Susan Mac Nicol's Blog, page 30

Rough First Drafts and Rigorous Revision with Sara Grant

Reblogged from This Craft Called Writing:

I first met Sara Grant at her workshop on editing (a workshop I highly recommend) when, of course, I asked if she would be willing to provide a post for this blog. Being the lovely lady she is, she said yes. So here in a nutshell is her wisdom on the editing process.

Rough First Drafts and Rigorous Revision

You’ve finished the first draft of your novel.

Read more… 516 more words

A very informative post on *groans* edits and revisions. I know, I know. They are great opportunities to make something even better. But such bloody hard work.

Guest post- Eric Gates -Thriller Writer

I am honoured to be show cased today on the blog of the legendary thriller writer who is Eric Gates. I say legendary because if you wanted to fill his shoes, they’d have to be pretty big. You also wouldn’t want to mess with him. You can read all about him on his website and blog anyway and make up your own mind.  Eric and I trade emails about life in Spain (where he lives) the weather (which is always better where he lives) and writing. And he’s been kind enough to feature me. And I’m currently reading his book ‘The Cull’ which is riveting and I can’t wait to get home to read more. So without further ado, read on.

http://my-thrillers.blogspot.com.es/2013/06/my-guest-susan-mac-nichol.html

Prevention is the Best Cure.

Reblogged from Rhys Ford:

Remember to do breast exams on a regular basis. Here's a helpful video showing you an app that can help remind you.

You just have to watch this video. It's not what you'd expect but has a great message to deliver anyway. Take a look, you won't regret it.

The Romance of Men

This is a beautifully uplifting video about the romance of men loving men. Wonderful images, superb and evocative music, inspiring narration and above all, true honesty in assuring us that love is love no matter what.

I’d like to thank David Maddux for his lovely rendition of what it means to be in love. Poetry in motion just got even more beautiful.

Such a great laugh..this man deserves a medal

This was spotted on Facebook and I just had to share it with you because it is one of those stories that will make you cackle with laughter and roll around laughing. Enjoy. It is verbatim-nothing was changed or harmed in the making of this blog post- excepting this man’s dignity and some rather tender and intimate bits….

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THIS IS AN ACTUAL CUSTOMER REVIEW FROM A MAN ON AMAZON.CO.UK AFTER USING VEET HAIR REMOVAL CREAM FOR MEN. I ACTUALLY HAD TEARS ROLLING DOWN MY FACE WHILE READING IT!!!!!!!!!!!! SOOOO FUNNY!!!:

After having been told my danglies looked like an elderly Rastafarian I decided to take the plunge and buy some of this as previous shaving attempts had only been mildly successful and I nearly put my back out trying to reach the more difficult bits. Being a bit of a romantic I thought I would do the deed on the missus’s birthday as a bit if a treat.

I ordered it well in advance and working in the North Sea I considered myself a bit above some of the characters writing the previous reviews and wrote them off as soft office types…Oh my fellow sufferers how wrong I was. I waited until the other half was tucked up in bed and after giving some vague hints about a special surprise I went down to the bathroom. Initially all went well and I applied the gel and stood waiting for something to happen. I didn’t have long to wait.

At first there was a gentle warmth which in a matter of seconds was replaced by an intense burning and a feeling I can only describe as like being given a barbed wire wedgie by two people intent on hitting the ceiling with my head. Religion hadn’t featured much in my life until that night but I suddenly became willing to convert to any religion to stop the violent burning around the turd tunnel and what seemed like the the destruction of the meat and two veg. Struggling not to bite through my bottom lip I tried to wash the gel off in the sink and only succeeded in blocking the plughole with a mat of hair. Through the haze of tears I struggled out of the bathroom across the hall into the kitchen, by this time walking was not really possible and I crawled the final yard to the fridge in the hope of some form of cold relief. I yanked the freezer drawer out and found a tub of ice cream, toe the lid off and positioned it under me. The relief was fantastic but only temporary as it melted fairly quickly and the fiery stabbing returned. Due to the shape of the ice cream tub I hadn’t managed to give the starfish any treatment and I groped around in the draw for something else as I was sure my vision was going to fail fairly soon. I grabbed a bag of what I later found out was frozen sprouts and tore it open trying to be quiet as I did so. I took a handful of them and an tried in vain to clench some between the cheeks of my arse. This was not doing the trick as some of the gel had found its way up the chutney channel and it felt like the space shuttle was running its engines behind me.

