Book Title: You Or No One
Author: Olivier Bosman
Publisher: Rocket Man Press
Cover Artist: A Pradipta
Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance
Tropes: Royalty/ Fairytale
Themes: Opposites Attract/Fish Out of Water/Cinderella Story
Length: 42 000 words
It is the first part of the Doggerland trilogy
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Is the world ready for an openly gay king and his prince consort?
Blurb
Joel is happy, confident and working class.
Eric is shy, insecure and a member of one of the oldest aristocratic families in Europe.
When they meet in university sparks fly.
They say opposites attract, but when Joel discovers that Eric is the crown prince and future king of Doggerland, he starts having doubts.
They want to get married. They think their greatest battle will be convincing the King and the Prime Minister to give their consent. But estranged relatives coming out of the woodwork, intrusive tabloid press, and the traditional, stifling lifestyle of the aristocracy conspire against them.
Are Joel and Eric secure enough in themselves and each other to overcome a world which is not as tolerant as they thought?
How many books have you written? I’ve written seven books. Five of them are a series of Victorian mysteries featuring a gay Quaker detective with a morphine addiction, one of them is an anthology of noir mysteries (also with gay protagonists), and “You or No One”, the first in a romantic trilogy.
How long does it usually take you to write a book? I’m a slow writer compared to other authors, but if I pull my socks up, it usually takes six months from writing the first sentence to publishing the book.
Where is your favorite place to write? If I summon the discipline not to let social media distract me, I prefer to write at my desk. Otherwise, I just take a notebook and pen and go somewhere outside in the sunshine where no one can disturb me.
When you develop characters do you already know who they are before you begin writing or do you let them develop as you go? A bit of both. I usually know the main characters inside out before I start writing, but the supporting characters can sometimes surprise when I’m in the middle of writing a scene.
Do you aim for a set number of words/pages per day? No. I’d never stick to it. I write until I don’t know what to write anymore. Then I pause and think about how to continue
Are your characters based on people you know? Not really, but other people do inspire my characters. I think it’s inevitable. Things you do, people you meet, thoughts you’ve thought, feelings you’ve felt, all of these end up in your story.
Do you ever get writer’s block? All the time. It’s probably the hardest thing about writing. And so demoralizing. That’s why I often have two projects on the go at the same time. If I get stuck in one, I work on the other. With time, the ideas start flowing again.
What do you think makes a good story? Believable characters you can identify with and root for. That’s the heart of any good story. If you don’t care about the characters, you don’t care what happens to them.
Does writing energize or exhaust you? If it goes well, it’s energizing. Otherwise it’s a bugger!
What has been one of your most rewarding experiences as an author? Getting a good review from a complete stranger. The fact that they have taken time out of their lives to sit down and type up their thoughts…. ahhh. Bliss!
What do your friends and family think about you being a writer? They’re all very supportive, although a lot of them don’t read, and those that do, don’t always like reading books with gay protagonists.
Do you like music or silence when your write? I play non-intrusive music when I write. Classical, usually, because it doesn’t distract me.
Do you outline or do you just write? I outline in my head. There’s no point putting it down on paper, because it always changes once I start writing.
Do you write as routine or do you write when you feel like it? I write in the mornings. That’s when I’m fresh and inspired. The afternoons are for editing and promo work.
What is your next project? Well, as I’ve committed to writing a trilogy, I’d better get started on parts 2 and 3!
Five random facts about the book/series.
– Doggerland was once a real stretch of land between England, Holland and Denmark. It got flooded at the end of the last ice age and now lies beneath the North Sea.
– The Royal Family of Doggerland is an amalgamation of the British, Dutch, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian royal families.
– Tonypandy is a real town in Wales. I’ve never been there and I hope the inhabitants of Tonypandy won’t be too offended by my description of it. I could’ve created a fictional Welsh town, but I just loved the name so much.
– Raw herrings are a delicacy in The Netherlands. I’ve had them myself. They’re lovely sprinkled with some chopped onions.
– The relationship between Prince Eric and his (male) secretary is an intriguing one. I wrote about a similar relationship in my novella Death Takes a Lover.
Elaborate on the inspiration for the book/series.
Every time there’s a royal wedding, my dreamy mind starts to wonder: what if I ever met a prince? What if I ever got the opportunity to join a royal family? Then I frown and dismiss the notion as silly, romantic tosh! But now I got to thinking…. no really, what if? What if there really was a gay crown prince who didn’t want to stay in the closet, but who wanted to marry a man? How would the world react? It started me on a train of thought which led to a story I simply had to write. I’m better known as the author of dark Victorian mysteries, but I got so excited about this idea (and I’m a sucker for a good love story) I decided to take the plunge and write it anyway.
Tell us about why we will fall in love with your main character/s.
Opposites attract, I’ve seen it often enough in real life. Confident, sociable people tend to fall for the quiet and shy ones. I love the relationship between Joel and Eric. They complement each other. And it’s not a fantasy. I’ve seen couples like that before. Completely devoted to each other. It’s heart-warming. Of course, they have their ups and downs, and it’s not an easy feat which they are trying to accomplish, but IF they stick together (and it’s a big if) , they should be able to weather any storm.
What is your advice for new writers?
