A warm welcome to author Emory Schneider joining us today to talk about new release “The Truth Beyond the Bitterness”, part of the World of Love series from Dreamspinner Press.
Welcome Emory 🙂
How to make friends in Czechia
- Start the conversation
People in Czechia tend to keep some distance from others, especially on the street. They even might try to avoid eye contact. That usually means we don’t know how to act and don’t want to do anything to offend you. Also, we like our personal space, so we tend to leave a lot of that between strangers and us. If you need to ask about something, just remember to start with a greeting and not to stay too close, so we don’t feel intimidated. You will be surprised at how nice we are.
We claimed seats next to the door so we could jump out as soon as the vehicle reached our destination. The first thing I saw when we got off was a man with pitch-black eyes and dark brown skin leaning on the rail separating the platform from the road. I had never seen anyone like him except on TV. I needed to stop staring at him. He was a person like me and everybody else, and it had to be uncomfortable for him. But I found it hard to resist watching him as he walked toward us. Of course, I was nervous about meeting any stranger.
“Hey, Sam,” Hynek greeted him, “I knew you wouldn’t miss this. This is my roommate, Jakub.”
“Nice to meet you. We should hurry. Emil’s saving our seats.” Then he turned to me again as we walked through a small park toward the club. “Hynek said you don’t like crowds. So we chose Impuls. Are you familiar with it?”
- Learn the language
Most people above the age of 50 and a lot of younger people do not speak English. Every school starts teaching children second language when they are eight or younger, and most of them start with English but the majority of people are not used to speak the language and/or don’t remember much of it – especially outside cities. Speaking Czech is going to remove the language barrier and give you extra points. It doesn’t matter how fluent you are and how many mistakes you do.
- Go to a pub with your colleagues
My country is famous for its beer production. There are 435 breweries and going to the pub became a popular social event. If your colleagues ask you to join them, go for it. If you don’t drink alcohol, I have to warn you that the only drink cheaper then beer I can think of is water. If you do drink alcohol, but don’t enjoy the bitterness of beer, try asking for „jedenáctku“ – a beer with higher sugar content or a black beer. Those taste slightly sweet.
- Ask
I promise we won’t bite you if you come to us with a question. We like to help if we can and a lot of people will try to find out who might know the answer we don’t.
- Keep it calm
Keep in mind, that the line between confidence and ignorance is thin. Your behavior is going to play a major role in creating relationships. Don’t try too hard and show off, most Czech people will try to keep you out of their space.
The Truth Beyond the Bitterness
Can love erase a lifetime of fear and bitterness? Kuba flees the oppressive influence of his strict Catholic family as soon as he graduates high school. In the big city of Pilsen, Czech Republic, he can get a fresh start. Although he is fairly content sharing a flat with his coworker and filling it with books, he knows he’s destined to be alone unless he can come out of the closet. But he just isn’t ready to bare his soul to the world.
When he meets his roommate’s friend Emil, he begins to reconsider. Is a chance at romance with the gorgeous man—and fellow bibliophile— incentive enough for Kuba to face his demons?
World of Love: Stories of romance that span every corner of the globe.
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About the Author
Emory Schneider was born in Děčín, the Czech Republic, as the fourth of five children and later moved to the western part of the country to find a job. They ended up working as a brazer in Pilsen—yes, the home of the beer. Emory spent a lot of their childhood discussing possible scenarios for cartoon and manga series they watched with their brother and pretending they were a knight or a spy. Their love of books and stories in general motivated them to learn English, although they had nearly failed the subject for two years.
During their teenage years, they started to make up M/M romance stories, but it took them several years to put any of them on paper. When not working or writing, Emory tries to fight their laziness and burn some calories they probably gained from staring at chocolate bars at the shopping mall or drinking some of the Coke they bought for their husband.
You can contact me at:
Twitter: http://bit.ly/2DUKjY4
Facebook: http://bit.ly/2NY5vRH
Website: http://bit.ly/2OzZ0nw