Guest Author Day with Tinnean

Happy Guest Author day here at the Reading Nook and today we are sitting down with author Tinnean to chat about a variety of things and their latest release, Destiny's End. So take it away, Tinnean.

First I’d like to thank Dawn for having me here at the Café. It’s always a pleasure. J I’d also like to explain what I’m doing and why. This year is a big birthday for me, so with the gracious consent of JMS Books, I’ll be offering e-copies of Destiny’s End and The Most Loved of All for 25% off. However, if you don’t own either book, you can purchase Destiny’s End and get a copy of The Most Loved of All for free! That’s right, a BOGO! *cough*

Okay, onward!

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

As my bio says, I’ve been writing since the 3^rd grade, and frankly, it really is a relief that none of that survived, although I do wish I had some of the book reports I worked on. I was a snarky little devil. ;-) I continued to write, even after my kids were born, although then it was mostly letters to my local radio station in NY, CBS-FM, to enter Bill Brown’s Brown Bag Special lunchtime contest or Phantom of the Movies which was in the Daily News.

I’ve lived with my husband here in Southwest Florida for the past eighteen years, but in spite of that, I’ve always considered myself a Noo Yawk kinda gal. Just… no snow, please. It’s pretty when it’s coming down, but driving in the white stuff is the pits.

We have three kids, two who live in New York and one in North Carolina, and three surviving grandchildren—we lost our first grandson in 2000 to a cardiomyopathy when he was not quite 10 weeks old. Needless to say, we think of him often.

When they say the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree, it’s true. Although my daughter doesn’t write, her daughter does, and she actually wrote a slash story about a couple of YouTubers! My older son dabbles in horror and other offbeat stories (as well as playing in a couple of bagpipe bands on Long Island). My younger son wrote the most kickass best man speech for his brother, and it actually brought me to tears. Why, yes, I am proud of my kids. ;-)

I’m a wife, a mom, and a gram. I’ve been a cashier, a teller, and worked in billing for Quest Diagnostics. Now I’m a published writer.

And that’s me. J

What started your interest in writing?

In 1999, my friend Silk introduced me to slash, and I fell in love with the idea of two men having a romantic relationship. Tony, another friend, asked what it was about writing slash that drew me, and I told him it was the fact no one became pregnant. *cough* Of course there’s Mpreg, which I’ll confess I’m writing, but it’s not like a Harlequin, where the virgin heroine has sex one time and surprise! She’s pregnant.  (Although now there are alphas and omegas where pretty much the same thing happens, but that a totally other story.)

At any rate, I found it a unique experience to retell classic movies—Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, The African Queen, etc.—having both romantic leads be male. Another friend, Gail Morse, became my beta in 2000, and she’s helped me make the stories the best they can be, for which I’ll always be grateful. (And you can find those stories here on my website: http://www.angelfire.com/fl5/tinnssinns/Welcome1.html )

One of the things I always relished doing was writing stories specifically geared toward a friend, whether he requested it, as in the Blue Collar duology or it was a surprise, as with Friends and Lovers. That was the first of my books that was published, back in 2009. In these past nine years, I’ve been published by Nazca Plains, Dreamspinner, JMS Books, Wilde City Press, and Less Than Three Press, as well as self-publishing.

I’ve written flash fic, short stories, novellas, and novels, and right now I’m working on my 42^nd story. I truly believe they’ll have to pry my keyboard from my cold, dead fingers.

What is your book(s) about?

Destiny’s End is the first book in the Strange, Strange World series. This world is very similar to ours, although it does tend to be a bit… strange.  In Destiny’s End we have the story of Warrick Synclaire, a man who’s bitten by a werewolf and winds up becoming a shifter himself.  Unusual things happen when Warrick attempts to win back his boyhood love.  

The Most Loved of All is Book 2 in this series and centers around a mummy’s curse, which explains why Anubis turned up in Destiny’s End.  Roddy Sayer, introduced in the first book, enters the tomb of the boy king when it’s first discovered and seems to fall under its curse as so many others had.

What are you currently working on?

