Cocktails and Cock Tales with Sloan Parker

Today I am launching a new feature on the blog. An interview portion called Cocktails and Cock Tales. And yes, you guessed it! We will be throwing back a few cocktails and sharing the scoop on stories heavily laden with cocks! LOL

COCKTAIL OF THE DAY:


DEANNA'S KRYPTONITE: BV-7's


3 pt Diet 7up

2 pt Black Velvet Whiskey
Serve over ice


This is my beverage of choice pretty much 24/7 and the beverage you should select while reading this interview!

Today I will be chatting cocktails and hopefully a cock tale or two with author Sloan Parker. She is the author of the erotic m/m/m novel MORE, one of my first introductions to m/m. Her latest book BREATHE was released TODAY!!!! Tuesday, Nov. 16th, from LooseId.

Deanna: So let's get started, Sloan. Where are you and what are you wearing?

Sloan: This one sounds like it should be interesting, but sadly, no. I’m sitting at the kitchen table looking out over my backyard. It’s a lovely, sunny fall day. I wish the winter weather would stay away, but other than that I love this time of year. I’m actually in real clothes this morning, wearing a sweatshirt and cargo pants (not my usual Saturday morning pajamas)

Deanna: Real clothes? Wow, I’m impressed! I’m still in my jammies. What’s your poison? Vodka? Hot Coco?

Sloan: You are easy, girl! To impress, I mean. *g*

Deanna: Hey, I may be easy but I ain't cheap! LOL Vodka tonic maybe?

Sloan: I think I'll pass. I had a bit too much vodka in my youth, so I don’t drink it much anymore. These days an ice cold Barq’s Root Beer is like heaven. No other soda comes close to a Barq’s. But sadly, I gave up soda about three years go. I do okay until I see someone drinking one around me. Then I’m about ready to tear it out of the person’s hands. I could have gone for one after revising my current project all day yesterday. I did have a nice cup of hot cocoa, though. It was yummy and decadent and just what I needed.

Deanna: Barq’s, huh? Guess now I know how to bribe you if I ever need anything. Have you seen the Barq's dog? Its a stuffed dog with a root beer can for a head. You know? Barq's has bite? He's cute but naughty. His name is Barqy. Any way, I'm off topic already. Let me get my cocktail and we can get started. Black Velvet and diet 7up... its early but hey, its five o'clock somewhere, right?

Now that we’re comfy, tell me about your new book BREATHE

Sloan: Yep, all comfy. And please, no bribing me with soda. I’m not that strong. Thanks! My new book, BREATHE, is the story of two strangers living in a small town. They meet and discover an undeniable attraction only to learn a little too late they should never have met at all. Or so they think. One man’s wife was killed in a car accident a year before the story starts. The other man is the person who caused the accident that took her life. They are (hopefully) two very likeable guys stuck in an impossible situation.

Deanna: I'm sure if you wrote it, they are likable. :) Where did the idea for this story come from?

Sloan: Several years ago there was a tragic car accident a few miles from my house where a young woman was killed, leaving behind her husband and four-year-old son. It was such a sad story, and my heart broke for the grieving family. Then one night I saw footage on the local news of the man who had accidentally caused the crash. He was in the courtroom apologizing to the woman’s family. I had the TV muted (with closed captioning on since I was working). I only caught a bit of what he was saying, but the look of misery and despair was something I’ll never forget. He’d have to live with that guilt for the rest of his life.
Naturally I felt horrible for this woman’s family, but I also couldn’t get the other man out of my thoughts. Would he ever be able to forgive himself? Would he ever be happy again? That’s when I started writing notes for BREATHE. I wanted to tell the story of these two broken men who were both miserable and lonely, who then found, not only incredible passion together, but something more.

Deanna: Wow, that’s a powerful source of inspiration. What was the hardest part of writing BREATHE for you?

Sloan: I guess I’d have to say the last few weeks of self-editing. I worked on revising and editing this book for months. I never got tired of the story or the characters, but I was frustrated with the speed of putting the finishing touches on it. I wanted to submit it, but I knew it wasn’t quite ready. Now I’m glad I spent the extra time on getting it to the point where I was really happy with manuscript.

Deanna: What’s the easiest thing about writing it?

Sloan: The ending. By the time I got to the last quarter of the book, the words just seemed to fly out. And they were pretty good for my first draft. I edited those pages far less than the rest of the book. And those final chapters move me like nothing else I’ve written. Every time I read through it I get chocked up, or I read like crazy through the high-conflict scenes. There is one tense moment where I had to keep reminding myself to slow down and edit the damn thing.

