Please welcome author AJ Llewelleyn today, who has bravely agreed to answer my infamous Rick Reed question, and to tell us about two of his upcoming releases! Also, he's promised to give away one of his paperbacks! So don't forget to comment and leave an email address!
While we get comfy on the beach, I'll let AJ answer the question!
A.J. Llewellyn: The Questions
)
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 lover and the item is the
lucky, magic carpet bag Mary Poppins had. You know, she would open it and
anything she wanted just popped out of it, Even a huge reading lamp. Remember
that moment in the movie? Because of course I'd still want to read and those
marooning island get awfully dark early. And the lamp would work because it's
magic!
2 Which musical would you say best exemplifies
your life – and which character in that musical are you?
Call Me Madam. I know...an obscure one. But I did it in school. I
was the goofy secretary and I played the character for laughs. I fell off my
chair a lot, dropped pens, knocked my glasses off my face. That's me in real
life. A total klutz. I was called the class clown when I was six. It's my
full-time occupation now.
3 Take these three words and give me a 100 word or
less scenario using them: blessed,
cooking, misdirect
LOL!
One
warm June evening I was alone and thought I'd get some writing done. When I write I like to eat so some cooking
was in order. I opened the fridge but not a blessed thing was there! How could
I have no food? I closed the door, reopened it. No, it wasn't a horrible dream.
Nothing!
In
the cupboards I found ramen noodles. I couldn't remember ever buying a packet of
ramen noodles but checked the expiration date. Never. Since beggars can't be choosers, before I could misdirect my
good intentions further I cooked those suckers and ate them!
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?
Oh
I'd have a threesome with F. Scott Fitzgerald and Errol Flynn. Scott would be
so witty and interesting. We have a lot in common because early tragedies led
us both to becoming writers at very young ages. Errol would stop us from
getting too serious or maudlin. He'd be hysterical and sexy in his Captain Blood tights. And he'd bring all
the booze!
5 What is your idea of how to spend romantic time
with your significant other?
Honestly,
with our work schedules, just being together watching a movie or listening to
music is such a luxury. We both like candles and we love food. I love to cook
but my Greek genes dictate that a meal for two feeds an army so we'd have
plenty of leftovers for breakfast.
When you start a new story, do you begin with a
character, or a plot?
It honestly depends. Sometimes a story comes
to me immediately. Other times the character. I had dinner with a good friend
one night who had started dating a guy from her gym. He turned weird very
quickly and was confused. He called during dinner and she invited him to join
us for coffee. I was staggered when I saw him because I knew he was a gay porn
performer.
He admitted that he was. He said he was
gay-for-pay but he was conflicted by his passion for my friend. I felt it was
bullshit. I was pretty sure he was using her for money. When he realized I'd
seen his movies he became quite...proud. She was sitting there absolutely
horrified. She'd had no idea. When he talked about how hot it was to fuck men I
thought man, this guy is the worst kind
of vampire!
it gave me an idea...and one of my favorite
characters, Jimmy Thunder was born.
Jimmy however is a real vampire. And A Vampire in Waikiki, still one of my favorite
erotic romance series came out of a grisly social disaster!
7 If they were to make the story of your life into
a movie, who should play you?
Without
question, if she were alive, ZaSu Pitts. I adore her comedy work. She was very
mobile and had an expressive face. She was the comic foil in so many classic
movies like The Thrill of it All with
Doris Day. She also played a manic switchboard operator in one of my favorite
movies ever, It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad,
World.
In
her real life, like me she loved to cook and was a collector of candy recipes.
She actually wrote a candy book, one of my most prized possessions: Candy Hits.
8 Who’s your favorite horror villain and why?
Christopher
Lee. I still have a fierce mad crush on him from his Hammer Horror movies. I
actually got to meet him at my friend Rick Baker's Halloween party. He still is
sexy and imposing and absolutely brilliant.
His
Dracula was scarier than most because he was so seductive.
Believe
it or not, I spent the most exhilarating night of my life talking to Mr. Lee
and---drum roll please, Billy Idol. I sat there watching these two wildly
different men talking to one another and delighting in each other's company.