This was probably and hopefully the only time in my life I was going to wish there was a gay snowman in the kitchen which should give you some idea of the depths I was willing to sink to in order to ease the pain. The only solution my pain crazed mind could come up with was to gently ease one of the sprouts where no veg had gone before.

Unfortunately, alerted by the strange grunts coming from the kitchen the other half chose that moment to come and investigate and was greeted by the sight of me, arse in the air, strawberry ice cream dripping from my bell end pushing a sprout up my arse while muttering “ooooohhh that feels good” Understandably this was a shock to her and she let out a scream and as I hadn’t heard her come in it caused an involuntary spasm of shock in myself which resulted in the sprout being ejected at quite some speed in her direction. I can understand that having a sprout fired against your leg at 11 at night in the kitchen probably wasn’t the special surprise she was expecting and having to explain to the kids the next day what the strange hollow in the ice cream was didn’t improve my status…so to sum it up, VEET removes hair, dignity and self-respect ~ Cerys

Character Interview with Bennett Saville from ‘Cassandra by Starlight’.

Bennett Saville is 37 years old. He’s in a relationship with a woman ten years older than him, Cassie Wallace. He’s an actor for stage and screen, living in London. Bennett is from a wealthy background, the eldest son of a businessman. He’s had a fairly traumatic childhood, with a mother who is schizophrenic and a father who is a strict disciplinarian and not averse to causing violence to his older son. He used a trust fund he had to go to Warwick University to study drama then attended LSDA –London School of Dramatic Arts to finish his training, He owns his own theatre on Panton Street in London, called The Val, with his gay best friend, Dylan Donahue. He has his own hit TV series called ‘Gabriel’ on the BBC, about a Cambridge University professor, Gabriel Lockwood, who discovers he’s descended from a long line of wizards.

1.Bennett, tell us. How did you first meet your writer?

Hmm. We first met when she was watching some BBC TV series called ‘Sherlock’ Apparently the young actor that plays the part of Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch, really took her fancy and she thought he was a lot like me. So she decided to use him to ‘flesh me out’ so to speak and here we are. (Wry smile) I can’t complain. He seems a nice enough chap.  Although I think I’m better looking than he is *chuckles*

 2.Want to dish about him/her?

God, she’s a complete fan girl about this bugger Cumberbatch.  You’d think she’s eighteen instead of *politely coughs behind his mouth*.  She’s also incredibly focused, has a rather irreverent sense of humour which I like, and has a weakness for scantily clad men, as anyone can tell by looking at her bloody Facebook page.

4. Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.

*Smiles slyly* I suppose I could say that most of them involve the sex scenes. I had no idea I was such a horny bastard but I like it. And having a beautiful and very sexy woman like Cassie just makes it so much easier.

But joking aside, I really like the scene outside the Val, the night of the opening of our new play, Camden Town. The play went really well, and I was on such a high afterwards. Then that tosser, Adam Brooks from Look Now! had to go and spoil it by asking about what it was like being with an older woman and did I have any bloody ‘mother issues’. *He scowls.” But I showed him. “Smiles in satisfaction* I managed to get the picture of me kissing Cassie in public in every major tabloid the next day. It was a great feeling.

6. What do you like to do when you are not being actively read somewhere?

I’m a great fan of classical music, Shostakovich being one of my favourite composers. I attend some of the concerts at the various places in London where the London Symphony Orchestra play. I have a neighbour who’s a cellist in the ensemble.  I tend to read a fair bit – I have a tendency towards psychological thrillers and crime drama, but I read a fair amount of non-fiction as well- mostly historical stuff. I like getting down to visit the family in Beaconsfield and saying hello to my nephew Sean, who’s five. He lives with my dad and his housekeeper and it’s always nice to see them all. We have a bit of a bad history, dad and I, so building bridges always seems like a good idea for Sean’s sake.

