Today we give a warm welcome to Liv Rancourt, the author of the soon to be released The Secret of Obedience and she wanted to share with us a bit of how this story came to be, a teaser and some awesome excerpts that have us wanting to read more of this fabulous story! BBJ
Author Guest Post:
Tracy & Mari…
Thank you so much for having me on your blog today. I’m excited to have The Secret of Obedience in readers’ hands, and hope people have as much fun reading about Ronnie and Sang as I did writing their story. Every story I write takes a different path, though Secret’s was a little more complicated than most.
The seed for this story was planted during a class I took last winter. Kerri-Leigh Grady taught Strategies for Writing Fresh over at SavvvyAuthors.com, and most of the assignments she gave us involved taking standard tropes and tweaking them one way or another. Like, instead of Frodo and Sam hiking to Mordor, maybe put Freddie and Shamus in a VW Van and make them drive across country or the world ends.
And maybe they fall in love. And maybe throw in Coyote, or some other trickster character, to give them trouble.
The class was a hoot, but I can’t go into much detail about the exercise that turned into Secret, because there’s a little twist at the end of the story and I don’t want to give it away.
Lalala…not saying…you’ll have to read it yourself…
Soon after finishing the class, one of my Facebook friends asked if anyone wanted to contribute to an anthology to benefit LGBT kids. I volunteered, and it didn’t take long to work the story up. And then, sadly, the anthology got put on hold. I waited for a while, but I liked this story too much to leave it hanging out on my hard drive.
I decided to submit it to Evernight’s RomanceOnTheGo line, and while I was thrilled when they accepted, it felt a little odd to think about making money off a piece I’d written for a benefit project. Instead, I’m going to donate any money I earn to Nova High School, Seattle Public Schools’ alternative high school.
My oldest kid goes to Nova, and I’m a huge fan of the program. A solid percentage of their students fall somewhere on the LGBTQ rainbow, and a number of those kids are either homeless or living independent of their families. For some of them, Nova is the only source of structure in their lives. The teachers, principal, and staff are dedicated and compassionate, and I absolutely believe in the work they do.
So even though the anthology didn’t come together, I’m going to do my part to help.
From an on-line class exercise to release day! The Secret of Obedience had to find its way, and I’m so happy to be sharing it now. One final thought…the title fits the story perfectly, but it does have kind of a BDSM vibe that isn’t in the story. So if you’re looking for kink, Secret isn’t really your jam, but if you’re looking for a fun, sexy read, check it out!
Thanks so much!
Liv Rancourt
Blurb
Can a jock find love with a hot little hipster? Opposites attract, but secrets divide.
Ronnie Durand is a country boy who transfers to the University of Washington after two years at Central. He'll have to give up playing football, though finishing his education at a major university in Seattle - and being out and proud without having to look over his shoulder - makes the sacrifice worthwhile.
But finding friends at a huge school is tough, especially when the hottest guy Ronnie meets makes him doubt his own sanity.
Sang's been on his own a long time. He's only a couple steps away from living on the street, and he's got dreams so big they don't leave space for a steady boyfriend. Then he meets Ronnie, who just might be strong enough to break through his barriers....as long as Sang lets him in on one big secret.
Buy Links (ARe & Evernight still pending)
