Author: LE Franks
Title: 6 Days to Get Lucky
Series: A Nick Valentine Story
Book: Two (Series should be read in order for maximum enjoyment)
Release Date: March 2, 2016
Pages or Words: 72,000 words
Categories: Contemporary, Gay Fiction, Humor, M/M Romance, Romance
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7152228.L_E_Franks
Publisher: Wilde City Press
Cover Artist: Wilde City Press
Mixologist Nick Valentine never thought love was in the cards, but after a scorching Valentine’s Day kiss from bouncer Davis “FatBoy” Newman, he’s beginning to think it’s possible. After four weeks of dry spell, Nick’s losing patience—it’s time FatBoy stop acting the gentleman and just throw him over the bar or Nick may just change his mind.
All FatBoy wants is a shot at winning Nick’s heart. As long as meddling bosses, an Irish hurling team and a bar riot don’t ruin his chances forever, he might just get lucky and take the man of his dreams, home.
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Reaching across the empty bed next to me, I rode out the last waves of my dream alone. I could still feel his phantom kiss on my lips and the sensation of a hand stroking along my thigh.
The rest of it was just a blur of emotions and sticky residue on my sheets—though I could guess at it without much effort. FatBoy Newman had been a specter haunting me at work so it was no great leap to assume he’d shouldered his way into my dreams as well.
In fact, he was at the root of my problem: I’d been having a hell of a dry spell.
Four weeks of near misses had done nothing but stoke my bad mood and turn my balls a lovely shade of indigo that matched my jeans…
Four weeks of dashed hopes…
Four weeks since the most romantic kiss of my life…
Four weeks of nothing.
Fuck the South and its mythology of the Southern Gentleman—if FatBoy Newman didn’t stop treating me like a delicate flower and throw me up against a wall soon, I was going to explode.
It was six days until St. Patrick’s Day, and FatBoy had until then to make his move, or I was moving on.
LE Franks lives in the SF Bay area and writes M/M Romance in a unique mix of humor and drama with enough suspense to produce fast paced stories filled with emotion and passion and featuring characters that are quirky and complicated and sometimes a little bit dark. LE Franks is a best selling author and finalist for 2013 & 2014 Rainbow Awards. Her books are available through her publishers at MLR Press, Dreamspinner Press and Wilde City Press and Pride Publishing and online bookstores.
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Today I’m welcoming LE Franks to chat about writing, life, and their current project. Welcome! Let’s talk a little about 6 Days To Get Lucky.
What inspired you to write this story?
It may seem a bit clichéd – but the characters did. This is the sequel to a short novella I wrote at the end of 2012 – 6 Days to Valentine. I wrote that original solely because I wanted to have something ready for Valentine’s Day – that didn’t work out as expected, many revisions later the characters completely took over the story, and what was intended to be a “one off” became the beginning of a story arc that would follow the growing relationship between these two men, using the holidays in a given calendar year to mark the passage of time. Lucky picks up four weeks after Valentine ends.
Is there a character you feel especially connected to? Why?
It’s funny, I’d normally say Nick if I wasn’t really thinking about it – his snarky humor and attitude springs fairly close to home. But it’s really the character of FatBoy – he was never supposed to be the love interest, he really was intended to be just a prop in the corner of the first story – and his calm almost zen-like acceptance of Nick through most of the two books, was a surprise. I don’t know where he came from, so he fascinates me in a way no other character I’ve written has.
What was the hardest part of writing this?
It took me two years after the publication of Valentine to finish Lucky, mainly because I really wasn’t sure how to balance the easy laugh with the heartfelt romance. There are so many one-dimensional clichés around any given holiday – and St. Patrick’s Day has some of the lowest. There are a lot of easy jokes that I wanted to avoid – yet it’s still a romantic comedy. Nick is Mr. Anti-Holiday so the week is a run up to the busiest day of his year as a bartender, as seen through his eyes. But the novel is really about taking a risk and allowing a new relationship room to grow on the outside, while the characters grow on the inside. In the end, it turned into a novel and I hope I did Nick and FatBoy justice.
Choose a favorite line or short passage. What do you like about it?
I calculated the time it would take FatBoy to drive to Knoxville, three and a half hours if he kept to the speed limit, maybe less if he watched the speed traps and was pissed enough to lose some of his famous control.
I waited four before I stopped waiting for the familiar buzz in my pocket.
Pulling out my phone I scrolled through a dearth of voicemail, texts, and emails from the man, and their absence spoke volumes about how much I’d fucked this up. FatBoy was the great communicator in our relationship. He was the patient one, the indulgent one, the kind one.
Two hours ago I’d have bet any amount of money that once he hit the city limits of his alma mater he’d pull into his favorite coffee bar and send me a text letting me know that he’d arrived safe and sound. The fact that he was still so…whatever he was with me, something that had dropkicked his deeply ingrained manners didn’t bode well. I felt like I was in the dock awaiting sentencing.
The only thing unclear was if it’d be a death sentence for our relationship or just a slap on the wrist.
A slap would have called me by now. – 6 Days To Get Lucky
This is the immediate aftermath of Nick & FatBoy’s first fight after Nick breaks their date. It’s a good set up for the kind of fracturing that occurs when real life collides with infatuation –this reality makes both men’s actions/inactions murky – neither enjoys the highroad when it comes to love. I enjoyed exploring that duality with this pair.
Tell us a little about any upcoming projects.
I’m writing a bit of a love story about a community I grew up spending my summers in – it’s amazing the impact a place can have on the psyche of a child. So I’ve set a story about two friends who only see each other during the summer in the Southern Oregon beach town my grandparents lived when I was growing up. I wanted to write a story that I could share with my family and that they’d be able to relate to.
Who has had the biggest influence on your life?
Over the years I’ve spent time with many women older than me during key milestones in my life – none directly related but each had a deep impact in my development: some intellectual, some spiritual, some just as role models – strong women all. So much to admire about them.
Which author(s) have inspired your writing?
DH Lawrence, Jane Austin, and in particular Hunter S Thompson.
Tell us about your favorite literary character(s).
Elizabeth Bennet from Pride & Prejudice. And Harry Flashman from the Flashman series by George McDonald Frasier. Two very different protagonists. P&P taught me about how a romance novel should be written, and Flashman instructed me early on about the love affair with the anti-hero.
Word Sprints!
- What’s your favorite of your published works? The short story – Last First Kiss, part of the Grand Adventures anthology.
- Do the people in your life know about your writing? Yes, and amusingly enough I found out my aunt reads Sue Brown.
- What’s on your playlist? Genghis Khan – Mike Snow, Prayer –Robin Schultz, Boss Way – Canton Jones, Stitches – Shawn Mendes. Also some NIN and Depeche Mode slips in.
- What’s in your fridge? Yogurt, Cheese, really old half a butternut squash, lots of water, tons of condiments. I’m out of olives. That makes me sad.
- What’s the best part of the day? Daybreak, when the birds just wake up and the air is fresh.
7-Mar: My Fiction Nook, Book Lovers 4Ever, BFD Book Blog, Happily Ever Chapter
8-Mar: Bayou Book Junkie, Alpha Book Club, MM Good Book Reviews, Love Bytes
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10-Mar: A.M. Leibowitz, Divine Magazine, Molly Lolly
11-Mar: Full Moon Dreaming, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Havan Fellows, Inked Rainbow Reads
Rafflecopter Prize: 3 codes for a free copy of 6 Days to Get Lucky
LE Franks
Happy Thursday A.M.! Thanks so much for hosting me today!
AM Leibowitz
You are very welcome! This book looks like a lot of fun. 🙂