Tara: Today I’m so excited to have Thianna D
visiting to talk about her latest release As
Natural as Breathing.
Thianna: Thanks, Tara, for hosting me and my
wonderful novel today!
This is day 4 of the As Natural As Breathing Book Blog Tour. Are you excited for it yet?
Well today, Tara, who has read it had some questions for me. Alright, Tara. I’m
ready. Shoot.
Tara: Hi Thianna, great to have you here. First
of all congratulations on your astounding success with as Natural as Breathing,
you into the top twenty in the Gay and Lesbian Literature and Fiction and
Erotica classification, that’s just so cool, you must have been jumping around
with excitement. Did you expect it to do so well so soon?
Thianna: Tara, thanks so much for having me on
your blog today. No, I had no idea it would do so well (though an author always
hopes and dreams). And jumping up and down would be putting it mildly. I was
too excited to sit and yet when I was standing I did not know what to do. Lol
When it hit #9 I think I actually screamed.
Tara: One of the things that amazed me about
the book was the empathy you invoke in the reader for the characters and their
emotions. I’m really curious, is it difficult for a woman to write the
characters of two gay men? How did you find getting inside their heads?
Thianna: Thanks! I am so glad all of that came
through. To be honest, I find it easier at times to write men than women. Their
strength, both physically and emotionally, continually pulls at me. Logan and
Christian were such strong characters to begin with and they truly led the
story.
Tara: Logan is a great character; funny,
compassionate and really comfortable in his own skin. But Christian has issues;
physically he’s broken from the war, and he’s unsure of his sexuality at the
start, either unsure or in denial and has to go through the whole process of
coming out, both as being gay and desiring discipline. He’s also from a more
conventional family, with a brother hell bent on making it difficult. You wrote
that so well I couldn’t help but wonder if you’ve watched the process of coming
out?
Thianna: Aren’t they amazing? I have read many
coming out stories, but mostly this was just from how I would feel if in his
place. Plus, when I write…well, I like to think of it as letting the characters
lead. I’m a pretty empathic person, anyway, but the characters basically tell
their story through me. I feel like a conduit sometimes because as my fingers
set to typing or my hand picks up a pen and puts it to paper, the words begin
to flow. That is one of the reasons I loved the dual POVs. In Christian’s
chapters, I could feel his emotions, worries and troubles and in Logan’s, his
joy, sense of fun and his complete attention on Christian.
And, as for Christian’s brother. Well…I’ve
met people like him before. It is rather fun to write a character your readers
are sure to hate. :)
Tara: Another thing that surprised me, Logan
is much younger than Christian, but he becomes the dominant partner, or the
Head of Household. Why did you choose to do it that way?
Thianna: Ah! *grins* And there is the
juxtaposition. In As Natural As Breathing,
like you mentioned, Christian is torn from the war, beaten down, plus he is
dealing with entering a relationship with a man, all very intense emotional
experiences. So, in this instance, it is rather natural for him to take Logan’s
lead. Logan is a Top and used to leading; in a sexual manner anyway. But
remember…Christian is still getting over a horrible past. When he comes into
his own after he goes through therapy, who will actually be the dominant
partner? You’ll have to wait and see. *wink*
Tara: Finally, word on the street has it that
there’s going to be a sequel to As
Natural As Breathing. I’m so pleased
because I really wanted to see how the future panned out for Logan and Christian!
Have you any rough idea when we can look forward to it?
Thianna: I am very excited to say the as yet
unnamed sequel has been accepted for publication and is set to be released
January 2014. The sequel takes place the summer after As Natural As Breathing
ends. Let me just say, it is a very enlightening summer for the two of them.
Tara: Thianna thank you so much for visiting
my blog, I wish you continued success with As
Natural as Breathing, and look forward to reading the next installment.
Thianna: Thanks Tara! It’s been fun. I thought I
would give your readers a little excerpt.
In this snippet, Christian and Logan meet
at a holiday party where Logan is playing Santa. This is their first meeting.
