Thursday, October 26, 2017

Talk to your favorite authors – you might inspire their next book - Lovesick Gods by Amanda Meuwissen




My current release, Lovesick Gods, which is the first part of a two-part series, the second to release the Spring of 2018, exists because of a fan. 

This is my sixth book release, but I also spend my downtime writing fanfiction. I am a huge proponent of fanfiction as a form of expression, showing devotion to a fandom, and being used as a tool to become a better writer. 

I also love interacting with fans, many of whom start as fans of my books and then follow me online and read my fanfiction, or they start as fans of my fanfiction and move to my books. 

In this case, a fan of my writing for the CW TV series The Flash messaged me with a request for a new story idea. They wanted a fic where The Flash pursues his nemesis Captain Cold for a sexual relationship with the goal of eventually breaking his heart out of revenge. However, in the process of seducing Cold, Flash comes to genuinely care about him and falls in love. 

While I am a fan of the CW Flash, I have been a fan of comic book Flash for many more years, so my love for him and Captain Cold is strong. Therefore, this concept was so foreign to me for a character who is usually seen as the heart of the Justice League, genuinely good, and beloved by his city in a way that Batman and even Superman never achieve…that I couldn’t resist wanting to do it.

The Lovesick Series was born from this concept. What I didn’t expect was how much my own personal demons and struggles with bipolar depression would come out through writing it, because I had to imagine what sort of place The Flash would be in to plan something so despicable, what would his mindset be, and then still show that he was a redeemable hero. 

I am prouder of Lovesick than any story I’ve ever written. It flowed out of me organically from start to finish. That wouldn’t have happened without the suggestion from a fan and the interactions I have with my fans. 

Likewise, my current project, which I hope to finish the draft of during National Novel Writing Month this November, also came from a fan. This was an anonymous prompt sent to my Tumblr account requesting a fic about The Flash and Captain Cold again, or ColdFlash, with Cold being a high-end escort and Flash hiring him to cuddle. 

“…he just needs someone to cuddle him while he cries…” said the prompt. And that was basically all I had to go on. However, while I answered the prompt with basic ideas about HOW I would write the story, I didn’t flush it out or do more with it for a whole year. It was only recently that I went back to this prompt and started to formulate a full story. 

Originally, I wrote it as a ColdFlash alternate reality fanfic, but the story is perfect for adaptation into an original novel without any changes needed other than names and physical descriptions, which is very exciting. It’ll also be the first time I publish something without any fantastical elements to it, just a straight-forward romance. 

Maybe other authors don’t work this way, but engaging with my fans is so important to me because lately they’ve been what lead me to my next books. 

Lovesick Gods
Lovesick Series  
Part One
Amanda Meuwissen

Genre: - Superhero/Gay Romance

Date of Publication: October 2, 2017

ISBN: 1-943619-33-6
ASIN:

Number of pages: 312
Word Count: 106,903

Cover Artist: Veronika Dolnikova

Tagline: Heroes aren’t meant to act like their villains—or fall in love with them.

Book Description:

The elements touch everyone on Earth—Fire, Water, even Light—but every so often someone becomes more attuned to their elemental leaning and develops true power. When an evil Elemental known as Thanatos arrived in Olympus City, it saw the rise of its first hero—Zeus. But the death toll caused by defeating Thanatos changed Zeus, who by day is young detective Danny Grant.

It’s been six months since Thanatos terrorized the city at the start of Lovesick Gods. Danny should be used to his duty behind the mask, but the recent past haunts him. His girlfriend left him, he snaps at the barest provocation, his life feels empty—he needs an outlet, any outlet to pull him out of his depression.

Enter notorious thief Malcolm Cho, the Ice Elemental Prometheus. There was a time when Danny welcomed a fight with Cho, filled with colorful banter and casual flirtations that were a relief compared to Thanatos. Even as a criminal, Cho had recognized the threat Thanatos posed and promised to help Danny stop him, but the day Danny needed Cho, he never showed. Cho was the reason so many people died that day—including Danny’s mother.

Danny decides to teach the man a lesson and fan the fire of their attraction into something more. At worst, he’ll get some no-strings-attached sex out of the deal and finally blow off steam; at best, he’ll get Cho to fall in love with him and then break his heart to spite him. Danny doesn’t expect to fall for Cho in the process, and he certainly can’t predict the much darker threat on the horizon.



Excerpt:

The long game, Danny thought as he accepted the hand Cho held out to help him from the sofa. Cho couldn’t have any fun with a blubbering mess, so of course he’d want to cheer Danny up. It didn’t mean anything. It just felt nice that Cho didn’t pry the way the others did. He’d never look down on Danny. He was a liar, a criminal, a scoundrel—he was the reason Danny had been forced into that position with Thanatos to begin with—but while the rest of his life felt like an open wound, somehow Cho was a balm.
Danny made a show of changing out of Cho’s clothes and into his Zeus costume right there in the living room. Leaving the sleep pants and T-shirt folded on the sofa, he started to put on his boots at the door.
“Interesting choice of work clothes.” Cho crossed his arms with an amused eyebrow raise.
“I’ll change when I get to the precinct. And next time I’ll call. Or text. Promise. Thanks for breakfast.” Danny made to walk toward Cho off the rug, then gave an abortive gesture like oops, stuck now with my boots on.
Cho rolled his eyes, but he still moved closer to accept the kiss Danny pulled him into. And let linger. And linger... Maybe a little longer than necessary.
“Have a nice day at work, dear,” Cho said, sickly sweet in his familiar drawl.
Danny found himself smiling—and meaning it.
Cho was a bad man. He was. He…he was. But he made things lighter. And easier. And even though Danny knew that soon he’d have to end this or risk getting in too deep, for now he could enjoy the lie for just a little longer.



About the Author:

Amanda Meuwissen has been writing and posting online for many years, including maintaining the website and blog for the software company Outsell. She is an avid writer and consumer of fiction through film, prose, and video games, and is the author of the paranormal romance trilogy The Incubus Saga and young adult novel Life as a Teenage Vampire. Amanda lives in Minneapolis, MN, with her husband, John, and their two cats.





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1 comments:

Amanda Meuwissen said...

Thank you so much for this opportunity. I really enjoyed getting to talk on this subject and share where the most of my inspiration comes from, especially with my newest book title. Good luck to readers hoping for the free eBook, but please, check this story out and my other titles if you're a GLBT romance and urban fantasy fan!