really know who he was until I started writing. I rarely have more than a description and a vague idea of personality before I start writing. I’ve read a lot about character sketches but there’s no way I could complete one on my characters until the book is finished. Then it seems rather pointless. I don’t make character lists before hand either, the characters appear in the story where they belong, that’s when I find out who they are. How do you manage with your characters? (are they just running amok in your head, breeding bunnies?)
RJ: I know that *insert character’s name here* is a cop or a vet or a millionaire… I know that *character 2* is a barista, or a writer… past that it kind of hits me when I start writing…
DA: Neither of us is much of a preplanner, one of the things that makes writing together really interesting. I can feel how much we’ve learned as we get into the second book we are really getting a feel for each other (pardon the pun).
RJ: I can’t wait to see what we make Doug do…
DA: and Sam, who really isn’t even Sam at all. I like it that his character is secret even from himself. It’s going to be fun to find out what’s hidden inside (like chewy nougat or a crunchy nut).
RJ: Well in chapter three… no one is reading this right?… well, in chapter three the shit really hits the fan…
RJ: I have a question – how is your Making Of A Man series going? And when can I read the next part?
DA: No one will see this… so tell me all the good stuff! MoaM series is going great, I’m working on book four now. Clark’s Story, and you’ll get to it sometime next week, lol. I wish everything came as easily for me as writing the Making of a Man books. What are you up to these days?
RJ: Just releasing my next YA book and writing Heart Of Texas #2… *Cowboy Christmas*… Riley’s past comes back to haunt him in a life changing way… nods…
DA: That sounds really dramatic! I’m looking forward to your YA I don’t read many of those but I enjoyed your first one. Are YA harder to write?
RJ: Yes and no. I dont know about you but when it comes to writing a sex scene in the M/M books we write there is sometimes this feeling of *been there done that* almost *insert A into B*… I mean how many more ways can writers describe sex? That is why in your books and mine we focus on the emotions behind the act. So in the YA books, I focus on the emotions even more. In book 2 of the Love series there is a sexual act but it is so sweet and innocent…
Do you find writing sex hard? No pun intended.
DA: Sex is my least favorite thing to write. Mostly that’s true because of the things you mentioned, I worry about it reading more like a “how to” manual than an erotic scene. So the emotions, which are individual to each character are vital in making a difference. Probably only 10 or 15% of any given book is a full out sex scene (some even less than that) but I have spent longer writing those scenes than any other. I have learned that sometimes what seems stilted when I’m writing, reads fine after the fact so I push on.
It seems like M/M readers soemetimes anticipate a certain amount of sex in a book. That used to make me nervous but readers know me a little better now. How do you feel about that, do you now, or have you ever felt pressured to include graphic sex as a part of your books?
RJ: I had that very question when I released my earthquake fic…I mean the two guys are running from forest fires and are both injured. So they are not gonna stop off for a quick shag behind a burnt out car… But i was worried. I think there is an expectation in M/M readers for sex, mine included! It’s not enough to say I love you anymore, the love has to be shown to be real.
It reminds me of a quote in Throwaway… goes to find…
“Research had given him the basics, Tab A into Slot B using Product C after ensuring Product D is firmly in place. The mechanics of it were simple. The prospect, however, of having an A that big anywhere near his B was mildly worrying.”
ROFL…
DA: Ha! I have to admit it’d worry me. It’s easy to get sidetracked worrying about sex because how much is too much and you lose the story and it’s just repetitive instead of arousing…how much is too little and you lose the readers hoping for some heat. I’m telling you, it can feel like a tightrope sometimes. For the most part I’ve solved that by not thinking about it. I write the story and much like the characters who appear when needed, the sex happens when it’s appropriate. Then I groan and say, “gawd, I have to write sex now, thanks guys” lol. It’s really not that bad but I prefer writing the romance and the dynamics of the relationship more.
Speaking of which you are a very strong plot writer, whereas my stories are all character driven. I am in awe of how you do that, devise such interesting story lines and bring the characters alive as well. I get so caught up in the dynamics of character development that is almost always the focus of any given book. Do you think we reached a pretty good balance with that writing Shattered Secrets?
