Amy Lane is awesome!

I know you agree but she is awesome as a writer as well as a person! For this week’s Thursday Talks, I interviewed her and had the fun of my life talking to her. You will see as you read this interview. If you claim to cry your eyes out reading her books, you will definitely die of cuteness and fun while reading this interview.

Always good to know more about your favorite authors, eh? 😉 So, here it goes…

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Amy Lane, Welcome to The Blog of Sid Love!

*waves*  *bounces*

Before I start grilling you with my questions, I have to tell you that I think you have a very beautiful smile.

Aw, thank you.  *blushes*

You should keep smiling. And to ensure that we have you talking, here’s your diet coke and … um I have Hershey’s Kisses here, will these do for chocolates?

omigod!  *tackle hugs*  You’re the best!  Chocolate, all chocolate… okay.  I do draw the line at really cheap valentine candy.  But Hershey’s Kisses are perfectly acceptable offerings.  I can pull up a lot of smiles for those!

Your newest release “Racing for the Sun” is selling hot on Amazon and wherever I look, I see five star reviews raving about how good this book is. Can you tell us what makes this book so unique?

Besides the really hot Reese Dante cover, you mean?  I love the cover– Sonny and Ace are really well captured–and their “marks” look raw and real.  But other than that, I think it’s the combination– the book is raw and lean and stripped down, but the characters of Ace and Sonny are both really complex.  I like that about human beings in general– I think maybe the book captured some of that.

Readers are loving Ace more than Sonny, that’s for sure. Do you think it is just because the whole story is from his Point of view and that readers are connecting more to him than Sonny?

Well, and it could also be that Sonny is bugnuts crazy.  It’s harder to connect from the outside of a character who is that damaged.  Even when we know why he’s a prick to Alba (to keep from getting hurt) it’s hard to watch him be that way.

Which of the two do you like more?

That’s a tough choice.  I love Ace– the strength, the caring, the cold-blooded determination to keep Sonny safe.  But Sonny is amazingly resilient.  When you realize who Sonny Daye really is, and what he had to do in his heart to commit to Ace, he’s actually pretty awesome.

Amy Lane’s fan have known well enough to stock up on Kleenex boxes and Ace’s story definitely had them buried under the pile of tissues. What is it with you wanting to make people cry?

I feel better after a good cry.  I guess I just like to share the feeling, right?  And seriously–I’ve always had this sort of understanding that laughter and tears make up all that is in the world, and that you never know when the other shoe is going to drop right on your head.  I’m pretty sure that’s what people feel when they read my stories.  I have an awareness that this pain can be mine for real at the gods’ whim.

It is definitely a compliment for a writer that their stories are conveying the exact emotions that they wished to convey. But the fact doesn’t change – a scene that hurts a reader while reading, hurts the writer even more while writing. Was there a specific scene from the story that affected you the most while working on it?

All of the scenes with Ace’s family were so very hard to write, starting with the phone conversation with his mother.  When Ace said, “Okay, Mommy.  You’re the only one who has to know.”, I lost it, because we see Ace as so self-contained, such a soldier, and in that moment, we realize that he’s twenty-three, and that his brother hasn’t been gone for that long, and that the guy who is taking care of a wingnut like Sonny is really only an emerging adult himself.  My oldest son is twenty–and he’s still a little kid in his heart.  I really wanted to hug Ace, or have Sonny do it, but I had to settle for him on the floor, hugging his knees, and wiping his tears.

Okay a last quick question on Racing for the Sun and then we will move on. RFTS begins with Ace introducing him as follows:
“MY NAME is Jasper Anderson Atchison. People call me Ace. I am a murderer and a thief, but if Sonny still wants me, I will call myself a good man.”
Very catchy, might I say. How do you think it would be, if this story was to be told from Sonny’s POV?

I am actually thinking of writing that book–and I think you should all be very freakin’ afraid.  Sonny’s mind is a snake pit.  If you think he’s unbalanced on the outside, his inside is like a pinball zinging through Satan’s labyrinth.  Ace has violence in him, but it’s controlled.  Sonny is an Ace away from being a psychopath–but he’s still a good person.  

