Hello everyone! Today I am pleased to welcome author Kage Alan, here as part of the blog tour for the Butt Ninjas from Hell Anthology. Kage is here to talk with us more about his story in the anthology, as well as to share a great giveaway. So please join me in giving him a big welcome!
From Spacehunters To Flaxen Buns of Ninja Romance
I made a mistake once and listened to über authorette-in-arms T.C. Blue when she told me that regardless of what I thought, I wrote romance. The truth is I didn’t and still don’t. I write comedy, but I do have romantic elements in my tales. Still, I did listen to her and went into writing a short story for the Butt Pirates In Space anthology last year with wild abandon. Spacehunters ended up getting pretty much decimated by romance readers and yes, I tooooootally blame T.C. Blue. heh heh heh No, not really. She buys me drinks at conventions. The Spacehunters short story was a comedy and readers familiar with my brand of humor knew exactly what to expect. That I didn’t take romance readers into consideration—who were primarily going to be reading it based on the fact I was included with a number of high-profile romance authors—was my own fault.
But I learned from it.
What exactly did I learn? Other than not listening to T.C. Blue? Kidding again. She knows I like Appletinis. For the Butt Ninjas From Hell anthology—which obviously has its roots planted firmly tongue in cheek—I realized that not everybody wants heavy dialogue with their romance. I am in no way comparing myself to the brilliance of writer/director Kevin Smith, but my work, like his, tends to be very dialogue heavy. I love working with words, playing with them, and going for the double entendre. That to me is the fun in writing, which is where I went into overdrive when I wrote Spacehunters. It’s a series I plan on returning to one day, but not in Butt Ninjas From Hell.
For this one, I knew I had to cut back on the dialogue and simply keep what I felt was the best of the best. And since I was cutting back on dialogue, I was going to need a bit more description, which I HATE writing. I always feel like I’m telling a reader too much instead of letting their minds fill in what they want. Instead, my preference is to tell the story through dialogue with just the basics of where the characters are and what’s going on. This doesn’t work quite the same way in romance.
So, I knew my main character was going to be a young innocent who had no business being innocent and that he was going to bring out the absolute worst thing possible in a secret school of ninjas; hormones. There’s a stereotype out there that given the right circumstances, gay Asians typically only want to date white guys. I’ve run across this myself, though there are always exceptions. Now, a gay ninja isn’t going to want to be out. He’s going to hide, especially since Butt Ninjas aren’t looked well upon by the masters. What’s the worst thing I, as the author, could do to any Butt Ninjas hiding their identity at the school? How about give them a religious inspector in the form of a young, built, blonde haired, blue-eyed virgin who innocently speaks in nothing but sexual double entendres? And who then bathes with them?
All ninja hell is bound to break loose.
That was the set-up I settled on when all was said and done. Yes, there would be dialogue, but it would be specific and, unknowingly to the main character, entice any potential Butt Ninjas into action. Things would then shift into a bit of a mystery to figure out who the Butt Ninja is and if there are any more. Obviously, what happens creates a bond between two of the characters and given my own insight into white/Asian relationships (my husband is Chinese), there’s going to be some romantic tension. The Butt Ninja is going to call the shots no matter how healthy an ego the white guy has or how coy the Asian may seem in public. It’s kinda funny how fiction mimics reality…or so I tell my husband when he admonishes me for giving out information the Asian gay mafia wants kept away from public knowledge.
One area I still get into trouble in, however, is the lack of hardcore sex in my novels or short stories. Or non-hardcore sex for that matter. It’s been a little difficult slowing down the pace of a book just to insert some insertion for the sake of inserting it. If it doesn’t belong in the story, then there’s no sense in forcing it. This is probably another reason I feel I don’t write out and out romance. Does romance have to have sex? Readers do like that and there is something titillating about it. But, in comedy, characters can have sex with words, topping and bottoming each other based entirely on just how wicked their tongues are.
So, prepare yourself for Twink Ninja Tiger, Flaxen Buns Of Fury in the Butt Ninjas From Hell anthology! You’ll never hear them coming…
Blurb
They move like shadows through the night… when they aren’t tripping over the furniture. Porn stars, holy emissaries, demons, and even just plain humans—ninjas come in all forms and from all kinds of Hell in this erotically charged comedic Wilde City anthology. Whether it’s the world of second-rate television, fluttering ninja stars, obsessions over a bronzy-olive toned soldier, or magic backsides, your authorial guides will take you where few readers have ever dared to go… without protection.
Butt Ninjas from Hell: You’ll Never Hear Them Coming!
Featuring…
- Clean Up on Aisle Me! by Shae Connor
- Sheathing His Sword by JP Barnaby
- Twink Ninja Tiger, Flaxen Buns Of Fury by Kage Alan
- Twerk It by Ally Blue
- Hell Is Where The Heart Is by Eden Winters
- Ninja, Vanish! by Kiernan Kelly
- The Soldier And The Vagabond by Jevocas Green
- A Ninja Walks Into A Bar by T.C. Blue
Release date: April 16, 2014
Buy link: http://www.wildecity.com/books/gay-mainstream/butt-ninjas-from-hell/
About the Author
Native Detroiter Kage Alan is the comedic (aka snarky, smart ass, sarcastic…the list goes on) author of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to My Sexual Orientation, Andy Stevenson Vs. the Lord of the Loins, Gaylias: Operation Thunderspell), and Spacehunters: Master Elite and the Maternal Order of Loganites Beyond Uranus featured in the Butt Pirates In Space anthology.