Last spring, JMS Books sent out a call for end of the world stories. I wrote one, Surviving the Apocalypse. Then I wrote another, Surviving the Apocalypse – Pandemic. Now I’m working on a third, Surviving the Apocalypse – Long Leggity Beasties, (title subject to change). It deals with another disaster which I’d like to keep under wraps just now.

What genres do you write in?

I write predominantly in the m/m genre, historical, contemporary, sci-fi, paranormal, and alternate reality. I’ve also written m/f (Where the Heart Chooses) and f/f (Portal to Eden). The thing is, I like to say I write human beings, and whether they’re gay or straight is immaterial.

Do you keep a notebook near your for when new ideas pop into your head?

Always! I have one on my nightstand, along with a pen, and sometimes, come the morning, I’m even able to decipher my writing. There’s a composition book on my computer desk, and I also carry a notebook in my pocketbook as well as in my water carrier for when ideas strike as I go walking. Never, never, never assume you’ll remember the next morning or even a few minutes later, because trust me, you won’t. I even forgot the title I had in mind for a story in the time it took me to get out of the shower. I had to call my local radio station to find out what they’d been playing. (the radio personality very kindly pointed me to their playlist. Turned out the song was “Desifinado.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olkt2VpUaTc )

What do readers have to look forward to in the future from you?

I hope to finish the rest of the Strange, Strange World series, Lagoon of Dreams, Rainbows in Your Eyes, and Dragon in the Mist. And maybe somewhere down the road I’ll get to the summer Mark Vincent and Quinton Mann take their son Joe in search of Confederate treasure.

Do you prefer to extensively plot your stories, or do you write them as they come to you?

Usually I have a rough idea of where I want the story to start and what should be happening at the end. Then I keep my fingers crossed and hope the road there is fairly smooth.

Has there been any characters that started off as supporting characters, but then developed into a more prominent character?

Definitely. Theo Bascopolis, a former rent boy called Sweetcheeks, began as an extremely minor character in my Spy vs. Spook/Mann of My Dreams series. He wound up having his own books, Pick Up the Pieces and Foolish Me. And his partner, Wills Matheson, appears in quite a few of my Sidebar shorts, which are available on my site. Quinton Mann’s mother, Portia, has her own book, Where the Heart Chooses, and his father, Nigel, has a free short, Solo Tu, that’s up on the JMS site. https://www.jms-books.com/free-ebooks-c-4/solo-tu-p-2441.html?zenid=YuuS5nRN2eGRMOD3VavLo0

When and where do you like to write? Are there any favourite places you like to go?

I usually start writing in the morning in the computer room after I check my emails. Then, if the weather is good, I’ll go out on the lanai and write on the laptop until it’s time to head out for dinner. And then it’s back to the computer room for the rest of the afternoon/evening. I actually prefer writing there, because I get the most work done on the desktop.

Buy link: Whichever aspect of this offer you choose to accept—either book for 25% off, or Destiny’s End for 25% off plus a free copy of The Most Loved of All—it’s only available only on the JMS Books website. https://www.jms-books.com/tinnean-c-224_239/destinys-end-p-1923.html?zenid=Igfou98YlnOY5RfV-Z4iS3

Enjoy, and thank you very much!

Blurb- Destiny’s End

Many obstacles stand in the way of baronet’s son Warrick Synclaire being with his best friend, Thomas Smythe. Same-sex love is illegal in early 20th Century England, and Warrick is heading for Canada while Thomas is destined for the military college at Sandhurst. Warrick isn't sure he can bear the separation.

However, the day before Warwick leaves, Thomas persuades him to see a fortune teller. The old gypsy woman’s warnings fail to scare Warwick, but another gypsy, Nicolae, by turns intrigues, arouses, and terrifies him. That night, Nicolae breaks into Warwick’s bedchamber, bedding then biting him. Warwick, unable to process the encounter, convinces himself it was just a bad dream and sails off to Canada to start a new life.

