Sloan Parker's Blog

Came across another oldie that works great for Kyle and Evan (at least most of the lyrics do).

Sometimes When We Touch by Dan Hill

Also added it to the Behind the Stories page on my site.

When writing I often utilize my imagination, but I also will pull from my own experiences and the details I can recall about certain places I’ve been or people I’ve met. For Take Me Home I was able to use my experience of traveling across the United States on a passenger train.

But I also do a fair bit of research for each of my stories. I used to dread research, but I’ve learned to embrace it and see it as an opportunity for two reasons: 1) to learn something new about whatever I’m researching and 2) to expand my understanding of the world and the characters in which I’m writing about in a particular story.

I’m a visual person. I find pictures and videos helpful to really get into the story. Even if my description ends up nowhere close to the visual, the images create a spark of ideas in my mind that keeps the description from being stale and typical (at least typical for my writing and my usual vocabulary). Through my writing research I’ve learned about places, occupations, animals, symbolism, and more I might never have had a reason to delve into otherwise.

During my research phase of writing Take Me Home, I saved links and images and descriptions in one document for inspiration as I wrote. So I thought I’d share a preview of Take Me Home using only a sampling of the pictures from my research notes. Under each photo is a link where I found the photo and the credit if it’s available.

**Please note: Some may consider the following minor spoilers for the story, but the pictures give away only a few more specifics than the blurb and merely illustrate the story’s premise.

Photo Credit: Yuri_Arcurs

Photo Credit: kupicoo

Image Credit: Amtrak website

Photo Credit: Wigwam Jones

Image Credit: Amtrak

Photo Credit: Amtrak

Photo Credit: Amtrak

Photo Credit: Amtrak

Image Credit: Amtrak

Image Credit: Amtrak

Photo Credit: no body atoll

Photo Credit: pferriola

Photo Credit: Virtual Farm Boy

Photo Credit: The West End

Photo Credit

Photo Credit

Photo Credit: Minerva Bloom

Photo Credit: oakmechinsl

Photo Credit: oakmechinsl

Photo Credit: oakmechinsl

Photo Credit: oakmechinsl

Photo Credit: oakmechinsl

Photo Credit: Decarli

Photo Credit: Decarli

Photo Credit: Decarli

Photo Credit: Loco ( Inactive ) Steve

Photo Credit: Loco ( Inactive ) Steve

Photo Credit: Loco ( Inactive ) Steve

Photo Credit: Loco ( Inactive ) Steve

Photo Credit: Loco ( Inactive ) Steve

Photo Credit

Photo Credit: Doug Wornom collection

This one’s a video, you can watch here if it’s not embedded below.

Photo Credit

Read the blurb and preview excerpts for Take Me Home

I blogged yesterday at the Loose Id author blog about some of my favorite love songs. Songs that also remind me of Kyle and Evan from TAKE ME HOME.

Check them out and share some of your favorite love songs.
From Friends to Lovers: A Collection of Love Songs

Here’s what I’ve learned writing TAKE ME HOME (tentatively due out December 2011):

1. Characters do not always listen to my outline.
2. The book isn’t done until it’s done. I added some really great stuff in the last week.
3. Reading a manuscript while walking around the house is dangerous. For my cats. Sorry, little dudes!
4. In order to really put myself into a scene it’s possible to simulate being freezing cold in a blizzard during 100 degree days using just the power of my mind. And a fan.
5. Writing a scene set during any other time than the past decade requires a lot of research. Even when it’s a simple journal entry from 1953.
6. In the process of editing I read faster during the action scenes and forget to actually edit. “Uh, this is YOUR book, Sloan. Pay attention.”
7. Making my poor characters wait to get off is kinda fun. It makes the sex scene more explosive to write.
8. I should not have two books “in process” with characters names that start with the same initial. In this case…Kyle and Kevin. I had to tell Kevin to get back to his own damn book way too many times. “Dude, get off Evan and go find Walter!”
9. I really love the male body and can describe a blowjob for way too many paragraphs (okay, pages) than necessary. More than anyone would want to stick around to read.