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A MESSAGE FROM A READER WHO GAVE RFTS A FIVE STAR REVIEW!

“Amy Lane, I’m known for being a reader who loves your lighter work but Racing for the Sun, with its heavy and brilliant intensity, has cemented the fact that I am now a reader who will read anything you write. The writing was gorgeous, the characters captivating, and the love story beautiful. Bravo, Miss Lane, bravo. ”
– Laddie

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You have written the “Country Mouse” series with Aleksandr Voinov. He is an author who is just as brilliant as you and people have praised the works that came out of such a collaboration. How was it for you to be working with Aleksandr?

AWESOME!  Aleks is a lovely man –he’s charming even on chat, and he’s imaginative and dedicated.  He’s a writer to his bones– we both live/love/hate our characters.  

Was there anything that irritated you about Voinov or did you blend just as smoothly?

About the only thing that irritated me about Aleks was that he came up with the terms “Pterodact-Dell” and “Tyrannosaurus Mac”, both of which I totally wish I’d thought of first.  Other than that?  He was pure awesomeness.

Are we going to see more of this interesting collab?

I totally hope so.  We both have some more plans for Owen and Malcolm, and their story isn’t finished yet.

You have written, what, like over fifty books till date? Which is the one that will always stand out for you and why?

Well, they all stand out for me for different reasons.  I think, though, that Truth in the Dark will always be at the top of the heap.  I love so much about it– so much of it seems to be greater than fat housewife Amy, tapping away in a sleeping house.  And this was the book that cost me my teaching job.  The fact that I can look at it three years after its release, and say, “You know?  My husband was right.  This story is important.  At least if I was going to have my heart broken, it was over something important.”– that’s a story worth writing.

What comes next from Amy Lane, then?

Well, Forever Promised is coming out in June, and that’s exciting.  It was a tough story to write– so very many people to say goodbye to.  Also, in July, I’ve got a novella called Left on Saint-Truth-be-Well.  The novella is sort of a change for me– it’s quirky and a little suspenseful, and hopefully very funny–and the only time it made me verklempt was at the end, because I loved the guys so much and wanted to see them happy.  Oh!  And I almost forgot Rusty!  In December, Riptide will be releasing Christmas Kitsch which features Rusty and Oliver, two emerging adults, who very suddenly have to make it on their own.  I love Rusty– he’s another of my first person narrators, and he is so earnest.  This one surprised me– it started out as a novella, and I was thinking, “Randy young college students in love!  Booyeah!”  But it turned out to be all about gentleness and finding yourself, and I was so very stunned and pleased.

A question from one of my reviewers, who wanted to know if you have had any funny encounters with crazy fans?

I’ve had a few ugly cry on me, does that count? I sort of loved that, though.  I’m a hugger– it was like, “Okay, now I have an excuse to hug this nice person who likes my work, and it doesn’t make me feel like a sociopath or a compulsive groper or anything.”  And then I try to explain it to my husband who is like, “They cry?”
“Yes.”
“Because why?” 
“Uhm… they like my work?” 
“So they cry?” 
“Uhm, yeah.  It’s a bonding thing.  I think they’re wonderful.”
“So it’s a good thing then.” 
*with dignity*  “Yes.  It’s a good thing.” 
“Ooooookay…” 

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WHAT DO CRITICS/REVIEWERS THINK OF HER WORKS?

Amy Lane is renowned in the m/m genre as an author of immense talent, and deservedly so… she brings us characters that immediately impact on our emotions, taking us on a journey with her masterful prose that we as reader’s are not likely to forget in a hurry!
– Monique ( co-owner of Sinfully Sexy Reviews website)

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Are you a believer in luck?

How could I not be? I’m unbelievably lucky.

Do you possess something that you think works for you as a lucky charm, or a ritual that you follow everytime you begin to write something?

Every time I finish a work and submit it, I say, “Holy Goddess, merciful God, let it not suck!”  I also say this before it’s released.  And that way, even if it’s not entirely beloved, if one person reassures me that it doesn’t suck, I’m okay.

