MY SF SERIES CONTINUES WITH BOOK 3, DEFENDER OF THE FLAME

 I WAS JUST INTERVIEWED BY MY EDITOR ABOUT THIS SERIES.  GO TO LINK:  http://chrischattalkscreativity.blogspot.ca/2015/01/with-john-b-rosenman.html

******************************

(Book available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble & elsewhere.)

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1sJYMVT      Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/1wzOTzp

John B. Rosenman

I never expected it would take until my seventies before I wrote my first fiction series (The Inspector of the Cross series).  I tried once before with a sequel to Beyond Those Distant Stars, my space opera saga about a cyborg heroine named Stella who saves the human race from aliens (Mundania Press), but for various reasons, it never quite crystallized. Thirty-four years ago, I wrote a novel called Inspector of the Cross about a half black, half white man named Turtan (see the cover above) who tries pretty much to do the same thing as Stella, only he's nearly 4000 years old.  Why? Because this elite agent or Inspector travels in freeze ships in suspended animation from planet to planet to investigate reports of devices or weapons that might turn the tide against humanity's vicious and seemingly invincible alien enemy.  In the process, our hero has outlived many generations, including his own children and countless lovers.  He has also almost singlehandedly saved humanity. However, if he doesn't find a solution, we are ultimately doomed anyway.

I thought it was a cool concept.  I even had Turtan and a member of the enemy flying down the raging, mind-warping tunnel of a black hole together.  Trouble was, I couldn't sell the novel.

Flash forward over three decades.  I dug the story out, revised it, sent it to MuseItUp Publishing, they accepted it, it received excellent editing, and it was published.

Inspector of the Cross received excellent reviews, and for the first time in my life, I found a fictional character acquiring a life and staying power of his own.  In the sequel Kingdom of the Jax (see the cover below), Turtan continues to travel about the galaxy, experiencing adventures and encountering dangers from emperor and aliens alike. Marvels and mind-blowing wonders abound.

Now in Book 3, Defender of the Flame, Turtan returns to the space academy he graduated from 4000 years before for a glorious homecoming.  He believes he finally possesses the weapon he needs to defeat the aliens and win the 5000 year war, but he must have the cooperation of officials at the First Station to do so.  Will he get that cooperation or will he only be betrayed once again by his own leaders?  If that happens, the people will die, and humanity itself will be doomed to extinction.

My latest novel is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble for $2.99 for a limited time at:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1sJYMVT     Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/1wzOTzp

A Review of Micki Peluso's AND THE WHIPPOORWILL SANG

Review by John B. Rosenman

More and more, as I read Micki Peluso’s autobiography covering twenty-two years in her life, I was reminded of eleven words in Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.  “Camerado, this is no book, Who touches this touches a man.”  In her case, it is a woman we touch, and the reader learns who the author is as few characters we ever come to know either in fiction or nonfiction.  In addition, we come to know her husband Butch and her six children as they are born, develop,  interact, clash with each other, encounter problems, and sometimes go their separate ways.

And The Whippoorwill Sang presents a journey that is both inspiring and painful.  It will make you laugh and cry, and it is structured around the grievous, heartbreaking injury to one of their children who is left shattered along the road by a hit and run driver.  There are parts of this book which I find unforgettable, and some of the writing is especially fine.  Generally one is supposed to avoid using pathetic fallacies, but I love Peluso’s statement that the “sun had the dignity not to shine” at Noelle’s funeral.  There is a great deal more wonderful writing as well.

This book is many things.  At times, it’s a sprawling story of misadventures, as when the Peluso family makes its grand westward trek out to Las Vegas and back again.  Readers can laugh at some of the mistakes along the way, perhaps remembering ones they’ve made.  This memoir is also a complex study of the relationship between a wife and husband and her attempts to understand him and improve their marriage.  Plus, we receive fully realized portraits of all six of her children.  They come alive on her pages!  If I had to pick a favorite, it would be Noelle.

Add to all this the author’s mother; Micki’s many friends and acquaintances; the backstory of how she came to get married and change her religion; Butch’s quitting jobs and their persistent financial problems; the wonderful, haunted farmhouse they lived in; plus too many other subjects to mention, and we have a book piled to the rafters with subjects that keep us reading.  One last thing: the author mentioned to me she had doubts about the title.  Well, to me, And The Whippoorwill Sang is perfect, literary, and most appropriate.  Don’t take my word for it.  Read the book and see for yourself.

