Today I am so pleased to welcome Ethan Day to Joyfully Jay. Ethan has come to talk to us about his latest audiobook release, At Piper’s Point. He has also brought along an except by narrator Michael Lesley, as well as two copies of the audiobook to give away! Please join me in giving Ethan a big welcome!
Hello to all the Joyfully Jay readers out there in cyberspace! Many thanks to Jay for allowing me to stop by today to celebrate the release of my second audiobook, At Piper’s Point—now available on iTunes, Amazon & at Audible.
When I first began getting published back in 2009, many of the books being released were stories I had originally started writing back in college—things I had either completed or were in the process of being written back in the early to mid-2000’s. At some point I’d foolishly convinced myself that I needed to set aside my silly aspirations of becoming a writer and get myself a real job—you know—the kind that responsible adults have which actually make them real money. : ) Eventually, thanks to the market crash back in ’08 I found myself unemployed with no prospects for finding another job. At which point it occurred to me that the so-called ‘responsible adult occupations’ weren’t any more reliable than those of the day dreamers like myself.
It unfortunately took me several years to come to that conclusion and while I certainly wouldn’t recommend the same life-lesson experience I suffered through to anyone else, considering it was no fun being jobless for a year and a half. The end result was finding my way back to what I was meant to be doing—writing.
At Piper’s Point was one of the first books that had been wholly completed after coming back to writing in 2009. It’s one of the reasons that this book remains a personal favorite of my own books so many years later. It’s about a guy who has lost everything that is important to him over a period of eight years. On top of that, Cassidy is gripped by fears of failure, that he has disappointed those who trusted him to do more and be better.
Obviously, my own issues and real life experiences, while not mirror images of what Cassidy is going through in the book, were certainly similar enough that I was able to put myself into his shoes while I was writing his story. There is something inherently soul crushing about being unemployed, or at least it felt that way to me. I was able to draw on that when it came to Cassidy and the inadequacies he believed himself guilty of.
The flip side of that coin, was Cassidy’s relationship with Sadie, which similarly mirrored my own relationship with my real life grandmother. For as far back as I can remember, my grandmother played a huge role in my childhood. Like Sadie, she was a strong, exceedingly independent woman who said what she meant and mean what she said, lol. My grandmother had been married many times, though unlike Sadie, I think my grandmother was forever looking for that special somebody while Sadie was trying to fill the empty hole left in the wake of losing her one true love.
When my grandmother began showing signs of dementia, eventually having to be placed in a home where someone could monitor her 24/7, it was difficult for her. Not easy for the rest of us to see her struggling to remember the most basic things about her life, but our discomfort was nothing compared to what she was going through. Made worse considering how stubbornly independent she’d been all her life. Like me, my grandma would rather figure out how to do things herself as opposed to asking for help. I recognize that as a personality flaw, while I think she always considered it more a badge of honor, lol.
I’d been living away from home when she became ill and had to be placed in a nursing home, but that event was the catalyst that had me moving back home. I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could before she was gone. Unfortunately, she ended up passing away two days after I moved back. Much like Cassidy in the book, who regrets not spending that final summer with his Sadie, I similarly harbor regrets that I hadn’t managed to get home sooner. That is something I’ve never been able to completely get over to this day and one of my own personal demons I attempted to exorcise through the writing of this book.
While I can’t say it completely healed that part of me that was broken when my grandmother passed away, dealing with the subject matter vicariously through Cassidy and Sadie in Piper’s Point did aid me in some sort of a cathartic way. I will always be grateful for that.
This was also the first book I wrote where so many of my own personal experiences weaved their way into the narrative, which is very likely why it still speaks to me nearly 6 years after first being published back in 2010. It was an incredibly satisfying experience hearing it come to life through Michael Lesley’s performance and I hope lovers of audiobooks and M/M romance will enjoy listening to it as much as I did.
Below, you will find an exclusive audio-excerpt for all you Joyfully Jay readers out there who want to hear a little sample from At Piper’s Point as well as the lovely ad spot that narrator, Michael Lesley put together for the audiobook.
Two lucky people will win a free copy of the audiobook! Jay will explain more about the drawing!
Audio Excerpt
Blurb
Michael Lesley APP Promotional Ad Spot:
https://youtu.be/yC-ggXNGIJU
Bio
I am a gay man living in Missouri…I can hear the gasps already!! How very un-chic of me, yes I know. It was here I was born and here I have stayed.
I’m currently single but always looking for that special someone that makes my heart skip a beat…in addition to being able to put up with my neurotic ass. The worst thing about being a romance writer is finding a real life hottie that can live up to the fantasy I create in my head and subsequently thrust upon him before actually getting to know the real him. I can hear you getting all judgie…it’s an occupational hazard!! To all my past and future boyfriends, my sincerest apologies…I can’t help myself!
I was the youngest of four children and the only boy, so needless to say, I was spoiled rotten. I’ve always had an extravagant fantasy life. When I played with my Star Wars action figures as a child, I liked to make up my own stories. Naturally, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo were totally meant for each other, and Princess Leia made a bitchin’ wise cracking Fag Hag.
I somehow managed to survive high school living in a small racist town in Southeast Missouri and emerged unscathed, realizing life was too short to pretend to be anything other than who I was. I was the little homo that could…so damn it, I did! It was all very Lifetime Movie Network meets After School Special I assure you.
After a few stints in college, I eventually signed up for a Creative Writing course. I took the class because there were no tests. For once my scholastic laziness paid off, and I found an outlet for all the fantasies running amuck in my head. It was love at first write, and I’ve been doing it off and on ever since.
Now I’ve decided it’s time to un-barricade the doors and unleash my imagination onto the world. So very sorry world!! My fantasy life is now available for public consumption and I’m desperately hoping you’re really, really hungry.
