Author Michael Mandrake is here talking about their new release from Pride Publishing, On The Run as well as those pesky plot bunnies.
The Dangerous
Plot Bunny
Sharita
Lira
Greetings!
It’s September already? Good grief. Most of the year is gone, quite
unbelievable that 2015 is flying by, but we say that every year. And here I sit
at my computer with rewrites, edits, new stories, but then the plot bunnies pop
in my brain.
Doesn’t
matter to the plot bunny what you have to do. Edits? So. New stories waiting to
be write? Who cares. Here’s another 10! They come when I write, sleep, sometimes
while driving and I have to ignore them or I might have an accident.
What the
hell? Do they plan these attacks? I certainly think they do. When I least
expect it, I’ve got ideas from a photograph, a song, scenario, a sentence or
word, and if it’s really good it’s ready to be written in synopsis form with a
couple of pictures for inspiration. If not, the thoughts are scribbled in my
notebook or in my new story folder until they become complete thoughts.
Do those
ever develop into stories? Yeah they do. One started out as a very small idea I
wrote in my notes; an interracial couple meets when one man notices the other’s
apartment getting burglarized. That turned into 3 books which I’m downsizing
into one. When will I have time for this? Dunno!
The things
multiply and can become vicious, but tell me, where would authors be without
them? When in a slump, some call it writer’s block, other’s call it, well, a
slump, they need these to jumpstart their writing. If you’ve been devoid of
ideas, then they’re good to look back on. Mind you, this rarely happens to me.
I think I have enough stories to last quite a while, but if it does, I’ll look
in the book and my ever growing synopsis folder which is currently full of half
done ideas. Oh and don’t even mention the ones that are started and unfinished.
Those just need serious edits and would probably be ready if I took the time,
but again, when will this be?
Hopefully
soon, but don’t quote me on that. Seemingly, everyday a new plot bunny attacks with
a new idea for me to ponder over.
What about
the rest of you? Authors, what do you think about the plot bunnies? Do you hold
on to them? Have little scraps of paper waiting to be read? Tell me. Thanks for
listening.
On the Run
Protekt Series
Pride Publishing
Tagline: Who
would’ve thought that a British hit man would fall in lust at first sight with
an American felon? This desire could become deadly for both.
Blurb: Aiden Moriarty is a Florida ‘herbalist’ who developed a
performance enhancing drug many athletes have used. One of them is baseball
star Ivan Salerno, who was caught using the drugs and is now on the brink of
getting suspended. Because of Ivan’s connections with a rogue mob boss, Aiden
is taken into a witness protection program, working along with baseball higher
ups until he testifies.
The mob boss, Augustine Ora, has hired former British
military officer and his best hitman, Devlin ‘Brit’ Crawford, to do the job.
Ora has instructed Devlin to go to Miami, kidnap Aiden and take him to the
local airport to be transported to Havana ,Cuba, to be executed by Ora’s top officers.
However, when Devlin receives the email, the pictures of
the blue-eyed felon catch his eye and he is moved to go in a different
direction. Instead of delivering Aiden to the airport, he has thoughts of
taking him away and saving him from Ora’s wrath.
This move puts him, Aiden, as well as his assistant
Miranda Ashley in huge danger. Will Devlin keep Aiden safe despite the odds or
will he fail, causing Ora and his men come after him?
Links
Excerpt
“I s’pose we’re done here?” Devlin Crawford
leaned back in his chair, facing his boyfriend—or make that ex-boyfriend, since
he’d taken him out on a date specifically to break up with Devlin.
Bloody
bastard.
William Gather looked sheepishly away from
Devlin, not meeting his gaze. “Look, I’m sorry, Dev. I can’t handle you being
gone all the time on these secret jobs. It’s killing me not knowing what you’re
doing or who you’re doing it with−”
“Who I’m doing
it with?” Devlin burst out in hysterics. “Are you jealous, William? If you are,
you shouldn’t be. In all honesty, most blokes are afraid of me. They think
because I’m a tall, well-built black man I’ll pummel them after I plow their
arses into the nearest leather sofa. And then they hear me speak and find out
I’m college educated, making a little over six figures doing”—he hesitated to
say more—“whatever the fuck I do, but none are even remotely interested. Like I say, I give off that aura of fear and
intimidation, but I’m neither of those.”
To distract himself from the lie he’d just
told, Devlin reached for the bottle of fine white wine and poured a glass for
William then for himself. “You’re being absolutely ridiculous, but if you’re
telling me you want to leave me because of my job, suit yourself. I will do nothing to stop you.”
William’s face pinked and he accepted the
drink. He swirled his glass around, seemingly thinking about what Devlin had
said to him. “I don’t think I am, Devlin. I care for you a lot, but you’re gone
weeks on end and you can’t even tell me where you are.”
Devlin rolled his eyes and his mouth tensed.
He’d hated when this conversation came up with any of the guys he’d dated in
the past. “I explained this to you before we started seeing one another. My job
is top secret and I can’t reveal much for fear anyone around me might be
affected—and not in a good way.”
