“The heart is the place where we live our passions. It is frail and easily broken, but wonderfully resilient. There is no point in trying to deceive the heart. It depends upon our honesty for its survival.”
-Leo Buscaglia
This one reminds me of how important it is to be true to who we are, to live our lives with as much passion and honesty as possible.
Sloan
Lately I find myself ruminating more and more on reader expectations, what makes a good story, and where I want my writing to go in the future. I believe it’s important for authors to write stories they think readers of their genre will want to read, as well as writing with a passion for the story they want to tell. Hopefully those two outcomes will cross paths more often than not. I guess that’s the ideal most authors strive for.
Today I thought I’d share one of my favorite quotes about storytelling:
“Having something to say, or something you wish us to experience, is what gives your novel its power. Identify it. Make it loud. Do not be afraid of what’s burning in your heart. When it comes through on the page, you will be a true storyteller.”
Donald Maass
Next week is my second release at Loose Id, so today I thought I’d share two more quotes from Lincoln and Jay’s story, BREATHE.
When I started writing this book I wanted to tell the story of two strangers who discover an undeniable attraction only to learn a little too late they never should have met at all. Or so they think. I wanted them to be two very likable guys stuck in an impossible situation.
Here’s a look into each man’s point of view.
FROM LINCOLN:
“He wouldn’t deny something had sparked between them, hidden under their passion, the touches, the kisses. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t escape the past, couldn’t put aside the one thing keeping them apart.”
FROM JAY:
“Lincoln was talking, but all sound muted as if Jay had sunk into a pool of water where all was still and quiet, where Lincoln was a far-off distorted vision above the surface, in a different world, and so far from Jay’s reach.”
If you’d like, you can check out a longer excerpt on my website.
Thanks for taking a look at BREATHE.
Sloan
Just realized I haven’t posted any of my favorite quotes from MORE. Thought I’d share one this week.
Here’s a moment between Luke and Matthew. This is just before Richard joins them on their third night together.
I unbuttoned his pants, then started on my own. He slid his off in an effortless motion, never moving with any awkwardness. My pants and underwear tangled at my feet with my shoes, and I had to give a few good kicks to get them off and onto the floor. Next to him, my writhing and kicking made me look like a finalist for the ten thousand dollar cash prize on America’s Funniest Home Videos. Beautiful was the best word to describe him.
Once we were naked, our bodies connected again in a rush, like sex-crazed teenagers given the go-ahead on prom night, diving for each other. Six days must have been too long for either of us to wait to be together again. How did I think I was ever going to give him up? Either of them?
The idea of never having Richard again twisted my gut into a rigid knot. When he came back to the club, we’d hook up with him again.
We had to.
If you want to check out more of MORE you can read the first two chapters here (PDF).
Have a good one,
Sloan
For my quote of the week I’m sharing another one of my favorites from an m/m romance. This one is from Ransom by Lee Rowan. It’s the year 1799 and two shipmates in His Majesty’s Navy, Davy and Will, have found they are alone and in each other’s arms once again.
His lips tingled, the sweet hot touch of Davy’s mouth drawing his tongue deep inside—like kissing a girl but nothing like it, no courtesy, no caution, just a blinding urgency, almost the bloodlust of battle.
But he didn’t want to kill Davy or hurt him—God, no, he just wanted to get closer, somehow. He could feel his own blood racing, could sense another pulse through the thin barrier of cloth between them. He had never in his whole lonely life felt so close to another human being, but there was a familiarity about this, as though he knew exactly what to do. It was incredible, glorious, and hovering just out of reach was the tantalizing promise of one tiny bit more, and he wanted it desperately.
From Ransom by Lee Rowan
You can learn more about Lee Rowan’s work on her website.