Hi and thanks so much for having me over here on Bayou Book Junkie to talk about my new release Misdemeanor (book one in the Responsible Adult serial).
I’ve already touched upon the main reason for writing the book - the inclusion of a child with Williams Syndrome and how that affects the main character, Micky. I also briefly touched on some of the underlying themes within the book. So today I thought I’d give some reasons behind each of the choices I made when writing this and how I hope those choices come across.
The cliffhanger - yes there is one! Apologies for anyone who wasn’t aware and has found this off putting. It is a major one. I feel rather silly pointing it out as I thought that was kinda the point to a cliffhanger - the gasp moment. But turns out people like to be warned. So, there you have it. There isn’t a long wait until the next book. Hard Time is currently up on the Pride Publishing website under coming soon and will be available to pre order from 25 July.
Misdemeanor and the Responsible Adult serial (consisting of three books), depicts a small town where both of the MC’s are kind of stuck. Each of the characters in their own way have their own demons to battle, from the two main characters (Micky and Dan), to even the minor characters. Everyone is fighting for something - to live the life they desire but have no idea how to get, and to be seen for what they are and not viewed through the lenses of prejudice and preconception.
Micky - he’s nineteen and been handed the biggest responsibility of all, his disabled eight-year-old brother. Micky has to battle the demons of the past and fight to be seen as a worthy carer for such a special boy. He’s flawed to the core. He’s tempestuous; he’s angry; he’s actually rather depressed. So his decision-making and his attitude isn’t all rosy. He’s complex. And he hides a secret even from his best friends, and this starts cracking through the surface, what with him keeping everything else together. In Misdemeanor, Micky can be mean, can be rather rude and can be difficult to understand. I wrote Micky this way to reflect a young man brought up to be a certain way, yet striving to be something different. Micky ultimately has the biggest character development within the three books. He has to. This is his story after all. I implore you to stick with him and he’ll worm his way into your heart, like he does Dan’s.
Dan - he’s twenty-five and been stuck in a rut for a while. On the surface, he appears to have it altogether. Pretty good job, flat, decent friends, nice family. But scratch the surface and Dan isn’t as perfectly aligned as he likes to believe. He’s judgemental; he’s harbouring demons he can’t shake; he’s incapable of moving on through fear. It takes Micky entering into his life in order for him to make the changes he needs - to not judge, to not take things at face value, and to be brave enough to fight for what you want. I wrote Dan as this on-the surface nice guy, yet one whose inner thoughts can show his flaws. They’re not as obvious as Micky’s, because Dan has had a completely different upbringing.
Sub-characters
Jason - he’s dealing with the fact he’s pretty much lost his best friend. Micky has had to grow up and left Jason behind. While it might seem, on the surface, like Jason is the one having all the fun while Micky plays dad, Jason can’t help but feel Micky’s absence in his life. Many of his antics within the book are all Jason’s twisted way to claw Micky back into his life. And a small-town thug will always do what he knows to achieve that without really thinking the consequences through. Jason’s meant to be a tad unlikeable, but ultimately he’s Micky’s rock and that comes from a deep place.
Dougie - Oh, the controversy! Dougie’s a big guy. He’s looked upon by the other characters as just another fat guy. He plays up to this role, because he’s learned that he can’t hide it. He knows how people see him and judge him, so he simply goes along with it. He plays online games in order to be the person he really wants to be. Through book two, Dougie starts to come out of his shell and by book three readers will see the big changes and hopefully understand why Dougie had to go through what he did in order to reach his outcome.
There are some other minor characters - Ruby, Hollie, Paulie to name a few who all add to the themes of being stuck in a small town where your role is laid out for you and it’s hard to get away from it.
The book was never meant to be fluffy, although I’d argue it has a fair few fluff-ball moments. It’s meant to be dark and deep. Raw and gritty. It’s meant to feel real. Because how could I not write about Williams Syndrome without surrounding it in reality? Williams Syndrome people are genetically predisposed to be friendly, to be cheery and to believe that everyone can be trusted. We all know life isn’t like that. And that’s what I was getting at with this book.
It’s still very much a gay romance. Two men coming together through adversity and battling to find their way together. In addition it has a few deeper issues of which I hope I can help raise awareness. Not just of WS, but of all the other issues such as prejudice, prejudgement and predestination detailed above.
Buy Links: Pride Publishing (Early Download) Amazon US | Amazon UK (Out July 4)
Length: 77,579 words
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Blurb
After his mother tragically dies and his deadbeat father goes off the rails, nineteen-year-old Micky is left to care for his disabled little brother, Flynn.
Juggling college, a dead end job and Flynn's special needs means Micky has to put his bad boy past behind him and be the responsible adult to keep his brother out of care. He doesn't have time for anything else in his life.
Until he meets Dan.
"Amazingly gritty and raw. This slice of life is so realistic it flays you." - Pride Publishing
Author Bio
Studying at a West London university, she realised there was a whole city out there waiting to be discovered, so, much like Dick Whittington before her, she never made it back home and still endlessly searches for the streets paved with gold, slowly coming to the realisation they’re mostly paved with chewing gum. And the odd bit of graffiti. And those little circles of yellow spray paint where the council point out the pot holes to someone who is supposedly meant to fix them instead of staring at them vacantly whilst holding a polystyrene cup of watered-down coffee.
She eventually moved West to East along that vast District Line and settled for pie and mash, cockles and winkles and a bit of Knees Up Mother Brown to live in the East End of London; securing a job and creating a life, a home and a family.
Having worked in Higher Education for most of her career, a life-altering experience brought pen back to paper after she’d written stories as a child but never had the confidence to show them to the world. Having embarked on this writing malarkey, C F White cannot stop. So strap in, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride...
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