William sighed after taking a long sip.
“Well, I can’t handle that, Devlin. I want us to have total open communication
throughout the relationship. You’re gone too often. You can’t talk about where
you are. You don’t call much and when you do it’s like speaking in code or
something. I can’t handle that anymore, Dev.”
“Then leave.”
Devlin glared at William from across the table and finished his drink. No way
would he be upset about his relationship failing when this man was being
totally unreasonable. Besides, he had to talk with the boss again to go over
his next job—kidnapping a certain someone in the States and take him somewhere
so they could do whatever the hell they wanted with him. No doubt something
involving drugs, and he’d mentioned being paid handsomely. Who needed a man
when he could buy one for a night or
two?
“Fine.” William rose from the table,
throwing a couple of notes down. “Goodbye, Devlin, and don’t bother calling me
back because I won’t answer.” He stormed away from the table in a huff.
“Bye.” Devlin saluted William mockingly,
shook his head, and glanced at the notes on the tablecloth. “You’ve always been
such a cheap bastard, William Albertson.” Devlin plucked a couple of bigger
ones from his pocket and tossed them on top of William’s offerings. “We didn’t
even get to have dinner, but I suppose it doesn’t matter.” Devlin scooted the
chair in the opposite direction and got up, buttoning his jacket.
“Sir, sir, um…” The waitress called out to
him, looking perplexed. “You and your partner aren’t dining this evening?”
“No, ma’am, we are not. Just consider this a
nice tip for a job well done on your part. Keep the rest of the money for
yourself, luv, and a word of advice… Don’t get involved with cheap men. They’ll
take advantage and leave you when they don’t get their way.”
Devlin winked at the young woman and heard
her sigh as he walked toward the door of the fancy establishment.
I’ve
still got it.
Devlin smirked to himself and adjusted his
scarf around his neck to protect himself from the damp evening air. Once he’d
made it to the exit, the strong wind gust nearly blew him and the door away.
“Bloody London.” Devlin clicked his tongue
against his teeth and glanced up at the heavy amount of gray clouds in the sky.
He hadn’t turned on the television to watch the weather, but by the looks of
it, a heavy rainstorm was about to occur.
Devlin hadn’t driven, thinking he would be
spending the night with William prior to returning to his loft to pack for his
next trip. Now, with those plans foiled, the most important thing was to get
back to his place without getting soaked.
Just as the first few drops fell on his
head, Devlin placed two fingers in front of his lips and whistled for a cab.
When he put his hand out, one rounded the corner, nearly splashing him with the
excess water in the gutter.
Devlin hopped back and frowned. “Watch it!”
The cab driver rolled down his window.
“Sorry, sir. Where ya off to?”
Devlin hopped in, closing the door behind
him. “Meranti House on Lehman Street, please.” Devlin recited his address and
brushed the small pellets of water off his overcoat.
“Right away, sir.” The driver seemed to perk
up when he heard Devlin speak of the nicer location. People were always surprised
when he said he lived in one of the most affluent spots in London. Even more so
when he pulled out the large wad of bills folded inside a gold money clip.
Devlin had long tired of people misjudging
him because of the color of his skin as well as his muscular build.
Immediately, they assumed him to be a poor thug from the London ghettos instead
of the child of a wealthy businessman.
That was the thing about his current
position with Boss O, as he called him. He made no assumptions and he knew
Devlin’s talents as a weapons expert along with his propensity to perform tasks
without getting caught. Augustine Ora acknowledged Devlin as an intelligent
bloke, and he used it to benefit them both. Devlin liked that and he
appreciated being called his head honcho because he liked to feel needed.
That, along with various other tasks Ora
asked him to execute, made Devlin’s days a lot easier to deal with. It also
filled the void of not having a solid relationship with someone, something that
had eluded Devlin for most of his adult life.
Bios
Michael Mandrake pens
complex characters already comfortable with their sexuality. Thorough these, he
builds worlds not centered on erotica but rather the mainstream plots we might
encounter in everyday life through personal experiences or the media. To find
out more please visit Michael Mandrake at Wordpress
Author Sharita Lira: In one word, crazy.
Just crazy enough to have 3 4 different muses running around in her
head, driving her to sheer exhaustion with new plot bunnies and complex
characters.
In addition to being a computer geek and a
metalhead, Sharita loves live music, reading, and perusing the net for sexy men
to be her muses. She’s also a founding
member and contributor to the heavy metal ezine Fourteeng.net.
For more information, please visit http://www.thelitriad.com as well as her Facebook fanpage, The Literary Triad.
Links
The Literary Triad - http://www.thelitriad.com/#!
Michael Mandrake – http://michaelmandrake.wordpress.com
Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/authorslira/
Instagram - http://instagram.com/sharitalira/
Ello - https://ello.co/srlmort71
Twitter - http://twitter.com/#!/rawiyamikembl
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/TheLiteraryTriad
Goodreads – Michael M https://www.goodreads.com/MichaelMandrake
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1 comment:
Thank you so much for hosting me.
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