A very warm welcome to aurhor Chris E. Saros joining us today to talk about new and first release “Semblance”.

Chris talks to us about Semblance, shares an excerpt and also brought a wonderful giveaway for our readers!

Welcome Chris 🙂

Hello everyone, and thank you Love Bytes for this amazing opportunity! This is my first novel and first published work and I am so excited to share it with everyone.

Semblance is the culmination of many, many hours of work; my child of love and labor. Like a child, I may not have been happy with it at times, but I have never been so happy as I am now, having raised this story from an infant (fleeting idea) to a full-fledged adult (published and in print). I have so many works in progress – some just short, handwritten snippets in an idea journal and others got as far as complete first drafts. But being able to see Semblance all the way through to the end, to see my efforts finally be completed (at least for now) has been one of the most satisfying feelings… I may have set the work-in-progress aside for a while to work on other projects, but I never forgot about Drake and Scotty. I refused to allow their story to go unresolved. It was a struggle and it took many, many years for me to figure out what I was doing. But I did it and I couldn’t be happier!

So many artists are asked “But where do you get your ideas?” Believe it or not, Semblance started as a daydream I used to avoid school. I wrote a section of the book while almost paying attention in biology class in high school, inspired by a videogame I was playing at the time. That was how it all started. Afterward, I had played with the idea of the characters a little bit but then I let it lie for a while, putting the section away in a folder I have for projects for another day. Then I wrote what would become the ending of the novel while almost paying attention in one of my literature classes my senior year at Michigan State University many years later.

At the time, I didn’t know these stories were connected. They were both random ideas that popped into my head and refused to let me do anything until I wrote them down. I played with scenes for a long time and had two separate stories going for each. I had created two completely separate universes and then one day, I was diligently working away, playing with each character’s fate and I realized something. I don’t know why I suddenly thought of it and I also don’t know why it took me so long to figure it out, but it suddenly hit me that these two story arcs I was working on independently were actually the same characters. It blew my mind, they were somehow part of one whole, just waiting for me to connect the dots.

I can say that the day I realized the two passages were connected was ground-breaking for me and suddenly I could see the full story instead of the separate scenarios. After that realization came the hard part. Sure, I had this great premise and the road work all set up, but how in the world was I going to connect them? (Especially since the two scenes I had were toward the beginning and then the very ending!) I think the most perplexing part for me with Semblance was writing what came in-between, before, and after those passages to make sure everything added up. Essentially, I was taking two scenes and crafting an entire complete story around them. There was a lot of back and forth with many passages written and discarded, rewritten again and again and then many still ultimately edited out. It was a challenge, but I believe the end result was well worth it.

Every writing experience – whether it be an outlined storyboard, a spur of the moment inspiration, or an experiment and mental challenge – every story is a journey, and I unequivocally enjoy the ride.

One thing I have learned, is that when I write these ‘spur of the moment’ short passages that suddenly overwhelm me, I try not to include names or too much character specific description because I never really know where they will end up. Until the story is ready to reveal itself to me, I don’t want to burden the idea with too much detail. The great thing about writing short scenes and different character scenarios is that there is a world of possibilities and wonders for each one. Who is this person? How did they get here? How are they going to get out of it? Who loves them? What will it mean for someone if they don’t make it out of this situation? I have notebooks full of short scenes that are just waiting to be fleshed out and created into their own universe. Some could end up in my next book, others will be tucked away to be forgotten, until they come knocking on the door to my inspiration.

Writing had always been simply a hobby for me. I loved to write, but I had to pay the bills with “real” work. So, it stayed a hobby at first. A chapter on my lunch break here, a paragraph before bed there. I had a dream of publishing a novel someday but never really thought that I would go the extra mile to do it. Heck, how many of us have flipped through our dream professions as we age? (I personally started as a movie star, then moved to movie director, dabbled in zookeeping, and settled in for published author). But I kept writing and I kept playing with my character creations and I finally felt like I created something worthy enough to share. I very much enjoyed my time with Drake and Scotty and I hope everyone who has a chance to read their story does as well.

I am definitely going to write more within the Boredega Cartel universe and I am happy that Drake and Scotty could be the first, but not the last, stop in this epic adventure. From Drake, Scotty and I, we say thank you for following along!