RJ: Yes I do… we have a good plot with the wolf breaking and the hints at the end about the *********, but we also have a very intense character in Rob and a irreverent character in Jamie…and thank you for saying nice things (what is it you want?)… oh and regarding the sex, a very good mutual friend of ours, Chris Quinton, writes GAPGAP in her manuscripts if thinking about how to write the sex holds up the story.
DA: That’s rather brilliant. I can see it now – “I”m done!” off to the publisher it goes, only to come back “GapGap?” Seriously my editor would have a blast with that, haaa. I gave a character the last name of Rubble once, just as filler. It nearly went to print that way! Still, moving along and coming back to
it isn’t a bad plan at all. I’ll use “pokepokesucksuckgaspgasp” actually that might be good enough! Heh. or how about, “Please insert favorite sexual act here.” I guess in the end there’s really no getting out of it and sometimes I end up with something wonderful like the first sex between Alex and Jared.
Personally I think the hottest sex I’ve written is between Grey and Drake, my angels in Rearranging Stars. Not sure how much of a judge I am of my own writing. I mean, lol. Tell us which book contains your hottest scene. I think it’s that barn scene in Heart of Texas.
RJ: Yep, I think from what people have said, the barn scene in HoT is definitely my hottest scene… rofl… all that naked flesh just standing and …. guh… rofl… and yes, the sex between Grey and Drake is *hot*.
DA: See how I picked out the hottest thing you ever wrote. I so rock! Well, sadly other duties call so we’ll have to continue this delightful chat another day. Just remember “road construction” “standing in line” and “parking lot” and we’ll be just fine…oh and keep Sam out of “jumpers” will you?
RJ: Sam has a jumper in his wardrobe and it is a pale pink colour. It is his favourite jumper. He wears it when he goes out clubbing with his torch so he can see the way.
DA: I wish I could draw so I could illustrate the picture for you that drew in my mind. A guy in a pink dress carrying a wooden flaming torch down a busy night street. I love it! and I loved having the chance to talk to you, RJ. Time to get back to work on Wolf 2. Thank you for having us, Chris!
RJ: Yeah, thanks, Chris, for having me here and putting up with Diane Adams… rofl…
Bye, Diane! Have a good day y’all. xxxx
DA: Bye RJ! I’ll try, ma’m 
and you do the same xxoo
RJ: Indubitably, my dear Diane, one will…
***
See what I mean? I think that’s the reason they work so well together – apart from their talents, they are both happy lunatics! *g* Now I’m off to buy Shattered Secrets and Rearranging Stars…
Thanks for the great conversation, RJ and Di.
RJ and Di also have solo works out there to be grabbed – RJ’s Eoin, the third book in her Fire trilogy due for release on September 17th, and Di has the already mentioned Rearranging Stars, all three books are from Silver Publishing, with covers by the award-winning Reese Dante.
Buy link for Shattered Secrets HERE
Buy link for Rearranging Stars HERE
Buy link for Eoin HERE
Place Holder Pic for Home and Heart - a Cotswold house
I’ve just learned that Home and Heart, my Christmas story, has been accepted by Silver Publishing, and I’m turning happy cartwheels. It was supposed to be a short story for their White Christmas submissions call, but it sort of over-ran the required word count, coming in at just over 28,000.
Home and Heart is set in Burford, a small country town in the heart of the UK’s Cotswolds…
It’s December, and Ben Elliot of Home-Safe House & Pet Sitting is looking after Mrs Bonney’s home and two dogs while the elderly lady is away for two months recovering from an operation. When her black-sheep grandson, Adam Prescott, turns up on the doorstep, Ben has to take in the stray human as well. Adam, hurting and betrayed by family, boyfriend and Fate, needs to have his faith in others restored, and Ben decides he is the one to do it.
Having gone through an acrimonious split with his boyfriend, Adam has no home, no money, no job and nowhere to go, except his grandmother’s house. The son of an abusive, violent father, there’s a lot of anger and resentment in him, demons he must exorcise. When he learns an unpleasant truth about his father, Ben helps him come to terms with it, and to find a new direction for his life – together, Ben hopes. But then Adam’s ex-boyfriend shows up, offering him the world on a platter if only Adam will come back to him.
