A warm Love Bytes welcome to author Jude Sierra visiting our blog today.
Jude kindly answered some of our questions, shares an excerpt and there is also a giveaway to participate in!
Welcome Jude 🙂
Author Name: Jude Sierra
Book Name: Hush
Release Date: May 19, 2015
Goodreads Link: www.Goodreads.com/Jude_Sierra
Publisher: Consent, an imprint of Interlude Press
Cover Artist: Artist: Victoria A. with Cover Design by BuckeyeGrrl Designs
Pages or Words: 278 pages
Blurb:
Wren is one of “the gifted”—a college sophomore with the power to compel others’ feelings and desires.
He uses his power as a game of sexual consent until Cameron, a naïve freshman, enters his life.
As Cameron begins to understand his sexuality and gain confidence under Wren’s tutelage, Wren grows to recognize new and unexpected things about himself.
Can their game become a relationship as the power shifts from teacher to student?
Categories: Contemporary, Erotica, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, New Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Buy Link:
Tell us a little about Hush:
Hush takes place in a world where some people are gifted with various sorts of telepathic powers. Cam is a boy fresh from a life in Lexington, Nebraska, who has come to Chicago to get away from his life there. There’s so much about the world he doesn’t know – a lot of which is a result of his desire to shelter himself from a turbulent home life. One day during his freshman year at Carlina University he encounters a boy in his statistics class. Although he knows nothing about him, they experience an instant spark and connection.
Wren is a sophomore who is gifted with the ability to sense and compel others’ feelings and desires. He’s a boy who has experienced heartbreak, and so he’s promised himself to only use his powers as a “game”. He never plays for long, or with someone who doesn’t know and understand the rules. When we meet Cam initially, it’s clear that he has a lot to learn about himself and the world. He begins a journey to self discovery spurred by his shocking attraction to a strange boy in his class. He learns himself, and when he encounters Wren again, it’s clear he’s no longer new or as innocent as he was. He agrees to all of Wren’s rules; but as the game becomes more complicated by burgeoning feelings, it’s Wren who has to face his past and decide if he can chance letting Cam break all of his rules.
What gave you the idea for the story?
Katy Perry’s Dark Horse. It has an incredibly sexy element to it. The more I heard it, the more I thought about what an interesting story that might make. But the idea of consent – how can a person consent when they’re being compelled – is what really drew me in. I wanted to write a story in which one could use that power but in a situation and setting where it included complete consent. It was a lot of fun to unravel that puzzle.
Who designed your cover?
Here at Interlude Press, we have an amazing art director, RJ Shepherd, who wanted a depiction of a scene that represented an overall “feel” for the intensity of the connection between Cam and Wren. She found my amazing artist, Victoria, who is so good at creating beautiful and intense art. RJ gave her an outline of the concept and then let her loose. I could not be more thrilled with my cover. It’s sexy and gorgeous it is and completely it captures the stolen moments Cam and Wren share.
How do you plan on celebrating the release of this book?
I wanted to get this gorgeous tattoo I’ve had my eye on for a while. It’s an open book and the pages are sort of fluttering out of it and turning into birds. But I’m not sure about the money for that, so I might celebrate by treating myself to some books. I love print books, and there are so many that I want to add to my little library!
What is your favorite celebration meal?
Arepas, which is a cornmeal-based flatbread. You eat them hot and open them up to make pockets and stuff them with deli meat and cheese (we love to use queso blanco). We only ever have them when my cousins – who are what’s left of my father’s side of the family and the only connection we have with his Venezuelan roots – are in town. My one cousin is a chef and last time we had them he made some amazing sauce with steak and mushrooms and seventy other things that I’d never think to put on them but they were orgasmically good. I loved giving Cam some of my Venezuelan roots, and getting to feed him arepas as well. That was totally born of my longing for good family food.
Do you have another book in the works? Want to tell us about it?
I just finished a manuscript for a second book, which I love so much. It follows the lives of childhood best friends, Milo and Andrew, growing on in the Cape. Milo has a difficult childhood, and as he grows, a lot of demons to face, one of which is a lovely but dependent relationship with Andrew. There’s a lot of independent growing they both have to undergo in order to learn to love themselves. They have a complicated and beautiful story together. I’m very excited for everyone to get to read it!
Wren looks… different. His eyes are wide in what seems almost like surprise. His lips, darker than Cam’s ever seen them, tremble. Cam doesn’t need any of Wren’s abilities to catch that Wren is overwhelmed. The only thing Cam knows how to offer is what he himself would want.
“Kiss me?” he asks.
Beautifully, Wren doesn’t resist. His clothes are rough against Cam’s skin all those zippers are so cold where Cam radiates heat. When Wren drapes himself on top of Cam, his body is heavier than Cam had imagined. Wren kisses Cam softly, seeking something, and Cam wants to believe it’s from a feeling of closeness, something sweet like the gratitude he feels right now. He cannot believe he just did that—that he let Wren do that. Hulled and shaking, Cam lets his hands wander because even after that perfect storm of pleasure, there is an itch under his skin for more.
Jude Sierra first began writing poetry as a child in her home country of Brazil. Still a student of the form, she has expanded her repertoire with her first novel, Hush.
She began writing long-form fiction by tackling her first National Novel Writing Month project in 2007, and in 2011 began writing in online fan communities, where her stories have thousands of readers.
Where to find the author:
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/JudeMSierra
Twitter: @judesierra
Tour Dates & Stops:
19-May
The Fuzzy, Fluffy World of Chris T. Kat
20-May
Because Two Men Are Better Than One
Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
21-May
Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews
22-May
25-May
Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh My
26-May
27-May
Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance
28-May
29-May
1-Jun
Rafflecopter Prize: $25 Interlude Press Gift Card
Congrats Jude!
Thank you!
Congratulations Jude on your new book.
Thank you!
Congratulations, Jude–it sounds excellent!
Thank you !!
Thank you!
[…] my inspiration for this book, my amazing cover art, and what’s coming with my next book with Love Bytes Reviews. The highlight for me was talking about my favorite celebration meal: Arepas, which is a […]