Eli Easton's Blog, page 17
November 16, 2015
Guest post on Sinfully MM Book Reviews: Mad Creek!
Come visit me on Sinfully MM Book Reviews where I’m guest posting about Mad Creek. I’m giving some hints as to the next book in the “Howl at the Moon” series!
Eli
November 14, 2015
Roman Charsguard Q&A on Gay Book Reviews!
To celebrate the release of “How to Walk Like a Man”, Gigi at Gay Book Reviews did an interview with Roman, the hero of our story. You can read it here!
Eli
November 12, 2015
Desktop: “How to Walk Like a Man”
Desktop: How to Walk Like a Man
It’s my tradition to do a desktop post when I have a new story release, showing images that inspired my story. Today is release day for “How to Walk Like a Man” and here’s my desktop post!
“How to Walk Like a Man” is the second book in my “Howl at the Moon” series. It features a brand new couple and romance, but it’s worthwhile to read “How to Howl At the Moon” first to get into the setting and universe.
NOTE: All of these images were taken off the web and fit my mental picture of the story. However, none of them are actually related to the story or characters IRL!
ROMAN:
I searched for quite a while to find the right ‘mental model’ for Roman. He’s a big guy and definitely military in personality and bearing. But I didn’t want a typical chisel-jawed model type. I found this photo below and loved it for Roman. He has a longer face and his ears stick out a bit. And, of course, he’s gorgeous! So apologizes to whoever this actually is (no, I don’t know his name), but I liked this image as my inspiration for Roman.
MATT:
I have to admit, I have a weakness for guys with a sense of humor. That was Matt’s most important attribute for me. Ryan Reynolds fits the bill and is a nice mixture of hot and funny/real.
SHERIFF LANCE BEAUFORT & TIM
Lance and Tim’s romance was featured in the first book in the series “How to Howl at the Moon”, but they’re in this second book as well.
MAD CREEK
My husband and I lived in Oakhurst, California for a time. That’s how I picture the setting for Mad Creek, up in the California mountains. But Mad Creek is even smaller and more remote that most real towns in the area.
Above – looking down on the town from a ridgeline with Roman and Matt!
THE SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS
SHERIFF’S OFFICE UNIFORMS AND GEAR
For the Sherrif’s office vehicles and uniforms, I used those from other towns in the Sierra Nevadas. I found some photos that even included service dogs!
Their uniforms – I don’t think anyone could talk Roman into wearing a tie!
Lance’s SUV
Roman’s truck
ROMAN’S DOG FORM & JAMES (his K9 Handler)
DEA uniform (Matt)
Often the DEA will wear simple black jackets or T-shirts with the DEA insignia on the back.
Annnd some extras:
Penny (in dog form)
Minnie (in dog form)
You can check out the “How to Walk Like a Man” page with excerpt and buy links here!
Eli
November 10, 2015
Eli at Boy Meets Boy Reviews with Flash Fic
For Boy Meets Boy Reviews anniversary, I’ m visiting their site with a flash fic based on the photo below. It’s called “HOT WORKOUT”. Check it out. And happy anniversary!
Eli
October 31, 2015
“Stealing Candy from the Monster” – free flash fic
Happy Halloween! It’s my favorite holiday after Christmas. I hope you have some fun plans. My husband and I are going hiking today and then to a haunted house tonight.
In honor of Halloween, I wrote a flash fic for the Dreamspinner site. It’s called “Stealing Candy from the Monster”. Enjoy!
Eli
October 29, 2015
“Midwinter Night’s Dream” – Cover reveal & give away!
Along with the upcoming “How to Walk Like a Man”, I have another book coming at Thanksgiving. It’s my 2015 Christmas novella, “Midwinter Night’s Dream”. The main character, Micah, is the brother of Hank from last year’s “Unwrapping Hank”, but this novella can be read as a stand-alone.
The cover reveal is going on today at Gay Book Reviews and there’s a give away of a gift certificate too, so stop by and sign up for the give away. You can also read an excerpt there.
Eli
October 26, 2015
“How to Walk Like a Man” – Cover reveal & first excerpts!
Yay! It’s taken some time to get my ducks in a row, but today is the cover reveal for “How to Walk Like a Man”, the sequel to “How to Howl at the Moon”!
The cover reveal is taking place on two blogs: The Novel Approach and My Fiction Nook. Each blog features a different excerpt.
1. The Novel Approach (CLICK HERE)— includes the first section in chapter 1 plus a giveaway of a $10 Amazon gift certificate.
2. My Fiction Nook (CLICK HERE)— includes the second section in chapter 1 plus a giveaway of a $10 Amazon gift certificate.
The book is available for pre-order here. Release day is Nov 13!
I loved writing Roman’s story and I hope you like it as much as I do.
Eli
October 7, 2015
Win a free ARC of my upcoming murder mystery!
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
October 6, 2015
“Among the Dead” — first excerpt
“Among the Dead” is my novella in “Spirit”, gothika #4, which is due out Oct 19th. You can pre-order here. I’m happy to be back in gothic land for Halloween, and to share this volume, once again, with the talented Kim Fielding, Jamie Fessenden, and BG Thomas.
This is the first part of the first chapter.
Excerpt:
1
The first time I saw the dead man in the bowler hat, I was on the Number 34 bus heading downtown.
