SheReadsALot here with a very special guest, Mr. Devon McCormack. I think he's a very up and coming author in GLBT fiction. I'm a story girl, you give me a hot plot (no it doesn't equal sex, pervs), characters I care about and an ending that leaves me thinking and I'm happy. He does this for me. He can weave quite the tale.
Sadly, I can't claim coming across Mr. McCormack reviewing for this blog. It was actually for my other one but I eyed the blurb for Clipped and wanted in. Was not disappointed. And I'm three books in and I'm still in awe of this guy. I blabbed about Clipped to the unicorns, pushed the quotes, the plot, everything on them. Because I couldn't get it off my brain. Still can't...he represents #TeamPain very well. But he doesn't only have hardcore erotica up his sleeve...he writes YA & NA entwined with paranormal/urban fantasy so well.
It's my pleasure to introduce you to Devon McCormack. That's right you're getting more than an interview, you're getting into his mind too! Come read about why his mother can't read his books, learn about his favorite porn star and have a chance to win an eBook from his backlist (winner's choice).
Interview:
Devon McCormack
BMBR: What are your favorite M/M themes?
Devon: Enemies to lovers for the win. Nothing
makes me happier than two guys who start off hating each other's guts. I love
the tension that comes along with that. In Clipped, this plays out in
Treycore and Kid's relationship. Treycore's a higherling (AKA angel) who isn't all that fond of humans.
Humans also emit a potent, disgusting stench to immortals, so he'd also
physically repulsed by their presence. He meets an ex-sex-slave named Kid who smells
worse than most humans and he's particularly nasty to him. Kid, having just
escaped from slavery, doesn't appreciate Treycore's condescending attitude, and
he's quick to challenge his insults. Despite how much they get on each other's
nerves, they also have a powerful, inexplicable sexual attraction towards each
other. So they fight, and then it becomes to much for them, and they fuck. More
fucking ensues.
BMBR: What books do you consider Desert Island Keepers?
Devon: Oh...there's this little book called Clipped
that could easily satisfy all my sexual needs for an eternity. What? Wrong
answer? Too narcissistic? Ok, ok. Desert Island keepers? I have to be kind of
lame with this question because I have books that I'm really attached to. One,
for sure, has to be Wuthering Heights. I can never read that book too many times. It's just
beautiful...absolutely beautiful. The passion, the lust, the intensity. It's
raw, it's captivating, it's beautiful. I don't think I could ever get bored
with that story. There are few books that truly transport me to another world
when I'm reading, but that one definitely does. I hate saying this next one,
because I think he was one of the douchiest authors ever to walk the earth, but
William Faulkner. I adore Light in August. I would definitely need that
with me.
BMBR: What's your go-to tasty beverage?
Devon: If you'd asked me a year ago, I would
have said pumpkin spice coffee. At the time, I drank like four pots of coffee a
day, but realizing that wasn't the healthiest lifestyle, I gave it up and now
I'm a big tea drinker instead. Well, not that big. Not as big as I was with
coffee, but I drink it occasionally. When I do, I drink cinnamon apple spice
tea. I'm not a big cinnamon fan, but for some reason, that always does the
trick.
BMBR: Do
you have any secret talents? Inquiring minds want to know.
Devon: Don't lie. They don't care! Hmmm... Secret
talents? Does self discipline count as a talent? With most everything in my
life, I'm a masochist. I make myself exercise. I make myself eat healthier. I
made myself give up coffee, which I loved more than breathing. Recently, I
started running so I could participate in a half marathon with my friends.
Stupidest idea I've ever had. I hate running. I have never hated anything so
much in my life. Me and my boyfriend have been training, going on these long
runs and they're unbearable. And I'm not talking about physically. Physically,
I've acclimated to it. Mentally, it's like a form of Chinese torture. So why do
I do it? Because the moment my body tells me, "No! Stop! You're killing
me," I say, "Shut the fuck up, asshole."
BMBR: If you had to choose to be one magical beast, what would it be and why? (you
don't have to say unicorn...but we won't say neigh either)
Devon: I don't know if this counts as a
magical beast, but there's a lot of hentai that includes giant monsters with
lots of tentacles. Do you know how many orifices I could get inside with those?
