Category Archives: Miscellaneous

For the Love of: Public Libraries

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(c) istockphoto, Tony Tremblay, 2005

This post is dedicated to my mom, a small-town librarian from the time I was four until she retired earlier this year, who took me to work with her during my youth and shared her love of reading with this curious dreamer.

I recently had dinner with a friend who works at a public library here in my home state, and she told me about a very interesting program she had just finished teaching. It was a creative writing course for veterans. The class was made up of men of varying ages who served in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq. Most came for two reasons: to learn creative writing techniques that could help them share their stories with others and to learn how to write for their own therapeutic needs.

She called it powerful watching the men slowly open up to her–and each other–about their experiences and why they needed to write about them. As she talked about the class, I could picture the mix of old and young men from very different wars all nodding in understanding as common themes were explored. My friend said she was certain she learned more from them than they did from her. Hearing about the class and the experience it must have been for everyone reminded me how much I love libraries.

Even today, with the vast amount of information available on-line, libraries are offering services that are hard to replicate. Those veterans came together in one room, face-to-face, and learned ways to share their tragic and heroic pasts with others and how to use writing to heal their own hearts.

Libraries still offer so much to those who may not otherwise be able to afford or locate certain resources.

So if you haven’t been by your own local library lately, take a look and see what they are offering. You might be surprised.

Sloan

Guest Blog: Wondering About Shorts

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(c) istockphoto, LesByerley, 2005

I’m guest blogging at Loose Ends, talking about shorts (short stories, that is). Wondering if readers of m/m romances like reading shorts? I’d love to hear your opinion.

Wondering About Shorts

Thanks,
Sloan

Back to Walter’s story (dang, this book needs a title)

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Happy Friday! Hope everyone is doing well. I’ve had the best week. Does that sound like bragging? Really, I’m just feeling good this week and wanted to share. Just before we celebrated Thanksgiving here in the US, I took a week off from writing (which was both necessary for many reasons and incredibly scary since I haven’t done that in a long time). Well, this week I headed back into a more normal writing schedule, and things are moving along nicely.

Here’s where my current projects stand and some other news:

  • Home Again
    I have a tentative title and a first draft for my friends-to-lovers story. For now I’m calling it HOME AGAIN. The draft is pretty rough, but I’m really happy with the story and characters. I can’t wait for everyone to meet Kyle and Evan.
  • Walter Simon
    So now I’m back to working on Walter’s story (this book desperately needs a title, but nothing has come to me yet). It’s a stand-alone story with a secondary character from MORE, Walter Simon. I decided to take a break to get the first draft done on HOME AGAIN, but this week I was able to get back to Walter’s. I’ve kept the poor guy waiting on first base for far too long now.
  • Contest News
    I’m going to be hosting a Happy Holidays contest on the blog this month. It’ll be winner’s choice of one free ebook from my work or any Loose Id title. Check back in the next week or so for details.
  • Blogging News
    I’m going to be guest-blogging at author Tara Lain’s blog next week. I’ll be talking about the differences between writing MORE and BREATHE. If anyone has questions about either book, I’d love for you to stop by and post a comment. I’ll share the link to the blog when it’s live.
  • Banners
    I have a couple of new banners and skyscrapers that I’m using for online advertising. Feel free to grab one for your own website or blog if you’d like. They can all be viewed here.

I’m hoping to do more Friday posts than I have been in the past few weeks. Some of these will be writing updates like this one. For those of you who follow the blog regularly, this might get a bit repetitive. I apologize for that, but I think it’ll be a good way to keep my updates easily accessible for those new to visiting my site as more people become familiar with me and my work.

If anyone has any questions about my books, my current projects, or anything at all, feel free to contact me or add your question in the comments section of this post.

Hope you all have a great weekend!
Sloan

More about Matthew Stewart

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I’ve already posted some of my original character details and pictures for Luke and Richard (from More). Now I’m sharing about Matthew.

These are directly from the original character sketch sheet, including the photos I used for inspiration before writing the book.

