Friendy Friday and GIVEAWAY with Emjay Haze!
A huge thank you to everyone for sharing Hurricane Reese and helping make this release week freakin' amazing! I love you guys so much.
Welcome to Friendy Friday where I introduce y'all to some pretty cool authory folks out there. Emjay I met through an online writer's group. She was looking for someone to partner with to share her debut release from Dreamspinner and I was like hey, I've got a debut release from Dreamspinner! BOOM! New friend made. We swapped books and I have to tell you, Home is Where You Are was just as sweet as the maple syrup made at Eric's family farm.
But first, here's a little more about Emjay and then I'll share some goodies about her book, including the link to her Rafflecopter!
Author Interview for Rock ‘n’ Romance Blog
1. What’s one thing every reader should know about you?
I'm a hopeless romantic
2. What’s your worst habit as a writer?
Getting distracted. Once I get going I can write for hours, but I tend to let distractions get in the way, like email, my phone, my family, my phone, etc...
3. Have you had a major setback as an author, and how did you overcome it?
My first publishing experience was a disaster. I used to exclusively write fanfiction online and I took one of those stories and rewrote it with original characters. I didn't change much else, and I had little experience with writing a novel. It was picked up by a publisher which no longer accepts gay romance. The editor cut the story in half, leaving references that didn't make sense any longer from the missing chapters. And, she left all of the sex scenes, though, which made it not much more than porn. I was so upset that I didn't do any advertising myself, and it was dropped after a year of poor sales and the rights were reverted back to me.
I rewrote the entire story, and it was definitely better, but I got an editor who didn't spend much time on it and again it was released. After a couple bad reviews, the publisher offered to have it re-edited by a senior editor. Just before it was re-released, the published basically stopped paying it's authors and eventually went under.
Again, I waited for my rights to be reverted back to me and I searched for a new publisher. I can say that it was successfully published last year.
After the first time, I thought the book was ruined, along with my pen name, but I got some advice from another writer who told me to just rewrite it and it would be fine. It eventually was.
4. What is the best reader response you’ve ever received?
When I posted stories online, I got great responses from readers thanking me for writing the story, or telling me how much they enjoyed reading it. I've had people tell me that they related to the issue and that I helped them. I love those. It makes it worth it.
5. Did a teacher in school ever encourage or discourage your desire to write? Care to share?
When I was in second grade, (late 60's), I had a teacher who told my mom what a great imagination I had and that it was too bad I'd probably lose it, meaning that as kids get older and they are given such structure in school, they tend to lose that childlike imagination, or at least it wasn't encouraged back then.
6. Who do you share your story ideas/writing with first? What can you expect from them?
I tell my family whenever I get an idea for a story. But, my husband will alway ask, "is it a gay story?" and then his eyes glaze over. They really don't understand that I have all these lovely boys in my head that want their story told.
7. Ever find yourself writing/thinking about writing when you’re supposed to be doing something else?
All the time, lol.
8. What do you do to hold yourself back/motivate yourself?
Quitting my full-time job and writing is big motivation for me. When I'm holding myself back (procrastinating, letting distractions get in the way,) I remember that's what my end goal is.
9. What music inspires you?
I'm a classic rock product of the early seventies. Led Zeppelin, Rush, Queen, The Who, Rolling Stones. You know, real music :)
10. What’s your reading guilty pleasure?
Can I say my own genre is my guilty pleasure? I love reading gay romance of all sub-genres. I have kindle unlimited, so I've gotten to read so many different authors and subgenres. Right now, that's pretty much all I read.
11. Which book boyfriend/girlfriend (either one you’ve read or written) sets the standard for heroes/heroines in your writing?
I write each one a little differently, so I don't think I have really a standard. One of my characters is always the sweet guy.
Home is Where You Are Media Pack for Rockin Romance/R.L Merrill
Author: Emjay Haze
Publisher: DreamSpinner Press
Release Date: 1/26/18
Genre: m/m contemporary romance
Pages: 95
Part of the States of Love Series by DreamSpinner Press
Available for pre-sale:
Home is Where You are
Blurb: For a chance at a future filled with love, he’ll have to face a painful past.
Eric, recently dumped by his boyfriend, is summoned home after his dad suffers a stroke. His family farm in rural Vermont holds memories he’d rather forget, but he—with his degree in agricultural business—is needed to clear up a predicament with the bank. In trying to forget the bad, Eric has also lost sight of the good: green meadows dotted with grass-fed dairy cows and the sugar maples that once produced the area’s finest maple syrup. With Eric’s help, they will again.
A captivating farmhand named Phil tempts Eric to give the countryside another chance, but before they can consider being together, Eric must move past more than his feelings for his ex-boyfriend—he’ll need to stand up to the ghosts that sent him running from the farm in the first place….
GIVEAWAY! I have a rafflecopter giveaway of 3 e-copies of Home is Where you Are, and a Grand prize of the e-book and a gift pack of Vermont maple syrup and maple candy. Enter Today!
Emjay was nice enough to host Hurricane Reese on her blog as well. If you'd like to read my interview, check it out
