Today we are very pleased to welcome to Love Bytes author Chris Scully.
Chris is here for the release of Night Like These and did a terrific job in answering some questions for us!
There is also an excerpt on the new release and there is a giveaway to participate in.
Welcome Chris!
Book Name: Nights Like These
Author Name: Chris Scully
CHRIS SCULLY lives in Toronto, Canada where she grew up spinning romantic stories in her head. When the tedium of a corporate day job grew too much, she took a chance and found her creative escape in writing. Always searching for something different, she has discovered a home in M/M romance and strives to give her characters the happy endings they deserve.
Author Contact:
https://www.facebook.com/chris.scully.author
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Bree Archer
Blurb:
Starting over sucks. At forty, Miles Koprowski thought he had life all figured out. He had a nice car, a hot young lover, and a cushy job… and then he didn’t. Call it fate, or karma, or a downturn in the market, but this opinionated cynic is now forced to play rent-a-cop in a dying office building in the burbs just to make ends meet. Throw in an unhinged ex, a coworker who hates him, and a hot new boss, and suddenly everything is uncertain.
Miles doesn’t plan on liking the night shift or becoming embroiled in a mystery that reawakens old passions and puts him in danger. And he certainly doesn’t plan on falling for the overbearing head of security, Colton Decker, former soldier and doting dad. But nights like these can change a man, make him start to believe there’s more to life than a high paying job and a warm body in his bed. With a thief on the loose and his new job in jeopardy, Miles will have to decide what’s truly important. He might discover things he never knew he wanted… as long as he makes it through the night.
Categories: Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Mystery
Buy Links:
Tell us about Night Like These, what was your inspiration?
Where do I start? I’d been wanting to write a novel for some time—it was the next local progression for me—but what got the ball rolling was me being laid off in 2013. There was never going to be a better time for me to do this. I spent my last few months of employment coming up with the plot for this novel and started work on it the day after my “release” from corporate jail.
When I started writing Nights Like These it was with the goal of creating an angst free novel. I needed something light and fun to balance the uncertainty in my own life; there was to be no deep emotions, no high drama, no tears, no depressing topics. I thought I would try a mystery, but not with a Sherlockian detective—with a down-on-his-luck, Joe Schmo security guard.
After losing his cushy job, my main character Miles is forced to become a security guard to make ends meet. It’s a life change for him. While he’s working, he stumbles onto a mystery and finds romance and danger. During the writing process, the mystery aspect took a backseat as the chemistry between my characters took over. The end result is more of a light, irreverent romance than a true mystery.
So many of my own experiences also ended up in here. The office building where Miles works is based on my own (with some minor modifications in layout), as is the corporate art collection and Miles’ experience in being downsized. Some of the secondary characters are also drawn from real life. Names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent. What I didn’t expect was how much Miles would also take on aspects of my personality—that was something that happened organically.
Where is your favorite place to write?
In order to be productive, I have to be at my desk in my home office with no interruptions or distractions. It also has the right keyboard and chair set up for me—this is important because I do have some ergonomic issues. It’s not necessarily my favorite place, but it’s the only one that works for me so far. That said, I do my best planning and creative thinking outside the office, so I carry a notebook with me all the time to capture ideas and dialogue. I never know when inspiration will strike.
What is your writing process like? Do you plot or just go for it?
My process is a mish-mash. It always starts with a kernel of an idea—this could be a scene or a character. This is what starts to get me excited. The extent to which I plot will depend on the story. At minimum I have an outline of key scenes and things that need to happen. Then I let the characters take over. It’s a balance; you don’t want to stifle your characters, but you still need a plan, if only to make sure the pace is correct. Occasionally I will think of a great scene at the last minute and then need to fit it in somewhere.
For something like Nights Like These, which has a mystery built into it, I did have a detailed plan in order to properly develop the mystery. You have to drop hints in the right places and build suspense. In that case I had the whole story worked out in advance. I do this by writing individual scenes on cue cards and then playing around with them to order the scenes properly and expose gaps in the narrative. Even though I had the plot points all worked out, I wanted to leave flexibility in the characters, so they could still develop a voice. Miles for example, started out as cynical and sarcastic, which he still is, but along the way developed more vulnerabilities than I intended.
What draws you to a book first? Cover? Author? Blurb?
