TCO Exclusives

Exclusive Cover Reveal, Five-ish Good Q’s and a Giveaway with Christa Tomlinson

July 26, 2016 by Denise

Two Chicks Obsessed is super excited to have the lovely, talented, and always popular Christa Tomlinson joining us today. We have some Five-ish Questions, and some awesome answers!!!! There is a TCO exclusive cover reveal, done by the amazing Jay Aheer, and a giveaway of three ARC’s of Showing Him the Ropes. So grab a cup of something, and sit back for a little wrestling fun! 🙂

Chance “The Chancellor” Gerhardt is a mainstay for Frontier Professional Wrestling. He’s won multiple championships and has the respect of the locker room. But after ten years at the top, Chance is looking for a new challenge. The one he gets, mentoring FPW’s young rookie, is both unexpected and unwanted.

Devin Jacobs is a hot new talent signed by Frontier Professional Wrestling. He’s always been a fan of The Chancellor, and not just because of the older man’s skill in the ring. He has it bad for the steely eyed veteran wrestler. Unfortunately for Devin, The Chancellor isn’t looking to get involved with anyone. Or is he? During long nights traveling and working together, Devin catches more than one secretly admiring glance from The Chancellor…

Devin is determined to earn victories and championships in the ring. But he’d also love the opportunity to win Chance’s heart. Can the two of them navigate their way through the hyper masculinity and backstage politics of professional wrestling to the most important victory of all? Or will their shot at love be defeated 1-2-3?

Christa Tomlinson is a lifelong fan of professional wrestling. When she’s not writing, Christa can be found watching her favorite classic matches or traveling to live wrestling events.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30741026-showing-him-the-ropes

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/showing-him-the-ropes

Release Date: August 16, 2016

Showing Him the Ropes is a book about professional wrestling. What was your inspiration for writing this? Is the sport as staged as we’ve heard it is?

My inspiration is the fact that I’m a big ole wrestling nerd. Don’t believe me? Here I am in my twenties after a 16 hour drive to go to Wrestlemania. Awww, baby Christa!

Anyhoo. I took a break from writing several years ago because all of my free time was taken up playing roller derby. While I was playing that sport, I broke my leg and found myself with a summer full of free time. I spent it reading and writing wrestling fanfiction, which got me back into writing. And I thought to myself, as much as I love writing about wrestling for fics, why not write an original series about it? So Champions of Desire was birthed in my noggin.

And yes, professional wrestling is scripted. Which means the outcomes of the matches are pre-determined. The men and women in the ring don’t actually hate each other and they’re not trying to kill each other. Think of it as live action theatre. The wrestlers have an end goal and they work together, telling a story in the ring to get to that result. The moves they do are very athletic and can be dangerous. They train and work hard, so don’t go trying to do a pile driver on your friends after you read this book!

Do you have any wrestling celebrity crushes that shaped these characters? Did their on-stage personalities come through in your writing of these characters?
Seth Rollins

Haha! I knew you were going to ask this! Actually, I figure most people who know wrestlers will want to know this, so let’s just get it on out of the way. First! I made sure not to actually base my MCs on any real wrestlers. I didn’t want it to read like a fic, you know? But I did have a mix of guys in my head as I wrote. Devin Jacobs is my hot shot young rookie. He’s a bit of a playful flirt. For him I’d say I was inspired by Seth Rollins and Kota Ibushi. Kota for his high flying moves and general adorableness and Seth for his cocky “look at me I’m the coolest” attitude.

Chance, on the other hand, is at the top of the mountain. But he’s been

there awhile and as a result he’s sort of gruff and tired. He’s very muscular and athletic, but also very smart. So for him, I’d say John Cena and William Regal stomped around in my head a bit.

Let’s say I don’t know anything about wrestling (which to be fair, I don’t 🙂 ). How were you able to make sure that the average reader would be able to hang in there and “get” everything?

I tried to pay attention to the wrestling lingo I was using to make sure I gave context clues. I also created a glossary of wrestling terms that will be included in the book. But it’s funny, those words have been a part of my vocabulary for so long that I didn’t realize just how many of them the general public isn’t aware of. You asked me what a turnbuckle was and I was so surprised that wasn’t an everyday word. Ha! Thanks for the heads up there!

What one thing are you most excited about with this book? Okay, you can make it as many things as you want.