Believer in luck or not, you are definitely – to quote you – a believer in “twu wuv”. Is it your loving relationship with your husband that drives your beliefs or, to be specific, is he the main inspiration of your ideas?

I think my husband gives me faith that love can work, even when life gets in the way. But I get my inspiration from a lot of different places–like the movie says, “Love really is all around.”  I like to think that it’s not just one place or one person or one book that gives you the drive to be hopeful about humanity–there has to be a collection, even if it’s just a small one, of good experiences that gives you the strength to have faith.

You have quite a big family and with a big family, comes many responsibilities – as a mother, as a wife, as a person! Does the writer in you have to struggle to get her own time?

Every blessed day.

Amy, you also have some cute pets, I have heard?

LOL– yes.  I have my college-aged daughter’s cat Gordie(who keeps bringing my younger daughter dead things.  I have my own cat, Steve, who is fat and a little clueless, but who loves me.  More especially, she loves to tackle hug me when I’m on the potty.  And I have a booby-diving Chi-who-what named Johnnie.  Seriously– I’ve taken more pictures of that little bastard pillowed on the girls than I have of my kids.  I just think it’s funny that he would rather sleep there than anywhere else.

You have had priviledge of working with two of the reputed M/M publishing houses. How has it been for you working with them?

Really really awesome.  Dreamspinner has been amazing to me from the get go–and I’ve been with them for nearly four years.  I wouldn’t change that time with them for anything.  And Riptide has some serious energy–it’s really refreshing.

Which one of the authors has the power to make you go all fan-girly?

That’s hard– I knew most of the authors I really admire as friends before I became fans of their work.  I admire the hell out of Mary Calmes, for example, but the first time we roomed together at a convention, she nursed me through a fever, cause I was sick as hell, and sort of falling apart because I’d just been pulled out of my classroom.  I mean, that sort of bonds you as humans, right?  It’s hard to get fangirly after that.  I still get a little shy in front of Elizabeth North (CEO of Dreamspinner), because I just admire her so damned much, that even though she’s my friend, sometimes I’m like, “I can’t believe you did this!”  I did have a fangirl moment over Tere Michaels at RT, because her books were some of the first I read in the genre. Of course we were both suffering from allergy attacks at the time, so that sort of did the human bond thing too.

Are you reading anything currently?

I am!  I am reading Whiskey and Wry by Rhys Ford (it’s sort of an advanced copy.  Don’t hate me.)  And Emma by Jane Austen, and Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell, and Love Bites by Christopher Moore.  

Alright let’s have a quick rapid fire round! Be as honest with your answers as you can be. You know how it goes, I will give you two options, you have to pick one. No reasons, no explanations. This is going to be fun, I promise! *looks afraid*

Which do you prefer the most

– Music or books… depends on the day

– M/M or M/F… m/m

– Hot or sweet… both

– Which genre to read/write: Contemprary Romance or Fantasy… Fantasy

– Who is your favorite – Ace or Malcolm… Ace– Malcolm only thinks he’s dangerous.

– An Honest lower-rated Review or Sugar-coated five star review…  A thoughtful lower-rated review

– Who is hotter: Dean or Sam Winchester DEAN!

– Vampires or Shifters… Elves

– What do you prefer: writing alone or writing in collaboration… Alone

And last one,
– In only five words – not more, not less, define Amy Lane! mother/wife/knitter/writer/doofus

And the two questions I always ask the authors to answer, as we conclude:

What advice would you give to all the aspiring authors out there?

Read read read, write write write– there is no easier way.

And a message to your readers and fans

There is not enough thank you in the world.

Thank you for your time. I, for one, have enjoyed having you here and I bet the readers did too!

I’ve enjoyed myself immensely– you ask awesome questions!  Ask me back any time!

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Dreamspinner Links to buy the books mentioned in the interview:

RACING FOR THE SUN

TRUTH IN THE DARK

Riptide Links to buy the “Country Mouse” Books:

COUNTRY MOUSE

CITY MOUSE

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