A warm welcome to author Shae Connor joining us today to talk about her new release “Teaching Ben”, part of Dreamspinner Press “Dreamspun Desires” series.
Welcome Shae 🙂
As always, huge thanks to Dani for having me!
Seriously, y’all. I’ve been sitting here staring at a blank page for-freaking-ever, trying to come up with an idea for this blog post. My brain is kinda crammed full this week, between the day job, writing-related tasks, and the ongoing process of buying a house and moving. Some days the ideas just don’t want to come, you know?
So in light of my brain’s lack of coherence, here are some random tidbits about Teaching Ben:
I wrote the first draft of this book way back in 2011. It’s gone through many different versions (and several years of sitting in “the trunk”) to get to the book that released this week.
I picked Savannah as the location because I love the city, though to be honest, it doesn’t figure heavily into the story, which mostly takes place on a fictional college campus.
The first kiss between Ben and David is one of my favorite first kiss scenes. And I’m a big fan of first kiss scenes.
In the book, David’s sister (who’s also his roommate) helps teach Ben how to cook. Many of the dishes they make are based on some of my own favorite meals.
Ben’s friend Anna is a belly dancer, which is a nod to a long-time friend of mine who’s been belly dancing longer than I’ve known her.
I originally was going to write a different story for Dreamspun Desires, but it wasn’t coming together, so I pulled this one out to give it a look. A few months later, it was on the publication schedule. (The other book still might make it out there eventually!)
Teaching Ben is my fifth novel and my twenty-third published story (not counting collections and re-publications) since October 2010, when Dreamspinner published my first novella, Model Student.
That last one is the most amazing to me. Ten years ago, I could never have imagined having five published novels, and now I feel like I’m just getting started. I have a folder full of works in progress and even more story ideas, just waiting for me to have the time to write them. So let me finish up this post and get back to work on that!
Title: Teaching Ben (Dreamspun Desires)
Author: Shae Connor
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover artist: Bree Archer
Length: 55,308 words
Blurb: Learning to love means a study in patience.
Fresh out of the military, Ben Cooper is ready for a new start. He’s away from his domineering father, making his own choices… and out of the closet. On his first day of college, he meets David Powell, who’s just the kind of gorgeous man Ben’s dreamed of. Too bad he’s the teaching assistant—which makes him off-limits in Ben’s eyes.
David is Ben’s age, but his life has taken a different path. He’s close with his family, who helped him deal with personal struggles after he came out. And while he’s staying away from any hint of scandal, Ben’s a kind of temptation he hasn’t faced in years. If only they’d met on more equal footing.
As the semester progresses and their lives become more entwined, keeping their relationship platonic becomes more difficult. They just have to hold out until the end of the semester….
Links:
Shae Connor lives in Atlanta, where she’s a lackadaisical government worker by day and writes sweet-hot romance under the cover of night. She’s been making things up for as long as she can remember, but it took her a while to figure out that maybe she should try writing them down. A member of the Romance Writers of America, Shae was first published in 2010 and has a lineup of short stories, novellas, and novels available.
Shae is part Jersey, part Irish, and all Southern, which explains why she never shuts up. When she’s not chained to her laptop, she enjoys cooking, traveling, watching baseball, reading voraciously, giving and receiving hugs, and wearing tiaras. She also volunteers as director and editor of the Dragon Con on-site publication, the Daily Dragon.
You can find Shae hanging out on Twitter most any time @shaeconnor, or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/shaeconnorwrites, but for the more direct route, you can visit her website at shaeconnorwrites.com or email her at shaeconnorwrites @gmail.com. You can also sign up for her mailing list.
Thank you for the interview and a little insight into the book.