Julian Griffith's Blog

Vivian at Hearts on Fire Reviews gave Love Continuance and Increasing four stars!

“Great tone and period realism without the glittery Ton. The historical references are wonderful and are well researched. Like Austen, this is a sedately paced story that focuses on the everyday rather than the extraordinary moments to explain this love affair. So…How do a naval officer and an Infantry officer find love? —With a little luck.”

Click the link for the full review. Thanks, Vivian!

My guest today is Mina MacLeod, an author I met earlier this year when Cecilia Tan sponsored a writing challenge for erotica authors, and we both participated. I’m proud to welcome her here today to talk about her newest story!

Thank you, Julian, for inviting me over today. I’m Mina MacLeod, and I wrote Some Rules for Success in the Music Business. It’s a short story about an indie band that doesn’t fit into any preconceived genre; they dabble in many, maintaining a deep investment in none. At the center of the story is Stephen Cale, a music teacher with lofty dreams of making his mark in the music world. Once Stephen gets a taste of fame, the pressure’s on—compounded by his complicated relationship with twin frontmen Alex and Ben McMaster.

A large chunk of Some Rules focused on the creative process. The lion’s share of Stephen’s frustrations and uncertainties echo my own. I’ve been writing since I was six—it’s a constant work-in-progress—and the only time I’ve ever felt the noose tightening was when I was writing as a means of livelihood. Writing for an intended audience can be as daunting as it is exhilarating.

Being under pressure can have incredible effects on someone’s productivity. When I was in university, I would pound out thirty pages of material a day before the paper was due. The end results would be more impressive than if I’d lovingly pecked at the project over the allotted two months. Likewise, the impending doom of a deadline can have adverse effects on someone. Procrastination. Panic. Writer’s block: the arch-nemesis of any author.

Creative energy cannot be forced—or at least, mine can’t. When a due date looms, I can usually be found staring at the same blank page for hours on end. I start cat waxing in full force, finding excuses and escape routes. The most unimportant tasks suddenly need my immediate attention. Anything is better than agonizing over the words that simply don’t want to be written. Naturally, this dilemma isn’t limited to writing. Practitioners of any art are often challenged with the dreaded creative block. The ideas are there, but the execution is an uphill battle. I must strike when the iron is hot; fortunately, I am often allowed that luxury.

Stephen has a much heavier weight on his shoulders. He’s joining an established rock band and all eyes are on his performance. I don’t think I need to elaborate on fandom at large—the same dearly devoted fanbase can cast something aside the next day. Stephen has some large shoes to fill; as the story goes on, he begins to wonder if he can fill them. Adding to the frustration are his feelings for Alex, which do channel his creativity, if not necessarily the way he wants …

Some Rules for Success in the Music Business is available now from LT3 Press.

Mina MacLeod can be found on her website, Goodreads, Tumblr, and Twitter.

Excerpt:

“Stephen Cale,” Frieda announces to the band. “Currently a high school music teacher, loves all kinds of music, influences include Chopin and The Beatles.”

Stephen’s face feels hot. He thinks he’s blushing. Why the hell did he put that on the application form? Everyone was influenced by The Beatles, goddammit. “Do you want to hear about my piece, or should I just play it?” He’s impressed that his voice doesn’t falter.

Now that he has an excuse, he gets a good look at the band. Frontmen Ben and Alex McMaster are sitting closest to Stephen, front-row center. Actually, Alex is lounging, sprawled out with one leg hanging over the arm to rest his foot in the next seat. It doesn’t look comfortable, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

Stephen can barely determine the difference between the twins. They’re on the pale side, with short, light brown hair and green eyes. Alex’s bangs are gelled up into a short spike, while Ben has slicked his hair back. Stephen decides that Ben looks … harder than Alex—rougher around the edges. Bassist Maxine “Max” Chavez is twirling a lock of her long, dark hair. She looks bored already, pursing her plump lips and leaning against drummer Joseph Sidleman. Even sitting down, Joseph looms above them all, clean-cut, quiet, and contemplative. All four of them are dressed simply, in blue jeans, vintage t-shirts, and leather jackets. Stephen feels even more acutely out of place now.

Ben just waves him on, so Stephen nods and starts to play. He pours his heart into this soulful, haunting melody. The tempo becomes frantic and erratic as it goes on, and Stephen finds himself closing his eyes, imagining himself broken, scorned, and lost.

When he’s finished, he opens his eyes to find all four members openly gaping at him. Alex is looking straight at him. Stephen forces himself to return the gaze, and tries to ignore the tingle in his belly. No one has said a word. He waits and tries not to fidget.

Alex finds his voice first. “What song was that? I don’t recognize it.”

Stephen clears his throat. “It’s, uh … it’s mine. I composed it.” When the twins exchange incredulous glances, he adds, “It doesn’t have a name. I’ve been thinking of one, though. Ungrateful. It, um, kinda goes with the song I’m writing.”

