Hi all!
Just a quick update from me today, I’ve been flat-out renovating all week, so no words for me which is strange, but we converted our sleepout into two rooms, and the kids are all so happy to have their own rooms it was totally worth a week’s worth of 16 hour days (longer on the last day, I just wanted it to be over, LOL).
This week I have Denver Shaw answering my quirky questions and a brand new anthology for preorder!
Author Bio
Denver Shaw is a girl who enjoys the simple things in life: the first sip of coffee in the morning, the changing colors of sunset, and clothes fresh out of the dryer- although she doesn’t enjoy folding them. When she isn’t reading romance stories, she spends her time plotting and writing them.
Denver’s Quirky Questions
Holly: If you could live anywhere real or imaginary where would it be and why?
DENVER: I’d live on cruise ships, which means I’ll ‘hop’ from one cruise ship to the other. In that way, I could visit all over the world and have the privilege of indulging in all-you-can eat buffets for the rest of my life. Travel and food – a winning combination!
Holly: Which of your own characters would you Kill? Fuck? Marry? And why?
DENVER: I’d definitely, definitely fuck Caden Jones from Worth the Fight. The man is sexy and smooth. He’s cocky and confident. In his words, “I’m everyone’s type, baby”. He’s got a big dick, so big, even his brother, Pax, is amazed by the size of it and couldn’t help but say, “Fucking hell. Where’d you get your fucking genes from? Fucking monster…”
Holly: Would you visit the future or the past, and why?
DENVER: I’d visit the past. In the past, I was 60lbs lighter. LOL
Holly: We know what you like to write, but what do you like to read in your free time, and why?
DENVER: I used to read contemporary MF romance. Since discovering MM romance last year (my first was Dirty Love by Bethany Winters), I read it exclusively. I guess when you read MM, you could never go back to any of the genres you used to read … at least in my case.
Holly: How did you come up with the idea for this book?
DENVER: John Arthur Greene, an American Idol contestant, was my inspiration for Maddox. I first saw him on Red Table Talk, and then I looked for everything I could read about him … even checked out his audition on YouTube. While Maddox’s story isn’t exactly like his, John’s story was definitely the catalyst I needed for coming up with Maddox’s backstory. The next thing was to think about what kind of guy would be the perfect man for Maddox. He’d have to be struggling to make ends meet. He’d have to have a secret. And he’d have to be the kind of guy who’d tell it like it is. That man is Ethan.
Holly: Tell us something we don’t know about your main characters. What makes them tick?
DENVER: Ethan is a Pisces like my dad. He was born on March 7. Although he aspires to be a lawyer, he loves to discuss all things literature. That makes him tick. It’s no wonder why he’s such a good English Lit tutor for Maddox.
Maddox is a Virgo like me. He was born on September 18, while his identical twin brother, Landry, was born on September 17. How was that possible? Landry was born first at 11:58 PM, while Maddox was born six minutes later at 12:04 AM the next day. What makes Maddox tick? Before the trauma he experienced, the sibling rivalry between him and Landry made him tick, got him going. But by the start of Fumbled Hearts, things had changed
Holly: What was the hardest part of writing this book?
DENVER: Maddox’s backstory is gut-wrenching. He experienced a tragic loss and blames himself for it. There are scenes in the story that wrecked me. To make what he endures realistic, without being heavy-handed, I did a lot of research. Read lots and lots of articles and real-life accounts of people who’d experience a loss such as his.
Holly: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
DENVER: One, not everyone will like the stories you write; get used to it. Two, don’t, and I repeat don’t, read every single review. Some reviews are personal attacks, which could metaphorically cut you to the core and negatively affect your mental health.
Holly: Do you ever base your characters on real people? Do you tell them?
DENVER: Yes, lots of my characters are based, in part, on real people. But they’re not people I know personally. I might read an article, watch a documentary, whatever it is…and that might activate my muse.
Holly: Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
DENVER: I read the first few reviews on release day. Why? I want to make sure that no one complained about issues relating to formatting or editing/proofreading (mistakes could happen and the wrong document could have been uploaded to KDP). After that, if a reviewer tags me to their review, I’ll read it, even share it.
Holly: How do you celebrate a new release?
DENVER: I didn’t celebrate a new release until Worth the Fight. To celebrate the release of Fumbled Hearts, I decided to have two release parties – all on Facebook – with a number of authors. The first was on the 7th at the M/M Fiction Addiction Café, and the second one was on the 8th at MM and MMM+ Romance Reviewed, starting at 12PM and ending at 6PM EST. I invite your followers and readers to come and join us; we’d love to have them for all the things: the games, the giveaways, the opportunity to interact with some familiar and new-to-them authors, and to check out their books.
