I’m pleased to welcome yet another new-to-me author, Peyton Landry, to the blog. She’s warm and fun and open-minded, and I hope you enjoy reading her answers as much as I did.
Interview
Welcome! I’ll start off with a biggie. How do you hope your writing influences other people?
My biggest hope is to open the eyes of the mainstream romance reader to what’s out there in the way of love, same-sex relationships, and relationships that don’t fall into the standard box our society seems to crave. There are so many great authors who work outside of that box, both in the realm of LGBTQ Erotic Romance and LGBTQ general Fiction.
Acceptance is a big thing for me, but our bookstores are still segregated, and there is bias in the aisles. Anything in the mainstream Erotic Romance genre is gaining shelf space because of books like Fifty Shades, but anything erotic in the way of LGBTQ is still absent from the standard book store shelf. I’d like my writing to shake up the book store and rearrange it.
That’s fantastic! I think that’s a great goal, and I think we need more authors willing to take that chance. Along those lines, are there any common themes you see in your work?
There are a few. I very much write what I know, so everything is Canadian – language, locations, and traditions. Second, I grew up in a stable, typical, middle-class, two-parent home, so often my HEA’s are mirroring that ideal, even if the orientation of the main characters is not hetero. The biggest is my medical background. Someone always seems to end up in hospital or has some medical problem (lol), and one of my founding characters being a doctor only makes that easier for me to do.
Ha! I can relate to a lot of that. What do you wish people understood about your genre?
What I produce is actually a mix of romance genres. Every novel I write holds two love stories at its core, and the sexual orientation of the couples in each book vary, so what I write doesn’t fit into a traditional literary genre. Some of my novels are m/m & m/f. Some are m/m & f/f. Others are mm/f & m/m. Some are traditional love stories, some romantic suspense. Others are BDSMs. The way I think of it is, the Blurred Lines Series of novels holds the best of everything that is considered romance in the market today. The reader gets to experience something different with every book. But what is assured in my novels is, heat, romance, love, a little chaos, and complex characters who feel genuine and will stir wild emotions within the reader.
So, I guess, I consider my genre as Blended, with the traditional romance genres blurred as one.
That is awesome, and I think it provides a unique reader experience. It delights me. What else do you use to immerse yourself in the story (music, visuals, etc.)?
I find my best inspiration when writing outside, and I do it no matter the weather. And damn, Canada can be cold from October until May, and hot and humid in July and August. But I enjoy the sounds of the yard, the breeze, and the sun on my face. I have gloves, a tougue, a down jacket, and a fire pit for winter. In the summer, I add a fan to my gazebo and enjoy the shade.
Wow! Not sure I could brave the snow to write. What advice would you give someone starting out?
First, live in your mind for a few hours each day, and get lost. It helps if I build the story in my head before sitting down at the keyboard. Second, research, research, and research some more on not only the topics you are hitting on in your novel, but the world of writing and publishing.
With all that advice in mind, how do you handle a story that doesn’t go as you planned?
It’s amazing where a story can go when you let it roam on its own. It’s like the characters are real and deciding for themselves where they will go and how their lives will look, and they often take the writer on a wild journey before they ever let the reader in on what they’re doing. It’s amazing, and I usually let it run, only occasionally slapping the story back into place.
I’m a semi-pantser myself, so I get that.
Okay, time for word sprints!
Coffee or tea?
Tea. Coffee will kill you.
Reusable or disposable grocery bags?
Reusable. Plastic makes me cringe. That stuff stays around forever. And I mean, ever!
Do you enjoy watching or playing any sports?
Hockey, of course!
As a kid, were you a Goody-Goody or a Wild Child?
Wild.
In school, were you more academic, artsy, or athletic?
Still wild. Surprised I’m still alive to talk about it, actually.
Thank you for taking time out to chat here, and feel free to come back any time to tell us about new releases! I know many of my readers will appreciate discovering romance that crosses boundaries.
About the Book
Title: Invited into Your Closet
Series: Blurred Lines #1
Date: November 21, 2017
Length: 95K words
Categories: Romance, MF, MM, LQBTQ, Erotic, Contemporary
Synopsis
Lost in a world of sappy romance since the age of nineteen, bestselling romance author, Miranda Howarth’s career has been crushed by a market flooded with erotica for women. She is forced to stray from not only her innocent genre but from her comfort zone while writing what she never imagined she would – erotic gay romances.
Miranda’s new love interest, criminal lawyer, Spencer Hayes, is hotter than anything she writes for women. Spencer can fulfill Miranda’s wildest dreams, blanketed with the romance she covets, and he has the ideal circle of friends to provide Miranda what she requires professionally.
Introduced to Corbin Macintyre and Mark Castille, a sexy, successful, and monogamous gay couple, Miranda navigates a world she knows nothing about to salvage her writing career. Mark and Corbin are stable, honest, and in love; everything Miranda adores. Corbin is a romantic at heart, and the couple is exactly what Miranda needs to make her romance sappy and her erotica pop. But Miranda’s saviours are the snag in Spencer’s strategy. His long-time friends hold every one of his secrets – the ones that paint a darker fairy tale than Miranda’s idealistic mind is ready for – secrets that will spear Corbin and Mark squarely in the heart when they are forced to choose sides as Miranda’s fairy tale unravels on the steps of their protected Victorian home.
