Blast from the Past

Hi all,

Welcome to this week's Blast from the Past. Those are snippets from the interviews I've given in the past, because some of my interviewers' questions were just too good to answer only once. They can be serious or funny, insightful or just plain naughty, so - Enjoy!

Here it goes:

Q. How long does it take to write a book?

A. Depends on how much my other life gets in the way. The fastest were probably Knives & Feathers and Sub-Culture which are both around 50K and took three weeks to write each. The novellas A Taste of Paradise and Ink, Sweat and Tears were finished in nine days. On the other hand, the two books in the Phoenix-series were a real bugger at the polishing stage. The story started out as only the second book I'd ever written and required a lot of work to become what these two volumes are now. Altogether, I spent almost two years on them, revisiting, adding, changing and deleting bits and pieces again and again until I saw them fit for submission. And still my editor wanted me to expand on the sex scenes... I think I succeeded in making him happy, hehe.

Snippet from A Talent in Your Lies

Hi all,

This little scene is just so typical of Romeo and Julian that it makes me smile. It finds Romeo and Julian after a little clash with Barnes, the junior agent.


Romeo, for his part, had the grace not to gloat. There was a faint giveaway gleam of glee in his eyes, but he kept his face averted so that Barnes at least couldn’t read his expression.
“Are you coming or what?” Julian snapped at him when it appeared that he wasn’t going to follow.
“Oh, you mean you want me to be present during the questioning?”
“Yes. And just so we’re clear—present means you get to watch and listen, but you keep your mouth shut. I’m asking the questions, got it?”
“Watch, listen, and shut mouth. Yep, got it,” Romeo answered with a grin that did absolutely nothing to mollify Julian’s temper. At least he indeed kept his mouth shut after that and followed Julian to the interrogation rooms.


Read more about sexy thief Romeo and the hunky FBI agent Julian in A Talent in Your Lies (Romeo & Julian 2)

FBI agent Julian Harris realizes that when it comes to his new consultant Romeo, being close to someone and knowing them are two entirely different things.

Two weeks into their new work relationship, Romeo and Julian have the first real case on their sheet. A stolen painting not only requires former art thief Romeo's expertise, it also gives Julian the chance to find out more about the man who shares his bed but has yet to tell him his real name. As they unravel the solution to the crime, Julian realizes that Romeo has more secrets than he thought and might even be using his new status as FBI team member to pursue his own agenda.

Once again, Julian follows a path full of unexpected twists and turns on his quest to unveil Romeo's true identity—and what does it mean that just as he gets close, his own life is in danger?

 

Buy link: 

Bookstrand 

Snippet from "Re-Submission"

Here's a snippet from Re-Submission - this scene finds Tyler and Shae at Shae's home, shortly after Tyler overheard a mysterious visit from Francis:

When several minutes had passed and Shae still didn’t show any signs of being about to move, Tyler quietly left his watching post and went to him.

“Shae?” he whispered.

Shae jumped. “Yeah?”

“Everything all right?”

For a moment, Tyler thought Shae was crying. He looked upset enough, and there was a giveaway tightness in his voice, but his eyes were dry.

Shae rubbed his forehead. “Yeah, sure.”

“That was Francis, right?”

“Right.”

“A bit late for a social call, isn’t it?”

“Depends on your working hours, I guess,” Shae replied.

“What did he want?” Not the most discreet of approaches, but Tyler didn’t believe in pussyfooting around.

“He…” Shae glanced up at him, and for the fraction of a second, the extent of his misery showed in his eyes before he managed to get a grip on himself and shook his head. “That’s between him and me.”

“He’s not…pestering you, is he?”

“Pestering me?” Shae let out a soft chuckle at the suggestion. “Gosh, no. What makes you think that?”

“Only that he seemed to want something that you weren’t willing to give.”

“Oh. You’ve been listening.”

“Yes. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help it, what with the lack of walls and all. If it’s any consolation, I didn’t catch the details, though.”

“Good.”

“I just thought that maybe there is something you would like to talk about,” Tyler offered.

“No. Thanks, but no.”

“What’s the deal between the two of you?”

“What makes you think there was anything between us?”

“Hmm, let me think.” Tyler put on a mock thoughtful face. “You have sessions together that you don’t want the others to know about. He turns up at your place in the middle of the night and whatever he wanted from you leaves you in distress.” Placing the tips of his fingers under Shae’s chin, he made him tilt his head up to meet his eyes. “Come on, spit it out. Tell me what’s upsetting you so much.”

“It’s not…” Catching Tyler’s stern glance, Shae huffed. “Looks like it’s not just back to bed for us now, huh? Coffee?”

“Yes, please.”

Shae went to the kitchen and busied himself with the coffee machine, obviously unwilling to say more.

“So, what is it?”

“It’s just…hard sometimes,” Shae said, keeping his back turned to Tyler.

“What is?” Tyler asked again. He had a suspicion of what was going on, but he wanted to hear it from Shae. When Shae didn’t answer, Tyler went to stand behind him and put his hand on Shae’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You love him, don’t you?”

Shae’s head snapped up and he looked gobsmacked. “L—what? I… What makes you think I…uh, that?” The expression in his eyes said everything that his mouth didn’t.

 

find out more: http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=1887

Snippet from More Ink, Sweat and Tears

Here's another snippet from "More Ink, Sweat and Tears". An unspectacular moment that is still heart breaking.

“I suppose a goodnight kiss wouldn’t be appreciated?” Dean asked uncertainly several minutes later. They were lying in bed, side by side with that little, but undeniably present, space between them.

Caelan turned his head with a half-resigned, half-irritated sigh and offered Dean his mouth. He so obviously didn’t want to kiss, or in fact probably any kind of further contact, be it physical or emotional, that Dean didn’t want to impose himself on him.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered sadly. “I just thought maybe knowing would help you come to terms with…everything. I’m sorry I got it so wrong.”

Caelan continued taking slow, deliberate breaths for a while before he answered, and when he finally spoke, his voice was hollow with carefully suppressed emotions.

“You meant well.” He sighed. “I can see that, just…” He rubbed his hand across his face, pressing his thumb and index finger into the corners of his eyes. “Let’s just never talk about it again, okay?”