A warm welcome to author Isobel Starling joining us today on our blog. Isobel treats us on a wonderful guestpost, shares and excerpt and there is a giveaway to participate in.
Welcome Isobel 🙂

Title: Illuminate The Shadows (Shatterproof Bond, #1)

Author: Isobel Starling

Genre: M/M Romance

Release Date: May 9, 2016

Synopsis

The thrilling, funny sequel to ‘As You Wish’.

A Scotsman and an Englishman fall in love…

After the most amazing week of Declan Ramsay’s life, at Dunloch Castle on the banks of Loch Ness, in Scotland. The charming, mysterious Samuel Aiken has turned Declan’s life upside down. Declan has experienced a remarkable change. He has come to terms with the fact he is bisexual, and he has fallen head-over-heels in love with his boss’s son Sam.
However, falling for his boss’s son was never going to be an easy path to happiness, mainly because the boss in question is multi-millionaire property tycoon and former MI5 operative, Sir James Aiken.
Sir James is repulsed by his son’s homosexuality, and so discovering that his employee Declan Ramsay- the man he installed to run his luxury property rental empire- is in a relationship with Sam, does not go down well.
The lovers cannot hide from the looming presence of Sir James Aiken for long! Soon enough James makes his move, and Declan finds out what he will have to endure to stay with Sam, and what he will have to give to feel worthy of Sam’s love.

**The story continues in “Return to Zero” (Shatterproof Bond #2)** This second book will be released on 6th June 2016

Purchase your copy today!

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Black Kohl and a dash of lipstick….

I worked as an artist for twenty years before I became a full-time writer, and so with my art, and now my writing, creatively I appear to have come full circle. The process of moving from working only in visual arts, to the written word has been so liberating.

My personal muse in my art and writing has always been androgynous men. I believe this stems from growing up in the 70s and 80s with long legged, pretty boy rock stars, slender spandex and leather clad physiques and prominent hip bones, on my TV and plastered in my magazines. Observing a skinny young man with dyed hair, black kohl eyeliner and a dash of lipstick is a showstopper for me. I would credit this entirely to the influence of David Bowie and his many personas.

Bowie runs through popular culture, like a word running through a stick of seaside rock. He was such a beautiful man, and during the 70’s, when I was growing up, he was a social pariah. The androgynous, chameleon looks, the multiple personas, and the mischievous, sometimes erotic lyrics were anathema to a narrow minded, prudish British public. But it drew all me in. Bowie collected the rebels, the disaffected, and disenfranchised. In the song “Rock and Roll suicide” he told us “Oh no Love, you’re not alone”. He sang for the outcasts, oddities and the sexually confused. And with his sexual allure, creativity, and androgyny, he snared me and became the blueprint for male perfection.

My attraction to androgyny has continued throughout my adult life, and has translated into my own art and into an appreciation of Yaoi art and waifish characters in M/M books. My all-time favourite androgynous character is ‘Boyd Beaulieu’ from the dystopian fantasy series “In the Company of Shadows” by Ais Lin and Santino Hassell. Boyd epitomizes everything I love about the appearance of androgynous men- the slender frame, boyish complexion, blond hair, and blue eyes. Add a dash of angst, dysfunction, and lost love in his back story, and then spice it up the sexual experimentation, and a changeable personality, and Boyd is just about perfect. However Boyd is more than just eye candy, and far more intelligent that his fragile exterior would suggest. He is a trained killer and can kick ass with the best of them. And so in turn, the written word inspires my art.

Another androgynous character who caught my eye is Michael from “Channelling Morpheus for Scary Mary” by Jordan Castillo Price. Michael is another tall, willowy eyeliner boy, with a score to settle. He is out for revenge against the vamps that drained his best friend Mary, and on his journey, picking off every vampire he meets, becomes emotionally attached to a vampire named Wild Bill. Michael has the looks- the long dark hair, pale skin, eyeliner smeared doe eyes, and an addiction for a bad boy. But, like all of my favourite androgynous characters, Michael has the reckless streak too, and Wild Bill so addicted that he will follow him into oblivion.

My attraction to androgyny has in turn inspired me with my own characters Pieter and Simeon from my ‘Pretty Boy’ series, and to some extent Sam Aiken from my “Shatterproof Bond” series.

Pieter and Sim are male models. Pieter is tall, slender, blond, and bisexual and Simeon is dark haired, skinny, and flamboyantly gay. As models, they’re the canvas for artist to display their creativity – so they both have changeable Bowie-sque flourishes to their personalities. Pieter and Simeon’s story is one of a whirlwind bromance and then miscommunication and angst, when one cannot fulfil the others needs and desires. Their story arc has the shadows of tragedy, but ultimately when they reach an understanding, their relationship is touching and life affirming.

Sam Aiken, from my “Shatterproof Bond” Series, is the real chameleon of the bunch. He’s mysterious, theatrical, and with his blond good looks, comes charm, cunning and a liking for rough sex. But Sam is more than his looks — all of my characters are more than their looks, and that’s what I love about the written word. Being an artist I can visualize my characters, draw them, and paint them to show readers what they look like; however, it is only on page as I write their stories that I can see that they truly come to life.

