Category: LGBTQ YA Fiction

John R. Petrie on Writing and his new release The Quarterback’s Crush (author interview)

The Quarterback’s Crush by John R. Petrie

Harmony Ink Press
Cover Artist: Adrian Nicholas

The Quarterback’s Crush is now available at

Amazon (Kindle/Paper format) |  Dreamspinner Press  |  Harmony Ink Press  |  Barnes & Noble: 

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host John R. Petrie on tour for his new release The Quarterback’s Crush.  Welcome, John, into our author’s interview chair!

~ Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Interview with John R. Petrie ~

  • How much of yourself goes into a character?

I tend to write characters who aren’t like me, so much as who I’d like to be.

What I love about the character of Dylan in The Quarterback’s Crush out from Harmony Ink on September 4th, 2018, is that he’s sweet and kind, but he lets his mind and mouth run away with what he knows he shouldn’t really say. He seems like he’s got a lot of fears, but he’s actually kind of fearless in many ways and I admire that.

  • 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?

I think there’s a line between writing characters who are wish fulfillment and writing characters who are perfect and accomplished. The line to me is more about writing a character as opposed to writing a plot device.

  • Does research play a role into choosing which genre you write?  Do you enjoy research or prefer making up your worlds and cultures?

I love doing research and thank goodness for Google and podcasts where I can learn about things, listen to interviews (especially important to hear how people talk, their syntax, and their vocabulary), and find out much more about smaller things that the characters are interested in that I know nothing about. I really needed to hear jocks talk so I can understand their cadence.

That being said, what I write about tends to be in the ‘real world’ so I haven’t had much of a chance to build my own world the way that science fiction and fantasy writers do. I admire them so much for creating an entire world or worlds to enjoy.

  • Do you like HFN or HEA? And why?

For me personally? I’m single, so I’d love a HEA, but I’ll settle for a HFN. Call me. I like tall guys, but I’m not fussy.

  • Who do you think is your major influence as a writer?  Now and growing up?

Some of my favorite prose authors are Jane Austen, Michael Cunningham, Andre Aciman, and TJ Klune. They’re all so amazing.

I’m also really, really influenced by plays and screenwriters and how the dialogue on screen and stage is so pithy and effective. From that angle, I’m hugely influenced by Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls) and Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars).

From my geek side some of my favorite comic book writers are Greg Rucka, Gail Simone, Jen Van Meter, and Kurt Busiek.

  • How do you feel about the ebook format and where do you see it going?

I have to quantify this answer first. Almost every job I’ve ever had has been around books. Libraries, book stores, and a publisher. The last time I moved, I had two boxes of clothes and twenty-two boxes of books. I love books. Love them!

That being said, a well written sentence is a well written sentence, whether it’s something that’s read on a computer screen, tablet, e-reader, or page. E-readers are wonderful for people with bad eyesight, people who don’t want to, or can’t, carry around big hardcovers.

Books will never go away, and they shouldn’t. E-readers, however, do give a lot of eyes to first time and beginning writers, which is always a wonderful thing.

  • How do you choose your covers?  (curious on my part)

The wonderful people at Harmony Ink Press paired me with the wonderful Adrian Nicholas, who took my ramblings about cover design and turned it into the cover. We went back and forth on a few things and Adrian couldn’t have been kinder!

  • What’s next for you as an author?

I’m working on a series of LGBT YA mysteries taking place in the Southern U.S. as well as an adult Gay romance in the world of a professional sport. (I don’t want to spoil anything on that one yet.) Plus I have a couple of cork boards filled with other ideas and characters. Now if only I could take a few months off of work… 

  • What traits do you find the most interesting in someone? Do you write them into your characters?

I love characters who are unapologetically who they are. I love reading characters who aren’t passive in their journey. While there are characters who start their journeys because of external forces, I try really hard to write characters who are active in their own progression.

  •  What’s  the wildest scene you’ve imagined and did it make it into a story?

