A warm Love Bytes welcome to author G.B Gordon joining us today on the “When To Hold Him” blog tour.

G.B talks to us about research and there is also a giveaway to participate in!

Welcome G.B 🙂

Research – I couldn’t do it without you

One of the questions I get again and again from readers is, how do I know? Have I lived what I write about? And if not, how can I write it? How do I know?

The short answer is, of course, often I don’t; I can’t. I can watch, and listen, empathize and extrapolate. But I can’t get there on my own. Some of the blood in the story isn’t mine.

For me, writing is, in large part, a quest to understand the world, an opportunity to explore something I don’t quite get. Yet. Often that means writing about experiences I’ve never had, or at least not in that particular detail. So I trawl blogs and forums, read accounts of and talk to people who’ve experienced what my characters go through. (‘Talk’ usually means emails and chats which have the double advantage of affording anonymity for those who want and need it, and giving me a written record for reference.)

In this case that meant researching gambling addiction, meant for people to talk about a difficult, or even the most difficult part of their lives. Not one bit of that is easy, and I don’t take any of it for granted. It always amazes and humbles me, what complete strangers are willing to talk about. Their generosity, their courage, their insights blow me away every time.

So, this is a shout-out to those strangers: I am truly grateful to anyone willing to take the time and, most of all, take their heart in both hands to help me write a truer character, and a respectful account of their struggles. Thank you.

Blurb

Doran Callaghan doesn’t know when to fold ’em. His gambling has landed him in debt and in jail, and now it’s got him stuck in the sticks in a reintegration program. He wants to turn his life around, but old habits come knocking, and some creditors are harder to shake than others.

Xavier Wagner cares more about the National Park he works in than the people around it, until a stranger awakens desires he didn’t know he had. Doran’s natural submissiveness turns Xavier’s ideas of how to treat a lover upside down. But Doran doesn’t seem to know about boundaries—or even to have any—and Xavier’s not sure that Doran will say no if he needs to. Which means someone’s going to get hurt.

While Xavier struggles with his principles, Doran’s past comes calling. Trusting each other is suddenly a matter of life or death, but Doran has to decide whether counting on Xavier—or himself—is a gamble he’s willing to take.

Buy Links:

Riptide

Amazon

Did you check out Vicki’s review that was posted yesterday HERE 🙂

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a $15 Riptide store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on August 22. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Don’t forget to add your email so we can contact you if you win!

G.B. is Riptide’s Featured Author for August!

G.B. Gordon worked as a packer, landscaper, waiter, and coach before going back to school to major in linguistics and, at 35, switch to less backbreaking monetary pursuits like translating, editing, and writing.

Having lived in various parts of the world, Gordon is now happily ensconced in suburban Ontario with the best of all husbands. Santuario is G.B. Gordon’s first published work, but many more stories are just waiting to hit the keyboard.

Connect with Gordon:

Website and blog: gordon.kontext.ca

Twitter: @gb_gordon

Goodreads: goodreads.com/gbgordon