Christmas may not be a time of celebration for Ben.
Flash Fic Fridays = Drabbles from Photo Prompts!
Josh held Lauren closer, sliding his left hand up her silken thigh, lifting her short skirt. Her flesh was warm, soft and so velvety smooth and the cushioned softness of her breasts crushed against his chest. She’d already pulled his shirt out of his pants, uncaring the two of them were visible to any who looked up at the glass-walled elevator. Josh didn’t care either. His mission was to gain the information she carried, and he didn’t have a choice about how he got it. Orders were orders. He just hoped his lover would understand. Harry was the jealous type.
* * * * *
Joining me today are some fantastic authors who have written their own interpretation of the picture for this week’s Flash Fiction Friday. Please click on the link in their names and stop by their Blogs to read very different Flash Fiction tales based on the same photo.
Lisa Worrall : http://lworrall.blogspot.com
Muffy Wilson : http://muffywilson.blogspot.com
Davee Nielson : http://finless.blogspot.com/
Bonni Sansom : http://bonnisansom.blogspot.com
Benjamin Russell : http://incubuschronicles.blogspot.com
Katie Harper: http://katieharperwrites.blogspot.com/
Lani Rhea: http://lanirhea.blogspot.com/
Jp Archer: http://jp-archer.blogspot.com/
Rhea Archer: http://rheaarcherbooks.blogspot.com/
Betty Carlton: : http://bettysbloggingplace.blogspot.com/p/flash-friday.html
Sara York: http://sarayork.blogspot.com
Game On, Game Over
John Jones, aka Aidan Whittaker, a negotiator with MI6, is currently on assignment in Tajikistan, close to the Afghanistan border. Overtly on a University-run archaeological site, he’s covertly brokering a deal with local tribal leaders. His undercover mission is complicated by the arrival of a couple of Americans; journalist Brent Babcock and his photographer Scott Landon. The two men are there to document the ancient Silk Road, but when Babcock gets wind of a hot news story, he starts asking awkward questions.
Scott Landon is a different kind of trouble for John. Fourteen years John’s junior, gay and single-minded, he wants into John’s bed. Not being prepared to jeopardize his operation, John rejects him, despite being drawn to the younger man. But then events around them spiral out of control.
Release Date – October 8th 2011 from Silver Publishing
Main Street, Haworth
Since the weather forecast was reasonably good, we took the bus to Haworth this morning, grabbing the chance while the weather was cooperating. It’s been a few years since I’d last visited the Brontes’ stamping grounds, and it was good to go back.
This photo does not do justice to the steepness of the hill!
Brontes' Parsonage, Haworth
I tried to take some photos of the wonderfully gothic churchyard of St Michael and All Angels, but the contrast between bright sunlight and deep shadows was too much for my Ricoh to cope with.
off Haworth Main Street
This is either a snicket or a ginnel, aka an alley, off the Main Street.
Haworth courtyard
The village is built along the sides of a steep dale, so garden space is in short supply. But that means there are some neat little courtyards just right for sunning cats.
History is written by the victors. Spin-doctors and propaganda-mongers are not new phenomenon.
From the civic records of the City of York, 22 August 1485:
“This day our good King Richard, late mercifully reigning over us, was piteously slain and murdered to the great heaviness of this city.”
*
That was written at a time when the last Plantagenet king of England had fallen in battle, and the victor, a Welshman whose claim to the throne was by conquest only and no legitimate right, was very much an unknown quantity.
*
It says a lot that those burghers of York risked their necks to officially record their feelings about the change of regime.
Dark Deva Reviews have read and reviewed all three books – my The Psychic’s Tale, The Soldier’s Tale by RJ Scott, and Sue Brown’s The Lord’s Tale, and have given us individually 4.5 Delightful Divas and the Trilogy as a whole an enthusiastic FIVE Delightful Divas and a Recommended Read! Thank you, Samhain Queene!
