Today we have author Pat Henshaw stopping by Love Bytes to talk about What’s in A Name
Pat answers some questions, shares an excerpt and there is a giveaway to participate in.
And at the bottom you will find a special bonus piece 😉
Welcome Pat !
Book Name: What’s In A Name?
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6998437.Patois
Author Name: Pat Henshaw
Born in the Heartland of Nebraska, Pat Henshaw has made America hers by living in Texas, Colorado, Northern Virginia, and Northern California. She has found joy in visiting Mexico, Canada, Europe, Nicaragua, Thailand, and Egypt, and relishes trips to Rome, Italy, and Eugene, Oregon, to see family.
Pat has spent her life surrounded by words: Teaching English composition at the junior college level; writing book reviews for newspapers, magazines, and websites; helping students find information as a librarian; and promoting PBS television programs.
Two of her fondest memories are touching time when she put her hands on the pyramids and experiencing pure whimsy when she interviewed Caroll Spinney (Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch). Her triumphs are raising two incredible daughters who daily amaze her with their power and compassion. Her supportive husband keeps her grounded in reality when she threatens to drift away writing fiction.
Where can you find the author?:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pat.henshaw.10
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6998437.Patois
Book website: http://whatsinanamenovella.blogspot.com
Website: http://patbooked.blogspot.com
E-mail: whatsinanamenovella@comcast.net
Tumblr: http://phenshaw.tumblr.com/
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: AngstyD
Blurb:
Barista Jimmy Patterson thinks it’s a good idea to get rip-roaring drunk on his birthday after he’s dumped by his boyfriend. When the burly owner of Stonewall’s Bar rescues Jimmy, the night starts to look up.
Now Jimmy just wants to know the bartender’s first name since he’s worn a different name tag every time Jimmy’s seen him. “Guy” Stone gives Jimmy seven guesses, one for each night he takes Jimmy out on a date.
While Jimmy’s trying to come up with his name, he’s distracted by the destruction of his coffee shop and what looks more and more like a hate crime.
Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I like low-key celebrations with family for my birthday. The perfect birthday for me would be a day at the beach with my husband and daughters and their families. Then dinner out at a casual family place. The only thing I would insist on would be a devil’s food chocolate cake and chocolate mint ice cream.
How did you come up with the plot for What’s in a Name?
I’ve always been intrigued by names and the effect our names have on us and the people we know. Ideas for writing are always swimming around in my head, so I can’t pinpoint a specific time that the plot appeared. My guess, and this is a guess, is that I was listening to “Bad to the Bone” and chuckling over the fact that the bad-boy anthem was sung by a George, not exactly a bad-boy first name, with a last name that’s Thoro”good.”
I’ve also been thinking about the queer community in the Sierra Foothills because some good friends live there. All these thoughts get jumbled in my mind, and a plot pops out.
What was the hardest part about writing this book? The easiest part?
The hardest part and the easiest part are the same every time: Sitting down and writing. Since I began writing as a child, I’ve always had something else I had to do and writing wasn’t a priority. It starts with school, then employment, and in my case parenthood. Something is always ahead of writing. So making myself sit down and write each day is difficult. But once I sit down, writing itself is easy. The words flow.
If you could have a super power, what would it be and why?
Well, the more I read about how reading anything long and involved is taking a back set to tweeting and texting, I’m thinking I’d like my superpower to be the power to make everyone want to read fiction because they enjoy it so much. This superpower would spread like a virus and cause people to make time in their busy schedules to read throughout the day. It would cause an epidemic of peace and happiness to spread across all ages, races, creeds, and sexes. It would curtail hate, discrimination, and persecution because readers would have to put themselves in someone else’s lives for the length of the book.
Do you have another book in the works you’d like to tell us about?
Yes, I have two I’m currently writing as well as one I’ve recently sent to a publisher: Redesigning Max, the sequel to “What’s in a Name?”, is currently being considered for publication. I’m writing the third in the series, “The Behr Facts,” right now. It’s about the Behr Brothers construction company mentioned in “What’s in a Name?”.
Also, I self-published a new era paranormal, “The Vampire’s Food Chain,” last year and am working on the sequel, “Devil’s Food,” in which the protagonist is asked by the gods to go to hell and make a difference there. Since hell is all around us, finding a “hell” in which to make a difference is difficult.
Stonewall [Saloon] was chaos when I got there. Guy and another bartender were mixing drinks as fast as they could. I squeezed in at the end of the bar near the hatchway and sat on an abandoned stool there.
