GRL Featured Blogger Post : Guestpost & Giveaway – Carter Quinn

Today we are having another GRL Author visiting us on the GRL tour

A warm welcome to Carter Quinn who is talking to us about planning or trying to plan and also graciously offers a giveaway on one of the books shown below ( winners choice )

Welcome Carter and Thanks for stopping by Love Bytes 🙂

The Best (Way)laid Plans

 

Have you ever had a plot pop into your head, an idea so crisp, so pure, so fully formed you know it’s going to be a blast to write and, best of all, it shouldn’t take long because it isn’t that complicated? Welcome to my world two months ago. Henry came to tell me his story. I was excited. I thought three weeks max—and that was without requiring 5000 words a day. Hell, even the title, usually the bane of my existence, came instantly: Vanished.

And then? Well, then I slammed headfirst into that corner we writers are all so familiar with. I wrote myself right into it without even looking. Writing is often like navigating a maze, isn’t it? Almost every day I’m convinced mice are infinitely smarter than me. But I’ve learned that that’s part of my process. I write myself into corners and then paint doors to get out of them. What once seemed so simple becomes ever more complex as the words fill the screen. If A happens, then what? Well, then B. But if B happens, then C, D, and E will follow. But what if I skip C? Then F becomes D. And somewhere in there E.1 will throw another monkey wrench in the plans. But if B doesn’t happen, then the rest of it makes no sense. And if E.1 happens then the rest of it falls like dominos. But E.1 is essential because it’s what makes it believable. Hm. Maybe I should worry less about corners and worry more about circular thinking.

Nah.

I sometimes wonder why I didn’t see the latest corner coming from a mile away. Other times I can see them coming and with a little help from cooperative characters—and they’re rarely cooperative—I can make a window to escape before I have to paint that door. Worse still, sometimes these corners are debilitating. It’s like they’re constructed of spider web. The more I struggle, the more stuck I become. Have you ever tried to paint on a spider web? Yeah, good luck. That’s where I am right now because I know something I’m not supposed to know yet. And knowing that taints the entire manuscript. So I have to figure out how to un-know it or at least to make sure the reader doesn’t know it yet. I feel like a dog chasing his tail. Even when I switch directions, somehow the tail knows it and switches too.

But don’t worry, I’ll figure it out. It’ll be one very ugly first draft, but that’s sort of the joy of it. Once I finish that VUFD and I send it to the betas (pretending I’m not going crazy until the feedback rolls in), I’ll be able to use their input to polish it into the BFD—beautiful final draft. And releasing that BFD out into the wild is what it’s all about. It means I’ve conquered the corners and the spider webs and, hopefully, given something wonderful to the readers to enjoy.

If you read Vanished when it comes out, happen to be at GRL, and think you know what I needed to un-know, look me up. I’ll probably be dying to talk about it!

 

About the Author:

Carter Quinn was born and raised in a very small Western Kansas town where cattle vastly outnumber humans. He began spinning tales in fourth grade. After high school, he shelved his creativity in favor of a career. Now that he knows gay fiction doesn’t have to be depressing, he’s told Corporate America to kiss his books. Carter now lives in the Denver area, near his beloved Colorado Avalanche.

You can find him at carterquinnbooks.com, on Twitter @Carter_Quinn, or on Facebook at facebook.com/QarterQuinn

 

Title : Out of the Blackness

Author: Carter Quinn

Publisher: Carter Quinn Books

Length: 361 pages

 

Blurb:

A childhood of abuse has left Avery so physically and emotionally scarred he believes he shouldn’t be alive. His only sanctuary has been his relationship with his older foster brother Sam. Avery finally lets Sam convince him to start therapy to help overcome his crippling anxiety, but even that can’t prepare him for the upheaval caused by meeting Noah Yates.

Noah is everything Avery fears. He’s large and physically powerful—and undeniably capable of destroying Avery’s hard-earned progress. Although Noah seems to have a tender streak when it comes to him, Avery is terrified of being victimized again. But no matter how many times he tries to push him away, Noah never goes far.

Noah wants to save Avery, but can he be the catalyst Avery needs to begin the journey out of the blackness?

 

Title : The Way Back

Author: Carter Quinn

Publisher: Carter Quinn Books

Length : 268 pages

 

Blurb:

In his freshman year of college, Riley Evans met the best friends he ever thought he’d have, Jason and Eric. When his friendship with Eric turned into something much more, it ended as suddenly as it began, leaving Riley devastated. He hasn’t let anyone near his heart since. Until now. When Riley needed him most, Jason was there to help pick up the pieces. Six years later, he’s back in Riley’s life.

 

Riley is slowly letting Jason past his defenses and is starting to accept how good they are together. They’re even planning their first romantic weekend getaway when, out of the blue, Eric calls, claiming he wants Riley back. Riley has been pining for Eric for six years, but now he has a brand new relationship with Jason to consider.

 

Jason—who has always been there when Riley needs him, who puts Riley’s happiness above his own, even if that means his own heart will suffer—insists Riley face his old feelings for Eric to make sure they’re really gone. But are they? How long will it take Riley to figure it out? And how long will Jason wait?

 

Rafflecopter Prize: Winner choice of an Ecopy of either ” Out of the Blackness” or “The Way Back”

a Rafflecopter giveaway