Another Interview with Richard Marshall

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(c) istockphoto.com, john shepherd, 2009

I met Richard at his townhouse this time around. It was late at night by the time we both found a few minutes to talk that day. He opened the door and greeted me with a smile and a nod. He was in faded jeans, a plain white T-shirt, and equally white athletic socks with no shoes. He looked good doing the casual thing.

He leaned against the open door, and I could tell he was happy to see me, not the least bit nervous of what I might ask. He’d given this interview more consideration than the last one. Now he had me all figured out.

Or so he thought.

As I made my way inside, I mentally tossed out the questions I’d prepared, trying to come up with new ones that he wouldn’t have anticipated.

I sat in a chair in the living room, and he chose the couch across from me. I crossed my legs and opened my notepad, clicked my pen so I was ready. He rested one ankle on the opposite knee, his left arm draped over the back of the open space on the couch beside him. He looked at home in that pose. Or maybe it was the room we were in. Maybe it was just him and where he was in his life.

Or maybe I was wrong about all that.

The living room wasn’t as neat as I’d expected based on my first visit to the same house. Although, nothing much was out of order. The only signs of disarray were a haphazard stack of magazines on the coffee table between us and loose office papers on the far end of the couch.

The room just seemed to project a sense of unease, like his carefully ordered life had been altered slightly by something—or someone.

I gave the papers on the couch a quick glance, trying not to let him see my attempt at determining if the unexpected clutter was his, Matthew’s, or Luke’s.

“You’re awfully quiet this time,” he said. “Is everything okay?”

I was taken aback by his words, and even more by the concern in his voice.

“I’m fine.”

I hadn’t expected him to give me much thought. I always figured he spent our time together thinking about the reason I was there—to learn more about him and the men in his life.

I should’ve known better. This was Richard.

I was touched that he considered me at all, and even more that he genuinely cared if I was okay.

His relaxed demeanor had slipped away. He was intensely scrutinizing me. “Are you a happy person, Sloan?”

I watched him in return. I wanted to remind him he wasn’t writing a book about me, but I didn’t want to give him any ideas. “I just get focused when I’m writing.” I probably came across as too serious, too internally preoccupied. “Yes, I’m happy. More than I’ve ever been. You?”

“Ditto.”

“Really?”

The surprised, almost angered look that flashed across his face wasn’t something I’d seen from him before. He unfolded his leg, leaned forward, elbows on his knees as he kept those serious green eyes focused on me. The empty space between us seemed to shrink in an instant, and he hadn’t left the couch.

“No matter what is going on with me or my business, I have them. That’s what matters to me. That’s all I need to be happy.” He’d pointed toward the stairs in the hall on the word them.

“Just because you want something to be true doesn’t—”

“Watch it…”

The tone of his voice convinced me to move on.

I indicated the staircase with a tilt of my head. “Are they in bed?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re stuck here talking to me?”

He nodded, then eased back against the couch again, his voice returning to the more casual tone he’d started our conversation with. “You like to do that sometimes, try to throw me off my usual routine, shake me up a bit.”

Apparently he did have me all figured out. He really needed to stop giving me that much thought.

I said, “You know, I was thinking about Luke the other day.”

“Yeah?” He glanced into the hall, and a grin hit his lips. “I do that a lot too.”

That I do know about you.”

We both laughed.

“Is he happy?” I asked when the laughter died off.

“Luke? Yeah.”

I could hear the hesitation in that last word.

When I didn’t ask anything more, he looked my way and added, “He has a few things to work out.”

“About his dad?”

He didn’t say anything to that. Instead he asked, “Is that why you were thinking about him? Wondering if he got his happy ending?”

“Actually, no. I was thinking about how very different the two of you are. Despite how closed off he was, Luke just jumped into my skin and started typing, telling his story, the words flowing as if he’d been dying to get them out, whether he wanted to admit that in the beginning or not. But you… You’re a conundrum. You rely on communication like it’s the air you breathe, yet you hold a lot inside. You have no trouble telling me the details of events. Sometimes you even share what you’re feeling, and then sometimes you don’t. Why is that?”

He hesitated again. Or maybe he was trying to find the right words. “What I’m feeling, my emotions… Those are things people will use against me if given the chance?”

“What people? Luke and Matthew?”

“No!”

“Me?”

He laughed again at that. “If it were just you, I might be compelled to share more, but you’ll just end up telling everyone else.”

“That’s what a writer does.”

He gave an amused snort and nodded. “Touché.”

“So I’ve got most of your story figured out, but there are just a couple of holes I need to fill in.”

“And you would like me to make that easier for you?”

“I would, yes.”

“All right.” He was back to his signature knowing grin that slightly curled the corners of his lips. His arm was lounging over the top of the couch again. “You went into this thinking it would be Luke who’d pushed me to see things more clearly. You forget that ultimately change comes from within. That certain spark, that characteristic that I need in order to overcome my greatest conflicts, is already a part of me. I just have to push aside my own obstacles—the ones I’ve been pretending don’t exist.” He stopped, and I knew he wouldn’t admit what those obstacles were. Not out loud. Not yet.

