Don't forget to enter the giveaway at the end of the post for a chance to win either a $25
Interlude Press Gift Card, First Prize: One of five e-copies of 'Bitter
Springs' from the author. Contest closes on December 23rd. The tour is sponsored by Pride Promotions.
Talking with the author:
Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing LAURA
STONE author of BITTER SPRINGS.
Hi Laura, thank you for agreeing to this
interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current
book.
Thank you for having me!
I'm a full time writer, although not necessarily for my own novels. I
ghostwrite, run a media blog and write for an advertising company when not
writing for myself. Bitter Springs
is my love letter to my home state of Texas, and to the trailblazing Tejanos,
the Native Americans and the black emigrants who shaped both Texas and the Wild
West, the folks who often don't get credit for having done so, especially the
LGBTQ and Two Spirits who made up a notable percentage of those communities.
Talk to
us about your characters in this book. What makes them unique?
I jut love Renaldo Valle Santos so much. I love that he's a
twin, I love that he adores his twin sister Calandaría, and I love how much he
admires his brothers. He's a guy who grew up believing his family was filled
with amazing people, and he's not wrong. So often Westerns have a drifter type,
the guy who moves from town to town, never putting down roots, and that's the
opposite of Renaldo. He loves the open land, and loves that his family is there
with him. When he's finally given the chance to consider more than just that
narrow definition of family, it's pretty fortunate that he meets someone who
shares those loves, as well.
What was one of the most surprising things you learned in
getting your book from start to publish?
How long the entire process is! It makes sense: my books go
through a series of three or four edits, then you have a typesetter (which
means you have to go back and maybe change a word or add more to make the page
look right) and all the little choices that come with that. Special fonts? Use
fleurons? And I love knowing that there's actually a word for the glyphs that
sometimes break up sections or head chapters!
Have you ever gone to a convention? If so, how was it? If
not, do you think it’s something you’d like to do in the future?
I have, and they. Are. Awesome. The best convention
hands down is the Romantic Times convention, because it's for everyone:
publishers, authors, bloggers, and most especially the readers. Last year was
in Dallas (my home town) so it was a blast meeting so many folks and spending a
full week doing nothing but talking about the books we love. 2016 will be held
in Vegas, baby, so that is a week that I am eagerly anticipating. Be sure to
come find me if you go, and we can talk about our favorite books while heading
over to the craps table. I mean, me? Gamble? Erm.
Would you like to be a full-time writer?
I actually write for my living currently, although not
strictly my own works. Ghostwriting and copy editing pay the bills, and while
it's not necessarily glamorous, I get a lot out of it. The dream, of course, is
to write enough novels that readers enjoy to be able to devote all of my time
to it. Or, you know, find a rich benefactor with a weak ticker. Anyone know how
to hook up with one of those Billionaire Werewolf Businessmen the Scottish
countryside is evidently lousy with?
Design the ultimate pizza.
For this beauty we're ditching the marinara and going with a
white sauce. (Make a roux, whisk in some milk, parmesan, garlic, olive oil salt
and pepper until it coats the back of a spoon. Do not stand over the stovetop
and eat it with a spoon. Wait, you know what? You do you. I'm not here to
judge.) So we have our dough stretched
and waiting, schmear some of that white sauce on there. Layer some thin slices
of salumi, fresh basil leaves, some onion, spinach leaves, and strips of
roasted red pepper. Put your cheese on this to hold it all together (I like
Parmesan and a little Wisconsin cheddar because it melts so nice). Toss some banana
pepper slices on there, pop it in the oven until the dough starts to get really
brown and the cheese is bubbly.
Alternate fave pizza: Olive oil, Prosciutto slices, spinach
leaves, roasted figs and goat cheese. Okay, who's coming over to dinner? I think
I know what we're having.
Now let's check out Laura Stone's Bitter Springs....
Publisher: Interlude Press
Cover
Artist: Collen M. Good
Release
Date: December 3, 2015
Goodreads
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26223113-bitter-springs
Blurb:
In 1870s Texas, Renaldo Valle Santos, the
youngest son of a large and traditional family, has been sent to train with
Henry “Hank” Burnett, a freed slave and talented mesteñero—or horse-
catcher—so he may continue the family horse trade. Bitter Springs is a
sweeping epic that takes themes from traditional Mexican literature and Old
Westerns to tell the story of a man coming into his own and realizing his
destiny lies in the wild open spaces with the man who loves him, far from
expectations of society.