Fumbled Hearts
Can a Fumbled Heart achieve a true love touchdown?
Ethan
My dream is to become a lawyer, but since starting college, life has been one financial nightmare after another.
Thanks to a partial scholarship, I’m well on my way, and I take any odd jobs I can find to pay the remaining tuition. Tutoring a jock in a subject I aced seems like easy money.
Until I meet Maddox.
He challenges me at every turn and stirs up feelings I shouldn’t have for a straight guy.
The football star will never be interested in me.
Still, I can’t get him out of my head…
Maddox
If I don’t get my grades up, I’ll be benched for the season and miss my chance to be noticed by pro scouts.
That’s not an option. I have to get drafted – it was my twin brother’s dream, and this is the only way to honor his legacy and make up for what I did to him.
Being tutored by Ethan was supposed to be a means to an end.
Nothing more.
But he sees me in ways no one else ever has.
I’m not worthy of love.
Yet something within me has awakened, longing to be worthy… of him.
Teaser from Fumbled Hearts
“Good. You’re awake,” the guy says as he swivels in his chair. “Now leave.”
“Where am I?” I ask, bewildered.
“My room,” he snaps, not elaborating further.
In a flash, I recognize who he is—the same guy that tossed me a wink after my meeting with Professor Saldana. The same guy I saw again at the party. When our eyes met across the room, I felt like I’d been shot with a strong dose of dopamine.
He’s currently wearing a navy T-shirt with a faded pair of jeans. His hair is disheveled and his shapely eyebrows are furrowed, as if he’s worrying about something. Even though he looks exhausted, he still has that same cool vibe I remember from a few days ago.
I look down at my body. All my clothes are still on, so nothing happened last night. At least, I hope it didn’t… or maybe I do?
“Why am I in your room?” I ask as I get out of the bed and stretch, my joints cracking as I reach high above my head. “How did I even get here?”
“Not a clue,” the guy says, shaking his head. “Although, you did say something about helping you get a passing grade in English Lit within a week. Since you were late for your study session, though, I’m not sure you actually care about that.”
“Oh, shit.” This is Ethan. Ethan fucking Bailey. I’d completely forgotten I had a tutoring session with him and had high-tailed it out of my room to get to the library. But by the time I got there, the library was closed, and he’d already left. My next best option was to get my ass to his dorm. Thing was, I don’t even remember how I was able to get here, especially on my own and in the state I was in.
But here I am in Ethan Bailey’s room. The hot guy I’d thought about after that wink and who’d kept popping into my mind for days afterward. I don’t know if I should thank Fate for putting me in this guy’s orbit again, or curse her, because right now I feel like shit.
As if reading my mind, Ethan motions toward the bedside table. I feel a surge of relief when I see the two small white pills and a glass of water sitting on the bedside table. My hands shake as I snatch up the tablets and toss them into my mouth without hesitation and quickly wash them down with the water.
Ethan watches me with a puzzled expression on his face. I can’t help but feel a little embarrassed for showing up at his dorm unannounced and messed up. He must think I’m a total jackass.
“Thanks, man,” I say, feeling a sense of gratitude towards him for helping me out. “I owe you one.”
He shakes his head dismissively. “You don’t owe me shit,” he replies nonchalantly. “You know, most jocks are entitled, arrogant pricks who act like they’re better than everyone else, but I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. Now I’m seeing it firsthand, and maybe…maybe entitled, arrogant prick is a bit of an understatement.”
Well fuck! Ethan just verbally kicked my ass. I had to save face, damnit. He might be smaller than me in stature, but he’s fucking huge when it comes to his gutsiness, and has one hell of a sassy mouth on him. I couldn’t help but feel some level of respect for the guy. To stand up to a six-foot-five man takes guts and grit. But he doesn’t need to know I think that way about him. Admiration be damned.
I scowl at him, crossing my arms. “And who the hell do you think you are?”
“Ethan. We were supposed to meet yesterday? And from the smell of it, you blew me off to go sit at the bottom of the oldest keg you could find.”
I pull out my phone and check it, seeing that there are more than a few missed messages and calls from Ethan.
“I’m sorry,” I say, tucking my phone back into my pocket. “I had something come up, and I had to deal with it.”
Liar. All you had come up were the emotions you like to keep buried as deep as humanly possible.
“I need your help with this class,” I say as I take a step toward him.
I get the sudden urge to brush his long hair out of his face, but I don’t. I don’t know anything about him and that kind of open affection with a stranger could get my ass beat sixteen ways to Sunday.
