Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Parker Williams today on tour with his latest story Lincoln’s Park (Links In the Chain).
~ Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Interview with Parker Williams ~
How much of yourself goes into a character?
For this particular book, not too much. Lincoln looked down on people, and I never did that. Noel found out he wasn’t loved as much as he thought. I always knew my mom loved me.
Do you feel there’s a tight line between Mary Sue or should I say Gary Stu and using your own experiences to create a character?
Not in this story. Everything in Lincoln’s Park was a product of my imagination. Well, except for the list of clubs that Lincoln belonged to. Some of those will be familiar. ☺
Does research play a role into choosing which genre you write? Do you enjoy research or prefer making up your worlds and cultures?
I did do some research into diner food, and ended up enjoying the hell out of it, and making myself really hungry in the process. Lincoln serves Noel some battered cheesy onion rings that I found, and they looked SO damn good. If you want to see them for yourself, go here.
Has your choice of childhood or teenage reading genres carried into your own choices for writing?
You know, when I was a kid, gay characters weren’t very prevalent. IF you saw one, they were usually a joke or a molester or would die in some horrific way. Much like back then, though, many movies still treat LGBT characters the same. It’s why the phrase Bury the Gays came from. I’d like to think, with the advent of such movies as Love, Simon and newer flicks, that LGBT can be shown to be happy and not a smear stain on the sidewalk.
Do you like HFN or HEA? And why?
I honestly prefer a HEA for romance stories, but those that aren’t strictly romance (Amy Lane’s Fish series, for example), a HFN is good enough, because you know there will be more to unravel as the series continues.
Do you read romances, as a teenager and as an adult?
I would have *loved* a good gay romance when I was a teenager. The closest I came was a book called Kevin by Wallace Hamilton, but even that was a taboo tale, although the ending was happy.
How do you feel about the ebook format and where do you see it going?
I think eBooks are going to be around for a while. I’d like to say they’re here to stay, but I said the same thing about VHS tapes, and look where those are now.
How do you choose your covers? (curious on my part)
When I work with Dreamspinner, I always ask Reese Dante if she’s available to do the cover for me. Ever since I first saw her work, she was a favorite of mine. When I wrote Pitch, a friend asked about the cover, and I said I would love to ask Reese, but she didn’t do young adult stuff. So my friend asked for me, and Reese said yes!
Do you have a favorite among your own stories? And why?
My current favorite is An Unlocked Mind with K.C. Wells. I have wanted to do a story for Rob ever since we met him. He’s funny, sarcastic, and not anything like a sub is expected to behave. (A lot of that comes from K.C., who gave him personality in An Unlocked Mind.)
No matter what, I will always be grateful to her for allowing us to do his story.
What’s next for you as an author?
I just finished edits on my first ever ghost story, ‘The Spirit Key’!
When he was eight years old, Scott Fogel died. Paramedics revived him, but he came back changed. Ghosts and spirits tormented Scott for over a decade until, thinking he was going mad, he did the only thing he could.
He ran—leaving behind his best friend, Tim Jennessee.
Scott’s had five normal, ghost-free years in Chicago, when the spirit of Tim’s mother comes to him and begs him to go home because Tim’s in trouble and needs him.
He isn’t prepared for what he finds when he goes home—a taller and sexier Tim, but a Tim who hasn’t forgiven Scott for abandoning him… a Tim whose body is no longer his own. The ghost of a serial murderer has attached itself to Tim, and it’s whispering dark and evil things. It wants Tim to kill, and it’s becoming harder for Tim to resist. To free the man who has always meant so much to him, Scott must unravel the mystery of the destiny he shares with Tim.
And I got a contract for book two in the Links in the Chain series, Galen’s Redemption. (Galen is Lincoln’s brother, and after you read Lincoln, you’ll see why he needs to be redeemed.)
And I just finished writing the third and final book in the Links in the Chain series. This one will feature Aiden (who we meet in book two) and Tom, the brother of Robert from book one. I shared a bit of the story with two friends who told me they never cry, and both did, so that makes me happy. (Yes, gentle readers, if I can make someone have some kind of emotion, it makes me happy.)
