Ally – Page 30 – A. L. Lester

Interview: Ana Night

This week we welcome Ana Night, who’s come to talk about her new release and answer some nosy questions! Welcome, Ana!

Thank you for having me! I’m here to talk about my newest release Avenging a Raider, book six in my Black Raiders series. This book is one I’ve wanted to write for quite a while, but it hasn’t been easy – anything that could get in the way would. So to finally have it done is just amazing and I’m so happy it’s out now!

So, on with the questions! What started you writing?

I think it was just one of those inevitable things. I’ve always loved stories, from having them read to me as a kid, to learning to read while listening to tapes of the book (I feel way older than I am writing that, by the way), to reading so fast and so much the local library couldn’t keep up. No matter what, if we were going on a drive, I had pen and paper with me and would be writing from the car started till it stopped. I started out writing fanfiction even though I had no idea that’s what it was, and I would rewrite the things I thought could be better and I guess that slowly led to me just wanting to write those stories from scratch. I have quite a few unfinished and/or unpublished books on my computer and I’m sure some of them date back to my early teens. It wasn’t until I was nineteen that I decided to give this whole being an author thing a try and I haven’t regretted that decision once. I absolutely love writing and sharing my stories with others!

Where do you write?

Usually at my desk or on the couch. If I’m feeling frisky, though, I’ll write on my balcony but only when it’s warm enough. That also puts me at risk of just working on my non-existent tan instead of writing, so not always a good idea. Yes, I know. I like to live my life dangerously! Or, really, just in danger of ending up looking like a lobster.

What do you like to read?

I only read MM and have for almost five years now. I mostly read romantic suspense, so it takes a lot for me to read things like fantasy and contemporary but if the writing style is a hit, then I’ll probably read anything by that author. I’m a lot more about the writing than the story these days if that makes sense? This is actually something that happened as I started to write. I became pickier with what I’d read, and I read a lot less now than I did just five years ago. Then again, I could read two to three books a day back then and I have no idea how I had that much time. I certainly don’t now! So I just really enjoy those few books that I do read.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I have a horse, so I spend a good amount of time at the stables. Besides that, I probably watch too many tv shows. No regrets, though! I also have a cat, but he lives at my parents’, so I only get to love on him a few times a week. Other than that, I read when I find a good book or one of my favorite authors has a new one out. I’ve also started sewing again which turns out to be a lot harder than I remembered, but a few broken needles won’t stop me! At least, it won’t stop me from breaking more… I try, though, and I really like making skirts and dresses so hopefully I’ll get better with time.

I like how you put ‘Do you like to exercise?’ in your suggestions for this question because hell no. I’m the biggest couch potato to ever couch potato (I don’t know if you can actually say that but if you ask me, I’ll claim wholeheartedly that you can!). I’ve even stolen my parents’ car— don’t worry. They have two—because it takes forever to take the train to the stables. Lazy? Maybe. I’ll probably have to aspire to be the couchiest potato ever but I’m okay with that.

Tell me a little bit about your most recent release. What gave you the idea for it? How long did it take to write? What did you enjoy about writing it? What did you hate?

As I said before, I’ve wanted to write this book for a very long time. Probably since I started on the first book in the series which is—god, where did the time go?—five years ago now.

I always wanted to pair up these two. Things always change from when I get an idea to when I’m actually writing the story but for the most part, there weren’t a whole lot of changes with these guys. I’m not entirely sure what gave me the idea except that it just made sense the more I wrote and fleshed out the first few books in the series. The more I knew about Will and Colt, the more I liked them together.

What I hate about this book is how long it took me to finish it. I didn’t write for two months this year because shit happened and then it was just so hard to get back into it, but fortunately the boys started talking to me again (they had some abandonment issues we had to work through) and I managed to finish the book in June.

Avenging a Raider

Eleven years ago, Lieutenant William Stanton’s entire world went up in flames. He lost his brother. His family. He left his old life behind to hunt down the people responsible. Avenging his brother was all he’d thought about, all he’d done, for a decade. A sexy little assassin shouldn’t be able to distract him from that goal, but he never counted on the feelings Colt would spark in him.

Colt ‘Shadow’ Castillo has a job to do. A very important one that could stop a terrorist, but he had to go rogue from the CIA to do it. His handler sending someone to retrieve him isn’t surprising. He never expected it to be the missing lieutenant of the Black Raiders, though. Teaming up with the man certainly wasn’t on his to-do list, but the attraction he feels for Will isn’t exactly driving him away.

With people to save, a job to do, and a terrorist to stop, can Colt allow himself to trust Will and the feelings he has for him? Can Will convince Colt he’s worthy of his love?

