Author: Lynn Charles
Title: Black Dust
Release Date: April 7, 2016
Length: 312 pages
Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27830185-black-dust
Publisher: Interlude Press
Cover Artist: C.B. Messer
Fifteen years after a tragic car crash claimed a friend’s life and permanently injures his then-boyfriend, Broadway musician Tobias Spence reconnects with his former love. As Emmett and Tobias explore their renewed relationship, the two men face old hurts and the new challenges of a long-distance romance. Will Tobias lose his second chance at love to the ghosts he can’t seem to put to rest?
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“I can’t, Emmett. I—can’t go back.”
“Then we are clearly not ready for any sort of commitment.”
“Wait. You won’t agree to—to us—unless I come to Indiana?”
“I won’t,” Emmett said. “It’s all feeling a little one-sided to me, and I’m not okay with that.”
“You don’t understand.”
“I do understand, Toby. I was there for everything that makes you afraid of that place.”
“Yes. You were,” Toby said, taking Emmett’s hand in his. “But my concerns about going back have nothing to do with you.”
“Maybe they should have something to do with me.”
“That’s—” Toby pulled his hand away. “That’s not fair.”
“It really is,” Emmett said. He reached across the table for Toby’s hand again. “Please?” Toby took his hand and Emmett squeezed, holding on as if he might never let go. “We experienced a great tragedy together. And while Scotty’s parents lost their son, no one felt the things we felt. No one else woke up screaming and sweating when we heard the sounds of the crash in our sleep.”
“Emmett—”
“No one else knew the fear of maybe never walking again. No one else lost weight and a semester of school because he might get thrown in jail. No one else felt the things we felt together. That’s all ours. As much as you want to, you cannot take me out of the equation.”
“But, that’s just it, Em. I don’t want to feel those things again. I cannot walk back into that—that darkness.”
Emmett pulled their joined hands to his lips and kissed Toby’s knuckles. “You already have. You have been so enamored—you’ve practically spent this entire week making love to my scars. You’re there. And it’s not so dark anymore.”
“No, because you’re whole again. You’re not broken anymore.”
Emmett saw it, then. He saw in the way Toby had almost obsessed over the ridiculous tattoo and Emmett’s scars, as if begging for them to also bring him the powers that Derek had wished upon Emmett’s body those years ago. He saw it in Toby’s insistence that they start all over as if the accident never happened, as if the years of silence weren’t strung between them like a rope and plank bridge connecting two separate lands.
So he said it. To give it power. To make it a truth they shared—like their shared tragedy. “And you still are. Broken.”
Toby nodded, grasping at Emmett’s fingers like a lifeline. “I’m so—” He took a deep, shuddering breath. “I’m so exhausted making sure no one knows.”
“Oh, Toby.” All the more reason “trying again” was a bad idea. Unready to let go, Emmett kissed Toby’s fingers again. “Then come to my home,” Emmett offered, trite as it sounded in his own ears. “I’ve remodeled the master and made a party room in my basement for the kids.”
“You’ve never told me—”
“It’s beautiful, really. It’s on a couple of acres, and the back of the property is lined with a stream you can hear from the kitchen when the windows are open. It’s very peaceful. It sounds like you need some peace.”
“You deserve a beautiful life.”
“So let me share it with you. At least think about it?”
Toby nodded and began to clean up. “Will you still come see me in San Francisco after school’s out?”
“I don’t know. I’d really like an answer before I agree to see you again.”
“Okay. I’m sorry it’s not as easy as it should be.”
“I am too, Toby. Being with you was always so easy.”
Lynn Charles earned her degree in music education and for many years performed and directed choral music. When she’s not writing, she can be found strolling through local farmers markets near her home in Central Ohio in search of ingredients for new recipes. Her novel Chef’s Table was published in 2014 by Interlude Press.
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Today I’m welcoming Lynn Charles to chat about writing, life, and their current project. Welcome! Let’s talk a little about Black Dust.
What inspired you to write this story?
Around the 15th anniversary of an auto accident that took the life of a cousin of mine, I began to wonder what had happened to the other two girls who were in the car—the driver and the passenger that had some serious, but not life-threatening injuries. While I don’t know the answer for their lives, my wanderings spun themselves into a story.
Is there a character you feel especially connected to? Why?
It’s funny, I answered Emmett in a previous questionnaire, but now that I think more on it, I’m going to have to go with Mac, Emmett’s mentor and co-teacher in the music department at Morningside High. She’s the elder, the more experienced, the one who knows that where you are at 20, where you are at 30 does not dictate the full of your existence. She loves Emmett with a maternal love, but also respects him as a professional. She guides with love, sometimes lays it on a bit thick, but always always wants the best for everyone around her.