Lunasariel wrote a detailed and enthusiastic review of Love Continuance and Increasing in her Livejournal, which she then put up on Amazon. Check this out:

Anyway, I’m almost definitely biased in favor of LCI, because I watched it get written, at least via tumblr and LJ – I can vouch for the amount of research that went into it (a well-researched historical novel is the way straight to my heart, let me tell you), and reading about all the food she cooked to make sure that she was Doing It Right made me pretty consistently hungry. But it had everything I look for and love in a Regency romance – obsessive strategic analysis of who danced with who and how many times, a peppery old grandmama, escapes into the garden for private conversations, and plenty of dudes in (and occasionally out of) uniforms. And boy howdy, these were some nice uniforms, and some nice dudes filling them! But then again, I have a well-documented and long-standing Uniform Problem, so I guess it’s more of a surprise that I liked the F in this particular M/M/F, but I did. Caroline felt very eighteen to me, but a sensible and not at all shrieky eighteen – I was pleased beyond words when she and Rockingham actually, y’know, talked to each other like rational adults about things like a marriage based on affection rather than OMG ILU 5EVA, instead of the usual parade of misunderstandings and “dammit, you wouldn’t be having any of these problems if you talked to each other for five seconds” that usually have me chucking romances across the room in rage. But, wonder of wonders, they managed to get everything sorted out to the satisfaction of all involved, with the only significant capital-M Misunderstanding coming from a third party, and even then, they actually did talk to each other for five seconds (and some change), so yay for acting like rational adults!

There’s more at the link. Go have a look!

This is what happens when I don’t stay on top of my calendar: I forgot to tell you that yesterday, I was also over at M. A. Church’s blog, once again explaining what it is that draws me to historical romance.

Go over and have a look, why not?

Elisa Rolle’s Reviews and Ramblings is featuring Love Continuance and Increasing today. Leave a comment to be entered into the drawing for a free copy of the e-book!

Also, as a reminder, the giveaway at Alex Beecroft’s Livejournal and website runs through 11:59 pm US Eastern Time on Sunday, August 11th. So you’ve still got time to leave a comment for a chance to win!

I feel I should point out that I’m not using the same excerpt at every appearance. For most of them, I do use the conversation between Rockingham and Caroline that I’ve put up here, but, for example, at Alex Beecroft’s, you’ll get to see Caroline’s grandfather being shockingly ignorant about naval matters and naval honor, and Caroline’s immediate move to correct him, to Thorne’s amazement and admiration.

And the “Look Inside”/downloadable Kindle sample at Amazon has the entire first five chapters. That takes you all the way from Thorne and Rockingham’s first meeting to their first kiss. So, if you’re still undecided, I hope that’ll tempt you into wanting to read the rest of the book! (Nook readers, don’t despair. The sample at Barnes & Noble is shorter, but it’s still a solid piece!)

Win a copy, buy a copy…but read a copy, yes?

Yesterday, I was at Mary’s Ménage Whispers, talking about two famous ménage à trois relationships in the late Georgian period.

[image error]

First, the 5th Duke of Devonshire, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, and Georgiana’s best friend, Lady Elizabeth Foster, who lived with them as the Duke’s mistress for twenty-five years and married the Duke after Georgiana’s death. There’s a strong possibility that Georgiana and Bess were lovers as well, but it’s hard to tell for sure given the language that women used to describe their “romantic friendships”. Still. I SHIP IT.

The second one is that of Emma, Lady Hamilton, her celebrated affair with Lord Nelson, and the fact that her husband Sir William Hamilton not only tolerated it, but allowed Nelson to live with them when they returned to London from Naples, and didn’t raise a fuss when Lady Hamilton bore Nelson a daughter she named Horatia. The newspapers reported on their every move, and Lady Hamilton was considered a leader of fashion!

The picture above is from the 1941 movie That Hamilton Woman, with Vivien Leigh as Emma Hamilton and Sir Laurence Olivier as Lord Nelson. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a pretty good movie – but if you look at the many portraits George Romney painted of Emma, who he considered his muse, she was even more beautiful than Vivien Leigh, which is saying something! No wonder Lord Nelson fell in love with her.

The guest post got a LOT of people tweeting it. I’ve never seen that happen before. I hope it means that Mary’s Ménage Whispers is a really popular blog and that it will get lots of people to read Love Continuance and Increasing. Here’s hoping!

And it’s four stars.

Even better, I have no idea who this person is.

A complete stranger read my book!

…I wonder where they heard about it!

Two appearances today!

At Alex Beecroft’s Livejournal, I’m talking about how a woman can be a part of a historical M/M/F romance instead of just a plot obstacle to an M/M romance, and how I accomplished that with Caroline. And there’s a giveaway – so leave a comment to win a copy of Love Continuance and Increasing for yourself, in whatever e-book format you like best!

I’ve just learned that Storm Moon Press has pushed back the release date for their pegging anthology, Turning the Tables, until August 27th.

So you’ll have to wait a little longer to read my femdom pirate story, “Your Most Humble and Obedient Servant”, as well as the contemporary story by Devin Wood and the cyberpunk tale from Angelia Sparrow, along with the rest of the anthology.

I’m hoping you’ll think it’s worth the wait.

Today I’m over at Pants Off Reviews talking about bisexual men in Georgian and Regency England, and how the historical situation shaped the way I wrote both Rockingham and Thorne.