Interview: Josephine Myles

I'm happy to welcome back author Josephine Myles. She's here today celebrating the release of her latest novel, Handle with Care. Please help me give her a warm welcome and stick around for more info on her blog tour and some cool prices you can win.

Hello Josephine! Welcome back to Romance Around the Corner, it’s always great fun to have you.

Q. For all of our readers who may not be familiar with your work, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your books?

JM: Hi Brie – thanks for inviting me over! About me? Okay, I’m a thirty-five year old Brit who writes m/m romance, much to the amusement and occasional bafflement of family and friends. I live in a lovely little Somerset town with my husband and six-year-old daughter, but much as I love being a mum I’d go crazy if I didn’t get the chance to indulge my imagination every day. It’s good that these days I do so more productively, rather than sitting around daydreaming.

I’ve been publishing erotic short stories for the last couple of years, but my first novel, Barging In, was published by Samhain in September. Since then I’ve had a couple of novellas out, and now my new release from Samhain: Handle with Care.

Q. Have you always been a fan of M/M Romance? Were you always interested in writing Romance? And when it comes to reading for pleasure, do you enjoy this genre or do you prefer something different?

JM: I’d never really thought of myself as a potential Romance writer until I discovered m/m romance a couple of years ago, but I know I’d have been a fan if I’d found it earlier on as I’ve always devoured books with strong gay characters. At the moment I’m mainly reading m/m, but I do hope to return to a more balanced literary diet in the future when I have more free time. I used to read a lot of women’s fiction and lit fic, and I know there must be plenty of great books for me to catch up on. I’m also getting into mysteries these days, so I’d like to explore more of the classics, and work my way through all the fascinating non-fiction books on my shelves.

Oh, and I always enjoy reading Terry Pratchett! Comedy is one of my all time favourite genres, and I love writers who can make me laugh out loud.

Q. What can you tell us about your newest book, Handle with Care?

JM: It’s about Ben, a thirty-three-year-old recluse who’s on home dialysis, and is obsessed with his cute young parcel delivery boy, Ollie. They flirt on the doorstep, but Ben can’t bring himself to make a move as he’s convinced he’s terminally unattractive now because of his illness. To me, the book is about healing and character growth, as Ben learns from Ollie that there’s still plenty to love about him, and that the age difference really doesn’t matter.

I think this book is a bit of a departure from your previous stories. Your main character suffers from diabetes which is quite a serious topic. What inspired you to write this story and was it hard for you to find the balance between the light and fun moments and the darker more serious ones?

I was inspired by seeing my brother-in-law’s experiences with diabetes, kidney failure, dialysis and an eventual transplant. Although it was daunting to write about a seriously ill character, I hoped I’d be able to do it with enough humour to cut through the darker stuff, much as my brother-in-law has always coped with his health situation by joking. I have to admit, I don’t much enjoy writing anything too dark, so if anything the novel is probably skewed towards the light and fun. Then again, this isn’t a bad thing as the narrative focus is on healing, and how Ollie brings sunshine into Ben’s lonely life.

Q. You have written several heroes who couldn’t be more different from each other even if they tried. Do you have a favorite? I know authors always say that characters are like their children and it’s impossible to choose one, but is there one in particular that you really miss and would like to revisit?

JM: I love the slutty ones! Of course, I love them all, but the ones who are happy being single and promiscuous, like Dan and Tristan in Barging In, and Felix in Tailor Made, are such fun to write. I really enjoy making them fall in love despite themselves. I’d love to write sequels to both stories at some point, but don’t know when I’ll find the time.

Q. What else are you working on? What can we expect and look forward to reading in the future?

JM: I’ve got a steamy short story, Screwing the System, appearing as part of the Goodreads M/M Romance Group’s Love is Always Write event, and my next novel from Samhain will be out in September – that’s a ménage called The Hot Floor, and it’s also pretty kinky. I’m currently working on a space opera novella, Storm and Lightning, which is being published as a serial on my blog every Friday. I hope to have that out as an ebook early in 2013.

My next project looks set to be a steampunk mystery, so it’s a bit of a departure for me. It will be m/m, of course, and hopefully have plenty of sizzling sexual tension which is then released in interesting and creative ways!

Q. Finally, what’s your favorite Romance Novel?

JM: Ooh, that’s such a tough question! It’s so hard to choose, but if we’re talking about stories that are Romance rather than romantic suspense, then I’d have to say something by K.A. Mitchell. If pushed, I’d choose Life Over Easy as my favourite of her titles, with Hot Ticket and Bad Boyfriend as close runners up. I just adore the way her characters clash in an utterly realistic way, and the humour and raunch factor are also huge draws. Her dialogue is fantastic and I’ve learnt a huge amount about writing romance from studying her books.

Thank you so much for being here today and taking the time to answer our questions, I hope you come back soon!

JM: Thanks for having me, Brie :D

Handle with Care by Josephine Myles – The Blog Tour (GIVEAWAY)

To celebrate the release of Handle with Care, Josephine is on a two week blog tour. A grand prize will be awarded to a randomly chosen commenter during the tour: an exclusive Handle with Care mug (which she will post worldwide), and a $25 voucher to spend at All Romance eBooks (or alternative ebook retailer of your choice).

Josephine will choose the winner on Wednesday May 9th at 9am (GMT) and she will announce the winner on her blog.

Here is a list of the other blogs participating, if you comment on all of them you will increase your chances of winning.

The best things in life aren’t free…they’re freely given.

 

Ben Lethbridge doesn’t have many vices left. After raising his little sister to adulthood, he wasted no time making up for the youth he lost to responsible parenting. Two years of partying it up—and ignoring his diabetes—has left him tethered to a home dialysis regimen. 

He can do his job from his flat, fortunately, but most of his favourite things are forbidden. Except for DVD porn…and fantasizing over Ollie, the gorgeous, purple-haired skateboarder who delivers it. 

Their banter is the highlight of Ben’s lonely day, but his illness-ravaged body is the cruel reality that prevents him from believing they’ll do anything more than flirt. Not to mention the age gap. Still, Ben figures there’s no harm in sprucing himself up a bit. 

Then one day, a package accidentally splits open, revealing Ben’s dirty little secret…and an unexpected connection that leaves him wondering if he’s been reading Ollie wrong all this time. There’s only one way to find out: risk showing Ollie every last scar. And hope “far from perfect” is good enough for a chance at love. 

Warning: Contains superhero porn comics and a cute, accident-prone delivery guy with colour-changing hair. Readers may experience coffee cravings, an unexpected liking for bad mullets, and the urge to wrap Ollie up and take him home.

Kindle US | Kindle UK | Samhain 

English through and through, Josephine Myles is addicted to tea and busy cultivating a reputation for eccentricity. She writes gay erotica and romance, but finds the erotica keeps cuddling up to the romance, and the romance keeps corrupting the erotica. Jo blames her rebellious muse but he never listens to her anyway, no matter how much she threatens him with a big stick. She’s beginning to suspect he enjoys it.

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