Deanna: What is your dream story, your opus, if you will? The one you dream about writing but haven’t don’t it?

Sloan: BREATHE was my dream story for the last few years. Now that it’s written, I’m really focused on putting the same passion I had for writing that book into the two that I’m working on now. One is a May/December romance, which I’ve always wanted to write. The other is a friends-to-lovers story about two guys who met in high school and, years later, finally give in to their passion for each other. That one holds a special place in my heart since I met my own sweetie in high school.

Deanna: I totally would love the friends-to-lovers story. What do you mean by a May/December romance?

Sloan: I love friends-to-lovers stories and always wanted to write one. A May/December m/m romance is a love story between an older man and a younger one. Walter Simon (a secondary character in MORE) is finding himself in all sorts of trouble when he falls for a much younger reporter, Kevin Price.

Deanna: I loved Walter!!!! He gets his own story!??! Yippeee!!!!!
Now when did you first discover you were a writer? Were you like sitting on the toilet and just said, “Ya know, I think I’m gonna write a book.” Or was it more profound?

Sloan: LOL…not sure it was profound, but I also wasn’t on the toilet. I was bit by the writing bug when I was a kid and had the chance to enter a short story in a local competition. I didn’t win, but walking around the university-sponsored event, seeing all those books and listening to the authors talk about their passion for their work, I knew I wanted to write a novel. I also grew up in a family of readers and storytellers, so reading was very much a part of my childhood. My mom was a librarian. I spent so much of my childhood literally surrounded by books. I’d go to work with her and get pissed when the other kids would “steal” my mom’s books. Eventually I got the gist of how a library worked. To this day, I think public libraries are some of the coolest places on earth.

Deanna: That’s funny! You thought the kids were “stealing” your mom’s books, lol. What helps you when you are stumped on a scene in a manuscript? I usually have a cocktail or three. But that’s just me.

Sloan: Yeah, took me a while to get the concept of a library. LOL. I get too loopy on cocktails. I don’t write humor well, so it’s probably best I don’t try to write that way. *g* I have found getting up and stepping away from my computer helps. Things like taking a shower, going for a walk, or getting in the car for a drive almost always work to get the ideas flowing. I cannot tell you the number of times I sat on the edge of the bathtub, wrapped in a towel, writing notes while dripping water all over the floor.

Deanna: Most of my stories have a theme song, do you do that for your characters?? If so what is it?

Sloan: There are several songs that remind me of BREATHE. “Better Days” by the Goo Goo Dolls, “Breathe (2AM)” by Anna Nalick, and “Breathe” by Faith Hill are a few. I posted on my blog a couple of weeks ago, http://blog.sloanparker.com/?p=4343, with some of the lyrics that are very much at the core of Lincoln and Jay’s story. I listened to these songs quite a lot when I wanted to get in the right mood during the edits.

Deanna: Tell us about a scene that you have written then afterward, when you read it, you shocked yourself? You know I want a dirty answer (((hint hint)))

Sloan: There are a few scenes that I wrote late at night just before bed, then when I woke up the next morning, I couldn’t believe I had written them. I usually don’t write such a clean first draft, but something about the context mixed with my sleepy state must have just worked. One was a particular steamy, emotional scene in my first book MORE where the three men decided it was time to climb into the oversized bathtub together. It was an intensely emotional moment for them, but also highly erotic. I remember thinking…Damn, I wrote this?

Deanna: I loved that scene! It was so funny when Matthew said the water was all “cummy” afterward. I laughed out loud, so I think you can write funny better than you think!

Sloan: Glad you liked that part and found it funny. When I’m really into the character’s head I can come up with one or two lines, but to carry out a full romantic comedy would be tough for me. Maybe someday.
Thanks for the interview, Deanna! These were such clever questions, as I knew they would be since they were coming from such a witty, clever person. I had a great time! Thank you!!

Deanna: Awww, you don’t need to suck up to me, I already bought your book! LOL! Thanks for stopping by to chat, Sloan!

For the rest of you who would like to check out Sloan’s books you can purchase them here: BREATHE: http://www.loose-id.com/Breathe.aspx
MORE: http://www.loose-id.com/More.aspx

You can also find Sloan at her Website,
Facebook and follow her on Twitter