Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Interview & Giveaway: Anne Brooke (Featured Author)

I am super excited to welcome Anne Brooke to the blog. As our author of the week, and interview seems fitting. So I am sitting down with Anne, and we are chatting it up.

Hi Anne and welcome to Pants Off, it's great to have you here.

 Tell us a bit about yourself and how long you've been writing? 
Hello, great to be here! I’m a slightly insane redhead, I live in the UK and I work part-time as a PA in my local University. I’ve written poetry for years, but only started to write fiction in Y2K when I ran out of rhymes. The poetry did come back in the end, but the rhymes are fewer. I love theatre-going and all chocolate except Ferrero Rocher (can’t stand them, for some reason …), so I’m not sure I could live in a world without chocolate or plays.

 * I also dislike Ferrero Rocher. Like seriously, it's not that good*

 Was gay romance something you always wanted to write? Or did you develop an interest over time? 
Oh yes, I’ve had the voice of a gay man – or more likely several gay men – in my head from a very early age so writing from the male viewpoint always seemed to be the most natural way to do it. If I write from the female point of view, I have to really concentrate, or alternatively the voice becomes lesbian or bisexual, which somehow makes it easier.


I've read a few of your stories now, and each of them are very unique. Some are fun eg 'The Delaneys'. Some are filled with angst and the tortured hero like in 'The Heart's Greater Silence'. Can you share with me about where your inspiration comes from? How your stories get their start?
Some of my stories are inspired by particular invitations from publishers, for instance my upcoming gay short Where You Hurt The Most will be part of the Riptide Publishing Love For Sale anthology. Others are stories I might start dreaming about and then have to write them down when I wake up just to see what happens next (yes, I’m a seat-of-my-pantser and never a planner!).

At other times, I might look and see what kind of submission themes publishers are interested in and then try to write one of those. The story itself might not get submitted to the publisher in question if I’m still working on it when the deadline passes, but I can always try other markets once the story is ready. You never know your luck! Other great sources of inspiration are news programmes, magazine articles and even things people say – people have such fascinating lives that they always give me something to think about.

 I see that you love poetry. Has one of your poems ever been the inspiration behind one of your stories, or vice versa?
I’m not sure! It’s funny how my fiction and poetry writing tend to run in parallel and don’t meet that often. Though, now I think of it, very occasionally I’ll find myself writing a poem from a character’s viewpoint, and readers do say that there’s a sense of the poetic about my more literary fiction – so perhaps they influence each other more than I realise. In some ways, it’s more of a personal preference, as I’d really miss one genre if I had to give it up for any reason – practising the two together seems to make sense, for me anyway.



Is it hard to write all that hot and sexy man love in your books?
Absolutely. It’s a real trauma and you can’t begin to imagine how difficult it is, tee hee. Still, someone’s got to do the tough jobs, and it may as well be me! Seriously though, I must admit I enjoy writing the sex scenes and the scenes of violence (if any) best of all – which probably says something really worrying about me, but let’s not go there … It’s the scenes in between those that can be tricky.




So fresh from the release of The Heart’s Greater Silence. Can you share with us your future plans in writing?
At the moment, I’m just about to enter the editing phase for Where You Hurt The Most with Riptide. I’m also writing the fifth of the Delaneys Series for Amber Allure, which is called The Delaneys At Home. And I’m slowly getting my thinking cap on for a sequel to gay BDSM story For One Night Only. In the middle of all that, I’m continuing to work on my gay novella, The Taming of The Hawk – but that’s very slow progress, I have to say.



Will we ever get to read a novel from you?
Actually, I currently have two gay novels, both dark-themed thrillers, available. A Dangerous Man is published by Cheyenne Publishing and Bristlecone Pine Press, and The Bones of Summer is available from Dreamspinner Press. I’ve also written a gay romantic comedy, The Hit List (Amber Allure), a romantic comedy based in a gay nightclub, Pink Champagne and Apple Juice (Bristlecone Pine Press), and a bisexual thriller, Thorn in The Flesh (Bristlecone Pine Press). You can find details of all these books at my Gay Reads site. In addition, I’ve also written a fantasy trilogy with a gay scribe as my main character, and the first of these, The Gifting, is available from Bluewood Publishing. The second and third of the series are due out later this year or in 2013, and more details of these can be found at The Gathandrian Trilogy site.

*My research clearly sucks, judging by the question ^_^*

Mark from The Heart’s Greater Silence. Will he ever have his own book? 
Not sure he’ll ever get a whole novel, but there may well be a sequel somewhere in the offing. But I’m afraid there are other stories to tell before I can get there – though you never know …

The gay Twilight, would you write it?
I wish I could! But I’m not sure I’d have the energy!

* I am starting to lose hope*

Pants, is it better to write with them on or off? (for research purposes only)
Ooh, I couldn’t possibly say – it’s entirely up to the writer in question, but I happen to think that French knickers are the best invention ever! Say no more...


If readers want to contact you or learn more about your books. Where can they find you?
I have a main website, and one at Gay Reads UK. You can find me on Facebook and Twitter, and I also have a Facebook Fan Page. All visitors are very welcome indeed.

Thank You Anne for being here today. It was lovely having you and chatting it up!
Thank you for inviting me – I’ve really enjoyed being here today! As a special treat, anyone leaving a comment on this post together with their email details will be entered into a competition to win ONE free ebook from my backlist – good luck, all!

So Yes There is a giveaway! Contest runs until March 6th 12:00AM EST Just leave a Comment with your email.

- must be 18 or older
- leave email address with your comment
- you have 48hrs to reply to email or another winner will be chosen (make sure my email doesn't become spam)
- winner will be chosen by random.org/rafflecopter

11 comments:

  1. Great interview! Please count me in.

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  2. Enjoyed the interview. I really like Anne's writing style. She sounds like a very interesting lady.

    lkbherring64(at)gmail(dot)com

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  3. Fun interview! Please enter me in the contest.

    books2read69@hotmail(dot)com

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  4. Love finding new (to me) authors. I, too, don't like FR chocolate, just yuck.

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  5. I have read a few of Anne's books and really enjoyed them. Please count me in :)

    scj_ger[at]yahoo[dot]co[dot]uk

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  6. Really enjoyed the interview!
    Heh, not entering the contest... just thought I'd stop by and say hello. :3

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  7. Entertaining and informative interview. I've put her novels on my wishlist. Can't wait to get them and start reading. Thanks for the giveaway.

    e.balinski(at)att(dot)net

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  8. Hehe, great interview. Hmm pants off during writing? For me it's socks off. "Socks Off Reviews"? Nah.

    Please add me :)

    Erica

    eripike at gmail dot com

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  9. Loved it! Count me in please.
    yratpatrol@aol.com

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  10. Great interview :)

    Count me in, please
    blaine at blainedarden dot com

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  11. LOVE IT!!

    Sign me up!

    sionedkla@gmail.com

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Go ahead and talk to me!