Blog Tour incl Guestpost & Giveaway: Rhys Ford – ‘Nother Sip of Gin

We are delighted to host author Rhys Ford today who is joining us to talk about this special release !

Check out Rhys her post below and have a chance to win an amazing giveaway prize!

Never thought I’d be back on the road with these guys again but … here we are. And nothing makes me happier than to take to the pages with the Sinner Boys all over again. ’Nother Sip of Gin came from a friend asking me if I’d ever consider pulling together some of the blog spots I’d done into a book they could read on their Kindle. I’ve held that possibility in my head for a while and then I got the time and space to pull not only the foundational stories I’d already shared but a few brand new stories I’ve always wanted to explore, short bits of emotions and life moments I’ve enjoyed pulling together. I’ve included long stories like Hair of the Dog and a few others because well, they were fun to write in the past but also provided a solid base for so much of the Sinners lore.

 

For this blog tour I wanted to take a bit of time to talk about five lyric snippets and how they connect to the characters as well as the meaning behind a few of them. It was great to go through the anthology and once again visit with the guys. I’ll be writing a novella about Connor and Forest in the near future so this trip down memory lane has been a great revisit with old friends, reacquainting me with their voices, quibbles, and most of all, their lives.

 

And as usual, there is a giveaway! Please enter to win a $20 gift certificate to the etailer of your choice and be sure to hit up every blog stop to enter every giveaway! Never say no to books. *grins*

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World’s gone too dark, too dark for me to see

I turn and reach out but there’s no one there for me

Every time I hear a heart break, I die a bit inside

I cry for every child, I cry for every bride

Atlas carries the world on his shoulders,

Jesus hangs for our sins on a tree

White doves for peace are in the air

But something whispers we’ll never be free

Light a candle for the darkness

Light a candle for our sin

Hug your nearest neighbour

Don’t forget to let love in

¾    Candles Burning

Ah, Miki.

 

One of the things about writing Miki St. John is being able to plunge past the tangled kelp of his existence and dive into the poet buried beneath the surface. Way deep down beneath the surface. I think the greater purpose of including lyrics in front of chapters gave me the opportunity to show the reader that part of Miki that’s really impossible to write about in third person. So much of his vulnerability is locked away behind thick armor. It’s also a part of him can really only truly be explored through music. Whenever he does open up in the books, it’s normally around Kane or every once in a while another member of the Morgan family. This doesn’t really afford the opportunity to dig down into his more philosophical depths.

 

One of the hardest things about working with Miki’s character is trying to knit together the shreds of the person he would’ve been had he been raised by a good family. There is always the discussion of nurture versus nature and to some extent while I believe nurture goes a long way in shaping who we are as people, I also feel in some ways we as intelligent individuals can shape our own natures. I think the willpower to be want to be is a critical point when discussing character development. Yes, there are outside factors when looking at someone’s character but I also believe there’s a lot to be said about recognizing negativity as a habitual behavior and someone finding the fortitude within themselves to address that kind of ingrained instinct — whether it was caused by familial or social environments — there exists within a person the ability to affect change within themselves.

 

Sinjun spent the majority of his childhood simply trying to survive without giving thought to who he was as a person — actually, no one gave thought to who he was a person — and when he emerged into his midteens, he found himself adrift both socially and personally. I use the word feral to describe Miki and in a different way than Kai is feral. Kai’s wildness comes more from him being raised as a Stalker, a Wild West, no holds barred environment whereas Miki truly had very little to no guiding influences as far as behavioral modification. There was an emptiness inside of him and he was searching for personal meaning when Damien came across of Miki on the fire escape.

 

Up until that time, Miki’s true escape was through books and music, things he could acquire with little to no cost and at the same time have a template of words and emotions to help him frame what his own thoughts were. His communication skills were probably poor and aggressive, not trusting anyone and drowning in the loneliness he couldn’t understand. Up until that point, having other people around him meant pain and suffering so in his mind, being alone should have been Heaven. Instead, it was a part of him that yearned to connect, to be a part of something more than himself. Damien arrived at a crucial moment in Miki’s life. They both are somewhat wary social creatures, needing to belong or at least be part of something, yet at the same time hurting inside.

 

This song really represents Miki discovering not only that loneliness threading through his soul but also understanding exactly what it would take to heal that darkness away. It doesn’t necessarily mean that he was going to become the bubbly, sunshine-smile person but it was literally the first step he was taking to embrace his willingness to reach out and take Damien’s offer of friendship… And eventually, brotherhood.

 

’Nother Sip of Gin by Rhys Ford

A Sinners Gin Anthology

 

For Crossroads Gin rock stars Miki, Damien, Rafe, and Forest, life is a Möbius strip of music, mayhem, and murder. Through it all, the sweet, hot moments between tours with lovers, friends, and family keep them sane, healthy, and happy. This Sinners collection features short stories spanning the entire series, from before the first note to after the lights go out.

 

Purchase ’Nother Sip of Gin at Dreamspinner

Also at Amazon

And other fine online book retailers.

 

About Rhys Ford

Rhys Ford is an award-winning author with several long-running LGBT+ mystery, thriller, paranormal, and urban fantasy series and is a two-time LAMBDA finalist with her Murder and Mayhem novels. She is also a 2017 Gold and Silver Medal winner in the Florida Authors and Publishers President’s Book Awards for her novels Ink and Shadows and Hanging the Stars. She is published by Dreamspinner Press and DSP Publications.

 

She’s also quite skeptical about bios without a dash of something personal and really, who doesn’t mention their cats, dog and cars in a bio? She shares the house with Harley, a grey tuxedo with a flower on her face, Badger, a disgruntled alley cat who isn’t sure living inside is a step up the social ladder as well as a ginger cairn terrorist named Gus. Rhys is also enslaved to the upkeep a 1979 Pontiac Firebird and enjoys murdering make-believe people.

 

Rhys can be found at the following locations:

Blog: www.rhysford.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/rhys.ford.author
Facebook Group: Coffee, Cats, and Murder: https://www.facebook.com/groups/635660536617002/

Twitter: @Rhys_Ford