Howdy everyone! Today's a guest blogging day here, and I get to interview the HILARIOUS Tristram La Roche, a fellow Etopia Author. The man himself needs no introduction so, without further ado, take it away Tris!




Brien: What made you want to become an author?
Tris: Years of pent up ideas finally beat me intosurrender. I also fancied the idea of putting the finishing touches to mylatest novel while cruising the Aegean in my 100 foot yacht. Oh, come on – letme dream!
Brien: What/who has been your biggest inspirationover the years?
Tris: The pursuit of truth and fairness has alwaysinspired me to keep going, whatever I've been doing. In answer to who, that hasto be my partner. He has undying faith in me – it's humbling and a challenge.
Brien: Has being published affected the way youwrite, at all?
Tris: It does boost your confidence and thus givesyou the ability to hone and use your own voice. I write more now and I guessthat comes from the knowledge that I can actually sell my work, whereas beforemy first contract there was always the doubt.
Brien: Do you plan on visiting any conventionswhere readers will get to meet you? Or are you more of the Lemony Snicket, hidein the shadows type?
Tris: I would go meet my readers if I knew of anysuitable conventions in the UK. I think you have more of them in the US. I am aprivate person, but I'm also outgoing, perhaps a little flamboyant. I havetoyed with the idea of creating a drag act because I like being the focus ofattention.
Brien: Tell me about your latest release.
Tris: It's an historical entitled The Hun and TheGeneral. Yes, The Hun is indeed Attila the Hun, the famous – or perhapsinfamous – barbarian king. The idea was actually sparked off by a fan whocasually posted on Goodreads, "Oh, I wish someone would write an M/M aboutAttila the Hun, and make him the sub." Well, I like a challenge so I did it. Idid a fair bit of research to try and make sure the general backdrop washistorically correct, but I have taken some liberties. Well, if I was going to putAttila in a gay relationship with a Roman general I felt I may as well! I'llquote the official blurb, since it sets the scene nicely – but the story isquite hot and explicit in places, much more so than the blurb might suggest:
Livianus is bored and longs for action. Hisreward for serving Rome is the governorship of a quiet corner of Gaul, but ashe whiles away his days at his sumptuous villa, his thoughts turn to Attila theHun, the feared barbarian with whom Livianus once enjoyed an intimate friendship.When a desperate emperor asks him to return to Pannonia to broker a truce withAttila, Livianus's old passion flares.

Attila is losing the will to go on. He is tired of being a tyrant but hispeople's future depends on him. The arrival of Livianus renews Attila's spiritas he prepares to march on Constantinople. Livianus has nothing to bargainwith, but when the emperor's sister delivers a proposition for Attila, a newand brighter future seems to lay directly ahead. For the people, and especiallyfor the two men.

But the deadly hand of the emperor isn't interested in peace, and as theirplans are destroyed, only one course of action remains open to the Hun and thegeneral.
Brien: Now that all that's out of the way…Besideswriting, what's your favorite way to kill time?
Tris: I'm terrible because if I'm not working Ifind it very hard to relax. I have to keep my mind occupied. Reading works, andI read lots. When I can't read anymore I love to watch a good film, either athome (one of my luxuries is home cinema because I live in the back of beyondand would go insane without it) or at the cinema. I love to go to concerts –I'm a big fan of opera and classical music. I also love travelling and goodrestaurants. Of course, the best thing of all is just to be at home with myboyfriend and a good bottle of wine, some music in the background, lots ofcandles.
Brien: Do you have any quirks people mightconsider odd?
Tris: Maybe you should ask others – like AnnieMelton, our publisher at Etopia Press! I don't know really. I'm told that I cancome over as unfriendly, brusque at times. We have a TV programme here calledDoc Martin – I don't know if it's made it across the pond because it is very,very British – but your Brit readers will know what I mean when I say I'm oftencompared to Martin. In reality, I'm not at all unfriendly, quite the opposite,but if I go to buy the newspaper I don't want to have a conversation with thevendor that takes ten minutes, I just want the sodding paper!
Brien: Outside of your own, what's your favoritegenre to read?
Tris: Horror. The more disturbing the better.
Brien: If you woke up tomorrow and found out theworld had ended and there were only a handful of survivors, what would yourfirst instinct be?
Tris: To get everyone together as far as it werepossible; there is strength in numbers. But always aware of the danger; from apersonal point of view it could be safer to get as far away as possible, but Iwould want to organize and try to rebuild something.
Brien: What can we expect next from you?

Tris: I will always write gay literature. It's inmy blood, in my soul. I'll definitely write more historicals because I enjoyedwriting The Hun and The General so much. I sense I'm going to write more literaryworks, too. I'm feeling deep, these days.