“Ho
ho ho,” chuckled a voice, and he turned to see a man seated on one of the
chairs lining the walls. He wore a pair of jeans, a green button-down shirt,
and cowboy boots. Logan tried not to focus on the cowboy boots. Cowboys were
one of his fetishes. He could get a hard-on just by thinking of one.
“Ho
ho ho,” he returned, smiling at the very good-looking man with extremely short,
dark blonde hair. For once since he came out, he wasn’t sure what to say to
another guy, so he went with this Santa persona. “Have you been good this
year?”
“Nope.”
Biting
the inside of his lip, Logan tried to ignore his now hard cock that was just
barely covered by the Santa coat. Just the thought of a naughty cowboy was
almost too much for him to handle. “Well, now, we can’t have that,” he
answered, his voice not as sure of itself as it had been. It sounded too
breathy to him. “Naughty boys get coal in their stocking.”
Shrugging,
the man looked around. “That would top off my year,” he said sullenly, all
pretense of a good mood disappearing.
“What’s
your name, young man?” he asked, trying to get his Santa voice back. Looking
back at him, the man shook his head.
“Doesn’t
matter. Now, go help the people who need you.” Without another word, he stood
up and limped away without looking back.
Frowning,
Logan considered going upstairs and changing, but something about the gorgeous
cowboy who looked like he was in pain was too much to ignore. Turning, he ran
back into the library and dug through the bag. There were five items left: a
G.I Joe, a king-sized peppermint stick, a Barbie doll, a dinosaur figure, and a
set of walkie-talkies. Closing his eyes, he dumped everything but the Barbie
back in, shook the bag and stuck his hand in. As soon as his hand landed on a
toy, he opened his eyes and pulled it out. Grinning at the result, he turned
and went in search of the cowboy who needed a pick-me-up.
Book Description:
As Natural As Breathing
Length: Novel
Genre: Gay Spanking Romance
For Christian Darringer, life isn’t worth
living. Just back from the Middle East; scarred and with permanent damage to
one leg, he does not think anyone will want him for anything. Meeting a
gorgeous man he finds himself thinking about constantly is not in his plans.
Pulled toward the startling younger man with striking blue eyes, he begins to
question a lot of things – especially his sexuality. Not one to hide from a
challenge, he plunges ahead only to find himself more than just attracted to
Logan who is full of life and joy, he finds himself head over heels in love.
Logan Mannette has almost everything he
ever wanted: loving parents, happiness, friends and security. The only thing
missing is finding the love of his life, a love that is just like his parents’.
When he meets Christian at a party, everything changes. Instantly attracted, he
does his best to help this sad man and quickly finds himself feeling more than
he has ever felt before. Raised in a domestic discipline household, he holds
that ideal as what he wants but his interest in spanking became a fetish and
when Christian admits that he wants to be spanked, Logan believes he might have
found the perfect man.
Just as everything begins for them,
Christian’s past intercedes and one of his brothers makes waves about him
dating a man. If it weren’t for Logan’s support, he might fold; but with the love
of one amazing man, Christian finds that living his life rather than just
existing is as natural as breathing.
You can find As Natural As Breathing at:
Thianna
D
For Thianna D, reading and writing are as
important as breathing and far more important than math or science. A
storyteller from the time she could speak, she was always making up characters
as a kid. As a teenager that turned to sci-fi and fantasy, as an adult to
romance. It wasn’t until her fourth decade that she began writing erotic scenes
within her stories.
Writing M/M came naturally to her; she
wrote her first tale before ever having read one. “There is something about the
amazing dynamic between two strong men falling in love and defeating anything
thrown at them.” While she had written several BDSM stories involving men, As Natural As Breathing was the first
full-length novel involving domestic discipline.
You can find out more of what is going on
with her at:
Tune in tomorrow to get
the URL for the next stop on the As
Natural As Breathing Book Blog Tour. Now, get your entry for my giveaway:
So glad I took the moment to find Day 3 on Tara's blog. I loved the q&a. And a sequel already going :) yeah!
ReplyDeleteThanks Joelle:) I enjoyed Tara's interview very much - and yep! The sequel is in the hands on the publisher. Yay:D
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