Today we are very happy to tell you that we have visiting Love Bytes author Will Freshwater

He is here talking about his Novel Favorite Son.

He aswered some great questions and he offers a giveaway on his novel to one Lucky participant!

 

Welcome Will!

 

Book Title:  Favorite Son

Author:  Will Freshwater

Publisher:  Dreamspinner Press

Book Length:  204 pages

Genre:  Gay, Romance

 

Book Blurb:

Born into a blue-collar family, John Wells beat the odds and came out a winner. As chief of staff to Patrick Donovan, a US senator and aspiring presidential candidate, he enjoys all the power and privilege of a DC insider. But while riding high on a wave of success, he’s blindsided by a series of betrayals from the people he trusts the most. In the space of a single day, John’s perfect life unexpectedly unravels when his career falters and his marriage implodes. Following a final, devastating blow, John assumes a new identity as “Peter” and flees to Provincetown, where a tight-knit community of eclectic characters slowly transforms him.  Peter finds himself drawn to Danny Cavanaugh, an enigmatic carpenter who is struggling to come to terms with his own troubled past. As they work together to renovate a local landmark, the two men forge an unlikely friendship that blossoms into love and becomes the foundation for a new life they hope to build together. But when a reversal of fortune pulls John back to DC, the treacherous world of politics he thought he’d left behind threatens to destroy his chance at true happiness.

Read Dan’s Review here

Buy Links:

Amazon

Amazon UK

Dreamspinner Press

All Romance eBooks (ARe)

Barnes & Noble

• Where did you come up with the idea for John Peter Wells? Is he based on anyone?

 

All of the characters in Favorite Son are loosely based on real people.  There are talented authors who use their imaginations to pull characters and stories out of thin air. However, when it comes to writing fiction, I tend to borrow from what I already know. Like my protagonist, I grew up in a steel town, attended Boston College, and wasted a significant amount of time practicing law. We both suffered horrible losses and came out stronger on the other side.  I also look pretty good in a suit and tie.

Friends and family often think that we’re the same person.  But even though we clearly have a shared history, John Wells and I are a lot like identical twins: the superficial resemblance might confuse people, but anyone who takes the time to get to know us will understand that we are very different men.

• We see you went to BC and spent some extended time in Boston. Have you spent a lot of time in P-town and how did you decide on that location for Peter’s escape?

 

My parents swear we went on a family vacation to P-Town when I was a kid, but my first visit as an adult was during my junior year of college.  I was young and in love and would have followed my boyfriend just about anywhere, but I got a little concerned when we arrived, in February, and found the town almost completely abandoned. There wasn’t very much to do except wander the empty streets and curl up together in a warm bed.  The guy I was with is a distant memory, but a few of the lingering memories from that lost weekend made it into Favorite Son.

Although there’s a running joke that Provincetown is a “little drinking village with a fishing problem,” anyone who has spent time there, especially off-season, can attest to its transformative magic.  The natural beauty of the seascape and sense of remoteness always seems to amplify whatever I’m feeling or experiencing. There’s also something about the quality of light; there’s definitely something about the way the sun reflects off the sand and water that makes people see things differently than elsewhere.

When faced with a threat, most guys have a fight-or-flight response.  John Wells has been fighting to survive since birth, so when his world implodes, it makes sense that he feels compelled to run away.  Like most politicians, John believes that everyone is motivated by the idea of quid pro quo (this for that), but after suffering a series of losses, he rejects that ideology and assumes a completely new identity.  In Provincetown, Peter becomes part of an eclectic community where he’s valued for who he is, not for what he does for a living.  That could only happen in a place like P-town.

