Hello, lovelies.
Today, I am joined by K.C. Wells and Parker Williams, co-authors of the newly released Someone to Keep Me (a Collars & Cuffs novel) as they travel the blogosphere for the Someone to Keep Me blog tour. Someone to Keep Me is a M/M erotic/BDSM romance.
They were kind enough to share a little about what it was like co-authoring and writing with someone from a different country.
ON CO-AUTHORING:
Will: I swore I’d never coauthor a book. I’d heard horror stories about friends who stopped being friendly because of differences over the story. When KC asked me about writing something with her, I automatically said no. (The reason was because I didn’t think I was in her league and I wasn’t sure we could find a storyline that would work for the two of us.)
That turned out to be a non-problem for us, it seems. She’s one of my best friends (or mates as she insists on saying…darn English people) and if there came a choice between putting out a book and keeping her as a friend, the book loses, hands down.
KC: Awwwwwww… Yeah, love you too, bro.
Will: I like our 3 am Skype calls where we plan out events that will happen in a book. I look forward to them, even though she’s easily distracted (and I know she’s going to say the same about me, but it’s not true. I am always focused and ready to…to…
OOH! PUPPY!)
Ahem.
Okay, fine. I might be a tad distracted from time to time, too.
Still, we get everything done and ready to go quickly, so that works for us.
Excuse me, I hear more puppies calling my name.
KC: Puppies, shiny things, hot men… you name it. I kind of got used to being in the middle of a conversation and suddenly hearing Will say, “OH MY GAWD!”
(Having said that, I usually then got to see what he was looking it, cos being a good friend, he would, of course, send it to me)
Another author who is considering co-writing asked me only today how I coped when Will wrote something that I didn’t like, if I told him and we then compromised, etc. I had to tell her that it was never an issue. We just…gelled.
Yeah, lucky, eh?
ON WRITING WITH SOMEONE FROM A DIFFERENT COUNTRY:
Will: This was a bit more of a challenge for me. As an American, I admit I know next to nothing about England (other than I love the accents). So when the story was set in Manchester at a club called Collars & Cuffs, I wasn’t exactly sure how it would work out.
What I do is write scenes that we eventually plug into the story at a point where they seem most logical. KC is more linear, going from point A to point B. She would take the bits that I wrote and put in our Dropbox folder, and dress them up by either correcting my usage of words (because apparently they weren’t hoity-toity enough for her) or filling in something I might not have put there. (She has a lyrical way of making the story flow that I envy.)
KC: Excuse me? Hoity-toity? MOI?
(But I like the lyrical part. You can keep that part in. 
)
Will: In Someone to Keep Me, Scott has a bit of culture shock, especially with the language issues. We decided to have some fun with that.
KC: *snort*
Will: Would I do it again? Yes. Absolutely. Not a single hesitation in my mind. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life, and I’m looking forward to our next projects. (Even if she doesn’t like the title of one of the stories I suggested!)
KC: *glares at Will* yep, and we’re STILL not using it!
Seriously, though, I’ve loved writing with Will. It still amazes me how our writing styles just mesh so well. Will writes so quickly, too. I love his habit of writing down a scene when it comes to him, and then saving it.
Having said that, it can prove a little awkward when I’m standing at the checkout in the supermarket with the hubby, waiting to pay, and then up pops a scene from Will on my phone. Why is it always those moments when it happens to be something really hot? Yeah, try explaining that one to the husband….
“What on earth are you reading?”
Me: er, noth-ing. (Best innocent expression she can muster, while inwardly cursing her writing partner… and dying to get home so she can read it properly)
It’s been a blast. And you know what the best part is?
We’re not done yet.
Dreamspinner Press | Amazon | ARe
Blurb:
Eighteen-year-old Scott Keating knows a whole world exists beyond his parents’ strict control, but until he gains access to the World Wide Web, he really has no idea what’s out there. In a chat room, Scott meets “JeffUK.” Jeff loves and understands him, and when he offers to bring Scott to the UK, Scott seizes his chance to escape his humdrum life and see the world. But when his plane touches down and Jeff isn’t there, panic sets in.
Collars & Cuffs favorite barman and Dom-in-training, Ben Winters, drops his sister off at the airport and finds a lost, anxious Scott. Hearing Scott’s story sets off alarm bells, along with his protective instincts. Taking pity on the naïve boy, Ben offers him a place to crash and invites him to Collars & Cuffs, hoping his bosses will know how to help. Scott dreams of belonging to someone, heart and soul. Ben longs for a sub of his own. And neither man sees what’s right under his nose.