Honestly, I’m excited to get to do something creatively with the world that I love so much. It was fun not only writing the story, but deciding on things like Devin’s ring gear and picking his finishing move. I’m also excited to present a romance that shows wrestling as realistically as possible. Or at least, as realistically as someone who isn’t in the business can. I’ve read a few other wrestling romances and struggled to suspend my disbelief on some of the plot points, because I know that would never happen. It’s like a scientist watching a sci-fi movie and flipping out because the characters do an experiment without a control group. (or something else that’s terribly horrifying to scientists.) And last, I’m excited to give the women and men who enjoy both wrestling and romance a chance to read a story set in a backdrop that they love.

Last question is always the fun one. So, wrestling poses…they must be awkward for the “straight” viewer. Give us some of the best poses that make you giggle at all the homo-eroticism in play in such a testosterone fueled industry.Pin attempts nearly always lead to immature laughs. In order to pin someone in wrestling and score the victory, you basically have to lay on top of them. Sometimes you end up with pins like this: It’s just so hilarious. Like, what? That’s the best way you could come up with to show you won? Okaaaaaay. ;-)Thanks for having me on and letting me ramble about wrestling!Christa

And now…for the cover of Showing Him the Ropes by Christa Tomlinson. Cover Design by Jay Aheer, Simply Defined Art.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Checkmate by Nicki Bennett and Ariel Tachna: Release Day Review, Guest Post and Giveaway

July 25, 2016 by Denise

When sword for hire Teodoro Ciéza de Vivar accepts a commission to “rescue” Lord Christian Blackwood from unsuitable influences, he has no idea he’s landed himself in the middle of a plot to assassinate King Philip IV of Spain and blame the English ambassador for the deed. Nor does he expect the spoiled child he’s sent to retrieve to be a handsome, engaging young man.

As Teodoro and Christian face down enemies at every turn, they fall more and more in love, an emotion they can’t safely indulge with the threat of the Inquisition looming over them. It will take all their combined guile and influence to outmaneuver the powerful men who would see them separated… or even killed.

Title: Checkmate
Series: All for Love: Book One
Authors: Nicki Bennett and Ariel Tachna
Release Date: July 25, 2016
Category: Historical: European
Pages: 294

Way back when I started reading romance novels, I read historicals. Any that I could get my hands on. And I still to this day love historical romance novels. There aren’t a lot of them in the m/m romance world, so when I see one I grab it like I’m dying of thirst, and I just came upon an oasis. This one didn’t disappoint.

The book is set in the year 1624, during the height of the Spanish Inquisition, when sodomy was a crime punishable by death, and the right words placed in an ear could cause a man to be arrested, tried, convicted, then paid with his life, all in the period of days.

Teodoro fought his attraction to Christian for quite a while, not because he had issues being with a man, but because he knew that it would prove a distraction for him as protector. Christian, however, was not deterred and when they finally were able to give in to their passion, it was that much sweeter, because by that point the love had grown so strong between them.

There were swordfights to the death, as well as treason which began the journey for these men. And the vocabulary was amazing. To have that much written word be so timely and accurate, for someone who has always enjoyed historical novels, was amazing to read. It never took me out of the story, in fact it kept me fully engaged. Even when I looked up a word because I wanted to know what it was, or what the origin was, it kept me involved in the story. (In fact, one of my favorites was seeing a word that became an origin for pedophile-weird I know, but I love vocabulary.) These authors mastered the vocabulary so well that it flowed seamlessly through the book, which is not always the case.

There was one piece that did pull me from the story, at least in the first 30% or so, until I became used to it. The entire book has changing point of view, quite often paragraph to paragraph. This was challenging as a reader, as I hadn’t experienced that type of POV change before. It did point out to me that sometimes I do skip over the names of who the narrator is, as I quite often had to read back to the beginning sentence in the paragraph to make sure I understood who’s POV I was reading.

All in all, a very engaging read, with dynamic characters, that evolved through the book. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more in this series world.

4 pieces of eye candy

Checking on Checkmate

When writing a historical novel, unless it’s alternative history, it’s expected that you’ll get the facts right and the dates accurate. Only in steampunk can you get away with having your Civil War general use a GPS device to track enemy troop movements. In plotting the All for Love series, we reviewed European history and drafted a timeline of key events that would play into our storylines for each novel. While some elements may seem unlikely—one of our editors questioned whether the king of France and the queens of Spain and England at the time were all children of Marie de Medici (they were)—we were confident the stories would hold up through the mandatory historical content reviews that are part of Dreamspinner’s editorial process.

We hadn’t considered the etymological checking.

Etymology is the history of words or phrases from their earliest recorded usage in the language in which they occur. Failing to check etymology can result in a historical character spouting modern slang, which is guaranteed to pull a reader out of the story even if they’re not quite sure why. So while we hadn’t necessarily considered etymology when writing the stories, the review resulted in some interesting findings.

