09 August 2015

Q & A with L.D. Blakeley

Hello!  Thank you so much for visiting Written Butterfly with me today! 

Thank you for having me back to talk about Opportunity Knocks. This release means so much to me since, not only is it the first novel in my Laissez Faire series, it’s actually my FIRST full novel.

Q) How did you dream up the dynamics of your characters?

My characters are actually based on two people I encountered last summer. I was selling jewellery at a music & art fair and a young man came into my tent who simply sparkled with personality – he was an absolute charmer. His look and his demeanor very quickly became Tommy, my MC#1. The other young man, I only saw from a distance. But his look (and his security guard uniform) didn’t take long evolving into a full-fledged MC#2, Gill.

Q) Can you give a fun or interesting fact about your book?

Fun Fact #1: the Laissez Faire is based on a real life event, The Northern Lights Festival Boréal in Northern Ontario.

Fun Fact #2: the Townehouse (where our gorgeous boys officially meet for the first time) is a real bar, where my husband’s band used to play, many moons ago.

Q) Do you have any habits that get you in the writing frame of mind?

Beyond complete and total caffeination, not really. I prefer to write in silence, which is supremely ironic if you ask anyone who knows me. And I tend to send a lot of emails (from my phone) to myself with snippets of dialogue of bits of story ideas. I also keep a notebook in my purse because I’m pretty bad at keeping my phone charged.

Q) How much real life do you put into or influences your books?

I people-watch like nobody’s business. So I’m always taking something from real life and adding it into my stories. Usually, it’s just a personality quirk, or a speech pattern, something small. I think Opportunity Knocks has quite a bit more, though, as the entire series sprang to life while I was actually at a music & art fair and had the chance to watch so many different types of people milling about all weekend long. From there, the people I saw, and the locale itself, easily became part of the narrative.

Q) What are your upcoming projects?


I have a short story, titled Destined, coming out August 22 in Evernight Publishing’s Bad Alpha Manlove anthology. And I’m currently working on Laissez Faire #2, which is as-of-yet untitled. I also have at least one (possibly two) more stories that need to be told in this series. So, hopefully, folks will love these characters as much as I do. J

Opportunity Knocks (Laissez Faire #1) by L.D. Blakeley

Available: August 5, 2015
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-77233-450-0


BLURB

Small-town security guard, Gill Martin, has lived in Mystique Pointe his entire life. His dating prospects are non-existent and he doesn't particularly like his job, but at least it's better than unemployment. Besides, he hasn't got any better ideas.

Big-city artist, Tommy Hearne, knows exactly what he wants out of life: a successful art career and a successful relationship. He also knows that living in Liberty City is his best chance for pursuing both. Unfortunately, for him, neither of these pursuits seem to be panning out quite to his liking.

When Tommy and his misfit band of friends roll into town for the Laissez Faire, Mystique Pointe's annual music & art festival, worlds definitely collide. A fiery tryst sparks more than just a lust connection, but what happens when the 
weekend is over?

EXCERPT

Tommy followed closely behind Gill as they made their way out to the parking lot. He did a quick head count and realized that there were only five of them and that lap-sitting wasn’t going to be on the menu after all. But when Kat took out her keys to trigger the unlock remote and Tommy saw the responding lights on a tiny Fiat 500, he almost cheered. There was barely room for two grown men in the back seat. Good thing he was willing to make the sacrifice and let the others ride in comfort.

“Amy, why don’t you sit up front?” Kat had opened the driver-side door and was about to climb in when she added, “You can pull the seat forward and let the two leggy boys have a bit more room. Sorry, Tommy—looks like you’re gonna have to squeeze in on top.”

Tommy had never been so happy to be the short man out. He waited to see which side of the car Alec chose, and made sure he was at the opposite door. And when Gill climbed in, his T-shirt rucked up slightly, giving Tommy the most delicious glimpse of skin above the most perfect denim-clad bubble butt he’d ever seen. Oh, thank goodness for well-lit parking lots.

“You getting in?” Gill had an expression on his face Tommy was unable to read. Although, if it they’d been working with a bit more than car lot lights, he was sure he’d be able to see another blush staining that handsome face.

Poking his head inside the car, he carefully leaned across Gill’s lap and braced himself on Alec’s leg before climbing in entirely and sitting carefully on top of Gill. There really wasn’t a lot of room in Kat’s car. Despite only being five-foot-eight, Tommy still had to keep his head ducked down to avoid bashing his skull against the roof. He also used it as more excuse to snuggle down closer to Gill. But, hey—not my fault the girl drives a Fiat!

“Sorry it’s such close quarters guys. The car was a graduation gift from my grandparents. I wouldn’t have picked it, but who says no to a free car, right?” Kat caught Tommy’s eye in the rearview mirror and winked. Yeah. Definitely not his girlfriend. Tommy didn’t get the feeling she was upset about his crawling all over Gill. Potential matchmaker, maybe? “Luckily the campground isn’t that far, so you won’t have to suffer long.”

“I don’t mind. Really.” Tommy wriggled slightly and rested his fingers at the back of Gill’s neck. It couldn’t be classed as a grope. He still wasn’t a hundred percent sure if that would even be welcomed. But it was a touch, and a delicate one at that. And it was enough for Tommy to feel the shiver that it elicited from Gill.

“Sorry, Gill. Hope I’m not crushing you.”

“Oh. No. You’re fine.” Gill’s voice was low and slightly hitched. His glasses had started to creep down his nose and Tommy reached up, without thinking, to adjust them.

“Don’t want to lose those.” They were so close that, had it been a colder night, Tommy’s breath would have fogged Gill’s lenses. And, fuck, didn’t that send indecent thoughts straight to his groin. Images of fogging up the car windows with Gill or, to be precise, images of what they might be doing in order to cause said situation, sent a message straight to Tommy’s dick. He fidgeted slightly, not wanting to reach down and adjust the hard-on he’d hoped he could keep at bay.

He was about to fidget again when the sound of Gill clearing his throat distracted him slightly from the problem at hand. And alerted him to another. Of course, describing the feeling of Gill’s answering erection under his ass as a problem couldn’t have been further from wrong. Gloriously, heroically magnificent, perhaps. But not a problem.

Tommy turned slightly to make eye contact with Gill but found the other man uncomfortably looking in the other direction. He twisted slightly, making sure his ass did a slow grind into Gill’s crotch as he did so. Yep. That got his attention.

WHERE TO BUY

 Amazon Canada
 Amazon UK 
 Amazon US
 ARe
 BookStrand
 Evernight Publishing

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A pragmatist with a romantic soul & a dirty mind, L.D. is a fan of horror movies, hot sex, and Happily Ever Afters. Easily distracted by shiny things, she’s a slightly neurotic, highly ambitious dreamer who enjoys dabbling in photography & pretending she can carry a tune. 

In another life, L.D. was a newspaper reporter, an entertainment & music writer, travel writer, website content editor, and a marketing shill. Now she prefers to spend her time writing hot, steamy fiction (with a healthy dose of romance) about intriguing, sexy men. Of course, whether these pretty boys end up between the sheets with other gorgeous lads or up against a wall with a spicy and spirited heroine, all depends on which direction her imagination takes her on any given day.

Although she dreams of living some place isolated with an endless supply of wine and an infinite number of titles on her eReader, she currently lives in down-town Toronto with her husband and their rock star cat.
You can find her online pretty much everywhere: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Goodreads, her Amazon Author page, her blog, and her official website.

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