Dirty Dozen: Find Out Jeff Adam’s Dark Secrets
What inspires you most when you are writing?
I love telling a story. I started in middle school and it led me into journalism as a major in college, although I don’t work in that field anymore. I also played Dungeon & Dragons in college and found that I liked being the dungeon master more than a player because, as DM, I got to spin the story.
Specific stories get inspired by any number of things. Sometimes it’s a prompt, like Adventures of Jake #1 came out of a submission call to write about a superhero. Bicycle Built for Two was born out of me doing a Boston-to-NYC charity bike ride. The Hat Trick series started because I met three guys who were tight friends and then my brain took off on some what if scenarios.
What brought you to write m/m? What keeps you writing in this genre?
I like reading it, so I write it. Plus I think it’s good to get more m/m stories out there, whether they’re romance, YA, sci-fi, whatever. The more gay characters there are in literature (and of course movies and TV, too), the better because it raises the overall visibility.
Of all the characters you’ve written, who is your favorite and why?
It’s got to be Simon in the Hat Trick series. I like the confidence he has one minute and then the unsure creeps in and takes over for a bit. Doing the series has been a lot of fun because he’s growing up. He was a high school senior in book one and is a college sophomore in the newly released book two. He’s evolving and I enjoy writing that. In book three, which I’m working on now, he’ll be a senior and graduating and plenty of adult-sized challenges await him.
Many of us have pen names that we use and there are an infinite number of ways and reasons behind them, but I doubt many of them reflect the names we wish we’d been born with. If you could micro-manage the ultimate do-over, what birth name do you want? What nickname?
I don’t use a pen name. But, if I could change my name, I’d go for something like the character names I’ve used in the Hat Trick series—Simon, Alex, Leo, Jackson, Matt. Those are all on my list of favorite names. As for nickname, I don’t know. I feel like those get bestowed upon you rather than choosing for yourself, and I’m not even what I would give myself.
Name one unusual fact about yourself that you think your readers would be surprised to learn.
I’m a weather geek. I’ll watch team coverage of a storm for hours. I’m the one who gets asked what the weather is supposed to be, people know I keep up on it. I’ll watch virtually any movie that involves a weather disaster, too. As I think about this, it’s weird I haven’t written any weather events into a story yet.
What do you do that most injures the progress of your writing, and why do you do it?
I get too caught up in my head on whether or not I’m creating a good story. This crops up the most when I’ve just read something I consider to be really great. The voices in my head kick in with: “Why am I doing this? I don’t write as good as [insert author name here].” Luckily, I’m usually able to beat this down, and if needed I listen to the cast recording of [title of show] for extra reinforcement.
If you had to trade writing for another creative pursuit, what would it be?
I’d want to be a dancer. Not just a go-to-a-club-and-know-how-to-keep-a-beat sort of dancer, but a really hardcore, professional type dancer. I know it’s a ton of hard work (and so is writing, really), physically demanding and so many dancers don’t end up with that as their primary career. But, to watch them use their bodies to tell a story is the most amazing thing and I’d love to be able to do that. As it is, I have no rhythm at all.
In one sentence, write the beginning of a sex scene using some kind of food. Think of it as your hook.
Eli’s smoldering eyes, peeking out from just under a knit hap that was pulled tight over his head, told me I was going to be warming him up far more than the soup he’d just sampled from the pot.
Name one of your favorite characters of all time that someone else wrote. Can be M/M or any genre.
I have to cite two: Joe Kavalier and Sammy Clay from Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. This book became an instant favorite when I first read it in 2000. These characters go on such a journey from boyhood friends, to working in the early days of comic books to involvement in World War II. They are terrifically layered characters and Chabon creates adventures for them that truly live up to the name he ultimately gave the book. It’s also a book I find myself drawn back to once every couple years to re-read.
If you could be one of your characters, who would you be and why?
There are many aspects of Simon from the Hat Trick series that make him someone I’d want to be. However, given my response to one of the other questions above, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’m going to say Nathanial from The Dancer & Sexy Big Man (unfortunately, this story has just gone out of print at the end of August… but it will likely come back sometime in 2015). Nathanial, or Nate, is a dancer and he competes on a So You Think You Can Dance type show where he falls for one of the crew. Nate dances very well, and he falls for a hot guy, so to be him would be pretty cool.
How many versions of a book do you usually write before you arrive at ‘the one’, and how does your editor impact that?
The more I write, the better I get at writing more complete first drafts. Hat Trick had quite a few drafts as I figured out how to tell a long form story. The second book ended up with probably half as many drafts. Short stories come together faster now too.
Editors are awesome. I learned a lot from the editor of Hat Trick, especially showing me repetitive errors I was making. I hope I learn from each editor I work with so I can create better and better works in the future.
If you came with a warning label, what would it be?
In case of emergency, feed him peanut butter.
Hat Trick 2: Playing the Rebound
Now available in ebook and coming to paperback in October
Buy links:
JMS Books: http://www.jms-books.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=29_94&products_id=1196
Blurb:
The events from two years ago are still fresh in Simon Robert’s mind as he and Alex Miller begin their sophomore year at the University of Michigan. Nightmares are a routine occurrence as Simon relives the crimes his father and brother committed. Now, with his father ill and asking to see him, Simon must decide if he should see the man who tried to send him away to be fixed. And then there’s Zach. Simon’s conflicted about making peace with his older brother who tormented him as they grew up and caused him to be outed to his parents, friends and teammates.
Alex wants Simon to find closure, but Alex is furious at the thought of forgiving Zack. With no clear direction, Simon finds guidance from an unexpected, but very welcome, source.
At the same time, the University’s student body is faced with an anti-gay attacker among them. When he witnesses an attack first hand, memories threaten to overwhelm Simon. At the same time, he’s also emboldened to take action, which might turn him into a target.
Despite the distractions, Simon works towards his future as he begins working with teens at the local LGBT community center. He has the opportunity to use his story as a teaching tool to help others come out. While he’s never enjoyed telling his story, he looks for the courage to speak his truth to an audience.
Luckily, not everything is chaos. Simon and Alex mark their anniversary in epic fashion, continue to play hockey and hang out with good friends. But with many demands on them, can Simon and Alex set up the rebound necessary to create the scoring opportunity for their future?
Learn about the Hat Trick series, and read excerpts, at: www.HatTrickNovel.com
Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway! http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/bde26371182/
About Jeff Adams
Jeff Adams caught the writing bug in middle school and finally became a novelist with the Hat Trick series. Jeff and his husband Will left the hustle and bustle of New York City to return to the more peaceful lifestyle of Humboldt County, California, during the summer of 2014, which should allow for more time to write. Extending his love of hockey, Jeff covers the Detroit Red Wings, and reviews books that feature gay hockey players, for PuckBuddys.com.
Website: http://www.jeffadamswrites.com
Hat Trick website: http://www.HatTrickNovel.com
Hat Trick on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HatTrickNovel
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hockeyguynyc
Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/jeffadams
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/writerjeff