I didn’t think Guy had seen me come in, so when there was a lull in the frenetic pace and he was nearly within arm’s reach, I called out, “What’s a guy gotta do to get a drink in this place?”
Guy looked up, grinned at me, and yelled back, “Fuck the bartender.”
A slim man sitting next to me perked up, gave Guy the once-over, and yelled, “Okay!”
Guy’s startled gaze met mine, and we broke out laughing.
The man next to me sighed and slumped over his beer. “I knew it was too good to be true,” he mumbled.
I patted him on the shoulder.
“Maybe next time,” I commiserated with him.
“Right,” he answered glumly.
Tour Dates/Stops:
28-Jan
4-Feb
11-Feb
Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
18-Feb
25-Feb
Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews
4-Mar
11-Mar
Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings
18-Mar
Rafflecopter Prize: One of two Starbuck’s Gift Cards
Bonus Piece from Guy’s POV
Falling in love in your 30s, I’m here to tell you, is the shits. Take it from me. You’re rolling along, minding your own business–in my case as the working owner of Stonewall Saloon–and then wham! You think you’re immune, especially since you see so many crap-ass guys doing stupid shit every night. Maybe it’s the bar. Who knows? I never thought good guys went to bars a lot until I met Jimmy.
Along about November a year or so ago, Jimmy Patterson and his stupid as fuck boyfriend started dropping by Stonewall three, four times a week around 8 or 9 and staying sometimes until closing, but mostly for a couple, three hours.
The boyfriend, this asshole named Alex, would parade in wearing whatever passed as the latest style and park Jimmy on a stool at the bar.
Now, see, Jimmy’s the real friendly type. Shoot, he was even nice to Gus, a regular left over from when my Grandpa was owner and bartender. Gus can’t see or hear too well now and for some reason gets on the nerves of my younger customers all the time. Mostly because you gotta yell and repeat what you say to him about a million times. And then he still doesn’t get what you said.
Jimmy never blinked an eye at Gus. Just treated him like all the other guys who sat down next to him to bullshit.
“Good boy, that Jimmy,” Gus’d tell me over and over when Jimmy and Dickhead came in.
I had to agree. During slow periods, Jimmy and I’d talk about all sorts of things. He wanted to open a coffee shop in Old Town, around where Stonewall is, and asked me questions about places along the strip. We even talked quarterlies during tax time and shit like that.
There’s a few queer-run places now the big city guys have discovered us, and Jimmy wanted to know how they got along. Yeah, sure, there’s some resistance from blowhards like Tommy Thompson and a few others, but mostly we’re a live and let live kinda place.
At Christmas we laughed about some of the stupid ass holiday decorations along Main Street. Jimmy’d even asked if I was going to decorate. My answer? Blow me. For a minute it looked like he considered it.
The more we talked, the more lost I was. Got to the point I told one of the other bartenders to come get me if I was in the back when Jimmy came in. Go figure. Never done that in my life.
In the meantime, every time they were here, Dickhead the boyfriend was making the rounds. I caught him a few times sucking cock in the back. Made me so mad I nearly hit him up one side and down the other. I didn’t though cuz I didn’t want Jimmy to stop coming in.
It bothered me though. You know, one of those moral dilemmas. Should I tell Jimmy or not? So I started asking around.
Didn’t help when I learned Jimmy’d moved into a condo with the Dickhead. What kind of friend tells a guy his boyfriend’s a scumbag? On the other hand, what kind of friend keeps the news to himself? Moral dilemma, like I said.
Okay, so we’re coming up to Jimmy’s birthday, which I know because after I had another bartender card him, I wrote the date down. I decide to give the Dickhead one more chance. See if he could man up on the big night. I knew a bunch of Jimmy’s friends were gonna throw him a party at Stonewall, you know try to get him drunk, all the regular crap. So I’d better be seeing Dickhead stand up and act right.
By that point, I’ve already been smacked around by Jimmy-love and am ready to beat down walls to make him happy on his big day. He’s never gonna see his 20s again and he’s feeling the pain. At least that’s what he’s said. I just want the guy to be happy, real happy.
What happened? Well, yeah, you gotta read Jimmy’s side of the story. I mean, don’t listen to me. I can’t tell a story about love. Shit, I can barely tell a clean joke. Just listen to Jimmy. He’s got it covered.
I like a latte with chocolate items, and a mocha with a cranberry scone or oatmeal cookie!
I like plain coffee in the am to get me going.
I really prefer a strong cup of black coffee instead of flavored coffee drinks.
Not coffee, but Starbucks does an amazing chai tea latte