Sale, great Holiday gift. .99- Nov.28,11AM-Nov30, 11AM  gift that keeps on giving . . . And the Whippoorwill Sang http://www.amazon.com/Whippoorwill-Sang-Micki-Peluso-ebook/dp/B007OWPBGK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417051653&sr=1-1&keywords=Micki+Peluso+kindle


From the author's blogspot: http://mallie1025.blogspot.com:

Micki Peluso is the author of "And the Whippoorwill Sang"

Staten Island, New York, United States

I began writing in my 40's as a catharsis to heal the wounds of the death of my 14 yr-old daughter by a dwi. My first short story about this was published, which inspired me to continue writing. For 25 years my stories, commentaries, and slice of life humor and pathos have been published in my daily and weekly newspapers. I have recently released my first book, a memoir -- about my daughter's death -- . . .AND THE WHIPPOORWILL SANG. It's a funny, poignant celebration of her life more than an eulogy of her death. I'm moving at long last into fiction writing, some of which has been published in short story form. I have a sci-fi YA story all ready to be written up. My dream is to write a complete novel. I believe, at long last I have kept my death bed promise to my daughter and can perhaps move forward now after 27 years.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT MORAL REALITY IS?

by John B. Rosenman

Just this morning, one of my friends said that the only moral way to have sex was within marriage.

Another friend said that it is not necessary to be married to indulge.  Or, if your spouse is sick or indisposed, it may be advisable to engage in sex elsewhere until s/he is able again.

They could not agree.  What's more, people will never be able to agree on these and many other issues.  Some people may think such issues are clear-cut, and they are all a simple matter of right or wrong, but are they?  I believe that moral reality or whatever you care to call it is often hard to define.  It often depends on who's doing the looking, and what their belief system is.

I for one believe that same-sex marriage is fine.  Equal rights for everybody. Others, who are more traditional, believe that a marriage must require one man, one woman.  The problem is, everything eventually changes, and when you get both sides together, they repeat the same old arguments without really listening to each other or convincing anybody.  They can't agree on what moral reality is or should be.

More and more, I find that our inability to agree on our values or moral reality is reflected in other things as well.  For example, consider these two vivid works by Edgar Muller.  Is there really a fierce shark rearing out of the brick pavement and a deep chasm that these people are in danger of falling into?  Or are these just brilliantly clever three dimensional street paintings designed to deceive the eye?  Is it possible that paintings like these are partly inspired by our morally and ethically ambiguous and divisive times?  This is a period I believe of unprecedented change in many areas, especially thought.  We are reexamining our sexual, religious, and political values, and discussing and debating them on a non-stop basis.  We don't automatically salute old beliefs so much anymore just because they are old beliefs.  We are coming to realize there may be at least two different ways of looking at them, as there are with these paintings.  

It is both a challenging and liberating time to be alive.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

BOOK 1, INSPECTOR OF THE CROSS SERIES

CAN EVEN OUR GREATEST HERO SAVE US?  Book I, Inspector of the Cross series - 
#Scifi #Adventure #Romance #Danger - http://www.amazon.com/Inspector-Cross-John-
B-Rosenman-ebook/dp/B007USB0YU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406039888&sr=8-1&keywords
=john+rosenman - For 4,000 years he's outwitted and outfought the aliens.  CAN HE KEEP IT UP?

THE MERRY-GO-ROUND MAN IS NOW AN AUDIOBOOK

      ~~~   THE MERRY-GO-ROUND MAN   ~~~      

     Three boys grow up in the sex-and violence-drenched 1950's.        

By: John B. Rosenman

Published by: Crossroad Press

Available for Sale at: audible.com, Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble

Retail Price for audiobook: $19.95

Audiobook: B00NP5UD4A

Retail Price for eBook: $4.99     

eBook ASIN: B00KP17YOE

Retail Price for Trade Pbk: $13.95

Trade Pbk ISBN:-10-1937530914

Retail Price for Hardback: $23.47

Hardcover ISBN:-10: 1937530906

Hardcover ISBN:-13: 978-1937530907

Audible Purchase Website: 

http://www.audible.com/pd/Teens/The-Merry-Go-Round-Man-Audiobook/B00NP5UD4A

Publisher Website: http://www.crossroadpress.com/

Author Website: http://www,johnrosenman.com/

Praise for The Merry-Go-Round Man: 

KSL:  "I was so engrossed in the story that I was taken by complete surprise when the story concluded--I wasn't ready for it to end. IMHO, The Merry-Go-Round Man would made a terrific movie. "

Leona Pence: "I especially liked this book because I grew up in the same time period as Johnny, Jimmy and Lee. So much of it took me back to my childhood, my old school and that wonderful merry-go-round. My heart went out to Johnny with his remarkable talents and the overbearing father who tried to control him."