Of course, it's not all that practical. I'd have to have a small army of
concubinus to satisfy my tentacles. And for this to work, I'd essentially want
my tentacles to function, not like tentacles, but like a bunch of dicks. I
don't know. That's kind of difficult., because on one hand, that sounds like I
could get off a whole lot. On the other hand, I worry they wouldn't be very
usefully, because if I tried to use them to fight, I'd essentially be hurting my
dick.
BMBR: Who's your favorite porn star?
Devon: Oh my God. I love this question. Johnny
Rapid! Oh, my Johnny. Sometimes, my boyfriend will pull up a video up of him
just 'cause he knows that boy makes me very happy. There's a guy who knows how
to ride a cock. Sometimes, someone will be topping him, and he'll get this
amused expression on his face like, "Aw. That's so cute. You're really
trying, aren't you?" And they are. Bless their hearts. One time, he
actually laughed at one of the guys who was pounding him and trying to talk
dirty. That's my kind of guy. And he's so little. I could keep him in my pocket
and take him everywhere I go.
BMBR: Do you have author envy? Whose words do you read and think, "GAH, I wish I
wrote that!"?
Devon: Hmmm...I don't really envy other
people's ideas. I'm pretty content with the ones I come up with. I'll sometimes
envy a pretty passage. There are plenty of better wordsmiths in the world. But
those sorts of passages are usually so mystical in nature that I don't ever
think I could do something like that. For me, if I write something that sounds
lovely, it's in a moment of inspiration that I couldn’t control if I wanted to.
BMBR: Any new projects you're currently working on?
Devon: Yes. My life is filled with WIPs. I
just finished a YA Contemporary novel, and I'm tweaking/editing a project
called Metal Made Flesh. I'm also working on my follow up to Bound,
Clipped's sequel. I'll be taking a little break from that one, as I tend
to do, but I'll be back in the heat of the battle in no time.
And here's something a little extra by McCormack!
Writing Books Mama
Can't Read
by Devon McCormack
"So...we can't read it?" my mom asked.
I'd told she and my dad I was publishing a book. After all,
it was my first, I was excited, and who would want to know about it more than
my parents who watched me writing my whole life? Of course, when I'd blurted it
out, I hadn't really thought how I was going to explain
Clipped
to my parents. "So, Mom, Dad, God and Satan were ex-lovers who butt-fucked
for eons. When they broke up, humans ended up in the middle of their petty
post-relationship feud. Now, it's just a big battle mixed with giant cocks and
cum for days." No. That wasn't going to go over well. My parents were
fairly religious, and my mother's reaction to my coming out went something
along the lines of, "Yes, of course I know you were born that way! I'm
your mother! Just don't tell anyone!" So I assumed releasing a book that
violated my mother's religious beliefs as well as her fear of my doing anything
to broadcast my sexual orientation would give her a heart attack.
"No," I replied. "I don't think you want to
read it."
"Is there a lot of cursing?" It was an accusation,
not a question. Before
Clipped,
my mom had read pretty much everything I'd written, from kids books to
screenplays, though she was particularly bothered by the screenplays that
included naughty words like
fuck,
shit, and the really heinous
one--
damn. After she'd run across a few, she'd insisted that I black out
curse words from any manuscripts I shared with her.
"Yes. There's lots of that."
She grimaced and scanned my face, as if expecting my
expression to reveal what other forms of debauchery I'd written about. I tried
to psychically project to her, "Butt sex. Lots and lots of butt sex. Huge
dicks invading tiny, dry boy-holes."
"And," I continued, "it's just not the sort
of book you would like. Think trashy. Like trashier than trashy. Like really
really trashy. And I wrote it."
I assumed she would infer from that last sentence I meant it
was the gayest shit ever written and surely that would be the end of the
discussion. Alas, I received a call not long after that, where she said a
little-too-eagerly, "I told Aunt Jess about your book."
"You did what?!"
"The book. I told her. She's really excited for you.
She wants to know your pen name."
"I bet she does. Mom, did you not understand what I
meant when I said I was writing something really trashy? Something I
wrote?"
