Ties That Bind by Alex Whitehall: Exclusive Guest Post and Giveaway

Thank you to Alex Whitehall for joining TCO to talk about his latest story, Ties That Bind. This looks really good, and at a short story length, a quick read to get drawn into. 🙂 Make sure you enter the giveaway at the end.

Thank you for joining me on my blog tour for Ties That Bind, the story of three men searching for a way to keep one of them alive. Now out at all major retailers!

Originally Ties That Bind was written for a submission call looking for poly relationships, but it wasn’t the first story I dreamed up. Today I’m going to talk about a few of the other ideas I brewed and what it might mean for future books I’ll write.

My main goal while brainstorming was to not have the relationship be the driving conflict. It’s too easy for me to want to fall into the insecurities of one character and have that become a central issue, so I immediately took that off the table. From there, I spent a lot of time telling my ideas to the dogs I was pet-sitting and trying to figure out what might work.

The first idea involved two men going on vacation to a house in the middle of nowhere and the “ghost” that they find there. I actually wrote several openings for this concept, but the more I brainstormed the story and how it would unfold, the more I realized that there was no way it was going to fit within the original word count limit! So it was shuffled to the side to languish until I have the time and focus to give it the attention it needs.

The next idea stemmed from one similar to Ties That Bind, drawing on threes as a source of power in magic. However, in Ties That Bind, one of the characters isn’t actively involved in the day-to-day magic, while in the potential story, it was going to be a plot point, specifically centered around the solstice and conveniently (or inconveniently) falling in love with someone you remember from high school. Again, the more I pondered, the bigger the story became and it went on the shelf. For another day.

Thinking my problem was involving magic, I wrote several openings in a contemporary setting, but after the first few pages, the characters fell flat. So I wandered back to magic, and not magic, and how a world with both would exist together, and how a mixed triad of magic and non-magic users would work, and I definitely needed to have a familiar in there…

And that’s how I got Ties That Bind. But don’t be surprised if you see something of those other ideas show up in future books!

For Chel, Tomlin, and Mathias, life is simple but good. They share a home and a love, and despite a few conflicts of personality, are happy. Mathias runs a magic shop, where he makes magic items and potions for his customers, and Tom is his familiar, helping supply his magic. Chel, who’s not magical, works at a bookshop and makes sure dinner is on the table for his lovers.

When Mathias suddenly comes down with a mysterious illness, Chel and Tomlin seek out answers. As Mathias’s familiar, Tomlin can sense that nothing is wrong with the magical parts of him, but when a trip to the doctor’s indicates nothing is wrong with him physically either, they start to worry.

Then Mathias collapses, and the search to find the truth becomes urgent.

Word Count: 17,000

Price: $1.99

For Chel, Tomlin, and Mathias, life is simple but good. They share a home and a love, and despite a few conflicts of personality, are happy. Mathias runs a magic shop, where he makes magic items and potions for his customers, and Tom is his familiar, helping supply his magic. Chel, who’s not magical, works at a bookshop and makes sure dinner is on the table for his lovers.

When Mathias suddenly comes down with a mysterious illness, Chel and Tomlin seek out answers. As Mathias’s familiar, Tomlin can sense that nothing is wrong with the magical parts of him, but when a trip to the doctor’s indicates nothing is wrong with him physically either, they start to worry.

Then Mathias collapses, and the search to find the truth becomes urgent.

Less Than Three Press

Amazon

B&N

Kobo

If there are two types of people in the world, Alex Whitehall probably isn’t one of them, despite being a person. Their favorite pastimes include reading, horseback riding, sleeping, watching geek-tastic television, knitting, eating, and running. And wasting time on the internet. And spending glorious evenings laughing with friends.

While Alex prefers sleeping over doing anything else (except maybe eating), sometimes they emerge from the cave to be social and to hunt for food at the local market. They can be found blogging, reading, and tending after their aloe plants.

Connect with Alex:

• Twitter: @AlexWhitehall
• Email: AlexDWhitehall@gmail.com
• Website: www.alexwhitehall.com
• Tumblr: alexwhitehall.tumblr.com

Comment with your email address below to be entered in the giveaway! The winner will be able to choose between an ebook copy of Hard Truths or an Audible download of Magic Runs Deep! Selection will be made Sunday, April 28 at 7pm. The winner will be contacted by Alex.

Be sure to check out the other stops on the tour for more chances to win:

Boy Meets Boy Reviews – April 24

MM Good Book Reviews – April 24

Love Bytes Reviews – April 25

That’s What I’m Talking About – April 25

Book Reviews and More by Kathy – April 26

Bayou Book Junkie – April 27