Please welcome MJ O'Shea, to my blog today to support her latest release!
Hi! I'm MJ O'Shea. I thought I'd answer a few questions and then give you an excerpt of my newest book Impractical Magic. First, the questions:)
What is your favorite subgenre to write?
If we take contemporary out of the picture, it's hard to say! I'm a huge fan of paranormal and urban fantasy. I'd like to do a lot more with that beyond the vampires and the shifters. I also really like a lot of smaller niche things like steampunk and cyberpunk sci-fi, and historical. I think there are tons of worlds out there yet to be created!
When creating your characters, do you have models in mind or are they totally fictional?
Mostly the second, although there have been some characters of mine that I use actors etc as a base for looks and mannerisms. Some of my secondary casts (never romantic leads !!) are based on personal friends of mine. Some are totally made up in my head.
Favorite character in one of your books?
I have a few favorites. I'll always love Nick Ventura from the Lucky Moon books (his book is called The Luckiest). I also love Elliot from Catch My Breath, Fen from Newton's Laws of Attraction and Impractical Magic, and I'm having a TON of fun with one of the characters in Coconut Cove. He's actually the TV character Ryder, played by my actor character Blair. Whenever Ryder is on page I get to be snarky and quick tongued and witty. It's really fun:)
Your first published book?
It was Unintended, back in 2010. That feels like the dark ages now! That one has been rereleased by me since my original publisher closed, so it's still out there. I haven't read through it in ages.
What are you working on now?
Right now, I'm working on a few things! I have a book I wrote with Anna Martin called Macarons at Midnight, which takes place in a bakery in The West Village of Manhattan. One of the characters was from Yorkshire and while I had a lot of help from my british co-author it was still a fun challenge to write him! Anna and I also in the middle writing the second pastry chef book (out of three) called Souffles at Sunrise, which will take place on a dessert cooking competition show called Burned. In case anyone is curious, the third will be called Devil's Food at Dusk, and it's going to take place in the French Quarter of New Orleans. I so want to go back there!
Finally, Poppy and I are hard at work finishing books three and four of Coconut Cove, which will start coming out later this summer. That's been great as well.
My newest book is called Impractical Magic. It's not paranormal even if the title makes it sound like it might be! It takes place in the same setting as Newton's Laws of Attraction and is about Fen, who seemed to be everyone's favorite character from the first book. I really liked him too so he ended up with his own story and his own leading man named Kevin:)\
Impractical Magic
By MJ O’Shea
Publisher Dreamspinner Press
Genre M/M Contemporary
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5100
Description:
Sequel to Newton's Laws of Attraction
Physics teacher Fenton Keene is looking forward to a summer of doing nothing but hanging out with friends and maybe getting into a little trouble. With his best friend out of town, trouble seems like the best option and it comes in the form of his building's newest temporary resident, a gorgeous fireman named Kevin.
Fen's been attracted to men before, but this is the first time he's considered acting on it. And act he does.
Fen and Kevin have an intense summer fling. Just in time for Kevin to go home, more feelings develop than Fen can ignore, but they don't stop Kevin from leaving. Once Kevin's gone, Fen can't stop thinking about him. That's when reality sets in and Fen faces the difficulties of distance and fidelity, while Kevin balks at Fen's reluctance to tell his friends and family. They just need to find a way to make their magic more practical.
* * * * Here's a little bit from early in the book when Fen and Kevin are just flirtatious neighbors and nothing's happened yet: Fen loved afternoons by the complex's pool on his own. Not too many, ’cause that got boring, but every once in a while it was nice to chill with his music and his own thoughts—and about a gallon of 50 SPF, of course. He got his iPod lined up on the right playlist, made sure every millimeter of exposed skin was properly slathered up with lotion, then closed his eyes and relaxed. Which was fantastic until a freezing cold drop of water landed on his forehead. “What the….” Fen sat up and immediately conked his head on a bottle, the same bottle that had probably been dripping condensation on him just moments before. “Ouch.” Kevin. Of course. “You know you’re not supposed to have glass bottles down here.” “I’ve seen you do it before.” That was beside the point. “Well, I didn’t hit my head on mine.” “You going to tattle on me?” Kevin reached out and brushed chilly fingers over Fen’s forehead. He looked apologetic. And a little like he was about to burst into laughter. “I didn’t mean for you to hit your head on it.” “Sure you didn’t.” Fen smirked at him. He also waited until Kevin put his drink and his phone and wallet down before he surged up and pushed him into the pool, flip-flops, khaki shorts, and all. Fen leaned over and peered into the pool. “Oops. I didn’t mean for you to fall in.” Kevin barked out a loud laugh. “Like hell you didn’t.” He reached out and snagged one of Fen’s ankles and yanked. Fen hadn’t been bracing himself. He wasn’t trying too hard to avoid Kevin’s grasp anyway. He flopped belly first into the water and came up splashing, laughing, and trying not to choke on the water. Kevin launched himself right on top of Fen and dunked them underwater. It was hard to giggle and splash and hold his breath all at once. Fen tried to buck Kevin off, but his skin was slippery with sunscreen and Kevin was all supple muscle and slick skin. Finally Fen rolled him so Kevin couldn’t hang on. He flopped backwards laughing and used both arms to send a veritable tidal wave at Fen’s face. Fen came up sputtering. “Look who got the last laugh,” Kevin said with a cheeky grin. “You think?” Fen went for Kevin again, but misjudged the distance between them and instead of splashing him, he ended up flopping into thin air and landing with his arms around Kevin’s neck, their faces—and crotches—way closer than he’d estimated. Kevin’s hands slid onto his hips, keeping him from catapulting right into his face and breaking one or both of their noses. They were frozen, inches away from each other. Fen knew he had to move, do something to get out of Kevin’s arms, where he was likely to make a total idiot out of himself in about a minute flat. Especially if he kept feeling Kevin’s smooth chest brush against his, or the warmth of Kevin’s thighs through his thin swim shorts. “Hi,” Kevin said quietly. “Uh, hi,” Fen said in return. He tried to look cool. Inside his heart was about to explode from his chest. “You okay?” “Yeah. Just misjudged that one a bit.” They were still super close. Fen didn’t want to move and it seemed like Kevin didn’t either. Kevin’s face drifted a bit closer. Fen’s pulse, if anything, sped up. Fuck. Yes. Yes. He’s gonna kiss me. And of course. Of course at that moment a small herd of children and their harried mother opened the gate to the pool area and swarmed in. Fen was all for kissing Kevin, he’d already decided that a few days ago, he just wasn’t all for giving a mom and a group of kids a free show. Apparently neither was Kevin. Kevin made a tiny pouty face and pulled back. Then he winked at Fen and swam toward the edge of the pool, where he hauled himself out like some Greek freaking god, all coppery skin and wetness and fucking damn it to hell. Fen wasn’t sure how much more of this his poor little heart could take before it just gave up. Fen wanted to growl out loud. Instead, he got to spend a good five minutes in the pool watching the rug rats from 2B playing with water noodles while their mother sipped a diet Coke and read Cosmo while his seriously unfortunate crotch issue disappeared. About the author...