 Hmmm, I wrote a very adult story for an online website and it had some pretty wild sex scenes from my dirty imagination. For The Quarterback’s Crush, nothing too wild comes to mind. I really wanted the romance between Dylan and Timothy to lead up to the first kiss.

  • With so much going on in the world today, do you write to explain?  To get away?  To move past?  To widen our knowledge?  Why do you write?

 I think of it as the people in my head getting really tired of me being the only one who hears them. Seriously, though, I try to write so I can have a creative outlet that I don’t get in my every day life. For me, reading and writing are my attempts to find the universality of human experiences. If the book is horror or comedy or romance, the experiences we have about going through our lives will always ring through, no matter the genre.

THE QUARTERBACK’S CRUSH by John R. Petrie

Dylan Porter needs a Hail Mary….

Because it’ll take a miracle for him to pass English and trig so he can stay on the football team, get a scholarship, and go away to college—where the distance from his friends and family will give him the confidence to finally tell them he’s gay. But flunking his classes will put a stop to all of his dreams.

Luckily there’s Tommy Peterson to help him. In Dylan’s eyes, Tommy’s perfect. Short, smart, and sexy, he checks every one of Dylan’s boxes, so it’s no surprise when Dylan falls head over heels. Too bad Tommy doesn’t seem to feel the same, and a pining Dylan accidentally outs himself to the team. Now Dylan has to deal with the fallout of his coming out to the team, his dad, and his coach while trying to score the ultimate touchdown—the love of Tommy Peterson.

 

About the Author

John R. Petrie grew up in Boston and now lives in the Bronx, NY. Almost his entire working career has been spent around books, from his first job in the town library to more than twenty years bookselling in one of the biggest bookstores in the US. He’s also worked for the Housing Works thrift stores in NYC, which provides services for the homeless and HIV communities, as well as a comic book publisher.

He’s had stories published in True Romance magazine, had a play he wrote produced at his college, acted, danced, and was nominated for an acting award playing Belize in Angels in America.

He stays up too late, eats too much junk food, and has been reading Wonder Woman comics for over forty years.

He is very, very happy to have his debut novel published by Harmony Ink Press. He hopes to continue writing stories which make people smile.

 He can be reached at johnrpetriewrites@gmail.com and looks forward to hearing from readers and writers.

My email is johnrpetriewrites@gmail.com

My twitter handle is @johnpetriewrite

(I don’t do Facebook because I’m too afraid I’ll have to contact people from High School again.)

Beau Schemery On Writing, Art and his new release, The 7th of Victorica (Gadgets and Shadows #2

The 7th of Victorica (Gadgets and Shadows #2) by Beau Schemery
Harmony Ink Press

Cover Art:Beau Schemery

Sales Link:  Harmony Ink Press

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Beau Schemery here today talking about writing, art, covers, and his new release, The 7th of Victorica (Gadgets and Shadows #2) from Harmony Ink Press.  Welcome, Beau, and thank you for also bringing all these great illustrations.

~ Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Interview with Beau Schemery ~

How much of yourself goes into a character? It varies from character to character. There has to be some of oneself in every character as we’re the ones writing them. And then there are characters like Jack Midnight, who might just be entities unto themselves.

Does research play a role into choosing which genre you write?  Do you enjoy research or prefer making up your worlds and cultures? I’m definitely more of a fantasy writer but with The 7th of London and now the sequel, The 7th of Victorica, research has played a major role in both. Even though they’re set in an alternate history, it’s not that far off and I wanted them both to feel genuine.

Has your choice of childhood or teenage reading genres carried into your own choices for writing? I read mostly horror, sci-fi, and fantasy as a child/teen/adult. It definitely influences my writing. I have yet to write pure horror, though there are some elements that sneak into the stories once in a while. The shambling underground terrors from the first book for instance.