He lives under the regularly well-manicured thumb of his Asian husband and in fear of his husband’s evil Hong Kong Grandmonster.
Author Links:
- Website: www.KageAlan.com
- Blog: www.KageAlan.com/blog
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/kagealan
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/kagealan
Giveaway
Follow the link below for the blog wide giveaway for a $50 Amazon Gift Card!
This anthology sounds like a trip! I don’t know which I want to read most, but it’s hard to pass by a title like A Ninja Walks into a Bar.
I’ve read several of the stories so far and they’re a total trip, Jen! I’ve always been extremely hesitant contributing to an anthology, but the one last year and then this one have been tremendous fun. =)
Love all the titles in this anthology. Â I’d like to read:Â Twink Ninja Tiger, Flaxen Buns Of Fury! Â Sounds WAY more fun than going to work today. Please count me in for the giveaway.
The fun part, Hannah, has been seeing the fun and snarky sides of these authors come out in their work. They’re a trip to hang out with at conventions, but they don’t always get to show this side of themselves in their stories.
This anthology sounds like fun!
It was. It is! And if we’re lucky, we’ll do it all over again next year. =)
I really can’t choose just one cause honestly I’ve never read something like this… it sounds fun!!! Thanks for the chance
If it’s any consolation, we’ve never really written anything like this before. It gives us a chance to cut loose and have a bit of fun. =)
The title of the book and the titles of the individual stories sound good.
If this does as well as the first one we did last year (Butt Pirates In Space), then there will be a third one next year. =)
All the titles of the stories sound so funny but I do like “Twerk It” by Ally Blue, it just one of the weirdest words that has become really popular lately.
ShirleyAnn@speakman40.freeserve.co.uk
Ally knows her marketing! I met her last year for the first time. She walked up to me, stared for a moment, then asked “Are you Kage Alan?” I told her no. “Oh. You look like him.” Then, as she turned to leave, I informed her I was teasing and that, yes, it was me. “You are now known as ‘Bitch’ for the rest of this convention.” We’ve been having fun ever since.
How could I not want to read “Think Ninja Tiger, Flaxen Buns of Steel”? Best title ever. I’m chuckling already, and I haven’t read it yet. Silly me. Now I must go and download it so I have reading material for tonight.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t trying to come up with some sort of spoof on the title Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. There was another title I was considering, but it was…well…too suggestive. heh heh heh I went with the more comedic version.
Oops. Auto correct sucks. Meant “Twink Ninja”.
Wonderful Post Kage! Â
Thank you, Mr. Promo. =)
Sounds like a fun anthology!
Twink Ninja Tiger really caught my attention. Â Awesome title.
Thank you, Rodney. =) I’ve been watching wayyyyy too many Chinese films lately and you have to love some of the titles. They’re perfect spoof material.
I am not entering, I just wanted to comment on the title “Butt Ninjas from Hell”.
Really? I will take a pass on this one. M-M books already suffer from “covers from hell” syndrome, now you add these titles…
Well, I hope the book is entertaining to the readers.
That’s the idea. =) It’s meant to be entertaining for our readers in a very tongue in cheek sort of way. We wanted to take a much lighter approach and have some fun with it. I hope you reconsider just because you don’t like the title.
Just the titles of the stories in the anthology have me sniggering. What is romance without humor anyway?! I’m all for some comedic relief. 😀
Romance without humor is like…watching Castle without Nathan Fillion. What would be the point?Â
Since I’m a big Ally Blue fan, my first inclination was to say I want to read Twerk It!, but then you gotta love titles like Twink Ninja Tiger, Flaxen Buns of Fury & Sheathing His Sword…lol
Sheathing His Sword had me in stitches! J.P. Barnaby doesn’t write much that’s humorous, so when she agreed to give it a try here, she really went all out. It’s a really funny story. =)
There’s no way I could resist anything called Twink Ninja Tiger, Flaxen Buns Of Fury (or, for that matter, Butt Ninjas From Hell)!
“Twink Ninja Tiger, Flaxen Buns Of Fury”- who can resist that title?!
Uf… everything sounds interesting, but maybe Ally Blue because she is known for her BCPI series, but I really liked Hell’s End and that was military scifi , so I think she can rock space story! 🙂
I told my husband the name of the story and I remember I heard a very long pause on the phone before “What is wrong with you???” escaped his lips. I asked him why? Wouldn’t it be awesome on a t-shirt? “NO.” Which is too bad. I had it put on a t-shirt.
All of them.
Oh, we like you!
All of them!
The title is really amusing. I’m sure the stories will be fun.
All!!! Â :3
This is going to be a fabulously fun read!!!!! Some many of my favorite writers and I’m looking forward to tasting some new ones! Big Hugs, Z.
They all sound pretty wild and fun, but I would choose Sheathing His Sword by JP Barnaby because I love JP’s writing.
Going only by the titles of the stories, I think ‘Sheathing His Sword’ and ‘Twerk It’ sound good.
Sheathing His Sword by JP Barnaby
Why yours Kage. I haven’t seen any descriptions of the rest.
This sounds highly entertaining just by the names alone. Adding this to my wishlist. Thanks for the giveaway! lgrant1@san.rr.com
They all have very interesting titles… and ‘Twink Ninja Tiger, Flaxen Buns Of Fury’ makes me laugh for some reason. 😛
I’m looking forward to all of them, but Twink Ninja Tiger, Flaxen Buns Of Fury by Kage Alan has a particularly fun ring to it 🙂
You win my admittedly fake and unimportant award for best title in the anthology! 🙂 I smile everytime I read it.