Author Piper Vaughn release day interview and give-away

I'm very happy to have an author on my blog today that I call a very close friend. I had been exchanging emails and twitters with Piper Vaughn before Gay Rom Lit and meeting her and hanging out in person just solidified how special she was to me. Piper has a Christmas short, Zombie Wonderland, coming out December 7 from Less Than 3 Press.

Welcome, bestie! Thanks for stopping by. Are you ready?

Thanks for having me, babe! I’m totally ready. And let me just say, I was thrilled to meet you at GRL and can’t wait to hang out again next year! You are an awesome lady, and I’m glad to call you a friend. :D

1.     How did you get started writing m/m romance? Did you always want to be a writer?

I’ve been writing and tinkering around with characters since I was around ten or eleven, so I can honestly say that, yes, I always wanted to be a writer. I wrote het romance for a long time, but I actually started writing m/m romance back in my fanfic days, too. My first was a songfic for one of my favorite anime pairings. There was no romance in this specific anime (Weiss Kreuz), but there were four delicious boys to pair up in all kinds of ways. And so I did. :) I started writing original m/m romance stories back in October of 2010.

2.     Did you have any early influences either in this genre or any other?

In this genre, I’d probably say Amy Lane in that I aspire to be even half as good someday and I’ve adored everything I’ve read by her up to this point. She’s my absolute fave. Outside of m/m romance, some of my faves, and therefore influences in some way or another, are Juliet Marillier, Robin McKinley, Kresley Cole, Jo Beverley, Kristan Higgins, Charlaine Harris, Richelle Mead, and JR Ward.

3.     What is the hardest part about writing for you? The benefits?

The hardest part? Working through writer’s block. Sometimes I get seriously stuck and it might take me days to move on. The benefits? The satisfaction of completing a story I’ve been dying to tell and getting my characters to their HEA. I’m a romantic at heart. It’s all about the happily ever after for me. And if someone enjoys the story I wanted to tell, even better. :)

4.     Tell us a little about your Christmas story. Are Christmas zombies a regular occurrence in your household??

My story is about a waiter named Emery O’Reilly and the customer he’s been crushing on for a few months. He’s been trying, and failing, to work up the courage to ask Ross out on a date. Before he can do it, on a stormy Christmas Eve night, the zombie apocalypse begins and the race is on for Emery and Ross to make it to Ross’s cabin up north, where Ross thinks they’d have a better chance of surviving.  

Zombies actually are a common occurrence in my house, Christmas or otherwise. :) I’m a big zombie fan—I have zombie movies, T-shirts, books, a 2012 zombie calendar just waiting to be opened after the New Year, videogames, and even a zombie survival plan…just in case. ;)

5.     Do you have any writing quirks? (ie computer has to be facing a certain way, cup of coffee on the left, certain music playing, etc)

Hmm…actually, I can’t think of any. Sometimes I write with music on, sometimes I need silence, sometimes I write on my desktop in the bedroom, and sometimes it’s down in the den or the basement on my laptop. Usually I like having my phone and a drink nearby, but I wouldn’t call either of those things necessary for me to write.

6.     Do you have any writing or reading squicks? Things you don’t like to read and can’t see yourself ever writing?

Non-con is one thing I can’t ever see myself writing. Rape is very hard for me to read and would probably be next to impossible for me to write. Dub-con probably falls on this list, too, but I can’t say 100% no to that. I’m definitely not into extreme kink, like scat, golden showers, or that sort of thing, either. Cheating would probably be on this list, too. In general I don’t like to read it, though I have and probably will in the future, and I don’t think writing it would ever come easy to me. But other than those things, I’d say most stuff is fair game.

7.     As well as being a solo writer, you also have a writing partnership with MJ O'Shea, how did that come about and do you have a preference now?

MJ and I met on Goodreads, in the M/M Romance group. Shortly after we met, we formed a crit group with several other authors, and then one day the subject of co-writing came up. I asked MJ if she’d ever be interested in writing with me. She said yes, and so later when I came up with the original idea for Moonlight Becomes You, I asked her if she wanted to write it together. Obviously, being that MBY came out as a joint project from Loose Id a few months ago, she liked the idea. :)

Do I have a preference? Hmm…both writing solo and writing with a partner have their pros and cons. Sometimes having a partner is better because, hey, you’re doing half the work. You have someone to bounce ideas off of and work through possible plot issues. You have someone just as invested in the story and outcome as you are, who will encourage you if you’re blocked or tired or feeling uninspired. And, of course, there’s the idea that you’re creating something together, something that came from both of your heads and blended smoothly into one cohesive vision (or at least you hope so), and that is a very cool feeling. But, then, when you write alone, you have complete control. You don’t have to worry about making sure your partner is okay with what you want to do with a certain scene or character, or having to discuss all major changes before you can start implementing them, or feeling like you have to write at a certain speed so you don’t let the other person down. So, yeah, pros and cons. I like both, but in different ways.

8.     What’s next on your plate? What are you working on?

Currently, I am working on a Valentine’s Day short for Less Than Three Press, which will be a follow-up to the free story I wrote for the M/M Romance group’s Hot Summer Days anthology. After that, I have a paranormal book that has to be written, the sequel to MJ’s A Little Bite of Magic. Also, I was thrilled to be invited to submit to an invite-only publisher, and I need to decide on which story I want to write for them, since I’m hoping to have something submitted in the very near future. After that, who knows? I have plenty of solo and joint projects to keep me busy for a long time to come. :)

9.     What’s your favorite part of Christmas

Just coming together and spending time with my family. My brother lived in another state for a really long time and this will be his first Christmas with us since he moved back in 2007. So hanging out with him and the rest of my family is really what I’m looking forward to most. Plus, I love to bake and Christmas gives me the perfect excuse to bake to my heart’s content. :D

10.  Finally – a few quick choices:

a.     Coffee or tea – Depends on my mood, but usually coffee.

b.     Dog or cat – Dog

c.     Beach or mountains – Mountains

d.     Pecs or abs – Abs :P

e.     Smile or eyes – Smile

f.      Cowboys or rockstars – Rockstars! (I bet you know my answer to that already. ;D)

g.     Who would win in a fight – vampires or werewolves? And why. – Well, if we’re talking real vampires and werewolves and not the Twilight version, I’d say probably vampires. Super human speed, strength, reflexes, etc. Unless a vamp was grossly outnumbered, I think he’d win in a fight. :)

Piper has graciously offered up a copy of her holiday story, Zombie Wonderland, to one lucky commenter on my blog.  Leave your name and EMAIL ADDRESS with your comment and I’ll be doing the drawing on Thursday, December 8.

The Blurb:

Nothing says Christmas like droves of the undead… 

All Emery wants for Christmas is someone to share it with. It looks like he might finally be getting his wish in Ross, the sexy customer he’s been crushing on for months. But neither of them counted on the zombies, or on being caught in the worst blizzard in half a century. Even with a plan for contending with the zombie hordes, surviving will take a miracle. 

It’s not exactly how Emery dreamed of spending Christmas with Ross, but he can’t think of a better way to spend a zombie apocalypse.

If you don’t win, you can pick it up at Less Than Three Press and be sure to check out Piper’s other books on her website http://www.pipervaughn.com.