Welcome
back to the Weird, the Wild, and the Wicked. Today I have the honor of hosting Male/Male
contemporary romance author Andrew Grey with a new release from Dreamspinner
Press, out today! I met Andrew at Authors After Dark 2012 and I was so
impressed not only with his covers but his storytelling style. Mr. Grey is
graciously offering an e-copy of his newest release The Good Fight to a lucky commenter. Please be aware that this is a
gay romantic story. If this is not your cup of tea, just skip the excerpt and
leave a comment for Andrew at the bottom.
Welcome,
Andrew. Thank you for being with me today.
Thank
you so much for having me. It’s great to
be here and it was wonderful to meet you at Authors After Dark.
What
started you on the path to becoming a romance author?
It
really happened by accident. I decided
to get fit after attending my father’s 70th birthday party. I thought I was going to scream after
everyone told me how much I looked like my father. That got my butt moving and I joined a gym. I
needed something to read in the treadmill and discovered m/m romance. I read a great deal and eventually decided to
see if I could write one. I didn’t tell
anyone about it until I was almost half way through the manuscript. But that story led to another and now I doubt
I could turn off the story telling if I tried.
I know
how that is. Congratulations on your release of The Good Fight with Dreamspinner. Introduce us to the main
characters and premise of your story.
Jerry
Lincoln has a thriving web development business and he needs help. His decision ultimately comes down to 2 men,
Bryce and John. Jerry is attracted to
the handsome Native American, John, but not wanting any entanglements, he
initially hires Bryce, but then an additional contract results in Jerry hiring
John as well. A few days later after
work, John and Jerry are sitting on Jerry’s front porch watching a storm come
up when a native American kid about 5 years old wanders by. He’s lost and scared. John gets him out of the rain and they wait
for his mother. Time passes and no one
comes. Jerry is about to call the
authorities when John stops him. Jerry agrees
to wait and the child’s soaked and frantic mother finds her son. But he wonders why John is so adamant.
John’s
sister was killed a few months earlier in an accident and her son and daughter
were placed in foster care. John is
attempting to get custody of the kids, but every time he meets one condition
for custody, another one arises. Jerry
is appalled and as they grow closer, John and Jerry Fight the Good Fight to get
John custody of his niece and nephew.
Did
anything in particular inspire this story?
On my
way home from work, I heard a story on NPR about a Native American grandmother
trying to get custody of her grandchildren after they had been placed in the
South Dakota child care system. The
story lasted just a few minutes, but it stuck with me for weeks and the more I
thought about it the angrier I got. The
result is a great story that I feel very strongly about.
What made
you choose the plight of the Native American children in foster care in
particular?
Injustice
pisses me off faster than anything else I can think of. You see the state of South Dakota has stacked
the deck. The federal government
provides support to the states for children in foster care and they provide
additional assistance for children with special needs. The State of South Dakota declared that all
Native American children are special needs.
The result is that they go into the foster care system and don’t come
out because then the money ends. And in
SD, one of the largest state agencies is Child Services. So the children go into the system and never
come out.
I hope
this story brings some attention to that issue. What other projects are on the
horizon for you that we’re likely to see?
I have a
number of projects including Love Comes
Silently that features a main character who cannot speak, as well as the
next installment in the Range series, An
Isolated Range. I also have the next story in the Love Means… series, Love Means… No Limits. These stories are
all centered on a farm in Michigan that’s run by Geoff and his partner Eli, who
was raised Amish. I adore these stories and always return to the farm when I
want peace. Although with No Limits,
I definitely shake things up a bit.
Thank you
for joining me today, Andrew, and we look forward to all your upcoming
releases!
Thank
you Siobhan, it was wonderful being your guest and talking about a story and a
subject that means a great deal to me.
Andrew is offering an e-copy of The Good Fight to one lucky commenter who lets him know if they've ever read one of his many stories and leaves a valid email address or Twitter handle so we can contact you if you win. The giveaway is open until Thursday, September 6th at 8 pm Pacific time, and the winner will be announced here on this blog on Friday, September 7th.
If you can't wait that long, you can get a copy of The Good Fight here:
And be sure to check out Andrew's other releases from Dreamspinner Press on his Author Page. He has over 50 titles with Dreamspinner. Here are three more you might like:
You can find Andrew at:
Excerpt from
The Good Fight:
“What’s wrong?” I asked him,
looking into huge dark eyes and a dark, round face framed by jet-black hair. I
heard the door of one of the neighbors’ houses snap closed.