* * * * * * * * * *

Do you believe you can shape your future, determine your destiny?  One spring day in 1954, three sixth grade boys make a bet: the one who can climb first to the top of a small green merry-go round outside their school will be "Champ for life!"  For the rest of his days he'll be "on Easy Street!" So they engage in a "mad scramble . . . clambering over each other with murderous intent," and eventually one of them reaches the summit and stands triumphant, lording it over the others.  He is the merry-go round man.  

The Merry-Go-Round Man is a novel about three boys growing up in the so-called innocent days of the Eisenhower fifites.  It's about rites of passage, loss of innocence, sexual initiation, racism, and much more.  Of the three boys, Johnny Roth is central. He possesses two transcendent gifts which are only beginning to emerge as the novel begins.  One of them is the ability to box or fight, something he deeply fears. The other ability is artistic and mystical.  He is a natural expressionistic painter of vast potential.  Unfortunately, Johnny's father, an Orthodox Jew, hates both of these pursuits, and his opposition tears Johnny apart.  

Of the two other boys, Lee Esner grows up to be a gifted football player with what looks like a lucrative pro career ahead of him.  He also has a flair for attracting beautiful girls.  Is he the merry-go-round man?  The third boy, Jimmy Wiggins, is black and from the ghetto.  Attending an elite white school with Johnny and Lee, his naive love for a pretty white girl is destroyed by her cruel racism.  Another rite of passage. Symbols such as a burning Buddhist monk make us ask whether anyone is really The Merry-Go-Round Man in life.

*****

WELCOME SARA JAYNE TOWNSEND, MYSTERY AND HORROR WRITER

Sara Jayne Townsend is a UK-based writer of crime and horror.  She was born in Cheshire in 1969, but spent most of the 1980s living in Canada after her family emigrated there.  She now lives in Surrey with two cats and her guitarist husband Chris.

When she's not writing she likes playing video games, table top role-playing and practicing her rock chick act with her 1962 Burns bass guitar.  Her most recent novel is Death Scene, a murder mystery and the first in a series about the contemporary Canadian actress Shara Summers.

Sara Jayne Townsend

***NOTE: A FREE eBook will be awarded to one of the people who comment at the end of this interview, the winner chosen by lot.  Be sure to leave your e-mail address so the author can contact you.  Winner will have choice of format.***

     John: Hi, Sara, thank you so much for being my guest.  Could you start by telling us just a little about yourself.  For instance, how long have you been writing, and what made you finally decide to get serious about it?

     SARA:  I’ve been a writer since always.  Even before I learned how to write, I was always telling stories.  As a child I had an array of dolls and stuffed animals.  Every night at bedtime I would select one of them to be the protagonist in a bedtime story I would tell to myself before I went to sleep.  All of these toys were characters – they each had names, family histories, personalities.  By the time I was six I was starting to write the stories down, and it’s been going on from there ever since.

My first novel contract was for my horror novel SUFFER THE CHILDREN.  That novel had been doing the rounds for a while, and it had taken me ten years to write.  I decided then that if I wasn’t going to be a one-trick pony, I had to be far more disciplined in finding time to write, and had to take no more than two years – ideally less – to finish a novel.

      John: Do you have any ideal writing conditions—rituals, a quiet, set place, that sort of thing? And how often do you write a day?

SARA:  I don’t write every day.  I have a long commute into London for the day job and have to leave the house at 6:50 am every morning.  However, I have found that I am very productive first thing in the morning.  Twice a week I get up at 5:30 am, catch an even earlier train and arrive at Starbucks down the street from my office at 7:30 am.  I set myself up with a soya latte and a muffin, I turn on the Netbook and I write for an hour.  I never believed myself to be a morning person, but I get a lot done in that hour.  I think I thrive on ritual, and having deadlines.  I know that I’ve only got an hour and then I have to go to work, so I just write.

If I’m on a roll I will try to spend some time on Sundays writing as well.  The rituals are important to my discipline.  The key to finding time to write, when you have other demands on your time, is to find a routine and stick to it.

   

John: Are you a plotter, a pantser, or some combination of both?  Do you do anything to get inspired, like play your guitar?

      SARA:  I’m a meticulous plotter.  I work on a 3-page plot summary before I even start a new novel.  From there I take the summary and work out what’s going to happen in each chapter, and then I start to write.  I have learned this routine the hard way – I have too many unfinished MSs because I didn’t know what was going to happen next.  Now whenever I sit down to write, I review what I wrote last time, and the chapter plan, and I know what has to happen in the next chapter.