Pages or Words: 302 pages
Categories: Fiction, Gay Fiction, Historical,
M/M Romance, Romance, Western/Cowboy
Excerpt:
The day before
the wedding, a visitor arrived at Vista Verde an entire week early. Renaldo,
ready to wash up and eat dinner after a long, hard day—his side ached from roping cattle as a part of
Paloma's training, his hands were full of bits of raw hemp from the stock
lassos, and one of the calves had kicked him high on the thigh—walked back
from the barn using his hat to slap at the dust on his chest and thighs. He
noticed a tall, striking young black man standing at the door to their home
speaking with their father. They didn't see many black men this far from
civilization—with the Civil War ending so recently, many were staying close to where
they'd been forced to live, were heading far out west where there were more
opportunities to make a new life or were going north seeking less hostile
society. Who he could be?
He was about as tall as Renaldo, maybe an inch or two
more, broad-shouldered and whip-thin, dressed in well-worn, simple clothes. He
had a close-cropped beard, but instead of hiding the shape of his jaw, it
accented its sharpness. His light eyes, almost luminescent even at this
distance and glowing like amber, were ringed with thick lashes, nearly to the
point of being girlish, but there was nothing feminine about the man. With his
lean but strong-looking chest, muscular arms and curved backside, he managed to
carry himself with a confident air while standing idly; his body was still, but
in a way that made Renaldo think of a raptor sitting on an abutment, watching
and waiting.
“Oh, here he is,” Estebán said, motioning for Renaldo to join them, saying, “Señor Burnett, allow me to introduce to you my son, Renaldo.”
This? This was the legendary mesteñero, Henry Burnett? He couldn't be much older than Renaldo, who realized
his jaw had dropped. He closed his mouth quickly and moved toward them as if
drawn like metal shavings to a magnet.
Burnett, however, looked amused, as the edge of his
mouth quirked up. “Pleased to meet you,” he said, his voice deep and husky.
Renaldo couldn't look away, shocked that his
expectations couldn't have been more wrong. This was a vibrant young man.
But... this was the man he would be alone with on the prairie for
months? His stomach twisted at that thought, and at how unexpected it all was,
causing his heart to race and face flush. Yes, it was unexpected. That Burnett
had come so much sooner than they'd expected had to be why Renaldo couldn't
find his voice and felt so upended.
“Mijo,”
his father said sharply.
Renaldo shook himself slightly, and then nodded,
saying, “Señor Burnett, it's very good to meet you, finally. Please
forgive my shock, as I don't believe we expected you so soon.”
Burnett laughed, a rolling, melodious sound, and
replied, “Well, then just imagine my shock when I come here all the way from
Nacogdoches expecting one Valle man, only to find him gone and you in his
place.” He smiled. “Your padre seems to think you're a better match, so that works for me.”
That smile, bright teeth framed by full lips, eyes
crinkled at the corners, helped lessen some of Renaldo's shock and, if he was
being honest, some of the worry that he carried about spending a lot of time
with a hard, taciturn man Renaldo knew he would be unable to please. At the
realization that this was who he would be with on the plains, just the
two of them with no one else for weeks on end, Renaldo became excited, finally
looking forward to this task. A young man with an infectious grin wouldn't be
such a chore to be stuck with after all.
Buy the Book:
Interlude Press Web Store: store.interludepress.
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1Ybi7Ab
Barnes and Noble: http://www.
Apple iBooks Store: https://itunes.apple.
Smashwords: https://www.
Tour
Dates & Stops:
3-Dec:
MM Good Book Reviews, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Velvet Panic, It’s Raining Men, Hearts on Fire
7-Dec:
Two Chicks Obsessed With Books and Eye
Candy, Unquietly
Me, Elisa - My Reviews and Ramblings, Bayou Book Junkie
9-Dec:
Elin Gregory, TTC
Books and More
11-Dec:
Inked Rainbow Reads, Jessie G. Books
16-Dec:
BFD
Book Blog, Prism Book Alliance
Meet the author:
Laura Stone is a born and bred Texan, but don't hold that
against her. She's a former comedian, actress and Master Gardener, and
currently keeps busy as a media blogger, ghostwriter and novelist when not busy
raising her three children. They're not fully raised, but then, neither is she.
She lives in Texas as
proof that it's not completely populated by hard-line right-wingers. And
because that's where the good tamales are. Her first novel, The Bones of You, was published by
Interlude Press in 2014 and was named a finalist for two Foreword Reviews
IndieFab Book of the Year Award. Laura Stone at Laura-Stone.com
and on Facebook at facebook.com/9LauraStone
Where to find the author:
Facebook: facebook.com/9LauraStone
Twitter: @stoneyboboney
1 comment:
Dawn, thank you so much for having me! I appreciate it. Good luck on the Raffle, y'all!
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