My Characters – Who runs the show?
I get the inspiration for my characters from a variety of places. For example, my first novel, Conflicted, revolved around the world of exhibiting and racing cars which is something I love. I’ve had a beautiful and unusual imported car for almost 2 years now. I’m in an owners’ club and I regularly take the car to shows to “show it off”. This type of environment and the people I meet there, inspired Paul and Greg, my “tough guys” in the book, who actually reveal themselves to have big hearts later on in the story.
Beautiful Thunder, a novel which I submitted a few weeks ago, is set in the early 1990s around the rock music scene, which was a big part of my life at that time. Alex and Lindsay, my main characters, were inspired by people I met, or simply gawked at in my favourite rock club, with maybe a hint of one or two of the musicians I liked then thrown in.
And as for Beyond The Scars, due to be published later this year, my main character Tommy gets a big part of his life from me. I went through many of the things he goes through in the book, and some of the other people he meets were inspired by men I knew. So my characters come from all over the place – bits of myself and bits of people I’ve met and known along the way.
As for how I write them; I’ve heard other authors say the same thing and this is so true. Sometimes the characters grab the story between their teeth and run off with it, and there’s not a great deal you can do, but go along for the ride. I plan and make notes of where I intend for my story to go, but quite often my boys just don’t want to do what I tell them. One example I can think of is my recently submitted novel, Beautiful Thunder, mentioned earlier. Alex, my main character, was intended to be much more of a “tart” than he turned out to be. But he didn’t like being casual and unfeeling and decided he was going to fall for his guitarist, Lindsey (this is a boy Lindsay of course!) hook, line and sinker. And so, the plan was for them to “get it on”. I had it all planned – the when, the where and the how. But no, Lindsay decided he wasn’t ready to have sex and told Alex (and me) in no uncertain terms that it wasn’t the right time. So there we have it. I plan my stories and stick to the general idea, but if my boys don’t like what I have in mind, I have to hand over the reins a little.
Synopsis
Shy and geeky Rhys White, has recently been ditched by his boyfriend of five years. On top of that he’s been made redundant from his job as a computer programmer.
Tired of being boring and unadventurous, he throws caution to the winds and buys a plane ticket to Peru.
Rhys’ adventure in Peru starts out well, but then disaster strikes. All of his belongings are stolen. Everything is gone—passport, wallet, phone, clothing, the lot.
Stranded in Cuzco, not too far from the famous Machu Picchu, Rhys tries to find someone to help him. He’s about to give up, when a sexy Brazilian named Rafael, comes to his rescue…
Buy links
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SSCKT58/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00SSCKT58/
Amazon AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00SSCKT58/
WIP: http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com/product/in-darkest-peru-by-louise-lyons/
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-indarkestperu-1733040-145.html
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-darkest-peru-louise-lyons/1121132274?ean=9781925222227
Giveaway
Prizes:
$20 WIP Gift Card
$5 Amazon Gift Card
1 x eBook copy of In Darkest Peru
1 x eBook copy of Conflicted or Second Bite of the Cherry (winner’s choice)
About the author
Louise Lyons comes from a family of writers. Her mother has a number of poems published in poetry anthologies, her aunt wrote poems for the Church, and her grandmother sparked her inspiration with tales of fantasy. Louise first ventured into writing short stories at the grand old age of eight, mostly about little girls and ponies. She branched into romance in her teens, and MM romance a few years later, but none of her work saw the light of day until she discovered Fan Fiction in her late twenties.
Posting stories based on some of her favorite movies, provoked a surprisingly positive response from readers. This gave Louise the confidence to submit some of her work to publishers, and made her take her writing “hobby” more seriously.
Louise lives in the UK, about an hour north of London, with a mad Dobermann, and a collection of tropical fish and tarantulas. She works in the insurance industry by day, and spends every spare minute writing. She is a keen horse-rider, and loves to run long distance. Some of her best writing inspiration comes to her, when her feet are pounding the open road. She often races into the house afterward, and grabs pen and paper to make notes.
Louise has always been a bit of a tomboy, and one of her other great loves is cars and motorcycles. Her car and bike are her pride and joy, and she loves to exhibit the car at shows, and take off for long days out on the bike, with no one for company but herself.
Social media links
Website: http://louiselyonsauthor.wordpress.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/louiselyonsauthor
Twitter: www.twitter.com/louiselyons013
Excerpt
“It’s freezing,” Rhys protested. He wondered what Rafael had in mind, but he hoped fervently that it might involve more contact between them.
“You will soon be warm.” Rafael reached over and fumbled for the zip on Rhys’s sleeping bag. Rhys wriggled out of it and rubbed his upper arms. He waited as Rafael moved around in the near darkness, wondering how he could do anything without at least a torch. “Here.” Rafael touched Rhys’s shoulder. “Get in.”
As Rhys slipped back into the sleeping bag, he realized Rafael had zipped the two together, making one large one. He swallowed nervously, his pulse racing, as Rafael got into the bag with him and snuggled close. Warm breath fanned his cheek again and Rafael rested a heavy arm across his middle. Rhys shivered, not only from the cold this time.
“Better?” Rafael inquired.
“Um…yes, thank you.” Rhys felt his cheeks heat up at his prim response and Rafael laughed softly.
“You are shy.”
“Hm.”
“You like me?” Rafael whispered.
Hell, yes! Rhys struggled to think of an answer that wouldn’t sound too eager or too cold. He had no idea what was going to happen, but he thought Rafael might kiss him. He hoped Rafael would kiss him. Immediately his head filled with images of their lips clinging, tongues entwining and their hands stroking each other’s bodies. His cock twitched and began to fill.
“Yes, I like you,” he said eventually.
Rafael slid his hand up to touch Rhys’s face. His palm was warm as it cupped his cool skin and Rhys held his breath. Rafael’s nose bumped his again as he angled his head and brought their lips together. Rhys let out a soft groan as Rafael’s mouth fitted over his. His lips were warm, soft and moist and they caressed Rhys’s lips gently. Rhys lifted his hands cautiously, unsure where to put them. Rafael’s tongue licked along the seam of his mouth and then entered when he parted his lips on a gasp. Rhys laid one hand on Rafael’s chest and felt his heartbeat, as rapid as his own. Rhys could feel the heat of Rafael’s body coming through the layers of clothing he wore and he longed to feel the man’s skin under his fingers. He stroked his hand tentatively over Rafael’s left pectoral and then lowered it to his ribcage. Rafael groaned and kissed him deeper. His tongue plunged urgently into Rhys’s mouth, teasing his own and flicking against the roof of his mouth. Rhys had to tell himself to breathe and he sucked in small breaths of air through his nose as he pressed his lips harder against Rafael’s and sucked at his tongue.