Blog Tour, Interview,Excerpt & Giveaway:
Not So Sincerely, Yours by A.M. Johnson

Author A.M Johson kindle offered to answer some of our questions 🙂

What inspired you to crossover from MF romance to MM romance?

Honestly, it wasn’t a conscious choice. A lot of authors are awesome at trope writing and planning and some just go with it. I usually will get an idea in my head and run with it based on what the characters’ voices say to me. For me it’s about the story whether it’s het or queer, if the characters speak to me, I listen. Does that sound hooey-dooey? I plan to write more queer romance/stories, beyond just MM, FF being one that is near and dear to my heart. I always insert my life into my books in one way or another.

To answer the question about inspiration, I can say it came from personal experiences. My first MM book
“Let There Be Light” is a coming of age, bi awakening story that came from a place of reality in some respects but manifested in a way that I felt safe and comfortable writing. I used to work as a nurse in an inpatient pediatric psychiatric unit, and I worked with a lot of the LGBTQIA+ kiddos, and they inspired me to step out of my closet a little. They were struggling but had so much courage. I admired that and wanted to write something they could read and relate to. I am not out to a lot of people in my family (most of whom have not read my books) for a lot of reasons, reasons I feel are private. But I will say, when I was younger, I identified as bi-sexual to those I trusted, but as I got older, I realized the “label” didn’t fit, and lucky for me the spectrum of sexuality grew in a sense of knowledge and understanding. I now consider myself demi/pan. Though I am married to a man, gender has never been something that has made my romantic choices for me. If I fall for a person, it’s not based on gender. The point of this long ass ramble, lol, is that for me, writing queer characters is something that is a part of who I am, a part of the world we live in, and I want to be as honest in my writing as possible. I just needed a safe space to do it and I found it in the amazing MM community =) 

How is the writing process different for you when writing MM versus MF? Have you had to do additional research? Do you approach dialogue or other character dynamics differently?

The process is about the same, in the sense of character development. However, the issues the characters will have to face may differ greatly, especially if one of the characters is in the closet. I like the dynamic between same sex couples because they have more challenges (for the most part) than a cis/het couple would regardless of whether or not they are out. The world is not as accepting as it should be, and I love found families, and coming together in a community kind of way, which is missing, to some extent, from het romance.   

As far as research goes, I have a couple of sensitivity readers and some good friends who happen to be gay males that help me when it comes to the sex stuff. My lack of a prostate and other appendages kind of hinders my knowledge a bit ha! And as weird as it sounds, gay porn helps a little, but more in a sense of “is that position even possible?” My dear friend Braxton helps me a lot when it comes to the sexy stuff, and he tells me I’m too vanilla all the time. I swear my goal is to prove him wrong! He was so proud when I used a cock ring and a butt plug in one of my short stories *blushes*

Writing in a male POV is probably the best thing ever. I think it pushes me into new realms of writing. I LOVE writing dialogue and banter, and I hope it feels authentic. It’s a lot of fun to break from my usual headspace and get to play a bit. I usually don’t think I’m very funny, but when I’m in a male character’s head I tend to be snarkier.  

Do you plan to continue writing MM? If so, do you have any future projects in the works?

Oh yes! And more LGBTQIA+ stories as well. I have a few books planned in the For Him Series. Two at the moment. And I am working on a spin off series with one of the characters from Not So Sincerely, Yours. Nora will be getting an FF, but her brother Luka (readers have not met him yet) will get a best friends to lovers, second chance romance first. Luka and Rook’s story, I hope, will be out this year. I also have a secret gay romance project I just started working on that I truly hope comes to fruition, and I hope to take my MM dystopian short story I did for an anthology this year and make it a full length novel. I have two other books that I already started but have been put on hold for now. One of which is a YA romance between a cis gay male and a transgender male, however the book will not be in dual POV. This book is a heart project and I want to dedicate all my time to it.

Oh and a Hockey Romance and a NA Nerd/jock romance as well!  I have too many ideas if I’m being honest!

Who is your favorite LGBTQ+ character from TV, movies, or books?