Checkmate begins in 1624. So while there’s no issue with having our characters refer to “the end justifying the means” (from Machiavelli’s The Prince, written in 1532), or “tilting at windmills” (from Cervantes’ Don Quixote, published in 1605), we were surprised to discover that Christian couldn’t be traveling in Spain as part of his Grand Tour—the phrase wasn’t in use until 1670. That was an easy fix—we just took the reference out. We also made a number of word changes because the terms weren’t in use during the early seventeenth century. A few examples:

outfit (1769 or 1852, depending on the source) became garments
hypnotized (1843) became stunned
sizing up (meaning “estimate” from 1847) became assessing
risqué (1867) became bawdy
foodstuffs (1872) became victuals
needling (1881 in the sense of “to goad”) became baiting

There were a few words we decided to keep, even though the first date of use was slightly later than our timeframe, because they were relatively close (under a hundred years) and we couldn’t find an alternative word that fit as well. These included sardonic (1630s), eclectic (1680s), and rakish (1706).

Even things as simple as everyday household items weren’t always kosher (a term we couldn’t have used, since it dates from 1850). Bedsheet was first used in the fifteenth century and towel in the thirteenth century, so we had no issues there, but washcloth (1863) or washrag (1856) were out. In fact, the whole concept of bathing was questioned as being quite uncommon at the time—and in fact arranging a bath for Christian took quite an effort and was seen, by Esteban at least, as proof that he was nothing but a spoiled, pampered nobleman.

There were several phrases the editor flagged as “too modern sounding” that after consideration we decided to keep. House of cards dated from 1645, but we thought people had been playing cards long enough before then that the concept didn’t feel out of place. The first recorded use of turned on his heels was 1751, but we reasoned that people wore heels and turned on them before then. And take a page from his book couldn’t be dated, but since books and pages had been around since the invention of the printing press in 1440 and as handwritten manuscripts before that, we didn’t think it felt too modern.

The most significant sections where we ran into challenges were, maybe not surprisingly, in our love scenes. While the editor nixed our using working girl to refer to a prostitute, we had quite a few options to choose from—strumpet (early fourteenth century), harlot (fifteenth century), courtesan (1533), temptress (1594), bawd (1700). Engaging in frottage was out—the term wasn’t in use until 1935—so we substituted erotic friction instead.

The biggest issue, though, was that the edit flagged our uses of lover, making love, and lovemaking. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, while lover meaning “one who has a predilection for” (a thing, concept, pursuit, etc.) is mid-fourteenth century, as a form of address to a lover, it dates from 1911. Lovemaking meaning “courtship” is from the mid-fifteenth century; make love from 1570s in the sense “pay amorous attention to;” as a euphemism for “have sex,” it is attested from about 1950.

We responded that we would consider period-accurate alternatives if someone could provide us with any. Unfortunately the only suggestions the editors could make were companion in place of lover or joining in place of making love. And to us, those just don’t have the same connotations. We were willing to take a stand here since we felt it would be more distracting to our readers to not use words like lover or lovemaking in a romance novel, even if they are “too modern” for the historical period.

What do you think? Are you bothered by words like lover or lovemaking in a historical romance, and if so, what terms would you use in their place? We’ll pick one comment to give away an eBook from either of our backlists.

Amazon

ARe

Dreamspinner Press

Growing up in Chicago, Nicki Bennett spent every Saturday at the central library, losing herself in the world of books. A voracious reader, she eventually found it difficult to find enough of the kind of stories she liked to read and decided to start writing them herself.

Visit Nicki:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011754789784

E-Mail: nickibennett1@gmail.com

When Ariel Tachna was twelve years old, she discovered two things: the French language and romance novels. Those two loves have defined her ever since. By the time she finished high school, she’d written four novels, none of which anyone would want to read now, featuring a young woman who was—you guessed it—bilingual. That girl was everything Ariel wanted to be at age twelve and wasn’t.

She now lives on the outskirts of Houston with her husband (who also speaks French), her kids (who understand French even when they’re too lazy to speak it back), and their two dogs (who steadfastly refuse to answer any French commands).

Visit Ariel:

Website: www.arieltachna.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ArielTachna

E-mail: arieltachna@gmail.com

The authors are offering a free eBook of any title from either of their backlists to one reader who leaves a comment on the post. Tell us, what words would you have used to describe lover or lovemaking?

Fight the Tide by Keira Andrews: Release Day Review and Five-ish Good Questions

July 25, 2016 by Denise

Adrift in a post-apocalyptic world, they only have each other. Is it enough?

A virus that turns the infected into zombie-like killers spreads through a burning world thrown into lawless chaos. Lovers Parker and Adam have escaped to the open sea when they hear a message over the airwaves from a place called Salvation Island—a supposed safe haven.

