Author Visit & Giveaway: Mark Cooper Versus America by Lisa Henry and J.A. Rock - Release Day Giveaway

Guess who's visiting today??? Coming at us through the magic of the interwebz, Aussie Lisa Henry and American J.A. Rock join forces to visit the BMBR clubhouse and tell us about their new release, Mark Cooper versus America.

Check out the post and then enter the giveaway below!

J.A. Rock: It’s no secret that authors steal seek inspiration from their lives. My friends and family all know to tell me if they absolutely don’t want me to use in my books the things they say and do or the stories they tell me. But sometimes as a writer you bear witness to the actions of an individual you don’t know well enough to feel obligated to ask permission to fictionalize. This is when you interpret them in a way they would probably find offensive  you know it’s your responsibility to create a respectful representation being a writer is the most fun thing ever. Because using reality as your foundation, you get to build something new. While secretly snickering about the stuff you stole paid homage to.

Blake in MARK COOPER VERSUS AMERICA is based on a student I used to tutor who would routinely show up to his scheduled session, sign in, and then “realize” he’d forgotten his textbook back in his dorm and ask to go get it. Then he’d never come back. I was e-mailing Lisa one night during work when this was happening. She suggested that the guy had probably gone to the bathroom and gotten locked inside, and that maybe I should make sure he was okay.

So that became a joke whenever the student didn’t show up for tutoring--that he was locked in the bathroom again and that he’d probably been there for days and was slowly starving, all the while wishing he could make it to his tutoring session.

This was in November of 2012. We didn’t know it then, but that was when fictional Blake was born. I have an e-mail exchange from 2012 in which I told Lisa she should put Blake in a book, and she declared, “Not only will I put him in a story, I will dedicate it to him!”

Now it’s 2014, and we have put Blake in a story (and dedicated it to him). Fictional Blake is probably nothing like the real life student who inspired him. And sometimes it’s even hard to remember that Blake’s RL inspiration didn’t actually get stuck in bathrooms--that was just a story we made up to amuse ourselves.

But that’s one of the most rewarding things about writing--blending imagination and reality, watching familiar people and settings take on new characteristics as we combine, alter, or recast them. Somewhere out there, that student I tutored is completely unaware of the story he sparked. Or if he is aware, then I’ve misjudged his interests and am impressed with his choice of reading material.

Blake, this one’s for you.

Lisa Henry: I have so much love for Blake. The fictional one, and also the real one who unknowingly inspired us. Let this be a lesson to you, kids. If you skip class, your tutor will write you into a book as a guy who can’t work a door.

But now I want to tell you all about Mark. Not Mark Cooper. Another Mark. A Mark I work with. A Mark who ages ago started badgering me about naming a character after him.

“Really?” I said to Mark who is technically my boss. “You want me to name one of my characters after you? One of my characters in a gay romance? In an explicit gay romance?”

And Mark just grinned and said yes.

So that’s how Mark Cooper got his name. He and Real Life Mark share a few qualities -- they’re both smart arses, they’re incredibly loyal friends, they both fire up when they get angry, and they’re both sweethearts underneath. And funnily enough, they both hooked up with Americans at university.

I can never remember if life is supposed to imitate art, or art is supposed to imitate life. But as long as long as one is imitating the other, I guess we’re doing okay. 

What an awesome story, Lisa and J.A.! It's so fun to read about where authors get their inspiration, and the story of Blake and Mark definitely appeals to our quirky tastes.

Lisa and J.A. have brought along an awesome giveaway in honor of their release day.

If you would like to win an ebook copy of Mark Cooper versus America by Lisa Henry and J.A. Rock, leave a comment on this BMBR post with some means of contacting you on the web (e.g., email, Twitter handle, Goodreads link, etc.). The contest will close at 10PM (Pacific time) on February 10th, and a winner will be contacted shortly thereafter.  Please respond within 48 hours or else we will select another winner.

Thanks for visiting the blog, Lisa and J.A., and happy release day!

Mark Cooper versus America is now available at Loose Id and other ebook retailers.