This week, I have the great pleasure of sharing my blog with a very interesting man who happens to also be an author. I'm sure you're going to love getting to know, Derek Adams much better.
Jude, first of all,
just let me thank you for the opportunity to be interviewed. Exposure is
everything in this business and it is very generous of you to give me a chance
to be heard by your readers.
(Derek, thank you for joining me here. It's a real pleasure to expose you...errr your book, to everyone who stops by. *G*)
1. How long have you been writing? What
inspired you to pick the pen up one day and create characters that capture the
imagination?
My first short
story was published October, 1987, which is – what? – twenty-five years ago.
Yikes! It was called ‘An Accident of Love’ and was published in ‘Mandate’
magazine, a now defunct men’s magazine that published nude male photos and
short fiction. A number of these mags thrived in the 1980’s, before the
proliferation of still photos and dvd clips on the internet.
I was inspired to
write when I bought one of these magazines and read a story. “I can do better
than that,” I told myself, and so I set out to prove that I was right. I was
working with an Amstrad word processor at the time, which is approximately the
equivalent of a stylus and a wax tablet. Still and all, it was a notch above my
portable typewriter.
My first attempt
was titled ‘Fantasy Man’ which I sent to Jerry Douglas at ‘FirstHand’ magazine.
He sent it back to me with a very kind letter to the effect that I had written
a very good sex scene. What it needed was a story to go with it. I took this to
heart, went back to the Amstrad, and had another go at it. This time the story
was accepted and I was hooked. I’ve always had an active imagination and this
gave me the opportunity to put it to a profitable – well, slightly profitable –
use. Actually, I was able to make a living writing short stories and novels for
about ten years. I was very fortunate – and perhaps just a little talented –
because I actually wrote and sold almost four hundred short stories, won a
number of erotic fiction contests and had the opportunity to have my works
translated into Spanish, Dutch and German. Then I got tired of the irregular
pay and the uncertainty. I also felt that it would only be fair to my partner
to add some more cash to the community funds. So, I put away my pen for a few
years and returned to my former job of waiting tables.
I actually gave up
writing for almost ten years, except for a few contributions to anthologies and
a collaboration with Bruno Gmunder, a
German publishing house. Friends kept asking over the years why I quit writing
and since I couldn’t come up with a good reason, I figured I should get back
into the game. Things had changed, of course. The erotic magazines are a thing
of the past. Fortunately, however, the e-publishing business stepped in to fill
the gap. I did a bit of research, got busy writing and sent manuscripts to the
good folks at Extasy Books, MLR Books and Amber Quill Press and – Voila! – I
currently have two full-length novels, two novellas and over a dozen short
stories available online. I’m back and I couldn’t be happier.
2.
Most people envision an author’s life as being really glamorous. What’s
your take on this? Can you tell us something unglamorous you did within the
last week or so?
Glamorous, huh? I’m
not too sure about that. After all, we’re writing these stories, not living
them. Although, in truth, I do live them in my mind, so I suppose that counts.
This past week, I spent long hours with my partner decorating our home for
Christmas. Schlepping all those boxes of ornaments, lights, garland, etc, down
from the attic, to the living room, to temporary storage in the basement wasn’t
very glamorous, but the result is pretty spectacular.
3. Plotter or pantzer?
I guess I’m a bit
of both. I almost always have a germ of an idea when I begin to write, but when
the creative juices begin to flow, the characters have a tendency to take off
and go their own way. Even when I’m writing a tale to go with a particular
illustration – which I often did for the editors of ‘Advocate Men’ when they were
seeking a tale to go with artwork they had purchased on spec – the characters
frequently just get up and take off with the story in ways I hadn’t
anticipated. They occasionally take the story over a cliff or up against a
stone wall, but I’m usually able to reverse course and have another go at it.
Those, of course, are the times I drag out an outline and do my best to enforce
some discipline. Even with the outline, my characters often tend to push me
around. Entire characters and plot threads sometimes just appear on the scene,
demanding to be noticed. Just last night, while I was writing a scene set at a
political fundraiser, Veronica grabbed me, almost literally by the arm, did a
star turn for about a page and a half, then meandered off the stage. I hadn’t
even considered her presence until she was there. She let me get an important
plot point into the mix in a much more natural way than a paragraph of mere
description. Maybe she’ll be back, maybe she won’t. Is this normal – or do I
need some serious help?