What was the hardest part of writing this?
Allowing myself to write crap at first. I’m not sure why it strangled me so with this novel, but I edited while I wrote from the first word until I hit about the 2/3rds point where I finally let go. I also had trouble admitting even to myself that as much as Emmett loves Toby, he didn’t trust him. Lack of trust is a huge thing for me, so I needed to step back and let my characters work through that.
Choose a favorite line or short passage. What do you like about it?
This scene comes after Toby and Emmett have met for drinks in New York after a fifteen year lag. Toby snatched Emmett’s hat in playfulness at one point. The night before Emmett and his high school choir are about to head back to Indiana, Emmett realizes this special hat is still in Toby’s possession. He looks to Mac for a way to slip out of the hotel to go retrieve it.
He knocked on Mac’s door again. “Toby has it.”
“And?”
“And… he’s bringing it to the reception desk.”
“Okay?”
Emmett huffed and turned on his heel to close their connecting door.
“Stop, Emmett. What were you wanting from me here?”
Mac looked ridiculous. She was one-third of the way through a facial treatment that had somehow oozed into her left eye. Her eye was twitching and her brown skin was partially covered with a green, slimy—Emmett sniffed and coughed. “Is that safe for your face?”
“Go get the damned hat, Emmett. This is why I demanded to chaperone.”
“So I would remember my hat?”
“Get out of here. And in an hour, I’m sending Mr. Foster to drag you back by your shirt collar—assuming you’ll still have a shirt on.”
“Mac. This is not about—”
“You came here to make the goodbye better; go make it better.”
“I love you.” He moved in with puckered lips.
“Do not kiss me; this stuff tastes like rotten cheese. Also, if anyone asks, you have a migraine.”
“Right. Thank you. Again.”
I like it because it’s a funny visual scene. I’m seeing her with her facial cream dripping all over the place, her caring exasperation at his lovesick heart, and his own exasperation at himself. They’re delightful together.
Tell us a little about any upcoming projects.
I’m working on my third novel now, as yet untitled. It’s about living after death, about parenthood and embracing the legacy those have left us while also creating one for those who will follow us.
How has your life changed since becoming a published author?
Well, I can say “I’m a published author,” which is something else. While this wasn’t something I was shooting for in my younger years, I feel like I have found something where I’m generally comfortable in my skills (unless I’m having one of those “I’m a fraud” days) and I have support from the right people in the field to make it happen. I also go to New York a lot more often, partially for pleasure, but occasionally for work.
If you could take a time machine back 10 years, what would you tell your past self?
I would tell myself to be more intentional about my time with my friend Lisa (see previous answer about a memorial tattoo) because she won’t be around much longer. I would also tell myself to keep writing because one day it would pay off.
What do you hope people say about you after you’re gone?
I’ve been told this even now, but I hope people will say that I made them laugh. That I helped them deal with the crappy things in life and make them feel a bit less crappy.
Word Sprints!
- Cats or dogs? While I’ve come to like cats in recent years, my loyalty will always be to dogs
- Musical theater or rock concert? Yes, please? I enjoy both.
- Do you have any body art? I have two tattoos, one a g-clef with a ladybug adornment on my right ankle and one on my left wrist—a memorial tattoo of a calla lily and the words “For Good.”
- As a kid, were you a Goody-Goody or a Wild Child? I was a goody-two-shoes.
- Morning person or night owl? I’m more of a night owl
7-Apr: Love Bytes, 3 Chicks After Dark, Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, Hearts on Fire, Jessie G. Books
8-Apr: Happily Ever Chapter, Bonkers About Books, My Fiction Nook
11-Apr: BFD Book Blog, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Oh My Shelves
12-Apr: Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance, Divine Magazine
13-Apr: Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Velvet Panic, Book Lovers 4Ever
14-Apr: Louise Lyons, Unquietly Me, Havan Fellows
15-Apr: MM Good Book Reviews, A.M. Leibowitz
18-Apr: Alpha Book Club, V’s Reads
19-Apr: Butterfly-O-Meter, Three Books Over The Rainbow, Bayou Book Junkie
20-Apr: Up All Night, Read All Day, Outrageous Heroes, Molly Lolly, Mikky’s World of Books, Inked Rainbow Reads
Rafflecopter Prize: $25 IP Gift Card Grand Prize + 5 eBooks editions of Black Dust
First–BEAUTIFUL website! Also, thank you so much for having me today.
Aw, thanks! You’re welcome here any time. And I can’t wait to read this! It looks really good. Ah, more to add to my vacation book list…lol.
Haha! Never too many books for vacation reading.