Hello, lovelies.
Today, we have Toni Griffin visiting us with a guest interview for the blog tour for the Not in the Stars anthology.
Toni was kind enough to answer a few questions for me:
Why did you choose to write M/M stories ?
The first MM story I ever read was Bite by Sean Michael. After that one story it’s been a very rare occurrence for me to go back and read a het romance. So when the idea came to me for Unexpected Mate it just felt natural that both the main characters were men. I honestly don’t know if I could actually write a MF story. Maybe someday in the distant future, but that day is not now.
Do you pay attention to literary criticism?
Yes and No. If it’s from my Betas or editors then hell yes I do. But if its reviews on amazon and such then I try not to. I understand that you just can’t please everyone. Something that one person absolutely loved you will find someone that absolutely hated it. It’s the way life is, yin and yang. Sometimes it’s just a case of the people not liking it speaking up more than the people who loved it.
How do you come up with the titles?
Some titles are really easy and then others just drive me up the wall. All my Holland Brothers titles I had picked out after the first book was written. I knew exactly what they were going to be called. On the other hand Archie’s Accidental Kidnapping, Steps to you (My current WIP) and The Borillian Twist (Series title for Finding Connor) were all suggested to me by various friends after I had drawn a complete and total mental blank.
It’s great to have friends that you can bounce ideas off.
What’s the hardest part of writing your books?
At the moment it’s actually finding the time to write them. I’ve barely written anything in the last month. I work full time and every other week I have my daughter. I live in a small two bedroom apartment and this moth I’ve also had houseguests for nearly three weeks. So between work, after school commitments and entertaining guests my time has just disappeared. Hopefully I can get back on track soon.
Do you buy a book because of the cover, the blurb, or some other reason?
The cover usually draws me in to begin with but if the blurb doesn’t grab me then I won’t buy the book. If it’s later highly recommended by several of my friends then I’ll give the blurb a second go and might purchase it on the recommendation of others. I know I for one hate writing blurbs and understand just how hard it is, so I never write off any book completely. It’s more a case of ‘not at this point in time’ for me.
Others I’ll buy purely because of the author. Mary Calmes is a big one for me. The second I see a book of hers on the coming soon page at DSP then it’s added to my cart before I’ve even read the blurb.
BUY NOW: Mischief Corner Books
AUTHORS:
Angel Martinez, Freddy Mackay, Toni Griffin, Mathilde Watson
BLURB:
Since the dawn of human expression, man has gazed up at the heavens in wonder, inspired by the wheeling of the stars to explain his surroundings. While our perception of those surroundings have changed, from thinking of the Earth as a flat, stable plane to realizing we’re falling through space in a tiny atmospheric bubble, our wonder remains constant.
Space stations, alien races, far-flung planets—join the Mischief Corner authors as they explore the possibilities the stars might offer. The catch? Returning to mundane old Earth might be harder than you think.
TEASER:
Shax’s War: Brimstone 3
Angel Martinez
M/M Science Fiction Humor
TEASER EXCERPT:
Chapter One
Shax yelped as the trauma ball hummed against his palm, the surface shifting from swirling orange toward yellow. Before it could deliver its nastiest shock, he flung the thing at Verin’s head.
“Bastard!”
Sparks flew as Verin swung his horns and batted the ball away. He aimed right for Ness, who sidestepped and caught the ball as it powered back down to blue. Wings spread for balance, tip of his tongue protruding from the corner of his mouth, Ness spun and ran the three steps up the ramp at the court’s far end, aiming for the hovering sphere goal.
At the last second, the goal moved left and Ness’s shot caught the magnetized lip, which hurled the trauma ball back at him at some ridiculous, unsafe speed. Shax winced at the sharp crack when hard ball met angel head.
“Ow.” Ness flopped down at the top of the ramp, rubbing at his temple.
“Someone gonna explain to me again how this is fun?” Corny called from where he balanced on the swinging planks that made up mid-court.
He’d been stuck on the water hazard for several plays, his muscular body and high center of gravity an indisputable disadvantage since the wrong move would send him into the water and cost him a five minute penalty. Their cowboy had figured out the hard way in the first quarter that the pool itself enforced the penalty and didn’t let the penalized player out a second before.
Good thing he can tread water.
The ball was now happily rolling along the elevated sidewall ramps and Shax prepared to jump for the rings that would put him at the right height to catch it when it rolled free. Had they been playing teams…but no one could agree on a fair way to pair the four of them up, so solo it was.
Shax cocked his head, listening to the rumble of the ball as it trundled downward. Ness was still on the ramp. Corny was stuck. Verin was navigating the sponge quadrant where his claws were sticking. Perfect. He leapt, caught a ring in either hand, got a good swing going, and let go with his right hand just in time for the ball to drop from the chute.
With a whoop, he swung free and dropped with the ball clutched to his chest, only to be hit from behind with the force of several megatons. Wind knocked out of him, he could only watch as Verin snatched up the ball.
“Attempted murder isn’t supposed to be part of the game,” he wheezed as Verin took his shot. It seemed to be too far right, but the sphere turned and the ball shot inside.
“You’re all right, you baby,” Verin growled. “Get up before you really get fucked up.”
Shax heaved himself to his feet, staggering a few steps before the floor decided he’d been in one place too long and started bucking.
Ness had moved now, too. “Shax? Sure you’re all right, love?”
“I’m good. There are two of you right now. Don’t mind. Two of you are nice.”
All four of them managed to reach the sand quadrant closest to the near goal where they crouched in anticipation, waiting for the sphere to spit out the ball. Shax got Verin’s elbow in his ribs and a playful shove from Corny as they jockeyed for position but they might as well have stood still. The sphere rumbled and disgorged the trauma ball with a hacking cough, sending it high and wide. Ness, with his superior height and reach, snagged it easily, holding it up to keep it out of reach.
Any second, Verin and Corny would charge him and then Shax wouldn’t have a chance. An evil thought percolated in his mind and he sidled up close to Ness, blew a breath across his bare nipple, and reached down to cup Ness’s balls through the tight game shorts. A strangled whimper caught in Ness’s throat. His jaw slack, eyes saucer-wide, he fumbled the ball and dropped it.
Shax caught it before it hit the sand, snatched a quick kiss, and bounded away toward the far goal. He slammed the trauma ball into the sphere just as it hummed over to yellow again.
“Ha! That’s three for me! Game!”
PRIZE GIVEAWAY:
A copy of Not In The Stars, or a book from Mischief Corner Book’s backlist
Click here to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway.
For more information and to follow the rest of the tour, simply click the button graphic below.
AUTHOR BIO:
Mischief Corner Books is an organization of superheroes… no, it’s a platinum-album techno-fusion group…no, hold on a sec here…
Ah, yes. Mischief Corner is a diverse group of authors who met on a mountain in Tennessee and decided since we probably were too easily distracted to rule the world that we’d settle for causing a bit of mayhem instead.
In addition to making mayhem, we are releasing books as a consortium. The books cover a diverse range of genres and topics… we live to break molds. Our books are available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, ARe and other outlets.