In Canada, Warrick renews his acquaintance with Fox Sullivan, who he first met during the war. Soon the two become lovers, but for Warwick, the relationship is purely physical. Thomas still owns his heart. When he can stand their separation no longer, Warrick returns to his ancestral home in Kent, determined to reunite with Thomas, who now has a lover of his own. But the encounter with Nicolae years earlier changed Warwick considerably. Every full moon he turns into a ravenous creature, which seems able to rule Warwick’s life even during the daytime.

Determined to win over Warrick, Fox sells his medical practice and sails to England. But is he too late to save the man he loves?

Excerpt:

The gypsy studied me for a moment, then gestured for Thomas to seat himself before her. “I think he is more than a friend.” Her voice was so low I almost couldn’t distinguish her words, and for a moment I worried, but then I knew I didn’t need to, since both Thomas and I would be leaving soon. “Tell me, young sir. What is your desire?”

He promptly held his palm out to her. “What does my future hold, Grandmother?”

I stood at Thomas’s shoulder and watched as Syeira took his hand in her work-worn grip and studied it intently. She stroked her fingertips over the plump mound at the base of his thumb and across the depression in the centre of his palm. She shivered. “Do you wish for the truth?”

He looked affronted. “Of course I want the truth. I’m a man. I can deal with whatever comes my way.”

The gypsy smiled sadly and looked at his palm again. “Proud,” she murmured, almost to herself. “Very well, young sir. Your path will not be easy. There will be loss along the way—great loss. But you are brave and will bring much honour to the name you bear.” She met his gaze. “What more do you wish to know?”

“Love, Grandmother. Will my love return to me?” He glanced at me through his lashes.

“The one you love will come to you through danger, across flood and fire—” She gasped and her hand tightened convulsively on Thomas’s. Her eyes searched his deeply. “Because of the one who will love you, you will be under the protection of a very ancient power.” She looked at him with something akin to awe.

I thrust my palm in front of her. “Read my future, old woman.” Already I was trying to determine how I could make her words to Thomas refer to me. I was going across the ocean, surely that could signify as a flood. Danger and fire, though…

She let my friend withdraw his hand, and then she took mine. She shivered again and reached up to move aside the collar of my shirt. I thought she lost all colour in her cheeks, but I dismissed it as fancy since I was unable to come up with a logical explanation for that. She released my collar and turned to Thomas, all the while maintaining her hold on my left hand with her other hand. “Young sir, be so kind as to bring me another candle,” she directed him. He ducked out of the tent, and I slid into his seat. The gypsy leaned forward, speaking urgently. The words that spilled from her mouth were indecipherable. They seemed to roll over me, reverberating in my skull, but I couldn’t make sense of a single one of them.

“Speak English, Syeira,” I demanded petulantly. “What are you telling me?”

And then abruptly I could understand her again. “The young sir is not for you, my son. Your future paths will cross, but there will be only sorrow and death at the end of them if you do not let him be.”

Blurb – The Most Loved of All

During the War to End All Wars, Roddy Sayer survived his trip down the Ruzizi with his beloved, Charlie Pearson. He survived the sinking of the Konigin Marie Christine he and Charlie engineered. But now it’s 1922, his beloved is dead after working on a dig in Egypt to unearth royal tombs, and Roddy is alone, with odd, erotic dreams of an Egyptian prince ensnared by the machinations of a high priest. Is he losing his mind?

Thomas Fortescue-Smythe, who flirted with Roddy and made advances toward him before, finds him again. Tommy persuades Roddy to come to his family home in England, and eventually, to share his bed and his body.

But when Roddy sees an Egyptian man and knows it is the same man who was the high priest in his dreams, can he keep himself and Tommy safe?

Excerpt:

    It was a warm afternoon, and in the privacy of my rooms in the temple of Anubis, I wore nothing but a linen kilt.

      "I have a gift for you, Prince." The high priest strolled into the courtyard off my rooms, where I idly plucked figs from one of the trees that grew there and nibbled on the ripened fruit.

      "Khentemsemet." I gave him a regal nod. I was a prince, after all, and while he was high priest of the god I served, he was minor nobility at best. "What do you have for me?"

      Khentemsemet came closer, and an intoxicating scent seemed to envelope me. He held out a closed hand, then turned it over and opened it, and I caught my breath at the sight I beheld: a string of lustrous black pearls that dangled from his fingers. I'd never before seen anything as beautiful, and Khentemsemet was giving them to me.