“That’s one of them injun kids.
Just leave him alone.” I turned and glared at old Mr. Hooper, anger boiling inside
me. He’d been a grouch and a certified pain in the ass for as long as I could
remember, but this was the first time in my life that I contemplated hitting
the old bastard. Instead I ignored him.
“Are you lost?” I asked him, and
the kid sniffled and nodded. “What’s your name?”
“Keyan,” he answered, and I
looked at John and then back at the boy.
“It’s going to be all right. I’m
Jerry and this is—” I was about to say “John” when he interrupted me.
“Akecheta,” John said, and the
boy sniffed once, and his eyes widened as if he were seeing John for the first
time. Thunder sounded again, and the breeze, which had been blowing softly,
picked up, whistling through the trees and around the house.
“Why don’t you sit with us on the
porch,” I told Keyan. “Your mother is probably trying to find you.” I figured
she was probably looking frantically, and Keyan’s wandering wasn’t helping. If
she didn’t show up soon, I’d call the police. He nodded as lightning flashed,
followed by more thunder. Keyan jumped and squeaked before hurrying up onto the
porch. He stood near one of the front railings looking up and down the street,
eyes scanning for his mother. Bryce came out, and I saw him and John talking
before both of them sat down.
“You two can head home. I’ll take
care of things,” I told them. Bryce peered toward the west, and I knew he was
wondering whether he was going to get home before the storm hit. “Go on, Bryce.
We’ll review things in the morning.” He nodded and said good night to both of
us before hurrying to the driveway and into his car.
The first drops of rain hit the
sidewalk as Bryce’s taillights faded from view. The wind picked up, and I
gently moved Keyan further back on the porch as the sky opened up. “I’d better
call the police,” I told John, and he placed his hand on my arm to stop me from
going inside, shaking his head.
“Don’t,” John said. “She’ll be
here soon.”
I was beginning to have doubts
about that, but agreed to wait a few more minutes. As I was digging into my
pocket for the phone, I heard a cry from the street, and the boy raced toward
the edge of the porch. John stopped him, and a few seconds later a woman had
the boy in her arms. He was crying, and she looked soaked to the skin as she
rocked her son back and forth. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” she
scolded nervously before crushing him into a hug once more.
The rain came down harder,
pounding the ground and pavement. “Please have a seat until the rain stops,” I
told her, and she nodded, sitting on one of the wooden chairs with her son
close by.
“He wandered off and I’ve been
looking for him all over,” she explained, and I wanted to ask what had
happened, but like any mother, she just seemed relieved to have found him. I
turned to John and then went inside and returned with a towel that I handed to
her. She dried her face and hands before handing the towel back.
“Thank you for the towel, and for
helping Keyan,” she said, and I took a minute to really look at her. She was a
striking woman with pronounced cheekbones and huge eyes, with black hair pulled
back into braids that hung down her back. She could have been a movie star, she
was so striking.
“You’re welcome. We found him
fifteen minutes ago, and he’d just had a bit of a fright,” I said, and she
smiled, staring out into the rain. We didn’t talk much, and when the rain let
up, she lifted Keyan into her arms, and after saying thank you once again, she
hurried off down the street.
“That was a nice thing you did.
Thank you,” John told me, and I turned to look at him, confused. “You helped
her.” John looked toward the neighboring porch where old man Hooper looked back
at us. “Too many people are like him.” John inclined his head, and I felt my
righteous indignation rising.
“Dumb old fuck,” I muttered. I
usually don’t swear, but I couldn’t stop it this time. “John, do you mind if I
ask a few questions? I don’t mean anything by them, but they may not sound
politically correct.”
“You may ask anything,” John said
a bit warily. The rain picked up a bit, and the sky darkened once more. It was
early evening, but it seemed later in the darkness.
“Is everyone from your tribe
beautiful?” I realized how that sounded and shook my head. “Not that I’ve met
many Native Americans, but the lady, her son… you.” I knew I sounded like an
idiot and wished I’d simply kept my mouth shut.
“You
think I’m beautiful?” John asked, and I saw him move closer, a smile on his
face, as I nodded. My heart beat a staccato rhythm in my chest, and John’s rich
scent mixed with the fresh smell of the rain. John moved still closer. “I think
you’re very handsome,” John told me, our gazes meeting. I could have lost
myself in the soul-deep eyes that stared back at me.
Thank you so much for stopping by and happy reading! :)
