What was the most valuable piece of advice you’ve had from an editor?
Oh my gosh, so many. I try hard to learn what they tell me about structure. They use all those words I remember hearing way back in school (and I mean way back) and some of them I understand. Most I don’t. I can’t even come up with a “for instance”. LOL! Oh well. One thing for sure, I will never get the punctuation. Another thing I do is end up duplicating words. I know this so I go back and try to eliminate as many as I can. But I never get them all. Or typos.
Name the book you like most among all you’ve written and tell us why.
I have loved every book I wrote. I think every author has to. But the one that sticks out for me is my Ice Dragon Series. It is a kings and princes series with magic and soon dragons. I consider this series pretty epic. Mainly, because it is still on-going. I have the cover and premise for the fifth in the series (dragons) but have yet to get started on it.
What does success mean to you?
Success on the surface is recognition, lots of sales and good reviews. I think that too. But since those things will most likely never happen for me, I am happy that I get inspired to write a novel, finish a novel. LIKE a novel I write.
What book is currently on your bedside table?
I have a stack of them! Seriously. Probably a foot and a half tall. Then there are books on the floor too…
Who did your cover, and what was the design process like?
Crizelle Mae is the artist for this novel. It is the first time I used her talent. I had actually had another cover already done for this book, a pre-made that I bought and figured it would work. I had even revealed a small portion of that cover in anticipation of finishing the book and putting it out there to hopefully generate some interest. But then I saw what this artist could do for another author and suddenly wanted that for this book. So, I totally switched gears and had her design this cover. She is amazing.
What secondary character would you like to explore more? Tell me about him or her.
I am thinking Ray needs more story. I am not sure I will give him one, though. I am not big into getting sequels done. (except Ice Dragon) But Ray surprised me with how honest he was, how lost and maybe has some pain in his past. The reason I think him right away is I don’t believe he had enough pages to explain who he was. But talking about pain, Marcus also needed more time. Although we do get to see some of who he is, again he is a mystery in many things and plays a pretty big part in the direction this story goes. ALSO a surprise to me while I wrote this.
Who has been your favorite character to write and why?
Of all my stories, I like Trevor from Ghost Wolf. I loved his snarky attitude and his heart. Plus, it was the first time I did first person. But in this book, I really liked Griffin. He wasn’t like my other “alpha” (usually secondary) characters in that he had some damage that he had to deal with. He makes mistakes and is defeated by things my “alpha males” usually do not have issues with. I liked getting to know him and giving him capacity to not be perfect.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to write for sure. So I looked seriously into being a journalist. I even took this test where if you did well, they would sell you a correspondence course in journalism. I had once worked for a company called Art Instructions Schools and they had a “test” where you would draw this “Winky” (I think it was a dog) and send it in where a real artist would grade your work. If you did well enough, they would encourage you to purchase this correspondence course in art. We are talking quite a lot of years ago. Here’s the thing, no one ever “failed”. I don’t know for sure, but I think everyone got that phone call. That’s what they did back then, call on the phone. Well, with my little journalism test, they sent it back to me and told me that journalism was not for me. I was shocked. They didn’t even ask me to buy their course. Just go away. LOL!
Tell me about a unique or quirky habit of yours.
I feed the possums and raccoons at my house. I started putting cat food out on the front steps for a stray cat. And then several stray cats. But occasionally our security cameras would pick up raccoons and possums also eating the food. We have videos of baby raccoons, too. So sweet. So I continued, even after that particular first cat didn’t come anymore.
Were you a voracious reader as a child?
Yes. I read all the time. Mostly comics. I had a huge collection until my mother gave them to a friend of hers for a classmate of mine who got sick and had to stay in bed for a while. Unfortunately, I never got them back. I can’t imagine what they might have been worth today. When I was older, I couldn’t get enough books. I had stacks of them from the library at school. When I would get into trouble, which honestly was not often, my mother would park me in front of the TV and not allow my comics or books. Yep. For me that was huge punishment. To this day I am not a “park in front of the TV” person.
