Gay – Page 23 – A. L. Lester

Cover Reveal: The Hunted and the Hind

Today, I am very, very happy to bring you the cover of The Hunted and the Hind. It’s the third in my Lost in Time 1920s London trilogy, although as you may gather from the cover, at least some of it takes place elsewhere.

The Hunted and the Hind, #3 in the Lost in Time 1920s trilogy. Coming on 30th December. — The Hunted and the Hind, coming 30th December

At the end of book number two, Shadows on the Border, poor Sergeant Will Grant got sucked through the border after Fenn, who returned to their home in the Outlands with the murderous creature they’d finally captured with the help of Will’s police team. It took me ages to work out what I wanted to write in Hunted because I never actually set out to write a trilogy–this is one of the downsides of discovery writing, which I have now rather learned to my cost. There were so many loose ends I wanted to tie up to feel that I’d satisfactorily ended the series, for both readers and for myself. It took me three rewrites to get the story knocked into a shape that I feel happy with.

Without further ado…here’s the cover (and the blurb!) for…

The Hunted and the Hind

Inadvertently tumbling through the border after Fenn and then thrown into the middle of the internecine political disputes of their people, Sergeant Will Grant of the Metropolitan Police has spent three months in prison in the Underhalls of the Frem. When Fenn comes to free him and return him home through the border, he has very little time to work out what’s going on before the sudden appearance of Fenn’s missing younger sibling Keren throws Fenn for a loop.

Instead of returning them to London as planned, the trio step through the border to the Egyptian desert. Once they work out where they are, it’s a two week trip back to England with the possibility of pursuit both onboard ship and when they reach home.

Will the journey give Fenn and Will time to resolve the feelings they have been dancing around since the day they met? How will they keep Keren from recapture by the faction who tried to persuade Fenn they were dead? And has Will’s friend Alec forgiven Fenn for lying about their motives when they first traveled to London four months ago?

Preorder from the publisher, JMS Books!

Coming 30th December 2020!

Finally, I hear you say! On December 30th, the third and final book in the Lost in Time 1920s series will be published!

Lost in Time was my debut novel. Initially I self-published it, without professional edits, and the faults got deservedly called out in reviews. I had no idea what I was doing and was learning as I went along.

After a few months, Mr AL suggested I withdraw it and submit it to publishers for consideration. I was lucky enough for JMS Books to pick it up despite it’s previous release, and it came out with them in January 2018. I’ve always felt that it had a satisfactory ending–a happy-for-now, which is about the best one can hope for in a historical set in London in the early 1920s with the second world war looming.

But…I ended up writing a sequel, Shadows on the Border, which I think brought more resolution? However, it also introduced a new character, who then ended up with a love-interest of their own.

The Hunted and the Hind finally ties up all the loose ends and resolves Fenn and Sergeant Will Grant’s story. It’s had two rewrites, I’ve gone through months of loathing it; but I’ve now got to a place where it all feels right. I have honestly never felt so relieved to type THE END in my entire life.

For this weekend, Lost in Time is $1.99 (or your equivalent currency) across all the major ebook platforms: you can find it here!

buy lost in time

buy shadows

Interview: Louisa Mae

This week, we welcome Louisa Mae to the blog. Hello Louisa! To start with, can you tell us why you’re doing this interview?

I’ve got a new release out this week, Voyeur Vol V, and you haven’t interviewed me before –so why not! OOH I’m also part of the trio of authors who run Talking RoMMance with a British Accent and we’re planning an amazing event running through December for our members!

What started you writing?

I’ve always loved reading, and found my way into the world of Fanfiction, and from there decided to have a go at writing. It was a good way to try it out with no expectations or pressure.

Where and when do you write?

Where ever the mood takes me! At the moment in my day job, I’m working from home in the space I had set up as my home office and writing sanctuary, so at the end of the working day, I just don’t want to spend any more time in there, so at the moment, so I’m finding myself writing sat in front of the telly most days.

What do you like to read?

I nearly exclusively read MM now, but in that genre I love anything that pulls me in and captivates me from the first page. There are some tropes I just can’t get into and don’t “float my boat”, but given the amount of books out there, there’s no shortage of books to read.