Orphaned as a child, werewolf Adam has always longed for a pack. He’s eager to investigate the island, but Parker doesn’t think for a nanosecond that the voice on the radio can be believed. He doesn’t trust anyone but Adam and is determined to keep it that way. They don’t need anyone else complicating their struggle to survive. Or do they?

Danger on the high seas can surface in a heartbeat, and if Parker and Adam aren’t careful, the current will drag them under.

This gay romance is a dystopian adventure featuring a werewolf, his boyfriend, and their struggle to find a place to call home.

I was so excited to get my hands on Fight the Tide and it did not disappoint. This story was just as great as the first. Keira tells her stories in such a way you feel like you’re really there and the writing is amazing. I never knew what was going to happen next and she kept me on the edge of my seat. I caught myself screaming at my kindle at one point! Ha! The emotions were everywhere with this one.

Fight picks up right where Kick leaves off. Parker and Adam are taking it one day at a time out on the water and just trying to survive. This is truly a post-apocalyptic world they are living in now and the things and people they encounter are exactly how I believe it would play out.

Parker tends to underestimate himself a lot. He starts to feel he’s lacking in some way and may not be everything Adam needs. He has some serious struggles and getting to see him work through them and come out on the other side shows just how resilient he is.

I have to say, the sex scenes in this one were fantastic and hot as hell. Be prepared for your jaw to drop and you might even have to fan yourself a little. Just damn… Parker and Adam have a sweet relationship and I enjoyed seeing it grow more and more throughout the story. No matter what happens and what they face they always have the support of each other.

We eventually get to meet a small group of survivors in need of some assistance. I really liked all 4 of them and I thought they brought a lot to the story. We get to meet some new wolves as well and learn a little more about Adam.

I could go on for days about this but I don’t want to give anything away. I can’t stress how much I love reading about the world Keira has created. If you haven’t read Kick at the Darkness, make sure you check that out first before you start Fight the Tide. This was an amazing story and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. I still have lots of unanswered questions and I want to learn more about the Wolves and the Virus. I am a zombie/ paranormal/ horror freak and Keira has rocked my world with these stories.

5 HUGE pieces of eye candy from me!!!!

Fight the Tide got a HUGE 5 pieces of eye candy rating from Morgan. So tell the readers anything you can on what might be ahead for these two guys? Are there a set number of books you envision for the series?

Thanks so much to Morgan! There will definitely be a third book for Parker and Adam, and also a fourth book centered on a character you’ll meet in Fight the Tide. That’s all I have planned for now, but who knows what the future will bring?

You always have such a unique vision to your books. The Forbidden Rumspringa is still the most surprising book to me. What was your inspiration for this series?

Thank you. My inspiration for the Kick at the Darkness series came from a lifelong love of dystopian stories, and certainly more recent TV shows such as The Walking Dead. Also the X-Men in regards to having special abilities that must be kept secret.

Parker and Adam now live in a post Apocalyptic world, just trying to survive. What do you think is the most unique aspect of the world that you created for them? Is it something you can envision happening in the present day?

When I was researching the first book, I discovered that once the power grid goes dark, experts think the infrastructure would fall apart alarmingly quickly. Let’s hope we won’t find out! It’s a challenge to be unique considering how popular zombie and werewolf stories have been in recent years, so I suppose the aspect that stands out in my books is the combination of the two genres.

What one thing are you most excited about with this book? Okay, you can make it as many things as you want.

The thing I’m most excited about is how the universe has clicked into place. After the first book, I wasn’t sure what would happen to Adam and Parker, and now they’re firmly on their path. I’m also excited for readers to see their relationship deepen and grow as they face more challenges. They don’t always agree and aren’t perfect, but they are 100% committed to each other.

Last question is always the fun one. You write sex scenes that are hot, and with characters that likely would never get together but for inauspicious circumstances. What do you want to write as a sex scene sometime? Your dream fantasy sex scene.

Ohh, good question! I love writing sex scenes. I wrote my first fisting scene for Fight the Tide, which I realize can be controversial and not everyone’s cup of tea, but I hope readers will keep an open mind. As to my fantasy scene… That’s a tough one! I don’t really have any limitations, and it always depends on what the characters want. So we’ll see what the future brings!

Amazon

TCO would like to give away a copy of Fight the Tide to one commenter. So, tell us, what do you envision as the scariest part of being in a post-apocalyptic world?

Nicola Haken Monthly Author Column

July 20, 2016 by Denise

**TCO is always excited to have Nicola Haken with us. She is such a great friend to the blog, and a wonderful person and author as well.

