1. You’re marooned on a small island with one person
and one item of your choice—who is
that person and what item do you have?
The one person would be my boyfriend and the item is
my computer. This way I could still write stories. Hopefully there would be wifi
for internet connection!
2. Which musical would you say best exemplifies your
life – and which character in that musical are you?
I don’t know of Les Miserables exemplifies my life
in any way. It’s such an epic story. But I think I can relate to most of the characters in one way
or another. After I saw the musical, I read the book, and it was one of those
novels that made me want to write fiction. I wanted to write a story as big as
life like that with interconnecting storylines. I haven’t done it yet, but it’s
a goal.
3. You’ve just been let loose in the world of
fiction, with permission to make love to anyone you want. Who do you choose and
why?
I would actually choose my own character from my Loving
Husband Trilogy—James Wentworth. In a lot of ways, I created him as my perfect
man. Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice would probably be my next pick.
4. What is your idea of how to spend romantic time
with your significant other?
I’m pretty easy going so going out to a nice
restaurant or on a nice vacation works for me.
5. When you start a new story, do you begin with a
character, or a plot?
I
begin by plotting out the story from beginning to end so at least I have a
blueprint to work with when I
start. But I know that as I continue writing often the characters will take over the story and bring it in
directions I hadn’t originally thought of. That’s
all part of the fun of writing fiction for me—I can start with the greatest
plan, but I know it’s going to change
along the way and I like that.
6. If
they were to make the story of your life into a movie, who should play you?
Interesting
question! I’ve never been told that I look like any particular actress so no one jumps out at me. In all honesty, I
think my life would make a pretty boring movie!
I for one wouldn’t pay to go see that movie! I think that’s why I love writing fiction so much. I experience things in
my stories that I haven’t experienced in life.
7. Who’s
your favorite horror villain and why?
I’d
have to say Dracula. That was one of the first vampire novels I read and it
really captured my imagination.
8. Do
you have an historical crush and if so, who is it?
I
wouldn’t say Dickens is a crush, exactly (he wasn’t very nice to his wife), but
he is someone from the past I
admire. His novel David Copperfield is one of the reasons I started writing fiction, and Dickens has been
a big influence in my writing.
9. Is
there a story that you’d like to tell but you think the world isn’t ready to
receive it?
If
there was a story I wanted to write, I’d write it whether or not I thought
readers were ready for it. I
had some concerns about writing That You Are Here because it’s a love story between two men, and I’m not a
gay man. I’m not a gay woman, for that matter,
so I wasn’t sure what people would think of the story coming from me. That didn’t stop me from writing the book,
though. I saw the two love interests, Andrew Whittaker
and Mark Bryce, so clearly. I saw their deep love for each other, and I saw the struggles they had to overcome, so I
decided to write the novel anyway and I’m very
glad I did. Even if I had concerns, if the story struck me hard enough and I was compelled to write it, I would write it anyway.
THAT YOU ARE HERE
by Meredith
Allard
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
On
the outside, handsome, successful attorney Andrew Whittaker has everything in
life. On the inside, he has everything too, only he doesn't know it. He hides
the love of his life, Mark Bryce, from his family and everyone else where he
lives in Portland, Oregon. Soon the weight of the secret becomes too much for
Andrew. After wrestling with himself and his place in the world, he must decide
how he’s going to live—with or without Mark.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
Andrew’s cell phone buzzed in his pocket. He put his lunch
bag on the counter, nodding at the message from Lisa Bloom, his secretary. He
scanned his e-mails and grimaced at the phone. “I have to go.” He left at a
sprint through the kitchen door to his silver Mercedes in the attached one-car
garage. He didn’t even like the car, but that’s what the senior partners at his
firm drove, so that’s what he drove too. Andrew opened the garage door, got
into the driver’s seat, slid the key into the ignition, started the car, and
jumped at the knock on his window. He shrugged sheepishly, opened the window,
and took his lunch bag.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’m a little distracted today.”
“Today?” A sigh. “That car is such a gas guzzler. You need a
hybrid. This is Portland. You’re supposed to be green.”
“Kermit the Frog green?”
“Any kind of green you want to be.”
Andrew looked at the person watching him with such
open-hearted love in those soft gold-brown eyes.
“Mark?” Andrew said.
“Yes, Andrew.”
“Thank you.”
Mark Bryce leaned his head through the open window and
kissed Andrew’s cheek. “Anything for you, beautiful boy.”
When Andrew stopped at the red light on Bancroft Street he
felt his phone vibrate. He pulled his phone from his pocket, saw the screen and
cringed, peering at the nearby drivers as though they were reporting his every
move to some great eye in the sky. The text was from Mark.
Stop looking at your phone!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Meredith
Allard is the author of The Loving Husband Trilogy, That You Are Here,
Victory Garden, Woman of Stones, and My Brother’s Battle
(Copperfield Press). She received her B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from
California State University, Northridge. Her short fiction and articles have
appeared in journals such as The Paumanok Review, The Maxwell Digest,
Wild Mind, Muse Apprentice Guild, Writer’s Weekly, Moondance,
CarbLite, and ViewsHound. She has taught writing to students aged
ten to sixty, and she has taught creative writing and writing historical
fiction seminars at Learning Tree University, UNLV, and the Las Vegas Writers
Conference. She lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Website -
http://www.meredithallard.com/
Twitter -
http://www.twitter.com/copperfield101
Facebook -
http://www.facebook.com/authormeredithallard
Amazon
- http://www.amazon.com/That-You-Are-Here-Novel-ebook/dp/B00I17XBBE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401234223&sr=8-1&keywords=that+you+are+here
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ReplyDeleteGreat excerpt, sounds like a good read.
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting. I appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the excerpt! This looks like a great read!
ReplyDeleteAn interesting blurb. A weighty secret.
ReplyDeleteGreat excerpt, thanks for sharing
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