Danielle interviews Ashavan Doyon author of “Loving Aidan”

Blurb:
Samuel Riley is gorgeous – tall, muscular, and intelligent. The girls love him. And so does his roommate, Aidan Flemming. Secretly, of course, because Aidan is as gay as Sammy is straight – and even the out and proud Aidan knows there are limits to Sammy’s acceptance. Cursed to watch as Sammy dates half the co-eds on campus, a lonely Aidan spends his time writing, helping Sammy and his friends survive literature classes, and recovering from a disastrous love affair that left Aidan heartbroken.

But when happiness finally comes for Aidan in the body of his roommate’s fellow rower, all that changes. In Steven, Aidan finds happiness and romance. The rower, a blond, blue-eyed Adonis, makes Aidan feel desired and appreciated. But their very public courtship stirs up controversy and violence, and Aidan’s life gets very complicated.

Attacks rock the campus community, and in the middle of the upheaval, Aidan finds himself noticed by the last person he’d expect. Samuel Riley, his roommate, his impossible dream, and just possibly, a very jealous suitor. But the jealous suitor has a girlfriend. And she is not happy.

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We at the Blog of sid Love are so pleased to welcome Mr. Ashavan Doyon to our blog.

Mr. Doyon is the author of his debut novel Loving Aidan, after previously having released a short story for the “make a play” anthology from DreamSpinner press called “The Kings Mate.”

Ashavan welcome, I am glad I have the opportunity to ask you some questions.

AV: Thank you for having me.

First off, I would like to know how you became a writer, what made you want to write?

AV: I don’t really remember ever not wanting to be a writer. When I was a little kid my mom would find me on the floor with her typewriter trying to write stories. My mom took reading and telling stories very seriously, so I was reading a lot even as a small child, and I think that love of reading, really a love of stories, played into my desire to also create those stories. According to my mom, my first real story was a couple page fan fiction about an episode of the smurfs.

Can you tell us something about the man Ashavan behind the writer?

AV: Well, I’m an American, living in New England. I work at a liberal arts college, working with students on the non-academic side of their college experience. I’m about to celebrate my ninth wedding anniversary with my husband. We have two lovely little pugs who have us both wrapped around their little paws. I’m very quiet and shy most of the time. My favorite band is Toad the Wet Sprocket, and I’m really excited because they just released an album after over ten years of being broken up. I still read a lot, mostly fantasy, though I read a fair amount of romance also. Most recently, I read Purpose, by Andrew Q. Gordon.

You published a short story The Kings Mate at Dreamspinner. What made you want to take that theme and give it a try to get it published, and can you tell us a little bit what the story is about?

AV: It’s funny, because when I read the title of the anthology I was sure I wasn’t going to be interested. I break a lot of gay stereotypes, but interest in sports is not one of them. I’m one of those who watches mens diving and gymnastics for the obvious reasons and that’s about it. But the call was asking to incorporate competition really more than sports, as an element of the story. It took pains to ask for things where the sport was there but not always front and center in the way you’d expect. I liked that. The story takes place in a cafe in a college town. The owner decides to have a chess tournament, asking a regular, Russ, to act as a sort of secret opponent. During the tournament he starts receiving little flirtatious romantic notes left for him by an admirer. So Russ has to deal with the question of whether he’s ready for romance yet. He’s suffered a loss that makes him cautious about that. And his admirer is really someone who carries a lot of hurt also. They have a chance to heal each other, and I think that’s a lovely romantic thing.

Now your latest release is a novel published by Torquere Publishing. Can you tell us something about that story and how it came to exist?

AV: The novel is titled Loving Aidan, and it’s a college romance. The focus is on Aidan, a very flamboyant young college student. Aidan is very much in love from the start with his college roommate Sammy, and that’s something that he struggles with. When he has a chance to help one of Sammy’s friends deal with coming out, he takes the opportunity. They start dating, but Aidan is really still very much in love with his straight roommate. So there’s a lot of conflicted emotion and hurt mixed in with the romance.

What made you choose the character of Aidan because he is without spoiling anything an outspoken, pretty unique personality?

AV: He spoke to me? I know that’s not a good explanation, but it’s not an easy thing to explain. I had an idea, an combination of how a high school friend’s son dresses and the personalities of a few people I knew in school and a quote “Style is being yourself, but on purpose,” from Quentin Crisp. And I took all those things with the idea of being stuck in love with a straight roommate, and I let them loose. I’m very character driven, so I create characters first. Aidan’s personality and manner and attitude drove the creation of Sammy as an opposite. And, of course, opposites attract. 

The next question is perhaps difficult to answer without giving too much away, though I think it is the question most people are dying to know. Aidan is given a chance to choose between two lovers. How does he make his choice?

AV: This is obviously very difficult for Aidan. This isn’t a simple choice between a sweet guy and a hot guy. They’re BOTH hot guys. And they’re both sweet guys, just in different ways. Steven is romantic. Sammy reads to sick children on Sundays. Both sweet. Really I think there’s a lot of people who react negatively to Sammy’s dominance. But that dominance, that possessiveness, makes Aidan feel protected and safe. And yes, it also sometimes chafes for Aidan. But it turns him on. With Aidan there’s a lot of undercurrent about always being true to himself. He’s an out and proud character who sacrificed a lot for the ability to be out, to be who he is. So when he’s looking at this choice, he sees two people, both hot, both sweet. His answer is always going to be to turn a look inward and look at his feelings and what they tell him. Sammy is not just his dominance any more than Steven is just a romantic. Aidan is looking at more than those things. He’s looking at how he feels, and how they make him feel. Does Aidan want to be cherished in a sweet and romantic way? Does he want to feel protected and safe, like he’s connected and a part of someone? These are very different things. Aidan’s feelings for both men are strong, but I never doubted which man Aidan would choose. 

Personally I really liked the book and i especially love some little things in the end that made me think are you planning a sequel perhaps with some characters from this novel? 

AV: I wrote Aidan’s ex, Michael, as a throw away character, meant to help make the point that Aidan had experienced heartache. I expected him to appear as an influence in the story, but never to be seen. Obviously that’s not how it happened, as Michael plays a fairly important role in the final story. I think it’s likely I’ll continue writing about Michael, and that will certainly involve characters from Loving Aidan.

The last question i would like to ask is about the cover. It is stunning and i am not only giving my own personal opinion here. It is really beautiful and it fits the story like a glove. Can you tell us something about how you found it or how it got created?

AV: I love the cover, too, and I was really fortunate with it. Torquere allows its authors some input into covers. We give the artist descriptions of the characters, key scenes, quite a lot of information really. One aspect of the cover art request is to find appropriate images that fit the characters so that the artist has something to go on. I found two pictures that were just perfect for Aidan and Sammy. And I sent the artist the information with a suggestion that they put the images side by side as a composite image to show the contrast of opposites. The artist really liked the idea and because of that I got exactly the cover I wanted. I agree completely, it’s stunning and perfect for the story.

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me and for answering the questions. It was a pleasure having you here at the blog.

AV: Thanks, Dani. It was a pleasure being here. I love to talk about my stories and readers can always find me at my website, http://ashavan.weebly.com

On top of doing the interview Mr. Ashavan Doyon kindly allowed us to do an e-book giveaway of his latest novel “Loving Aidan.”

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