A warm welcome to author Aisling Mancy joining us today here at Love Bytes!
Welcome Aisling 🙂
A very special thank you to Dani and all the folks at Love Bytes Reviews for hosting Shira Anthony and me for the release of A Solitary Man! It’s great to be here!
My name is Aisling “Ash” Mancy and my name may be new to you. But my writing may not be. I write young adult works for Dreamspinner’s Harmony Ink Press label under C. Kennedy.
I have a unique writing background in a number of ways, not the least of which is that I was raised by a prolific author. I have also written in multiple mainstream venues for years, and spent way too much time on movie sets as a kid watching films come to life for the silver screen. Though I write for Harmony Ink Press and have spent the past four years concentrating on young adult works, I write primarily for adults—surprise!
Any of you who know me and my writing, know I place a tremendous value on humor. When writing A Solitary Man, I considered the elements of hope and triumph that we needed in order to be able to address the serious issues of solitary confinement and commercial sexual exploitation of children without the story becoming too difficult to read. I also didn’t want to neglect the grueling task of what a victim like Chance endures in order to live again after leaving an abusive environment.
We’re familiar with the adage that laughter is the best medicine. Taking nothing away from it, it’s only a symptom. The true best medicine is good humor. Good humor is the motivation for laughter. It allows us to feel camaraderie, to identify with others, to see things from new perspectives, and to tease good-naturedly.
In A Solitary Man, Chance’s soul is ravaged by the solitary confinement he endured in his youth, so I interjected humor as often as I could into the story. Xav teases Chance, makes fun of things and people like “pig Dick,” he isn’t afraid to do the inane, all while he maintains calm and aplomb. And it goes to show each of us that we can be fun and funny no matter how serious life is or we may need to be at times.
During the writing of the story, it bothered me that Chance didn’t laugh and I thought it sad and unfair to him not to have that bit of joy in his life. So I invented small setups and things to say such as “Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dunn.” Then I wrote the following scene which had both Shira and I laughing uncontrollably. I felt immeasurably happier for Chance after that. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it.
Enjoy the excerpt and thanks for joining us in celebrating the release of A Solitary Man!
Xav paced as they waited for the clerk to retrieve the documents from the archives and copy them. “How much longer is this going to take? We’ve been here an hour,” he griped.
“Why, Xavier Constantine,” Chance drawled, “y’all look as though y’all have ants in your pants.”
Xav stopped pacing. “Waiting isn’t my strong suit.”
“I see that.”
“Does everything take this long in the South?”
Chance gave him a deadpan look. “Only when we’re aimin’ to irritate foreigners.”
“You work at it, don’t you?”
“Asshole,” Chance teased.
Xav chuckled. “Bi—”
“Here we are,” Ila Jo said. “That’ll be $112.50.”
Chance made an exaggerated gesture toward Xav. “Deputy Constantine will take care of it.”
“How much?” Xav all but demanded.
“Ninety pages at $1.25 a page,” she announced.
Xav forked over his credit card.
“Cash only,” she said as she glared at him over her spectacles.
Xav dug in his pocket for his money clip. “Highway robbery,” he muttered as he counted out $120 in twenties.
“We don’t give change,” she said as she snatched the money from his hand.
“Oh, please. Keep the change,” he said, irritated beyond reason.
It looked as if it was all Chance could do not to burst into laughter. “Thank you kindly, Ila Jo,” he said as he accepted the documents.
“It’s always good to see you, Evan,” she cooed. “Y’all come back now.”
“You got a receipt, right?” Xav asked as they walked to the car.
“Shoot. I forgot.” Chance turned to head back into the building.
“Forget it! I can’t take going back in there.”
Chance finally exploded in laughter. “It’s stapled to the documents.”
Xav glared at him. “It’s because I ride a bike, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely not.” Chance grinned as he unlocked the door to the car. “It’s because you drive a Hummer.”
“Fuck you.”
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A Brief and Frank Discussion of A Solitary Man
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Writing Supporting Characters
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I loved the teasing banter back and forth between Xav and Chance.
I do too, Mel. Aisling’s got a great sense of humor!
We had so much fun with this write, Mel! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
I like the dynamic between the guys!
Thanks Trix! We had so much fun playing them off each other.
Thanks, Trix! We can’t wait to hear what you think of the book!
This looks like a good new story and from two interesting authors!
Thank you Larissa! Happy reading. We hope you enjoy it!
Awww, thanks, Larissa! We can’t wait to hear what you think of the book!
Now this sounds like a great book! I like how you wanted to interject humor into a book with such serious intent, break up the tumoil and suspense with it. I added to my tbr, thank you so much for sharing.
Thanks so much, Corey! We had a ton of fun writing it. Can’t wait to hear what you think of the book!
Thanks so much Corey! It is a serious book and it covers serious topics, but those fun moments really were fun to write.
Great post Aisling! Hummers and mosquitoes – who’d have thought they could be so funny!
OMG, Shira! We so laughed our a*ses off! What a great write!
Thanks for hosting us today for the A Solitary Man’s book tour, Dani! You are the best! <3
I totally went and one clicked this. I can’t wait to read it! Thanks for the giveaway opportunity 🙂
Thanks very much for reading our book, AftertheGlitterFads1970! Good luck with the win!
It would be pretty difficult to get through life (especially my job) without good humor. Thanks for the post and the fun excerpt. BTW, I love the book cover.
Thanks so much for following the tour, Jenf27! And, yes, humor is very important! It saves us in innumerable ways! ❤