Diana Copland is here today to talk about her much lauded release, David, Renewed.
Big Unicorn Welcome for her first clubhouse appearance! See our review here!
Hi!
My name is Diana Copland, and Boy Meets Boy has been kind enough to give me the opportunity to talk about my new book, David, Renewed, coming out through Dreamspinner Press on September 21! This is my first book in two years, and I’m so pleased to be back at Dreamspinner, where my career began nearly 8 years ago!
In this post , I thought I’d give you all some insight into Jackson Henry, my main character David’s love interest in David, Renewed. Jackson is very different than any character I’ve written before, and I think it’s one of the reasons I like him. Jackson is a blue collar man from a white collar family, and that comes with its own set of conflicts.
Jackson Henry grew up in Eastern Washington, in the town where the novel takes place. The second son of an affluent family, Jackson always seemed to be at odds with his attorney father, a high powered trial lawyer specializing in corporate law. Jackson’s father, a man who took pride in destroying hostile witnesses on the stand, simply didn’t understand the soft spoken, thoughtful son who preferred to work with his hands than declare his major in law . Close to his mother but unwilling to bend to his father’s demands, Jackson moved to the Seattle area to go to a trade school. Over the next few years he built a successful and lucrative career in construction, working as a job site contractor. Then he receives word that his mother, Shirley, has been diagnosed with MS. His father died years before and even though he has a brother and sister still in town, he also knows they’re both going to be ‘too busy’ to help her. Jackson doesn’t hesitate; he moves home to live with her.
There’s never a good time to learn a parent has a potentially crippling illness. For Jackson, the diagnosis is compounded by discovering his boyfriend isn’t willing to stay in a ‘long distance’ relationship. They break up, severing Jackson’s ties with the coast. Once he arrives home, he discovers something else he probably should have realized; the town where he grew up is in one of Eastern Washington’s conservative counties. He’s union with all of his licenses in order, but jobs for openly out, gay men are hard to come by. Unable to find a job with a company even with his expertise, Jackson begins to take jobs as a handyman. His first is with one of his mother’s dearest friends, newly widowed Beverley Snyder.
Mrs. Snyder’s garage door has slipped out of its tracks, an easy fix that takes him less than an hour. He refuses to take her money for something so minor, so she invites him in, insisting she can at least give him some cookies for his trouble. When he walks into her house, he can’t help but notice the photos on the wall of a handsome, fair young man with wheat colored hair, a beautiful mouth and pale green eyes behind wire framed glasses. She notices, and tells him that the man in the photos is her son, David.
Jackson is different than my other characters in a lot of ways. He’s quiet, for one thing, and thoughtful. I had no idea how hard writing a character who isn’t given to chatting would be. Especially when a book is written from the point of view of the character who’s trying to figure out what the quiet one is thinking! Jackson isn’t brooding, he just thinks before he talks. He knows he’s attractive. His eyes are a bright blue and his body trim and athletic, honed by hours of hard physical labor, but he doesn’t but much stock in good looks; his last boyfriend was gorgeous and turned out to be kind of a jerk. And even though he found David arresting even in his photos, it’s the real man who pulls him in. David Snyder is slender and graceful, and completely unaware of his own boyish appeal. David doesn’t know it, but Jackson is hooked almost from the moment he pulls him, coughing and gagging, from his own smoke filled house.
But that’s just the beginning of their story!!
When interior designer David Snyder buys a beautiful century-old house in eastern Washington, he is reeling with heartbreak and looking for somewhere to put down roots. Unfortunately his new home comes with a laundry list of problems: electrical, plumbing, heating… things David knows nothing about. When his mother offers him the business card of a local handyman, David pictures an overweight, balding man in his fifties. But Jackson Henry couldn’t be further from that stereotype.
Dark-haired, muscular, and handsome, Jackson left a large construction firm in Seattle to take care of his sick mother. However, his hometown still has an active “good old boy” network, and finding employment in construction is almost impossible for an openly gay man.
Determined to persevere, Jackson takes odd jobs as a handyman. He’s exactly what David needs—in more ways than one.
David isn’t ready for his attraction to Jackson, not considering the way his last relationship ended. But as the two men get to know each other, it becomes clear that the heart often knows best, and it rewards those willing to listen.
Buy Link: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/david-renewed-by-diana-copland-7541-b
About the Author:
Diana Copland began writing in the seventh grade, when she shamelessly combined elements of Jane Eyre and Dark Shadows to produce an overwrought Gothic tale that earned her an A- in creative writing, thanks entirely to the generosity of an indulgent teacher. She wrote for pure enjoyment for the next three decades before discovering LiveJournal and a wonderful group of supportive fanfiction writers who encouraged her to try her hand at original gay fiction. Born and raised in southern California, Diana moved to the Pacific Northwest after losing a beloved spouse to AIDS in 1995. She lives in eastern Washington with four horribly spoiled cats, near her two wonderful adult children who swear she doesn't embarrass them. She thinks they're so cute.
You can reach me at:
My email: diana.copland11@gmail.com
My Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/diana.copland.7
My Website, www.diana-copland11.com
My twitter, @dianacopland
My blog, http://diana-coplands-blog.blogspot.com/
My Pinterest, including my inspiration page for David, Renewed, https://www.pinterest.com/blamb10421/david-renewed-blue-collar-book-one/
This one sounds really good! Adding it to my TBR list for sure!
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