Blurb:

Drake isn’t looking for justice. He’s not interested in doing what’s right. He’s after one thing and one thing only: revenge. That means taking down the Boredega drug cartel—and the shadowy, seemingly invincible man who heads it—even if he goes down with them. Drake plans to destroy the cartel from within, and he uses his nightclub, Semblance, as a front for money laundering and drug trafficking. He’s sacrificed almost everything to complete his mission, and just as he’s getting close, he’s derailed by flirtatious bartender Scotty, who offers Drake a glimpse of the happiness he’s missed by pursuing a personal vendetta. Scotty might be irresistible, but Drake has come too far to turn back now. He’ll have to find a way to keep Scotty safe, fend off persistent prostitute Natasha, feed tips to the authorities, and edge his way closer to the upper echelon of the cartel, where he can finally strike. He’ll need to do it all while keeping his intentions covert—and he’s not the only one at Semblance with secret

DSP

Amazon

 

Chris E. Saros lives in the beautiful Mitten State, surrounded by the exhilaration of the Great Lakes. In her free time, she enjoys swimming, reading, ministering to her cats’ needs, and watching TV. An avid traveler, she loves immersing herself in different cultures, discovering new foods, and meeting new people. Always game for a new adventure, she covets stimulating experiences such as working on locally filmed movies, coaching students in after-school activities, and spending time spoiling and sugaring-up her nieces and nephew to keep her status as “the fun aunt.” Though ideally an optimist, Chris E. is intrigued by the darkness life has to offer. Using writing as an outlet for her darker nature, she loves constructing characters and tossing them into dangerous situations, just to see what happens.

 

Social Media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100012463001554
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/ChrisESaros

 

Chris brought a wonderful giveaway for our readers

Have a chance to win a ecopy of Semblance.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

He found him in the back room leaning over a shelf, reading the labels on a couple of bottles. Drake took a second to admire the scene, drinking in the long powerful legs and the nice tight ass showcased by the black pair of slacks that pulled snugly in all the right places. It took everything he had in him not to reach out and touch Scotty. The lure to do so was strong, but he squelched his temptation. There wasn’t time for such distractions.

Clearing his throat, he stepped into the room and leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. Scotty quickly stood at the sound and picked one of the bottles he had been reading.

“Yes, my liege?” Drake asked. He couldn’t keep the amusement from his voice.

Scotty’s brow shot up into his hairline. “Are you really going to act like there isn’t a big problem hanging out behind the bar?”

“Big problem?” Drake said, playing dumb.

Scotty’s glum look didn’t lighten at all with Drake’s humor but instead darkened a degree. He took a step toward Drake and pointed the bottle at him like a large scolding finger. “That kid shouldn’t be behind the bar! He doesn’t have the first clue about what’s going on. He’s never mixed a drink before in his life, and he thinks he’s Jerry Thomas.”

“Who?”

“Jerry Thomas! Blue Blazer? He used to…. No, never mind. It doesn’t matter. The point is, the kid shouldn’t be behind the bar. He should be out waiting tables or something.”

“Aw, give the kid a shot. He’s only been at it a few days. I’m sure he’ll catch on. Besides, I don’t foresee him staying on the job for a long time.”

“Great! So he’s another one that I get the pleasure of training and as soon as they start to catch on, they up and leave? Really?”

Drake shrugged. They always did fine even with Tony’s boys cluttering up space. He made sure to schedule an extra hand while they were working to pick up any slack.

Scotty sighed at Drake’s shrug. “If you were just going to hire whatever crazy wackadoos that wanted a job, why did you take all the time and effort to interview me?”

“Wait,” Drake said, holding up a hand, “can we take a minute to appreciate the fact that you used the term ‘wackadoo’ in a sentence?”

“Drake!”

“Okay! I’m sorry. I am. But I told Frankie that I would give the kid a shot. Besides, he has been helpful on the busy nights at least busing. He’s only broken about six bottles and four glasses. And I took half his tips to pay for those. So, I’m sure he will start to get the picture.”

Scotty let out another drawn-out sigh and grabbed another bottle to go with the first.

“I took so long interviewing you for a couple of reasons, but mostly because I wanted someone who had excellent skills behind the bar and would be able to handle any crazy ‘wackadoos’ that may end up back there with them. I needed someone with both a great disposition and work ethic to handle whatever problems may transpire. You fit the bill. I have faith that you can handle any piece of work that comes trotting into this club.”

Scotty’s face slowly lost the tight lines creasing his forehead as Drake spoke, his glare lessening into more of a frown than a full-on glower.

“Fine, I’ll put up with him for a while longer.”

“Okay, good, because I wasn’t really giving you a choice,” Drake said, a teasing lilt to his voice. He started to head back out front to make sure everything was set for the day but turned when Scotty said his name. “Yes?”

Scotty was looking down, kicking at a piece of paper or some other speck on the floor. He looked like a small schoolboy playing innocent. After a moment of silence, Scotty lifted his head just enough to peer through his bangs with a face that belied any innocence Drake might have seen in him. The look was pure seduction.

“Don’t think that I don’t remember about our unfinished business.”

“Un-uh.” Drake had to clear his throat before continuing. Man, he had the most beautiful eyes. He could get lost in them. Scratch that—he was already lost in them.

What was going on? Oh, right. “Unfinished business?”

Walking close enough to put a hand on Drake’s chest, Scotty smiled. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. You said you had a lot on your plate, so I’m giving you time to work through it, but we’ll finish what we started.”