A warm welcome to author Ally Blue visiting us today to talk about her new release “No Small Parts”. A part of the Riptide Bluewater Bay collection.

Ally talks to us about being a nurse and she brought along a giveaway to participate in.

Nurse Ally Writes

By Ally Blue

 

Some of you who know me—or who’ve heard me talk before—know that I’m an RN in Real Life. I worked as a nurse in Neuro-Trauma for many years before moving first to a bedside case manager job, then to a desk job a few years ago. Any author who also works a day job will tell you that the job affects their writing in some way. And I’m not talking about the logistics of time management. That’s a whole other post. I’m talking about how the things you learn over the years and the situations you deal with on a day-to-day basis find their way into your stories as major plot points, background details, and everything in between.

 

For example: my characters have a disturbing tendency to end up in the hospital. Usually because of an injury. I’ve worked in a regional trauma center for almost thirty years, the majority of those years at the bedside. The treatment of various types of trauma has always interested me. So my characters and/or their families and friends end up getting hurt a lot, because I know about hospital stuff and writing about things I already know is always easier than writing about stuff I don’t know. Although there are still things I need to research, because nobody knows everything.

 

Over the years, I’ve come to realize that my work as a nurse influences my writing in other ways besides the obvious ones above. I’ve noticed that I tend to explore themes related to not only injury, but also illness, loss, mental health, and addiction. Those are universal themes in a lot of ways, of course, but I catch myself delving into the technical aspects more than your average layperson probably would. In fact, sometimes I have to remind myself that readers aren’t interested in all the nitty-gritty details of, say, which meds to take for a particular condition, or what the machines in the ICU do. Stick with what you need for the story, Ally! LOL.

 

In No Small Parts, Nat Horn is dealing with his dad’s chronic pain issues and resulting dependency on narcotics, as well as the depression that’s grown from his disability and constant pain. This was a little further outside my comfort zone, since most of the work done with people suffering from chronic pain and depression is on an outpatient basis, and I work in the inpatient world. But those two worlds intersect on a depressingly frequent basis, which means I’m peripherally aware of the services available to people outside of the hospital. In my state, at least. I had to research what was available in Washington State, because of course every state is different.

 

Bottom line: whether my day job contributes to my writing in a large way (like it did with No Small Parts) or in a smaller way (like it has with so many of my books), I’m glad it finds its way in. I think it gives my work an extra layer of realism. And even if Happily Ever After isn’t necessarily realistic all the time, I like to keep things real wherever I can. The overall texture and detail of the story is one of those ways I can keep it real.

 

Thanks for reading, y’all. Don’t forget to comment for a chance to win your choice of one of my backlist books. Happy Holidays, everyone!

 

 

About No Small Parts

 

Nat Horn is almost living the dream. His part as a werewolf extra on the hit show Wolf’s Landing has somehow turned into a regular role. Beautiful rising star Solari Praveen has taken an interest in him. He’s even making enough money to think about getting out of Bluewater Bay someday. Except his retired dad’s dependence on pain medications seems to be getting worse, and Nat’s the only one around to take care of him.

 

When Nat learns that Solari’s interest isn’t romantic, his disappointment is surprisingly short-lived, because in getting to know her, he also got to know her assistant, Rafael. And Rafael turns out to be the kind of friend—and potential boyfriend—Nat never dared to dream about.

 

Distracted by his astonishing new life, new friends, and new possibilities, Nat lets his guard down, and suddenly his life goes careening out of control. Racked by guilt, he tries to push his new friends away, but the bonds he’s formed are already too strong. In fact, they’re strong enough to pull him forward, into the future he’s been longing for—but to get there, he’ll have to let go of the past.

 

Now available from:

Riptide Publishing

Amazon

About Ally Blue

 

Ally Blue is acknowledged by the world at large (or at least by her heroes, who tend to suffer a lot) as the Popess of Gay Angst.

 

She has a great big suggestively-shaped hat and rides in a bullet-proof Plexiglas bubble in Christmas parades. Her harem of manwhores does double duty as bodyguards and inspirational entertainment. Her favorite band is Radiohead, her favorite color is lime green and her favorite way to waste a perfectly good Saturday is to watch all three extended version LOTR movies in a row.

 

Her ultimate dream is to one day ditch the evil day job and support the family on manlove alone. She is not a hippie or a brain surgeon, no matter what her kids’ friends say.

 

Connect with Ally:

• Website: allyblue.com
• Twitter: @PopessAllyBlue
• Tumblr: therealallyblue.tumblr.com
• Facebook fan page: facebook.com/pages/Ally-Blue/98548113963
• Facebook profile page: facebook.com/AllyBlue.author
• Group blog: fictionwithfriction.com
• Goodreads: goodreads.com/PopessAllyBlue

 

 

To celebrate the release of No Small Parts, one lucky winner will receive an ebook from Ally’s backlist! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on December 24, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!