Buy Avenging a Raider!

About Ana

Ana Night is a writer of suspenseful gay romance. She’s an avid reader who has loved the written word since she discovered it. When she was a kid, she never went anywhere without a notepad. She was always writing, be it in the backseat of the car, between classes in school, or by the pool on vacations. When she’s not writing, you can find her with her nose buried in a book, singing and dancing, or watching her favorite TV shows.

Ana lives in Denmark where she spends most of her time running from her ninja kitty–that one goes for the ankles–and getting lost in the woods with her horse.

Website : Instagram : Facebook : Bookbub : Goodreads

Inheritance of Shadows Audio, 99c!

The audiobook of Inheritance of Shadows is on sale this week! Until 10th July it is 99c on Chirp and Apple and FREE on Authors Direct.

It’s 1919. Matty returns home to the family farm from the trenches only to find his brother Arthur dying of an unknown illness. The local doctor thinks cancer, but Matty becomes convinced it’s connected to the mysterious books his brother left strewn around the house.

Rob knows something other than just Arthur’s death is bothering Matty. He’s know him for years and been in love with him just as long. And when he finds something that looks like a gate, a glowing, terrifying doorway to the unknown, it all starts to fall in to place.

Matty’s looking sicker and sicker in the same way Arthur did. What is Rob prepared to sacrifice to save his life?

(And the ebook is ALWAYS 99c!)

And can I ask a favour? If you’ve already read or listened and have a minute, please could you take a moment to leave me a rating and/or a quick review? It makes a difference to how the Amazon and Bookbub advert engines treat things, apparently, and I’m starting to experiment with them, really, really cautiously!

#AmReading

This week, alien/human, d/s, m/m (with tail-sex); m/m guardian spirit cop pines after falling apart young man; and a tentative sapphic slow-burn with menopausal werewolves.

Claimings Series by Lyn Gala

Claimings, Tails and Other Alien Artifacts by Lyn Gala

This is a five books series top and tailed (geddit?!) by a free prequel and a collection of short stories. I was a bit nervy about dipping my toe into the universe to start with…the relationship between Ondry and Liam is a sub/dom one, which would usually put me off picking up a book because they are rarely, in my opinion, done well. However…it’s Lyn Gala, so big plus. And it turns out to be an unusual and satisfying take on the dynamic. I found myself sucked right into the universe, the love story between the human and alien MCs and the alien psychology. The world-building is brilliant. It’s a lovely, absorbing series and I really recommend having a look.

His Mossy Boy by R. Cooper

I guess I should just start a weekly homage to R. Cooper spot on the blog. This is part of the Beings in Love series and it’s the first one I’ve read. It’s a sweet story about misfit Martin, who controls his misery with booze and drugs. Somehow though, Ian, the town’s quiet, unassuming deputy is always there to collect him up and put him on his feet again, sometimes literally. You’ll have to read the story to find out who or what Ian is. I think I’d have benefited from reading Treasure for Treasure first, but I’m looking forward to reading that next!

Silver Moon by Catherine Lundoff

I’m having a re-read of this before I plunge into the recently released sequel. For some of the women of Wolf’s Point, menopause not only comes with hot flashes, it comes with lycanthropy. And to cap it all, Becca’s husband dumps her and she starts to have feelings for another woman. Becca is just so normal–bemused, annoyed and frightened. She struck a chord with me because I feel like that about the change even without the werewolf thing. No arguments about whether or not you can have the window open if you can transform into a tall, clawed, furry monster. It’s got elements of thriller as well as a tentative romance and none of the stuff about fated mates or anything like that. The women are chosen by the land as guardians. Hard recommend.

That’s the lot!

Why the 1920s?

Sylvia Marks is coming soon! A 1920s lesbian romance. With magic and suspense. And tea. The first of a new trilogy set in the Border Magic universe.

It may have come to your attention by now that I like to write in the 1920s! So, what inspired me to do that and why do I keep coming back to it?

My first foray into the decade was Lost in Time, and that was a sort of incidental kind of period piece. I began writing as the hundred year anniversary of World War One was marked and I was doing a lot of thinking about my grandparents. My father’s father was the only survivor of a tank crew; and my mother’s great-uncle was a runner between the trenches who was killed before he hit twenty.

I began thinking about how our experiences a hundred years later contrast with the experiences of that earlier generation. Those thoughts grew into Lost in Time, with Lew from 2016 bringing his modern lens to bear on the 1919 world he found himself in.