Giveaway
Ethan has brought two copies of the At Piper’s Point audiobook to give away to two lucky readers. Just leave a comment at the end of the post to enter. The contest ends on Tuesday, May 3rd at 11:59 pm EST.
- By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
- Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
- If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
- Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
- Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
- All book prizes are in electronic format unless otherwise specified.
- By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
- Readers may only enter once for each contest. Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
- Void where prohibited by law.
Wonderful post, thank you for sharing! For some reason, I have never tried MM audiobooks, so this might be my chance to try. Thanks!
Thanks for stopping by! : )
Enjoyed the sample audio, putting on list.
I hope you enjoy it should you decide to give it a listen : )
Great Excerpt! I, too, have the experience of dealing with parents with dementia. It’s a horrible disease. We inurned my father on christmas eve and now my mom is rapidly stumbling into it. It’s a very heart wrenching stage in the life of those we adore, to see them decay mentally so rapidly.
Thanks for the chance, Ethan, and much success in everything you set your mind to.
It is truly horrible. Not that there’s really a good disease out there, but this one feels especially cruel to me. Thanks for taking the time to read the post! : )
I’m starting to listen to audio books and enjoyed the sample.
Thank you! : )
I would love to give this a listen. Thanks for the opportunity.
Thanks for stopping by Lori! : )
What a wonderful post. My mother had dementia but I could not get her out of the house. It was heart breaking.
Thanks for sharing DebraG. Sorry you had to go through that with your mom.
I was unemployed for about 6 months about 6 years ago. I’m not sure how you made it for 1 1/2 years. That has to be one of the worst periods in my life. Yikes! I’ve read Piper’s Point multiple times and would love to listen to the audio version. 🙂
It was really tough and pretty much terrifying, lol. I sold a lot of stuff on ebay during that time period, and that was what helped tide me over. Don’t ever want to go through that again. : )
The blurb was great and with all the driving in my future this would be great. I love your star wars story, I’d love to read about it someday.
LOL! Thanks Charlotte, though I’ll likely keep my adolescent Star Wars story to myself. I have written part of my own version of a space opera called Buck Caldera and the Ninth Colony – it’s actually a story being written by one of my characters (Boone Daniels) in a romantic comedy titled Life in Fusion – the story is introduced in 4 parts throughout Life in Fusion. I plan on finishing Buck Caldera when I write the final chapter in that series. Buck Caldera will be Boone’s first finished book and it will create a little bit of drama in his community due to the erotic content.
I have this as an ebook. I have the audiobook on my wish list. Please count me in. Thanks.
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the ebook enough to also want to listen to the audiobook, Karl! : )
Would love to win this. The reading sounds excellent.
Many thanks Morana! : )
Sounds lovely. Thank you for sharing the excerpt of the audio book. Congrats on your second audio book =D
Thanks so much H.B. It truly is really cool and interesting for me to hear one of my books interpreted by a narrator. Of course, I also enjoyed being read to when I was a little kid, so there is that. : )
Thank you for sharing a bit of your life with us, Ethan. I lost my granny to dementia as well, and it was really sad, because she did not recognise any of us, not even her own son (my dad… That was heartbreaking).
I love audiobooks, and I’ve really enjoyed the excerpt you brought us. Thank you for the chance at the giveaway
Thanks for sharing that Susanna, it is heartbreaking. There were times when my gran mistook me for my dad or one of her other sons, which was odd. She did have moments of clarity, several times when it was just me and her and she told me many stories about her life when she was younger in those visits. Looking back I think perhaps she was trying to tell someone so they would remember for her and possibly she wanted to make sure someone knew her – or at least those parts of herself that she had kept hidden from family all that time. She had been through a lot, survived a lot. I’m glad that I know that about her. : )
I loved listening to the excerpt. My dad also suffered from dementia. He was so close to my son but as my son grew, he didn’t recognize him and totally ignored him. He did remember my uncles and aunts though so he did have some happy times. Thank you for sharing this book!
I’m sorry to hear that, Ree Dee. That was no doubt hard on your son. Hopefully he was able to understand the why, but I imagine even understanding wouldn’t make it any easier. I think in my case, I was one of very few grand kids that were boys – my siblings and cousins were nearly all girls and there were a lot of them, so I kinda stood out whether I wanted to or not.
Having a relative with dementia sucks. I had a grandparent on both sides with alzheimer’s/dementia. And I don’t know how you survived 1 1/2 yrs being unemployed. I was out of work for 6 months. Unemployment benefits do NOT pay the bills. My blessing in disguise was the insurance payment from my son totally my car. So anyway, thanks for sharing the audio sample. I listen to audios at work all the time – they make the day go by faster & help drown out the irritating chatter of my co-workers! They also may the commute to work more pleasant.
Thanks so much for commenting Lisa. I was fortunate to not have kids, so the unemployment thing was easier considering I only had to support myself. And I sold a lot of things on ebay during that time which helped keep my head above water – barely. : ) I hope I never have to go through that again, though. It was a scary time, but made a little easier considering I wasn’t the only one having a tough time of it.
I would love to win this. I hope more of your books are produced as audiobooks, especially Sno Ho.
Thanks kit_kat! I would love to get Sno Ho and Life in Fusion into audio. I’ve been looking into it for several years now. That particular story is tough because it is first person and Boone is such a specific, fast-talking, wise-cracking character – its difficult to find someone who can pull that character off, and since its first person, if that character isn’t done properly, the audiobook won’t work. But I definitely have my ears open. : )
I am just starting with audiobooks and I enjoyed the sample. Thanks for the chance at the giveaway 🙂
Thanks AnnMarie! I hope you enjoy the audibook if you win! : )