Today I am so pleased to welcome J. Scott Coatsworth to Joyfully Jay. Scott has come to talk to us about his release, River City Chronicles audiobook. He has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving Scott a big welcome!

Scott has written some questions and answers to share with us! 

If you could sit down with one other writer, living or dead, who would you choose, and what would you ask them?

The one author I always wanted to meet but never did was Anne McCaffrey. Her green dragon riders were some of the first queer characters I ever read in science fiction, and Pern was where I wanted to spend all my free hours. I even fantasized about flying to Ireland and knocking on her door, but a) I didn’t have the cash and b) I had no idea where she lived. Plus there’s the whole stalkery thing… LOL

How would you describe your writing style/genre?

I write speculative fiction – mostly sci-fi, fantasy, and magical realism. Of late, I’ve been writing more sci-fantasy – spec fic that blends bits of both sci-fi and fantasy. I also write a bit of magical realism. I love blending genres, and bring diverse characters to everything I write. I’ve written characters across the LGBTQ+ spectrum, as well as a deaf character, one with OCD, and a number of characters from other marginalized groups.

What is your writing Kryptonite?

The muddy middle. I learned a long time ago that the part of each work, especially each novel, after the midpoint is the part where I suddenly start to doubt everything about it. My inner critic has a field day, telling me I’m a derivative hack, that I have no idea what I’m doing, and that the book sucks. It’s as regular as clockwork, and I’ve learned over the years to look on it like an old friend.

What’s so special about The River City Chronicles?

It’s the first novel-length magical realism book I’ve written, and it’s also set in my hometown of Sacramento. Many of the places in it exist, and many of the characters and events are based on real things. It also takes place in the Before Time – before Covid 19, before 45. It captures a moment of time that I sorely miss, what seemed like a much simpler time. And I’m thrilled to have it finally coming out in audiobook format.

What are you working on now?

I’m almost finished with a new YA sci-fantasy trilogy. For folks who are familiar with my work, The Tharassas Cycle (The Dragon Eater, Then Gauntlet Runner, and The Hencha Queen) is set in the same world as “The Last Run” and “The Emp Test,” and develops ideas from those two earlier works. It’s almost finished (first draft) and planned for release in 2022. Once that’s done, I plan to return to the characters from Dropnauts for the sequel, Coredivers

Blurb

Everyone in the River City has a secret, and sooner or later secrets always come out.

A group of strangers meets at Ragazzi, an Italian restaurant, for a cooking lesson that will change them all. They quickly become intertwined in each other’s lives, and a bit of magic touches each of them.

Meet Dave, the consultant who lost his partner; Matteo and Diego, the couple who run the restaurant; recently-widowed Carmelina; Marcos, a web designer getting too old for hook-ups; Ben, a trans author writing the Great American Novel; teenager Marissa, kicked out for being bi; and Sam and Brad, a May-September couple who would never have gotten together without a little magic of their own.

Buy Links:

• Amazon Audiobook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09GW3K3V8
• Amazon eBook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DCFPCGZ/
• Amazon Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732307504/
• Amazon Hardcover: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08W7DWJPQ/
• Amazon Large Print: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1955778183/
• Amazon Dual Language eBook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BF6ZGFT/
• Amazon Dual Language Print: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BR5TQFR/
• Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-river-city-chronicles-j-scott-coatsworth/1128593446?ean=9781732307506
• Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-river-city-chronicles-1
• iBooks: https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-river-city-chronicles/id1381215078?mt=11
• Payhip: https://bit.ly/3llmAmi
• Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/book/510697624/Flames
• Thalia: https://www.thalia.de/shop/home/artikeldetails/ID152039792.html
• Vivlio: https://shop.vivlio.com/product/9798201105778_9798201105778_10020
• Publisher: https://www.otherworldsink.com/book/flames/
• QueeRomance Ink (all buy links): https://www.queeromanceink.com/book/the-river-city-chronicles/
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40236250-the-river-city-chronicles

Bio

Scott lives with his husband Mark in a little yellow bungalow with two pink flamingoes in Sacramento. He inhabits the space between the here and now and the what could be. Indoctrinated into fantasy and sci fi by his mother at the tender age of nine, he devoured her library. But as he grew up, he wondered where the people like him were.

He decided it was time to create the kinds of stories he couldn’t find at Waldenbooks. If there weren’t queer characters in his favorite genres, he would remake them to his own ends.

His friends say Scott’s brain works a little differently – he sees relationships between things that others miss, and gets more done in a day than most folks manage in a week. He seeks to transform traditional sci fi, fantasy, and contemporary worlds into something unexpected.

A Rainbow Award winning author, he runs Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, and Other Worlds Ink with Mark, sites that bring queer people together to promote and celebrate fiction reflecting their own reality. Scott is a full member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).

• Author Website: https://www.jscottcoatsworth.com
• Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/jscottcoatsworth
• Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/jscottcoatsworthauthor/
• Author Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jscoatsworth
• Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8392709.J_Scott_Coatsworth
• Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/j-scott-coatsworth/
• Author Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/J.-Scott-Coatsworth/e/B011AFO4OQ
• Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-scott-coatsworth

Giveaway

Scott is giving away a $25 Amazon gift card with this tour. Follow the Rafflecopter below to enter:

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