      John: What, if anything, makes you different or unique as a writer and person?

      SARA:  Rather a lot, actually.  Some people think I’m weird.  I prefer to think of myself as unique.  I like horror, I don’t cook, I play computer games and D&D, and I play bass guitar.  A lot of people seem to be surprised that a woman likes to do these things.

      John: Which talent would you most like to have, and which weakness would you most like to lose?

      SARA:  I wish I was a better singer.  I like karaoke, but have a very average singing voice.  And I would like to lose the fact I’m a complete klutz.  I can’t even walk down the street without falling over my own feet.

      John:  What’s your happiest childhood memory?

      SARA:  I grew up in Lancashire, and we used to go to Blackpool for holidays every year.  I have happy memories of building sand castles on the beach there; eating candy floss on the pier; putting pennies in the slot machines in the amusement arcades; going on the rides in the Pleasure Beach.  In fact I don’t want to go back there as an adult, because I don’t want my childhood memories tarnished by the reality of a cheesy and slightly tacky seaside town.

      John:  What’s the most important lesson life has taught you?

      SARA:  Don’t be afraid to be yourself.  It’s not your problem if you encounter people who don’t like you for who you are – it’s theirs.

      John: If you had to marry a fictional character from film, books, history, or legend, who would it be?

      SARA:  I always had a thing for Sam Beckett, the character played by Scott Bakula in Quantum Leap, about the scientist who leaps around in time.  He was astoundingly brainy, a feminist, an advocate for equality and justice and a sensitive, caring man, to boot.  An ideal man in my mind, but I’ve always had a thing for geeks.

      John: Being a writer is (sometimes) a great job.  What is the worst job you’ve had?

      SARA:  I’ve had a few, in all honesty.  I once worked for a boss who was a sexist bully, and the two of us had many shouting matches while I worked for him.  I got my own back by basing a character on him and killing him off in the book.  It was most cathartic.

      John: Describe one of your favorite characters and tell us who you patterned them after and why.

      SARA:  I was inspired by Sara Paretsky’s private eye VI Warshawski to create my amateur sleuth Shara Summers.  I wanted a female detective who was independent minded and strong willed, like VI, but I didn’t feel confident enough to write a police procedural.  So I created an amateur sleuth instead.  Shara isn’t really like VI at all, but she was inspired by VI, and so was the narrative style of her point of view.

      John: Tell us about your latest book, where we can find it, and where we can find your blog, website, and other sites (which will be featured at the end of this interview)

      SARA:  DEATH SCENE is the first book in the series about Canadian actress and amateur sleuth Shara Summers.  It’s available from e-book retailers, and from the MuseItUp website in all e-book formats: https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/new-releases/death-scene-detail

AN EXCERPT FROM DEATH SCENE:

Ruth sat in her rocking chair watching the television–which was probably about ten years old, and appeared to be the most modern thing in the room.   She was wearing a blue floral dress, with a patchwork blanket over her knees.  I had seen that dress before.  Her hairstyle hadn’t changed, either–her white hair was thinning, and she wore it short and curly, in the style of old ladies everywhere.  When we came in she looked up, a toothless smile breaking out over her face.  She had dentures that she never wore–something else she only saved for special occasions.  As a child, Ruth had appeared very scary to me on the occasions she wore her dentures because we just weren’t used to seeing her with them.

My mother went up to Ruth and leaned in to give her a kiss on her soft wrinkled cheek.  “How are you, Auntie Ruth?” she said loudly.  Ruth’s hearing had been going even back then.  She must be virtually deaf by now.

The house was freezing.  The only source of heat was a three-bar electric fire on the floor by Ruth’s feet.

“I’m doing all right, dear,” Ruth said.  Her voice was husky, ravaged by age and lack of use.  “Mustn’t complain.”

Summer, still in my mother’s arms, began to cry and squirm, no doubt intimidated by the presence of this ancient lady.  “Who’s this?” Ruth said, stroking one of Summer’s chubby legs.

“This is Summer,” Mum said.  “This is my granddaughter.  You’ve met Summer.  Astrid’s daughter.”

Ruth frowned.  “Astrid?  Your little one?”

“Not a little girl any more, Auntie Ruth.  She’s all grown up now.”  Mum pointed in my direction.  “This is my other daughter, Shara.  Do you remember?  Shara lives in Canada.”

Ruth was staring at me, frowning.  There was no indication that she recognised me.  “It’s been a long time,” she said eventually.

“Hello Auntie Ruth,” I said.

“Have you taken your pills, Auntie Ruth?” my mother asked.