   And the last thing I learned writing my latest m/m romance:

10. It’s helpful to take a character’s clothes off BEFORE attempting anal sex.

Sloan’s busy working on her manuscript today, so she asked if I’d like to do a guest blog. I have a feeling I’m going to owe Sloan a lot (she’s writing about me in her serial story More Than Just a Good Book), so I figured I’d better say yes.

My name’s Scott Murphy. Right now I’m going to college in Ohio, but I’m originally from Elmore, Michigan, a rural small town where I grew up with my dad. It’s the kind of place with massive oak trees lining the streets, evenly trimmed green grass behind every picket fence, and a volunteer fire department which includes the town mayor, the local barber, and the president of the bank. Yeah, it’s that kind of picture-postcard town where everything looks perfect. A little too perfect. Because nothing really is when you take a closer look.

I guess this is the part where I’m supposed to say what this blog is about. The thing is, I’ve been really nervous about this. I don’t like being in the spotlight, and when I sat down to write this post earlier today, I drew a blank on what to talk about. I’m still in college. I haven’t done anything with my life yet. What do I have to say? But I made a promise, and I don’t like going back on my word. So here I am.

I guess the problem is my brain’s been preoccupied with this amazing guy Mark who I met where he works at the university library. I’m not sure “met” covers it, though. I was going to say, we went on a date the other night, but you know, I don’t know if it was a date.

We had sex. Twice. Amazing-I’m-going-to-be-thinking-about-that-for-the-rest-of-my-life sex. Once at the library (yes, INSIDE the library. Can you believe that? I still can’t). Then later at his apartment.

Before that, he’d shown me around the library’s comic book archive. Then after the sex we talked. Some. He told me what his plans are for after graduation, and I told him something no one knows about me except my dad.

But is that a date? Can you call it a date when it’s mostly sex? How about if you have sex twice? Do you need to go out for dinner, a movie, or at least drinks first?

I would tell you what happened at the end of the “date” but Sloan might kick my ass for revealing too much. I really don’t want to piss her off. I’d like to get laid again someday. I mean, it’s not like I had much action before she decided Mark should walk over to where I was sitting in the library. Guys like him never talk to me. Not that I’m complaining. It was the best sex of my life. Mark did stuff no other guy has ever done to me before. Maybe that means it’s a date simply because I had a fantastic time with him. I don’t know.

What do you guys think? What constitutes an official date in your book? I mean, if my dad calls, can I tell him I had a date? I think he wants me to find a boyfriend more than I do.

Thanks for the help,
Scott

————————————————————————

I found another song for TAKE ME HOME. “Chasing Cars” from Snow Patrol. I can hear these lyrics coming from both Kyle and Evan with some definite overlap on which lines work for which man. I won’t say more than that for now. The video below is just the song with lyrics.

I’m nearing the end on this manuscript. These men feel so real to me now, it’s like they aren’t my creations, but real men I’ve had the privilege of following on this journey.

I shared these a while back, but I’ll include them again. My inspiration for Kyle and Evan.

I love reading about first times. Stories of first love, new love, or old friends taking a chance on more. The last four lines of this quote remind me of Kyle from Take Me Home, my current work-in-progress. He’s at the point in his life where he has to make a decision: accept what he’s feeling and move forward, or lose the person who means everything to him. I’m enjoying taking these men on a journey of firsts as they explore a new, but long-desired aspect of their relationship.

“We’re both looking for something
That we’ve been afraid to find
It’s easier to be broken
It’s easier to hide
Looking at you, holding my breath,
For once in my life, I’m scared to death
I’m taking a chance, letting you inside.”

Lyrics from First Time by Lifehouse

This week I took a short break from my regular writing to work on character sketches for my new friends-to-lovers story about two best friends since high school, Evan and Kyle. It’s a contemporary m/m erotic romance, and at this time I have no plans for a suspense element. There’s no title yet, but the outline is pretty much done. I also started the first draft of chapter one (just to get all the ideas down).