Billy
and I were agog at Mr. Lee's amazing life adventures, some of which he shared
with us.
I
have the height of respect for Mr. Lee, a decorated WWII hero who was
personally responsible (little known fact) for hunting down Nazis as part of a
special ops. WOW! Dracula rules!
9 Do you have an historical crush and if so, who
is it?
Oh I
have many, but my immediate response would be Alexandros Panagoulis. They
called him the Poet Assassin.
He
was a Greek revolutionary in the 1960s. A poet and author, he rose to power and
fought against tyrannical rule in Greece. He was arrested and imprisoned for
four years. Subjected to brutal torture, his story was shared by an Italian
journalist, Oriana Fallaci who fell in love with him. Their love was never to
be. She wrote two books about him that I have. A Man is still considered his definitive biography and Letter to a Child Never Born is a
heartbreaking book she wrote to the baby she conceived with him and aborted for
fear the child would become a target for assassination.
I
still find these books emotionally difficult to read. For many years,
Panagoulis was ignored in the Greek media and by historians. Now he is a symbol
of freedom and courage.
In
prison, he wrote poems, mostly out of his own blood. He died at the age of 36,
in a car crash. I wish I could have known him...his passion, his fire, are
inspiring to me.
By
the way, I was shocked at some of the things I learned that were done to him.
What a cruel race we are...
Here
is one of his few remaining poems:
My Address
A match as a pen
Blood on the floor as
ink
The forgotten gauze
cover as paper
But what should I write?
I might just manage my
address
This ink is strange; it
clots
I write you from a
prison
in Greece
(Military Prisons of
Bogiati, 5 June 1971 – After beating)
10)
Is there a story that you’d like to tell but you
think the world isn’t ready to receive it?
Many! But guess what!
I'll tell them anyway! Julie, thanks so much for these thought provoking
questions. I loved them!!! I'd like to offer a free paperback copy of my book
Pearl Harbor 1 which contains the first two books in the series to one of your
readers. All they have to do is post a comment and I'll let you pick a winner!
AJ
www.ajllewellyn.com
www.twitter.com/ajllewellyn
www.facebook.com/aj.llewellyn
www.myspace.com/ajllewellyn
Mating Tomeo is my new release with Ellora's Cave:
And now…the blurb:
In 1946 Hawaii, Tomeo Yamaguchi harbors a secret that would be considered shameful by his traditional Japanese family—he aches for the caress of other men.
Which makes it particularly devastating when Tomeo’s father hires a tanomoshi—a matchmaker—to find a bride for his son.
Tomeo spends time with the tanomoshi, Shin Yamada, and as the men come to know one another, deep feelings emerge, the transition from friends to lovers inevitable. They fall into a clandestine affair, their hushed and hidden lovemaking as beautiful and breathless in their eyes as it is torrid in the eyes of others.
More time spent worshipping Tomeo’s body means less time finding him a suitable bride. Shin’s forsaking his duty…but mating Tomeo is worth every stolen second…
For Purchase and for an excerpt: Please click this link:
Leo Gannet takes an unusual assignment in a tiny, remote island in the Cyclades with darkness, danger...and unbelievable passion lurking in its beautiful blue waters.
Manhattan—based private investigator, Leo Gannet, accepts an assignment to tail his father’s boyfriend, theatre director Thane Covey on a clandestine trip to a tiny Greek island.
With only three hundred inhabitants and four miles to cover, Leo worries about pulling off his mission. He soon discovers he's got bigger problems: Thane Covey is the sexiest man he's ever seen. And he's not alone. Leo soon becomes insanely jealous, then very worried.
To top it off, Thane also seems to have somebody else's attention...a hitman's.
Reader Advisory: This story has been previously released as part of the Sins of Summer anthology by Total-E-Bound
Thanks for stopping by, AJ! It was a blast!
Don't forget, comment to win! I'll announce the winner on Saturday!
Until next time, take care!
♥ Julie
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