First, I am a loyal reader, so once I have a favorite author, I will buy almost anything they write, regardless of cover, blurb or subject matter. Unless of course they disappoint me—then they have to start all over and regain my trust. I also love just browsing the shelves in the library or a bookstore—I’ve found so many gems that way. When I’m browsing, generally it’s the cover that pulls me in first. A catchy title helps too (I read The Dress Lodger simply because I wanted to know what the heck a dress lodger was). Next in importance comes the blurb, and if I’m still interested, I read the first page to judge the quality and tone of the writing. I’ve been burned too many times by a pretty cover. Ultimately, it’s that sample that will make me buy. Even that’s not foolproof anymore, because I just quit a book that I thought was a gothic mystery when suddenly at page 100 vampires showed up! There was no mention of vampires anywhere in the blurb.
Do you have another book in the works? Care to share with us?
I do. It’s called Until September and I’m still waiting to hear if it’s accepted or not—it should be soon! Likely it won’t be released until late 2015 or early 2016. It’s an MM romance about a Native Canadian man who gains custody of his niece and nephew when his sister is killed in an accident, and the young teacher who helps them become a family. There’s a tonne of other stuff worked in there as well about identity and sacrifice and forgiveness. As you might expect, it’s an emotional read. I bawled my eyes out more than once as I wrote it. I guarantee a cry. Here’s a snippet.
“Archer Noble toyed with the buttons of his charcoal gray Armani suit as he waited for the commercial break to end and the make-up lady to finish blotting the forehead of the panel show’s host. He caressed the expensive fabric with the same sense of disbelief he always felt when he donned the suit, like he couldn’t quite comprehend it was real. He may have changed his name, his haircut, his clothes, but there were times when he thought he could smell the weary stench of the reservation still clinging to him. It was in his pores, in the color of his skin. No matter how he tried, he would never be able to completely cover it up.”
What is your favorite snack food?
I am a snacker—and not the healthy kind either. There I admit it! I have a big weakness for popcorn, but honestly I’ll snack on almost anything that’s available. Which is why I don’t keep many snacks around the house. For a treat, I especially love those party snack mixes because you get a bit of everything—pretzels, Cheetos, corn chips etc. Every handful is different.
“Why don’t you watch where you’re going, dumb—” I managed to sputter before my mouth stopped working entirely and dropped open. The ability to speak, to think, deserted me at the first sight of the hunky stranger standing in front of me, his face contorted with apology as he tried to mop up my sodden jacket with a handful of napkins. He was a few inches taller than me—closer to six feet—and on the stocky side. His broad shoulders filled out a nicely tailored suit, and he projected an air of confidence that I’d never be able to pull off in a million years. He was clean-shaven too, with a dark buzz cut that made me long to run a hand over his head simply to feel the texture. And gorgeous. Did I happen to mention that?
In short, he was the kind of guy you’d want to be stranded with on a deserted island; the kind you could count on to save you. If you were so inclined. Me? I didn’t need saving.
A pair of friendly, light-colored eyes now stared back at me, bemused. Odd that his lips were moving, but no sound was coming out.
“What?” I asked, blinking back to attention. I couldn’t remember the last time anyone had literally made me speechless. Me, Miles Koprowski, who never met a silence he didn’t want to fill.
Hell, I couldn’t recall the last time I’d been on the receiving end of a full-body pat-down either. At least not so quickly. His hands were still drifting over my chest, wiping up the last drips of coffee, and the simple touch was doing alarming things to my heart rate.
“Are you okay?” he demanded. “Did you get burned?” Before I could react, he seized my wrist and held my hand up for inspection. Strong, lightly calloused fingers, I added to my mental list. Working hands. Dumbly, I looked down. The skin on the back of my right hand was red and stung like a son of a bitch, but it wasn’t blistering. I did flinch slightly when he skimmed his thumb over the sensitive area, but not from pain, more from the touch itself. My entire body lit up, as though I’d stuck a finger in an electrical socket. “It doesn’t look too bad. I think you’ll live. Put some aloe on it when you get home.”
“Doctor?” I croaked, because really, that would be too perfect.
“Nope. Just seen a lot of injuries.” His lips twitched with barely contained amusement. “Sorry to disappoint you.” Sense of humor, check.
Tour Dates/Tour Stops:
26-Jan
27-Jan
28-Jan
29-Jan
30-Jan
2-Feb
Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
3-Feb
4-Feb
5-Feb
6-Feb
Rafflecopter Prize: E-book copy upon release
Congratulations on the new release! I love stories with an older MC.
Congrats on the new release Chris. The book sounds great. Thanks for the excerpt and giveaway.
Congrats Chris. Thanks for the interview. 🙂
Congratulations on your new book.
Congratulations on the new release–it sounds great!