4.
What do you do when you’re suffering writers block?
On those occasions
when writers block becomes a problem, I turn to my garden. Pulling weeds and pruning
hedges can be very soothing. I also find that power-washing the moss off the
bricks on the patio to be very empowering. When the plants turn on me, I
retreat to the house and play the piano. The great composers may lead you into
a technical thicket, but they won’t take you down a dead end road, then leave
you high and dry.
5.
What would you like to share with new writers? Any suggestions or
advice?
If I could offer a
word of advice to new writers, it would be to be very open to criticism. You
may think you have written the Great American Novel, but a good editor
generally has a much clearer view of the reality of the situation. It is tough
to gain distance from something you are so intimately involved with, so you
damn well better listen to the person who is telling you to cut this, revise this, add that, and quit
changing the point of view every three lines!!! Seriously, I will never
forget Jerry Douglas or the wise words he offered to my virgin effort. I read
his advice, I took his advice, and I’ve been selling stories ever since.
6. If you could be a character in any of
your books who would it be and why?
It would have to be
my good buddy Miles Diamond, the hapless hero of a series of detective novels
bearing his name. Miles is befuddled and generally behind the eight ball, but
he is devilishly handsome, a true sexual athlete and he has oodles of the
hottest sex imaginable with gorgeous guys in dozens of exotic settings. Miles
may not always get the point, but he inevitably gets the guys. He also has a
fairly hilarious relationship with Rudy Vale and Jackson, his often unwilling
cohorts in detection. I must admit that I have been almost everywhere Miles has
been in his world travels, including that hash farm in the Atlas mountains of
Morocco. That, however, is Miles’ tale to tell in The Case of The Missing Twin, available at Extasy Books. (Is that a
plug? Is that appropriate? Do I have any shame? Guess not.)
7. Looking over the past year, what has been
the best moment for you in your writing career?
The best moment in
the past year has definitely been a comment from my Amber Quill Press editor
(also an author). Catherine Snodgrass praised Safe Harbor as: “A wonderful
story, wonderfully written.” Quite
simply the best review ever, in my opinion. I fell in love with the story and
characters when I was writing and to have my feelings confirmed in such simple,
generous terms by a fellow author really got to me.
8. What do you enjoy doing with your spare
time, your non-writing time?
Spare time is
filled with gardening, music—including symphonies, chamber music and
opera—travel, long gourmet meals prepared by my partner of 28 years – and then
there’s that waiter guy who still logs 30 hours a week to keep body and soul
together. All in all, that pretty much wrings the ‘spare’ out of my time.
9. If
you could choose one vice, what would it be and why?
Smoking – because I
loved it so much and because I always thought Bogart and other forties movie
stars looked so cool doing it. Still, I’m glad I shook that habit years ago. I
can now breathe easy and I’ve saved a whole bunch of money. Also, smokers are
now viewed in pretty much the same light as dogs that aren’t house-trained.
10.
If you found that, for one reason or another, you couldn’t write
anymore, what would you like to do instead?
I couldn’t manage
to do either of these things at this late date, but if I couldn’t write in my
next life, I would want to be a concert pianist or an opera singer. These
displays of physical dexterity and the ability to channel the genius of a composer
through your brain and body to bring pleasure to a large audience would be
incredible. In live performance, it’s just you and the music, right there,
right now, no editor, no chance for revision, plenty of chances for human
error. Terrifying! And exhilarating. What a rush.
11. What are you working on now? Can you tell us
a little about it?
‘Retreat to Island
County’ is the tentative title of my current project. It is a novella/novel –
the length keeps changing. Two guys from very different backgrounds meet, but
fail to connect. They are continually thrown together and begin to bond, but
their relationship is thwarted time and again by painful memories from their
pasts. Love may or may not triumph. So far the mix includes a faithless lover,
a dead lover, a lesbian couple with a six-year-old boy, and a nest of white
supremacists. Weaving all the strands together will be challenging, but it is a
challenge I love.
12. Are you in love? Have you ever been?
Twenty-eight years
and counting. Life is good.
13. You often write about sex in a humorous
light. What’s that all about?