8. Tell the truth. What do you think of your fellow characters?

Well, obviously, I adore Cassie. She’s my world. I knew when I met her she was something special. She’s warm, funny and keeps me on track. She grounds me. Show business can be a tough place to sustain a relationship.

My best friend Dylan- I’ve talked about him later on in the interview so I’ll give him a miss here.

Ian –Ian’s a great chap and a good friend. He’s steady, he’s clever, he is a surgeon after all. He volunteers in far flung places as a doctor with Medicin Sans Frontieres, and I really respect him for that. When I first met him we had a few issues as he was interested in Cassie. He’s also closer to her age and I thought this might be a draw for her. After all, there are ten years between her and I. But I’m glad to see I won her heart first.

Alec- Alec is my publicist and my mentor. He’s the person I rely on to keep me focused in the business and guide me where I need to be. He’s an incredibly supportive person, extremely clever (I seem to be surrounded by them, perhaps some of it will rub off) and very tough. He’s a shark in the great pond of show business and people can underestimate him at their own peril.

Bella- Bella is my ex-girlfriend. She’s pretty drive to succeed in her profession and in fact, she was the one who left me to pursue a dream she had of becoming famous in LA. I don’t blame her for that. She’s beautiful and bright and I hope she finds someone like I have with Cassie.

11. What impression do you make on people when they first meet you? How about after they’ve known you for a while?

Hmm. If you’re anything like Cassie, she thought I was an arrogant, awkward tosser. *Grins* I am, I suppose, well, maybe not a tosser per se, but the other two adjective fit. I do have a tendency to rub some people up the wrong way because I tell it like it is and to be honest, because of my background and the fact I come from money, and like to dress well, a lot of people assume I’m posher than I am.

But I think once you get to know me you’ll find I’m a pretty down to earth type of bloke, who enjoys a beer in the pub as much as the next man. I’d like to think I’m a good friend, and a caring fiancé to Cassie. I was told once I was a true gentleman and someone a person could trust with anything, so I guess that’s a good thing too.

12. What’s the worst thing that’s happened in your life? What did you learn from it?

(Bennett is quiet here as he contemplates talking about something)

I can’t really go into detail here as it was far too personal. Suffice it to say I suffered a really traumatic event, one over which I had no control. It was one of the darkest periods of my life and I’ve had a few, including where Cassie was stabbed by my mother and nearly lost her life.

What did I learn from it? That being in show business, in the public eyes brings its own dangers and you have to manage them and be prepared. While I would never have been prepared for what happened to me, there were warning signs but it was too late. So I’d advise anyone out there in the public eye who feels they’re being stalked as I was – be very careful and take the threat seriously.

I also learnt that I had an incredible circle of friends and family who supported me through what could have been a much more traumatic event than it was.

13. Tell us about your best friend.

Oh dear God. Really? You want to hear about Dylan? Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you *Grins widely*

Dylan and I have been friends since our university days in Warwick. He won’t mind me telling you he’s five years older than me, as he doesn’t think he looks it. He’s a bit of a narcissus that way. He’s a gay Irishman, absolutely irrepressible and incredibly talented as a writer and producer of plays. He manages the theatre we own together, The Val, and writes and directs the plays that I appear in. He’s an absolute card, sometimes a little over the top and he certainly isn’t politically correct.  We’ve travelled the world together, had our fair few adventures but if there’s one person I know I can always rely on, it’s him.

15. What’s the best trait your author has given you? What’s the worst?

I suppose my best trait is the fact that I have acting talent. It’s been a long hard slog and it’s taken years of studying and actually performing to fine tune it, but it needed to be there in the first place. I love acting –beside Cass, it’s my passion and I can’t imagine doing anything else as a living. The fact I get to do what I love and earn a living is a complete turn on.