Matthew Stewart

Photos 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 a bit more real.

(c) istockphoto, RobertDodge, 2007

Sampling of Character Sketch & Personality Traits

  • Full name: Matthew Stewart
  • Nickname: his mom calls him Matty.
  • Works at a music/book store in the mall.
  • Lives with his mom whom he adores.
  • His parents are divorced. Hasn’t seen his father since the man left, when Matthew was in high school.
  • Came out in high school.
  • Doesn’t like Chinese food. Loves Italian.
  • Doesn’t have much in the way of a savings account.
  • Strengths
    • Lively, energetic, funny (despite his shyness)
    • Always has a smile
    • Laughs a lot
    • Empathetic
    • Inquisitive. Curious. Asks questions.
  • Weaknesses
    • Shy, nervous, self-conscious
    • Trusts too easily, even when others have failed him
    • Doesn’t speak up when he should
    • Speaks with uncertainty
    • Has issues with people who drink alcohol around him.
  • Zodiac Sign: Scorpio (Source)
    • Life Pursuit: To survive against all opposition
    • Scorpios lead fate filled lives and have intense and dramatic personal relationships.
    • Old and wise beyond the average, Scorpios often know all the answers, except sometimes; they too often have difficulty finding what they need to develop their own happiness.
    • Coming to grips with their extraordinary emotional depths and sensitivity isn’t easy for those around them.
    • They are different from all other zodiac signs and this difference has them walking, working and loving to a different beat.
    • Their eyes often blaze with feelings that words never express, and beware on the days or nights they hide their feelings behind dark glasses, there is likely to be a storm of some kind brewing.
    • They often wear a mask. Too often they say “no” when they really mean “yes.”
    • Once they find true love they can be the most faithful dedicated of all partners.
    • When they are negative about something or someone, or critical of themselves, they can tend to get in their own way.

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 some of my initial ideas for Matthew.
Sloan

 

Image source (first picture): I can’t recall from where I purchased or downloaded this one. If you hold the copyright and wish to have it removed, please contact me.

Sloan’s Writing Update

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Happy Friday! Boy, this was a long week, but I made some wonderful discoveries on one of my stories so I’m feeling good (even if I’m a bit exhausted as I head into the weekend. It’s a good kind of exhausted.) I thought it was time to post an update on my writing progress:

  1. My new Friends-to-Lovers Story I still don’t have a title for this one. The outline is complete and the rough draft is at 45,000 words. I’m planning (or shall I say hoping) for this one to end up around 70-80,000 words (quite a bit shorter than my other two novels). As it stands now, it’s got a lot of sexual tension, a minor suspense thread (not even sure I’d call it suspense, but I’ll see how it turns out), and is the fastest I’ve written anything so far. I’m really excited with what I’m coming up with that wasn’t even in the original outline.
  2. Walter’s Story This one features Walter Simon from MORE, although it’s a stand-alone story that does not require the reader to have read More. It’s a full-on erotic suspense, and the first draft is currently at 31,000 words. I’ve been taking a short break from it while I flush out the draft for my friends story, then I’ll be back to Walter’s. I had a tentative title, but there is already another Loose Id book with that title, so I’m rethinking it.
  3. Breathe The final edits have been completed for BREATHE. Last I heard, we were still on schedule for a November 16 release at Loose Id. I’ll be posting an excerpt to my site this weekend. When I do, I’ll post a link here on the blog too.
  4. Short Stories  For anyone who may have missed it, I posted a free short story to my website. It’s titled “A Lesson in Truth“. It’s an erotic m/m romance featuring graduate student David and his advisor Michael as they discuss their future during a late night in Michael’s office.I’ve also completed another short titled “The Break In.” I’m either going to post it as a freebie or expand it a bit and submit to some of the epubs that take shorts. I’ll let you know when I decide for sure.
  5. More MORE Books Two additional stories for the guys of MORE are in the planning stages, but I’m not currently working on those.

I’m hoping to have either my friends story or Walter’s ready to go during the first half of 2011, and the other finished later in the year. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Sloan