EXCERPT:
I was trying to make shopping a fun experience, but Scott wasn’t making it easy. I figured he’d had a heavy morning emotionally, and I thought taking him around Debenhams department store would provide him with a little light relief. I kept holding up these really loud shirts and telling him he’d look good in them. His reaction confused the hell out of me. It was almost as if the boy didn’t know how to have fun. And when I held up some really skimpy underwear, I thought he was going to faint from embarrassment. I kept looking at the clothes he’d picked out. Two pairs of jeans, no problem there, but the shirts were bland, boring even. Scott was eighteen, for God’s sake. In desperation, I picked up a blue shirt I thought would really suit him. The color was a perfect match for his eyes. I held it out to him.
“Would you wear this for me?”
He gazed at me for a moment, and I thought he was going to refuse. Then he nodded shyly. Thank God. I put it in the basket along with his other choices, and we headed for the till. I handed over Leo’s letter of authorization confirming his phone call, and we were done. As we left the store, loaded up with bags, Scott asked for the receipts, to keep them safe to give to Leo.
I snickered. “You do know Leo won’t do anything with those receipts, don’t you?” I knew my boss better than he did.
Scott stopped dead in the middle of the pavement, his mouth open. “What?” I shrugged. He held out his bags. “I’m sorry, I can’t accept these.” God, he could be stubborn.
I rolled my eyes. “Fine, be like that. I’m sure the people at the launderette won’t mind seeing you standing there in your underwear washing your one suit.” I started walking again, laughing inwardly as he caught up to me in a hurry.
Scott tilted his head. “Launderette?”
I searched for the American equivalent. “Laundromat.” A horrified expression crept over his face. Yeah, I’d thought that would make him stop and think. “Can you afford to be proud right now?” His face fell, and I instantly regretted my words. The boy had to see things clearly, though.
Scott looked at his bags of clothing, his expression grudging, to say the least. “Okay, but I still want the receipts.” Out came that chin again. The lad had some backbone to him.
This time I stopped. “You’re going to be stubborn about this, aren’t you?”
The color rose in his cheeks. “It’s not being stubborn, it’s being responsible.” His lips narrowed. “I don’t need someone to take care of me.”
“Fine. Whatever,” I muttered and started walking again. I glanced at the boy surreptitiously as we went along. Regardless of what came out of his mouth, everything about Scott said something entirely different. Alex was right: the lad needed a keeper. I turned off Piccadilly onto London Road, back to the hotel where I’d left the car.
“Where are we going?” Scott looked at me in confusion as he caught sight of the hotel.
“We’re going to my place. I have a flat.”
An eager expression crossed his face. “Do you need help with that?”
I frowned. “Help with what?”
“Your flat. Have you got a jack?”
I struggled for a moment to understand. Then it dawned on me. I laughed. “Okay, for future reference? A flat is an apartment.” I shook my head, still chuckling. “How do you expect to write if you don’t even know English?” His cheeks flamed.
PRIZE GIVEAWAYS:
K.C. & Parker are giving away a book from any of their backlists at each tour stop and a grand prize 16GB Kindle Fire HD loaded with 100 books from some of today’s top LBGT authors.
Click here to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway.
Be sure to stop by all of the stops for a chance to win. To follow the rest of the tour and get more chances to win, simply click the button graphic below.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Born and raised in the north-west of England, K.C.Wells always loved writing. Words were important. Full stop. However, when childhood gave way to adulthood, the writing ceased, as life got in the way.
K.C. discovered erotic fiction in 2009, where the purchase of a ménage storyline led to the startling discovery that reading about men in love was damn hot. In 2012, arriving at a really low point in life led to the desperate need to do something creative. An even bigger discovery waited in the wings – writing about men in love was even hotter…
K.C. now writes full-time and is loving every minute of her new career.
The laptop still has no idea of what hit it… it only knows that it wants a rest, please. And it now has to get used to the idea that where K.C goes, it goes.
K.C. can be reached via email, on Facebook or through comments at the K.C.Wells website. K.C. loves to hear from readers.
PARKER WILLIAMS began to write as a teen, but never showed his work to anyone. As he grew older, he drifted away from writing, but his love of the written word moved him to reading. A chance encounter with an author changed the course of his life as she encouraged him to never give up on a dream. With the help of some amazing friends, he rediscovered the joy of writing, thanks to a community of writers who have become his family.
Parker firmly believes in love, but is also of the opinion that anything worth having requires work and sacrifice (plus a little hurt and angst, too). The course of love is never a smooth one, and Happily Ever After always has a price tag. Website | Twitter | Facebook | E-mail