At that point in my writing I really didn’t have a plan. I discovery-wrote Lost in Time without any idea of what I was doing—I was just telling the story. It’s a happy-for-now rather than a happy-ever-after and Shadows on the Border was a natural extension that allowed me to explore the happy-for-now a bit more; and then I ended up needing a resolution for Will and Fenn, so The Hunted and the Hind came about. Once I began the story in book one, I just had to carry on until I got to the end. And of course, people’s stories don’t end when they begin a relationship, quite the opposite. That’s always something I’ve found difficult in my writing and my reading too.

In the meantime I was writing a serial for my newsletter subscribers. I had written a short-story called The Gate, set in 1919 as an introduction to the world before Lost in Time was published. It was short and full of paranormal stuff, but the relationship resolution was very tentative and I wanted to know what happened afterwards. That became Inheritance of Shadows. That’s a rural story, with a lot inspired by the old farmers I remember as a child—the ones who’s names are on the local war memorials as serving in the First World War.

These four books concentrate on men and the male experience of the war and what happens afterwards, when you come home.

With The Fog of War I’ve done various things a bit differently.

Firstly, it’s a book about women. Dr Sylvia Marks is a minor character in Inheritance of Shadows. I loved her when I wrote her and so did my editor, who encouraged me to write more about her. I think she was envisaging a kind of village doctor solves cosy mysteries kind of series, but it appears that I am congenitally unable to write long stories that don’t contain some sort of paranormal shenanigans. So here we are.

I began reading around women doctors and how they contributed to the war effort and I came across Dr Elsie Inglis and the Scottish Women’s Hospitals and Dr Flora Murray and Dr Louisa Garrett Anderson, who ran the Endell Street Military Hospital. The institutions were staffed almost entirely by women and additionally, Flora Murray and Louisa Garrett Anderson were together as a couple.

I then remembered my grandmother telling me about a local lady doctor who would visit her mother in the pre- and post- World War One years and hitch her skirts up and sit on the kitchen table, smoking and chatting. I have a friend who is part of that family and I asked if her husband could remember anything about her. She passed on that he remembered her from family gatherings in the 1960s and she was a tough old bird who smoked like a chimney. My friend, who is, handily, an archivist, also mentioned she had wind of another lady doctor who served in France but then came home and gave up the profession, got married and had children.

It was all grist to my mill.

Plus, the snappy dialogue and the Dorothy L. Sayers vibe I can bring to it makes it fun to write. I read a lot of 1920s and 1920s detective novels…The Toff, Miss Marple, Miss Fisher…what’s not to like?

So to answer my own question, I began with one idea and it’s all snowballed from there. I keep finding more and more interesting snippets from the 1920s that I want to explore.

The Fog of War will be published by JMS Books on 16th August 2021.

Flowers Under My Pillow – Guest Post by Nell Iris

Hi everyone, I’m back! Thank you so much Ally, for inviting me to your blog to talk about my brand new release, Flowers Under My Pillow, a contemporary story infused with some of the Midsummer magic of the olden days.

The idea for the story came from old Swedish folklore. In olden times, Midsummer was considered a time of magic. Its proximity to the summer solstice makes it one of the brightest nights all year because the sun barely (or never) sets, and it was believed to be one of the most magical nights of the year. The boundaries between the human world and the paranormal were blurred, and anything could happen.

Plants and herbs with healing powers were believed to be extra powerful during this night, so people picked them and dried them to preserve the power of Midsummer all year. Walking barefoot—or rolling around naked—in the morning dew supposedly helped keep you healthy and strong during the year, and people also collected the dew and added it to bread and beer to help leaven and ferment. They also used the dew for medicinal purposes.

People also believed you could predict the future on nights like this, and this is where the idea for my story came from.

If a young lady wanted to know who she was going to marry, all she had to do was pick seven kinds of flowers on Midsummer’s Eve and put them underneath her pillow and she’d dream of her future husband. There are variations to the tradition; in some places, you had to pick nine kinds of flowers, and in other places, you needed to jump over the corresponding number of fences before putting your bouquet under the pillow. And if you didn’t do it in silence, you broke the magic and it didn’t work.

So I took this idea and adapted it to suit my purposes. I threw out all the heteronormative crap and made a man dream about a man because this is the 21^st century and even old folklore needs to be more inclusive, amirite? 😊

Traditional Swedish folklore tells you that if you pick seven kinds of flowers in silence and put them under your pillow on midsummer's eve, you'll dream of the man you'll marry. Flowers Under My Pillow available now!

Excerpt:

“You’re certainly beautiful enough to be a hallucination,” he murmurs. “Are you some kind of forest spirit, here to lure me into your lair?”

His thumb strokes, strokes, strokes my lip, but his words make my breath stutter. Make my words stutter. “Wh-wh-what did you just say?”

“I asked if you’re a forest spirit, here to captivate me and hold me prisoner for the rest of eternity.” His smile tells me he’s joking.

