Friday, July 17, 2015

Virtual Book Tour: The Luckiest






The Questions

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 person is my husband, who besides being great company is also the best person I know. Nobody else would be able to stand being around me when I was freaking out like I surely would be when stranded away from air-conditioning and wifi, two of my great technological loves.

I mean, assuming that we really are just tragically out of range of signal: I am so unhappy at just the thought of this (seriously: where are my kids? these are things I am thinking about) that I’m going to be very practical and say that I have one of those giant, fuck-off Swiss Army Knives, because between all of those tools, surely I can McGyver my way out of this situation. (THIS IS NOT COOL.)

2) Which musical would you say best exemplifies your life – and which character in that musical are you?

Okay, my secret shame is that I don’t generally see a lot of musicals - I’m a theatre person, but I prefer plays. So I’m going to take a little liberty with this question, and say that movies made in Bollywood traditions with a lot of music in them TOTALLY COUNT, especially when a musical has apparently been made of them. (Which I didn’t even know until I googled it, so bonus!)

I love love love the movie Monsoon Wedding. I am not Indian and my marriage was not arranged, but I do have a big family that’s kind of bananas, so there’s that. And the character of Ria is very familiar to me - smart, wary, intellectual, passionate. I’m totally her, only she has AMAZING hair. OK, yeah, that’s me, amazing hair and all.

3)   Take these three words and give me a 100 word or less scene using them:  kiss, tragedy, road sign

The last kiss was spectacular, filled with heat they hadn’t generated in months. It was all the other kisses over the last few months that should have been the clue. Now each thoughtless one felt like a warning, a road sign she could only read in her rear-view mirror, giving her some indication of the emergency detour that was looming.
It’s what she was thinking when she dropped her bag on the table: the tragedy of two weeks of lukewarm, distracted kisses. Papers went flying and her two best friends scowled up at her until she said, “Ivy dumped me.”

4) You’ve just been let loose in the world of fiction, with permission to do anyone you want. Who do you fuck first and why?

Fitzwilliam Darcy. Easy-peasy.

Oh you want to know WHY? Have you not seen any of those adaptations? Even the ones that don’t feature wet white shirts?

He’s cranky and hot and repressed as fuck. Also he looks like either Colin Firth or Matthew Macfadyen. So there’s that.

5) What is your idea of how to spend romantic time with your significant other?

Ha. Well, we’ve been married 22 years and we have two teen-aged kids, so “romance” takes on a very different tint. I was pretty sick last year and spent a lot of time in the hospital, and it was honestly very romantic in its own very grownup way - we spent so much more time talking in those weeks than we had in years, and I felt so close to him after it was over. I mean, in terms of time that does not involve a hospital gown, my idea of quality romantic time with him is really very similar - just a little extra time with no real scheduled end to it, because besides loving him I still like him very, very much. There is never enough time to spend doing nothing with somebody you like that much.

6)  When you start a new story, do you begin with a character, or a plot?

Of those two: a character. Really: I start with a moment, either a single image or a perfectly delivered line. That will usually tell me a lot about the kind of character(s) involved, and plot goes from there. I write because of characters; plots to me are just things that characters got themselves into because of their intense characteriness.

7)  If they were to make the story of your life into a movie, who should play you?

I have no idea. Let’s say Sarah Jessica Parker, because a million years ago, people used to tell me I looked like her. (I didn’t, but more than one person said it, so let’s go with that. Also, my life isn’t particularly dramatic so I’m pretty sure she can carry it off.)

8) Who’s your favorite horror villain and why?

Oh god, I hate horror movies so much! Let’s say Hannibal Lecter, particularly as reinterpreted by Mads Mikkelsen, because he is charismatic as fuck. (Although my first thought was Freddy Krueger, because I was a child of the 80s and he scared the piss out of me. Take your pick.)

9) Do you have an historical crush and if so, who is it?

I really, really don’t; I like modern masculinity, with a little more softness and tolerance for women who like to make their own noise, thanks. However I am a big fan of crushes in every possible port, so if readers want to use the comments to make suggestions, I am currently advertising for an historical crush. Hit me!

10)Is there a story that you’d like to tell but you think the world isn’t ready to receive it?

Honestly? This is probably that story.

Look, there’s nothing revolutionary about this story. It’s just two people sort of easing back into each other. But I like my love stories a little quiet and largely internal, because I think it’s the way so many of us fall in love - one elegant slide or clumsy tumble at a time. But I do worry, because there’s no great dramatic turn in the story, and we do love some great drama, don’t we? (I do too; drama is AWESOME. But so is reality. OK I am still scarred by the first question.) We’ll see how it’s received - I like it, it’s what I wanted to read and it’s what I wanted to make, and I hope the world is ready for it!

This was really fun - thanks for having me!

Author Name: Mila McWarren

Book Name: The Luckiest

Release Date: July 7, 2015
Blurb:
When New York-based memoirist Aaron Wilkinson gathers with his high school friends to marry off two of their own, he is forced to spend a week with Nik, the boy who broke his heart.

As they settle into the Texas beach house where the nuptials will be performed, Nik quickly makes his intentions clear: he wants Aaron back. "He's coming hard, baby," a friend warns, setting the tone for a week of transition where Aaron and Nik must decide if they are playing for keeps.


Pages or Words: 256 pages

Categories:  Contemporary, Gay fiction, M/M Romance, New Adult, Romance

Excerpt:
Aaron finishes the song and Stephanie snatches the mic out of his hand, crooks her finger at Nik and launches them into a reprise of their performance of "Dancing on My Own" from the homecoming weekend they all spent here at the house back in senior year. Stephanie still has questionable rhythm and tragic pitch—she loves to sing, which is why they have a karaoke machine in this house, but it's one thing she will admit she doesn't have much of a gift for—but there's a reason Nik majored in music at The University of Texas, and his voice has come a long way.
Somehow, this deliberate throwback to a memory that was never anything but happy seems different than what Aaron has just done. He sits on the sofa, flanked by Alex and Jasmine, hating them both a little for participating in it even while he smiles. Nik dances—how can you not, with this song—but he still watches Aaron, gives him a little head-tilt during the chorus, and it's charming and devastating and infuriating.
Jasmine leans to murmur, "Oh, I see how it is."
"Oh, shut up."

"You might not be desperate, but I'm not sure about him. He's coming hard, baby."

Sales Links:



About the author:
Mila McWarren grew up in Texas, but has happily made her home on the East Coast for the last decade. In her day job she works as a social scientist and has spent the last 10 years developing her fiction writing online. She lives with her husband and their two kids. When she isn't using working, writing, or hanging out with her family, she likes knitting and watching television, because they go together like peanut butter and chocolate, two of her other great loves.


Where to find the author:

Twitter: @milamcwarren
Tumblr: milamcwarren.tumblr.com

Publisher: Interlude Press
Cover Artist: C.B. Messer

Tour Dates & Stops: July 7 – July 20, 2015
7-Jul

8-Jul

9-Jul

10-Jul

13-Jul

14-Jul

15-Jul

16-Jul

17-Jul

20-Jul


Rafflecopter Prize: One $25 Interlude Press gift card. Five e-book copies of ‘The Luckiest’
a Rafflecopter giveaway

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for having me here today, and letting me talk about Ria and Fitzwilliam Darcy (for the record: he would have no idea what to do with her). I'll check back in later today in case any of your readers have any questions.

    ReplyDelete