Runner by Parker Williams
Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Reese Dante

Runner sales links:

Dreamspinner Press |  Amazon | iTunes | Kobo

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Parker Williams here today.  We asked Parker to talk about his writing and the character in his latest story, Runner. Welcome, Parker

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Q Would the author act the same as his main character in the story? Did that help write the story?

The simple answer to this question is no, I wouldn’t act the same as the main character. Of course, I’ve never dealt with the level of trauma that Matt does, and everything he goes through is a product of my imagination. There are some similarities between us, though.

His favorite book is My Side of the Mountain. When I was a kid, I devoured that book so many times that I had a dog-eared copy of it, too. Matt lives alone in the woods, a good distance from people. I’d love to do that, as long as it allowed me to continue writing. And Matt isn’t good with people. Neither am I. I prefer to stay insulated, especially from groups. I tried twice to go to GRL, and even though a lot of the people that were there I consider friends, I just couldn’t bring myself to go out in public. Fortunately, a few of them stopped in to see me. And I got to visit with K.C. Wells, so that was a huge bonus.

For me, the story was easy to write. Matt walked me through the entire process, telling me how he’d behave, what triggers he had for his PTSD and OCD, and guided me from the point where he was fearful of everyone, to grudgingly learning to accept the presence of the Runner on his property. From there, it was a cakewalk…. Well, for me. Matt? Not so much. He’s got a lot of issues to deal with, and he’s got to confront things that have been holding him back.

I hope that people who read the book will find Matt and Charlie to be an interesting couple, because they both (especially Charlie) hold a special place in my heart.

“SO THEN the detective says, ‘I knew you were guilty the day you walked into my office. The stench dripped from you like so much rotting garbage.’ And the killer says, ‘Then why did you take the case?’ And Tremaine answers, ‘Because I needed to find evidence that you were guilty, so I could have you arrested for murdering your brother. Basically you paid to have me get you put on death row.’”

I was hooked on his words. I had never heard of his books, but now I wanted to know more. I glanced down at my watch and realized I had been sitting with him on my porch for nearly three hours. I’d never spent that much time with any other person after the incident. And I didn’t feel freaked out by his presence. After seeing him every day, he’d somehow become a fixture, and that desperate need to keep order in my life had somehow come to include him. I wasn’t ready to let him into my home, but I found I didn’t mind talking to him so much.

“Wow,” I said, knowing that it wasn’t nearly what I meant.

“You’ve seriously never read one of my books?” He seemed amused.

“No. I… I don’t get out much.”

He chuckled. “I’m teasing you. My niche is pretty small, but if you like mysteries….”

“I do love to read,” I admitted.

“If you give me your email, I’ll send you copies. I mean, if you think they’re worth reading.”

RUNNER by Parker Williams

Blurb:

Matt Bowers’s life ended at sixteen, when a vicious betrayal by someone who he should have been able to trust left him a shell of himself, fighting OCD and PTSD, living in constant fear and always running. When he buys a remote tract of land, he thinks he’s found the perfect place to hide from the world and attempt to establish some peace. For ten years he believes he’s found a measure of comfort, until the day a stranger begins to run on Matt’s road.

He returns every day, an unwelcome intrusion into Matt’s carefully structured life. Matt appeals to the local sheriff, who cannot help him since the jogger is doing nothing wrong. Gradually, after tentatively breaking the ice, Matt begins to accept the man’s presence—

But when the runner doesn’t show up one day, it throws Matt’s world into chaos and he must make the hardest decision of his life.

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Excerpt:

I COULDN’T find it within myself to talk to him for the first four days. I kept hoping he’d stop running by and my life would go back to normal. I should have known better. Ever since the incident, nothing went the way I expected it to. I continued to watch him, and I had to admit, the apprehension that coursed through me had eased. He didn’t really frighten me anymore, but the thought of talking to him filled me with dread. What made it worse for me? He’d continued to glance toward the house, and if he saw me, he’d give a smile or a little wave.

No, I wasn’t being honest. After a few weeks of him waving, I had actually started to weave that into my daily routine. I stood in front of the window, looking out at the road every day at ten thirty. One day it rained, and he was thirteen minutes late. I went into panic mode, hyperventilating and pacing around the house, chastising myself. How had he become a part of my world? Why did I now depend on him to be where I expected him to be? I grew angry with myself for that. Despite the pleading I’d done with Clay, I no longer wanted the man to stop running by my house now that I’d grown used to seeing him.

And worse, when he waved, I had started waving back.”

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Categories: Romance, Gay Romance, Contemporary

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About the Author

Parker Williams believes that true love exists, but it always comes with a price. No happily ever after can ever be had without work, sweat, and tears that come with melding lives together.

Living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his husband of a quarter century, Parker continues to believe and writes stories where there is (almost) always a happy ending.

Connect with Parker on:

Twitter: @ParkerWAuthor

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/parker.williams.75641

Or you can visit his website: http://www.ParkerWilliamsAuthor.com