Story Orgy Presents: Interviews with Patricia Logan

Story Orgy Presents: Interviews
Talking with Patricia Logan today.  

Who is here to share some information about herself, how she writes, and what she's currently working on.  You can find Patti online at Naughtypassions.blogspot.com

What is your favorite quality about yourself? 

I think I’m most proud that I have been a good mother. I’ve tried to raise my kids to be great people with loving and unprejudiced values. I encouraged their differences and it has helped them to grow up with great feelings about who they are and what they can do. Nothing holds them back. They are climbers and resilient fighters with huge loving hearts.

What is your favorite quote, by whom, and why?

What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life? I’m most proud of becoming a published author at 49 years of age. It’s a great rush to have someone believe enough in your intellectual property, that they pick you up and sign you to a book deal. That first acceptance was one of my best days.

When and why did you begin writing? I began writing in middle school. I was encouraged by the teacher because he told me that I had a great imagination and talent. Then, I put it aside for thirty years while I grew up, went to college, got married and had kids. When my career as a mortgage broker tanked in 2007, I seriously considered going back to nursing. I was jumping over a chain link fence at my daughter’s soccer game and tore my left ACL which required knee surgery. That laid me up for about two months and so I just voraciously ate through my library at home and once I recuperated, I thought, you know, you could write one of these vanilla romances.

I did. And let me tell you, that sucker was so bad that I got 39 rejection letters so I put it aside and wrote another one, then another. I started researching my genre, M/M and found out that it was the hottest sub-group of erotica and erotica was the hottest sub-group of romance. My brain told me, what the hell are am I doing trying to compete with the 400,000 vanilla romance submissions that publishers receive every year when I could be writing my favorite genre anyway? I wrote my first M/M book in 26 days. It practically wrote itself. That was in 2009 and came out last year.

What inspires you to write and why? The love I have for gay men is what inspires me to write M/M. I want to give them the dignity and respect that so many are lacking because of this crazy world. And I wanted to worship their bodies with my words.

Tell us your latest news? My second book in the Armadillo series “Undercover Nights” was released March 9^th. The last in that series “Warrior Nights” will be released June 8^th this year. That is a fun series and the third book is my first M/M/M ménage. That was a bit of a challenge. I wanted to make the sex real and the emotions between my guys real. I think it works.

I also have a standalone epic of 133K words called Gypsy Knight coming out October 12, 2011. That’s a medieval romance that takes place during the crusades. It is a M/M/F ménage.

I also have organized an anthology with the wonderful Ga Hauser, Sue Brown, Sammy Jo Hunt and Lisa Worrall. That is titled “Chasing the Dream” and will be submitted to Dreamspinner this summer. I’m thrilled to be working with such a talented lineup of M/M writers.

I have another series of 3 or 4 already under way. The first has been submitted. That’s called “Captive Lover” and the others are in synopsis form or WIP’s. Whew! 

  

How important do you think villains are in a story? I think villains make the story. I have villains in all of my titles. Sometimes it’s a real physical threat to my guys but sometimes it’s just jealousy or misunderstanding. I like angst in my stories. I learned that from some of my very talented writer friends.

What books have most influenced your life? I think the very first M/M title I ever picked up and read through in one furious story orgy of my own was the most influential book I’ve ever read. I have no idea what the title was. There are so very many now. I find it difficult to read anything else now. It’s my drug of choice. From the moment I opened it until the moment I closed it later that night, I was riveted to the words on the page and the male love scenes held me spellbound.

            

Are you reading any interesting books at the moment? I’m reading “Chance to be King” by Sue Brown and “A Wicked Encounter” by Sammy Jo Hunt.

How do you deal with rejection letters? Before I was published, I couldn’t figure out what the problem was. I got 39 in a row on my first HET book. Since I started writing M/M I’m almost embarrassed to say that everything I’ve submitted to date has been accepted. I think is has to do with the fact that I love that genre and it shows through in my work.

What are some of the best tools available today for writers, especially those just starting out? Meet your favorite authors on Face Book and other social media sites. You learn so much from others that are already published and it’s a great way to promote your work as well as have fun and make true friendships.

    

What do you do to unwind and relax? I read and spend time with my youngest who’s 12. I almost lost her last year when she had to undergo emergency brain surgery. It slapped me right in the face and I learned darn quick just what was the most important thing on earth.

What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing? The opportunity to be at home with my family and spend more time with them.

If you could leave your readers with one bit of wisdom, what would you want it to be? Put your families and loved ones first guys, before anything else. Once they’re gone, you can’t get that time back again.

Here’s an excerpt from “A Very Good Year” my current WIP and the second in my new series. This is a M/M/M ménage title as well. 

Carlo watched the play of emotions across Dmitri’s face. The lust was obvious and Carlo was amused that Dmitri schooled himself to try to hide it. The disgust was a surprise. What on earth didn’t this small town vintner see in a world famous man such as himself? It wasn’t that he thought over much of his assets; he was just confident. Carlo just knew that he was the premier wine critic in the world and had worked extremely hard to keep that reputation. It was hard not to come off in a hoity-toity manner when you knew what he knew. He tried to be as humble as possible when he wrote about the wines but one of the things about being a critic was that he became a target of criticism himself if his review was less than flattering. His reputation, thank god, remained solid because he knew what he was doing, but the lies about his love life got to him at times and had cost him more than one loving relationship. However he tried to keep his love life private, the tabloids seemed to love a gay billionaire and they did their very best to destroy his lovers as well as himself with lies and innuendo. 

“I’m sure you would like a tour of the operation we have here,” Dmitri offered. “I’d like to accompany Jenny while she shows you around if that’s all right?”

“That’s exactly what we were gonna do Dmitri, come and find you and ask you to join us,” Jenny replied.

Carlo translated the phrase in his head and so was slightly slow in answering. When he did, he smiled. Dmitri swallowed hard. The man was stunningly beautiful, angelic of face and with two well placed dimples on his cheeks, it was all Dmitri could do not to tackle him and fuck him then and there. Carlo clapped his hands together and said “Meravigliosa,” which sounded close enough to the word “marvelous” that both Jenny and Dmitri nodded and turned to walk out from under the porch. Dmitri followed Carlo and Jenny toward the vineyard.

The stunning Italian had removed his suit coat and it was folded and draped over one arm. His high tight ass had Dmitri ready to faint. The cut of the outrageously expensive suit pants outlined a tiny thong which Carlo wore underneath the white fabric and the rounded curves had Dmitri sweating under the Stetson. He was certain that he had giant sweat circles visible on his cambric shirt, even though it was morning and the heat of the day hadn’t even arrived. He silently cursed the lustful longing for Carlo’s ass and thought better of the decision to join them on their little tour. The last thing Dmitri needed was to set a bad impression for Jenny or the Lazy E Vineyards. The sight of the Lazy E’s vintner jacking his cock off in the barrel hall probably wouldn’t earn Jenny the appraisal she needed but if Dmitri didn’t get away from this man, that’s just what was gonna happen. Holy shit what an ass!

Carlo stopped his broken English and wild hand gestures and turned to draw Dmitri into the conversation. It was everything he could do to stop himself from laughing out loud when he noticed Dmitri’s eyes riveted to his ass. It was even more amusing when Dmitri tried to pretend that he hadn’t been staring at it. Dmitri Hernandez and those mahogany curls and golden eyes was going to be hard to resist, but resist he must, at least until he’d written his critique. He didn’t want Dmitri or Jenny to get the impression that Dmitri’s performance in Carlo’s bedroom had anything to do with his opinion of the winery or its vineyard.