A warm welcome to author Brien Michaels for joining us today to talk about new release “Anything But You”.

Thank you so much for having me!

For anyone who is new to my particular brand of…er…crazy, my name is Brien Michaels and I write erotic romance. And dark erotic romance. And sometimes even all out horror. I grew up reading Stephen King, so I can be a little twisted at times. Welcome to my Anyone But You blog tour! I’ll be checking in all day, so absolutely feel free to comment if you’d like to chat. J

I LOVE BROADWAY. I cannot sing to save my life and every time I try, I swear I have to keep one earbud out just in case one of my neighbors think I’m being murdered and call the cops. I want to hear the sirens as they approach. But regardless of my lack of talent in that area, I am obsessed with Broadway musicals. I’ve seen Wicked four or five times. Hairspray. Legally Blonde, which was way better than I was expecting. West Side Story. The list goes on and on. I usually try to make it up to New York at least once a year to take in a show. But if I can’t DC is in shouting distance from me and all the tours come through town.

But a quarter of the way through writing what I’d been affectionally calling my Drag Queen Book, a truly odd song popped up in my Spotify shuffle. I’d skipped it several times before, but this night, I was deep in thought about a plot point as was totally zoned out. And I snapped back to reality just in time to hear the lyric, “I’m black Jesus, I’m black Mary. But this Mary’s legs are hairy!” I abandoned all thought and started the song over again and listened to it more closely. The song was Land of Lola. The artist was Billy Porter. The Musical was Kinky Boots.

I quickly added the show to my Must See and Obsession lists. Lola was a drag queen in search of a sturdy pair of stilettos and she teamed up with a man who’d just inherited a struggling shoe factory that needed to come up with something no one else was doing so they could stay in business.

I did eventually see the show live and it was every bit as phenomenal as I’d imagined it would be. But what was most important was Lola’s strength. As well as the actors who had played her. One of my favorite musical artists is a man by the name of Todrick Hall and you can imagine how devastated I was that I learned how amazing this show was three weeks after he’d finished his run. But I’m hoping I’ll be able to see him when he reprises his role in LA next year. Fingers crossed. Lola’s character and her willingness to step out and be herself regardless of what anyone thought of her inspired me, and gave Sheila life and character that I’d never even dreamed of. There were actually times during writing when I found myself wondering “What would Lola do?” And the resulting scenes were pretty amusing, if I do say so.

How about you? Do you like Broadway? What’s your favorite show?

About Anyone But You

Murder is one hell of a drag.

Jack Kieza has a problem. He’s deeply attracted to men, but his homophobic family has left him too afraid to act on it. With his thirtieth birthday around the corner, his curiosity gets the best of him, and he finds himself at a gay club. After spending a fiery night with drag queen Sheila Saltue, everything changes. Especially when he discovers her alter ego: his boss, Ryan Swift.

Ryan knew he should’ve said no the second Jack approached him. Now he can’t stop himself from texting Jack every chance he gets. But Jack won’t let him take the wig off during sex, and being Sheila off-stage is wearing thin.

The more time they spend together, the more intense their feelings get, but Jack isn’t ready to date a man yet. When drag queens start turning up murdered, it forces Jack to reexamine his feelings, because what if Ryan is next? While Jack wants their burgeoning relationship to work, it would mean having to admit who he is to the world. And that’s an idea as frightening as death.

Available now from Riptide Publishing!

AMAZON

About Brien Michaels

Brien Michaels was hatched shortly before the turn of the century. He grew up in the DMV area and has been creating characters for as long as he can remember, starting with an imaginary friend named Farquad Beaverhausen. Before turning his considerably wicked imagination to writing, he was an actor, aspiring film student, movie theater concessionist, and the first human to enter the seventy-second dimension. Though it is unclear whether he made it back or if Farquad’s evil twin, Brad, has taken control of his body. He’s currently on the run from the Secret Police, who want to bring him in for questioning regarding the whereabouts of erotica authors L.A. Witt and Lauren Gallagher. If you encounter him, please contact his publishers immediately, as he likely should be chained to a desk writing and not out walking children in nature.

Twitter: @BrienMichaels

To celebrate this release, one lucky person will win a $10 gift card to Riptide. Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on December 14, 2019. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following along, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!