A very warm welcome to out next author who joins us on our GRL featured blogger tour Mr Jeff Adams!
Jeff stops by to share a few toughts on GRL and he also brought with him a giveaway to our readers.
Welcome Jeff 🙂
GRL is Discovery Time
Thanks Dani for hosting one of my stops on the GRL Blog Tour! It’s great to be back at Love Bytes.
First off, I have this question from Zathyn Priest to answer: “If you were transported back to 1843, and told write a best-selling novel for society in that day, what would you write about and why?”
Wow, Zathyn, that’s an interesting question. According to my quick research,1843 saw the first major wagon train headed for the Northwest via the Oregon Trail. A thousand pioneers made that trip. I’d write a series of young adult books based on this, and feature a fictional teen boy who is along on the journey. The teens back east would voraciously consume these tales of adventure from the west.
Now, about GRL… This year will be my fourth trip to GRL and my second time to be there as an author. I love making this trip because it’s when I get to discover books and authors I might otherwise miss.
You see, I struggle a bit in this world of ebooks because I love going to bookstores, wandering the shelves and looking at books. The experience isn’t the same shopping online. Yes, I can browse through tons of books in the m/m genre (or any other genre I might want to peruse), but seeing all those small covers, reading the blurb and even a few pages, isn’t the same as discovery in a bookstore.
GRL is not only a chance to connect with amazing people, but to discover many things I want to read. Simply walking through the swag room, the dealer room and the signings is fantastic, and potentially damaging to my wallet, too.
You may question how the swag room counts. Here’s the thing, seeing an interesting book on a postcard or brochure can lead me to find the book and its author later in the weekend. Nothing beats books on the table though as my favorite way to browse.
I’m very lucky that since I moved back to Northern California, up in the Eureka area, that I get to discover books like this all the time. Within a ten mile radius, there are four independent book stores that carry an array of new and used books.
Now, here’s the weird thing about finding books this way, I might end up putting the book on my electronic wish list so I can buy the ebook. You see, I love the portability of an ebook, but it doesn’t get around my first love of physical books—my husband and I both have this problem, which is why when we moved last year we had more than thirty boxes of books. With GRL in California, at least we don’t have to worry about luggage space since it’s going to be a road trip for us.
Beyond book discoveries, meeting new authors and readers is always a blast. I’m super excited the dinner with an author is back this year, although I’ll admit to being a little daunted that I’m going to be on the author side this year. Dining with Laura Harner at the 2013 GRL in Atlanta was great. My husband and I enjoyed talking craft and publishing with her. For the people who have dinner with me this year, I hope to make your experience as good as mine was with Laura.
For you newcomers to GRL, I hope you have a blast and discover new books, new authors, maybe even new genres (I find the Storytellers sessions very insightful in this way since it usually introduces me to authors and subgenres I haven’t checked out). For the returnees (myself included), I hope this year is awesome. If you’re attending, make sure to come say hello to me and let me know what you’ve discovered during the weekend!
And now a chance for you to discover something of mine. Take a moment, say hello or ask a question in the comments and you can win one ebook copy of anything on my booklist. Dani will pick the winner and you’ll get something new to read.
Jeff already answered Zathyn his question in his post and here is Jeff’s question for the next author :
Before I go… I need to give a question to Pat Henshaw. “Pat, what happens if the gang from the Foothills Pride series were to show up at GRL?”
Jeff’s latest release is
Flipping for Him , which is available in ebook, paperback and audiobook
Blurb:
Finding a guy was easy. Keeping him might be harder than running up a tree.
Kevin McCollum is a high school junior with the usual things on his mind: getting good grades, having fun, and finding a boyfriend. The last one always eluded him until he noticed the “parkour guy.” After several days of pretending to study while watching the attractive teen jump on rocks, run up trees, and do flips, Shin finally comes over to introduce himself. As they start dating, Kevin should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy.
Shin’s parents only want their son to date Japanese boys. When cultures clash and pressures mount, Kevin has no idea how to subvert traditions and Shin’s parents to keep the boy he cares about.