Have you ever had to put an ‘in progress’ story aside because of the emotional ties with it?  You were hurting with the characters or didn’t know how to proceed?  Not really. For the most part I start with a book and follow through. Though I have recently revisited and revised some older work that I’ve recently reacquired the rights to. The only exception in the sequel to my only contemporary novel. I started it but kind of lost interest in it. I may revisit it one day.

Do you like HFN or HEA? And why? I like whatever the story calls for. I’ve migrated away from standard romance with my young adult books, so I don’t feel as much pressure for a HEA ending anymore.

Do you read romances, as a teenager and as an adult? Not as a teenager but as an adult. But as I migrate away from writing it, I also migrate away from reading it.

Who do you think is your major influence as a writer?  Now and growing up? Growing up, I’d have to say Stephen King was my biggest influence. I’ve read nearly everything he’s written and I admire the hell out of him. Now my biggest influences are probably Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, and Gus Li. I wouldn’t be half the writer I am today if it wasn’t for Gus.

How do you feel about the ebook format and where do you see it going? I’m a traditionalist when it comes to books I love. I want them in my hands. I want to turn their pages. That being said, I have nothing at all against ebooks and own quite a few myself. It’s a great way to try out new authors and it’s not going anywhere as a format. It’s the direction our society is moving in. I’m fine with that.

How do you choose your covers?  (curious on my part) Well, with the four books that I’ve published non-pseudonym, I’ve done all the covers myself. I’m a traditionalist in a sense that I’m not a big fan of photo/shopped covers. I much prefer illustration. Although I’ve seen successful and unsuccessful examples of both. It just seems that when a photo/shopped cover fails, it fails spectacularly.

Do you have a favorite among your own stories?  And why? The 7th of London might be my favorite. I’m really proud of what I did in that book. Not just the story but the characters as well. It was also the first book published under my real name and that feels like an accomplishment somehow.

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? As I said above, I’ve only written one and a bit of contemporary romance but I can answer this question. Like with all writing, I think it depends on the author. Some authors can make a truly compelling contemporary with great characters and some I think, How many times can these guys get coffee and have the same conversation? But- I’m biased. I would rather read about a guy punching a dragon in the mouth over two guys getting coffee.

 What traits do you find the most interesting in someone? Do you write them into your characters? That’s a hard question. I appreciate so many different things about so many different people. But yes, of course, I try to incorporate those traits into characters. Even some I don’t find interesting because there are only interesting people in the world.

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 sort of answered this above. One so far. I did have one story I submitted for a short story collection and it didn’t get accepted but the editor asked me to turn it into a full length book and resubmit. So I’ve been recently taking a second look at that.

 Have you ever had an issue in RL and worked it through by writing it out in a story?  Maybe how you thought you’d feel in a situation? This is a funny one. Because this is how I got published originally. I had an unrequited romantic situation at work one day and I came home and told my writing partner about it. He said I should write it out but change the ending so that the stranger and I hook up at the end. Then when I’d finished it, he submitted it for publication without my knowledge. It was accepted and that’s how I started writing romance.

What’s the wildest scene you’ve imagined and did it make it into a story? Sev’s revenge scene from the first book. I wrote it. I loved it. Then while re-reading it for submission, I second guessed myself, thinking it was a little too graphic for a young adult novel. My writing partner said to leave it in. If it was too much the editor would suggest taking it out. The editor never did.

 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. Some of my best chapters have been drunk chapters.

 If you could imagine the best possible place for you to write, where would that be and why? Wherever there is wine and inspiration. The beach would be awesome.

 With so much going on in the world today, do you write to explain?  To get away?  To move past?  To widen our knowledge?  Why do you write? I write so I can have something fun to read that hopefully other people will find enjoyment in as well. Plus the people in my brain want out.

 What’s next for you as a writer? The third and final installment of Seven’s story has been started. I’m revisiting a short story that is a Steampunk Fairy Tale and another that’s a sci-fi/comedy/romance. The first will be a YA novel and the second will probably be an adult novel published under my pseudonym. Then it will be the next installment of my YA fantasy/comedy series The Verses of Vrelenden. I’ve got some epic stuff planned for those boys.