The Nicola Haken Pocket Dictionary

First things first, music. As I write this month’s post I’m currently listening to Jesus He Knows Me by Genesis. I’m also singing to it. Loudly. I wonder if that’s why my cat’s staring at me like she wishes I was dead. She clearly doesn’t appreciate my talent.

Now that’s out the way, let’s get to the actual post. I live in this little country you might’ve heard of called England. I’ve been told we talk weird over here, though personally I think it’s all the peeps across the pond who talk funny. You know, all you guys who are too lazy to use the U in your spelling. 😉 And the Z’s instead of S’s? What’s all that about, eh? Anyway, every one of my books contain British characters, therefore British language and Britishisms which I’ve been told have confused some of you! So I thought for this month’s post I’d put together a handy little translation guide featuring some of the words I use on a daily basis.

The first thing you need to do when you imagine me talking is scrap the idea that I speak like the Queen. I don’t. I’m common as shit. I often toy with the idea of doing one of those talking to my readers video things on Facebook like some other authors do, but then I realise I’d have to brush my hair, and so I save it for another day which never arrives.

So, I think we know all the main ones, right? Like, chips/fries. Boot/trunk. Lift/elevator. Pavement/sidewalk etc. Below are the ones I’ve had people question me about, or ones people have told me they’ve had to Google! I’ve also included a few which are upcoming in the Counting series which I think might have a few of you scratching your heads too J

Chufties: To ‘get the chufties’ means to be ‘chuffed’ about something! To be ‘chuffed’ about something means to be really happy about it. For example, when my Pride Chucks arrived I was seriously chuffed, and when they fit (despite my monstrously wide feet!) I got the proper chufties!
Mint: Awesome! Eg. Those new shoes look mint!
Knackered: Tired/exhausted
Hump: Bad mood. Saying ‘I’ve got the right hump’ didn’t get the response I hoped for from my American friend not so long ago!
Strop: Also bad mood. Eg. She’s in a right strop today.
Nowt: Nothing
Minging: Disgusting/horrible
Manky: Also means Disgusting/horrible
Butty: Sandwich
Jammy: Lucky. Eg. If you won a tenner on the lottery you would be a jammy sod!
Muffin: Now, this one is debatable across the UK and I have, in fact, had many a heated argument amongst my friends. A muffin is a round piece of bread which you make a butty (sandwich) out of and don’t let anyone else tell you differently. Yes, sweet muffins with chocolate chips/blueberries inside are also muffins, but they are chocolate chip muffins, blueberry muffins etc. DO NOT let the anti-muffin brigade try and fool you with their ridiculous bap/barm/roll nonsense!
Naff: Rubbish. Eg. These cheap pens are naff.
Nick: Steal
Row: (rhymes with cow) Argument
Bellend: Literally – The head of a penis. Most used to mean tosser, nob head, wanker, stupid person, idiot. (Although if Denise Shirley Carter asks it means wonderful friend, okay?)
Nob: Penis. There’s a debate in the UK whether it’s spelled with a K or not. I’m an anti-K-er through and through! There is no K in NOB. Just putting that out there.
Ballsed up: Gone wrong/made a mistake
Sod it: I give up
Boff/boffin: Nerd/geek
Kecks: Trousers
Ta: Thank you
Wanksplat: Literally – the resulting splat at the end of a wank. Most commonly used as insult for a stupid person. Eg. “Shut up, you wanksplat.”
Wankstain: Refer to wanksplat
Spunk: Semen. This language difference always makes me giggle when I read it in American books. But, I’m immature like that.
Kip: Sleep/nap
Bloke: Man
Skint: Poor
Summat: Something
Muppet: Stupid person
Wonky: Uneven/unstable. Eg. That table is a bit wonky, put a book under the leg.
Mard/mardarse: Wimp. For the record, I’m a total mardarse.
Lurgy: Sick/poorly. “I’ve got the lurgy.”
Whatever, Trevor: This just means whatever. That’s it. Trevor isn’t a person, his name simply rhymes with whatever. I actually put this in one of my books once though and three of my betas thought I’d put the wrong name as a typo so I removed it to save confusion!
Fanny: Vagina
Scran (northern English): Food
Tosser: Idiot
Nobhole: Fanny. Also, idiot.
Bobby: Policeman
Fire Bobby: Fireman
On my Billy/On my Todd: On my own. Poor Billy and Todd, whoever they are, must have no friends L
Fag: Cigarette. I think most people know this one, but did you know that faggots are also a kind of pork meatball in gravy over here? I’ve never tasted one because they look disgusting. Seriously, there isn’t enough money in the world that you could pay me to put a faggot in my mouth. Blurgh.