Ruth frowned in concentration.  “Pills?  Think so.  Can’t remember, you know.  My memory’s not what it was.”

My mother thrust the crying child into my arms.  “Watch Summer for a moment, Shara.  I’m going to make Auntie Ruth some lunch.”  And off she went into the kitchen.

I sat down in the faded armchair and bounced Summer on my knee.  She kept crying.  Ruth stared fixedly at the television.  There seemed to be an Australian soap opera on.  I couldn’t tell which one.  I wasn’t a fan, and they all looked the same to me.  “So what are you watching, Auntie Ruth?”

“Eh?”  She swivelled round to stare at me.

I raised my voice.  “The television.  What are you watching?”

“Oh, I don’t know, dear.  I watch everything.  Keeps me company, you know.”  And she lapsed back into silence, staring at the television.  A couple of minutes went by and then she said suddenly, “they’re stealing from me, you know.”

“Who?”

“They’re stealing from me.”  Ruth continued to stare at the television.  I wasn’t at all sure she was even aware of anyone else in the room.  I stood up with Summer in my arms and hurriedly went to find my mother in the kitchen.

      John:  Thank you so much, Sara, for your direct and revealing answers.  Is there anything else we should know?  You've got the floor -- please go ahead.

       SARA:  The sequel to DEATH SCENE, DEAD COOL, will be released on 25 November and can be pre-ordered now from the MuseItUp book store:  https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/coming-soon/dead-cool-detail

Blog site:  http://sayssara.wordpress.com/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/sara.jayne.townsend

Web site:  http://sarajaynetownsend.weebly.com/

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=75194445&trk=tab_pro

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/sarajtownsend

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3500282.Sara_Jayne_Townsend

WELCOME MEG AMOR -- ROMANTIC EROTICA WRITER

My guest today is Meg Amor.  Meg has spent a lifetime as a therapist being fascinated, and collecting unusual love stories. She loves to write romantic erotica, with committed poly relationships, and other unusual romance mixes.  

Meg hand-wrote and 'published' her first book when she was 11 years old, about her parents' divorce.  Constantly told as a child, she had a vivid and active imagination --- the dawn of the computer era meant she could now take dictation at speed from the interesting characters galloping around her head.  

Meg Amor grew up in New Zealand and lives in California with her American fur child, Leo Ray Jr. the cat and Mr. Beaumont the other holy terror cleverly disguised as a cat.

~  ~  ~  ~  ~ 

John: Meg, I’m so glad you agreed to be my guest.  From what I know about you, you have an expansive, make-it-up-as-you-go-along approach to life.  I’m guessing the same attitude applies to your writing—as it does mine.  Some writers plot and plot their books to death in advance, and yet if you ask them, they say there will still be surprises.  It’s as if they think their novel can still breathe.
  

MEG:  Snorting, with appreciative laughter over your plotter, plotter comment. I love the way, you say... I guess the novel can still breathe. LOL.... LOL.

I always wonder how they haven't strangled the poor thing to death too before they even start. The boredom factor would do my head in.

I could write down a rough idea but my characters...if I'm lucky...run off and do their own thing.  When they don't, I worry.

I'm the same as you. I might look like I'm harem scarem, but in truth, I have a sharp brain and have quite a lot stored in it in terms of sequencing, details, etc. I could tell you anything about any of my characters and not be wrong anywhere. Someone mentioned putting a time stamp on things, when they wrote them.  I'm not sure what they meant and haven't got an answer yet.

It rings this vague bell from when I attempted a script.  But I just write.  And like you, I edit, edit, edit. I get it down.  Not stopping for spelling, grammar, my dreadful syntax etc.  I send each new piece and updated MS into my phone every day.  I lie in bed and read it through. I see what needs changing and sharpening.  I go and do it when I start again.  Then I'm off writing again.

At the end of all that, I still have to edit the guts out of it, but the story is there at that point.  I just have to chainsaw a thousand (thousands... actually LOL) words out.  I tighten and tighten.

I read it out loud to myself.  I re-edit from that.  I'm meticulous in a different way. But I write organically.  I write the end first sometimes.  I start in the middle of a scene.  I backfill.  I cut and paste scenes around.  I roll with my characters.  I know them so well, that I know THEM.  They become part of me. Or are part of me.

Meg Flying the Tiger Moth

John: Meg, parts of your fiction are boldly sexual and erotic, yet for years, sex was absent from your life.  Could you talk about that?  

MEG: When I first started writing Henry and Isolde, I was only just getting back into being sexual myself.  No sex in my marriage for years.  Ugh.

