Stuff Tour: Author Interview and Give-Away.

Today the lovely Josephine Myles came to visit in a whirlwind stop on her Stuff tour. Over a nice cup of tea (milk and two for me, if you're interested) and some hobnobs we chatted about her newest release and what inspires her writing.

BMBR - Perry is an artist, how much did you draw on your own experiences to create him and his designs? 
JM - I was always a painter rather than a sculptor, so in that sense I didn't really draw from my own experience at all. Perry’s artwork was more inspired by the steampunk aesthetic, and by an old workmate of mine who made a clockwork stuffed fish before the term “steampunk” had even been invented :)

BMBR - Mas is possibly my favourite character of yours, that 'gobby drama queen' has found a permanent place in my heart, where did inspiration for such a fun character to write come from? 
JM - He wasn't based closely on anyone I know, but I've always had a fondness for very flamboyant gay men. I think it’s a case of admiring their courage to be themselves in a world hostile to that kind of self-expression. I love the fact that in m/m we can feature the kind of heroes who would never be welcome in the alpha-dominated world of het romance.

BMBR -  do you have a character that has been a favourite to write? 
JM - Mas was great fun as his dialogue just wrote itself. In fact, I had a hard time shutting him up! However, I do generally find books written in first person to be the easiest to write. I think Merry Gentlemen was my favourite writing experience as far as narrative voice goes. Riley was also a bit of a motormouth, so again, the book seemed to write itself.

BMBR - this is your first gfy/ofy storyline (I think) how did you find writing it - and did you purposely avoid gfy tropes or did the storyline just evolve naturally?
 JM - I enjoyed writing it so much, my next novel is a gfy one too! (How to Train Your Dom in Five Easy Steps, out in September). I think I have steered clear of them in the past because done poorly, I actually find them quite insulting. I'm bisexual, and there often seems to be an eradication of this possibility in gfy story-lines. One minute they’re completely straight, the next completely gay. It doesn't compute.

BMBR - planner or pantser?
JM - Definitely a pantser, although I am trying to get more disciplined with story structure as I know it’s an area I need to work on.

BMBR - what is the best thing about writing? The worst thing? 
JM - The best thing (aside from receiving fan mail) is having a job that enables me to work from home and take a day off whenever I need to, as it means I can always be there for my daughter when she needs me. The worst thing is the level of self-discipline required to produce novels to a deadline. It often results in me sitting inside banging away at the keyboard when it’s a beautiful sunny day outside. However, deadlines are a necessary evil if I'm going to have the motivation to get the work done.

BMBR - Lewis's naked parents...were they based on anyone you actually know?
JM - Ha, no. Not precisely. Although as a teenager I did have a couple of friends whose parents would wander around the house in very skimpy clothing, which always amused me as my own parents were so modest. I just wanted to create the kind of parents who would be the most embarrassing for poor old straightlaced Lewis!

BMBR - kind of a follow up, have you ever based a character on a real life person? Do you steal traits/situations from RL to put into your stories? 
JM - I don’t think I've ever completely stolen a real life person’s character, but I certainly “borrow” traits and situations, as well as details of appearance all the time. That’s just what writers do. Friends of writers, beware! We will find ways of writing bits of you into our stories. Just don’t for one minute imagine we've written you exactly as we see you. It doesn't work like that.

JM - Thanks for inviting me over to chat, Lori. It’s always fun to waffle on about my favourite subject!
BMBR -Not a problem, it was definitely our pleasure.

Giveaway:
Jo is giving away a title from her backlist to one lucky commenter. Comment here by Friday 6th June, 12pm pacific time, to be in with a chance of winning. Please include a means of contacting you (e.g., email, Twitter handle, GR link, etc.) in order for us to alert the prize winner. Thanks!

Stuff is out now from Samhain Publishing, and is book two in The Bristol Collection (which started with Junk). Available from, Amazon, Samhain and Barnes & Noble. 

When Mr. Glad Rags meets Mr. Riches, the result is flaming fun. Tobias “Mas” Maslin doesn’t need much. A place of his own, weekends of clubbing, a rich boyfriend for love and support. Too bad his latest sugar daddy candidate turns out to be married with kids. Mas wants to be special, not someone’s dirty little secret. When he loses his job and his flat on the same day, his worlds starts unraveling…until he stumbles across a vintage clothing shop. Now to convince the reclusive, eccentric owner he’s in dire need of a salesman. Perry Cavendish-Fiennes set up Cabbages and Kinks solely to annoy his controlling father. Truth be told, he’d rather spend every spare moment on his true passion, art. When Mas comes flaming into his life talking nineteen to the dozen, he finds himself offering him a job and a place to live. He should have listened to his instincts. The shop is already financially on the brink, and Mas’s flirting makes him feel things he’s never felt for a man. Yet Mas seems convinced they can make a go of it—in the shop, and together. Warning: Contains an eccentric, bumbling Englishman, a gobby drama queen, fantastic retro clothing, scary fairies, exes springing out of the woodwork, and a well-aimed glass of bubbly. Written in brilliantly British English.

Author bio: English through and through, Josephine Myles is addicted to tea and busy cultivating a reputation for eccentricity. She writes gay erotica and romance, but finds the erotica keeps cuddling up to the romance, and the romance keeps corrupting the erotica. She blames her rebellious muse but he never listens to her anyway, no matter how much she threatens him with a big stick. She’s beginning to suspect he enjoys it. Jo publishes regularly with Samhain, and has also been known to edit anthologies and self-publish, although she prefers to leave the “boring bits” of the book creation process to someone else.
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Thanks for stopping by the clubhouse Josephine, it's been fun! Josephine's next book - How to Train Your Dom In Five Easy Steps is out in September. Here's a sneaky peek at the cover.