I think that’s it. Have I missed any? If you think of any more just ask and I’ll set you straight! As always, thank you for reading my ramblings. If you enjoy watching me talk about random nonsense make sure you follow me on social media, or sign up to my newsletter. I’m not always interesting, but I give away free stuff (I’m not opposed to bribery) and free stuff’s always good, right?! 😉

Until next time, I love you!

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TCO Exclusive: Avon Gale Monthly Author Column

June 30, 2016 by Denise

**We are so excited to have Avon Gale join us for a monthly author column. Her latest release is Power Play, which you can grab here. One of my personal favorites though is Conversation Hearts. I promise if you read it, you will be begging Avon to write a follow up. You can check that one out here.

Time (Mis)Management
So, it’s been just about six months since I decided to write full-time in lieu of pursue my hair stylist career. I simply didn’t have the ability to build up a stylist clientele and focus on the writing at the same time, and to be honest, writing is my first and greatest love and I never, ever thought I’d be blessed enough to do this as a job. And now I am! And boy, have I learned a lot in these six months.

Some of these lessons include:
1. My cats do not appreciate my dance moves or random, impromptu sing-alongs. My cats hate joy.
2. Being an extrovert and working home alone all day…well, there’s a reason I have dance parties and impromptu singalongs. IT’S TOO QUIET HELP SEND PEOPLE.
3. My neighbor seriously spends all his time mowing his yard. 24/7. It’s not that big of a yard, either. I don’t even know.
4. I talk to myself constantly, at home or while doing errands during the day. To be fair, I did this before I started writing full-time. I do it a lot more now, but hey. Eccentric authors can talk to themselves, right?
5. Eccentric authors can also leave the house in their stylish work-from-home wardrobe of leggings, canvas skull shoes, a tank top and the two of the world’s smallest pigtails which are totally uneven because whatever, #YOLO.
6. I fought having to get up in the morning like some kind of angry fighting thing that fights. Now? I wake up naturally and without my alarm at 7:30, and am usually at the desk working most days by 8:30/9:00 and work until 6 or so. Contrarian to the end, that’s me.
7. Time management, my ancient nemesis, is a lot easier when you love what you do…but loving what you do isn’t enough to master it.
8. One day I watched my mail carrier put the mail in our mailbox, then flip off my house. I still don’t know what that’s about.

Probably the hardest thing, though, is that planning and plotting and writing have always been things that I just *did* before. I wrote sometimes (or, who are we kidding here, all the time) at my office jobs, I wrote in the evenings, I wrote on the weekends. I wrote at the salon when I was working as a receptionist during beauty school. I was probably always writing when I was supposed to be doing something else, which yes, was a pretty good sign I should have been doing this all along.

Except now I have entire days devoted to writing, so I thought I’d be doing it constantly. And that is totally not true. Some days I’m in the groove and I write like crazy, but some days I play on Twitter, dance with the cats (they REALLY hate that), do promo stuff (you know, like playing on Twitter >>) and obsess over my schedule and when I need to get things done by.

You guys, the other day I procrastinated editing (okay, I think this is fair though because editing arghhhh) by cleaning out my linen cabinet. What! I used to procrastinate cleaning by writing! WHAT MADNESS IS THIS!
Things that have plagued me my entire life are organizational skills, time management and pesky details that I would rather ignore in favor of candy. So now that I’m my own boss, I’m having to find ways to curb my natural distracted tendencies, set up schedules and procedures that work, and not feel guilty about not getting enough done. I read somewhere this was the biggest challenge for people who work from home, the constant thought that they should be working around the clock and never take breaks to play Futurama: Game of Drones on their phones, or have intense conversations with their friends about craft night.

I guess that’s the main thing I’ve learned – even when I love something as much as I love writing, even as passionate as I am about what I do and how grateful I am that I get to do it…I’m still going to play Futurama: Game of Drones and have cat dance parties. (Sorry, cats.)

Obsessed with Nicola Haken: Monthly Author Column

June 14, 2016 by Denise

TCO is so super excited that when we asked Nicola Haken if she wanted to do a monthly column, not only did she say yes, she actually followed through with it! So, without further ado, welcome the lovely (and very hard for this American to understand when she’s talking) Nicola Haken to the blog. And if you have something you want Nicola to talk about next month, let us know!

Who the Hell is Nicola Haken?

Firstly, I was thrilled to be asked to do a monthly blog post for Two Chicks Obsessed with Books and Eye Candy, even though the founder of the blog is a bellend (I love her, so I’m allowed to call her names). By thrilled, I mean nervous. There’s a reason I don’t update my own blog, and that’s because I’m wholly uninteresting!

