Book Title: A Fluid State
Author: Rob Browatzke
Publisher: Self Published
Cover Artist: Alexandria Corza
Release Date: January 3, 2020
Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance
Trope/s: Gay for You/Out for You
Length: 70 000 words/272 pages
It is a standalone book.
Buy Links
Patrick and Andrew find themselves faced with a chemistry they cannot deny
Blurb
Patrick returns from a tour of duty to find his son very different. Peter is dressing in girl’s clothes, and his hair is too long, and he’s obsessed with drag queens. None of that sits well with Patrick. Patrick then meets the drag queen Ann Moore, and starts to hang out with them.
Andrew is one of River City’s best drag queens. As Ann Moore, he dazzles adults and children alike. When one of those children’s fathers wants to find out more about what his son is enjoying, Andrew is happy to guide him. It doesn’t hurt that Patrick is ridiculously hot. Hot and straight though.
The friendship that forms is unlikely, and even more unlikely, Patrick and Andrew find themselves faced with a chemistry they cannot deny.
G’day, friends!
Here are some random facts about the characters and places in “A Fluid State”.
- Andrew has been doing drag for over a decade. His alter ego is named Ann Moore. Why did he pick that name? Simple. As a gay man just coming out and starting to enjoy drag shows, he noticed that so many events and posters listed the headlining entertainers “and more” as a way to get people out. When it came time to name himself, he figured Ann Moore was the best stiletto’d-foot in the door, since she was already on those posters.
- Patrick hasn’t seen his son Peter for two years when the book opens. Anyone with kids or niblings (gender-neutral nephew and niece term) knows a lot can change between the ages of 9 and 11. In Peter’s case, those changes aren’t exactly to Patrick’s liking. Whereas at nine Peter was happy to play video games with dad, now he’s eleven and dressing in girl’s clothes and looking forward to a drag queen storytime every week? Not to mention being borderline obsessed with RuPaul’s Drag Race. That’s a lot for a straight dad to process, the first problem being, how is it a drag race if they’re never racing cars?
- Andrew’s closest queen friends are Aaron and Rodrigo, the Queen of Hearts and Lucy Lewd respectively. Aaron got his name simply from the fact he debuted at a club called Wonderland, and that was what they called their resident queen. Rodrigo, even though he’s Filipino and Lucy Liu is Chinese-American, was a huge Charlie’s Angels fan as a teenager, and wanted to honor one of his favorite actresses by basing his name off hers. Andrew has also worked with a queen from Drag Race – but you’ll need to read the book to see if she makes a cameo
- Peter is an amazing kid, and to me, he really does represent a future I think we all want: a future where kids can be true to who they are, confident enough to explore, confident knowing their friends and family will support and affirm their choices. That being said, he’s also eleven, and as you’ll see, he gets easily distracted when he gets his own phone!
- Patrick’s not just a kick ass dad, apparently. As we see in the book, he’s obviously handy with tools since he builds himself a nice big deck, and he’s amazing in the kitchen (he’s amazing in the bedroom too, but why don’t we let you find that out for yourself?)
- The book is set in River City, which is entirely imaginary in almost every way. I’ve thought a lot about why I didn’t just make River City my own Edmonton, especially given that any of my local readers will certainly see similarities. I’ve certainly fallen in love with River City the way I once fell in love with Edmonton, and this book – and you’re the first people to know this – is going to become simply Book One in my River City Romances. (The characters in the second romance appear briefly in this one too. Can you guess who they might be?)
- River City is the setting of some of my previous novels too. Warning: those other books aren’t m/m romance. If it’s the romance here you love, they might not be for you. Characters may crossover but you don’t need their back story to enjoy Patrick and Andrew’s story here. After how angsty and painful and dark those other books were, this book was a cleanse of my spirit. I kept wanting to insert some anguish for them, but the book rejected every attempt. It wanted to be happy and sweet and sexy, and I think that’s what it ended up becoming. I hope you agree.
Thanks for having me here to talk about A Fluid State!
“So,” Andrew said, when they were relocated back to the couch, sitting facing each other, beers in hand.
“So.”
“First off, let me, well, set you straight on something. Kent and I aren’t dating, so don’t feel bad about that.”
“Good,” Patrick said. “I’d hate to have some gay guy come at me for hitting on his boyfriend.”
“Is that what it was? You hitting on me?”
Patrick looked away. “Honestly, I don’t know.”
“Well, what’s going on in that head of yours?”
“You,” he said. “You’re going on in my head. You and only you. Ever since we met. I thought it was all about Peter, but no, it’s about me. You’ve gotten under my skin, Andrew, and I don’t know how to get you out of me.” Their eyes locked. “And honestly, I’m not sure I want you gone.”
“But you’re straight.”
“I’ve always thought that. I’ve never been attracted to a guy before this.”
“Never? Not even in school? Some guys experiment, you know.”
“Never. I’ve looked back and there’s never been anything to make me think I’d ever be into a guy.”
“So you’re into me?”
Patrick’s face turned pink and he looked away. “I don’t know. Yes. Yes, I am.” He swallowed hard and looked back at Andrew. “Look, I know this is out of the blue, and I know what you said at the pool, and-”
“What did I say at the pool?”
“That, you know, that you’re not attracted to me.”
It was Andrew’s turn to blush and look away. “Well, since you’re being honest, I guess I should be too. Patrick, of course I’m attracted to you. You… well, look at you. I just said that to set your mind at ease. I was enjoying hanging out. I am enjoying it. I didn’t want you to freak out thinking I found you attractive or worried that I was going to try to jump you.”
“And it ended up being me that jumped at you.”
Andrew looked at him and grinned. “Seems that way.”
“So.”
“So.”
“Here we are then, both attracted to each other. What do we do now?”
Rob Browatzke has been writing for as long as he can remember, and is pretty darn excited for someone else to be reading his stuff finally! When it comes to gay bars and booze and drugs and drama, he knows what he’s talking about. He came out in the mid-90s, and liquor and drama went hand in hand. He has 20+ years of experience working in gay clubs in Edmonton, Alberta, and you’ll always find his love for his other career permeating the stories he tells. Rob is now 9+ years clean and sober, although there’s still a bit of drama once in a while, for old times’ sake.
Rob loves the growing market for gay fiction and m/m romance. There are some incredible authors out there, and it’s important to be able to see in print (or on the screen) stories about people just like us. Coming out, our relationships, the issues we face, we all have stories to tell. And this book is just one of the stories coming out of Wonderland.
Feel free to stalk him online. He’s on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @robbrowatzke.
Author Links
Website | Facebook | Twitter @robbrowatzke | Instagram @robbrowatzke
Follow the tour and check out the other blog posts and reviews here
