Friday 12 September 2014

Slide by Garrett Leigh



 I'm very excited today, because I get to interview one of my favourite authors. I read Slide some time ago, and it completely blew me away. Pete and Ash are such complicated characters, it was a challenge to get inside their heads completely - especially Ash's. It was just the right amount of challenge to make the reading experience exhilarating. Pete is solid and dependable. Ash is flaky and sliding down toward a nervous breakdown. How they hold it together I don't know, but somehow they do, and it works. Until the best misunderstanding I've read for ages.

Any good book with a dramatic flare could do with a good misunderstanding at one point or another, and this one is a doozie. It leads to all kinds of bad shit - the kind it's great - fun? - to read.

Anyway, enough from me. On to the interview.

What led you to write in the genre(s) you write?

I never set out to write in the MM/LGBT genre, it just kinda worked out that way. One day Ill sit down to write and a chick will come out. For now, Im happy with my boys.

Are your books character led or plot led, or both?

Id say character led. A book always starts with a particular man, and the rest comes later.

What is your favourite part of the writing process?

The start of a new project when anything seems possible.

What is your least favourite part of the writing process

The inevitable wall about two thirds into a book when it feels like itll never be finished. And the first round of professional edits when you wonder why you bothered in the first place.

Where do you get your inspiration for your characters?

All over the place. Books. TV. Films. My own twisted imagination.

Tell us a little about the characters in your book and their story.

Ash is a shy tattoo artist. Hes quite sweet underneath his reticence, and despite all hes been through, hes actually rather innocent.

Pete is a different man altogether, though I wouldnt say they were polar opposites. Pete is a practical dude. He works hardtoo hard, and nothing, until Ash, really fazes him.

If you could have one wish what would it be?

Ask me tomorrow.

What's your deepest fear?

The same as everyone elses: losing the people I love.

If I came to dinner what would you feed me?

Roast chicken.

If Ash and Pete were at the dinner table, what would they have to say about you?

That I could cook a mean dinner, but my manner was somewhat awkward :)

Which other fictional character(s) would you like to be present at the dinner party?

Jed and Max from Only Love. I think Ash and Pete could learn a lot from them.

What do you prefer writing. A one off novel, a series or short stories?

I like the sense of achievement from producing a novel, but in reality, a novella is far easier to write. In fact, the easiest books to write are the ones without a target word count.

What kind of books do you read (if you have time to read)?

All kinds, but sadly, I dont get much time to indulge.

Do you have any other projects in the offing we should look out for?

AlwaysI have a number of novels with Dreamspinner Press: Slide, Rare, Only Love, and a new one, Heart, due out October 27th. Ive also got a series of novellas, Blue Boy, out with Loose Id.

Where can we find you?

FACEBOOK
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM
COVER ART


Author Bio:

Garrett Leigh is a British writer and book designer, currently working for Dreamspinner Press, Loose Id and Black Jazz Press. Her protagonists will always always be tortured, crippled, broken, and deeply flawed. Throw in a tale of enduring true love, some stubbly facial hair, and a bunch of tattoos, and youve got yourself a Garrett special.

When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible. That, and dreaming up new ways to torture her characters. Garrett believes in happy endings; she just likes to make her boys work for it.

Garrett also works as a freelance cover artist for various publishing houses and independent authors under the pseudonym G.D. Leigh. For cover art info, please visit blackjazzpress.com


Blurb(s):

Don’t look back. Don’t you ever look back…

Shy tattoo artist Ash has a troubled past. Years of neglect, drug abuse, and life on the streets have taken their toll, and sometimes it seems the deep, unspoken bond with his lover is the only balm for wounds he doesn’t quite understand.

 Chicago paramedic Pete is warmth, love, and strength—things Ash never knew he could have, and never even knew he wanted until Pete showed him. But fate is a cruel, cruel mistress, and when nightmares collide with the present, their tentatively built world comes crashing down.

 Traumatic events in Pete’s work life distance him from home, and he doesn’t realize until it’s too late that Ash has slipped away. Betrayal, secrets, and lies unfold, and when a devastating coincidence takes hold, Pete must fight with all he has to save the love of his life.

Excerpt:
Ash was Texan by birth, but his southern roots only laced his speech when he was too tired to repress them… too tired to block out all the horrible shit that kept an invisible barrier between us.

He was just seventeen when his friend Ellie found him drawing on the streets of Philadelphia. He was homeless and drew comic book characters on the sidewalk for money. The way she told it, he was one of the best street artists in the city, but he said he just did it to survive. Ellie was in college at the time, and she spent the next three years trying to get him to go to a shelter. Eventually, she got her way, and when she moved back to Chicago a few months later, she asked him to come with her. It took him a year of procrastination and pulling his shit together, but after finishing his tattoo apprenticeship in Philly, he did just that.

Living together was a huge adjustment for both of us. Some days I thought we’d cracked it, but others….

I draped the comforter over us and tucked it around his shoulders. He settled against me with his arm stretched out across my torso. I ran my hand absently along his bicep and enjoyed the rare moment. Though he could be tactile when his mood was right, he rarely cuddled up to me so freely. Most times, he preferred our positions reversed—him on his back with his arms around me.

Curious, I pressed a kiss to the top of his sweat-dampened head. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I just missed you.”

I smiled into the darkness. “I missed you too.”

A light hum was his only answer, so I held him a bit tighter and made the most of having him curled against me. After a while, I felt him shift. I opened my eyes and quirked an eyebrow, too mellow to speak. He just stared at me, but his blazing eyes told me what I knew he found so hard to articulate.

I put my hand to his head and nudged it back down with a sad smile.



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1 comment:

  1. I've been eager to read this series, seen so many wonderful reviews for it. Loved the excerpt, has me even more intrigued.

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