And when I hit 50, John, some part of me just said... NO. I am not going the rest of my life without sex.  I cannot do it.

So, I started to write it, as a lot of us erotica writers do.  We put our fantasies on the page.

I got comfortable with male/female sex again.  Then Charlie turned up.  (He was supposed to be a secondary character and sidekick to Henry, but took over and now in books two and three of the Troika Love Series, is a main character and part of the relationship between Henry, Izzy and Charlie.  I... as the writer felt disloyal to Henry.  (I get terribly involved in my characters.)  Then I felt a bit weird when it first happened.

Izzy would love this hat!

John: Why did you feel weird? Because the sex was heading in another direction?

MEG: Yes.  I didn't know if people would like Henry with another man.  He's so lovely and such a southern gentleman... that I wasn't sure. 

Then I was caught in the funny place, where I realized that 'I' like male/male sex, but would my readers?  Would they understand?

I honestly... started watching male/male porn for research.  LOL.  I really did. Because I had three of them and I was trying to get the positioning right and some new ideas. And the male/female porn bored me ridgeless.  It's so contrived and they all look like they're bored and at the coffee morning!!

So I started the male/male stuff.  And Ohhh... yeah... okay... that's very sexy. Not sure why.  It just is.  And it turns out, I'm not the only woman who loves male/male. :-)  But it intrigued me.  I got used to anal sex.  I stopped looking at it and thinking it's slightly weird.  Now it looks normal.  LOL.  Now, I think it's lovely.  See... times change.

And Charlie is very masculine but very, very sexual.  I had to allow him to be himself. And I had to let him in to Henry and Izzy... who's really me. :-)  And that's probably why... it was hard.  Because they're not just my characters.  Izzy is me.  Almost pure me.  She can throw, dance, swing and is younger. But otherwise, I'm Izzy... through and through.

John: You know, Meg, this threesome relationship not only sounds complicated but pretty darn personal—am I right?

MEG: It was quite personal in the end, I think.  It's a good question. :-)  I've never figured it out.  But yes, it's personal. Would I ever go out with two men at once. Yes, I have done.  But I've never had a threesome.  Would I entertain it... yes... with another man.  Not into woman.

So I don't know whether it's a fantasy. Or whether a part of me would thrive on that. It would have to be very committed, very loving between everyone.  I have a deep loyalty at times.

Um... does that answer your question. LOL.

And yes... I only do vanilla sex.  I HATE BDSM.  I read Mikey's work because she's my writing buddy and she's a fabulous writer.  Her characters are just wow.

She writes her nightmares and her life into her work.  I write sensual erotic romance.  But we're good buddies.

Maybe some people would say what I write is kink.  I'm not sure.  But even the people who cringe at male/male like my characters and their story.  Because ultimately they're about relationships and deep love. There's a very deep soul connection between my characters.  Always. I love like that ... so I expect it from my men.

I'm loving this male/male I’ve just finished writing.  Such beautiful characters. Oooh... they steal my heart. :-)  Beau is so broken...  he just needs the love.  He's so sweet.  I adore him.  I only write HEA.  I put a lot of my psych background into my work.  And this one... so far... has no past life... very odd. LOL. But one might rear its head. :-) Who knows with us pantsers.  LOL.

An Hawaii Sunset -- Wish you were here?

John: What is it about poly relationships that draws you?  What is their full potential?  You say you might commit to two male partners.  What about three, four, and so on?  What about multiple partners for others?

MEG: These are really good questions, John! J What draws me.  I don’t know. There’s probably a lot of layers to that.  I’ve sometimes been with brothers or best friends at the same time.  Possibly different people give me different things that I need.  I’m quite complex and fairly deep.  I think you and I had a discussion once about that and how the person I was looking for probably wasn’t going to be a dime a dozen or lots of people out there that would suit me. I think that’s part of it.  When I look at Henry and Charlie, I love Henry’s gentleness, his deep calm and kindness.  And yet, I also crave Charlie’s raunchiness, his outright sexuality and straightforwardness. Henry is very sensuous, also something I crave.  But both are highly intelligent men, both intellectually and emotionally — very important!

So… maybe I just need two men because trying to fit one of my complexities into another man might be harder to find.  I don’t know. LOL.  I do suspect too that having grown up with two fathers, that there might be a subconscious reason for this desire.  And yes, if two men came along that I fell in love with and also were in love with each other and me, I’d give it a go.  It feels deeply comforting to me. Plus, I do like male/male sex.  It’s very sexy and sensuous for me, not to mention I’d get double of the yummy bits. J It is very appealing.