My worst trait has to be my bloody temper. “sighs gloomily*  I take after my Dad in that respect. I have learned to control it but it used to get Dylan and I into a few scrapes when we were younger. It’s a bit like a red tide that just wells up inside and I have to suppress the urge to get violent or it could turn nasty. Cassie tends to be able to calm me down better than most people.

19. If your story were a movie, who would play you?

*Chuckles loudly* I’d like to say Victor Webster, he from Mutant X fame, as he’s a great guy and I know him quite well. But Sue would kill me. Of course it can only be the infamous Benedict Cumberbatch that could play me. *Coughs politely* In fact, I think she might have written this book in the hope it would be turned into a TV series and that would be exactly what she’d do. But that’s just my humble opinion. Don’t quote me on that one.

20. Describe the town where you live.

The city of London is where I live. I have an apartment in Westminster which overlooks Trafalgar Square. It’s an incredibly diverse place, and I can’t imagine living anywhere else.  I love the sounds and the sights of London, the fact you can get anything you feel like eating food wise within a couple of city blocks. Indian, Chinese, Thai, Korean, Vietnamese- it’s all there. I’m a bit of a fast food junkie I’m afraid. The theatre is within walking distance, our favourite watering hole, De Hems Dutch Bar, isn’t too far either and the tubes make travelling a breeze.  Why would I live anywhere else.

22. Will you encourage your author to write a sequel?

She’s already been hard at working two other books in this series, which she calls her Starlight Series. The second book in the trilogy is already out- Together in Starlight- and the third one is with her editor now. That one’s called Starlight and Promises.  I won’t tell you too much about that one and spoil her surprise but there is a pretty romantic ending to that one, and one which I personally love for obvious reasons when you get to read it.

Bennett, thanks so much for being with me today and sharing your thoughts. Anyone wanting to read more about Bennett and Cassie and their friends, visit Sue’s website www.susanmacnicol.com

Devoted fan or crazy stalker?

Devoted Fan or Crazy stalker- Where does ‘celebrity’ end and ‘privacy’ begin?

In my book, Cassandra by Starlight, the hero, Bennett Saville, finds himself eerily stalked by someone as he travels around the world in his profession as an actor. He encounters them at the theatre he owns, outside the film studios he works in, in the garage basement where he parks his car, in his hotel room in Paris when he’s there for an Awards ceremony, and when he’s with Cassie in Venice. The result of this is a very violent and intrusive sexual abuse event that leaves him vulnerable and traumatised. The man is forcibly restrained and raped by a woman.

(I’m not getting into this old chestnut here though, that’s not what this blog post is about. If you want to see my views on this, check out the Rape Posts on my other blog at http://www.susanmacnicol.com)

As a celebrity you are used to a certain amount of public adoration, curiosity and downright nosiness. It’s the price one pays for being in the public eye. But lately, things appear to have been spiralling out of control with people thinking they have a right to ‘own’ celebrities and broadcast anything they do to all and sundry.

Take this case below for example. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch was ‘cyber stalked’ a while ago with a close neighbour tweeting about everything he was doing in the comfort of his own home.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9925578/Sherlock-star-Benedict-Cumberbatch-is-cyberstalked.html

Now as a Cumberbatch fan girl myself, I can understand the interest in the man; but this is just downright creepy and dangerous. The man is in his home, for God’s sake. He has every right to expect privacy. God forbid he was doing something he shouldn’t, like having a Roman orgy. While I’m sure there are plenty of fans who’d like to be a fly on the wall for that one, even participate in it, that’s not really how things work. What someone does in their own home is entirely their business and shouldn’t be subject to public consumption.