What other artistic pursuits (it any) do you indulge in apart from writing?
I used to paint in oils. I loved it. I love watercolor. I love drawing. I owned a candle factory, as well, for a number of years, so I really let my imagination for crafts go wild. Right now, we make nautical clocks and buoys and sell them on Etsy. I still paint and draw.
What qualities do you and your characters share? How much are you like them, or how different are they from you?
Usually my hero, the absolute main character, is a lot like me. At least I would like to think I am like them in personality. The way they are different is that they are definitely smarter. One of the wonderful things about writing, not only do you know the ending, create the ending, your characters get to be like “I knew that”, “I can navigate that”. So very often times I do not have that talent.
Noah is Griffin Colewater’s best friend and absolutely no one knows him better. Certainly not any of the parade of girlfriends he’s had over the years. Even his most recent, Lauren, whom he has been with the longest.
And just broke up with.
Does it make Noah a terrible friend if he’s just a little bit thrilled about that?
It doesn’t really matter, though. Griffin is the oldest son of the owners of Colewater Properties, a multi-gazillion dollar hotel conglomerate. He is also next in line to take over when his father retires which makes Griffin the most sought-after bachelor in the city. So, another girl is right around the corner.
The issue? Griffin’s mother claims to be desperately tired of his playboy antics. She is demanding Griffin settle down with a wife and family “or else”. Being that Griffin has never actually been able to please his mother in anything, Noah doesn’t understand Griffin’s continued hopeless mission to make that happen now.
Which makes the huge charity bash his parents are throwing a bit problematic. His mother is insisting on meeting Lauren. Yep. Griffin has yet to tell her he’s single again. And he insists he’s not going to. Instead, Griffin does something insane. He hires a fake girlfriend. Yah. A fake Lauren. Well ― not fake. She’s a ‘Lauren’, too. But that’s not the point. Griffin asked Noah to provide the “girlfriend for months” knowledge to Lauren number two so she could pull this whole ‘girlfriend’ thing off.
Honestly. What can go wrong with that?
Um… a lot.
Because Griffin is not only Noah’s very best friend in all the world, Noah is also so crazy in love with the man, he hurts. A stupid stunt like this could reveal that very thing and freak Griffin’s parents out so badly, they’re going to hire a hit on Noah. But the bigger problem in Noah’s mind? Griffin is totally not gay and if he ever found out Noah’s true feelings?
Damn.
It could ruin everything.
Warning: rough childhoods.
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“Ahhhhhhh!”
The scream jarred Noah awake and nearly off the couch. With eyes wide and his heart in his throat, he darted his gaze around the large living room, expecting big foot or murderers or at the very least a hot guy running naked across the floor. But there was none of those things. Just Griffin’s latest, his longest actually, standing there trying to cover her nakedness with perfectly manicured fingers. Her hair was only a bit out of place. However, she had no doubt gone to bed with her makeup on.
“What’s wrong?” Noah croaked out, trying to calm his heart as Griffin came tearing―okay, stumbling―up the hallway behind her, yanking on a robe.
“Lauren? What the fuck?” Griffin made it into the living room to stand beside Lauren. He, too, had perused the room with eyes that were barely open, squinting against the bright early sunshine already pouring in the windows. “Why are you screaming?”
She pointed a finger, having to bare a plump breast to do it, right at Noah. “There’s a man in our house.”
Griffin glanced at Noah and grinned. “Where?”
“Funny,” Noah deadpanned as he flopped back into his pillow, blood still pumping loudly in his ears. “What time is it, anyway?”
“Fuck,” Griffin grouched. “Six. Lauren, what the fuck are you screeching at six in the morning for?”
“I’m not screeching!”
Oh, she so totally was, and it grated on every nerve in Noah’s body.
“There’s a stranger sleeping on the couch in my living room!” she insisted.
Wait. Her living room?
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Griffin yawned. “That’s Noah. You know Noah.”