"Oh, she reads Harlequin books all the time."
I bashed the heel of my hand against my forehead. "Mom.
I'm sorry. I should have been more specific. I wrote it...Me...It's a
sexual book. Sex that I'm writing about..."
This sort of verbal charades was a small example of the
guessing games we played since I'd come out and my mother had made it clear she
didn't want me mentioning "the gay thing" around her. So rather than
just explaining what I'd written, I felt it was best to beat around the
bush...which totally hadn't gotten me into trouble the first time...Mmmm hmmmm...
"Oh," Mom said, as she seemed to finally
understand what I was getting at. Although, at that point, I wasn't all that
confident I'd conveyed my message.
"Yeah, so Aunt Jess won't be reading my book anytime
soon."
"Well, what am I supposed to tell her? She said she
really liked your last book."
"Of course she did. It was about kid superheroes saving
the universe!" In my mind this continued with, "Not an angel
strangling a human while he fucks him in the ass with a fraction of his
two-footer!"
Mom sighed that sigh that's meant to convey so many things:
that I fucked up, that I'm making her life difficult, and that I need to make
better life choices. "Well, when are you going to write something a little
more mainstream..." Since this conversation, I've learned "mainstream"
just means "not gay."
"I don't know, Mom. I'll let you know when I do,
okay?"
Since
Clipped,
I've published three more books, none as erotic or naughty as
Clipped.
With each release, my mom gets really excited for me and asks, "Is
this one we can read?" I want to shout at her, "No, Mom. The
characters are gay and I curse on every fucking page!" But I offer a
gentle, "No. I don't think that would be a very good idea." It's a
sort of truce, though it saddens me. As I mentioned, she read pretty much
everything I wrote as I was growing up. She was my first critic. She was the
first to tell me, "This scene doesn't make any sense." She was the
first to say, "This book really just isn't that good. No, I don't mean
that. It's just not written very well. Oh, I knew you would take that the wrong
way." I can tell that, by not being able to participate in this part of my
writing career, she feels more than a little left out. She doesn't mind me sharing
censored reviews, even of
Clipped,
because she wants to be a part of the success that I'm receiving. But I can
tell that, though there are ways I can share pieces of this with her, it'll
never be the same as when she could freely read everything I wrote. Sad as that
is, it's just a part of growing up and making my way toward the life I want,
rather than the life my mother dreamed for me. At some point, she's going to
have to realize that she has to get over her issues with all things gay before
we have a chance at sharing my work. But perhaps one day that'll happen, and if
I need to censor out the curse words, I guess I wouldn't mind.
Thanks BMBR, for having me on the blog today. If you're interested in
following me, here's where you can find me:
Also, if you're curious about my novel, Clipped, here's
where it's available:
About the author:
Devon
McCormack spends most of his time hiding in his lair, adventuring in paranormal
worlds with his island of misfit characters. A good ole Southern boy, McCormack
grew up in the Georgian suburbs with his two younger brothers and an older
sister. At a very young age, he spun tales the old fashioned way, lying to
anyone and everyone he encountered. He claimed he was an orphan. He claimed to
be a king from another planet. He claimed to have supernatural powers. He has
since harnessed this penchant for tall tales by crafting whole worlds where he
can live out whatever fantasy he chooses.
A
gay man himself, McCormack focuses on gay male characters, adding to the
immense body of literature that chooses to represent and advocate gay men's
presence in media. His body of work ranges from erotica to young adult, so
readers should check the synopses of his books before purchasing so that they
know what they're getting into.
We thank McCormack for dropping by the stable! Devon has kindly offered
an ebook copy from his backlist - winner's choice To enter
to win,
please leave a comment on this blog post and let us know:
(1) your name and a means of contacting you (e.g., email, Twitter handle, link to Goodreads account, etc.)
and
(2) Your favorite beverage of choice. We like to get to know our blog readers too!
The giveaway is open until 10:00PM (Pacific time) on November 19th. Shortly thereafter, we will contact a winner whom we will select using a highly scientific "names in a hat" method (or, you know, an internet randomizer). Please respond to the winning notification within 48 hours or we will choose another winner.
