We are very happy
to welcome M.A. Church to the Smoocher’s Voice blog today. Her new novel, Be
My Human, written with and Julie Lynn Hayes, is the second in the Moonlit Skies
series is available on Dreamspinner
Press.
Learn more about
M.A. on her blog.
Learn more about
Julie on her website.
Jodi: Thank you, Michelle, for taking the time to answer some
questions for our readers. Please tell us a little about yourself.
Michelle: Well, I’ve been married
for over twenty years, and we have two grown children. Up until four years ago,
I taught. My youngest is in school also to be a teacher, but she wants to be a
music teacher. I still drank too much Coke, but I’m working on that, lol. I did
stop smoking about a year ago, thanks to a health scare. My writing buddy is a
gray male cat called Kitty-Kitty. *laugh* He adopted us Halloween night three
years ago.
Jodi: What inspires you to write?
Michelle: A little over five years
ago, I was the primary caregiver for my mom, who was terminal. She lived in an
apartment, but some nights were so bad, I stayed with her. Those nights I
surfed the web. As luck would have it, I found a site with free stories. It had
a gay male section, so I clicked on it… and there you go. The birth of a m/m
writer, lol.
Jodi: Why did you choose to write in the m/m romance genre?
Michelle: I have no straightforward
answer for that, lol. All I *can* say is I lost interest in m/f and haven’t
gone back to it.
Jodi: You write contemporary fiction and science fiction. Do you have
a preference?
Michelle: Oh, hands down, it’s
scifi. I love to read it, watch it, write it. I grew up on Star Trek. I’ve seen
all the Star Gate shows. One of my favorite shows is Face Off on the SyFy
Channel. I’ve watched that since the day it aired. *laugh* I got Julie hooked on
it this season.
Jodi: Is it a challenge to write science fiction books? Is it a
challenge mingling the realism with the sci-fi ideals?
Michelle: The challenge is writing
scifi that makes sense, lol. To me, there needs to be a grain of truth in there.
It can be a small grain, lol. Your facts have to match up, no matter how alien
the world you create happens to be.
Jodi: What was the biggest challenge for you as a writer to write
science fiction?
Michelle: Kind of what I said
before, lol. Making sure what I created made sense. I can write really
outlandish material, but it has to work and make sense.
Jodi: How is writing with a co-author different than writing a book
independently? Do you have a preference?
Michelle: It’s very different. For
one thing, there are two of you. So, lol, the two of you need to agree on
things. There has to be open channels of communications between authors, or
trouble can get started.
Jodi: What inspired you to write Be
My Alien?
Michelle: It started out as a short
for an anthology. Julie and I saw quickly that there was more to the story than
what the word limit was going to allow us. So, we pulled out and expanded it.
After we were done, we subbed it to DSP.
Jodi: What were some of the challenges you faced when writing about
the concept of aliens visiting Earth, specifically New York City, on vacation?
Michelle: Researching NYC,
especially since neither of us had been there. Figuring out times things were
open to the public, if there special entertainment happening for holidays, how
busy areas were, how to get around, lol… and so on. Then add in how Taz and his
date acted once they arrived.
Jodi: Taz is such an endearing character. Tell us a little about his
background.
Michelle: That was Julie’s
brainchild, lol.
Jodi: Why is Vorlod so interested in getting Taz back home when he
clearly doesn’t like him very much?
Michelle: Ah well, in book 2 you
find out why, lol. It’s all about family connections!
Jodi: Reed is a lonely work-a-holic, yet he has a bit of a kinky
streak. Tell us a little about his background and what makes him tick.
Michelle: Reed has a teaching
degree, but he never actually taught. Instead, he ended up in NYC opening a
business. The reason why he moved to NY is in book 2. It’s actually what the
book is about.
Jodi: Tell is a bit about Be My Human.
Will this pick up where the other left off?
Michelle: It sure does. The book
focuses more on Reed this time, and his family. And a past that comes back to
haunt him in the most unlikely fashion. Old secrets rise up and Reed has to
face them.
Jodi: What are some of the challenges Reed and Taz will encounter?
Michelle: They deal with a past
that Reed ran from, but never dealt with. They also deal with Reed’s homophobic
older brother.
Jodi: What are your next projects?
Michelle: I’m waiting for edits on Trouble Comes in Threes that’s under
contract with DsP, and about ready to sub to DsP book 2 in The Leap Of Faith
series called To Touch the Sky. Both
of those are shifter novels. I have another scifi novel I’m kicking around that
has no title as of yet, lol.
Be My Human
Reed
and Taz are still adjusting to their new lives together when a medical
emergency sends them flying down to Florida on short notice. Not quite the way
Reed pictured introducing Taz to his family. Reed’s sister, Rene, welcomes the
outgoing Taz with open arms, and the kittenish alien charms Reed’s parents.
But
someone isn’t quite so enamored of Reed’s boyfriend—his homophobic older
brother Jacob seems determined to be as unpleasant as possible, and he’s making
their visit very uncomfortable. The sudden appearance of Reed’s controlling ex
releases a flood of insecurity and bad memories.
Reed
begins to doubt himself, and his ability to love and be loved in return. When
strange items begin appearing as if out of nowhere, he wonders if he’s being
stalked, or is he just paranoid? What can Taz do to prove to Reed that he’s
more than enough man for this alien?
Buy Links
Be My Alien
A man too busy for love…
Reed owns an upscale men’s boutique with
a naughty back room. While making a late delivery to a client, he runs into
Taz.
A man on a disastrous date…
When Taz agreed to come to Earth on a
date, he didn’t expect to be dumped and left with no way home. Then he falls
into Reed’s arms—literally.
A coffee date soon becomes a trip back
to Reed’s apartment. But when Taz’s stripes begin to show, Reed discovers Taz
comes from a planet far, far away.
Reed never believed aliens existed, but
he’s facing one now. What in the world is he going to do?
Buy Links
Thanks for having us! :)
ReplyDelete~M