Which was true. It would be hard not to know him if anyone met Griffin even a little. They were pretty much inseparable.
“How did he get in here, and what is he doing in our condo at six in the morning?”
“He has his own… wait…” There was movement and suddenly Griffin was hunched down near Noah’s head. “Hey buddy, she has a point. What are you doing here? What happened?”
“I was kicked out,” Noah moaned sleepily.
“What? That asshole!”
“Who’s an asshole?” came that shrieking voice again. Evidently, she felt it safer to shout from a distance.
“Can you tell her to tone it down a bit?” Noah whimpered.
“I can tell her. She won’t listen.”
“Quit talking about me like I’m not here!”
“Pretty tough to forget that,” Griffin murmured.
She squealed again but seemed to storm off because it was blessedly quiet again. Noah really did need to learn to like her better. Or at all. The problem was, she hated Noah.
“You’re going to pay for that,” Noah said.
“Believe me, I already am. Tell me what happened.” Griffin picked Noah’s head up, scooted himself under it so he was sitting on the couch and laid Noah’s head in his lap.
“You need to go do this with Lauren.”
“Do what? Besides, I want to find out what happened.”
Damn. Noah should never have come here. He wished now he had barged in on Genny and Marcus instead. Of course, he didn’t have an open invitation there like he did here. Still… “Sorry for… well, ruining your morning with Lauren.”
“You didn’t ruin anything. Quit stalling. Was it that asshole, Sabastian?”
“Who else? He…”
“He what?”
“He’s a jerk. They’re both jerks. They threw me out last night.” Literally. But he didn’t say that out loud. He was still pretty freaked out about it.
“Fuck, Noah, you’re the one on the lease. Not that asshole you let move in with you. Why do you…? Wait. You’re shaking. What else happened?”
“I’m… just cold.” Lie.
“Hmmm. Well, never mind. I’ll deal with it.”
Oh shit. “How?”
“I don’t want you to worry about it.” He patted Noah’s head and smoothed his most likely wild hair. “What time did you get here?”
“About two.” He had somehow misplaced his wallet. Most likely it was laying on his living room floor having fallen out during the scuffle. Having no money or bus card meant he had to walk instead of being able to take a taxi or even mass transit. Thankfully the doorman knew Noah, and Griffin had left explicit instructions with the building’s staff that if Noah ever needed anything, including a spare key card to Griffin’s condo, he would be given it.
“Really? Wow. Go back to sleep.” He continued to stroke Noah’s hair. “Even I got more sleep than that.”
Noah opened his eyes and turned his head to stare up at Griffin. “Are you serious? Two o’clock, Griffin. You guys were going at it like… like…” His anxiety tamped up a bit. “Well, whatever. I shouldn’t have come.” Especially since it always depressed him to be reminded Lauren was front and center. And other things.
“Of course, you should be here, you know that. Why didn’t you just sleep in the guest bedroom?”
Noah rolled his eyes and turned back away. “You mean the one next to your room? You know why.”
Griffin harumphed. “Really? What? We were noisy?”
“You were deafening. Earsplitting. God. I hate the sound of hetero sex.”
I am Hurri Cosmo and I live in Minnesota where I hold tight to the idea that here, where it’s cold a good part of the year, I won’t age as fast. Yep, I avoid the truth as much as I avoid mirrors. But one of the reasons I love writing is reality doesn’t always offer up a “happily ever after” and being able to take control of that is a powerful lure.
Being a happy ending junkie, writing just makes them easier to find. Oh, I don’t mind “real life” and I do try to at least keep it in mind when I write my stories, but I truly love creating a wonderful couple, knowing they will fall in love and have their HEA. Every – single – time. And, of course, that is exactly the reason I love reading this genre, too.
Give me a glass of red wine, some dark chocolate, and my computer, whether I am reading or writing, and I will entertain myself for hours. The fact I actually get paid to do it is Snickers bars on the frosting on the cake.
Author Website: https://www.hurricosmo.com
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