My guest today was one of the first m/m romance authors I
ever read and she's written one of my favorite rockstar
books. Please welcome the fabulous Ally
Blue to my blog. Thanks for being here, Ally. (*tries not to squee*)
1. How about we start with
some basic information – tell me a little bit about yourself? Where did you
grow up? What kind of student were you? What were your favorite activities?
Anything you want to share is fine.
Hi K-Lee! It’s a pleasure to
be here, thanks for having me :)
I grew up in the Heart of
Dixie--Mobile, Alabama. Being a lifelong nerd, I was an excellent student. This
will be hard for you to believe, since you’ve seen my feeble attempts at
crutch-dancing, LOL, but I was a devoted dance student from early childhood all
the way through my senior year in high school. Tap, jazz, ballet, even three
years suffering through three hour pointe
classes three days a week after school. Yeah, a ballerina I am not, but I loved
dancing anyway. Other than that, my favorite activities were listening to music
and reading.
Shocker, I know. I’ll wait
for everyone to pick themselves up off the floor. Heh. I still have my Nancy
Drew collection and my mom’s collection of classics she had in college. I’m not
a pack rat except when it comes to books. I never EVER get rid of a book. Which
is one reason my house looks like an old book warehouse...
2. How did you start writing
m/m romance? Do you write in any other genre?
Like a lot of authors of gay
romance, I started out writing fan fiction. Band slash, in my case. It was not
my best work, to put it nicely. LOL. But, I did discover that I had a knack for
inventing and telling a story, even if I needed to polish the delivery. And I
learned that I loved writing those
stories. I tried writing romances starring women a couple of times--short
stories, one of which is up on my website as a free read--but I don’t do it
very well. I write men better than women, which is weird, maybe, but there you
go.
So far I haven’t written
anything other than gay romance, although I have done several sub-genres of
that. I do have plans to write horror, though. Pure horror, maybe with a
romance-type subplot and maybe without, but horror nonetheless. It’s always
been my favorite genre, along with science fiction, and I’ve always wanted to
write it.
3. Did you have any early
influences either in this genre or any other when you were first starting out?
I didn’t really have
influences in gay romance when I was first starting out, mostly because I
started writing it before I’d really read any of it beyond fanfic. Yeah, I
always have to do things bass-ackwards. LOL. My favorite authors in other
genres certainly influenced me though, even though I don’t think it necessarily
shows in my writing--Clive Barker, Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft (king of purple
prose though he was, ha), Heinlein. I’ll admit to being influenced somewhat by
the old romantic suspense novels by Phillis A. Whitney too. I used to eat those
up when I was a young teen. The Trembling
Hills was my favorite :D
4. What is your favorite
sub-genre to write and to read? For example – I can never pass up a story with
a rockstar in it or more often than not, cowboys. J
LOL, rockstars are awesome!
There aren’t too many sub-genres I don’t
read, actually, but I have to admit my favorite romance sub-genre is probably
sci-fi, particularly futuristic/dystopian. When it’s done well, it’s absolutely
fabulous. It’s also my favorite genre to write, along with paranormal. I just
finished writing Hell’s End, which is
book one in the Hellscape futuristic sci-fi series, and OMG it’s probably the
most fun I’ve had writing anything EVER. I’m hooked.
5. Do you have any writing or
reading quirks or squicks? Anything that you just can't read or don't think
you'll ever write. Anything you have to do before you start or as you write –
certain music, computer facing west, etc.
Everyone’s going to think I’m
a giant weenie, but I cannot read BDSM. Can’t do it. And I’m not talking about
a little playtime like some of my boys get up to now and then. I’m talk about
the real stuff. Real scenes or whatever. Real lifestyle stuff. I’m friends with
plenty of people who are in the BDSM lifestyle and that’s not a problem for
me--and in fact I like some of it in my porn, heh--but I just can’t get my head
around it in a romance. Yeah, I don’t know either. I just can’t get my head
around the necessary mindset. It leaves me cold for some reason. Go figure. I
feel sort of left out, with BDSM being so popular now, but there you go. Some
of my boys play around a little now and then, but I can’t see me ever writing
real BDSM. I just don’t understand it, so I know I wouldn’t be able to give it
an accurate portrayal.
Rape scenes--including rape
fantasy and play, and so-called “forced seduction” which to me is rape in a pretty
pink bow--are kind of triggering and
panic-making for me. I avoid them if I can.
Pre-writing rituals? I have
none. Sigh. Maybe I ought to get some, I might be more productive. LOL.
6. Are you a plotter or
pantser? ;)
Oh man, I’m a TOTAL plotter. I can’t get anything written
without a basic plot in mind--some idea of where the story is going and at
least a sketch of a roadmap to get me there. The details of the map become
filled in as I go along, and the exact path inevitably changes along the way, but
I have to have the map to keep me from getting lost. I’ll write myself into a
corner if I try going by the seat of my pants.
7. Tell me about your muse –
if you have one of course. J
Ha, I’m not sure I do. At
least I haven’t visualized one. Maybe I’ll adopt the Pan statue my husband
found by the river near our house and decided would look really awesome beside
our front walk. The damn thing is creepy as hell, but inspiring.
8. I won't assume you
celebrate Christmas but if you do, what are your favorite parts of the
holidays?