There are even apps you can get like Gawker Stalker that track celebrities movements on a map. I’m not promoting the use of these in any way, but they are out there and if you are a serious fan or stalker, you’d know more about them already than I do.

http://gawker.com/160338/introducing-gawker-stalker-maps

There’s one called Starspotter that ‘is perfectly designed to find your much loved celebrities, events and gossip in real-time, closer to your location or anywhere you travel in the world. StarSpotter captures your favorite celebrities, politicians, musicians, athletes and models on the go in your pocket

http://www.mediabistro.com/appnewser/starspotter-app-takes-celebrity-stalking-to-the-next-level_b33250

A property website in New York , Rentenna, has a new ‘feature’ for their site – “Find Your Celebrity Neighbor.” You register/login, type in your address, and a list of nearby celebs pops up, with links to their Wikipedia bios.

Here in the UK we even have our first-ever National Stalking Clinic, based at Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield, north London. It rehabilitates stalkers and tries to get them out of the mindset they find themselves in by fixating on another person and causing ruin not only to their own lives as a stalker, but to the ‘stalkee’ as well.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/feb/17/how-to-rehabilitate-a-stalker

And new legislation has even had to be passed to manage this ever growing threat. As of 25th November 2012 amendments to the Protection from Harassment Act have been made that makes stalking a specific offence in England and Wales for the first time.

http://www.stalkinghelpline.org/faq/about-the-law/

With all of this going on, how are celebrities supposed to protect themselves against the ever present threat of not only a physical stalker, but a cyber-stalker? I can assure you cyber-stalking is an easy pit to fall into. I see it every day when I’m online. I see tweets and information passing cyber hands and I sometimes wonder, “Has this one maybe crossed the line or am I just being too bloody hardnosed? Give the man/woman a break and leave them alone, just for a moment.”

Most fandoms and fan bases are very protective of their chosen celebrities. They would never step over the line and infringe on the person’s privacy. They tend to get extremely upset with people when they do, as is the case with the Cumberbatch fandom. They cut people off if they feel uncomfortable; send them to ‘virtual’ Coventry. But there are still unscrupulous people out there who don’t see what they do as an invasion of privacy but more of a right.

I suppose there are two schools of thought –

He/She is a celebrity. They chose to be famous so they should just shut up and live with it. If they don’t like it, they shouldn’t have got famous in the first place. They whinge when we don’t talk about them, they whinge when we do. What the hell do they want? They are a public figure – they have no rights to privacy and if it means I sit in a tree overlooking their front yard and snap pictures, or spy on them through the window, that’s fine. If I want to tell the world where they are, what they’re doing, who they’re with, how many times they picked their nose and where they’re going next – let me.

He/She is a celebrity. They worked hard to be famous (most anyway, some are just undeservedly catapulted into it by the advent of cheesy reality TV shows but that’s another blog post and I expect a lot of hate mail when I put that one up) and they expect a certain amount of public acknowledgement and recognition. But they are also private human beings and deserve their privacy when in a private environment, a place where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy like with a partner or family member in a quiet restaurant, or in the gym, or quietly watching a film in a cinema.

The question is – which one are you?

Oh how the world turns…

I think I’ve said this before but I’m going to bore you and say it again. I love my new role as a writer/published author/scribe/wordsmith/woman of letters….Whichever way you look at it, it has changed my life to the point where I meet the most interesting, supportive, funny and downright irreverent characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. And now that I have ‘branched out’ into writing stories about the world of the gay male romance relationship, it’s just got better. I do talk about things in this post that may offend sensitive viewers, so feel free to look away now. This specific genre group of writers is incredible. In the words of the ladies in that wonderful British sitcom, they are ‘Absolutely Fabulous’. Eddy and Patsy would be so enamoured with this lot.

You can read more about Ab Fab here http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105929/ if you’re interested. It’s a classic if you like neurotic, sarcastic, chain smoking, drug popping and hard drinking women with attitude. And let’s face it, who doesn’t…

Anyway I digress. Back to this group of writers who have given me such pleasure over the past few months. Not the pleasure your dirty mind is thinking of, although …hmm, I guess there is an element of that when you’re reading hot, loving, gay man sex scenes…

Despite me being a newbie to the scene (in every way really, both writing and in this genre- my first book was only published August last year and my first M/M romance will be due out soon) they have taken me into the proverbial fold, offered me support and encouragement, some jaw dropping moments, an education beyond compare in the ‘ins and outs’ of writing this type of story and a lot of entertainment.