What are the three books you’d take to a desert island? Why would you choose them?

Oh, this is a toughie. I’d take Don’t by Jack L. Pyke, it’s honestly a book that when I first read it really made me think and question everything I thought I knew was happening. Knights to Remember Collection by Nicole Colville, I’m friend with Nicole and was lucky enough to be her beta reader on this. It’s a good combo of humour and angst. The final book would be Stephen King’s IT. It’s such huge book, I’ve never got around to reading it despite loving the films.

Writing is an intrinsically solo occupation. Do you belong to any groups or associations, either online or in the ‘real’ world? How does that work for you?

I’m not, I have some really good friends who also write and we support each other.

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

Reading, listening to audio books. I love baking too. Writing is a bit of a rabbit hole, once you go down it, you ain’t coming back out anytime soon. I have a furbaby, Max, who’s a Syrian Hamster, he’s the most stubborn and determined creature I’ve ever met.

When I have some “me” time I end up watching films or TV. Depends what’s on, or what’s been recommended.

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?

Voyeur Vol V, is as the name suggests part of a series. The first book was a short story for a charity compilation following the Pulse Nightclub shootings. It didn’t make it into the anthology as they were overwhelmed, so I decided to expand it, never expecting it to turn into this series.

Vol V took me about 2 months on and off, it’s a complex backstory and I had to be so careful to track back through four books and make sure everything fitted in. That was tough and I hated it at times. I also went straight on to write the final volume, so they were done back to back.

I enjoyed this one as it’s from a new POV for the series, and this person is so guarded it’s untrue. I’m hoping the readers enjoy it, and forgive me for putting one of the characters through the wringer, again!

Voyeur Vol V

Nathaniel plays dangerously on the edge of deceit and truth. He’s had to.

But when he walks through the door of the V Lounge and casts his shadow over Joe and Kian’s world, he knows the truth is about to hit harder than the lie. And now, after years of protecting Joe, he might just be the one who tears Joe’s world apart.

Venture once more into the world of Voyeur and watch as deep, dark secrets are played out before your eyes.

Buy Voyeur Vol V

Find Louisa!

Facebook : Talking RoMMance : Website : Goodreads

Deleted Scene #2: Taking Stock

I had a lot of backstory about how Laurie’s friends dealt with his stroke that were from different POV’s and/or slowed it all down unbearably. Here, Sally, Laurie’s best friend, is talking to Patsy, who runs the Post Office.

Deleted Scene #2

“He’s going to be a handful,” Patsy Walker said to her friend Sally Beelock as she filled the tea-pot. “You’ll have trouble with him.”

Sally pulled a face. “You don’t need to tell me that,” she said. “He’s already talking about coming home and the stupid idiot can’t even stand up without help yet.”

“He’s improving though, yes?” Patsy asked.

“Yes, definitely. And it’s only been a week. They say that he needs to keep trying to move everything, his arm, his fingers, his leg, and the more he does that the more it’ll help.” She sighed. “They don’t know if it’ll all come back properly, but they say there’s a good chance.”

Patsy passed her a mug of tea and sat down opposite her at the kitchen table where she could see in to the shop. There weren’t any customers at the moment, but the early autumn day was warm and she had the outside door propped open as usual, so the bell wouldn’t ring if anyone came in and she had to keep an eye out.

“How are you managing?” she asked Sally. “It must have been a shock. He’s only what, thirty?”

“Thirty-three,” Sally said absently. “Yes. I thought that was curtains for him to be honest, Pat. Jimmy came down to get me at Carsters once the ambulance had gone. He didn’t tell me much, just said I should get into the hospital. Apparently he was unconscious, pretty much.”

Patsy patted her hand. “Well, he’s going to be fine, love. You’ll see. Look at Roger Chedzoy. He had a stroke four years ago and you’d never really know to look at him now.”

“He’s sixty-three though,” Sally said. “I mean, there’s never a good age, is there? But Laurie’s so young.”

Patsy nodded. “And that means he’s got more fight in him and he’ll get over it quickly. You’ll see.”

Buy Taking Stock