Midnight in Montreal

Quick break to write a real blog post for once.

Exposed is out and doing better than I thought. :D I was stupidly nervous for this one because I wasn't sure anyone would like it, but I was wrong, like usual. What is it about writing that makes me so nervous? It's probably the reason I do it.

There are the usual complaints about my stories but I managed to introduce a new one with Exposed. So, it goes: not enough plot, too much plot, not realistic enough, too realistic, creepy, too boring, too much sex, too kinky, not kinky enough, and now... too fluffy. I never thought I'd live to see the day. grin I wrote fluffy!

And then there's the politics... authors shouldn't mix politics and romance ;)

The rest of the stuff I always just chalk up to different personal experiences. Like, for this one, I've only got working knowledge of touring in Canada and talked logistics with folks who are responsible for a band out of the UK. I'm not really familiar with how tours work for US bands (though, actually I am better versed now than I was when I started writing Exposed... thanks, Mötley Crüe).

I'm also used to my familial connections with fame and what sort of stuff they encounter in Canada and the UK versus the US... and there's also a sort of easy, non-pestering, polite attitude Montrealers have towards actors/musicians. Like, you run into famous people all the time here, and no one makes a big deal. Folks like touring/filming here because of that.

What's fun about writing contemporary stories is I get to use stuff I know rather than just making up shit in Fantasy/Paranormal/Science Fiction (not that I don't like making fantasy shit up). So, Exposed is a hodgepodge of different things. Some of the places in the book are places I've been that have good memories attached to them... like that particular chiringuito in Torremolinos (and the boxes of wine!), the hotel with the crazy carpets and the barely functional ice machine I nearly sliced myself open on in Munich, the scene kids outside the hotel in Nice, and of course everything about Montreal. I modelled Greg's workplace after the software place I worked at forever.

Little details came from winters spent lying on the beach listening to my parents' Brit paparazzi friend tell his sleazy stories, from friends who've made the hard decision to cancel shows due to political climate, from the very real concerns about personal safety while travelling to the States right now, from my own practical knowledge (Greg owns the same camera as me) and, you know, personal kinks.

The thing from Greg's past is an exaggerated version of something from my own past mixed with an interesting case study I read last summer. Tam is modelled after an old coworker, Rose is modelled after an ex-tour-manager-turned-travel-agent I know (though he regrets the career change heh), Barrie looks like this old lush I know who hangs out in an expat bar and talks to anyone who'll listen about his days in the theatre. And Emyr? Well heh, Emyr is a bunch of different people. Physically, he's sort of based on an actor, mixed in with an ex of mine, a singer in a band my best friend was crazy about twenty years ago (oh god has it been that long?), and this beautiful guy I knew long ago who loved wearing heels. But... in the course of writing this, Emyr really became his own person, and I love him for that. He's just so full of life and I needed someone like that to write about.

All in all, I'm happy.

Post publishing is always such a relief for me. It means that the story no longer lives in its entirety in my head and I can let it go and move on to the next book...

...which is a vampire story! So far I'm having a great time with these guys. It's definitely not romantic. It's on the dark end of the scale... horror-ish. I've already done the cover for it and it's freaky heh. I'll probably show it to my newsletter subscribers later this month when I post about the Exposed paperback giveaway happening soon.

And finally: today is the day that everyone out there with a drop of Irish blood (hey I'm, like, quarter Irish) goes around making sure that everyone knows it.
So, Happy St. Patty's! I'll be celebrating with some Guinness later but for now it's back to work... Here, I'll leave you with a little St. Patty's day history here in Montreal:

St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated in Montreal as far back as 1759, after the Conquest, by Irish soldiers of the Montreal Garrison. In 1817, the beginning of the Irish community here, the observance of St. Patrick's day was marked by special dinners and the celebration of religious services. Read More