Elio from “Call Me By Your Name” is one of my favorite ever LGBTQ written characters. He feels like a part of my soul and when I read him, I related to him in a way I have never related to a character before. I love the series on Hulu “Love Victor” and obviously anything written by Becky Albertalli. She is an inspiration to me, and her recent coming out story really hit home for me. Also, Evan from the “The Dangerous Art of Blending In” by Angelo Surmelis. The lesbian couple form “Queer as Folk” (90’s version, I’m old) is also a favorite of mine, oh and “The Fosters!!”  

Love Always, Wild contains lots of angst. Do you feel readers connect with angsty books more because of how emotional they are?

I giggled when I read this question because when I started to write LAW I told myself, “Don’t be angsty as fuck this time.”  I love writing emotional and relatable stories because I do think, on some level, we can all relate to angst. I love to laugh and cry when I read. I like my heart to hurt and heal. And when I write, I honestly just tell the story in my head and try to never add angst for angst sake or angst that doesn’t make sense to the character. But sometimes it’s really nice to just write a story and have fun with it, and that is what I did with the second book after LAW, “Not So Sincerely, Yours.” Ethan and Anders’ story is light and fun. It does have a couple heavy-ish topics, but for the most part it is the fluffiest I have ever written, and wow was that such a breath of fresh air to write! But that being said, I do have a coffee mug on my desk that says Reader’s Tears… I’m 41 I gotta stay young somehow. =) 

For Him, Book 2

Ethan,
About last night… I could blame the bourbon. I could say I let things get out of hand, that I should have never called you, but I’m done lying to myself—to you. I know what you’re going to say. You’re not very good at keeping your opinions to yourself, but this can’t happen. It’s inappropriate, at best. I’m your boss. Not to mention, you’re clearly still hung up on him. I’m not a consolation prize.

Anders~

**

Anders,
You didn’t think it was inappropriate when you had your tongue down my throat, but I digress. As for your accusation, I’m not the only one stuck in the past, but at least I’m not running from it. I can’t believe I’m about to say this… Maybe you’re right. You shouldn’t have called me. Especially if you never intended to own it. Own that you wanted it to happen. Admit that you wanted me.

Not so sincerely,
Yours

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Ethan. Leaning back in my chair, I took in his appearance as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his gray slacks. His hair was damp, a few stray pieces falling over his forehead, dusting his brow line. The sleeves of his blue button down were rolled to his elbows, exposing the lean muscle of his forearms. His pants hugged his thighs as he walked into the room. He even had on a tie. I’d be lying if I said he didn’t look fantastic. His usual cocky demeanor faded as I met his eyes.

“You showed up.” Ethan’s scowl was comical.

“On time.”

I checked my watch, knowing it would piss him off. I couldn’t explain my need to rile him like I did. Our last few email exchanges had made me laugh as much as they’d infuriated me. He was flippant in a way I envied. It made me want to pick at him even more. It was too easy. As predicted, Ethan’s shoulders stiffened, and he sighed.

“I’m running for coffee with Nora,” he said, the strain in his voice evident. “Did you want us to grab you anything?”

“That’s thoughtful of you,” I said and meant it, despite my sarcastic tone. He’d made an effort today, showing up dressed to kill. It pleased me.

“Thoughtful?” Ethan’s lip twitched, holding back a smile. “I figured it was part of my job.”

“Oh…well…”I dropped his gaze and opened up the files I needed for my morning meeting. “In that case, I’ll have an Americano.”

“Do you always get the same thing?”

“Yes…Why? Is that a problem?”

“It’s boring. You should try new things, Anders. You might be surprised.”

I raised my eyes and found his smug smile had returned. Was he mocking me or flirting? Both were inappropriate. “I don’t like surprises. They leave too much room for disappointment.”

“You’re depressing before you’ve had coffee.”

“Usually,” I said as sardonic as ever. He laughed, soft and husky, unflappable. “I’ll make sure they give you an extra shot of espresso then.”

To celebrate the exciting release of Not So Sincerely, Yours, A.M. is giving away an Exclusive Paperback Bundle  featuring a copy of Not So Sincerely, Yours AND Love Always, Wild in BOTH original covers and exclusive special addition covers only available on Amanda’s website!

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