Like my beta reader for ‘Stripped Bare’ (a well-known author and gay man himself sense checking some of my scenes) coming up to me and saying ‘Sue, page 14 – honestly, cum doesn’t dry or travel that far.” Ahh. That’s telling me isn’t it. Right, I might have to revisit that bit. The realistic drying and distance of travelling cum needs to be addressed. (I have to say I think he said this for maximum impact when there were other people around who may not have known what we were talking about. He can be such a tease that way. I shudder to think what they thought but they were too polite to say anything if so.) And I have a feeling there will be more little gems of wisdom from my mentor before he’s through with me.

BTW which is the one more in use- cum or come? is this perhaps a US versus British spelling variation? Thoughts please…

There was the debate on whether a tongue stud will affect a blow job and if so, in what way? Good, bad? Anyone tried it, have an opinion? Of course they do. I am now enlightened up and beyond the call of duty on the effect of a tongue piercing on a man’s penis. There was also the whole online discussion about solo shower masturbation and whether men used this as their happy time to relieve themselves. That garnered quite a few responses.

Then there’s my personal favourite, another fellow author, also a gay man, who offered to ‘test drive ‘my sex scenes with his boyfriend so that my research could be validated. Whether it actually happened or not I have no idea but this man and his partner deserve a commendation for their commitment to duty. If there’s an Oscar out there for this, someone let me know. Maybe we should think of a name for it. Feel free to give me your suggestions. Not too rude please. It might have to be mentioned on national TV.

The wonderfully named Gayology101 forum on Goodreads is a complete eye opener and I thank the stars we have actual gay men and women answering questions that we straight women pose on their sexual activity. It gets a little raw in there I can tell you, but nothing we writers can’t handle in the name of ‘research’.

I mean, honestly, where else could one talk about these sorts of things without feeling like a pervert? And believe me, getting it right is extremely important. There’s nothing worse in my eyes that the research not being done properly and ticking someone off when they’re reading a book because it’s so blatantly wrong or unrealistic. You may not get it all right, and others may disagree with your take on some things but at least you tried like hell to do it right in the beginning.

Of course, all of the above applies to heterosexual sex as well, but I have a far better idea how that works, being an active participant myself. But when you’re writing about something you’ve never physically experienced or done (note I don’t say never visually experienced and I shall leave you all to ponder on the relevance of that statement) you need help to make it work. So befriending these authors, most of whom are more experienced in writing in this genre than I am, who have already run the gauntlet and had their men have mind blowing sex with each other, was a privilege and an honour. Discussing things in forums which may seem a little ‘out there’ was an education. Reading their books and finding out how they tackled the subject matter was enlightening and rewarding and most pleasurable. I doff my hat to them all.

All in all, I am enjoying this phase I’m going through and have every intention of continuing it. After all, David Sarnoff, businessman and pioneer of American radio and television, said:

‘Whatever course you have chosen for yourself, it will not be a chore but an adventure if you bring to it a sense of the glory of striving.’

Well, I am definitely striving…..so the path ahead can only be a LOT of fun.

Why do I write M/M?

Reblogged from Rhys Ford:

With inspiration like this out there, how could I NOT?

This is just too sexy for words and reminds me too why I've started to write in this incredibly diverse and rich genre..

Vintage Condoms

Reblogged from The Man in Romance:

Historians of such esoteric subjects agree that condoms were first used for prevention of pregnancy, and by wealthy men only. That makes sense, since women were naturally held to the task of avoiding impregnation, and only wealthy men might wish to keep their seed from being spread outside the marriage bed.

Early condoms, perhaps worn first in ancient China, were apparently small devices that covered the glans only, made from oiled silk paper or lamb intestines.

Read more… 638 more words

A wonderful post on a very unusual subject...