Talking about Choices with Grace R. Duncan
J.P. is a fantastic lady. We were chatting on facebook one day and discussing my new book and she said, “You know, I’ll be happy to host you. Put together a post, send me your art and links and such and I’ll throw it up.” Of course, I jumped on it. I’d have been crazy not to. She’s an amazing author and someone I look up to quite a bit.
So I started thinking about what I wanted to do for her post. I wanted it to be good, something different than the rest of the posts on my blog tour, and enough to catch attention. In other words, worthy of her blog. But I kept coming up empty. I went through the posts she’d done for her Little Boy Lost series and while there are some amazing posts, I’m not quite up for doing video interviews, I don’t (to my chagrin) know any gorgeous porn stars to discuss and I am still a complete newb at being an author, so I feel that I am most definitely not in the position to offer up advice.
So, what then? Well, I started thinking about how Choices is more than a book to me. It has characters that I identify with – and that have quite a bit of me in them. There is a lot of me in the book, in general, and it occurred to me that maybe this could be of interest.
I grew up a gypsy much like my main character did. Teman’s family wandered the lands of Neyem, Tiantang and the other parts of my world, going where the wind took them. We weren’t quite as “free” per se, but we certainly moved around a lot when I was a kid. My mom was not one for putting down roots and so we found ourselves picking up and going very often. Even as an adult, I’ve moved around quite a bit. I like to see new places and most of the time, I find I’m not content to just visit for a few days. I end up staying quite a bit longer.
That’s not a big deal, though, right? Lots of people move around and putting that bit of yourself into a book isn’t all that surprising. But my drifting childhood is far from the toughest part. Teman goes through a lot of self-discovery over the course of the book and learns a lot about himself. He doesn’t take to the slavery like some do – the idea of sleeping with people for the sake of sex just isn’t him. So he must learn to let go of that and as he does, he discovers other things: a dislike of disappointing others, a need to please and serve.
Choices was written over the course of nearly a year. This was a year in which I, too, learned about myself as Teman did. I knew already that I was submissive. I’d learned that quite a long time ago, but as I wrote and understood more of Teman, I understood more of myself, too. Like just how deep my submissive personality goes and how hard I try to please everyone.
When the realization of just how similar Teman and I were hit, I panicked a bit. I started wondering whether I’d put too much of myself in him. Was he still his own person? I even walked away from it for a while to try to gain some perspective.
But I didn’t have answers; they didn’t come to me as I needed them to. And Choices wasn’t finished, Teman hadn’t said and done all he wanted to say and do and the pull to keep going, to write it out persisted.
Not to mention the fact that I had friends demanding I finish, so they could read it. My people-pleasing personality decided it for me.
I’m very glad I listened, gave in and finished. Teman got his happily ever after and while my story is far from over, I think the part of me that is in Teman has some small feeling of happily ever after, too. Months later, I can finally look back at the book when I can’t edit anymore (because it’s now out!) and feel confident that this part that I was so worried about only strengthens his character, rather than eclipses it.
And I am very glad it’s there.
About Choices
Born and raised a gypsy in the late eleventh century, Teman values freedom over everything. He and his best friend, Jasim, are thieves for hire—until one night they’re caught and their precious freedom is revoked. Given the choice between the dungeons or palace pleasure slavery, they become slaves, but Teman vows to escape someday.
Bathasar doesn’t want the throne. He supports his brother instead, which suits their sadistic father, Mukesh. When Teman, the handsome slave Bathasar has secretly been watching, saves his life, Bathasar requests a slave for the first time. Before long, Bathasar and Teman fall in love. But all is not well. One day Mukesh brutalizes Teman before the court, angering the empress of a neighboring nation. To appease her, he then offers her Jasim as a gift, and Teman decides to stay with Bathasar for now—despite the abuse he may suffer.
The peace doesn’t last. Mukesh plans to invade Jasim’s new country, and Bathasar must find a way to stop the destruction. But if he succeeds, he’ll ascend to the throne and have the power to grant Teman his liberty. Then Teman will surely leave him. What other choice could a gypsy make?
A Timeless Dreams title: While reaction to same-sex relationships throughout time and across cultures has not always been positive, these stories celebrate M/M love in a manner that may address, minimize, or ignore historical stigma.
About Grace R. Duncan
Grace R. Duncan grew up with a wild imagination. She told stories from an early age—many of which got her into trouble. Eventually, she learned to channel that imagination into less troublesome areas, including fanfiction, which is what has led her to writing male/male erotica.A gypsy in her own right, Grace has lived all over the United States. She has currently set up camp in East Texas with her husband and children—both the human and furry kind. She also teaches information technology classes at a local college.
As one of those rare creatures who loves research, Grace can get lost for hours on the internet, reading up on any number of strange and different topics. She can also be found writing fanfiction, reading fantasy, crime, suspense, romance, and other erotica, or even dabbling in art.
Website: http://www.grace-duncan.com/
Blog: http://gracerduncan.wordpress.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorgraceduncan
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gracerduncan
E-mail: duncan.grace.r@gmail.com
