Guest post by Ashavan Doyon
Greetings everyone at Love Bytes Same Sex Book Reviews!
This is Ashavan Doyon and I’m writing today a little bit about inspiration. As an author, you write for publication. But I’m not just an author, I’m a writer, and I write because, as hokey as it sounds, that’s what I’m meant to do. So whether I’m writing a 205K word fan fiction monstrosity for fun, or I’m writing desperately the next book in my College Rose Romances for Torquere Press (Becoming Rory is out in JUNE!!!), I’m writing with a fire in my belly and aching fingers from typing — I’m writing because I’m inspired, and the characters are talking to me and yes, I AM that crazy, my characters do talk to me as if they’re fully realized people of their own. Because they are. They just live in my head.
And so, when some poor unfortunate soul finds out that I’m an author (writer!) and asks me what inspires me, my first thought is “Why the voices in my head, of course.” But I know that’s not an answer I can give without being looked at funny. Unless I’m with other authors, some of whom are quite as nuts as I am and hear just as many voices. So instead, I muse, and think, and then I give them the best answer I can at the time.
That usually involves the things that aren’t part of those voices. The administration building in Loving Aidan (that suspiciously could be the Whitmore Building at my alma-mater). The Queer Alliance meeting in Andrew’s Prayer, familiar because I attended dozens of these meetings. The Easter egg hunt in Gerry’s Lion, patterned after my own grandmother’s annual gathering. I take inspiration from my life. But I’m not writing my life. I’m not supposed to be. And while those elements may bring my stories a certain grounding that makes them feel real, they are not the inspiration for the story. They are important. Easy to describe. But they don’t bring a story fire. They might help you get immersed in a story, but they aren’t the part that makes you cry for (or with) the characters.
That part, that spark, comes from inside. It’s part of what makes me a writer, bringing those characters to life. Making them sing so loud that they’re in my head and they have to get out. I have to write them. They have to speak. They have a story to tell, and they want me to write it down. Writers — we’re a little crazy.
One of those sparks is growing now. He has a name, and a history, and he’ll probably make you cry. You’ll get to meet him soon at Sam’s Cafe, another made up place, sort of, kind of based on a place I used to know. And it’ll feel real. But it will be familiar Sam, and hopefully the new guy Brian, who make it real. Brian is so new he doesn’t have a voice yet. But he’ll find it soon, and I’ll be writing again.
Ashavan Doyon can be reached at his website: www.ashavandoyon.com
Looking for an Easter read? Check out Gerry’s Lion. The story is told in scenes that center around holidays: Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, the 4th of July, and Thanksgiving. It’s full of angst, and hope, and yes, an Easter egg hunt.
Gerry’s Lion
Gerald Tanner lost the piece of his life he loved most, his husband Adam. When faced with the prospect of another Christmas with a family who thinks he’s better off now that Adam is gone, Gerry decides instead to revisit the memory of when they met, and boards a Christmas cruise on the Sunrise. He’s not expecting to meet Leo Ystrabov. He certainly never imagined the courageous young man would challenge him into feelings of desire and the possibility of a love that isn’t his precious Adam.
Leo Ystrabov doesn’t quite know how to handle the shattered heart Gerry presents so hesitantly. But the offer is precious, and Leo can’t resist. However, with two families none too eager to accept them and a lot of baggage on both sides, their relationship faces an uphill battle. Leo will have to find his courage to be the lion Gerry sees in him.
Gerry’s Lion is available from Dreamspinner Press.
Print: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6306
ebook: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6305
Or at Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Gerrys-Lion-Ashavan-Doyon-ebook/dp/B00WDG7BOM