Monday, July 02, 2007

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Anne Thomas has been in love with writing romance since she pounded out her first attempt at a historical on a 1955 Royal Manual typewriter bought at a farm auction. After moving to sunny Arizona and joining Romance Writers of America, Anne finally got a handle on the elusive skill of how to actually finish a book. She has since written three full-length novels and several erotic novellas, most of them with an urban fantasy theme.

Anne’s favorite thing about writing (and reading!) romance is the journey the characters make to find their soul mates. Anne believes that the search for love is what makes us human, and that search transcends gender or lifestyle choices. Her favorite type of story is filled with exciting, edgy, sometimes exotic encounters between people who are in love.

Anne's website: http://www.annethomasromance.com
Anne on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/annethomasromance
Anne's Blog: http://lovinthekink.livejournal.com


ABOUT THE BOOK:



BLURB:

Eli Walsh and Wolf Grant have been good, platonic friends for the better part of a year. Though Eli's always been attracted to Grant, he's resigned himself to being just friends. But when Eli finds out Grant cruises for dates at the local gay leather club, he goes there, determined to convince Grant that the only one he should be bringing home that night is Eli. The problem is that if Eli tells Grant flat-out he wants him, it could ruin their friendship. Eli's had that happen before, and he's not about to risk it happening again.

Grant's offers to mentor Eli in the BDSM lifestyle seems the perfect solution. Though Grant insists they'll remain just friends, Eli is sure that during the intimacy of their play he can show Grant exactly how he feels, make Grant crave Eli so much that he won't want their lessons to end. And when Eli learns how powerful submission to Grant can be, he's certain they're meant to be together.

But heartbreak in Grant's past has made him wary of falling in love. Can Eli convince Grant to take a chance on their relationship, or will Eli's confession of loving Grant destroy their friendship once and for all?


EXCERPT:

...Grant tugged Eli inside, closing the door behind them. “You’ve been here before. Didn’t look like a wonderland of kink then, did it?”

Eli grinned sheepishly. “I thought maybe you cleaned the place up before I came over.” And that maybe Grant had stuff out and ready for whoever he’d been planning to bring home tonight. Eli hadn’t missed that Grant had the extra helmet on his Harley for Eli to use once they left the club. He wondered briefly if Grant was disappointed that he’d ended up bringing Eli home instead of one of the submissive boys from the Eagles. He pushed the thought out of his mind. This had been Grant’s idea, Grant’s suggestion, so at some level Eli must be who he wanted.

If he kept that in mind, he’d be fine.

“Sorry to disappoint, but I generally keep the place pretty vanilla.” Grant casually tossed his motorcycle keys on the gray and tan granite-topped island separating the large kitchen from the rest of the living space. He crossed to the couch. “Most of my gear is in the bedroom.”

Eli swallowed and glanced at the closed door in the far corner of the living room. “That where we’re headed?” he asked, trying to act like his cock wasn’t practically tearing through his pants at the thought.

“Eventually,” Grant responded, clearly not fooled by Eli’s casual tone. “Thought we’d stay out here for starters.” He settled himself in a comfortable sprawl on the couch, studying Eli in a way that made Eli’s breath catch in his throat. “You ready?”

“Jump right in, huh?” God, he was lightheaded all of a sudden. Must be all the blood rushing to his dick—uh, brain.

“If that’s all right.”

“Sure.” This is Grant, he reminded himself. You’ve had fantasies about this. “Umm, what should I…?”

“Could start by losing the shoes and the shirt,” Grant said easily. “I liked the way you looked tonight.”


INTERVIEW:

Why did you become a writer? Was it a dream of yours since you were younger or did the desire to write happen later in your life?
I've wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I've been imagining characters and scribbling stories since I was seven, I think. I started writing romance when I was fifteen.

What do you love about being an author? Is there anything you dislike?
I love the high I get from writing - when a scene is going well, and the words just flow onto the page, and pretty soon I look up and realize I've been at the keyboard for four hours and I didn't even notice the time pass! I love getting feedback from folks on what I've written, and I really love getting paid for something I'd do for free anyway. The only thing I don't like is when the scenes won't come - that's frustrating.

How do you balance your personal and writing time?
My writing time *is* my personal time - I have another full-time job so I write around that. I try to make time to hang out with my family, but sometimes that goes by the wayside when I'm on deadline. Luckily my husband is very understanding about that.

How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story?
My characters come first, every time. My plots happen in response to who my characters are and what drives them.

What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?
I'm published in erotic romance but I write all kinds of romance genres - paranormal, Regency, historical, contemporary, fantasy. I'm pretty stuck on urban fantasy at the moment. All my erotic romance novellas and the two novels I'm working on take place in the same urban fantasy universe.

Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?
Totally from my imagination, though I might 'borrow' the way a person looks to help in my physical description of them.

Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why?
I love my characters as I'm writing them. In Just Friends, which is the only book I have out right now, I'm really fond of Eli. He's in love with his best friend (which happened to me a lot when I was growing up), wants desperately to get Grant for himself but doesn't want to risk ruining the friendship.

What would you want readers to take away from your books?
I want them to come away with appreciation for the desire for love that lives in all people - regardless of their race, their upbringing, their gender, lifestyle, or sexual orientation. People just want love.

Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book?
Pay no attention to whatever market trends are out there - write what you read! People can tell if you're passionate about the stories you write.
Accept that re-writing is a way of life. Mozart got away with perfect first drafts. Most people aren't Mozart.

What are you reading right now?
I'm working my way through Kim Harrison's Hollows series and will pick up the latest Laurell K Hamilton as soon as my current work in progress is done.

If you could be anyone or anything that you wanted, who or what would you be?
I'm already it - I'm a librarian and a writer. I've never wanted to be anything else.



Just Friends by Anne Thomas
ISBN-13: 978-1-60272-061-9
Genres: Gay / Contemporary / BDSM
Length: Extended Amber Kiss (18k words)
Heat Level: 3
$4.00 from Amber Quill Press


Purchase Just Friends by Anne Thomas HERE!!