First in a series of three blended erotic romances, Invited into Your Closet is a classy full-length work of steamy m/m and m/f set in Toronto, Ontario and the Niagara Peninsula.
Purchase Links
Amazon | Kobo | Smashwords
Excerpt
“Okay, where were we?” Corbin looks to me, spooning his soup and blowing on it to cool it before tasting.
“Um… you have a partner and have lived in Toronto all your life…”
“Right…” he says as he relaxes into the couch.
Spencer gave me no information about Corbin, and he’s not what I expected. He’s playful and powerful all wrapped into one handsome package. Women must swoon over him with no victory to be had.
“I’m open about being gay. My parents are Irish immigrants. I have three sisters, all married with kids, and my boyfriend, Mark, we’ve been together nine years. My family is accepting of me and my gayness…” He laughs at the term. “They are very involved in my life with Mark, and my parents bug us for grandbabies the same as any parent does of their children. Typical but with a twist, I guess you could call it.”
“You’re not closeted at all, anywhere?” Finally, a sensible question that doesn’t sound like I’m frightened or critical. I’m also relieved I didn’t pull out my notepad, because I don’t think I will need it. I feel a little bit like a sponge right now.
Corbin shakes his head. “Nowhere, although Mark is closeted in some aspects of his life. Around our friends and my family he’s open, but not in his workplace, outside of our home, or with his own family. And I’m okay with that. He moves to his own drum beat, and I don’t condemn him for it. I’m supportive, as any lover should be.”
Lover sends a flutter through my chest. That’s the stuff I need to know if I am going to write about men having sex with men. But how do I ask without sounding rude or senseless? I’m not sure if the porn I watched online over the weekend translates into the bedroom. I know straight porn doesn’t always.
“You really are making this easy for me and difficult on yourself. Just ask, Miranda.”
I drop my shoulders, feeling defeated, and I give in. “Okay. Essentially you have what I need to do this properly. I will be as honest and as open as I can. First, I’m not writing anything at the moment, and I will literally die inside if I’m not writing something. Second, my literary agent has openings for male-on-male-driven erotica. I’ve read some, and I’m intrigued. However, I usually write soft romance between straight couples, and it’s very mild. Erotica in general would be a stretch for me, so gay erotica feels out of my reach. And I know nothing about a gay lifestyle.”
“First, it’s not a choice. It’s the way my brain and body works. I—we—find the same sex attractive. It’s who I am. I know it, have known it since the age of twelve, I would say. There’s a pull there that doesn’t exist when I look at a woman. Don’t get me wrong, I find some women attractive, but there just isn’t a physical or sensual spark to it. I enjoy their company, sometimes envy their perceived position in life as the more emotional of the two sexes, their ability to be weak at times and not be judged for it, but I have no desire to bang one.”
I choke on my soup. That was forward.
Corbin leans, passing me a bottle of water from the delivery bag. “Sorry, I spooked you again.” And he laughs at me as I drink the water, clearing my throat and lungs. “But that’s what you want to know, right? It’s what you need? The sex?”
I shake my head. “Yes, but not just that,” I say, trying to find my voice after choking. “It’s the relationship part as well as the language used, the roles, the day-to-day stuff. I need my work to feel real, and it has to relate to the gay community if they read it. I want it to be genuine, and I need to know not only the everyday details, but the finer details of what happens inside a gay relationship.”
“Okay. So no beating around the bush. Mark and I brush our teeth, eat, sleep, shower, and go to work.” He grins, taking his sandwich out of its clear container. “Just like turkey. Typical. Normal.”
About the Author
Peyton found her love of reading later than most. Sadly, at thirty, she could count the number of books she had read for enjoyment on one hand. But she has more than made up for it in the last fifteen years.
Spurred on by the romance in the Twilight series, she found herself sucked into the romance section, however, the bedroom door being constantly slammed shut was irritating. It forced Peyton into the erotic romance section of the bookstore, finding full access to the intimate parts of love much more enjoyable.
Having exhausted that section of talented writers, and trying her hand at a few straight erotic romances, she found herself again craving more variety and something new. In sauntered m/m – buff and beautiful and sexier than any straight romance, and wow, she was hooked. Reading anything she could get her hands on, she loved the different feel to the stories and the cadence in the writing, plus the sex was hot, but yet, she was still wishing for something more. So she picked up the pen again and gave it a stab.
Instead of writing what the bookshelves were already flooded with, she wrote what the bookshelves were lacking – gay and straight romances, love and sex, blended into one book just as it is in real-life with deeper plots, scorching sex, realistic characters, and a sense of real time, real-life stories. She wrote what she wanted to read because she couldn’t find it anywhere else, because after all, necessity is the mother of invention.
Peyton is married and lives in southern Ontario with her high school sweetheart and two teenagers. She enjoys writing while outside, lounging in a Muskoka chair no matter what the Canadian weather brings, and her love of Canada and hockey keeps her novel settings genuinely Canuck, and the score usually in favour of the Maple Leafs.
Social Media
Website | Facebook (Author Page) | Twitter | Goodreads
