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.

Release Date: August 16, 2016

 

1. 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!

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

   

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.

 

 

 

3. 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!

4. 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.

5. 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.

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