Today I am very excited to have one of my favorite authors visiting us, the fabulous L.A. Witt!  She is here today to tell us more about her new book, Where Nerves End, as well as about Tucker Springs, a new series being written by a fabulous group of authors.

Welcome L.A, and thanks for joining us again today!

Thanks! Always nice to be here!


First off, Tucker Springs is an interesting series because it is being written by multiple authors, each writing a book or books.  Can you tell us more about who is involved and how the series will work?

It started out with Marie Sexton and me, and Heidi Cullinan has recently joined us. They’ve co-written book #2, Second Hand.

The stories are connected by the town of Tucker Springs. You’ll see a lot of characters wandering into other books, and secondary characters will show up in their own books down the line. For example, Emmanuel in Where Nerves End is one of the main characters of Second Hand, and Jason’s friend Seth will be back in book #4, Covet Thy Neighbor.  They don’t *have* to be read in sequence, since each story stands alone, but reading them in order will give you some background on who’s dating who, who’s friends with who, etc.


How closely will the books in the series be connected? Will the characters appear in each other’s stories, or just live in a common world?

It’ll vary. As I said before, Emmanuel and Seth both show up in Where Nerves End before going on to have their own stories.  Some of the stories might stand alone and just happen in the same place, while others might have a lot of walk-ons and cameos.  Just depends on the story.


Your book Where Nerves End is the first book in the series and has just been released.  Can you tell us more about it?

In Where Nerves End, Jason is struggling to keep his head above water financially after his ex left him with a mortgage and his business partner left him with a floundering business. He’s also got an old injury that keeps flaring up and making it impossible for him to sleep or function, so he finally takes his friend Seth’s advice and makes an appointment with an acupuncturist.  Turns out Michael, the acupuncturist, doesn’t only help Jason’s pain, he’s struggling financially as well, which leads them to move in together as roommates to alleviate some of their money issues. Which is fine, even though Jason has a massive crush on Michael, because Michael’s straight.

Or, well, Seth says Michael is straight…

Where Nerves End is available from Amber Allure.


Then the second book is a joint release by Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton (another two of my favorite authors!).  When should we expect to be out? Is there anything else you can tell us about it?

We don’t have dates or anything official yet, but Heidi can tell you about the book:

Let’s see, what’s it about? Well, Marie started it and I finished it, and it’s pretty evenly half and half. Maybe a bit more writing from me, but she did all the ground work of character and world building and answered my million questions while I did the drafting. Don’t try to guess what I wrote and she wrote. You’ll never figure it out unless you ask. (Hint: Marie doesn’t write in order.) I will confess to turning El’s POV into third, though.

Second Hand is the story of a sarcastic and pessimistic pawn shop owner, El, who falls for the adorably clueless Paul, a receptionist at a veterinary clinic. Hijinks ensue, or something. [Oh, yeah! I loved Paul!]

It was way fun to write, and not in the least because most of the work was done when I showed up.


After the second book, are there plans for the rest of the series?

Quoth Heidi: Book three should be Dirty Laundry, a solo novel by me and an expansion on the short I did for Coffee and Porn in the Morning’s birthday bash earlier this year. Everybody liked it and wanted more, and since we put Denver in Second Hand, the infamous laundromat moved to Tucker Springs. I’m on track to be submitting this one by early/mid July, so I’d assume it would be out sometime in early 2013.

And back to Lori: Book number four will most likely be Covet Thy Neighbor, which as I said before will star snarky tattoo artist Seth, the friend who introduced Michael and Jason in Where Nerves End. So what is it about? You’ll just have to wait and see. 😉 I’m planning to write that one in September or October.


I am always curious when I hear about series written by different authors how they all work together.  Can you tell us more about this process? How do you keep up with common overarching plot points, characterizations, and other things that need to remain consistent throughout the series? 

Heidi: Lori and Marie set up a lot of the groundwork, which is fine by me. I ask them a lot of questions and keep reading the files they have on the town. So far in Dirty Laundry it was handy that I had written a lot of El, who is Denver’s BFF, plus I had a great feel for the setting. Mostly though I just ask a lot of questions.

Lori: We do a lot of chatting about it, and any time someone’s character shows up in someone else’s book, we run the scenes by each other to make sure we’re staying true to their voices and personality.


If readers want to learn more about Tucker Springs, where can they go for information?

Marie put together an awesome website: http://tuckersprings.wordpress.com/.


Is there anything else you are working on that you would like to tell us about? Any upcoming releases planned?

As always, I have releases scattered across the calendar. Still a little sparse since I’m catching up from a few not very productive months while I was relocating last year and doing some traveling this year, but…

The Healing & The Dying, which is the second Tooth & Claw book (Book #1 is The Given & The Taken) will be out July 17th from Samhain Publishing.  It’s currently available for pre-order on iTunes, Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and should be active on Samhain’s site soon as well.

And in October, I’m really excited about Conduct Unbecoming, a contemporary military romance set on Okinawa. I’m still drooling over the cover art on this one. Also, fans of A Chip In His Shoulder will be pleased to know the sequel, Something New Under the Sun, will be out in Januaryish.

As many of my readers know, I also write hetero and bisexual romances as Lauren Gallagher. In July, I’ve got a short little hetero novella called Cold Feet in Hot Sand, due out from Carnal Passions.  In August, a bisexual ménage novel called Who’s Your Daddy? will be available from Samhain Publishing. And this fall, from Total-E-Bound, Who Compels My Strength will be part of a BDSM collection with a “switch” theme. More info to come on that one.

What’s coming down the pipe after that? Something Roman, something western, something kinky, at least one suspense story, another rock band story, and some sci fi/fantasy. Oh yeah, and the third and fourth Tooth & Claw books. In other words, I’m going to be writing until two weeks after my own funeral.


If readers want to learn more about you or your books, where can they go for information?

Visit my website, my blog, or follow me on Twitter (@GallagherWitt).


Thanks so much L.A. for visiting us today and sharing Tucker Springs and Where Nerves End

Thanks for having me!


And we are super lucky today because L.A. has brought a copy of her book to give away. So be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win Where Nerves End.  The contest closes on Monday, July 18 at 11:59 EST.  

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  • 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 and leave your email address if it is not in your profile.