But, what the hell. I’m going to try my best to sound all intellectual and fun!

Okay, that lasted like two seconds. While I try and think of something clever and interesting for my next post, I’ll take the easy way out this time and introduce myself, tell you some random shite about me and my career, and hope I don’t bore you to death.

Right. Interesting. I can do this. I’m singing along to the Glee version of Gold Digger as I type this. Is that interesting? No? It would be if you could hear me, but I’ll move on.

Once upon a time there was a little girl called Nicola. She was always a little weird, a lot neurotic, and had a wild imagination. But you know what that little girl never did? Read. Despite English being my favourite subject at school, I didn’t actually read a full book until I was in my twenties, and I wouldn’t have done that if my sister-in-law didn’t force me to. That book was Twilight (don’t judge or diss my Edward or I will smack you in the face) and from that day I was addicted. I loved those books so much I had to get them in hardcover too. Then I needed somewhere to display them so I bought a bookcase. But what if I wanted to read them in bed, or on the go? So I bought a Kindle and downloaded them onto there too. (Did I mention I’ve always been a little obsessive?)

Holy crap on a cracker, there were like a bajillion books available on my new toy, so I started downloading them by the dozen. Where had this whole new world been hiding all my life? If you’ve read Broken, remember how James was always taking on new interests? He always had new ideas, tried his hand at lots of different things, well that’s me. There is a lot of me in James, but that’s a whole other blog post. When I left school I started sixth form with the aim of becoming a teacher one day. But then I got bored. I hated school. I’ve never been good with having people tell me what to do! So, I left and went to work in a supermarket until I figured out what I wanted to do with my life.

Ooo, I know! I’ll be a nail technician! So off I went to train to be one of those. I was good at it, determined to start my own business. I poured a tonne of money into that idea, but then I got bored with that too. Then I found hairdressing, got bored, found some other new stuff…you get where this is going. Whatever I did, I never felt like I belonged. I didn’t ‘fit’ anywhere. So it wasn’t really a surprise when people thought I was exploring another whimsical fad that would never amount to anything when I started writing my first book.

I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I’d never heard of a book blog, an editor, or a beta reader. I just wrote out the words in my head and ran with it. But it didn’t matter that I didn’t know anything about the book world because I’d DONE it. I’d found that thing I’d been searching for. I knew what I was born to do, and that was to take the vivid imagination I’d been born with and turn the ideas in my head into stories. I started out writing New Adult M/F stories, because back then that’s all I knew was out there (I meant it when I said I knew literally nothing about the book world). With each book I wrote I learned something new. I got to know how the publishing side of things worked with every mistake I made. I’m still learning. I hope to continue learning. To me, every book is better than the last.

So, how did writing MM Romance happen? Simply put, the second I discovered the genre existed I knew where I wanted to be. I stumbled across gay romance accidentally by reading a novella which was part of the MF series I was reading at the time, only it happened to be about the gay best friend. These characters were so different to anything I’d read before. Sure, they were men, but I related to them so much. Part of this story in particular was one of the MC’s struggling to accept his sexuality, which took me right back to my teenage years. Maybe I’ll go into this more in another post, but to summarise, I started questioning my own sexuality when I was thirteen. I felt different to my friends. I dreamed about female celebrities while they dreamed of the Backstreet boys. So, I must be a lesbian right? I didn’t tell anyone. I felt stupid and embarrassed, so I kept it to myself.

Eventually I told some friends, but then I realised I also understood what they saw in the guys they swooned over, too. Then I felt even more stupid. I didn’t know what the hell I was, what group I belonged in. I knew what bisexual meant, but I also knew that was greedy and not taken seriously. That’s what I grew up hearing anyway, so I definitely didn’t want to be that; you believe all the ignorant shit you’ve grown up listening to when you’re young. That didn’t work out too well. I couldn’t seem to ‘pick’ a side. It wasn’t as simple as finding men or women attractive. I’m attracted to people. I fall in love with the inside. That doesn’t mean I don’t find the outside pretty damn hot too, of course!

Anyway, I digress. My point is I felt more connected to these gay characters than I had with any other book I’d read before, but even then I didn’t know there was a whole freaking genre waiting for me. That came when I clicked on Double Full by Kindle Alexander after seeing it on my newsfeed, for no other reason than I loved the cover. I had no idea what I’d find inside, and that hot gay sex hit me in the face within the first couple of pages. BOOM! I needed more of this…so I went out and found it. Within days it became my new favourite genre. In MF, whether reading or writing it, being in the male MC’s head had always been my favourite place to be, so now with both sides being in a guy’s head I was in literary heaven! There’s something insanely beautiful reading about two men falling in love. Men are naturally perceived as being ‘tough’ and resilient, which to me just makes reading about their insecurities, watching their macho walls – which society assumes they should have – fall, and witnessing the tender moments two people in love share, so much more special.

