Give a Warm Welcome to Lee Rowan & a Contest

Contest info at the end of the interview

Welcome to my Reading Nook, Lee Rowen. Please make yourself at home and let my cabana boys/girls get you a drink.

At this hour of the morning, tea, please! 

Comfortable? Wonderful. Now let’s get started.

For readers who may not know about you or your work, please tell us a little about yourself.

I had a pretty boring childhood and yearned for an interesting life, which I found in books.  When I was ten or twelve, I learned that a neighbor down the street was a writer!  And she was just an ordinary person!  That was when I knew what I wanted to do, eventually.  And my life has been interesting, so far—did office work long enough to pay for massage therapy school, practiced massage for 20-odd years, learned hypnosis and qigong, did a fire walk … found the love of my life and moved to Canada.  That's the short version!

How long have you been writing? What genre do you write in?

Writing for myself, probably fifty years.  I started in grade school, but didn't really hit my stride until I was about 16 – my ambition was to write those original novels that were often published about TV shows because so many of them got the characterization all wrong. I didn't realize, of course, that those were usually assigned to reliable hacks who probably never even watched the shows before banging out their 50K words. (I'm looking at YOU, James Blish. Spock Must Die was just awful.) Did a decade or two of fanfiction, which does teach characterization—you get it right or other people tell you why it's wrong—wrote my million words of unprintable practice fic, learned my craft. I'm doing mostly m/m now, mostly historical, mostly Age of Sail, but I've dabbled in other periods and may try something new now that the Royal Navy series is – I think – wrapped up.  I don't care for contemporary much.  Indoor plumbing and antibiotics and the internet are fine, wouldn't want to do without them, but I think the world is moving at a pace that's not really healthy for organic life-forms.

Where do you get your ideas for your stories, characters?

                     

It's usually a variation on "what if?"  Or sometimes "How?" As in, "How could lovers manage to be together when they can't legally do so?"  Inspiration is often a pretty face—Jack Darling looks remarkably like Jack Harkness, for instance—or a picture of an interesting place.

So tell us a little about your latest book. What inspired this masterpiece?

I think of Sail Away as kind of the "family album" of the Royal Navy universe, all the little stories that didn't really fit anywhere in the novels. The Cheyenne edition has a lot more variety than the original which was only briefly in print. It's also got more variety – both gay and conventional romances. The first novella, "Captain's Courtship," is m/f.  Readers only saw him as Will and Davy's commanding officer in Ransom and Winds of Change; this is about how he found his lady—a cutting-out expedition in the American colonies. "See Paris and Live" is mostly m/f, the background story of Davy's cousin Lord St. John, who plays an important role in Winds of Change. But Will, Davy, and the Captain are also in this one, and readers will get a glimpse of the early days.  "Castaway" is a kind of fantasy, set during the time between Will and Davy's first meeting and the events in Ransom.  The short stories are little Will/Davy holiday pieces: Christmas, Valentine's Day, Halloween, shore leave… and Charlie Cochrane has done a sly vignette on one of the less attractive aspects of living in earlier times.

If you had any super powers, what would they be and why?

Oh, what a lovely notion.  The first thing that comes to mind is – the ability to take what anyone says when they're trying to persuade other people – as in a political ad, for instance – and make them speak the truth.  But long-distance telekinesis might be even better…  pies mysteriously squashing into the face of that horrible bible-banger who does the 'god hates fags' thing, all the offshore accounts of the financial bandits suddenly vanishing, leaving them broke.  Or maybe transmutation—deactivate radioactivity, make contaminated water safe to drink… Lead into gold sounds flashy, but you can't drink gold.  What would the world be like if ALL nuclear weapons suddenly became just lumps of metal, if all the toxic junk in our environment broke down into clean soil?  OR – the power to switch off the 'prejudice' button in the human genome so that differences are just differences, not excuses for hate.  What would things be like if all just saw each other as people?

Or healing.  I think if I had to choose, if I had the choice, it'd be healing. A quarter-century of bodywork convinced me that easing pain is the greatest gift.  But if I could have them all, I wouldn't say no!

What genre haven’t you tried yet but want to in the future?

I have a huge alternate-universe story idea – along the lines of some of Harry Turtledove's work—but the research has been mind-boggling. Consider, for instance, how the world would be different without petroleum as fuel!  History has so many threads that when you pull one out you find it's connected to sixteen others…it feels like I can never do enough research for that one.

What is one thing readers might be surprised to know about you?

I was very religious as a child, and kept getting into trouble with nuns when I questioned the way dogma didn't seem to fit what Jesus taught.  Or maybe that wouldn't surprise anyone. 

If we asked your muse to describe you in three words, what do you think they might say? 

She's not WRITING!

What authors can be found in your library of books?

JRR Tolkien, Patrick O'Brian, Elizabeth Peters, Rex Stout, Dorothy L Sayers, Robert Parker, Lois McMasters Bujold, Alexander McCall Smith, Charlotte MacLeod, Georgette Heyer, the Dalai Lama, Aaron Elkins, Letha Hadady, Bill Moyers, Tom Brown, Jr, Moshe Feldenkrais, Tzu Kuo Shih, scads of poets, a ton or so of reference books.  And those are just the authors that spring to mind.  I am a bookaholic.

Have any guilty pleasures you want to share with us?

Brie cheese—we have a wonderful local company—and baklava.  NOT at the same time, though!  Here, have some Brie on a triscuit…

Is there anything you’re currently working on that you can give us a taste of?

I'm still trying to break out of a dry spell and mostly doing editing, but two young paratroopers showed up at the very last minute, after I'd foolishly volunteered for the Macaronis' April Fool Daftfics.   I don't know what their full story is, but I read a lot about WWII years ago – my dad was in it – and there may be a story incubating in the subconscious.

http://historicromance.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/april-fools-day-daftfics-3-other-side-up-by-lee-rowan/#comments

What is your favorite way to relax after a hard day working and writing?

