Welcome Tara Lain today

Contest Information is at end of Interview...

Let’s get this party started…can you tell us what genre(s) you write and where you are published from?

I write M/M and ménage – both M/M/F and M/M/M. I haven’t gone beyond three people in my relationships yet. The pronouns must be killers! I am published by Loose Id and the book I am introducing today is my first book for Etopia Press.

What is your normal day like?
I’m an early riser—usually between 5AM and 6AM. I head straight for the computer since I usually beat my husband and puppy up. I do a lot of social media – Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc – and then I write. Both my husband and I are fortunate enough to have our offices in our home. His is two floors down, so after breakfast, some exercise, and puppy walks, we kiss and commute to our different floors. I have this great day job. I own a small ad/pr firm, and have a wonderful partner and staff – but it’s very busy most days. When I can, I write my books during lunch and then again after work. I do a lot of writing on the weekends and am fortunate to be a pretty fast writer. Evenings I write, watch a little TV or read. I go to bed early, so not too exciting. But all that stuff in my head is VERY exciting.  LOL

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I wrote my first book at five so I must have had an inkling. There was this snake named Peter. Hmm, this may have Freudian implications! But then I started writing non-fiction professionally and it was hard to fit in any fiction writing until just a couple years ago when I discovered M/M erotic romance and really wanted to write a book in that genre. I’ve been at it constantly ever since.  Because I still work hard at my day job, I have to fit the writing in all the cracks but it’s so much fun I don’t mind spending time writing when I used to go to movies or shop. Those are very neglected!!  :  )

Where do you get most of the ideas for your stories?

Everywhere! I used to think I could never have enough to say to write a book. Once I turned on that creative faucet, however, it just flows. An event in a restaurant, a friend’s interest in ballet, my love of older woman/younger man stories, a myth I heard on a trip … the stories come from everywhere.

Please tell us about your latest book. Where can we find it?

My new release is a novella called Volley Balls. It’s a M/M/M ménage summer romance and part of the Beach Bums Anthology from Etopia Press. It answers the question, Can a gay boy from Laguna Beach find happiness with an alpha male … or two. The book deals with some serious and universal issues but mostly it’s fun!

It’s summer in my neck of the woods. What do you enjoy doing during this time of year?

I live in Southern California near the beach so this time of year is problematic. We have June gloom that often extends into July when it’s foggy and cool sometimes all day. It doesn’t really get summer hot here until mid-July or even August. But I live in this great town where we have art festivals and a really cute downtown that it’s fun to explore pretty much all the time. So I walk the couple miles into town and explore all the summer fun. I’m an amateur artist (used to do more of it before writing became so consuming) so I love the art classes and shows that the town offers. 

 What are some of your favorite hobbies to enjoy?

I’m a pretty good collage artist and so-so abstract painter. I have a little room in my house where I cram found objects to use in collages. I often make them as holiday presents. I do yoga (used to teach it) and Pilates.

Who are some of your favorite authors, and if we were to visit your home, what books would we find on your bookshelf, end table, floor or e-reader?

I love Emily Dickinson, Jane Austen, Shakespeare, and a big range of playwrights since I studied theater in college. I read mostly in my genre and have so many favorites it’s hard to name them all but I will cite the ones who had the biggest influence on me as I was learning to write erotic romance – Jet Mykles, Lynn Lorenz, and Z.A Maxfield. I’m honored to call all of them friends.

If you could be any character of any book or movie, who would you be?

Maybe an Audrey Hepburn heroine like in the old movie, Funny Face or Sabrina.

What can we expect from you in the future?

Oh, it’s a busy year. My next release is Golden Dancer which comes out on September 27. It’s a M/M/M menage and my first ever romantic suspense. It will be released as part of Loose Id’s special Men of Mystery series. Following that, late in November probably, will be Deceptive Attraction, a M/M/F ménage and the sequel to Genetic Attraction. I’ll round out the year in December with a contemporary paranormal holiday novella called Mistletowed. My WIP is my first full-length paranormal novel and I’ll follow that with a scifi. 

How much of your personality and life experiences are in your writing?

Lots! My characters often represent my world view which is eclectic, inclusive, tolerant, freedom-loving, and passionate about equality and justice. I’ve been lucky enough to travel pretty extensively in my life and have had a wide range of experiences, many of which I use in my books – a heroine who lives in Senegal, a hero in genetic research, a hero in marketing, Australian volleyball players, experience in academia and modeling, and much more. I had a difficult childhood which I translate into my books by creating either complicated families or very happy ones. Families play a big role in my novels.

When did you first think about writing and what prompted you to submit your first ms?

As I mentioned above, I never thought I would want to follow my long days of writing with nights and weekends of writing, but then I read some books by Jet Mykles and thought for the first time that writing something like that could be a lot of FUN! I tried it, and sure enough, it was so fun I didn’t mind giving up sleep and food! LOL. I submitted to Loose Id because they published all my favorite writers. I was so inexperienced, it didn’t occur to me that submitting to a publisher who put out the books of all these great, established people might be a bit hard to crack! LOL But I was lucky and, after a lot of editing and study of craft, they accepted my book Genetic Attraction. It was released this past January. 

How do you keep sex scenes fresh and exciting so they don't become stale or repetitive?