Well, Jude, sex is funny. If you don’t believe me, just log
in and check out one or another of the hundreds of sites that show us humans
coupling. Even with physically perfect specimens, the mechanics of it all are a
bit goofy. Sex is a very emotionally charged topic, weighted with incredible expectations
that it often can’t sustain. Putting it all in a humorous light takes away some
of that baggage and helps you to relax. Laughter during sex helps break the
tension – as long as you aren’t actually laughing at your partner in an unkind way. Reading about humorous sex can be
very erotic, because it breaks down some of the pompous, overwrought situations
that erotic stories sometimes fall victim to. Besides, laughter is good for
you. People who laugh have more fun during sex that those who continually growl
and scowl. Besides, the growlers and scowlers are usually among the funniest
performers, so why shouldn’t they be in on the joke as well?
14. Safe sex and
erotic literature – pro or con?
I’ve been chided by some of my readers for not always observing
safe sex guidelines in my work. Let’s face it, sex has always been potentially
deadly. Long before the advent of AIDS, humans were faced with a host of
sexually transmitted diseases with fatal consequences, none of which did much
to deter sexual activity. In the past, erotic authors didn’t spend much time
warning against the dangers of syphilis or gonorrhea, even though the
consequences were well-understood. Of course, in real life, you should
definitely do all you can to protect against STDs and, for women, unwanted
pregnancies. In fantasy, however, I think it is a relief to both writer and
reader to escape for a while from the real world to a realm where every sex act
is white hot and risk free. I tend to employ condoms in most of my stories, but
in cases where it is purely over-the-top erotic fantasy, my characters exist in
an ideal world where no harm can come to them. Erotic romance is a realm where
every sex act brings perfect pleasure. Nothing is messy, nothing smells bad and
there is no pain that isn’t accompanied by a little frisson of pleasure. I
think that is one reason the genre is so perennially popular. We get plenty of
reality in our daily lives.
We all know about the trauma and waste brought about by
murder, but sending all potential murderers in our books to counseling and
anger management sessions would severely undermine a very popular genre of
fiction.
Derek has chosen to show off his book, Safe Harbor:
Safe Harbor
by Derek Adams
ISBN: 13:
978-1-61124-223-2
Publisher: Amber Allure
Blurb:
‘Safe Harbor’ is the erotically charged, highly romantic story of a
young love sidelined by harsh realities and then dashed by a shocking act of
betrayal on the part of one of the protagonists. When the men meet again a
decade later they immediately realize that their mutual attraction is
undiminished. However, their priorities have changed over the years and it is
unclear whether they can rekindle their love, or whether it is fated to be
merely a memory of happiness lost.
Excerpt: (and here you all got lucky. Derek sent me two and I couldn't decide on just one)
#1
“I’m Mike.”
“Eric. Pleased to meet you.” He
stuck out his hand. I shook it. His grip was firm, but his hand was as soft as
a girl’s. It was pretty clear he hadn’t been putting in a lot of hours doing
manual labor to help his family out financially.
“Okay, Eric. Let’s have a look.” He
patted the smooth stone next to where he was sitting. I scooted over. He held
the sketch pad between us. Our bare shoulders touched. His skin was warm...“Hey,
man, that’s me.” It was a drawing of me, standing with the water at my back.
The detail was pretty amazing, almost like a photograph. It sure as hell looked
like the face and body I saw when I looked in the mirror on my bedroom door
every morning. He had even included the long scar on my right shoulder,
souvenir of a set-to with a grappling hook last year at the marina. The hairs
on my chest were there, in detail, and the fine line of fuzz that trickled down
my belly.
“Do I really look that mean?”
“That’s not supposed to be a mean
look. That’s a pissed-off look.” He chuckled softly. “You were pretty pissed
when you first saw me here the other day.”
“Okay, okay. I admit it. Guilty as
charged.” I looked over at him and grinned. “Do I still look pissed?”
He stared at me intently for a
moment. “Nope. Goofy, maybe, but not pissed.”
“Goofy?” I reached over and grabbed
him in a mock headlock. “You’re gonna have to take that back, Eric.”
“Never!” He laughed as he struggled
in my grasp. I pulled him closer. His face pressed against my chest. He slipped
his left arm around my waist and splayed his right hand against my belly.
“I am not goofy!”
