A warm welcome to author TJ Nichols joining us today to talk about new release “Lust and Other Drugs”.
Starting a series
When I started the Demonology series I kind of knew where it was going but I thought it might be one, or maybe 3 novellas, I really had no clue but I was having fun writing it. About 50,000 words in I realized it was a novel series (obvious now).
When I had the characters of Edra and Jordan and the world premise in my head (that the mythological world collapsed into ours during a Hadron Collider experiment) I knew it had enough story to be series so I very deliberately planned it that way. There needed to be a crime to solve in each book, and the romance had to grow and be challenged in each book.
For me, that was a different experience to my first series which was one big arc broken into 3. The Mytho books could be read as stand alone, because the main plot is solving the crime, but it will be a more satisfying read to read them in order.
This series has its own note book and I’ve glued in maps of San Francisco (street maps, public transport and tourist maps). To them I’ve added locations that are important—like the satyr run den and where Jordan and Edra live, and new buildings that came through with the collapse. I have pages of side character notes, friends and foes and write ups about all the different mythological beings.
I tried to focus each book on a different being so I could draw the reader into the world without overwhelming them, so book one is mostly about satyrs, book 2 the merfolk (Greed and other Dangers will be out later in the year).
Here’s a little snippet of Edra and Jordan trying not to get together…
“Edra.” Kells didn’t roll the r, but it was good enough, and Edra liked the way it sounded on his human lips.
“Jordan.” He put his hand out as though they were just meeting.
Edra shook his hand. Perhaps they were meeting for the first time as equals. But he wasn’t going to get his hopes up.
Jordan’s skin was cool against his palm. The touch lingered for a moment too long, and Edra was happy to let his fingers glide over Jordan’s palm as his hand was released. The musky scent of lust coated his tongue, and he wished they were doing much more than not talking about it. Humans didn’t have sex with mythos—unless it was on a dare.
This wasn’t a dare, and he’d never know what it actually was, because they’d agreed to ignore the desire between them. That had been a dumb thing to agree to. Although there was still plenty they could do, even if they weren’t talking about it. He pressed his luck and took a step closer.
Jordan didn’t step back. “I’ll call you tomorrow?”
“Maybe we could get together again.”
“For work.”
“Yeah, before you move on to corpses.”
“Homicide.” But there was a curve to Jordan’s lips.
“The dead shouldn’t take priority over the living.”
“The dead still need justice, and families need closure.”
Edra bit back his retort that dead humans got more justice than living mythos. At the moment Jordan was the only cop he had on his side, and pissing him off would be a bad move.
“Can I ask a question?”
Edra doubted it would be anything he wanted to answer if Jordan was asking permission first. “You can.”
“But you may not answer.”
“Something like that.” Or Jordan wouldn’t like the answer.
“I loved reading about mythology when I was at school. How true were the stories? What was your world like?”
Edra closed his eyes for a moment. That wasn’t one question. It was a lifetime and nothing more than mytho and memories. How could he explain that what had survived was only a fraction of the civilizations from Tariko that had overlapped and existed symbiotically or antagonistically, depending on the mythos and the leaders at the time, or that humans had come across for centuries to raid their world for treasures and magic fleeces? How could he describe the beauty and the harshness, the bite of loss that still woke him and left him aching?
He closed the remaining distance and lifted his hand, expecting Jordan to flinch away, but he didn’t. Edra ran a finger under the black satin strap and carefully tucked it beneath the T-shirt. “That falls under things we don’t talk about.”
He let his fingers linger on Jordan’s chest for a moment longer and then stepped back. He wanted to know what was under the T-shirt and beneath the jeans.
Blurb:
Mytho: Book One
Police officer Jordan and dragon shifter Edra might have to work together, but they don’t trust each other—even if sparks do fly between them.
If anyone finds out Jordan’s a mytho sympathizer, it could kill his career. No one can know that he frequents the satyr dens and uses the drug Bliss. Another satyr overdose might not get much attention, but two dead humans? That shouldn’t be possible.
And it might not be an accident.
Edra, Mythological Services Liaison, has been covering up mytho crimes to protect the community’s reputation. With a mayoral election looming, the last thing his people need is a scandal.
To get a murderer off the streets, Jordan and Edra will be spending a lot of time together, and it won’t be easy to keep up with their deceptions… or to keep resisting each other.
Buy Links:
TJ Nichols is an avid runner and martial arts enthusiast who first started writing as child. Many years later while working as a civil designer, TJ decided to pick up a pen and start writing again. Having grown up reading thrillers and fantasy novels, it’s no surprise that mixing danger and magic comes so easily. Writing urban fantasy allows TJ to bring magic to the every day. TJ enjoys writing novellas and novels and has a series, Studies in Demonology, coming out with DSP Publications.
With two cats acting as supervisors, TJ has gone from designing roads to building worlds and wouldn’t have it any other way. After traveling all over the world and Australia, TJ now lives in Perth, Western Australia.
Website: www.tjnichols-author.blogspot.com
Twitter: @TobyJNichols
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TJNichols.author
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cO-YRz
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/TJ-Nichols/e/B01B463R6W
Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tj-nichols
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14669076.T_J_Nichols
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tjnichols.author