      "Do you like them?"

      "Yes!" I reached out to stroke them, and he withdrew them. "Khentemsemet?"

      He smiled, took my hand, and dropped the pearls into them. They were cool, in spite of him holding them, but they quickly warmed in my palm.

      I tilted my head to observe the high priest. Why had I never realised how handsome he was? "Why this gift, my lord?" I'd always been so cool to him, although at the moment I could not fathom why.

      His smile broadened. "I like hearing you address me in that manner."

      I barely paid any heed to his words. The pearls fascinated me. They had such a sheen, I could swear I saw my own reflection in them. Khentemsemet came to stand behind me and rested his hand on my shoulder, and my prick hardened as his reflection in the pearls mingled with mine.

      I shivered from the feel of his hand on me, something I'd never encountered before. Although I'd reached the age of seventeen, I was still virgin. I'd been dedicated to the dark god Anubis at a very young age, and while virginity wasn't a requirement, I'd never met anyone-noble or priest-I was willing to share my body with, had never been curious enough to experiment with slaves or servants. As for boys whose rank was close to mine... there were none. I was the brother of the pharaoh Tutankhamun after all.

      I shivered again when the high priest removed his hand from my shoulder. "I have duties I must attend to, but I wanted to give you this small token of my esteem."

      "Don't leave yet, my lord." I turned and caught his hand, and I blushed and released it when he raised an eyebrow. I'd never been so uncertain in the presence of another man. "The sun will set soon. Watch it with me?"

      He bowed slightly. "Of course, highness. I'm at your service." His heady words made my prick even harder. Although I was a prince and a priest and would one day be high priest myself, I'd never exerted my influence over an older man. Not to say that Khentemsemet was old. Now that I studied him more closely, I could see he must only be a handful of years my senior.

      Why had I ever thought otherwise?

      I took his hand again and drew him toward a low bench. The bench was wide enough to leave some space between us, but I sat with my hip and thigh brushing up against his.

      "Does this please you, Prince?"

      "Indeed it does. But you must call me Teremun."

      "As you wish."

      "Would you... would you share a meal with me?"

      "I would like nothing better... Teremun."

      I felt as if he'd handed me the moon, and I beamed up at him and summoned a slave.

      "Lord Khentemsemet is dining with me here. Fetch the meal."

      He bowed and hurried off. I knew the temple's cook would send my favourite dishes-quail and pigeon, to be washed down with fine Greek wine. For dessert he would offer date cakes covered with honey and nuts.

      My mouth watered, but not at the notion of the food that would soon be arriving. I caressed the rope of pearls, and murmured, "I've never had anything so beautiful."

     

Bio: Tinnean has been writing since the 3rd grade, where she was inspired to try her hand at epic poetry. Fortunately, that epic poem didn't survive the passage of time; however, her love of writing not only survived but thrived, and in high school she became a member of the magazine staff, where she contributed a number of stories. 

It was with the advent of the family's second computer – the first intimidated everyone – that her writing took off, enhanced in part by fanfiction, but mostly by the wonder that is copy and paste.

While involved in fandom, she was nominated for both Rerun and Light My Fire Awards. Now she concentrates on her original characters and has been published by Nazca Plains, Dreamspinner, JMS Books, Wilde City, and Less Than Three Press, as well as self-publishing six books to date. Recent novels have received honorable mention in the 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 Rainbow Awards. Two of the 2014 submissions were finalists, and a 2017 submission was runner-up in the historical romance category.

A New Yorker at heart, she resides in SW Florida with her husband, a desktop, and two laptops.

Ernest Hemingway's words reflect Tinnean's devotion to her craft: Once writing has become your major vice and greatest pleasure, only death can stop it.

She can be contacted at:

Email: tinneantoo@gmail.com

Dreamwidth (since the Russians have taken over LiveJournal): https://tinnean.dreamwidth.org/

Twitter: @tinneantoo

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tinnean

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Tinnean/e/B004QS65KQ/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1391469662&sr=1-2-ent