For me, Bowie represents rock, sexual ambiguity, spectacle, and fantasy. He made it okay to be an outsider, a fool, a dreamer. He made it okay to reject societal norms and to follow the muse, no matter what weird path it took. And it’s in that spirit that I write M/M. When I get stuck in rigid thinking, I listen to Bowie to remind myself to just let go and write, play with words and let it happen.

All of these characters I’ve mentioned have a flavour of Bowie to them, well, how could they not do, he gave us so many persona’s to choose from. So, whether you are a reader of M/M or a writer or both, I think we should all aim to be more Bowie — to be willing to change and experiment, and remember “Oh no Love, you’re not alone”.

©Isobel Starling 2016

Sam and Declan have invited their siblings to dinner at their home, and during the meal they decide to share their relationship status. Declan’s brother, Oliver, does not take the news that his brother is bisexual, at all well.

 

“Declan strolled out of the living room, a look of determination on his face. He wanted to punch his brother in the mouth for what he’d said, and had to breathe deeply to harness his bubbling anger. Sure enough, when he turned to the top of the stairs, Oliver sat half-way down, looking a little queasy. Declan parked his arse on the top step and looked down at his baby brother.

“Ye’ve only been sharing fer a few weeks… he’s a fast worker, that one,” Oliver said with a sarcastic sneer.

“DON’T” Declan said roughly, barely keeping the anger in check. He was so very disappointed with his brother. “What the fuck is yer problem? What does it matter who I love? What I get up te in the privacy of my own home, with my body is, frankly, none a yer damn business.” He paused to take a couple of calming breaths and simmered with frustration at the look of disinterest on his brother’s face.

“This is important te me. Sam and I are a couple, and we wanted to share our happiness with you and Belle, just as you shared yours wi’ us.” Declan glared at Ollie who now wouldn’t even look him in the eye. The silence was palpable, and the more Declan looked at his brother, the more he began to pity him. After several minutes Oliver couldn’t hold his pinched, scowling expression any more.

“It wasnea supposed te be like this,” He burst out suddenly, sounding like a whiny brat. “You were supposed te meet a nice lassie, and we’d have son’s and take them te football, and hiking an’ fishing. Normal stuff, ye know”

Declan winced at the outburst. Normal stuff… bollox te that!

“Oliver, that’s not me. That was never me. And as fer meetin’ a lassie, I’ve tried, a lot. I tried for so many years te be like the other lads, but I hated the man I became. I was goin’ through the motions, and it made me so fuckin’ unhappy.” Declan ran his hands over his bearded face and into his hair. Oliver was silent and taciturn. Declan decided to try another strategy.

“When you wake up in the morning wi’ Belle sleeping beside ye. How’d ye feel?”

Oliver’s glance darted to meet Declan’s. “Why?”

“Just say, fer fucks sake” God, my brother is stubborn bollox.

“I guess I feel… peaceful, contented, I suppose. She looks beautiful, like a fairy princess, or sum’ thin’,” He admitted candidly.

“And you know ye love her, fer certain?”

“Aye, from the moment I laid eyes on her at that Aikens corporate party”

“Well, since when do straight people have first dibs on happiness? Eh?” Declan challenged. “I’m attracted te women, and I’m attracted te men, but I have never woken up beside anyone feelin’ anything, but discomfort, like I was in the… wrong place. I felt sick, I felt like a liar. Every. Time. And it ate away at me. It’s no’ fair te me, and it’s no’ fair te the women I was foolin,’” Declan took a breath to organize his thoughts.

“But Sam… Sam is different. Jesus, if I could only put into words how he makes me feel” Declan felt the tears crowd his eyes. Talking about his feelings had always been difficult. He’d been the stereotypical emotional cripple before Sam, but this time words flowed unbidden.

“I know who I am when I’m wi’ him. When I wake up in his arms, I’m so at peace I don’t wantae get out of bed. He makes me laugh until I cry. He always cares for me, no matter that I’m a maudlin, moody control freak. I look at him, and fer the first time in my life, I’m home.” Declan paused to catch a breath “If you truly think our love is wrong… well… tough shite. This is my life, and he is who I choose to live it wi’. If ye cannae be happy fer us, I just feel sorry fer ye.” The words felt clumsy and poorly constructed, but he needed to say them, and he hoped his brother would hear and accept them.

Sam and Annabelle stood in the open doorway, listening to their partners talk. Belle’s hand was absently rubbing her brother’s back for comfort as Declan explained how he felt for Sam. “I’m so happy for you” She said “I can’t believe we’ve hooked brothers” She drew Sam into a hug and when they parted Declan was standing at the door.

“Can I have a go?” he asked with a wry smirk on his face. Sam gripped the front of Declan’s shirt and pulled him into an embrace. The downstairs door slammed.”

More In The Series

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Inspiration strikes at the strangest of times.

Born in Germany, Isobel Starling spent most of her twenty-year professional career making art. She relocated to the UK and, faced with the dreaded artist’s creative block, Isobel started to write and found she loved it more than making art.

Isobel’s first novel “Schonling” was a best seller in the GLBT-Bisexual genre on the ‘All Romance ebooks’ site. She has just completed her sixth book, and signed French translation rights for novella “As You Wish”.

She adores the M/M genre and enjoys writing about wounded souls and the complexities of personal relationships. Despite not having found proof yet, Isobelbelieves in love at first sight and endeavours to give her men a thrilling journey and a satisfying ending!

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