I love Christmas! I’m an
atheist so I celebrate in a totally secular way, but it’s still my favorite
holiday :) My favorite part of all is Christmas Eve, when the whole family gets
together for dinner and presents. I love hanging out with everyone and having
cranberry sauce and cornbread dressing and turkey and pie. LOL. Yay, pie! I
also love holiday baking with my kids. They’re 19 and 22 now, but we still make
sausage balls and my family’s traditional Holiday Nut Cake together every year.
We play Christmas music while we bake and we all wear holiday aprons, even the
boy-child who is 6’2” now and has a beard, and it’s SO much fun :)
9. What's the hardest part
about writing for you? The benefits?
Hmmm. Let’s see. The hardest
part is probably finding new ways to constantly write a better book, and to not
repeat myself. The benefits? I love it when other people love my characters and
my stories as much as I do. That’s the best feeling in the world :) I like the
money too, though I’m not exactly getting rich. It’s still satisfying to be
able to make money at all on doing what you love. Too many people never get
that chance.
10. Now just a few multiple
choice questions: (you can answer them any way you like)
Oh man that’s hard. I like
some of everything.
Giraffe or monkey?
That’s not hard. Giraffe. Monkeys are nasty.
Cowboys or rockstars? (yeah, I have to ask)
Rockstars! Hells yeah.
(<--- K-lee loves Adder)
Tea or coffee?
Coffee! COFFEE 4-EVAH!!!
Who would win in a fight –
vampires or werewolves?
Jacob’s nipples! No, wait... (K-lee rolls on floor laughing)
Series or one-shot?
Series. Well, both, but I do
love a good series :)
Beach or mountains?
Beach. I live in the
mountains and it’s awesome, but I loooove the beach.
Eyes or smile?
Smile. A person’s smile can
tell you so much about them.
Gladly :D My latest release
is Demon Dog, book one in the new
Mojo Mysteries series from Samhain, which came out December 4th. It stars Greg
and Adrian from Love, Like Ghosts,
but you don’t have to read that one to read this one. It stands on its own.
Also, like I mentioned before, I just finished Hellscape series book 1, Hell’s End, which is scheduled for
release from Samhain in May. I’m excited about that :)
Right now I’m working on two
books--book 2 in the Mojo Mysteries series (title to be determined) and a
novella for Riptide (title also to be determined). I wish I could tell you more
about them, but I’ve literally just started on both of them within the last
couple of weeks, so I don’t have a lot to tell yet.
Thanks for stopping by, Miss Ally.
Thank you for having me!
***
Bio
Ally Blue is acknowledged by the world at large (or at least by her heroes, who tend to suffer a lot) as the Popess of Gay Angst. She has a great big suggestively-shaped hat and rides in a bullet-proof Plexiglas bubble in Christmas parades. Her harem of manwhores does double duty as bodyguards and inspirational entertainment. Her favorite band is Radiohead, her favorite color is lime green and her favorite way to waste a perfectly good Saturday is to watch all three extended version LOTR movies in a row. Her ultimate dream is to one day ditch the evil day job and support the family on manlove alone. She is not a hippie or a brain surgeon, no matter what her kids’ friends say.
You can find Ally and her books on her website - Ally Blue - on Twitter and Facebook. Ally has also offered up an ebook copy of Love, Like Ghosts or something from her backlist to one lucky commenters. Leave your name and email address and the winner will be chosen and posted on December 28. Good luck~
Thank you to both of you for the great interview. =)2
ReplyDeleteOops: npat78@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteThanks Pat! And big thanks to K-lee for having me here. Wonderful questions :D
ReplyDeleteLike K-lee said, you were one of the first M/M romance authors I ever read, too. That book happened to be Untamed Heart. I liked it so much that I immediately started searching your backlist. That lead me to Easy, Love's Evolution, Adder, Fogotten Song, and Willow Bend. As you can see, I really enjoy your writing. :) I enjoyed your interview, too. :)
ReplyDeletelkbherring64(at)gmail(dot)com
Thank you so much, Lisa! I'm so happy you've enjoyed my books, you made me smile :D
ReplyDeleteJacob's Nipples would be an excellent band name....
ReplyDeletevitajex(at)aol(dot)com
What a wonderful family tradition to bake together. The Holiday nut cake and sausage rolls sound so yummy.
ReplyDeletestrive4bst(At) yahoo(Dot) com
LOL, Anon. #1, you're SO RIGHT, that would be a great band name! I love it :D
ReplyDeleteAnon. #2, thank you! I love baking with my kids, we have a lot of fun together :)
I really love the covers of your books, Ally. They're both beautiful and edgy.
ReplyDeleteErica
eripike at gmail dot com
Hi Erica!
ReplyDelete**waves**
Thank you :) I've been very lucky to work with some truly wonderful cover artists.
Well I'm a day late (sorry!) but here I am to announce to winner of the drawing :) And the winner of a copy of Love, Like Ghosts -- via random number generator -- is...
ReplyDelete****drum roll***
Lisa! Congratulations, Lisa :) I will contact you via email shortly. Thanks to everyone for commenting! I hope you're all having a lovely holiday season!
Thanks K-lee for hosting all the author interviews and thanks to Ally for the giveaway. Hope you both had a Merry Christmas. Have a Happy New Year, too. :)
ReplyDelete