Wednesday 17 July 2013

Get to know Douglas Black @DBlackErotica #mm #newrelease @evernightpub

Please join me in giving warm welcome to Douglas, who has agreed to be my next victim in the hot seat.

*rubs hands*

So, Douglas... Great to have you here

Tell me, who is Douglas Black?

My name is Douglas Black, and I write M/M erotic fiction. My mother doesn’t know what I do, and it is probably best for the longevity of both of our lives that things stay like that. My friends? Mostly they find it funny. I just like to write. I like to take people on a journey with me to somewhere they may never have been before, with characters they have never met before, and I hope we all end up happy when the last page has been read. There’s not much more to it than that, really!

Can you tell us a bit more about yourself?

I was born and raised in bonnie Scotland where I still live. I would rather be living in a beautiful Venetian townhouse, spending my days drinking prosecco and looking out over the lagoon, but I don’t have the money to make that a reality. Yet. Maybe one day, if the books sell well enough!
I started writing adult romances and erotica back when I was in university. I enjoyed doing it, which made things easier, but more importantly it brought in some much needed extra money. I continued to write for websites and magazines a while after graduation, but eventually life took over and I ended up with a ‘real’ job. I only came back to writing seriously in 2012.

What made you write ‘this’ story?

Truthfully, I don’t really know. The main characters, Mark and James, just came to me one day and from then on I couldn’t get them out of my head until I wrote down their story. I was also inspired by the nature of their relationship. Theirs is a secret love affair and I wanted to explore what pressures being forced to hide your relationship would put on a person. I wanted to know how my characters would cope.



Tell us about your cover.

I love my cover. It was designed by Sour Cherry Designs and I think it captures the mood of the story perfectly. I love the darkness of the highland landscape in the background and the rippling water to the fore. The main model is suitably broody and – let’s face it – you can’t really go wrong with a bit of flesh on show, can you?

Describe a typical day’s writing for us

I get up early, even when I don’t particularly want to. I’m often up before dawn. That time in the morning when the house is quiet and still is perfect for bringing a steaming mug of tea into my study, sitting down and starting to write. (Or, more often than not, sitting down and staring at a blank computer screen.) In the evenings, if I’m feeling inspired or if I haven’t reached my word count, I’ll continue writing until I start typing jibberish on the page. Then I know it’s time to stop.

What inspires you?

Different things at different times; inspiration can come from anywhere. I just always try to write books that I would enjoy reading. I think that’s the most important thing any author can do.

If you weren’t a writer what would you be?

An artist, maybe? I used to be quite good (I think!).

Do your characters ever surprise you?

All the time! I try to follow Stephen King’s advice in ‘On Writing’ so I don’t plot too much. As a result, more often than not, I just dump my characters into situations and see what they do. They never end up doing what I would expect them to do.

What could you not do without when you’re writing?

When I write, I try to limit distractions as much as possible. It’s just me, my laptop, and a notebook. If anything ever happened to my laptop, I’d be devastated, which reminds me – I really should back up my files again!

What words of wisdom do you have for the aspiring authors out there?

‘Write’. That’s all anyone can say. If you don’t write because you’re nervous or you don’t think you’re good enough, you’ll never make it.  If you do write, you’ll get better all the time.

Where do you see yourself in ten year’s time?

I’m still hankering after that Venetian townhouse, so hopefully there!

Do you have a favourite quote?

‘A man is nothing without a spice of the devil in him,’ – Charlotte Bronte

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?

No. Just the occasional bout of laziness!

What other books can your readers look forward to?

I’m currently working on a new novel. It’s set on a flower farm, and draws upon my experiences of working on a flower farm when I was younger.  I hope to have it finished by the end of the summer.

And finally can you share an excerpt with us?

Excerpt from ‘A Secret Love’ -
Mark returned the kiss passionately. James trembled in his arms. Tension coursed through his body and he could feel it mirrored in Mark’s. He could almost taste the other man’s nerves in his kiss. James savoured Mark’s strong arms around him. He pushed his hands inside Mark’s suit jacket and clung to the warm, toned body underneath. The body was so familiar despite the amount of time that had passed since their last meeting.
            “God I’ve missed you,” James said when he finally pulled away. Mark was breathless and didn’t respond at first, but the sexy, playful smile on his lips told James everything he needed to know. James took his hands and led him further into the room.
            It was a large suite with living area and a huge bathroom. Mark swung a new sports bag, bright orange and emblazoned with sponsorship logos, off his shoulder and dumped it onto one of the two couches. He paused momentarily, reaching into his suit pocket.
James watched as Mark pulled out his phone and turned it off without checking for messages. He waited patiently until Mark had tucked it safely into his bag and smiled at him when he had finished. “Difficult getting away this time?” he asked.
            Mark nodded. “I left as soon as I could. I was so scared I was going to miss the flight. I’m sorry it had to be mid-week this time. Will you get in trouble at work?”
            “I have the flu.”
            Mark smirked. “You look perfectly healthy to me.”
            “It came on all of a sudden,” James said, closing the space between them. “Unexpected. Probably be gone in a few days. You know how these things are.” Mark nodded and James slipped into his arms once more. With his head on Mark’s shoulder, he turned to whisper against the other man’s neck. “I wouldn’t have been able to stand it if you had missed the flight, if you had cancelled. It’s been so long. It’s always so long.”

Sounds fab. Give us the blurb too, please.

James is nervous when he pulls into the car park of the secluded and conservative Caledonian Hotel. He slips off his wedding ring, gives a false name at reception and checks into his room.
                                    
When Mark finally arrives James expects their time together to conform to the usual pattern, but Mark surprises him. Mark wants candlelit dinners and walks on the beach. James, well, James just wants to make up for lost time. More importantly, he doesn’t want to get caught. They have six months left before they can leave behind everything they know and start a new life together and James is desperate to be discrete. Unfortunately, he never could control himself around Mark. Throw in an interfering old couple and some very public displays of affection and Mark and James’s short hotel stay might just be about to destroy not only the secrecy that has always shrouded their relationship, but also their plans for a future together.

Where can we get this gem?

 Buy links - 







 Author bio

Douglas Black was born and raised in bonnie Scotland. He started writing erotica as a means of paying the bills when he was a student at university, but after graduation he found he no longer had the time to write. Over the summer of 2012, Black picked up a pen once more. After a brief, successful flirtation with self-publishing, Black’s novella ‘Business or Pleasure’ was picked up and released in April 2013. It quickly made the publisher’s best-sellers list. Douglas Black’s short story, ‘A Secret Love’, was published in July 2013 by Evernight Publishing.



Author Links –







2 comments:

  1. Hello Douglas, I can relate to characters surprising you. I hope you get your venetian townhouse.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you Kiru! So do I! Maybe I should start playing the lottery to be safe...

    ReplyDelete