Welcome Sue Brown

Please join me in welcoming author Sue Brown, and a very attention getting topic--men. Take it away, Sue!

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Let’s talk men.

Or rather, let’s talk about the outer coating. We could talk about what makes men tick but we’d be here all day, football, beer, and pies would be mentioned, and then it would get sexist, and someone would cry. 

Probably me.

So let’s talk about what makes your toes curl.

I love eye-candy as much as the next girl, I really do. You see a gorgeous man, with broad shoulders, tapering to a narrow waist, and long, long legs… Whoa mama, I’m going to spend some time in my bunk.

I’m not so much fixated by one particular look. I love blonds, red-heads, dark and mysterious, long hair, short hair and everything in between. I like most skin colour as well. It isn’t the type but the man himself.

And that’s where I find it so difficult to pick my men for my books. I can’t deny that I’d probably pick Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki from three years ago as my models for every single book if it wouldn’t get boring. No, you’re right, it wouldn’t get boring.

You see, number one, they are the most gorgeous (in my head) pairing to ever walk this earth, and number two, I am naturally very lazy, and trying to find guys that I think would make a good pairing is actually quite difficult.

I could trawl Tumblr or Facebook, but if I can’t see them interacting in my head, then they don’t work. My boys have to eat, sleep and have mad passionate monkey sex together. Just being eye-candy don’t cut it. I need to see them together. Jensen and Jared made that bit easy for me—I could imagine them together because Jared spent a lot of time draped over Jensen in publicity photos. As for the eating, sleeping – just in my imagination, folks.

One of the reasons I like Dan Skinner’s work is that you see the models together. The models themselves rarely make my toes curl but the way they interact definitely does. As I’ve gained more confidence in asking for what I want in my cover art, one of my requests is for the allusion of intimacy. If the book is about two men who’ve just met, it doesn’t matter if they don’t look into each other’s eyes, or touch one another. But if we’re talking long-term relationship, then yes, it matters to me that I can see the men being together.

What do you like to see on covers? Some publishers have a fixed house style, making their books instantly recognisable. Others like my publishers, Dreamspinner and Silver have a more flexible approach to cover art, giving their authors more choice. Both systems work equally well

Recently, I was extremely fortunate that I saw the image for my forthcoming book almost before I had started, and Joem Bayawa and Dreamspinner agreed to use the image. For a lazy person like me, it was a gift.

So, men, gorgeous as you are, could you just pop over and wave at me every time I’m thinking about a new story. If you could come with a ready-made partner, and if you would agree to being on the cover of my book… Ta, very much.

Author Bio: Sue Brown is owned by her dog and two children. When she isn't following their orders, she can be found plotting at her laptop. In fact she hides so she can plot and has got expert at ignoring the orders.

Sue discovered M/M erotica at the time she woke up to find two men kissing on her favorite television series. The series was boring; the kissing was not. She may be late to the party, but she's made up for it since, writing fan fiction until she was brave enough to venture out into the world of original fiction.

Sue can be found on the internet at her blog, her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

The Isle of… Where? by Sue Brown

Excerpt:

Chapter One

THE conversation had gone something like this:

Alex: “You need a vacation after being stuck inside with me for so long.”

Liam: “Somewhere hot. Sandy beaches, blue sea, hot men.”

Alex: “I can promise you the beaches are sandy.”

Liam: “What do you mean? Alex, what are you planning? I know that look in your eyes. I thought we were talking about a vacation.”

Alex: “I’m offering you a vacation, moron.”

Liam: “Where?”

Alex: “The Isle of Wight.”

Liam: “Where the fuck is that?”

Alex: “The UK.”

Liam: “It rains there and the men aren’t hot.”

Alex: “Ewan McGregor, man, Ewan McGregor.”

Liam: “That’s a low blow, even for you.”

Liam’s vision of a tropical vacation with cocktails and cabana boys faded away with the tide and instead there was this, a special hell, surrounded by screaming kids and overweight moms. Alex really knew how to give his best friend a good time.

Liam leaned against the glass and sighed. Somewhere up there, Alex was laughing at him. The bastard could have given him a train ticket to anywhere; the Orient Express, for instance. The lyrics said a “Ticket to Ride,” not fucking Ryde. But no, Alex loved the Isle of Wight after a summer vacation during college and he would not be moved. So a ticket to the ass end of nowhere it was. Maybe Alex had secretly hated him all these years.

The Isle of Wight was obviously a popular destination for families, because from the second Liam had gotten on the ferry to the island he hadn’t been able to get away from whining brats. Liam wasn’t one of those men whose life was going to be completed by progeny. He liked Kathy well enough, even though he’d deny it if pushed, but she was Alex’s kid, so of course Liam liked her. Children en masse were hell on earth. Particularly the little fucker behind him.

The train eventually reached Ryde. Could any train ride be so slow? The island was the size of a handkerchief. The majority of the crowd got off, to Liam’s relief. He was particularly pleased to be rid of the evil kid who had spent most of the journey kicking the back of his seat. After days of riding this train from hell, he had no patience for some bored brat. He’d glared at the monster when the kicking had started, and then tried glaring at the mother. The woman had stared back with sublime indifference. Liam thought about moving to the seat behind the kid and kicking his seat to see how he liked it. He could just imagine how that would go down. Pervert On Train Attacks Small Child! Liam’s imagination ran wild as he visualized the headlines. It might even get on YouTube. Somebody would record it on their cell phone and upload it. Liam shuddered as he imagined the small clip going viral. His mother would never speak to him again. The nightmare had kept him occupied until the train disgorged the horrid child and his equally horrid mother at Ryde Esplanade.

For the couple of minutes it took to get to Ryde Pier Head station, Liam leaned against the back of the seat and closed his eyes. Forget the last few days riding this God-awful train. Today was the day to fulfill Alex’s request. Then he could go home and get on with his life.

His empty life.