• Much of the m/m fiction written today is full of sex scenes, yet Favorite Son isn’t. Was that a conscious upfront decision, and if so, do you think it has limited the market at all for your book?
• Although I can appreciate how and why most writers in the genre incorporate sex into their stories, I consciously decided not to do that with Favorite Son. It’s not that I’m a prude. Trust me, I love sex as much as the next guy, but too often it’s used as a shortcut to intimacy. The platonic nature of the “bromance” that develops in Provincetown definitely heightened the tension between the characters and made them really work for the connection they ultimately achieve. I knew when I started writing that a certain market would be turned off by the dearth of sex. Even so, I was determined to write an authentic and compelling story. In the end, the positive feedback I’ve received from readers and critics has validated the idea that a contemporary romance novel doesn’t need sex to sell. 

 

• Tell us a little bit about Will Freshwater, how does a corporate attorney decide one day to become a writer? Are you still working in the corporate world, and if so, what do your coworkers think about your great American novel?

 

Like John Wells, I grew up with a collar that was blue, not white.  My dad was a steelworker, but he was determined to send all three of his kids to college.  I went into law because I knew I’d be good at it and because I knew it would make my parents proud. Unfortunately, I never stopped to consider whether I’d actually enjoy what I was doing for a living.

In 2001, I suffered a series of traumatic losses that literally shattered my perfect life.  I started writing as a way to process what I was feeling and make sense out of the disorder in my life.  It may sound a little clichéd, but losing everything gave me the freedom to become the person I was meant to be.

Professionally, I’m still in the closet about being a writer.  Acquaintances and colleagues are usually shocked (and a little impressed) that I’ve written a novel.  It amazes me when people complain about how much they genuinely want to pursue a creative interest, like writing, but they don’t have the time. Long ago, I made the decision to stop using those kinds of excuses to rationalize a life that was less than fulfilling. I like my job.  I love my family.  But I live to write.

• Favorite Son is your first book, and we really enjoyed it. It says on Amazon that you currently have another work in progress. Anything you can tell us about it?

 

Like John Wells, I’m a little schizophrenic when I write, so I’m working on two novels at once.  I started writing The Plumb Line a couple years ago.  I was walking my dog late at night and noticed the way a bunch of gray moss was hanging from an old southern oak tree.  Something about the image got me thinking about mortality and my father’s struggle with ALS.  By the time I got home, I had the idea to write a novel about Travis, a young musician who comes home to Charleston to spend time with his dying father.  Although Travis thinks he knows everything about the old man, he quickly comes to realize that his father sacrificed everything, including the great love of his life, for the sake of his son’s happiness.

I got a little emotionally overwhelmed by the story, so I put it aside and started working on Indian Summer, a prequel to Favorite Son.  Set ten years earlier in Provincetown, it’s the story of the unlikely friendship between Max Balais (the swarthy guy from Spiritus Pizza who puts the moves on Peter) and Danny Cavanaugh.  I had initially planned to take a little time off between projects, but it feels great to have the opportunity to develop the backstory of these dear characters.  I love them all so much.

• Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers today?
• I am profoundly grateful for all the love I’ve received for my debut novel. I savor every review, post, comment, blurb, and “like” and feel a genuine connection with readers who reach out and share their reactions to the book. I’ve also loved meeting other writers and giving/receiving creative support. So, I want to say thank you to Love Bytes Reviews and to anyone who has taken the time to read Favorite Son. You are an important part of this experience, and I’m glad to have you all along for the ride

 

Will Freshwater was born and raised in a small steel town outside Pittsburgh. He graduated, cum laude, from Boston College and was awarded a Juris Doctorate from the

University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Will has lived and worked in Boston,  Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Tampa. Although he has spent the better part of the

last twenty years working as a successful corporate attorney, Will can happily confirm that his true vocation is writing. He currently resides in Morristown, New Jersey with his

husband, Stephen, and their golden retriever, Rory. Favorite Son is Will’s debut novel, and he is hard at work on his second novel.

 

Author Contact Links:

Email: willfreshwater@yahoo.com

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/will.freshwater.9?fref=ts

Twitter:   @WillFreshwater  https://twitter.com/WillFreshwater

 

 

 

Rafflecopter prize:  an eBook of Favorite Son to one Lucky reader who leaves a comment on this post!

 

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