Kevin will need to clear some tricky obstacles to make his modern love story a reality.
Buy Links:
About Jeff
Jeff’s written stories since he was in middle school and became a gay romance writer in 2009 when his first short stories were published. Since then he’s written several more shorts and novels, including some in the young adult genre, and he plans to keep writing as long as wonderful readers keeping picking up his books.
Jeff lives in rural Northern California with his husband of twenty years, Will. Some of his favorite things include the musicals Rent and [title of show], the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins hockey teams, and the reality TV competition So You Think You Can Dance. If forced to pick his favorite book it would be a tie between Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and David Levithan’s Every Day.
You can learn more, and see his complete book list, at www.jeffadamswrites.com.
That was a great question Zathyn gave you. And I loved your answer – sounds like it would be a hit series then and now. Hope you have a great time at GRL.
Hi Jen! That question spooked me a little bit when I first read it because it was so far outside my usual thinking. I’m glad you liked the answer. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll try to write that book myself. 🙂
I know what you mean about loving bookstores, I miss all the great independent booksellers, the only bookstore near me is a B&N, while they always have the latest best sellers, they never carry my favorite authors or the paperback versions of Ebooks I would like to own. We moved 5 years ago and after filling up 5 bookcases I still have 5 or 6 Rubbermaid totes full of books in the basement I never unpacked.
Hi Colette! I’m happy to say that we were unable to unpack all of our books when we moved. The nice thing about moving from NYC to California is we’ve got more space, so we can add bookshelves if we need to. We might, the local library had its summer booksale last week and we came home with 10 or 12 books!
Hi Jeff, great question and answer. Love No Cal (even if they do want to create their own state) And more importantly…you love hockey! (@goaliemom0049 kinda says it all right?)
Yay goaliemom! Hi Laurie. I love it out here, so glad I moved back. Sadly there’s no ice rink for about 200 miles. 🙁
Not sure if you’ve read the blurb on “Hat Trick 3” yet (due out Sept 6), but a goalie as a large supporting role this time out.
Hi there Jeff! Can’t wait to see you again at GRL! I’ve read all your books but need to get the audiobook of Flipping For Him, I’ve heard great things about Jason’s narration!
Hi Lynn! Looking forward to seeing you too! And yes, Jason did a fantastic job. I couldn’t be more happy with how that turned out.
I do think we’re really lucky in northern California to have such a great bookstore selection! Love the HAT TRICK series, of course…have a great time at GRL!
Hi Trix! Agreed! The bookstores in the north of S.F. region are pretty great. Hope you’re ready for Hat Trick 3 and 3.5 in September and October.
Great post and that question from Zathyn was pretty unique and you had a great answer. It’ll be fun to see what Pat will say to the question you gave her. Have fun at GRL =)
Thanks for stopping by, H.B. I am looking forward to Pat’s response. Hopefully I didn’t disappoint Zathyn with my answer.
HEllo, I was wondering what the best part is about being a writer.
Hi Debby! For me, I’ve got two favorite parts: discovering who the characters are in what I’m writing and then when it’s all done hearing from the readers what they think of it.
enjoyed the post today but I want to know what made you start writing in this genre
Hi Jodi! Good question. As a gay guy, I’m writing the stories I’d like to read, and I think I branch out more on subgenres as I keep going. I love a good romance, reading about two guys coming together and what their journeys are. And I branch into YA with that on occasion, as I did with the first “Hat Trick” book and with “Flipping for Him” because young love/first love has so much feeling and external forces have so much impact (peer pressure, parents) and I enjoy exploring that. Some of the stories I’m planning in 2016 will likely move away from romance as the driving part of the story and go into some other topics. For example, I love Geoff Knight’s “Fathom’s Five” series, which is very action/adventure oriented and I’d love to create something like that while at the same time writing more traditional romances, too.
I hope all that made sense 🙂
I really enjoy Jeff”s books! I just bought the last of the Hat Trick books that are published so I can’t wait for Hat Trick 3: Penalty Shot! Thank you for this opportunity!