When did you write your first story and what was the inspiration for it?
I wrote my first story 13-ish years ago. I went through a bad breakup and was trying to figure out what to do with myself, so the inspiration for the story was one scenario of how I might like my life to turn out—but made into a romance. I’ve never tried to publish it because it’s way outside my genre now, but maybe someday!
Do you have a writing schedule or do you just write when you can find the time?
I have a 4 year old and a 16 month old and they basically run my life. I work from home but everything follows their whims, so I just write whenever I can. Now that my youngest has finally figured out walking, he’s gotten off my lap and is allowing me to write more during the day. Hence the multiple releases this year! J
Briefly describe the writing process. Do you create an outline first? Do you seek out inspirational pictures, videos or music? Do you just let the words flow and then go back and try and make some sense out it?
It’s different for every book. Sometimes I try really hard to be organized—I usually make it 2/3 of the way before I give up—but I’m mostly a pantser. When I get an idea, I do sort of a stream of consciousness summary so I won’t forget the main points, and then I just wing it.
Where did the desire to write LGBT romance come from? (If applicable)
I used to devour m/f romance, but then I got bored with the same old stuff all the time, so I started reading m/m. I never had any specific goal to write it, but one day a story popped into my head where the main characters where men. I just went with it. 🙂
How much research do you do when writing a story and what are the best sources you’ve found for giving an authentic voice to your characters?
It depends on the story and how technical I’m getting with certain things. In Shadows Fall, I had homicide investigations and autopsies and religious fanatics and so on, so I did months of research. When I’m writing a story that’s more character driven, I try to stay in my own head so my characters’ voices aren’t influenced by outside sources.
What’s harder, naming your characters, creating the title for your book or the cover design process?
Cover design. That said, it’s not as hard for me because I’m a cover designer so I do my own. I know the story, and I know what I see in my head when I envision it, but it’s still incredibly hard to get it perfect.
“How do you answer the question “Oh, you’re an author…what do you write?”
Most of the time, I’ll say gay romance. If I’m around people I don’t know, or people who I know would come at me over it, sometimes I say simply “romance,” but that is rare. I don’t hide it, because I don’t think it’s something that needs to be hidden, but ***I totally understand that there are people who have to hide it for personal and professional reasons and this is no judgment on them.***
What does your family think of your writing?
My husband is very supportive. He’s not much of a reader and he wouldn’t choose romance if he was, so he doesn’t read my stuff, but he’s always very encouraging and proud. The rest of my family mostly ignore it, or tell me how good my first books were (read: the m/f ones)… But that’s okay, I’m used to going my own way, and I guess I should be happy they aren’t actively shunning me. Now, if you ask them about my politics however….
Tell us about your current work in process and what you’ve got planned for the future.
Besides Boys Don’t Cry, I have two finished projects in various stages of publication. The 4th book in my Coming About series, Force of Nature, will be out next month, and I have a coming of age romance called The Perfect Shine in the hands of publishers. Currently on my laptop screen is a PNR/fantasy story that I’m working on for an online serial (Possibly for Patreon but I haven’t decided), which will have accompanying illustrations.
Do you have any advice for all the aspiring writers out there?
Just keep writing. Write every day. There are so many different ways to share your art, but you can’t do it if you don’t turn out the words. 🙂
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Synopsis
Mackenzie Pratt is having the worst luck of his life. His apartment building is being torn down, and since he’s jobless and just weeks away from graduating college, he can’t find anywhere else he can afford to live that isn’t a critter-infested dump. As he’s lamenting the very real possibility of job hunting while couch-surfing, he gets an offer from the coworker of his best friend.
An in-demand mobile app developer and heir to his parents’ fortune, Laurent Beaudry is literally an eccentric billionaire. Even though Mackenzie realizes he’s basically living the plot of a cheesy romance novel, he takes the proffered room in Laurent’s Baltimore mansion. He finds his new housemate to be grumpy, brooding, and, at times, incredibly kind and endearing.
Raised by his brother after their father’s death, Mackenzie spent his formative years plowing headlong through school, focusing on little else beyond earning his teaching certification. He’s never taken the time to explore love and relationships, much less sexuality, so when he finds himself being courted by another man, he has no idea what to do. And when he realizes he might actually return those feelings, his life takes a whole new direction.
Purchase Links
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B072BWDD8L
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2rK9EZZ
J.K. Hogan: http://jkhogan.com/boys-dont-cry/
Payhip: https://payhip.com/b/TeY9
*****
Excerpt
The house was dark so I couldn’t see much, but what I could see was immaculate, contrary to what Taylor had said. The hardwood floors gleamed in the moonlight, the furniture looked expensive and perfect, and there wasn’t a dirty dish or dust bunny in sight. “I thought you said it was a sty,” I whispered.
“Oh, this? Not this. He only uses a fraction of the house, the suite with his bedroom, living room, library, and office. All of this is just for show,” he said with a sweeping gesture toward the big empty parlor we were facing. “And why are you whispering? He knows I’m coming.”
“I don’t know. It seems so quiet and…undisturbed.”
Taylor’s chuckle had an evil ring to it. “You want disturbed? Follow me.” He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled. “Mr. Beaudry! It’s me, Taylor. Morrison. From Mindstream. The place you work.”
He made his way down a dark corridor with me dogging his heels. “He doesn’t remember who you are? Where he works?”
“Oh, he knows. But when he’s been staring at code for hours on end and not sleeping, sometimes basic stuff slips his mind. Details like that can be hard for geniuses like him.”
Genius? I didn’t think I’d ever heard that term used to sincerely describe someone. “What does he do again?”
“He’s a mobile app developer. Highly sought after, but right now he works exclusively for us. That was a huge coup for the company.” He stopped in front of a heavy, ornately carved door made of some kind of dark hardwood. He rapped his knuckles on it three times before barging on in, while I hovered in the doorway.
So this was the suite. Taylor had been right. What a mess. We stood in what I assumed was the living room, but it was hard to tell because every available surface was covered in wrinkled clothing, pizza boxes, and empty dishes. A huge fireplace was installed in the far wall, surrounded by shelves and shelves of books. More books than I’d ever seen in one place outside a library. The fire blazed in the hearth, and I was honestly surprised there wasn’t any garbage close enough to it to catch fire. As beautiful as the house was, the mess made my skin crawl. I usually lived in shitty apartments, so I was a bit of a neat freak to balance the universe.
“Beaudry? You in here?” Taylor called. There was no answer. “He must be in the bedroom suite.” He headed to a door on the left, like it was no big deal.
“Wait! You’re just going to barge into the guy’s bedroom?”
Pausing in his tracks, Taylor looked over his shoulder. “This is no ordinary bedroom. Just because there’s a bed in the corner doesn’t mean it’s some intimate setting. It’s just a giant workspace.” With that parting shot, he burst through the door, once again calling the man’s name.
Trembling from too much alcohol and not enough nerve, I stepped inside the room. I was stunned speechless by the scene before me. Taylor had one thing right—it was no ordinary bedroom. It was the size of three average rooms lined up in a row and probably had double the square footage of the apartment I was getting booted out of. There was indeed a bed, a California king canopy bed off in one corner of the room. A fire was blazing in this suite as well, only I realized that it was the same fire in the same fireplace, which apparently connected the two rooms.
Taylor stood next to what had to be the man’s workspace. There was a giant U-shaped desk adorned with four widescreen computer monitors and various other gadgets typical of an office. However, on one leg of the U, there was a collection of what looked to be every tablet, PDA, smartphone, and any other mobile device known to man. I supposed he had to test his software on each gizmo that was likely to employ it.
Behind the office area was a ginormous TV screen—at least seventy inches—that looked like it would be more at home in a movie theater. Several fluffy couches were set up in a semicircle facing it. It would be amazing to have a movie marathon in this place. And of course, there was every gaming console imaginable to go along with the screen yardage. But…despite all the cool stuff, there was some very weird stuff about the place as well. Besides the office setup and the movie area, all the furniture in the suite looked like it had been bought from a garage sale at Versailles. It was expensive-looking, obviously, but very gilded and frilly. There were also several racks flanking the giant TV that displayed the man’s sword collection.
And then, the murals. The murals were creepy. On at least a couple of the walls above the wainscoting, there were huge, garish wall paintings of nudes in various scenes. Men and women, sometimes in sexual situations, sometimes just hanging out or whatever. But they weren’t like Renaissance or fine art nudes or anything; they seemed to be done by just some random modern artist. I had no idea how the guy could manage to look at them all day every day. Though if it weren’t for those, I’d never leave a place like this either. Speaking of the guy, though, there was no sign of him.
“Where is he?” I was whispering again. It just seemed like the thing to do when you snuck into someone’s bedroom at night. Not that we were really sneaking, but still.
As if in answer to my question, we heard a toilet flush, and a door to my right that I hadn’t even noticed swung open, startling me. The person who came through was pretty much just as unbelievable as the house he lived in. He was tall—very tall—and lanky, but with wide shoulders and well-defined musculature. His hair was just a little too long, like maybe he’d forgotten his last couple of haircuts, and very dark, shot through with a tiny bit of gray. It had to be premature because I doubted he was much more than ten years older than me. His facial features—though thrown in deep shadow because of the low light in the room—were chiseled and angular, too handsome to be fair to the rest of the world. Wire-rimmed glasses perched on the tip of his straight nose, slightly askew. Despite the handsomeness, he had dark circles under his eyes and frown lines around his mouth, as if he hadn’t slept in weeks. And he was wearing Angry Birds pajamas.
When he saw me, his deep-set blue eyes widened and he flinched like I’d snuck up on him. “Who the hell are you?”
I let out a squeaky gasp and backed away toward Taylor because the guy looked fucking scary when he turned on the full force of that scowl.
“Jesus Christ, Beaudry, relax,” Taylor said. He picked up his briefcase and pulled out a legal-size envelope. “This is my friend Mackenzie. I was driving him home, and I just popped in to drop off these contracts from Harrelson.”
Beaudry grunted and crossed the room to sit at his desk. He waved a hand in the vague direction of a stack of shelves. “Just put them in the inbox. I’ll deal with them later.”
“If you look them over now, I can take back any questions or return them…”
He glared at Taylor over his shoulder, and Taylor wisely shut his mouth. Then the man’s gaze settled on me. It wasn’t the scowl he’d given me earlier, but it wasn’t exactly a…nice expression either. It was more of an assessing glare than anything. “Welcome to Chatham House, Mackenzie. What do you think?” he asked.
I had no idea what he meant. What did I think of the house? The room? Him? “It’s…impressive. The artwork is…unusual.”
He let out a belting laugh that I hadn’t been expecting, so I jumped, but then the rich baritone of it made my toes curl. It was an odd reaction, as I wasn’t usually affected by such things.
“Unusual is a kind way of putting it. The artwork came with the house, along with much of the furniture. I just haven’t gotten around to redecorating.”
“Oh, that’s…” . “How long have you lived here, then?”
Beaudry turned back to his computer and began typing furiously. “About five years,” he answered without turning back around.
I choked on air, and Taylor snorted. “I think by ‘haven’t gotten around to it,’ you mean ‘just don’t give a shit,’” he muttered.
“Touché, Mr. Morrison. Is there anything else you need?”
Taylor sighed, probably realizing that the man was not going to look at whatever was in the envelope while we were still there to relay any messages back to Mindstream. He clamped a hand around my wrist and started dragging me toward the door. “All right, we’re going. Remember, drinks at the King’s Shield next Friday.”
“I don’t think I’m going to be—”
Taylor spoke right over Beaudry’s muttering. “You already said you would. No backsies. I can pick you up.”
“I think I’d enjoy driving my shiny Lotus instead, but thank you very much for the offer,” Beaudry growled. “Nice meeting you, Mack,” I heard him call through the open door.
“Nickname basis already?” I laughed to Taylor.
“That has nothing to do with nicknames and everything to do with your name being too long for him to remember.”
“I heard that, Morrison!”
*****
Meet the Author
J.K. Hogan has been telling stories for as long as she can remember, beginning with writing cast lists and storylines for her toys growing up. When she finally decided to put pen to paper, magic happened. She is greatly inspired by all kinds of music and often creates a “soundtrack” for her stories as she writes them. J.K. is hoping to one day have a little something for everyone, so she’s branched out from m/f paranormal romance and added m/m contemporary romance. Who knows what’s next?
J.K. resides in North Carolina, where she was born and raised. A true southern girl at heart, she lives in the country with her husband and two sons, a cat, and two champion agility dogs. If she isn’t on the agility field, J.K. can often be found chasing waterfalls in the mountains with her husband, or down in front at a blues concert. In addition to writing, she enjoys training and competing in dog sports, spending time with her large southern family, camping, boating and, of course, reading! For more information, please visit www.jkhogan.com.
Author Links
Website: http://jkhogan.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialJKHogan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JK_Hogan
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6427555.J_K_Hogan
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JKHogan
Email: jkhogan@gmail.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jkhoganbooks/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/J.K.-Hogan/e/B008UXO15E
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jkhoganbooks/
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Tour Schedule
5/26 Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews – http://wickedfaeriesreviews.blogspot.com
5/26 My Fiction Nook – http://myfictionnook.com
5/27 Erotica For All – http://eroticaforall.co.uk
5/28 A Book Lover’s Dream Book Blog – http://abookloversdreambookblog.com
5/29 Love Bytes – http://www.lovebytesreviews.com
5/30 Joyfully Jay – http://joyfullyjay.com/
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