interviews

When The Aliens Come

December 6, 2013 By Brandon 3 Comments

When I was nine, I prayed for aliens to come. I know. Religion and aliens make for awkward bedfellows, but that’s the best thing about being nine. You can believe everything. How the aliens would hear my prayer, I didn’t know. But I guess that if they had the technology to make it as far as Earth, they could probably tune right into the prayers of a random nine-year-old kid, right?

Anyway, it didn’t matter how they got the message, only that they got it. Because the aliens were going to save the world! And here’s the clever part for a nine-year-old: they didn’t have to do anything at all, apart from show up.

Fighting a war over some arbitrary border drawn in the dirt? You’re gonna feel pretty dumb about that once the aliens come and show you how big the universe really is.

Ignoring all those African kids dying of hunger because they’re not your problem? When the aliens come and are so different and weird and, well, alien, all of humanity will suddenly feel like one big family.

Fighting over whose god is the real god? When the aliens turn up, you’ll see just how ludicrous it is to believe in one god who invested himself in one particular group of people on one tiny corner of one insignificant planet, thousands of years ago. [Read more…] about When The Aliens Come

HoT Blog Tour Day 2

November 15, 2013 By Brandon Leave a Comment

Welcome to the blog tour for Heart of Timber, Book 2 of the Cold gay romance series!

It’s Release Day!

Today we’re celebrating over at Jesse Wave with an exclusive and in-depth interview of me, Brandon Shire. I know, crazy right? Most of my readers already know how much I deplore interviews, but Wave got gritty with her questions and asked what you wanted to know most.

If you want to hear about the behind-the-scenes of the Cold Series, what’s coming up in the future, or what has motivated me with my previous books, then this is definitely the interview for you.

Read the review of HoT on Wave!

Heart of Timber is now available from all online retailers.

Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, Kobo, or ARe

Talking Southern Gothic Fiction with Michael Russell

October 18, 2013 By Brandon Leave a Comment

When it comes to the genre of Southern Gothic, readers think of Falkner, O’Connor, and Williams. But Southern Gothic fiction has come a long way since the dawn of Modernism. New List Salon Press wanted to bring the genre and the readers out of the past and into the future. Southern Gothic: New Tales of the South features over a dozen fresh stories by established and up-and-coming authors (gay and straight) who turn the genre on its head. Here’s an interview with one such author, Michael Russell. His frank portrayal of homosexuality and religion in the south will not only remind you of why Southern Gothic fiction is so revered, but also why true love conquers all.

photo credit - S.A.F.K. Photography — photo credit – S.A.F.K. Photography

Michael, your story “Long Finger from the Sky” focuses on “forbidden love.” Can you discuss how that fits into the Southern Gothic genre, and how, as a gay writer, that theme is important, or prevalent to you?

It’s a standard theme in the genre. It probably shows up in every Tennessee Williams play. Being gay, our love is automatically forbidden, and if you look through literary history, forbidden love is a compelling theme regardless of sexual orientation. My novel First Floor on Fire has a subplot in which one character is in love with his older brother, which is about as taboo as you can get. Southern Gothic stories are full of the human heart divided against itself. I sometimes think of the genre as being about people messing up their lives in ways we can understand.

You grew up in Arkansas, which is also the setting of your story. How does this reflect your experience of being gay and southern?

Unfortunately, I never made love in a cave during a tornado, but the story does [Read more…] about Talking Southern Gothic Fiction with Michael Russell

Character Model come to life. Meet ‘Anderson’

August 20, 2013 By Brandon 1 Comment

As many of you know, I went looking for character models for both Lem and Anderson before I started to write what turned out to be my best-selling gay romance novel, Cold. I thought I needed these to help me build the characters correctly and strengthen their draw for potential readers in a prison setting. Of course, in doing this, I never told the models I used what I was doing or asked for any of their input.

Recently I reached out to the character model for Anderson and surprised him with the news, not knowing that he had previously read one of my books. He loved the idea and was gracious enough to allow me an interview. I know I have teased fans relentlessly about his identity. (The only hint I gave was that he was one of the Cocky Boys.) But only one person got his name right. So let me introduce you to the beautiful Antonio Manero. [Read more…] about Character Model come to life. Meet ‘Anderson’

Obscura Burning – Suzanne van Rooyen

July 12, 2013 By Brandon Leave a Comment

Welcome friend and fellow author, Suzanne van Rooyen to the blog. I’ve put her to the test and asked which of her own books is her favorite and why. ~B

Reading has always been therapeutic, like going for a brief holiday every night that leaves me feeling rejuvenated and ready to face real life. Writing has proven even more cathartic as I immerse myself in the worlds I create and become my various characters be they cyborgs or androids, androgynous angels, genetically engineered super-soldiers, or troubled bisexual boys.

I’ve written several books, only two of which are published so far, and numerous short stories. I loved writing each and every story, from novel to flash fiction, for different reasons. Being forced to pick a favourite feels horribly unfair since they’re all dear to me, but since a favourite is what this post is all about I’ll have to choose Obscura Burning. [Read more…] about Obscura Burning – Suzanne van Rooyen

The First Cut Is the Deepest: My favorite story?

June 14, 2013 By Brandon 1 Comment

Welcome to the blog my friend and fellow author, Jack A. Urquhart. After a little pleading Jack agreed to come by and talk to us about his favorite book, and I’m glad he did.

Asking a writer to identify a favorite story from their “literary” portfolio is to my mind akin to asking a parent to name their favorite child—which is why, I expect, so many authors respond by saying: “It’s whatever I’m working on.” I confess that when Brandon Shire suggested I pen a guest post to answer that query, my initial response was the same. However, a perusal of personal archives dating back decades pointed toward a different conclusion. From that enterprise I learned that I had revised one story more often than any other—some twenty-three times, in fact, over the years following its initial 1992 publication. The story is Irises, Purple Irises. [Read more…] about The First Cut Is the Deepest: My favorite story?