Today I am so pleased to welcome L.A. Witt to Joyfully Jay. L.A. has come to talk to us about her latest release, Going Overboard. She has also brought along a great giveaway! Please join me in giving her a big welcome!
Plot Bunnies!
Probably the single most common question for a writer—where do you get your ideas?
For me, the answer is: everywhere.
So, I thought it would be fun to break down some of my books from the last several years, and tell you what caused the plot bunny to fall from the sky and bite my skull. In no particular order…
At the Corner of Rock Bottom & Nowhere – Walking around the Strip while I was at the RT Booklovers convention in Las Vegas in 2016, and seeing just how depressing it really is.
Rain Shadow – While going to see the bald eagles on their winter gathering along the Skagit River, it occurred to me that I should have a couple of guys from Bluewater Bay meet on a similar excursion.
A Chip In His Shoulder – I was brainstorming an idea involving vampires in a medieval fantasy setting, but my terrible handwriting made “he had a chip on his shoulder” look like “he had a chip in his shoulder,” and I went “oh! Cyberpunk!”
Blood From a Stoner – Similar to A Chip In His Shoulder. I was typing “blood from a stone,” and accidentally typed “blood from a stoner.” My inner Beavis went “heh-heh, vampire stoners. That’d be cool.” My inner Butthead said, “Huh-huh, yeah. That’d be cool.” And so it was.
Finding Master Right – While walking around the vendor fair at International Mister Leather with Sarah Lyons, I mused that it would be a fun setting for a kinky romantic comedy. Sarah told me to write it, and, well, who am I to say no to an editor and a rabid plot bunny?
For The Living – That one came to me during a funeral. Not even joking.
Werewolves of Chernobyl – While at dinner with both halves of K.A. Merikan, the topic of werewolves came up. I don’t remember who brought Chernobyl into it, but it sent us off on a wild tangent that ended with me egging them on to write a story about werewolves originating in Chernobyl. Joke was on me—they roped me in to write it with them, and our off-the-wall ménage was born.
Who’s Your Daddy? – Shower thoughts: What if two men and a woman had a threesome, and one of them accidentally knocked her up?
The Given & The Taken – So what if the whole “fated mate” thing completely and totally blew up in their faces? Like, a man and a woman were fated mates, but he turned out to be gay?
And of course…
Going Overboard – While listening to my husband and his harbor patrol unit buddies telling horror stories about going out on the boat during bad weather, with incompetent coxswains, or with shallow fishnets in the water, I realized how catastrophic it would be to have bad weather, and incompetent coxswain, and a shallow fishnet happen all at the same time.
So there you have it – some of the random origins of my plot bunnies!
Blurb
Second-class petty officers Dalton Taylor and Chris Ingram have been best friends since coxswain’s school. Now they’re stationed together in the Harbor Patrol Unit of NAS Adams. They’re content as friends, but secretly, they both ache for more. Neither makes a move, though; while Dalton is out and proud, Chris is closeted—even from his best friend.
Then another coxswain’s negligence nearly drowns Dalton. After a taste of how easily they could lose each other, neither man can keep his feelings hidden anymore, and it turns out love and sex come easy when you’re falling for your best friend.
Things aren’t just heating up between the friends-turned-lovers, though. The Navy is investigating the accident, and the Harbor Patrol chief isn’t going to let his star coxswain go down for dereliction of duty, even if saving him means throwing Dalton under the bus.
As the threats and gaslighting pile up, Chris and Dalton need each other more than ever—as shipmates, friends, and lovers. But if their chief prevails, the only way they can save their careers is to let each other go.
Bio
L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer who has finally been released from the purgatorial corn maze of Omaha, Nebraska, and now spends her time on the southwestern coast of Spain. In between wondering how she didn’t lose her mind in Omaha, she explores the country with her husband, several clairvoyant hamsters, and an ever-growing herd of rabid plot bunnies. She also has substantially more time on her hands these days, as she has recruited a small army of mercenaries to search South America for her nemesis, romance author Lauren Gallagher, but don’t tell Lauren. And definitely don’t tell Lori A. Witt or Ann Gallagher. Neither of those twits can keep their mouths shut…
L.A.’s backlist is available on her website, and updates (as well as random thoughts and the odd snarky comment) can be found on her blog or on Twitter (@GallagherWitt).
Giveaway
To celebrate the release of Going Overboard, one lucky winner will receive their choice of two eBooks off L.A. Witt’s backlist (excluding Going Overboard) and a $10 Riptide Publishing store credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on February 10, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!
- 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.
Thank you for the interesting post. I must recognise I often wonder where authors come up with their ideas… Fascinating! 😉
susanaperez7140(at)gmail(dot)com
Thanks for this very interesting read. I put the book on my to-read list!
I love the insight into where you get your ideas!
jlshannon74 at gmail.com
Thank you for the insightful post and the inspiration behind your stories.
humhumbum AT yahoo DOT com
Thank you for the interview. I love hearing different authors talk about their ideas, writing, etc.
heath0043 at gmail dot com
Find Master Right is one of my very favorite LA Witt’s – fun to hear the origin story.
reader dot cleo at gmail dot com
I love this post. Thank you for sharing those ah-ha moments. I can’t wait to read your new book–any new book by you actually. Moondrawn at gmail dot com
What a fun post. I can’t help wondering when clairvoyant hamsters will show up in a story and how one knows that hamsters are indeed clairvoyant. Happy writing, L.A.
This was a lot of fun… 🙂
aelnova@aol.com
What a great post. I often wonder. Thanks for sharing.
debby236 at gmail dot com
Pretty varied array of inspirations (and I confess I always mentally shout “Bunny, bunny, bunny!” a la Bubbles on THE POWERPUFF GIRLS back in the day)…
vitajex(at)aol(dot)com
Very interesting. Now I want to know about EVERY book inspiration!
Thanks for the chance!
ms.melissahunter at Yahoo dot com
Nice, this was really interesting!
elenilote @ gmail.com
Wow, this is a great post. So funny how different plot bunnies happen.
M.d.cole1023 AT gmail DOT com
I love this! Plotbunnies strike at the most unexpected of times….
ashley.vanburen[at]gmail[dot]com
Thanks for sharing your plotbunnies. I came up with an interesting one at GRL. If I can ever figure out how to do the research without search engines taking me to all the porn sites, I might one day write a (hopefully) story.
legacylandlisa at gmail dot com
Glad I’m not the only one that finds Vegas a bit depressing lol.
fidele1922 AT hotmail DOT com
Congrats, L.A., and thanks for the plot bunnies. Fascinating. Fair warning: This will now sound a little schmaltzy. I love the interracial couple in this. I myself am in such a relationship, and it just so happens that it’s my husband’s birthday week. So, I am just going overboard for this (sorry … not). – Purple Reader,
TheWrote [at] aol [dot] com