Lovesick Gods
Lovesick Series, #1
by
Amanda Meuwissen
Date of Publication:
October 2nd 2017
Cover Artist:
Veronika Dolnikova
Genre: -
Superhero/Gay Romance
Tagline:
Heroes aren’t meant to act like their
villains—or fall in love with them.
The Book Junkie Reads . . . Interview
with Amanda Meuwissen . . .
What are some of
your writing/publishing goals for this year?
I’m excited to have my books in one of the local
bookstores in my area, which has been a more recent goal, as I’ve focused on digital
in the past. I plan to provide my new release, Lovesick Gods, as soon as
possible and do a book signing there for more local publicity around my titles.
Before the end of the year, I also plan to complete final edits on Lovesick
Titans, the second and final part to the Lovesick Series, which will release in
the Spring. With NaNoWriMo coming up in November, this year I plan to devote
that time to working out the kinks on my next project, a shorter novel called A
Model Escort, which will be a unique departure for me as it’s GLBT romance
without any fantastical or sci-fi elements.
Do you have a
character that you have been working on for a long time that still isn't quite
ready, but fills you with excitement to work on the story?
Valykrie Smith—not to be confused with a Valkyrie—from a
hard-sci-fi story I’ve had in me for nearly two decades now: The Prodigy
Project. I originally wrote it as a screenplay and have been debating
translating it to prose to share with a broader audience, since the character
is so dear to me. I even took a specific class in college on genetics in order
to research the concepts around the character, which has a focus on
artificially created biological automatons for manual labor, but when some of
the research is stolen, the thief leaves behind his own genetic code to buy
himself time, and Valykrie is created using half synthetic DNA, half normal
human DNA. The story then follows his journey through self-discovery,
especially forming friendships and a romantic attachment as he reaches
adulthood, as well as the continuing ideas of what is human, and what the
thief—who has grown into a much more prevalent villain—hopes to accomplish with
the research he stole so many years ago. One day, I’ll bring Valykrie and his
story to the masses.
If you could spend
one-week with 5 fictional characters, who would they be?
It’s funny how imagining my favorite characters compared
to who I’d want to spend a week with don’t always overlap. Just because I love
the Brat Prince doesn’t mean Lestat would be good company—or safe company.
Still, how can I refuse a little adventure?
1.
The Flash, Barry Allen or Wally West
(almost any incarnation, really, whether comics, live action, or animated)
2.
Captain Cold, Leonard Snart –
specifically the CW TV version, and preferably sometime mid-season Flash Season
2 when he’d be arguably easier to talk to
3.
Lucifer – specifically the TV version
currently on Fox
4.
Wonder Woman – any incarnation as long
as it’s not an alternate reality where she’s evil. Spending a week with her to
hang out and maybe get some Amazon training would be amazing
5.
The Doctor – I don’t know if I can
choose which Doctor, because I’d be in serious danger no matter what, so if I
think about which companions I’d most get along with, it would be Rose or
Donna, so 9 or 10. I love 12, but he hasn’t had a companion I enjoyed. And 11
had my favorite companion, Rory, but then I’d have to put up with Amy Pond
and…no.
Can you share you
next creative project(s)? If yes, can you give a few details?
A Model Escort, as mentioned before, is a more
traditional romance story, without the usual urban fantasy, paranormal, or
sci-fi elements I tend to focus on. It’s about a young man recently free from
an emotional abusive relationship who’s moved to a new city with very
impressive work opportunities ahead of him. The problem is, he’s lonely and
awkward about meeting new people. He decides to hire an escort to help ease him
into this new phase of his life, but he doesn’t want anything more than company
and a cuddle to replace the emptiness his ex-boyfriend left behind. The story
splits its focus between this young man and the escort himself, who’s older and
going through a period of listlessness wondering if he needs a change in his
life. As it turns out, they’re the change each other needs. The very real look
at emotional abuse and moving on from that is a personal topic for me, and I’m
proud of how this story is taking shape for a standalone story that veers very
differently from my usual work. If all goes well, A Model Escort will release
some time in the Fall/Winter of 2018.
BLURB
The elements touch everyone on Earth—Fire,
Water, even Light—but every so often someone becomes more attuned to their
elemental leaning and develops true power. When an evil Elemental known as
Thanatos arrived in Olympus City, it saw the rise of its first hero—Zeus. But
the death toll caused by defeating Thanatos changed Zeus, who by day is young
detective Danny Grant.
It’s been six months since Thanatos
terrorized the city at the start of Lovesick Gods. Danny should be used to his
duty behind the mask, but the recent past haunts him. His girlfriend left him,
he snaps at the barest provocation, his life feels empty—he needs an outlet,
any outlet to pull him out of his depression.
Enter notorious thief Malcolm Cho, the Ice
Elemental Prometheus. There was a time when Danny welcomed a fight with Cho,
filled with colorful banter and casual flirtations that were a relief compared
to Thanatos. Even as a criminal, Cho had recognized the threat Thanatos posed
and promised to help Danny stop him, but the day Danny needed Cho, he never
showed. Cho was the reason so many people died that day—including Danny’s
mother.
Danny decides to teach the man a lesson and fan
the fire of their attraction into something more. At worst, he’ll get some
no-strings-attached sex out of the deal and finally blow off steam; at best,
he’ll get Cho to fall in love with him and then break his heart to spite him.
Danny doesn’t expect to fall for Cho in the process, and he certainly can’t
predict the much darker threat on the horizon.
Buy Link: Amazon
Excerpt:
The long
game, Danny thought as he accepted the hand Cho held out to help him from the
sofa. Cho couldn’t have any fun with a blubbering mess, so of course he’d want
to cheer Danny up. It didn’t mean anything. It just felt nice that Cho didn’t
pry the way the others did. He’d never look down on Danny. He was a liar, a
criminal, a scoundrel—he was the reason Danny had been forced into that
position with Thanatos to begin with—but while the rest of his life felt like
an open wound, somehow Cho was a balm.
Danny
made a show of changing out of Cho’s clothes and into his Zeus costume right
there in the living room. Leaving the sleep pants and T-shirt folded on the
sofa, he started to put on his boots at the door.
“Interesting
choice of work clothes.” Cho crossed his arms with an amused eyebrow raise.
“I’ll
change when I get to the precinct. And next time I’ll call. Or text. Promise.
Thanks for breakfast.” Danny made to walk toward Cho off the rug, then gave an
abortive gesture like oops, stuck now with my boots on.
Cho
rolled his eyes, but he still moved closer to accept the kiss Danny pulled him
into. And let linger. And linger... Maybe a little longer than necessary.
“Have a
nice day at work, dear,” Cho said, sickly sweet in his familiar drawl.
Danny
found himself smiling—and meaning it.
Cho was a
bad man. He was. He…he was. But he made things lighter. And easier. And even
though Danny knew that soon he’d have to end this or risk getting in too deep,
for now he could enjoy the lie for just a little longer.
Buy Link: Amazon
Author Info
Amanda Meuwissen has been writing and posting
online for many years, including maintaining the website and blog for the
software company Outsell. She is an avid writer and consumer of fiction through
film, prose, and video games, and is the author of the paranormal romance
trilogy The Incubus Saga and young adult novel Life as a Teenage Vampire.
Amanda lives in Minneapolis, MN, with her husband, John, and their two cats.
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