If you write contemporary romance, is there such a thing as making a main character too “real”? Do you think you can bring too many faults into a character that eventually it becomes too flawed to become a love interest?
Hm. This is a good question. Can a character be too real? To be honest, I don’t think so. I mean, I could be wrong, and it would really depend on what kind of faults a person has. If he’s a cheater, abuser, liar, or something, then he might be beyond redemption. But if his faults are that he’s loud or has an annoying laugh, then no, I don’t think it prevents him from being a love interest.
What traits do you find the most interesting in someone? Do you write them into your characters?
I love characters who aren’t afraid to laugh at themselves. Or, barring that, can learn to laugh with someone. If someone doesn’t possess at least a little bit of self-deprecating humor, then what fun are they?
Have you ever put a story away, thinking it just didn’t work? Then years/months/whatever later inspiration struck and you loved it? Is there a title we would recognize if that happened?
I’ve got plenty of stories in my ‘to-be-written’ pile that I tuck away until I’m ready for them. As for stopping a work in progress, I did that on Haven’s War. There’s a scene that gutted me, and I had to stop and write something sweet (Of Love and Corn Dogs) to take my mind of the horrible, awful thing the bad guy did. (Note: I am taking no responsibility for it!)
Ever drunk written a chapter and then read it the next day and still been happy with it? Trust me there’s a whole world of us drunk writers dying to know.
No, I don’t drink. I have, however, taken a sleeping pill the doctor gave me, and sat down to write. Let’s just say that was…unpleasant. When you can’t even decipher what the hell it is you’ve said, it’s time to leave those pills alone.
BLURB:
A Links In the Chain Story
Lincoln Merriweather was born an entitled brat with a silver spoon lodged so deep, it might never have come out. At the BDSM club or in business, Lincoln was a storm, blowing in and disrupting the lives of everyone he touched, until the day he met a man who peeled away the tarnished layers to expose a decent person.
Lincoln found—then lost—love.
Since then, he’s tried to atone for his past, including walking away from his family’s wealth. He opened a diner, hiring people to work for him that he would have spit on before his epiphany. He’s found peace, which he’s about to lose to a hazel-eyed man.
Noel Simmons wound up on the street when his parents discovered he was gay. His path leads him to Lincoln’s diner, where he asks for a job. He’s thrilled when Lincoln agrees to hire him, but finds his new boss perplexing. Can anyone be this kind and decent?
What starts out as business becomes something more. Noel discovers he needs Lincoln in order to feel safe. Lincoln needs Noel to complete him. But when Lincoln’s past gets in the way of his present, will the two have a future?
Sales Links:
Dreamspinner Press
iBooks
Amazon
About the Author
Parker Williams is a bestselling author of MM romance and suspense. One of his recent works was nominated for the Lambda Literary Awards, and several books have been runners-up at the Rainbow Awards.
Parker loves the written word. A chance encounter with an amazing author changed the course of his life as he began to write the stories his men were whispering to him. With the help of some amazing friends and a community of writers he’s proud to be part of, Parker continues telling stories of love, hurt, comfort, and sometimes tosses in a little angst for fun. He believes in love, but also knows that anything worth having requires work and sacrifice (and maybe a little hurt and comfort too). The course of true love never runs smooth, and he enjoys writing about it.
When Chef Xander Bridges leaves the warmth and safety of his car on a cold, stormy night and approaches a stranger, the last thing he expects to find is a future. He’s wanted to leave his job for awhile, but with no good opportunities on the horizon, he’s been stuck in a long, painful rut. But when he befriends the stranger viciously tearing up his own vineyard, Xander discovers something inexplicable. Maybe he’s not the bitter, sarcastic man that everyone, including himself, has endured for years.
Brian
A Links In the Chain Story
The people of Tawano are used to the yakuza. They know to avoid them, to get off the streets when fights are brewing. At least, most of them do.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 