Now how about an excerpt from The Hun and The General? Gaul,Western Roman EmpireLivianusdismissed the women. There was a limit to how often he could screw them in oneday, and when he wasn't up to the balls in one of them they bored him almost todeath. Their twittering voices and silly small talk, worrying about mirrors andmakeup and which of the new slaves had the biggest cock—it all annoyed him. Itmade his teeth ache.Helaunched himself off the edge of the pool and swam to the far side where sixlion-headed pipes spewed crystal spring water from their gaping maws. Thecascade massaged Livianus's tense neck muscles and drowned the fading chatterof the women.Hisvilla in Gaul had been a gift from the senate. A reward for leading successfulembassies to the barbarian hordes, time and again averting costly wars thefailing empire could ill afford. From here, retired from his position as armygeneral, he acted as governor of this imperial outpost. If the truth be told,he had little to do but add his seal to bureaucratic decrees, read his vastcollection of scrolls, eat, drink, and fornicate. Many a man would kill for it,but this life was no good for one who had walked with giants.He swamthe length of the pool and reclined on the semi-circular steps, looking outbeyond the curved colonnade of porphyry columns, across the undulating fields ofcrops, vines, and orchards, to the hills that rose like a blade to scratch theskies. He longed to leave this place and cross that distant ridge, to return tohis homeland and feel the buzz of life again.Livianussnapped his fingers, and a male slave appeared at the top of the steps to wrapa toga around him as he emerged from the water. The heat overpowered himimmediately, and he sat down on a seat of carved stone. "Bring me wine,Publius."Theslave bowed and hurried down the pergola toward the main hub of the villa.Livianus wiped himself with a towel and squinted at the sun as the first chirpof cicadas announced noon. Soon he would be called for lunch. Today he'd makethe women eat in their own dining room; any more of their chattering, and he'd haveone of those headaches that lasted an entire lunar cycle.Herubbed his temples with his fingers. The problem was a total lack ofintellectual stimulation. The minor bureaucrats that Valentinian sent out herewere those unfit for higher office. None could match Livianus's quick thinkingand wit. While his muscles softened, his brain rotted in his skull. Life hadbecome one long blur of gluttony and debauchery. And if he continued tofornicate like this, his cock would wither and fall like a leaf in the autumn.Theslave returned with a jug and a gold goblet. He set them down on a table, whichhe drew close to Livianus."Leaveme. Just go." He dismissed Publius with a wave of a hand and poured himselfsome wine. His mouth tingled as the cool wine swept across his taste buds likethe rising tide on a dry shore. Not as good as he'd produced at home, but notbad. Given time, this Gaulish wine might win favor. Now all he needed wassomeone to share it with, someone to engage his rusting mind.Helaughed. Of all the people he'd met, it was the barbarian who came most ofteninto his thoughts at times like this. Attila, King of the Huns. The empireviewed Attila as a sub-human warmonger who lived only to murder, pillage andrape, a hideously ugly creature with a deformed skull, flat nose and eyes thatcould see into your bones. A killing machine, without even a hint of intellect.Livianusrose, sipped his wine, and strode to the end of the terrace. How wrong theywere. When he'd been sent by Theodosius and Valentinian to meet with the Huns,Livianus imagined that he might never return. He'd heard the stories ofoutsiders being impaled, a horrific reprisal the Huns had perfected thatinvolved the careful insertion of a sharpened stake up the rectum and throughthe body without damage to the internal organs. The spike would exit throughthe chest, just below the collarbone, and the victim's legs and arms were thenlashed to the stake to prevent slippage when it was erected in the ground.Death, they said, could take three days. If they felt kindly, they crucifiedyou.Livianuswinced and rested against the balustrade. His worries had proved unfounded.Although he'd been met by a fearsome barbarian horde that showed littlekindness as he was led to their leader, Attila himself disproved all thatLivianus had been taught.Tallerthan legend said and with a strange, uneven beard, Attila had a face that,though scarred, was a match for any Roman noble's. His nose had been broken,yet this somehow lent a sculptural air to his whole appearance. But the eyescaptivated Livianus on that first meeting, as green as precious stones and witha depth that betrayed a soul such as no animal on earth could possess. Livianusliked the barbarian leader instantly, and something in those eyes seemed toreciprocate.Livianussighed. Attila would liven this place up. He smiled at the impossible thoughtand drained his goblet. As he turned to reach for the jug, a blur caught hisattention far away beyond the orchards at the limit of his estate. He leaned onthe balustrade and raised a hand to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun.A dust cloud rose in the still air. Ahead of it, something approached at greatspeed. As it grew nearer, the unmistakable thunder of horse's hooves announceda visitor.

Well, indeed! Thanks for dropping by, Tris! Everyone you can find Tristram online at:
 Website: http://tristramlaroche.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/#!/TristramLaRocheFacebook:http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002276172449&ref=tn_tnmnAmazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Tristram-La-Roche/e/B0054U5A2E/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1  
And you can buy The Hun and The General from
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Hun-General-ebook/dp/B006GHC3HE All Romane EBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thehunandthegeneral-648816-144.html Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-hun-and-the-general-tristram-la-roche/1107830860?ean=2940013474581&itm=2&usri=tristram la roche Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/The-Hun-and-the-General/book-th2ZjdIN4k6j6V8optnswA/page1.html Sony: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/tristram-la-roche/the-hun-and-the-general/_/R-400000000000000553379