It was the first Tuesday of the month, and I had to go into the office for my one-on-one with my boss, John Shaler. I hated first Tuesdays with the heat of a thousand pissed-off suns. But it was little enough forfeit to pay for having a steady job I could work from home the rest of the month. Thank God I’m the best dev Hora Systems has, or they would have kicked my agoraphobic ass to the curb a long time ago. I haven’t exactly been the ideal employee AC.
AC—After Concussion. My life is pretty much defined by Before Concussion and After Concussion.
That particular first Tuesday, I left my basement apartment on Capitol Hill with the usual vein-thrumming mix of nerves, terror, and utter dread. As soon as I got on the bus, I saw a dead woman. She was up front, in those seats that face the aisle. She’d probably gotten hit by a truck or some kind of machine. Her body was sliced into thirds like she’d been through a giant Veg-O-Matic. She sat close to the oblivious driver, a purse primly clutched in her lap, while blood pooled under her seat. I walked past, pretending I didn’t see her. My stomach threatened to toss up the Eggo and peanut butter I’d had for breakfast. I fucking hate blood. If I had my way, I’d never see it again.
A few stops later, an old couple got on and sat in the laps of two teenagers. Their lined faces were pinched into bitter, sour masks—the old couple, not the teenagers. They said nothing to each other, didn’t even look at each other, but their movements were perfectly in sync: scratch of the nose, shaking finger and mouthing something angrily, rock in their seat, gnash teeth, sigh. There they remained for three stops and then they hobbled off, each step perfectly mirrored.
Interlocked spirits liked that were particularly horrifying to me. The idea of spending eternity with someone you hated in life—it’s so unfair. You’d think you could escape the commitments you regretted in death. Right? I mean, what else is death for? It ends all corporeal pleasure and shit, so there should be an upside. Debts cancelled, enemies escaped, mistakes left behind, and all that. But that’s not how it is. I’ve seen a lot of spirits who were stuck together. And let me tell you, it’s rarely down to true love.
I’ll take my loneliness, thanks.
Despite my commitment to being single, I found myself craning my neck when we drove past Volunteer Park. But I didn’t see the beautiful boy in the red hoodie. I hadn’t seen him in a long time.
See, a few years ago, BC, I used to ride my bike to work, and my daily route went past the park. I often saw a young guy at the entrance on the corner of 15th and Galer. He was maybe eighteen, wore a red hoodie and jeans, and had blond hair, a pretty face, and sad blue eyes. His clothes were always the same, rumpled and dirty. I thought he might be a street kid, but he could have just been dedicated to the Seattle grunge thing. He was always alone. I called him Red Riding Hood in my head, and I always looked for him when I rode past.
I wished I’d had the nerve to stop and talk to him back then, but I never did. He was long gone now, maybe away at college somewhere. He could have ditched the grunge for a suit and tie for all I knew.
The bus passed Volunteer Park and then Broadway, the main shopping drag on Capitol Hill.
At the Swedish hospital stop, he got on. The man in the bowler hat.
To be honest, my first reaction was to check him out. He was handsome—dark-haired and slender, with an intelligent, soulful-looking face. Besides the bowler hat, he wore a three-piece tweed suit, looking very genteel for the bus and a bit old-fashioned. It took a second glance to realize he was also, unfortunately, not alive.
I stared down at my shoes. The floor of the bus was fairly clean, with it being just after seven in the morning. The slightly bubbled blue flooring looked bright around my scuffed brown leather shoes. It was a bit embarrassing, as if to say, Even I, the floor of a public transit vehicle, am better groomed than you.
I was about to tuck my neglected shoes under my seat in shame when a pair of pointed, black boots stepped in front of me. The legs were covered in dark brown tweed pants and almost completely solid, but the prickling hair on my arms and the back of my neck told me what I knew anyway. It was him.
I swallowed and raised my eyes. I expected him to be staring straight out the window or perhaps around the bus. But no, his warm brown eyes were looking into mine.
My heart pounded, and fear slicked through me in a black, oily tide. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. Oh, God. Oh, God. Please be gone.
When I opened my eyes, he’d moved. He was now across the bus, a few feet away, as if backing off. But he was still staring at me. Shit. I took calming breaths and pretended I didn’t see him.
I glanced at the old lady sitting next to me to see if she’d noticed my freak-out, but she just sat reading her book.
When I got off at First and Bell, Bowler Hat followed me. He walked five steps behind me for the three blocks it took me to get to the Hora Systems offices, a dead man reflected in shop windows and the shiny surface of a black limousine. And when I passed through the revolving door at our building and signed in at reception, I risked a casual glance around.
He was there. He stood against the glass front of the building, his eyes fixed on me. He opened his mouth as if trying to speak.
“Hi, Joe,” I blurted out to the security guard, just to act normal, like nothing was wrong.
Joe grunted, not looking at me.
I headed to the elevators.
September 22, 2015
I’ll be at GRL 2015 in San Diego Oct 16-18
I will be a featured author at GRL in San Diego. Here’s my schedule:
Thursday –
12:30-1:30pm – Author’s Lounge, Mission Ballroom D&E
6:30-8:30 – Dine with an Author
Friday –
11:25-12:20pm, Author Q&A in Mission Bay A
Saturday –
12:30-3 – Featured Author Book Signing Event (I’ll have How to Howl at the Moon, The Mating of Michael, the new Sex in Seattle book 1 & 2 paperback, teasers of the upcoming “Midwinter Night’s Dream” (my xmas story) and “How to Walk Like a Man” (Howl #2) and a drawing to win these new boos.
I’ll also have some stuff in the Swag room. Hope to see you there!
Eli