Read all three reviews HERE
Excerpt: The Fitzwarren Inheritance is a series I would read again and again because they are well-written with characters you want to see succeed. The curse has been the main character through all three books and seeing it all fit together seamlessly was brilliant. All three authors, Sue Brown, Chris Quinton and RJ Scott brought the stories of these three couples to life and beautiful tied together through breaking the curse. I give the whole series 5 Divas and recommended read. It was wonderful.
Door to Great Hall, Stokesay Castle, the stunt double for the Fitzwarrens' castle
Woke up this morning to a lovely email sent to RJ Scott, Sue Brown and myself. It was from a reader who’d just finished all three ebooks in the Fitzwarren Inheritance Trilogy, and it was the perfect way to start my writing day. Feedback like this soothes a stressed author every time! So thank you, Reader in Australia!
“I just finished reading The Fitzwarren Inheritance and I wanted to let you all know that I LOVED this trilogy and I am so glad I already owned all three books before I began reading it. I would have hated having to wait for each book to be released 
One of the things I particularly enjoyed was the setting. It brought back lots of wonderful memories of a 2 week holiday my family spent in Dorset and the surrounding area. I actually pictured the pub in Mere, where we based ourselves for our holiday, as the Red Lion
Another thing that I really, really loved was that all the stories were so wonderfully plot driven and not filled with unnecessary sex scenes.
I do hope that Silver plans to release these stories in a print volume. I’d be first in line to buy a copy!
Anyway, just wanted to thank you all for a great read and the chance to use my memories as the backdrop for your stories.”
Today my interview is with R.A. Padmos, aka Raymonde. She is a Dutch author, and lives in Rotterdam with her wife, two sons and five cats.
CQ: Can you tell me something about the origins of ‘Ravages’ and why you decided to write it?
I had this idea about a man taking a stroll through a city. The man’s silly in love with another man. That other man loves him right back. Both men are professional footballers in the highest level of the English competition.
Not having seen the inside of a closet for over 30 years, it was hard for me to miss that there are absolutely no openly gay (at least not as far as the wider public is aware of) and still active high(est) level professional footballers in any of the biggest competitions. And that’s despite the fact that in recent years we see more and more gays of all walks of life coming out of the closet, in a growing part of the world.
I blindly believe it when they tell me there are relatively far fewer gay men in professional football in England than in the fashion and entertainment industry, but none, as in zero, not even a single one? Not even I am that naïve.
I knew a story situated in the amateur or lower leagues wouldn’t work for Ravages (not spoiling, but it’s obvious why if you read the story).
I also wasn’t interested in the “young footballer discovers he’s gay scenario.” A very important theme, absolutely, but personally not very inspirational for me as a writer.
Steve and Daniël are (I would almost say happily) closeted for practical reasons. Why take a potential risk to their career/transfer possibilities if it’s all private and personal anyway? They’re happy in love and lust, and keeping their distance in public is no big drama. But then Steve gets confronted with the most vicious form of homophobia imaginable and that changes everything, and not just for him and Daniël.
I guess, looking back on the whole process, I simply wanted to write an intimate, taking-it’s-time story about love, friendship, life and death.
CQ: Are you directly involved in the campaign to combat homophobia in professional football? Feel free to add any website links you think appropriate.
Not directly, no, because I don’t consider myself the most suitable person for such a job. I’m obviously not a footballer, hardly a fan, and I think there are two groups who should speak the loudest at this moment: gay-friendly straight players and fans, and gay/lesbian/bi footballers themselves.
But I’m very aware of the work of a group like international internet-based Red Card Homophobia and support it 
wholeheartedly. I think it’s a positive sign Red Card is very much a grass root organization, started by (mostly, but far not exclusively) straight fans. I consider that one of their strongest points, because football fans have a bad reputation when it comes to being GLBT friendly, and that’s not always deserved.
There are several other initiatives as well, like British based The Justin Campaign, named in honour of Justin Fashanu. They launched the international “Football v Homophobia” day. It was held on 19 February 2010 for the first time, and gives everyone (footballers on all levels, fans and those who simply don’t like homophobia) an opportunity to speak out and be heard, all on 19 February.