Then he spoke again. “You also forget how smart Matthew is about these things. He knows what he wants now, and in the end, he won’t settle for less.”

“The end of this book or the next?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Now that’s a good question for the writer.”

And with those words, I knew that was all I was going to get from him right then. We’d get a chance to talk more when we got back to working on the story.

As we said our good-byes, I was left pondering what exactly it was that Matthew wanted.

*Richard is a character in MORE and MORE THAN MOST (the in-progress sequel to MORE). You can read the first interview with Richard on my website.

 

Wordless Wednesday: Sunset Sailing

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(c) werny / www.fotosearch.com Stock Photography

What is wordless Wednesday? “On Wednesdays all over the internet, bloggers post a photograph with no words to explain it on their blog. Hence the ‘wordless’ title. The idea is that the photo itself says so much that it doesn’t need any description.” —wiki.answers

HOW TO SAVE A LIFE now available in trade paperback

SP_HowToSaveALifePrint_tradecover_MdI’m pleased to share that you can now pick up a print copy of HOW TO SAVE A LIFE at AmazonCreateSpace, and Barnes & Noble.

HOW TO SAVE A LIFE
ISBN-13: 978-1492268963
ISBN-10: 1492268968

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BOOK DESCRIPTION

Reporter Kevin Price has a knack for tripping over his own feet. And everyone else’s. He’s in over his head undercover at the Haven, a swanky gay sex club, determined to find out why members of the club keep vanishing. Five minutes inside and he can no longer deny the truth about his sexuality. He turns to the one man he can’t get out of his head, the sexy ex-cop handling security. Too bad Kevin doesn’t trust cops. Not since the only night he let himself be with another man.

Walter Simon doesn’t do the club scene anymore. Not since he found love and lost it. That doesn’t mean he’ll let anyone hurt more innocent gay men. Even if that means going head-to-head with the klutzy, closeted, much-younger reporter. Kevin has information about the disappearances. Better to keep him close. And safe.

Neither is at the club to hook up or fall in love. Now they must work together amid their growing passion in order to uncover the truth before more men disappear.

Note: How to Save a Life features Walter Simon, a secondary character from MORE, but can be read as a stand-alone story.

 

EXCERPT

Kevin did not want to talk about this. Yet a part of him longed to do just that.

Here, in this room, with a gay man listening to him, he couldn’t pretend any longer. He wanted to kiss Walter again, let his tongue wander over those lips, down along the skin of his neck to the warm flesh under his clothes, his chest, and lower to his abs, and even lower. He wanted to taste it all. He couldn’t hide from that fact. Not any longer.

He’d known for months now that he’d been heading to this moment. Whether he’d wanted to admit it or not.

It had been easy to keep the promise he’d made in his youth. At least while he’d been with Sondra. He wasn’t a cheater. Now that she was gone, now that he was here, now that he’d felt this man’s touch…he was done holding back.

Walter cupped his chin and forced him to look up.

“I guess I can’t hide from it forever.”

“That’s good. You don’t have to hide. Not here. Not in this room. Not with me.”

 

Interview, Giveaway, and More on Richard’s Story

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I’ve been interviewed at On Top Down Under Book Reviews as part of their First Blog-versary. These were a fantastic set of questions. I shared about the inspiration for some of my stories, what I’ve got coming out next, and some of what More #2 will include. There’s also a giveaway: winner’s choice of either e-book or print format from my backlist, including the new print edition of HOW TO SAVE A LIFE.

Comment on the interview post to enter. And be sure to wish On Top Down Under Book Reviews a Happy Anniversary.

The giveaway will be open until midnight (US) Eastern Standard Time Sunday, October 20, 2013. Good luck!

Preview Excerpt from part 10 of MORE THAN JUST A GOOD BOOK

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(c) konradbak / www.fotosearch.com Stock Photography

Mark sat at a table staring at the comic books spread out before him. He still wore the dress shirt and tie he’d had on at the awards ceremony. The library was closed, and he was alone in one of the study rooms. The same room where he’d first had sex with Scott.

After he’d left the competition, he got a message from his boss that the additional shelving display units she’d ordered had come in and that she’d appreciate it if he worked on them this weekend. He’d decided assembling shelves was a much better way to keep busy than staring at his apartment ceiling. The task would give him something to focus on other than how he’d walked out on Scott’s big moment.

And yet, he hadn’t even opened the boxes. He’d gone straight for the comic collection and pulled out binder after binder of superhero comics. He’d taken the stack of binders to the study room and laid them out on the table before him where he scanned through each book, thinking about what made a man a hero, trying to find the answers to questions he thought he’d long ago come to understand about his life and his future.

Thinking about Scott.

–from the final installment, part 10 of MORE THAN JUST A GOOD BOOK, coming in November 2013