Interview with Theo Boarman
So, Theo is the only non-geek in my series. Or maybe you could call him a fringe geek. It’s on his radar because of his brother and Morris who are into all kinds of geek culture. Theo enjoys the movies and Morris did get him hooked on Supernatural but if it’s not a cooking ingredient he doesn’t have any passion for it. However, he’s a man who knows what he wants when he sees it and goes after it with no hesitation.
I got the idea for him while I was at a comic book convention. The only thing to eat were cookies in Star Wars and Avengers shapes from a vendor down the row. I was really wishing for a food truck and thought originally of making him a food truck vendor, but that didn’t really work for Southern Maryland. So, Theo morphed into a chef and restaurant owner.
I hope you enjoy his exchange with Dakota.
* * *
Dakota: “On this special edition of Geek Wars I have with me Theo Boarman, chef extraordinaire. Now he’s not really much of a geek. He failed Morris’s quiz spectacularly, but he does let a whole gang of con-goers descend on his restaurant and take up space so we’ve given him an honorary badge. Welcome, Theo.”
Theo: “Is there a password? Or some secret handshake I should know?”
Dakota grins wickedly: “Glad you asked. Next time you see Morris and your brother Lincoln whisper in their ears ‘Hail Hydra.’”
Theo nods with a solemn expression: “Hail Hydra, got it.” He pauses, cocks his head, and smiles slowly. “The question is who will squeal louder when I do it. My bet is on Morris.”
Dakota chuckles. “Oh, Morris for sure. I wasn’t sure you’d catch that. You’ve learned a bit since the last time I saw you.”
Theo: “I’ll fully admit I may have exaggerated my ignorance a bit. Lincoln’s my brother. I’d taken him to see the movie so it wouldn’t have the same impact on him. But Morris, oh yeah, this will be fun.”
Dakota: “He told me you were a teaser. Okay so first question, I know you like cooking and food of all sorts, what are your favorite things to cook?”
Theo clasps his hands over his knee. “Firing up a good steak and anything Chesapeake Bay related, oysters, crabs, rockfish. I love it all. My parents prided themselves on making up the menu from locally sourced goods and my sister and I carried on the tradition.”
Dakota: “So, your bistro’s down on Solomon’s Island. I’ve been to Southern Maryland many times and I have to ask you, what’s the appeal? The bistro would do really well in Baltimore or Annapolis. Why stay where you are?”
Theo emphatically shakes his head. “Oh, hell no. Live in the city? Not for me. I can watch baseball and softball here. I have views of the rivers and Bay without having to wring out my bank account. The people around here are family. Our guests at the bistro are family. I wouldn’t have the same vibe in the city. And the traffic would kill me. Hell no.”
Dakota levels an accusing finger at Theo. “You cannot equate an Orioles game with minor league teams like the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs or the Bowie Baysox.”
Theo grins: “Yeah, the minor league stadiums are more fun.”
Dakota: “I’m not even going to touch that. The next question. What fears keep you up at night?”
Theo’s expression turns bleak and his hands start rubbing restlessly. “Wondering if I’m doing what’s best for Lincoln, being the guardian that he needs. That keeps me up more than anything.”
Dakota sobers. “I heard about you losing your parents. I’m sorry, man.”
Theo: “Thank you. And I appreciate you guys letting the kid into your circle. He loves playing those weird games with you.”
Dakota laid his hand over his heart. “Ouch, that really hurts. You don’t know what you’re missing.”
Theo: “That’s what Lincoln tries to tell me.”
Dakota: “Smart kid. Okay, for a fun question. If you were ice cream, what flavor would you be?”
Theo drums his fingers on his knee. “Oooh, something homemade, strawberries and cream I think since it’s summer.”
Dakota: “That involves far too much work for me. I prefer my ice cream out of a carton. Though I’ll admit, the fresh ice cream at University of Maryland is awesome so maybe there’s something to this homemade idea.”
Theo with a chuckle. “That’s what I keep telling Morris.”
Dakota: “Okay, if you had a soundtrack for your life, what’s the one song you’d pick for Morris?” He gives Theo a warning look that Theo ignores.
Theo purses his lips in thought. “That’s a hard one. Something sexy, but kinda laid back and fun too. I think Smooth by Santana and Rob Thomas.”
Dakota: “I’m pleased to see you’re not another sap. I’m surrounded by them. Okay since we’re about to wrap it up. Let’s do a word association about some of the new geeks in your life. I’ll give you a name and you give me the first word that comes to you. Okay?”
Theo: “Sure, why not, though I’d like to point out that Morris knows you all better than I do. But shoot, this should be fun.”
Dakota: “Morris.”
Theo: “Oh man, wow, one word, hmmm, don’t kill me because if I can only sum him up in one word I’m going to go sapsville, Love.”
Dakota narrows his eyes. “You know he said adorkable for you right?”
Theo laughs. “That’s his expression of attraction and love.”
Dakota: “I’m seriously outnumbered. Felipe?”
Theo: “Temperamental.”
Dakota: “So true. How about Trask, have you meet him?”
Theo: “Oh yeah, lifesaver.”
Dakota: “I’ll have to get that story later. But now I realize we’re out of time. Sorry man, but I look forward to dinner at your restaurant again. To all my listeners, if you’re even in Solomon’s Island, check out the Chesapeake Bistro. You won’t be disappointed.”
Blurb:
When opposite worlds collide, it’s anyone’s game.
Proud geek and comic book artist Morris Proctor wants nothing more than to live in semiseclusion with his devil cat and gamer friends. Despite what his well-meaning family thinks, he’s perfectly content with his status quo. The last thing he needs is to date another nongeek hell-bent on changing him.
Then he meets his adorkable new neighbor, Theo Boarman, who doesn’t know Star Trek from Star Wars, but who tempts him like no other.
Theo has spent the last year recovering from the loss of his parents and trying to play both roles for his teenage brother, while working to keep the family restaurant afloat. Dating is the last thing on the menu, especially with a man who thinks the height of dining is shoving a packaged meal into the microwave.
But if Morris gives him one more shy smile or flaunts that kilt he wears so well, Theo will be forced to convince him that a hot summer fling is just the recipe to let off a little steam.
When that fling gets serious fast, Morris has to decide if he’s willing to give his heart to Theo on the chance that they’re a perfect mix.
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Marguerite Labbe has often been called both Trouble and Sunshine by those who know her. She’s not sure how she manages to make both those nicknames work together, but apparently she does. She’s a New Hampshire woman who married an Alabama man, an Air Force brat who has somehow managed to settle herself firmly in Southern Maryland, with one overgrown son and two crazy cats.
Marguerite loves to spin tales that cross genre lines, where stubborn men build lifelong ties of loyalty, friendship, and family no matter the odds thrown against them, and where love is found in unexpected places. She has won the Rainbow Award for Historical Romance with Fae Sutherland, as well as the Rainbow Award for Paranormal and the Rainbow Romance Award for Excellence, also in Paranormal.
When she’s not working hard on writing new stories, she spends her time reading novels of all genres, enjoying role-playing and tabletop games with her friends, and helping out her husband with Apocrypha Comics Studio.
Website: http://www.margueritelabbe.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MargueriteLabbe
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