– Make sure you get some feedback on your draft. You’re too close to your own writing and you need some fresh eyes to see what’s missing.
– Never publish your first draft. Put it back in your drawer and concentrate on something else. Then read through it after a few months. You’ll be glad you did.
– Write what you like. If you don’t like what you’re writing, nobody else will either.
– Know your market. Before you start writing, think about how you are going to market your book (even if you are traditionally published). Readers are what you’re doing it for. If you don’t know who they are or how to reach them, then you’ll have done it all for nothing.
Thank you.
I got up early that morning. I entered the breakfast room five minutes after it opened. I wanted to beat Eric to it. I wanted to be the one to tell him to fuck off when he pulled up a chair at my table. I sat at my table at five past, sipping coffee and nibbling on a croissant. I was engrossed by that croissant. How did they make them so delicious? I was busy dissecting the different pastry layers when a voice suddenly spoke to me.
“Mother never taught you not to play with your food?”
It was Eric, towering over me. His rosy face looked freshly scrubbed, his hair tightly combed, his white silk shirt freshly ironed, his beige chinos pressed. Before I could do anything to prevent it, he pulled up a chair and sat down before me.
“Where is Petra?” I asked.
“She’s gone to her friend’s hen do. Probably won’t see her again till Christmas.”
He lifted his arm and clicked his fingers at the waiter. “Coffee, please. Black. And… um… eggs. Scrambled.” Then he shooed the waiter away with his hand.
How rude, I thought. This was a side of Eric I hadn’t seen before.
“How was your little drive yesterday?” I made no attempt at hiding the bitterness in my voice.
“It was good. We drove along the coast and had a long good chat.”
“What about?”
“About you, as it happens.”
“Me?”
He sat up and cleared his throat. “I… um… I want to ask you a question. I wanted to ask you last night in your room. But you were sleeping.”
“What do you want to ask?”
He hesitated for a few beats. Then he blurted it out. “Would you like to marry me?”
Well! I don’t need to tell you that I was shocked. I gaped at him silently. Perplexed..
“This isn’t a proposal, you understand,” he added hurriedly. “I’m not asking you to marry me. Not yet. I can’t without the permission of my father and my government. But I’m asking you whether marrying me is something you would consider.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. I had a long chat about it with Petra. She said she talked to you last night. She likes you. She said you’d make a good partner for me.”
“But we only talked for about ten minutes.”
“Well, she’s a good judge of character. She saw the same good qualities in you as I did.”
“What good qualities?”
“Your confidence. Your self-assuredness.”
“But I have no confidence.”
“Of course you do. I mean, look at you. You’re poor, you’re Welsh, you’re not particularly good looking, and yet you’re sitting here in the smartest hotel in Brighton as if you had every right to do so.”
“Wow! You really know how to sweep a boy off his feet!”
“No, you don’t understand. These are things that I like about you.”
“That I’m not particularly good looking?”
“What I meant was…” He shook his head. “This conversation isn’t going at all the way I planned it. What I mean was that you’re grounded. You’re down to earth. You don’t care what people think of you. Otherwise you wouldn’t be wearing that.”
“What?”
“That hoodie. This is the Pavillion Hotel, not a hip-hop bar in Brooklyn.”
“Do you want me take it off?”
“No. You don’t understand. I like that about you. I like that you snubbed the nice clothes I bought for you and chose to wear your council estate gear instead. I like that you come down for breakfast without even bothering to comb your hair. I like your ordinariness. Your earthiness. You’re a working class kid with the balls and intelligence to break out of your environment and compete with us rich kids. And you outshine us. Not with your clothes, or your wit, or your family name, but by being yourself. That’s what I like about you. And that’s what I want standing beside me when I’m king. Petra thinks so too, and she’s an excellent judge of character.”
I was flabbergasted. Never had I felt so insulted and complimented at the same time! I’d read Petra wrong.
“Well?” Eric asked.
“What?” I’d long forgotten what the original question was. I was still reeling from his speech. You outshine us. That was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to me.
“Would you consider marrying me?” he said. “Or rather, what I’m asking is whether you’d be willing to be my right hand man. We’d be the first gay royal couple in history. We’d do all those things that you talked about in the car. Be ambassadors to gay rights and so forth. But it won’t be easy. We’ll be hated by many. There’ll be insults, ridicule, maybe even death threats. And that’s only if our marriage is approved by King and parliament, which will be a whole battle in itself. But one I’m willing to fight if you are by my side. So what do you think? Will you consider it? Will you be the next Prince Consort of Doggerland? Will you be my husband?”
Born to Dutch parents and raised in Colombia and England, I am a rootless wanderer with itchy feet. I’ve spent the last few years living and working in The Netherlands, Czech Republic, Sudan and Bulgaria, but I have every confidence that I will now finally be able to settle down among the olive groves of Andalucia.
I am an avid reader and film fan (in fact, my study is overflowing with my various dvd collections!)
I did an MA in creative writing for film and television at the University of Sheffield. After a failed attempt at making a career as a screenwriter, I turned to the theater and wrote and produced a play called ´Death Takes a Lover´ (which has since been turned into the first D.S.Billings Victorian Mystery). The play was performed on the London Fringe to great critical acclaim.
I am currently living in Spain where I make ends meet by teaching English.
Author Links
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