“And I need to tutor someone who values my time. You left me waiting for you for over two hours and, from what I can tell, the only person you care about is you.”
“You’re wrong,” I say, trying to swallow the lump that’s risen in my throat, threatening to choke me. “I care about other people.”
“Not strangers. Maybe the people in your family, but with how inconsiderate you were, I’m having a hard time believing even that much about you.”
He delivers one verbal blow after another, like he can see the cracks in the armor I’ve built around myself. It bothers me how he’s able to so easily see the things that would hurt me and then exploit them.
“I really need this.” I’m not above falling prostrate at his feet and begging him for help, for mercy. “I’ll make sure I show up to all our sessions on time from now on, I swear. I’ll be the best student you’ve ever had.”
Ethan presses his full lips together and shakes his head. “I can’t. I had planned on time for us to meet, but once you decided you weren’t going to show, I filled the spots left in my schedule.”
My heart races as the panic starts settling in. I need his help. I need it more than I need anything else in the world. I need it for Landry, to honor his memory. Playing football meant everything to him and if I don’t pull up my GPA, I’m letting him down all over again.
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Uncontrolled Chaos
Knock, knock…is anyone there? I’m here to tell you about this book! It’s a collection of MM short stories from some of your favorite authors. They’ve all gotten together and put them into this book of Uncontrolled Chaos, and now you get to enjoy it too!
But, the book will only be available for the month of August. Don’t wait to get your copy, because as soon as the month’s done, so will this book.
Enjoy the madness…because I know that the writers all had a great time putting these stories together.
~~~
Finding Home by Dani Gray
After Trevor Morgan became paralyzed in an accident, a new physical therapist was hired to try to help him. Can Jayce Harley, a home and hearth Brownie, who travels around trying to help others with his powers, find his home with Trevor?
~~~
Midnight at Paiko Lagoon by AJ Llewellyn
Jack Mooney accepts a plum job as a prosecuting attorney in Hawaii. He’s thrilled until he’s assigned his first case. A controversial oyako-shinju, a ritual Japanese mother-child murder suicide. Not only does the case have international scrutiny, but Jack has to fight the growing feelings he has for the mother’s hot shot criminal defense attorney, Benny Leonard.
~~~
How Tan Acquired an Apprentice by AJ Sherwood
Tan adopts an apprentice. No, he does not consult his husband first, why do you ask?
Don’t worry Hans actually takes care of the kid, to bonk is not the question, it is the answer, Tan’s priority is cats, no one is surprised, revenge served hot, fireball kind of hot, anyone else scared Tan has acquired a minion?
~~~
Demon-In-Law by Aja Foxx
As the personal bodyguard to the consort of Hades, god of the dead and king of the underworld, I very rarely got any time off. When Hades himself gives me the day off, I had some great ideas of how to spend my free time. Only, they didn’t go according to plan. Instead, I was summoned by a human wanting to make a deal for his soul. I had a better idea.
~~~
Road to Hell by Arden Steele
Open a hospital for paranormals, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.
For Thade and Micah, there is nothing fun about converting a crumbling Scottish castle into a state-of-the-art medical center for the hexed and vexed. Especially when a certain grumpy dragon shifter becomes the first patient before they even open their doors.
~~~
Epic by BL Jones
In a world without heroes, can a rogue band of queer ex-street kids save the day?
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Once Upon a Déjà Vu by Gabrielle Evans
They say all magic comes with a price, but what if one wish could change everything? What price would you be willing to pay to make all your dreams come true?
For Milo, it’s easy to risk everything when he has nothing to lose. Or so he thinks. It never occurred to him that he might be chasing the wrong dream. Now, he has twenty-four hours to make things right before he loses the only thing worth fighting for: Love.
~~~
When Sparks Fly by Holly Oliver
Love and rebellion collide as a dragon’s fire meets a prince’s courage, shaping a kingdom’s destiny forever. Fate weaves an unexpected love story, as a dragon shifter and a prince fight against a tyrant king. A tale of fated mates and a kingdom’s redemption.
~~~
Prometheus by Lily Lamb
Come and read the tale of Prometheus, his life and trials, and how he was freed from the chains of Zeus.
~~~
Safe Shores by Morticia Knight
When a vicious gale storm threatens the life of Kirk’s son, the only man who can save him is the one he hopes to share a forever after with. Will Kirk lose everyone he holds dear?
I hope you enjoyed this week’s episode of Holly’s Quirky Questions.
A huge thank you to Denver Shaw for your incredible interview.
Next week we have Kayleigh Sky and Jamie Lynn Miller.
Find a way to be creative today; you won’t regret it, and Find a Spark of Magic Every Day.