Yet, I’ve seen people comment on these kind of moments, in reviews or book groups, saying things like, ‘men don’t act like that in real life.’ ‘Men don’t think like this.’ ‘This MC sounds like a woman.’ Honestly, I find it ridiculous. No, I’m not a man, but I know real-life men. I have a husband. I have gay friends. And d’ya know what? Men are tender. They are romantic. They do go gooey-eyed over the person they love. They do get coy and turn into bumbling idiots in front of someone they fancy, and they do whisper sweet and dreamy words in their partner’s ear. Of course, the books we’re talking about are fiction. The romance, the drama, the angst and the sex is all ramped up to super-speed. Real life isn’t all butterflies and daisies, but who wants to read about guys farting in bed while worrying about which bill to pay first?

Bloody hell, I’ve totally gone off-point again haven’t I? Maybe I should add rambling to the Fun Facts About Nicola Haken list. So, we’ve established I love MM Romance, but I wasn’t brave enough to write it myself for a long time. What if I was no good? What if they didn’t want some newbie who didn’t know what they were doing in their genre? What if my existing readers didn’t like it? I can’t even remember what made me take the plunge, all I know is that it was the best decision I ever made. Being Sawyer Knight was born and I’d found my home. It wasn’t my best book, because like I said before I’m constantly learning, but I’m still damn proud of it, and grateful too. That story, those characters, introduced me to some of the best people in the whole world (including the bellend in my opening sentence!) The MM Romance genre is literally flooded with awesome people – fabulous readers, amazing bloggers, fan-freakin’-tastic authors. It holds a sense of community. It’s like a giant family to me. I’ve made some lifelong friends here. I feel like I belong – FINALLY – and you guys ain’t getting rid of me without a fight 😉

So, that’s how I got into writing. There was no magical epiphany. It wasn’t my ‘calling’. I took a chance and I fell in love with it. I feel incredibly privileged to be able to do this as a career. I’m grateful for each and every person who’s ever read my words, interacted with me, supported me and my characters. I wouldn’t be where I am today without other people, and that’s why I’m all about giving it back. I enjoy seeing other authors’ successes – I love sharing them, promoting them, drooling over their covers. I love seeing readers recommend other authors books, because I’m a reader too. I don’t get the hump (this means annoyed for you non-Brits!) if I get page-like requests from strangers or added to groups. It’s difficult to achieve anything in life alone, and so if I can help I will. My life’s motto is pretty simple; don’t be an arsehole.

Wow. This has turned into a really long post considering I had nothing to talk about! If you’re half-asleep with drool down your chin, wake up, I’m nearly finished I promise. I’ll end with that Fun Facts About Nicola list I mentioned because if I drone on for any more paragraphs I fear Denise will tell me not to come back.

• My name is Nicola (okay, that’s not fun but it is a fact!)
• I have a tendency to ramble (See? Told you I’d add it.)
• I don’t like even numbers (This is a problem when it comes to biscuits. One, obviously, isn’t enough, but I can’t have two because I don’t like even numbers, so three it is. Or five. Hence my fat arse.)
• I have lots of tattoos (sorry, Mum!)
• Pepsi Max is my best friend
• I couldn’t live without potatoes in my life.
• I eat and drink like a child. No grown-up foods allowed! I’m a chicken nuggets and orange juice gal.
• I swear way too fucking much.
• I can’t eat with metal spoons. I’m not allergic or anything, I’m just weird.
• My favourite song right now is You’re Not There by Lukas Graham (this will likely change before you read this.)
• My favourite colour is purple.
• I have a tendency to zone out when people are talking to me.
• I am a whiney bitch who moans about literally everything, but not in public. No one wants to hear that shit.

If you’ve survived this post, congratulations! That’s some impressive stamina you’ve got there. Also, if you know what I should ramble about next time please let me know because I’m out of ideas! If you have any questions, comment below and give me something to talk about 😀

Cough*shameless-self-promo-ahead*Cough, if you’re not fed up of me already then I’m always excited to meet new stalkers-I mean friends, so follow me on social media! Friend request me, like my page, hide out behind my shed…wait, I don’t have a shed. I have a garage you could keep dry in though.

Until next time…

https://www.facebook.com/NicolaHaken/
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorNicolaHaken
https://twitter.com/NicolaHaken
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7094294.Nicola_Haken
http://www.amazon.com/Nicola-Haken/e/B00CVY43A6/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0