 

Blurb:

After freeing Queen Victoria from the evil plans of the wizard Fairgate and reuniting London once again, Seven, still contending with the ghost of a previous enemy, is called on to turn his unique brand of problem solving to the colony across the pond, Victorica. The former free states of America have a cancer growing within: slavery, perpetrated and protected by the Confederacy of the South. A wealthy group of Southern landowners and businessmen have seized power in Victorica, and rumors are flying about assembling an army and threatening war.

When Seven and his lover, Silas Kettlebent, are sent to investigate, they find the cancer runs deeper than anticipated and may be even more malignant than they’d first thought. With a ragtag team of slaves, criminals, politicians, and Abraham Lincoln, Sev and Silas must find a way to avert a civil war and, as far as Sev is concerned, free the colonies and citizens of Victorica as well.

But Sev’s indiscriminate use of magic he doesn’t quite understand has awakened another’s ire and stoked a thirst for revenge over the events in London.

 

About the Author

 

 Beau Schemery and his robot sidekick quietly fight crime and mediocrity in northcentral Pennsylvania. Beau is attempting to complete six lifetimes in one: he’s been a comic writer/illustrator, an actor and a playwright, as well as an amateur cook and costume-maker. He enjoys sewing, reading, and playing the Xbox when he isn’t crafting exciting worlds for the characters in his brain. Beau is currently a vegetarian and hopes to grow up to be a time-traveling squirrel. He would dearly love to meet a dragon and is reasonably sure that Batman could pretty much beat anybody in a fight.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beau.schemery?ref=br_rs

Twitter: @hedbonstudios

Instagram & Tumblr: hedbonstudios

A MelanieM Release Day Review: Mammoth! (Repeating History #3) by Dakota Chase

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

In what might be their most dangerous adventure so far, Grant and Ash are sent back in time ten thousand years to recover a mammoth talisman for their teacher, Merlin. Life is a struggle in the Stone Age, and if they want to eat, they’ll have to learn to use spears, track animals, and build fires without the benefit of matches.

Most importantly, they must recover the artifact so they can get back to their own time, but it won’t be easy. They’ll need to reunite two warring tribes, help a boy around their age prove his worth, and demonstrate their own courage on a deadly mammoth hunt. In this harsh and unforgiving world, hate and suspicion are as prevalent as they are in modern times, but understanding and acceptance can also be found if they know where to look.

Well, this series just keeps getting better and better.  This time Merlin sends the boys, Grant and Ash, back 10,000 years in pursuit of a bone carving worn around the neck.  This time the boys face the most dangerous challenges of their lives and just find out how resourceful they can really be when their lives depend upon it.

Dakota Chase just absolutely amazed me here.  The author took meticulous research about the Ice Age, cultures, flora and fauna and these resilient young men and turned it into a heartwarming, sometimes hair-raising adventure that truly belongs up on the big screen.

From the moment Ash and Grant tumbled onto the sandy beach in Virginia and realized belatedly that their outfits belonged  not in cosplay or a carnival but in an era where the passing giant sloth lived, we were off on an incredible adventure into the past.  Chase brings Ice Age Virginia, the tribes that lived there, their daily lives as the author imagines it (beautifully and vividly) to life.  You walk with Rabbit, Ash, and “Grass” through every aspect of the Bison Tribes lives. You see how precarious it is and yet how real it feels.

Like the boys who get caught up in the Tribe’s politics, drama, and need for survival which includes a rivalry with another tribe and  a hunt for the mighty mammoths, a big element in the storyline.  This was a story I couldn’t put down.  Told from Ash’s pov, again the author’s stays perfectly within Ash’s age and yes, character.  He’s far from  perfect.  Stubborn, argumentative, sticking his foot in his mouth, and blurting out the wrong thing at the very worst time happens far too often.  And Ash knows it.  And isn’t happy that’s a trait of his.  Lack of self control is something he’s working on.  Both boys have their issues but together they make quite the team.

