MEN IN LOVE Edited by Jerry Wheeler

Men in Love edited by Jerry Wheeler is out this week.  It features my story Love in Portofino.  Check it out

BLURB:

Spring approaches with the promise of new beginnings, fresh adventures, and the thrill of romance rekindled or discovered. Hot, sexy guys abound-meeting on the ball fields or the boardroom, at the theater or the classroom-falling in love and lust for the first time or celebrating a lifetime. Come join the rites of spring and indulge yourself in the passion and pleasures of our luscious men in love. Stories from some of today's popular m/m romance authors explore the many faces of men in love: gay for you, seductions, weddings and more.

The official publication date for UK readers is 12th April.
Check it out here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1626397368

A FEW THINGS ABOUT ME

JUST FOR FUN....

One thing I enjoy:

1: Writing. Creating characters and telling their stories. Without it I would probably go mad. If I’m not working on a story, or am stuck with one that’s not going well, I can get very moody.

Two names I am known by:

1: Thom Collins – M/M romantic fiction
2: Thom Wolf – Gay erotica

Three places I have worked:

1: In a hospital.  As a trainee nurse in my late teens. The wrong job for me.
2: Durham Passport Office. Not as interesting as I thought.
3: National Probation Service.

Four things I love to watch:

1: Cookery shows. Bake Off, Masterchef, Nigella Lawson – I love them all.
2: Horror movies – the more scary and intense the better. Nothing worse than bland and boring.
3: Documentaries – especially anything sea related.
4: Live theatre – musicals, plays, ballet, opera

Five things I am looking forward to:

1: My next holiday – a two week cruise
2: The summer – time to spend outdoors
3: Writing my next book. The second in a trilogy – book one is already written.
4: Getting a new kitchen. This can’t come soon enough. It’s the only room in the house I haven’t renovated since moving in 6 years ago and I hate it.
5: The publication of Closer by Morning – summer 2016

Six Favourite Films:

1. Basic Instinct (1992) – my all time favourite.
2. Halloween (1978) - October 31^st is my birthday so I’ve always had a soft spot for this one.
3. The Strangers (2008) – one of the best modern horror films. Very scary.
4. Piranha (1978) I love a killer fish movie.
5. King Kong (1976) – guaranteed to make me cry.
6. Showgirls (1995) the ultimate guilty pleasure.

Seven Favourite Books

1. The Bridges of Maddison County – Robert James Waller
2. Lovers and Gamblers – Jackie Collins
3. Maybe the Moon – Armistead Maupin
4. Jaws – Peter Benchley
5. The Rats – James Herbert
6. Valley of the Dolls – Jacqueline Susann
7. Hollywood Wives – Jackie Collins

Eight Favourite Places:

1. Blackpool, England. – favourite place for a fun weekend
2. Malaga, Spain.
3. Portofino, Italy.
4. Ibiza, Spain.
5. Rome, Italy.
6. Puerto De La Cruz, Tenerfie.
7. Durham, England.
8. Whitby, England.

Nine things I couldn’t live without:

1. My husband
2. My family
3. My writing
4. Books
5. My I-pod classic (I accept music downloads but will never take to streaming)
6. Good wine.
7. Holidays – they make work worthwhile.
8. Sex – need I say more.
9. Pizza – spicy chicken is my favourite.

HOW I CAME TO WRITE M/M FICTION

How I came to write M/M fiction.

I’ve always been into genre fiction, as both a reader and writer. I love thrillers, horror, erotica, spy novels, crime fiction and romance. My first erotic story was published back in 1993 (I was very young – honestly) and I’ve written hundreds of short stories, three novels and several novellas in that time. But I never thought of myself as a M/M author. The term didn’t even exist when I started. Stories about gay men falling in love and having sex were confided to gay magazines and literary publishers. There was no “mainstream” market for these stories back then.

I must have become aware of the term M/M about 3 or 4 years ago. For a while I resisted it. In my ignorance I thought these were just “woman’s books”: gay stories written by women for female readers. I was narrow minded and continued to write my “gay erotica” believing M/M was not for me. Over time as I began to read M/M fiction I realised that it was not so different to the stories I was writing. Over time the focus of my stories had changed anyway, focusing as much on the relationships between my characters as the sex. I was writing M/M fiction at the more explicit end of the market.

Closer by Morning is my first proper M/M novel. From the very beginning I knew this wasn’t going to be one of my usual sex books. There’s sex in it but it’s not the main thrust of things. The book is many things – a love story, a thriller, a mystery, a bonkbuster – but it’s not a porn novel. I like to think of it as a gay romance with shades of Jackie Collins and Harold Robbins. I started writing it as a challenge to myself. After a 20 plus years could I even write a book that wasn’t 80% sex?

The answer was definitely yes. Not only could it write it, it poured out of me. It was the easiest book I’d ever written, it came so naturally. I was a M/M author after all. I loved the book when I finished it, but wasn’t 100% convinced it would find a home. A lot of the M/M novels I read were filled with angsty characters and miserable situations and that’s just not me or my book. There are dark situations within the story and the characters are put through a devastating ordeal, but they aren’t the kind of men who wallow in misery or bicker over the tiniest thing.  They stand up for themselves and fight.

I was delighted when Pride Publishing picked up the book. The doubts I had about the content of the book and whether it fit into the M/M genre, vanished.

Closer by Morning is scheduled for publication this summer. I can’t wait for people to read it. I’ll provide more information nearer the time.