“I can’t believe you said that.”

“Why?”

“My mom calls me her forest spirit son. She has a mad scientist daughter and me. The forest spirit.”

“So you are here to abduct me.” He runs his finger along my hairline and then twists an errant lock around his finger. “I can totally believe it. What’s happening here is too surreal; you must be some kind of sprite.”

I snort. “You’re ridiculous.”

“I come willingly. I’m yours; do what you want with me.” He tugs lightly on my hair, his brown eyes twinkling like stars in a night sky.

“Whatever I want?” I let my gaze fall to his mouth; the darkness of his beard surrounding his full lips makes them shockingly red, like sun-ripened strawberries.

“Yeah.”

I run my finger along the seam of his mouth and my skin buzzes at his touch, as though one of the bees had gotten stuck between my digit and his skin. His eyes darken and hypnotized, I trace the outline of his lips. Then I skim my fingers down his beard, careful to not disturb the blossoms. “Every year, I pick the same flowers as I did that first year. And now, you’re wearing them.” His beard looks wild, wearing my bouquet. The cow-parsley is sprawling everywhere, the forget-me-nots and buttercups are dainty and almost disappear among the thick strands, the daisies take up too much space, and the cornflowers are so blue against the dark hairs they’re almost too bright to look at. It should be crazy, but it’s amazing and I can’t take my eyes off him.

“May I take a picture of you?” I ask.

“Of course.”

I take out my phone, and he smiles at me as I snap several photographs of him before stuffing my phone back into my pocket, my hand returning to his face like a magnet, my finger softly ghosting over his lips.

What would kissing him feel like? Would his beard scratch and prick me? Or would it be a gentle rasp, drawing my blood to the surface, arousing me? I squirm at the thought.

His brown eyes burn into me and his grip strengthens on my hand. “Anything,” he whispers.

I move closer to him, crane my neck until our noses nudge. I let my eyes fall closed and wait for a heartbeat, giving him the opportunity to pull away if he wants to, but he doesn’t. So I rub my nose along his, feeling the first tickle of his beard against my clean-shaven cheek. It provokes a shudder and spurs me on. Unable to wait a nanosecond longer, I lean in, and hum when our mouths touch.

It’s a chaste kiss, so light and fleeting I wouldn’t have believed it was real if it hadn’t been for his beard tickling my lips, inviting me to press a little harder. My heart hammers so hard in my chest, I’m certain he can feel it pulsing through my lips, certain it reverberates through the forest like some ancient, shamanistic drum. The kiss is everything I’ve ever dreamed of and I want more. I need more.

Flowers Under My Pillow

Smiling brown eyes. A dark beard. Dandelions. Sunny, happy dandelions.

For thirty years, Frode’s had the same dream. Every Midsummer’s Eve since he was a kid accompanying his sister to pick flowers to put under his pillow, he’s dreamed of the same man. A dream he never shares with anyone, that makes him wish for impossible things…like true love.

“It’s you.”

Then one Midsummer’s Eve, the man of Frode’s dreams stands before him in the flesh. Both men recognize each other despite never having met in real life. Both men are instantly drawn to each other and want to know more.

“Who are you, Viljar? Are you even real?”

Their questions are many but do the whys and the hows matter? Or should they allow the Midsummer magic that brought them together to lead the way into each other’s arms? Into each other’s hearts?

Traditional Swedish folklore tells you that if you pick seven kinds of flowers in silence and put them under your pillow on Midsummer’s Eve, you’ll dream of the man you’ll marry.

M/M Contemporary / 17 477 words

Buy Flowers Under My Pillow: JMS Books:: Amazon :: Books2Read

About Nell

Nell Iris is a romantic at heart who believes everyone deserves a happy ending. She’s a bonafide bookworm (learned to read long before she started school), wouldn’t dream of going anywhere without something to read (not even the ladies room), loves music (and singing along at the top of her voice but she’s no Celine Dion), and is a real Star Trek nerd (Make it so). She loves words, bullet journals, poetry, wine, coffee-flavored kisses, and fika (a Swedish cultural thing involving coffee and pastry!)

Nell believes passionately in equality for all regardless of race, gender or sexuality, and wants to make the world a better, less hateful, place.

Nell is a bisexual Swedish woman married to the love of her life, a proud mama of a grown daughter, and is approaching 50 faster than she’d like. She lives in the south of Sweden where she spends her days thinking up stories about people falling in love. After dreaming about being a writer for most of her life, she finally was in a place where she could pursue her dream and released her first book in 2017.

Nell Iris writes gay romance, prefers sweet over angsty, short over long, and quirky characters over alpha males.

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