And I know that in several countries initiatives are being taken to deal with homophobia in football and other sports, or to create welcoming places for GLBT athletes and fans.
So, if anyone would like me to mention/link to any group or initiative against homophobia in football on my R.A. Padmos blog, I’m more than happy to do so.
CQ: Did you have any particular players or team in mind when you created your characters?
Yes and no. As footballers, that was bound to happen. As characters? All my own and no one else’s.
When I created Kinbridge Town, the club Steve and Daniël play for, I knew it would be a relatively small, originally working class club, supported by the locals all through their history of many downs, and fewer ups, in a city lacking any form of glamour. Being at mid-table is considered a reason to be insanely proud, avoiding relegation a miracle and winning the Premier League an impossible dream.
CQ: How long did ‘Ravages’ take you to write, and did you do a great deal of research?
I wrote the first words in 2008 and it took me about a year to complete the first version. Then there were several revisions. Manifold Press accepted the manuscript in January this year, and recently it became available as an e-book.
Having had my first coming out in 1979, I know about being gay in a straight world. Having been in a committed relationship since 1981, I know about love through good and bad. But the football side of the story… I was very lucky to have the help of Joanne, who was kind enough to read the manuscript and tell me when I had written utter football nonsense. Any nonsense left is still my own, though. But I did my homework.
Ravages doesn’t actually have much, if any, real football action. And still this story couldn’t have been written in quite the same way, had Steve and Daniël been anything else but highest level professional footballers in a country where football means far more than simply being an interesting game.
CQ: I understand this is your first full-scale work in English. Did you write it in Dutch first, and how easy or difficult was translating it?
Writing it in Dutch first wouldn’t have worked. Translating fiction really is a totally different discipline/art from writing it. So, if a Dutch publisher should ever be interested in Ravages, then I’m afraid I won’t be the one doing the translations, funny as that may sound.
CQ: What other projects do you have in mind?
A few, actually. In November my erotic novella, Three, will be published by Totally E-Bound, under the name S. Dora. Another story is in the process of being accepted.
I plan to rewrite an older work, a historical novel about Dutch working class m/m lovers during the Depression and German occupation. I hope to be able to show the manuscript to Manifold Press by the end of this year.
And I’m doing research for a novel about a football mad gay man (who plays a very minor role in Ravages) who thinks and talks more about football, and his beloved Kinbridge Town in particular, than about pretty men.
CQ: Do you incorporate some of yourself into your characters? Personality traits? Likes? Dislikes?
I tend to keep a certain distance to my writing. I haven’t felt the need to write about my own life, or a version of it, since I was 12. I guess that’s why I almost never write lesbians as main characters. But of course every character and every story originates in my own head, so… My characters are often quite introvert, and live very much inside their own heads, and it’s not hard to see where that comes from.
And I do wonder if I could have written the same story in quite the same manner had I been straight or 30 years younger. At least some of Daniël’s anger, and not just at the homophobes, gets pretty close to home.
CQ: Do you ever suffer from Writer’s Block? If so, how do you break free of it?
Good question. I learned not to panic when it happens, because I know it comes and it goes away, pretty much no matter what I do. A (not too strict) deadline also helps. If I know others are waiting for my next story/novel, that’s just about the best motivation for me. Inspiration? That’s nice, but there’s always the hard work too.
CQ: Are you a by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of writer, or do you have to use an outline to put your collective thoughts into some semblance of common sense?
Most of the writing goes on in my head, and most of it mercifully dies even before I put it to “paper” I’m a slow writer, and I change a lot of details during the revision stages, but I almost never use an outline, except for what I already have in my own head. I do however write down names and information about characters, because I’m hopeless at remembering names and details.
CQ: Is there anything else you’d like to add that I haven’t covered?
There’s still people reading? (laughs) But, seriously: thank you for having me as a guest on your blog. I enjoyed answering the questions tremendously.
CQ: Thank you, Raymonde, this has been a fascinating interview, and I’m certain your answers will resonate with a lot of readers!
Ravages by R.A. Padmos, is available now from Manifold Press
Buy Link: Here
Her website is Here
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