“You are, too!” His breath ruffled
the hairs on my chest, tickling me. “Okay. Okay. I give up,” he gasped after
several moments had passed. I let him go, but he didn’t jump away. Instead he
put his hands on my shoulders, his face only inches from mine. He was flushed
and he had a loopy grin on his face.
“Glad you finally saw it my way.” I
was intensely aware of the pressure of his hands.
“You may not be goofy, Mike, but
you sure are se…uh, crazy.” Eric’s face got even redder.
I stood, then turned my back on him
abruptly. I’d sprung a rod for some reason. I tugged at the crotch of my pants,
but it didn’t help much. I grabbed my T-shirt and held it in front of me. “I
gotta be getting back. If I don’t show up to work I’ll catch holy hell from Mr.
Peterson.”
I loped across the sand. I turned
around once and saw that Eric was still looking at me. He raised his hand and
waved. I waved back and kept on going. When I reached down a couple of minutes
later to scratch my balls, I realized that my cock was still hard.
#2:
“I don’t know, Eric. It all sounds
pretty queer to me.”
“Jerking off sounds queer?”
“No, not exactly. It’s just that
I’ve never jerked off except when I’m all alone. I’ve sure as hell never jerked
off with another guy.”
“I’m not going to tell anyone.
Hell, I don’t know anyone around here except you.”
“I don’t know, man.”
“Trust me, you’ll never be able to
corral that beast back into your shorts until you relieve some of the tension.
You could hurt yourself.”
“Yeah, maybe.” It was true. I’d
never get my cock under wraps while it was like this. The damned thing was
harder now than when we’d started this dumb conversation. I looked down. It
jutted up at a jaunty angle, and clear drool was already starting to ooze out
of my pisshole.
“So, what are you going to do?” I
looked over at Eric. He was standing only a couple of feet away from me.
“I’m going to join you.” I took a
step back. “Relax, Mike. I’m not going to touch you, if that’s what you’re
afraid of.”
“I’m not afraid.” I didn’t know
exactly what the hell I was feeling, but it wasn’t fear.
“Good. Neither am I.” He gripped
his stiffer in his left hand and started to stroke it.
I followed suit and soon we were
both really going at it. I had my eyes closed at first, figuring I should
fantasize about some hot chick, but I soon gave up on that. Instead I watched
my fist pump up and down on my cock while I sneaked occasional glances at Eric.
Every time I looked at him, he was looking back at me. It didn’t slow me down
at all.
I gasped softly when he took a step
closer, but I didn’t stop stroking. He leaned forward slightly and our
foreheads touched. I looked down and so did he. Our hips were just far enough
apart to make room for our pistoning fists. Clear cock honey drooled out of me
and splashed on Eric’s knuckles. He groaned as he rubbed it on the shaft of his
dick.
I opened my eyes when I felt Eric’s
hand on my chest. His fingers slipped slowly down over the curve of my right
pec, grazing my nipple. I shuddered and my balls drew up tighter between my
legs. His fingers continued down against my abs, going lower and lower till
they tangled in my pubes. He didn’t touch my cock, but he did cup my balls in
the palm of his hand.
I hunched my shoulders forward and
rose up on my toes, crying out as the first blast of jism shot out of me. It
hit Eric in the hollow of his throat and slid down his heaving torso. His cry
echoed mine as I felt his cum splash my belly. Our knuckles rubbed together as
he leaned heavily against me. His breath was hot against my chest.
My hand dropped away from my shaft
as Eric’s fingers curled around it, holding our slowly deflating hard-ons tight
together. My hands wandered over the contours of his back and shoulders, down
to his waist and then farther down. His lips touched my throat, my chin, the
skin beneath my lower lip. I turned my head away from him.
Phew, nice huh? Here's a little more about Derek:
Derek Adams is the
award-winning author of a popular series of novels featuring the spectacularly
inept detective, Miles Diamond. In addition, he has written several hundred
short stories which he insists are ongoing chapters in his autobiography. His
stories have been translated into Dutch, Spanish and German, and have been
widely anthologized. His fiction won the first prize from Mavety Media’s
‘Torso’ magazine fiction contest four times. When not chronicling his amorous
adventures, Adams writes about gay history and travel. He currently lives in
Seattle.
And here's where you can find Derek online:
My website is www.derekadams47.com I’m on facebook, look for Derek Adams
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