Author Fai Marie Dawson is with us today on her blog tour for her book Please Understand.
Love Bytes is happy to welcome you, Fai.
Author Name: Fai Marie Dawson
Book Name: Please Understand
Release Date: July 30, 2015
Pages or Words: 239 pages
Publisher: MLR Press
Cover Artist: Melody Pond
Blurb:
To keep his mother off his back, Fox struggles to live life as a straight man. Following his failed marriage, he thinks he’s found a piece of heaven when he meets Audrey, a sexy dark-haired beauty. When he’s introduced to her twin brother, his life turns upside down. Mrs. Jones, a regular shopper at Fox’s quaint neighborhood bookstore, steps in to referee the fall-out. Can Fox maintain relationships with both Audrey and her brother? Can a late night train chase bring Fox closer to the one he loves? How far will Fox’s mother go to keep her son tight in her clutches?
Categories: Bisexual, Contemporary, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance, *Trans
Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Fai Marie Dawson author of Please Understand. Hi Fai, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.
Tell us something no one else knows about your characters.
My characters each have a theme song that I like to listen to while I work on their sections in the novel:
Fox: Take Me to Church, (Hozier)
Gloria: Mother-in-law (Ernie K-Doe)
Audrey: Throw Your Arms Around Me (Hunters & Collectors)
Tommie: You’ve Really God a Hold on Me (Smokey Robinson)
Mrs. Jones: Wake Up Call (Maroon 5)
Have you ever had writer’s block? How did you overcome it?
Writer’s Block descends upon me when I lose direction on the outline, doubt myself, or when I’m in the space between projects. It means I’ve become disconnected from the flow of my creativity. Continuing to stare at the page doesn’t help. This next part sounds crazy, but it works for me. I leave my studio, go downstairs and invite Moxie, my Chow-Chow/Newfie for a walk. Then I slide into the character I’m stuck on, and that’s the person Moxie goes for a walk with. Tommie, Audrey, Fox and Mrs. Jones have all walked Moxie. Several times. I see the world through their eyes, I think as they would and I pray that I don’t run into one of my neighbors or friends! When I get home, I treat myself to a cup of coffee and usually I can go back to work after that. My longest writer’s block happened after I completed Please Understand, and I couldn’t ground myself in the next project enough to build an outline. I had several ideas, but couldn’t buy into any of them. Finally, something happened in the neighborhood that gave me the first sentence. When I wrote that down, the whole story came to me and Seeking the Code of Being began.
What book you’ve written would you like to see made into a movie?
This fall I will be rewriting my manuscript LeMarais. In it, the main character, Jaime, returns to Paris to confront his memories of an abusive childhood and reconnect with his father. I would love to see that in a movie. I love anything Paris.
Do you work on an outline or plot or just let the story takes you where it wants to go?
Although all my stories are character driven, I still am a plotter, and rely heavily on the structure my outline provides. My characters, however, sometimes convince me to adjust the outline so they have more stage time. Case in point: Mrs. Jones.
Rapid fire questions:
- Favorite meal: General Tso’s chicken on fried rice.
- Favorite color: Red (this week)
- Favorite ice cream flavor: Salted caramel gelato
It was shortly after lunch on Friday that Mrs. Jones came in. Although she had shown such tenderness to Audrey, I was still in fear and awe of this woman. To me she was curt and demanding. I still dreaded Fridays on account of her. Today she barged through the door: middle aged, shaped like a tank, with a formidable purse that I suspected she could brandish as a weapon if she so chose. I shamefully admit that I hid, shaking, in the back room. I remained hidden behind the door as I watched through the space under the hinge.
She marched straight over to Tommie, who was innocently concentrating in his chair, bent over his laptop. He didn’t stand a chance.
“You, there!”
Tommie looked up and scanned the shop. Not finding me, he sacrificed himself for the greater cause.
“Yes?”
“Tommie?”
He said something I couldn’t hear then he looked around the shop again, I supposed in a vain hope that I might come rescue him. I saw him take a deep breath, preparing himself for the inevitable. Poor man didn’t have a clue what he was up against. I knew I should come out of hiding, but so help me, I didn’t have the strength. I had been dealing with her on my own every Friday for over a year, and my morbid curiosity wanted to see what she could do to someone else.
“What can I help you with, Ms. ––?
“Mrs. Jones.” She said it decisively and firmly. No question about it, she was Mrs. Jones. Like no other, she stood like a rock.
He nodded and snapped his laptop shut. “What can I help you with, Mrs. Jones?” When he stood, her eyes scanned down his body like a CT scan, slowly taking in and savoring every inch carefully.
He carried his laptop and set it on the shelf under the front counter. Mrs. Jones took in the view from behind, her head tilted thoughtfully.
I remained silent. This was getting interesting. I was seeing a side of Mrs. Jones I hadn’t known existed. I was anxious to see if Tommie could handle her.
“Well,” she said a bit breathlessly. “Tommie, your jeans are a bit tight.” He turned slowly, but her eyes settled on his midsection, centering on the zipper of his jeans.
“My eyes are up here, Mrs. Jones.”
“Totally inappropriate!” But her eyes still wandered appreciatively over Tommie’s landscape.
“Very well, Mrs. Jones,” I saw him smile pleasantly then ask, “But may I help you find something?”
I didn’t hear what she said, but to my dismay, he led her to the closet where my adult books were stashed. I almost came out to prevent the disaster that I anticipated, but instead of indignation, within moments they returned to the front desk, and I watched as he rang up her purchases. She had chosen several books.
“I hope you enjoy these, Mrs. Jones.”
“You’ve been most helpful, Tommie, not like that naughty Fox that you work for.”
She waved goodbye happily and blew him a kiss as she went out the door, her purchases held tightly to her ample chest.
“Coward!” I assumed he was talking to me, although he didn’t look up.
Buy the book:
Fai Dawson lives in a small town thirty miles northeast of Seattle Washington in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains with her beloved wife, Becky. Together, they work on restoring their 110-year-old Victorian home. She spends her days writing, blogging and walking Moxie, their Newfie-Chow through the rainy streets of town. Pepe, a brave and proud tuxedo cat is her muse, ever mindful of providing inspiration for her next project. Although she has filled countless journals in her life, she began writing seriously in 2009 as a way to deal with anxiety. She is currently working on her next manuscript.
Where to find Fai Dawson:
Tour Dates & Stops:
31-Aug MM Good Book Reviews
1-Sep Inked Rainbow Reads
2-Sep Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh My
3-Sep Iyana Jenna
4-Sep Molly Lolly
7-Sep Jessie G. Books
8-Sep Love Bytes
9-Sep Mikky’s World of Books
10-Sep Divine Magazine
11-Sep Nephylim
14-Sep Prism Book Alliance
15-Sep LeAnn’s Book Reviews
16-Sep BFD Book Blog, Two Chicks Obsessed With Books and Eye Candy
17-Sep Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh My
18-Sep My Fiction Nook
21-Sep Kimi-Chan, Happily Ever Chapter
22-Sep Bayou Book Junkie
23-Sep Hearts on Fire
24-Sep Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
25-Sep Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews
Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of ’Please Understand’ by Fai Marie Dawson