For me personally, I don’t think I could go past two men.  Any more than that and I’d feel a bit lost.  These days the new term is called polyfidelity or polyfaithful.  I just read that recently and I thought that was a really nice way to describe it.  I think honestly, once you get beyond three people, trying to form the working dynamics of a relationship must be a nightmare.  Maybe it’s not, I don’t know.  I think with three, there’s a lot of needs to get met for everyone. Two men just seem more balanced to me.  I have no idea why.  This is for ME personally.  I heavily support all relationships male/female, male/male, pan, female/female.  Love is so important.  I think it’s what we’re here to GET.

An Anthurium lily from Hawaii

John: Why do you hate Mikey’s BDSM?  Isn’t it different strokes for different folks?  You say she’s a “fabulous writer.”

MEG: LOL.  Michele ‘Mikey’ Rakes IS a fabulous writer.  I love every one of her books.  She can REALLY write.  A very powerful writer.  So, I’ll read every one of her books, but some things don’t appeal to me sexually.  I love the male/male romance part of her work.  Her characters are always wonderful. You fall in love with them.  I don’t like BDSM because it’s nasty to me.  I can’t imagine anything more off-putting than someone whipping, slapping, hitting, cutting me, etc.  Not a turn on for me.  I don’t look at leather work and think… ooh, sexy.  I think Ugh.  People being tied up, blood work (whipping, flogging, etc) clamps and collars; to me, levels of degradation just don’t equal gorgeous, fabulous, sensuous sex.

I think too, with my background, I’m always aware of where this need for that level of sexual satisfaction comes from.  It’s got squick factor for me.  I know what’s probably behind that in childhood.  It’s not very nice to think what some kids are put through.

Meg Amor

Erotic Romance Writer 

John: Which talent would you most like to have, and which weakness would you most like to lose?

MEG: Ooh, these are good questions. J Talent I’d most like to have is being able to read as a clear medium for people on the other side. I’d like to have something as clear as John Edward, James Van Praagh, Lisa Williams etc.

What weakness would I like to lose?  I’d like to lose the weakness of backing down on something that’s my opinion or something I know to be true.  And yet, I’ll doubt myself.  Oh well… maybe I got that wrong… I um and ah, then have to look it up on the internet, when I DID know all along.  That annoys me.  I’d like to be firm in my convictions.

Troika horses
Troika Love Series Trilogy

John:  What’s your happiest childhood memory?

MEG: I liked going to my Grandparents' orchard during the holidays. My Grandfather would pay me 50 whole cents to paste the labels on the apple boxes in the huge packing shed he had.  I loved it.  I got to work with all these ladies who graded the apples, have smoko with them, that my Gran would bring down at morning and afternoon tea time.  They included me in things.  And in those days, 50 cents was an untold fortune.  It would buy me an EP record or I could put it toward an LP and I’d be quarter of the way there. J I also loved to do the projects my dad brought home from the engineering workshop he worked in. He was a tool and die maker when I was a kid and one project was putting the ring binder metal pieces together.  We had boxes of pieces and we all sat on the living room floor, snap fitting these things together. J I liked being involved in family things.

John:  What’s the most important lesson life has taught you?

MEG: To go for what’s really in your heart.  Not what you think you ‘might’ like, but what’s truly in your heart.  Never settle for second best.

John: If you had to marry a fictional character from film, books, history, or legend, who would it be?

MEG: God, I have no idea.  Actually I do… I’d marry my Charlie…and Henry. I’m actually hoping they’re one person and that somewhere soon, I’ll run into them. Maybe on a beach at home in Hawai’i or in the steamy sultry streets of New Orleans. J

John: Being a writer is (sometimes) a great job.  What is the worst job you’ve had?

MEG: Oh crikey!! LOL. The list is soooooooo long.  I left school at 15 (different education system from Americans.  We don’t ‘drop out.’ We leave and get jobs — there’s a difference.)  I think house maiding was one of the worst ones I’ve ever worked.  I worked for the head housekeeper from hell.  She used to randomly change the roster on us.  So half the time you’d be penciled in one day, it’d be rubbed out or put on another day and by magical osmosis, you were supposed to guesstimate what days you were on. Then she’d go butchers hooks at you when you arrived.  I remember her standing in the elevator (lift) and shrieking at me.  “And where were you yesterday, young lady!”  I thought I was over this.  I said, “Fuck you.”  As the elevator doors closed on her madder than a wet hen face.

It was my best exit for a job. LOL.

John: Tell us about your latest book, where we can find it, and where we can find your blog, website, and other sites (which will be featured at the end of this interview).