That’s the other thing.  Each of them show personal growth, they support and communicate with each other, and even find time for an occasional stolen kiss.

This story, this series and these two young men have me totally hooked.  I can’t wait to see where Merlin send them next.

Cover Artist: Tiferet Design.  Once again, an excellent job.  Recreates the feel of the old time covers of the old adventure books and pulls you in with the design and feel of the graphics.  love it.

Sales Links:   Harmony Ink Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 180 pages

Expected publication: August 7th 2018 by Harmony Ink Press
ISBN139781640806719
Edition LanguageEnglish
Series Repeating History :

A MelanieM Review: Hammer of the Witch (Repeating History #2) by Dakota Chase

Rating: 5 stars ot of 5

Repeating History: Book Two

History isn’t dead when you’re living it.

Ash and Grant are about to learn why it was called the Dark Ages, when Merlin, in the guise of their teacher, once again sends them time traveling to reclaim one of the antiquities their prank destroyed: a book called the Malleus Maleficarum, or Hammer of the Witches, which was used to persecute and kill innocent people throughout medieval Europe.

They’ll need to keep their heads down and their wits about them in a Germany ruled by the iron fist of the Inquisition, where anyone who is different is dragged off to horrifying prisons, tortured to confession, and ultimately killed in the worst way imaginable. But it won’t be easy to navigate a frightening and brutal time, secure Merlin’s book, and make it home without attracting attention.

After having successfully procured the Eye of Ra from its source, the boy Pharaoh Tut, in ancient Egypt, it now time for their next retrieval.  Something far more malevolent.  And their experiences will be far different from the luxury and ease into society they had with Tut.

No, with  Hammer of the Witch, Dakota Chase has Merlin sends our rambunctious duo back to medieval times and witch hunts.  The item they seek for Merlin?  The book a means for identifying and punishing witches.  Instead of perfumed and painted people on the Nile, Chase gives us the harsh reality of the times in medieval Germany.  The plague, the unsanitary conditions, the indentured poor whose servitude gets longer due to the dubious circumstances under which they work…its all there.  Add to that the greed of the landowners combined with the religious fervor of Inquisition…and no one is safe from the cry of “witch”.

This is what Ash and Grant face as they travel back to Germany to search out and steal the Malleus Maleficarum, or Hammer of the Witches.  Chase once again unforgettably brings these times alive for the boys and us.  The reality  of the clothes (a shock to them both) and the fear the strangers are met with.  Worse yet, the burning bodies that greet them in the square once they get to the city.  Yes, this a grittier story, the harsh reality of the witch hunts hits an emotional punch right to the heart with each victim (young and old) declared guilty of witchcraft.

Again the question arises, how much of history, if any, can they change?

The writing is so well done, the era so well researched, that I was one hundred percent emotionally invested in that question along with Ash and Grant.  I felt for these people living under these heinous conditions, waiting for their loved ones to be hauled away  at any moment to be burned alive at the stake.

Hammer of the Witch is an emotional, intelligent adventure.  Thrilling, somber, and one hell of a story for Ash, Grant, and the reader.  And it ends as it should with not all of our questions answered, just the big ones.

I love this series and can’t wait for Mammouth.  What are the boys going to do with the I wonder?  And yes, I highly recommend this and the first story as well.  Read them in the order they are written.

Cover Artist: Tiferet Design.  I love these covers for this story and the series.  They have an old time design feel about them that you might have seen on the old boy adventure novels.  Yet there’s movement in the art work, along with a chilling feel with the color tone.  Marvelous.

Sales Links:  Harmony Ink Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 180 pages
Published January 9th 2018 by Harmony Ink Press
Original TitleHammer of the Witch
ISBN139781640800953
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesRepeating History: