I am very excited today to welcome the fabulous Sloan Parker to Joyfully Jay! Ā She is here today to talk to us about her new book, Take Me Home, and is offering a copy as a giveaway. Ā
Sloan, I am a huge fan so I am so glad you decided to stop by today and chat with us today!
Iām so excited to be here and honored to have you as one of my wonderful readers. Thank you for having me at Joyfully Jay and letting me share with your readers.
To start us off, why donāt you tell us a bit about the story? (I will be reviewing it here at Joyfully Jay on December 21st)
Iād love to. Take Me Home is a friends-to-lovers story. Kyle and Evan met their senior year of high school when Kyle moved to their small Ohio town. Evan fell in love hard with his new neighbor, but Kyle was the kind of guy who didnāt want anything more than friendshipāor sexāwith any man. He wasnāt ready for commitment, forget love.
Ten years later they are both living in California where theyād gone to college. Evan is staying with Kyle after a breakup with his long-time partner, but it isnāt his former partner heās dreaming about. Itās Kyle. And itās not only Evan whoās been having the most erotic dreams of his life. The two end up on a train traveling home to Ohio for the Christmas holiday. Along the way they learn so many truths, they are unable to steer their relationship back to the way things used to be between them, and this time, neither of them want to go back.
Part of Take Me Hometakes place on a train ride home for the holidays. Looking at the pictures there is something so romantic about the idea of a little sleeper car (although looking at those tiny bunks makes it hard to imagine much fun happening!). What inspired you to set part of the story on the train? (BTW, I love the mystery element on the train ā very Orient Express!)
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| Photo Credit: The West End |
LOL. I think the beds on my train are slightly larger than those in the pictures on my site, but yeah, the close quarters definitely help set the scene for the more romantic, erotic scenes.
I never meticulously planned out the setting for this book. Although, several years ago, I made the same journey that Kyle and Evan make in Take Me Home, so I had experience on a similar train to draw from (well, not too similar to their experience since I was traveling with my parents, but it gave me a lot of details on the setting of the train).
The idea for Take Me Home came to me while I was taking a shower one day (where so many of my ideas come to me). It started out with the holiday, best friends, a train trip, and a journal from one manās grandfather. The setting and pieces of the story just popped into my head. I canāt even remember what Iād been thinking about at the time. I played around with the plot and characters while I showered. Then when I got out, I sat on the edge of the tub and wrote pages and pages of notes about the story. When I had the book drafted, thatās when I knew that half the story would take place on that train. I wanted the book to be an erotic romance, and putting them into a sleeper compartment together, plus another location during that train trip which I wonāt reveal as not to spoil it for any readers, were fantastic choices in keeping my characters close together and focused on each other.
I see on your website that you have a playlist for Evan and Kyle featuring āLetās Stay Togetherā by Al Green, āChasing Carsā by Snow Patrol, and āFirst Timeā by Lifehouse (among others). Are these songs you listened to while writing, or songs that inspired the story? Do you always use music as a connection to your books?
These were songs I listened to while writing and editing. Some I came across even after I had submitted the book to my publisher. Once I really know my characters and their story, I usually hear songs that connect me even more with the story and the men in it. I still listen to those songs for Take Me Home and others for my previous two releases, More and Breathe, and I get emotional when I hear them because Iām right back to the lives of those men and all the emotions I put them through while writing their stories. Finding songs that fit the tone of the book and the charactersā journeys will probably be something Iāll continue to do with each story.
Take Me Home takes place over the holidays. Can you tell us more about how that is incorporated into the book? Would you consider this a āholidayā story?
Take Me Home takes place during the six days leading up to Christmas. Kyle and Evan live in California, but every year they travel home to Ohio to stay with their families and celebrate Christmas and the New Year. Evan loves all things Christmas, and going home to see his mom in their hometown is a favorite time of year for him. Only this year, things are anything but normal. Itās the first holiday he and Kyle are making the trip without Evanās former boyfriend, and with the blizzard, this might be the first time they canāt make it home in time to celebrate with their families.
I consider this more a story about going āhomeā and finding āhomeā than a holiday story, but there are seasonal details throughout that tie into this special time of year for Evan and Kyle.
Can you tell us what else you are working on? (Personally I am just DYING for the other books in the More series!)
Thanks! Iām glad to hear there are readers who want more of More because I have so much I want to do with those guys, and I canāt wait to get to the series ending that Iāve had planned since I finished writing the first book.
Iām currently revising Walter and Kevinās story (which has no official title yet). Walter is a secondary character from More and is finding love with a much younger man. Iāve made some major revisions to the first few chapters that affect the rest of the story, so itās taking me longer than I planned to revise this manuscript, but it will be finished in the first half of 2012. I have plans for another contemporary single-title with all new characters that Iām really excited to write. I call it my super-secret book because not even my sweetie knows what itās about. We thought it would be fun for me to write a book that she knows nothing about until she reads the entire thing as my first beta reader. Iāll probably outline that story after I finish Walterās book, and then Iāll be working on Morebook 2, which continues with the story of Luke, Richard, and Matthew and will be told from Richardās point of view.
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer all my questions! If folks want to know more about you or your books, how can they find you?
They can find out more at my website: www.sloanparker.com, which has all the links to my social networking sites and yahoo groups. Anyone can also sign up for my newsletter to get the latest on my work and read my free serial story, More Than Just a Good Book. To sign up, go to http://www.sloanparker.com/news.htm.
Thank you so much for coming! You know you are always welcome back here at Joyfully Jay!
Thank you! These were fantastic questions and a lot of fun to answer. It was so very kind of you to tailor them to me and my work. Iād love to come back anytime. Thanks again.
If you have a chance, check out the Behind the Scenes page on Sloan’s website. Ā It has all sorts of info on story inspiration, pictures of how Sloan imagines Kyle and Evan, song inspirations, great scenery and train pictures, etc. Ā Really fun to see what fueled the story.
Today we are really lucky because Sloan has generously offered up a copy of Take Me Home to one lucky visitor. Ā Just leave a comment on this post for a chance to win. Ā The contest will close Tuesday, December 20 at 11:59 pm EST. Ā As always…
- By entering the contest, youāre confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
- Winners will be selected by random number.
- If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay andĀ leave your email addressĀ if it is not in your profile.
Thanks again to Sloan for stopping by!Ā
>This book sounds so awesome, count me in for the giveaway.
Great Interview!
>Love Sloan's books, and my budget is totally shot until the New Year, so I'd love to win this book!
itmfiddler at gmail dot com
>Sounds like the perfect book for this time of year!
ohsweeetmama@yahoo.com
>Your book seems so sweet! And I love the cover. It makes them both look so innocent. Count me in for the giveaway!
kit_singer@hotmail.com
>Amazing, amazing!
I loved Breathe and More and can't wait to get my hands on Take Me Home.
With the holidays just around the corner, I think this is the perfect book – m/m, cozy and just pushes you more into the holiday spirit.
lizbennet16@gmail.com
>Thanks for stopping by and checking out the interview, everyone. Happy holidays to you all!
@Jayhjay: Thanks again for the fantastic questions and for letting me share about my latest release.
@DarienMoya: So glad you think so. Thanks!
@Susan: Thatās very sweet of you to say. Glad you had a chance to enter the giveaway.
@icrad: Yay! So happy to hear that. Thank you!
@Kit: I like the sound of that. Thank you! I was very fortunate to have Marci Gass do the cover for my publisher. She did such a great job capturing the story.
@Brahmin: Thrilled to hear you enjoyed More and Breathe. If you do check out Take Me Home, I hope you enjoy the read.
>Please count me in . Love to read this.
>friends to lovers is my most favorite troupe! count me in on this one. thanks heather k
sassycyclist at bak dot rr dot com
>Loved reading the post!
I really liked 'More' as well and can hardly wait to see it's sequel!
And totally looking forward to Take Me Home!!
Judi
arella3173_loveless(at)yahoo(dot)com
>More was one of the first m/m books I ever read. Love Sloan's books. Count me in please!
>Love your writing Sloan! Great interview.
hmmmm, winning this book would be a wonderful birthday gift…to Me! Actually I'm not having birthdays anymore, just anniversaries. LOL
archiesvoice@gmail.com
>I loved More and Breathe. I've also enjoyed following More Than Just a Good Book. Can't wait to read Take Me Home.
lkbherring64(at)gmail(dot)com
>Loved More and Breathe and can't wait for Take Me Home……mgammel157@gmail.com
>Please count me in, loved Breathe…Jibriel.O@web.de
>Please count me in! Love Sloan's writing.
qbeeqt@yahoo.com
>I hope I win! It is on my to-buy list but with Xmas around the corner I wont be able to read it until the new year. Hope I win and can read it right away! I have to check out More Than Just a Good Book! OceanAkers@aol.com
>Loved Morr and can't wait to get my hands on this
Happy holidays
Sarah S
Sarahs7836(at)gmail(dot)com
>Count me in, too! Looks so good!
flakeinfargo@yahoo…
>Please count me in!