A hot aromatherapy bath and a cuddle with my sweetie.   And teeccino, a terrific roast-melange coffee that comes in mocha and chocolate mint.  I can't drink coffee, so that stuff is nectar of the goddesses.

What is the one era you would love to go visit and why?

That would depend on whether I would go as myself – a middle-aged female with no wealth or position—or if I could visit as a person with some autonomy.  It'd be interesting to go back and see what the real story was behind the Amazons, or visit the Lakota tribe during the visitation of the White Buffalo Calf Woman.  I'm fascinated with Age of Sail, but knowing my luck, if I were a man I'd probably get shanghaied by a press-gang.

 
What is one historical figure you would love to chat with and why?

I'd probably enjoy visiting with somebody who was not much of an historical figure.  I'd rather know how a really good herbalist made her preparations than spend ten minutes with Henry VIII, fighting my urge to give him a good swift kick.

Would you care to mention any upcoming or WIP projects that readers can look forward from you in the future?

The next thing I have to do is a second M/M book to offer to Running Press, by contract.  It'll be set in the same universe as Tangled Web, and might have a cameo appearance by Philip and Brendan, but I'm not sure.  I'm sure that Running Press has dropped the series, so the submission is more a formality than anything, but once that's done I'll have another book to offer.  And I'd like to do a Victorian spy story with Lord Robert & Jack Darling.  And I'd like to find a lover for Etienne Beauchene, from Eye of the Storm.  He was such a  sweetie, and awfully lonesome… and being married to a mathematician, I know how well they can focus on the task at hand.  Ahem.

Out of all your books, do you have a favorite one? If not, then which one is closest to your heart?

Ransom probably always will be my favorite 'child.'  I was writing it at the same time my wife was writing her dissertation, she did my first edit between her own rewrites, and there are a lot of wonderful memories wrapped up in that book.

What character out of all your books is the closest to your personality?

There are bits of me in almost of them.  Will`s idealism, Davy`s snark, Philip`s animal-rescuing streak… I probably wouldn't know which of them is closest—can't see myself objectively.  

Anything else you want to mention

Oh, just that my one inspirational story—Wiccan inspirational--is back in print – Witch of the Wind, published by Silver at Halloween.  (Who ever said ìnspirationals were limited to one belief system?) The cover is deceptive—it was a general one for the Halloween anthology and has nothing to do with my story, which is about a Wiccan priestess.  That`s another set of characters that probably has a full-length story…  someday! 

Thanks for taking the time to be here today. I wish you many sales and wonderful reviews.

Thank you!  And please – wish me the focus and inspiration to get writing again!  Can`t have the sales or reviews without words on paper!

I WILL BE PICKING A WINNER OF A DOWNLOAD OF SAIL AWAY, IN KINDLE OR EPUB FORMAT, FROM COMMENTS ON THIS POST!

Sail Away was due out April 15, but – April Fool!  Amazon got it up on the 1^st, and it can be found in non-Kindle format at All Romance E-books

Excerpt from Castaway: 

Will & Davy have been swept overboard in a storm, and washed ashore on an island, alone.  They use scraps from a broken mast and sail to rig a hammock, and Will, not quite certain why, is convinced they should sleep together instead of trading watches. At this point, they're not yet lovers—Davy has been enduring an unrequited passion for a couple of years.

Will had not reckoned with how difficult it would be to simply lie quietly.  This was different even from occupying hammocks side-by-side, with little more than a foot of space to themselves.  He'd thought he was too weary to stay awake, but the slight movement of Davy's shoulders as he breathed was an unexpected distraction.  Every time he thought he had become accustomed to it, Davy shifted slightly.

Worse, Marshall found himself getting an erection.

His father, an eminently sensible man, had always advised him to attend to such things in private, or, if that were not possible, ignore them and they would go away.  One way or another, his father’s advice usually worked.

Not this time.

He resorted to mathematics, trudging through the times tables up to fifteen times fifteen, to no avail.  He was nearly at the point of throwing off the cover to pace back and forth when Davy suddenly swung his feet over the edge of the hammock and reached for his boots.

"What is it?"

"Call of nature.  The moon's up, I can find the head.”  He scuffled around for a bit, then made his way down the path; Marshall heard him move a branch out of the way.

Marshall quickly took care of his personal difficulty, lay back down, and was very nearly asleep when Davy climbed back into the hammock.

"'Night, Will."

Marshall responded with a grunt.  His last thought was that he would have to come up with a better sleeping arrangement in the morning.

* * *

Archer lay on his side, head pillowed on his rolled-up jacket, and stared up at the stars wheeling above.  He'd hoped his hasty excursion down the path, just far enough that Will wouldn't hear him, would have let him relax enough to sleep.  It wasn't nearly enough.  He didn't merely want the quick release he'd just given himself.  He wanted to roll over and hold Will, feel those long limbs wrap around him, taste the sensuous mouth that hinted at passion beneath the discipline ...

Oh, stow it, Archer, you'll drive yourself mad.  He wondered if perhaps he was already going mad; he could almost smell the heady musk of sex on Will.  It must be his own, on his hand; he hoped fervently that Will's nose was not as functional as it was ornamental.  I wonder if his nose would get in the way of kissing? No, of course not, I could just—

Stop it.  Right now.

Archer sighed.  Somehow, tomorrow, he would have to persuade Will that sleeping together was not a good idea. 

http://www.cheyennepublishing.com/books/away.html

http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sailaway-770185-145.html

www.lee-rowan.net