MEG: Thank you, John.  I don’t know which book to talk about.  I have Dark War already out with MuseItUp Publishing.  A short story about my three characters--Charlie, Henry and Izzy.  It was darkened up slightly for an anthology, but you do get to see the deep soul connection and love between the three of them. Charlie goes missing, Henry and Izzy have to find him in time before Charlie’s self-punishment pushes him over the edge.  And when they do find him, will he be able to take in the love they have for him?  That’s on Amazon and Muse.

At Christmas, I have Saint Nicholas coming out, a heartfelt male/female love story about a widow Daisy who falls for Greek story owner Nicky Constantine. But this isn’t the first lifetime, they’ve been in love.  Glimpses of a WWII lifetime come through.  That will come out through Muse as well, and be available on Amazon and Muse.

In Spring next year, the first of the Troika Love Series will be released. J My beautiful Henry, Izzy and Charlie finally get to tell the world their story.  The first book in the trilogy is Henry and Isolde. Henry an older black musician feels his life is nearly at an end, until he meets the exuberant New Zealander Izzy. She’s younger than him, richer, his boss and married.  But Henry and Izzy have a deep soul connection between them that defies age and time, color and race. Set in modern day New Orleans, we watch their deep love story unfold. Henry comes into his sexuality for the first time in his life and then, there’s Charlie…it’s complicated.

Henry’s story is really a ‘coming of age’ story, but perhaps from a different end of life.  He’s 67 when he meets Izzy.  He can’t remember the last time he had a really hard erection that lasted more than a few minutes and feels like his life is pretty much done.  He’s a widower, just waiting for it to end really.

Then he goes to work for the exuberant Izzy and falls in love with her, but there’s no hope in Henry’s mind for a real relationship.  Izzy’s thirty years younger.  She’s married, his boss.  What on earth would she see in him anyway? He’s her employee, an old man and a black man in the South for Gods’ sake, he thinks.  I’m a silly old fool...

But he’s not.  Because Izzy also loves him (it’s right at the start we find this out, so I’m not giving too much away.)  Izzy doesn’t see Henry’s age.  She just sees his deep soul, his big heart, sharp brain, the gentleness in Henry which is so appealing.  Izzy opens up a whole new world for Henry.  He comes into his sexuality for the first time in his life because Izzy doesn’t see him as old.  She sees him as a person she not only loves, but likes enormously too.

He sees wrinkles on his neck.  She doesn’t even notice them.  Izzy just thinks Henry is the most beautiful man.

Theirs is a very deep love story and I write in first person, so you get to hear both their thoughts as they travel through this lovely relationship together.  I like whole men and I write about them.  Men that cry, that show emotion, that are real people.  I love them.

This is also with Muse and will be available on Amazon and Muse.

And I’ve just finished a male/male called Hawaiian Lei which is set in my home state of Hawai’i. J And was written for my late husband Aaron Amor.  It’s about Beau Toyama, a Hawaiian/Japanese/Tahitian man who’s a flight instructor and flies a bi-plane on the Big Island of Hawai’i.  He meets Matt Quintal, a New Zealander with Norfolk Island and Maori background.  Beau is from a very dysfunctional ‘mixed plate’ island family and was married for a long time.  One day his wife Mikey says, “I love you, babe, but this isn’t working.  I need a really good man…” she pauses, “And so do you.”

He’s a lovely gentle shy soul and he meets Matt Quintal, a painter, who’s been living the ‘gay scene’ in LA for a year and knows it’s a crock a shit.  He comes to the island to visit his sister Rach and meets Beau.  There’s an instant soul connection between them.  They have to face their own vulnerabilities and let themselves be in love.

They both have their things they bring to the relationship which get triggered and they work through them so they can love deeply and not be scared.  It’s about family dysfunction, abuse, redemption, love and vulnerabilities between two men who really want a deep loving relationship and have to allow their hearts and souls to open up.  It’s a really beautiful story about love and care. All my stories are ultimately about relationships.  And they’re always happily ever after.     

John:  Thank you so much, Meg, for your fascinating answers.  Man, I could listen to you all day--and night.  Are there any questions I didn’t ask which you would like to answer?  If so, here’s your opportunity.  Please go ahead!

MEG: Thank you, John!!! Wonderful interview.  I love everything you have put together from various conversations we’ve had. Brilliant! J

Blog site:  www.troikaromance.blogspot.com

FB Author Page: The Lush and Blush Club (I don’t have the url for it, because it’s always weird, not sure why).

Web site: www.troikaromance.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com@amor_meg