Today,
I went for a walk. I know that doesn’t sound very exciting. Opening with
‘today, I juggled fire’ or ‘skied backwards down Ben Nevis without clothes on’
would probably have done more to grab your attention. If I tell you that it was
so cold I could see my breath, and raining so heavily I was immediately soaked
to the bone, you might be more impressed. Or you might wonder what on earth
possessed me to go outside when my front garden was doing a good impression of
being washed out to sea.
Well,
I went for a walk because I have a lot of projects I’m currently trying to
finish, and I’m not really succeeding in completing any of them. I also only
have two weeks in the UK before I fly to Hong Kong – don’t feel sorry for me,
it’s a holiday and I’m desperately looking forward to it, but I am very
conscious that time is not on my side. Unfortunately, today’s little jaunt to
try to get my head in order didn’t do much with helping me work through my
backlog of manuscripts.
You
see, not far from where I’m currently staying is a long stretch of woodland with
a stream running through the middle. I’ve been meaning to set a story there for
ages, but I’ve never got around to it and today, rather than thinking through all
the things I have to finish, I started plotting that story instead.
That’s
what I do. All the scenes in my novels, novellas and short stories take place
in locations I know well. Some of you might already know that, as a Scottish
author, I like to use Scotland as a backdrop in most of my books, but I also
feature places I’ve travelled to. My new novel, Port In A Storm, is a good example of that because my characters –
particularly Jake – don’t stay still for long.
Port is the first novel I’ve had
published that, while featuring Scottish characters and the odd location in
Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews, also features adventures in ‘foreign’ climes
including Africa and Venice, Italy. Those scenes were fun to write, not just
because I got to revisit some of my past travels, but also because I like to think
my readers will enjoy a spot of armchair sightseeing along with their MM erotic
romance.
Other
stories in the pipeline are set to take place in France, and Spain – where I
set a previous short story, Spanish Heat
– but thanks to today’s little jaunt it looks like you might have to wait for
those.
First,
I might be offering you a story that opens with a character going for a walk in
the pissing down rain, being stared at strangely by more suitably-attired dog walkers
before sliding in the mud, tripping over a tree root and going arse over elbow
into a duck pond.
Not
that the last bit happened, of course. Everything I write is pure fiction…
Port In A Storm
Douglas
Black
Port In A Storm is a MM erotic novel, written by
Douglas Black, and published by Loose Id Publishing in October 2014.
Blurb:
Alex is stuck in a rut. He’s facing a big decision
about his future, namely, what to do with it and so far he hasn’t managed to
come up with an answer.
Until
he meets Jake.
Jake
blows through Alex’s world like a hurricane and Alex falls hard and fast for
the perpetual traveller with a penchant for secrets and a perfect smile. Jake
wants Alex, but life isn’t as simple as that.
Jake
never settles in one place for long and already their long-distance
relationship is driving a wedge between Alex and his family. With no
compromises on offer, Alex’s decision about his future becomes a decision about
Jake.
For
Alex, the idea of losing Jake doesn’t bear thinking about, but choosing him
looks like it will mean throwing away everything Alex knows, including his
relationship with his parents. And so, Alex finds himself with another question
to answer.
How
much would you be willing to give up, to be happy?
Excerpt:
Alex
coughed to bring them both back into the room and asked for two twenty-five for
the magically appearing muffin. Amy must have passed it across while Alex had
been busy making a performance out of pouring a cup of water. His traveler was
still smiling that obscenely sexy smile as he held his bag in place with one
hand and flipped open his wallet with the other.
Canadian
and Australian dollars spilled out across the counter, followed by a handful of
coins and a further fluttering of strange, brightly colored bills that even
Alex, who had worked in an international airport for three years, couldn’t
identify. A smattering of euros came next as the man rummaged with a single
hand to extract an appropriate currency. Alex watched in amusement until a
single Nuevo Sol coin slid out and started rolling toward him. Then Alex
raised his hands and put a stop to the proceedings.
Those
brown eyes met his once more, but the smoldering sex look was gone, replaced
with one of genuine bafflement. “I swear I have some dollars in here, mate.
Just give me a second.”
“Sterling,”
Alex corrected.
The
man looked between his wallet and Alex as if trying to fit together the pieces
of a particularly complex jigsaw puzzle. Alex decided to help him out.
“Pounds
sterling, for the muffin.”
After
some further long seconds of staring, Alex saw the pieces finally fall into
place.
“Shit,
mate. Of course. Back in bonnie Scotland.” He laughed a deep, throaty laugh
that stoked the fire deep in Alex’s stomach. “Thank fuck those pilots know
where I’m supposed to be going.”
The
man went back to fumbling in his wallet, and Alex couldn’t help but stare at
those long, nimble fingers. Against his wishes, his mind threw out images of
them on his skin.
“Oh,
bugger this. I’ll have to stick it on a card.” The man produced two American
Express cards. One red. One black. The black one looked solid. It definitely wasn’t
made of plastic.
Alex
had so many questions, so many things he wanted to know about this stranger,
but he had to remind himself that no matter how his body was reacting to the
man before him, he was still at work.
“You
take Amex or…?”
Alex
shook his head.
“You
don’t take Amex in an airport?” The man looked with ill-disguised longing at
the blueberry muffin and the rapidly cooling water.
“No,
no. We do, but it’s okay. The muffin’s on the house. Here, let me help you.”
“Oh,
cheers, mate. That’s really good of you.”
The
man picked up the muffin and took a huge bite as Alex began to assemble the
money into separate piles according to country. He counted out five different,
neat piles of notes and was about to start on the coins when the man reached
out and swept everything back into his wallet, crumpling the notes and wedging
in the coins until he had to shoogle it up and down to get it to fold shut
again. Alex cringed.
“Looks
like you get about a bit.” He cringed again when those words tumbled out
uncensored from his lips.
Alex
had no real idea why he made the comment. He just knew that he didn’t want the
man to leave. His body seemed to have decided that it wanted what it saw in
front of it, and Alex’s brain currently didn’t seem to be capable of finding the
breaks.
“I
meant the currencies…” Alex gestured to the wallet, not wanting to be
misconstrued while mentally kicking himself, but the man just raised one
eyebrow and smirked at him.
“Quite
a bit. Not as much as I’d like to, though.” He looked Alex over once more,
winked, and took another bite of muffin before lazily tugging up his jeans. He
tipped his shoulders forward and bent over slightly as if checking they were
where he wanted them. He looked at Alex again, his body open, like he was
presenting it for inspection. Alex didn’t need to think twice before deciding
that body would pass any inspection thrown at it, with flying colors.
An even longer excerpt is
available on the publisher’s website, here - http://www.loose-id.com/port-in-a-storm.html
Author Biography
Douglas
Black was born and raised in bonnie Scotland. An archaeologist by trade,
Douglas started writing MM erotica - as a means of avoiding starvation at
university - before returning to the genre in 2012.
Welcome
to your fantasy.
Author Links
Blog
http://douglasblackerotica.wordpress.com
Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Douglas-Black/e/B00A93HUHO/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1406885803&sr=8-1
Facebook Author Page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Douglas-Black/1632968396841732?ref=hl&ref_type=bookmark
Twitter
@DBlackErotica
Buy Links
Thanks for having me! :-)
ReplyDeleteLove your books because we get to visit countries & places with you. Your descriptions are informative ... not overwhelming. We are casually observant. I have learned about a different country's educational system ... about an exciting career choice & wicked hot guys! Please keep traveling & remembering & taking us with you! Traveling with from Alaska
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