Here are the photos I’m using for inspiration (not that the character descriptions will be exactly like this, but it gives me an idea to work from).

Evan

Kyle

I’ll keep you posted on the progress. Next I’m going back to working on Walter’s story, but will work on this one as any new ideas come to me.

Have a good weekend,
Sloan

Here are some more behind the story details about More, specifically some of my first notes for the character of Richard Marshall. These are directly from the original character sketch sheet, including the photo I used for inspiration. (Side note: The final result of what a character looks like may be nothing like the photo, but an image gives me something to visualize, making him/her a bit more real. Also, some of the character traits change as I write the story. Some become no longer relevant.)

Richard Marshall

Photo for Inspiration: This is not exactly what he ended up looking like in my mind (especially the hair), but here’s the first photo of Richard.

And here’s his bod.

Sampling of Character Sketch & Personality Traits

• Full name: Richard Marshall
• Graduated from NYU with an MBA
• Doesn’t hide who he is for any reason.
• Sleeps naked.
• Neat, orderly, tidy.
• Clears his throat when he has something to say he doesn’t want to mention.
• Does not apologize for who he is. Or what he does.
• Strengths
  • Confident
  • Successful in business
  • Caring
  • Loyal
  • Conscientious
  • Smart
• Wants to make the world better for those he cares about. Does it by changing their immediate world, affecting change in their daily lives.
• Fears most: Losing people he loves. Not being what they need and watching them walk out. Not being successful, losing business.
• Zodiac Sign: Leo (Source)
  • “Life Pursuit: To lead the way”
  • “Love triumphs over all for this sign, which is ruled by the heart and operates from this dimension too. Leo’s are born fortunate.”
  • “Charismatic and positive-thinking they attract…an abundance of friends and opportunities.”
  • “Once a Lion is committed to a relationship, they are totally devoted and faithful. Should their heart or trust be broken they never forgive or forget.”
  • “For a Leo, when a relationship is over, really over, it is over for good.”
  • “The second soul-evolution of the Leos is the Lion, King of the Jungle, ruled by ego but always protective and sustaining of those they love.”

All my blog posts with behind the story information are also archived on my website at www.sloanparker.com

Hope you enjoyed a look at my initial ideas for Richard.
Sloan

Late post again this week. Sorry guys. Writing is coming along nicely, though. New ideas are flowing again. And if you didn’t see it, this week I blogged about writing when the muse is asleep at Loose Ends.

Speaking of ideas…

Today I’d like to share some of the behind the story details about More, specifically my first notes for the main character of Luke Moore. These are directly from the original character sketch sheet, including the photo I used for inspiration. (The final result of what a character looks like may be nothing like the photo, but an image gives me something to visualize, making him/her a bit more real. Some of the traits change as I write the story. Some become no longer relevant.)

Luke Moore

Photo for Inspiration

Sampling of Character Sketch & Personality Traits

• Full name: Lukas Moore
• Zodiac Sign: Taurus
• Best Friend: Walter Simon
• Parents: are well-off. They have live-in staff.

• Sleeps in his underwear
• A programmer
• Likes things that are logical with one solid solution
• His apartment is in a low-rent area. It’s small and shabby, but he doesn’t need much. He spends his money on the security system he’s put in place.
• He doesn’t have much in the way of possessions. He moves a lot. He likes to keep his life simple. Uncomplicated. Physical stuff just bogs a person down. Ties them to a time and place. He doesn’t want to be tied to anything.
• Doesn’t own a car
• Independent, self-reliant, private
• Detached
• Successful at work
• Logical
• Determined
• Strong willed
• Thinks only of himself (unless he’s in bed with someone).
• Focused on self-preservation (and winning against his father) to the point of keeping everyone at a distance, even his best friend, Walter, at times.
• Fears most: Being like his father

All my blog posts with behind the story information are also archived on my website at www.sloanparker.com

Hope you enjoyed a look at my original ideas for Luke.
Sloan