I’m Mj O’Shea, author of erotic romance–well all sorts of romance actually, that’s just what’s been published so far! I grew up, and still live, in sunny Washington state and while I love to visit other places, I can’t imagine calling anywhere else home. I spent my childhood writing stories. Sometime in my early teens, the stories turned to romance. Most of those were about me, my friends, and our favorite tv stars. Hopefully, I’ve come a long way since then… Right now, I have four books published through Republica Press (click on the link to visit their site), but I’m constantly working on new projects. When I’m not writing, I love to play the piano and cook and paint pictures…and of course read. It’s nearly impossible to work on my own writing when I’ve gotten myself hooked into a great new book:) I like sparkly girly girl things, own at least twenty different colored headbands, and I have a little white dog with a ginger eye spot who sits with me when I write. Sometimes she comes up with ideas for me too…when she’s not napping. Website http://mjoshea.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mj.oshea.5 Twitter https://twitter.com/mjosheaseattle Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3512511.M_J_O_Shea
I’m Mj O’Shea, author of erotic romance–well all sorts of romance actually, that’s just what’s been published so far! I grew up, and still live, in sunny Washington state and while I love to visit other places, I can’t imagine calling anywhere else home. I spent my childhood writing stories. Sometime in my early teens, the stories turned to romance. Most of those were about me, my friends, and our favorite tv stars. Hopefully, I’ve come a long way since then… Right now, I have four books published through Republica Press (click on the link to visit their site), but I’m constantly working on new projects. When I’m not writing, I love to play the piano and cook and paint pictures…and of course read. It’s nearly impossible to work on my own writing when I’ve gotten myself hooked into a great new book:) I like sparkly girly girl things, own at least twenty different colored headbands, and I have a little white dog with a ginger eye spot who sits with me when I write. Sometimes she comes up with ideas for me too…when she’s not napping. Website http://mjoshea.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mj.oshea.5 Twitter https://twitter.com/mjosheaseattle Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3512511.M_J_O_Shea
I’m Mj O’Shea, author of erotic romance–well all sorts of romance actually, that’s just what’s been published so far! I grew up, and still live, in sunny Washington state and while I love to visit other places, I can’t imagine calling anywhere else home. I spent my childhood writing stories. Sometime in my early teens, the stories turned to romance. Most of those were about me, my friends, and our favorite tv stars. Hopefully, I’ve come a long way since then… Right now, I have four books published through Republica Press (click on the link to visit their site), but I’m constantly working on new projects. When I’m not writing, I love to play the piano and cook and paint pictures…and of course read. It’s nearly impossible to work on my own writing when I’ve gotten myself hooked into a great new book:) I like sparkly girly girl things, own at least twenty different colored headbands, and I have a little white dog with a ginger eye spot who sits with me when I write. Sometimes she comes up with ideas for me too…when she’s not napping. Website http://mjoshea.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mj.oshea.5 Twitter https://twitter.com/mjosheaseattle Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3512511.M_J_O_Shea
I’m Mj O’Shea, author of erotic romance–well all sorts of romance actually, that’s just what’s been published so far! I grew up, and still live, in sunny Washington state and while I love to visit other places, I can’t imagine calling anywhere else home. I spent my childhood writing stories. Sometime in my early teens, the stories turned to romance. Most of those were about me, my friends, and our favorite tv stars. Hopefully, I’ve come a long way since then… Right now, I have four books published through Republica Press (click on the link to visit their site), but I’m constantly working on new projects. When I’m not writing, I love to play the piano and cook and paint pictures…and of course read. It’s nearly impossible to work on my own writing when I’ve gotten myself hooked into a great new book:) I like sparkly girly girl things, own at least twenty different colored headbands, and I have a little white dog with a ginger eye spot who sits with me when I write. Sometimes she comes up with ideas for me too…when she’s not napping. Website http://mjoshea.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mj.oshea.5 Twitter https://twitter.com/mjosheaseattle Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3512511.M_J_O_Shea
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