Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Fall Fires Blog Tour: M.C. Rayne & Our Walk to Remember





Today, I welcome M.C. Rayne to the blog to talk about wishes, distractions, and writing styles. M.C. is the author of Our Walk to Remember another fantastic story from Renaissance Romance Publishing’s Fall Fires anthology.



A genie grants you three writing-related wishes: what are they and why?

Oooh, I love this question. Now writing wishes, let me think. I guess my first wish would be to get rid of my procrastinating. It really is a pain sometimes when I have ideas screaming in my head and all I seem to be doing is updating facebook or chatting to friends online. Yes, social media is a great way to interact with people of like mind, but it can also be a hindrance sometimes.

Second, I guess I would wish for the genre I write for (Male/Male romance) to be more readily available to the buying public. I hate not having these books gracing popular book shops, or if they are, for them not to have to be amongst the erotica and Mills and Boon. It does shock me sometimes.

Third, I wish readers would always review, all authors want that, but without the bitterness. I like to read reviews before I make a purchase, its the kind of person I am, and I have read so many hateful and nasty comments about books. Constructive criticism is fine, nastiness isn't! Authors put their hearts and soul into their work, so why make them feel bad for trying to share with the world what they love to do?

Do you agree with the adage “Write what you know”?

Definatly! I’m openly gay, so for me I have to write M/M related stories. The things I work on are not all about gay men coming out to families and the world, more just dealing with the fact the pairing are men; nothing more. I don’t feel the need to have my characters declare their sexuality, unless this is the plot direction I wish to take, because readers already know the book they are reading is from this genre.

I think if I were to write something I am not familiar with, but I really wanted to do it, I would do lots of research until I feel comfortable dancing my fingers over the keyboard to lay the words down.

Name the five biggest distractions from your writing.

Life. You may want to get lost in your writing, but until you are making the money needed to not have to do the 9 - 5 grind, you need to leave the house and go to work. I really don’t know how stay at home mums manage to look after children while producing great books, my hat goes off to them.

Friends and family. This can fall into the above, and for me it does. Yes I would love to sit and write all day, but my friends and family would probably take my computer away if I ignored them for too long.

Movies. I am a film addict, so when something good is on Netflix writing is the last thing on my mind. I have written while watching something before, but then I look up and think ‘oh, it ended?’ That, or you see the twist at the end and realise you missed the developement - this will ruin a good film.

Reading. I think all authors love reading, we must do right? Once you open a book, or turn on your kindle, hours can pass and you realise you have missed some good writing time.

Sleep. Do we really need it? Isn’t this when the best ideas come? I love my sleep, but as soon as my head hits the pillow I am rethinking my novel or current chapter. So glad to have my iPhone near me so I can type things up for the morning.



Our Walk to Remember:
For the Robinson-Shae family, an annual charity walk means more to them than any expensive holiday abroad. After all, it’s where Elisha’s fathers met, and this year it’s even more important to her. Sammy couldn't make it this time, so she asks Charlie to share memories of how they met, and fell in love.



A quick peek at what’s under the cover -


Elisha looks back at me and pulls on our adjoined arms, giggling happily to herself while dancing her knee-length, yellow summer dress around her body so it moves with the warm breeze. I forget how much she loves this annual event. We’ve always done it together. She gets excited to see all the people she’s grown up around. I hope she never grows tired of this venture, never loses herself to the world of television and computer games when she could make a difference doing something small, yet huge.
Such thoughts make me shudder, thinking someone as delicate as little Elisha could ever be a slave to the mediocre. Not our baby, no way!
“Tell me again, Dad,” she interjects, turning towards me and smiling with joy. “Tell me about when you met Daddy?”
Her brown eyes sparkle when she looks up at me, lighting her porcelain face. Can a father ever refuse his daughter? How do you say ‘no’ to the product of your love, the person who found a home in your heart without trying and looks to you to lead themalong the right paths?
“Again?” I tease. “You know this story so well, you can probably tell it better than me.”
Warmth fills my cheeks, bringing colour back into this aging man’s face while he toys with the light of his life, the only other person he loves without question. So many times Sammy and I have sat before a roaring fire while Elisha recounted our history like she’s reading a book. Her voice is always filled with such passion that we hang on her every word. One would be forgiven for thinking it’s her past she is detailing, but I guess my husband and I never get bored with sharing how we came to be the lovers we are today.
“I like it better when you tell it, Dad. Don’t worry; I will fill in any parts you miss,” she chimes in an assertive manner, and I know without a doubt she will.
“Okay, baby,” I commence, drawing her in close so I don’t have to shout too loud.
I don’t need unwanted ears to hear something that will forever remain unwritten, a story that’s stamped into my heart and is ours alone. Sammy has his own version of the life we share, but this is all from the very soul of Charlie Shae — this is how I found my love.
This shouldn’t be so hard to recollect, but I’ve never had to share our story without my counterpart sitting next to me, relishing my retelling. While the warm breeze runs through my free fingers again, I try to grab onto the emptiness and envision that Sammy isn’t very far away. Sadly, my mind isn’t that creative.
Swallowing the pain, I lose myself to the words flowing from me and find myself on auto pilot.
“It was the summer of 1996. I had just finished college. . .”



  
M. C. Rayne got into writing after the passing of his mother, and used it as an outlet to get through the difficult time. He never really thought about becoming an author, but since putting pen to paper he has never looked back

Currently he lives in Leeds with his two best friends Dae and Pete, and his guinea pig, Bean. He spends a lot of time reading and writing, and far too much time procrastination online.



There’s no post tomorrow, but join me again on November 1st, when author K.L. Platt will be joining me in the hot seat.


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