I really try to think of sex scenes as i do any other scene. They are there to forward plot and/or develop character. Only very occasionally are sex scenes just about having sex! Approaching them as key elements of plot and character keeps the scenes fresh because every character is different as is every plot, so that helps make the sex original to that book. And of course if the sex doesn’t turn you on it won’t turn the readers on, just as if the heart-wrenching moments don’t make you cry they won’t affect anyone else either.

If you could throw a party with any five people (living or dead) who would you pick and why?

I would love to have met Emily Dickinson, Oscar Wilde, Audrey Hepburn, Jane Austen, Tennessee Williams, Bertoldt Brecht – can I add Rudolph Nureyev. Oh shoot, too many left out. Would this group get along do you think?  :  )

Anything you want to mention to your readers about?

I am a newish writer as i’ve said – i have six and a half books written as i’m composing this. The idea that people like my books and go to the trouble of saying so is a constant wonder. I appreciate my readers so much it’s hard to even describe. But i would simply like to say “thank you”.

 And now I’d like you a chance to WIN Volley Balls. Here’s how:

Comment on this blog and leave your email address. I will copy it and enter it in the drawing for the copy of Volley Balls being given away this coming Saturday. You’ll be notified by email if you win. Comment and email, simple.

Here’s Another CHANCE TO WIN!

Go to my Book blog http://beautifulboysbooks.blogspot.com. Leave a comment and follow the blog (if you already do follow, it counts). You will receive another entry in the contest this Saturday. The Blog Tour ends this week. There may be other opportunities to get entries, so go to Blog Tour Central at http://beautifulboysbooks.blogspot.com

And enjoy Volley Balls!

Thank you, Dawn, for being such a wonderful host!  :  )

Excerpt ADULT: Volley Balls by Tara Lain M/M/M Menage Contemporary

AVAILABLE from Etopia Press

http://www.etopia-press.net/shopping/pgm-more_information.php?id=47&=SID

David Underwood needs to go to AA – Alpha-lovers Anonymous, but his ogling of two Australian volleyball players on Laguna Beach gets him harassed and terrified he might be in for a repeat of his previous abusive relationship. Australian, Gareth Marshall needs to come out. A lifetime of hiding his orientation from his best friend and volleyball partner, Edge, as well as everyone else around him, has left him hurt and frustrated. When Gareth gets a load of David posing nude as the Michelangelo statue in the famous Laguna Pageant, he knows his hiding days are numbered. But Edge has his own secrets, and may just take them out on the two lovers. And David's ex-lover has some nasty plans of his own. With everything stacked against them, can a gay guy from Laguna find happiness with an alpha male – or two?

Gareth picked a book from a back shelf and flipped through it. “Wow. Japanese porn.”

David glanced and laughed. “Actually, it’s Japanese shunga prints. It was a medieval art form. The Japanese don’t think of erotica like we do, so it’s not really pornographic.”

“But these blokes are hung.”

“Yes. It’s characteristic of the form. No one knows why exactly.”

“Bloody hell, these are hot. Wish they had some of two guys together.”

“They do, actually. It’s hard to tell in some cases because the men are often adolescent boys who dress more like women. In Japan, people were seldom considered homosexual. Only acts were described as such.”

“Yeah. I found one. Oh, shit, this is so hot.” David felt a strong arm wrap around his waist. Gareth pulled David back against a rock-hard cock covered by denim. He leaned hard against David and stuck the book in front of David’s face. “Look at that, love.”

Oh yeah, David hardly had to be reminded. He’d used that very book to jerk off a few times in the bathroom, being very careful not to get cum on the pages. “Yeah, I know. I love that book.”

“Oh, have you been a very bad boy with this book?”

“Yes.”

Gareth breathed hot in his ear. “And where would that have been?”

“In the back bathroom.”

“Oh, you naughty, naughty boy. I think I may spank you tonight for being so very bad.”

David moaned, while trying to keep his eyes on the front door and the few people passing by.

“But I don’t think I can wait ‘til tonight, you naughty boy.” Gareth set the book on the counter in front of David. “Just keep looking at this, love.”

The etching showed two young men, opulently dressed in kimonos, ministering to an older man’s enormous phallus with their tongues. Crap, it was so sexy. Gareth licked the shell of David’s ear. “I want you to know that I have been tested regularly and have a clean bill of health.”

David was gasping now as the thick ridge of cock pushed between his ass checks, still covered in skin-tight stretch denim. “Me, too. I’m clean.”

“Oh good, love, because I want to swallow.”

And before David could think, much less protest, Gareth was on his knees in front of him, back to the counter and pulling down David’s zipper. David kept staring toward the door with what he knew was a stupid grin on his face, as those rough fingers pulled his stiff cock out.

Then warm, wet heat surrounded him. “Oh shit, Gareth.” He forced himself to whisper when he wanted to shout.

He stared at the beautiful etching, then turned the page and saw the huge phallus of one man penetrating the asshole of another, younger man. Oh God, oh God.

“Hi, David.”

He looked up at the open front door of the shop to see one of his friends from the Laguna Art Museum waving as she walked by. Oh, don’t come in. He waved, hoping she couldn’t see his hand shaking.

She stuck her head in the door as Gareth’s mouth moved into serious vacuum mode while his big hand stroked David’s balls. She smiled. “How’s business, kiddo?”

“Uh, swell, uh, fine.” He pointed to the computer a little frantically. “Just doing some inventory.”

E-mail:                   tara@taralain.com

Website:              http://www.taralain.com

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