Anzumerlin@mail.ru
>Count me in, too! Looks so good!
happy holidays
rogcaprino[at]hotmail[com]
>Sloan, I love your books ^.^ I would love to be added into this contest as well.
Erica Pike
eripike at gamil dot com
>Please count me in. I have been eyeing this book.
Happy Holidays
lincat56@hotmail.com
>Wow, I read a short blurb on goodreads and I was intrigued, but after this interview I'm just dieing to read the book.
Please, count me in.
kasjopejaUK[at]yahoo.co.uk
>Count me in please, Breath was great and I'm looking forward to read this one!
Aramis_blue@gmx.de
>This book sounds great! Please enter me.
And have a great holiday, however you celebrate!
susanmik AT gmail DOT com
>Can't wait to read this one…count me in please š
varuca25(at)gmail(dot)com
>This sounds fantastic! Please count me in too.
>Great interview, Sloan & Jay!
I have loved everything that I've read by Sloan, so I'd love to win this book.
>Hello Sloan & Jay,
Thank you Jay for hosting Sloan on your Blog & Thank you Sloan for taking time out of your day to spend time with your Fans. I really enjoyed your interview & sharing so much with Us.
I am a Big Fan of your writing & very much enjoyed āMoreā & āBreatheā. I would appreciate the opportunity for a chance to win āTake Me Homeā.
Take Care & Have a Very Happy Holiday Season,
Reneeā A.
paranormalromancefan@yahoo.com
>Thanks so much for all the interest in reading Take Me Home and the kind remarks about my work. Reading all these comments just made my day. Iām thrilled you all think the new book sounds good. Good luck on the giveaway, everyone!
@melanie: So glad you think it sounds good and had a chance to enter the giveaway.
@heather: I love, love friends-to-lovers stories too. Hope you enjoy this one if you get a chance to check out Take Me Home.
@Judi: So glad to hear you liked the interview and my first release, More. I cannot wait to get back to writing Matthew, Richard and Lukeās story.
@Laura: Wow, Iām so honored to hear More was one of your first m/m reads. Thanks for the kinds words about my books!
@Archie: Thanks! Iām thrilled you enjoy my stories. I love that you call your birthdays anniversaries. Happy anniversary to you!!
>@Lisa: Iām thrilled to hear youāve enjoyed my novels and More Than Just a Good Book. If you havenāt seen it, Iāve got part 3 of More Than up on my site now. Hope you enjoy Take Me Home too.
@Misty*G: Thank you! So happy to hear you liked reading More and Breathe. Hope you feel the same about Take Me Home if you have a chance to read it.
@Jibriel: Thanks! I think Breathe was a bit too angsty for some readers, so Iām thrilled to hear when anyone enjoyed it. I loved writing that story. Lincoln and Jay, as with all my characters, will always hold a special place in my heart.
@qbee2: Thatās very kind of you to say. Thank you!
@Juliana: That sounds like me. Iām on a book buying hiatus until after the first of the year, but thereās so many new ones I want to get right now. I hope you get a chance to check out More Than Just a Good Book. Iām hoping to have part 4 available on my site before too long.
>@Sarah: Hope you get a chance to read Take Me Home and that you enjoy it as much as you did More. It was such a fun one to write.
@Possum: Thanks! Thrilled to hear you think Take Me Home sounds like a good story. I absolutely adore Kyle and Evan and all their push and pull on their way to finding out how to spend the rest of their lives in each otherās arms. Hope you enjoy it if you win the giveaway.
@Anzu: Thanks for stopping by and entering the giveaway.
@roro: Really glad you think so. Happy holidays to you too!
@Erica: Thank you!! Thatās very kind of you. So glad you had a chance to enter the giveaway.
@LindaC: So happy you found the giveaway since youāve been eyeing the book. Always nice when things works out like that. š Happy holidays!
@beginka: Thrilled to hear you thought the blurb sounded intriguing. Thanks so much for checking out the interview and entering the giveaway.
>@Fehu: Thanks! So nice to hear youāre looking forward to this one and that you liked Breathe. That story was such a meaningful one to write.
@Susan: Thank you for saying that. Glad it sounds like a good read. Happy holiday to you too!
@Valerie: So happy you found this giveaway, then. Hope you get a chance to check out Take Me Home. Thanks for stopping by.
@animaloverhissy1: Thanks for the kind words about Take Me Home. I hope it reads as good as it sounds. š
@Courtney: Thank you very much for sharing that. I sure hope Take Me Home will be added to your list of books youāve enjoyed.
@Renee: Youāre always so kind. Thank you very much. Happy holiday season to you too!
>Great post! I'm always interested in learning what goes on behind the scenes in creating a story š
smaccall AT comcast.net