Saturday Author Spotlight: Jaime Samms #Interview #Giveaway

It is that special day of the week where I get to interrogate a special author in this community. This week the willing victim is author Jaime Samms. She's written many incredible books in this genre: The Foster Family (my personal favorite), Off Stage series, Scars on His Heart, Tales From Rainbow Alley Series, and many more.

We have for you an interview, a look at her awesome work, and a terrific giveaway at the end! So sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Growing up in foster care has left Kerry Grey with little self-esteem or hope for his future. A college dropout, Kerry scrapes by on a part-time job at a garden nursery. His friendship with his boss and working with the plants are the only high points in Kerry’s life. He’s been dating the man who bullied him at school, but when his boyfriend abandons him at a party, Kerry wanders down the beach to drown his sorrows in a bottle of scotch.

Malcolm Holmes and Charlie Stone have been together for fifteen years. Despite Charlie's willingness to accept Malcolm's unspoken domination in bed,something is missing from their relationship. Early one morning, they rescue a passed out Kerry from being washed away by the tide and Charlie immediately senses a kindred spirit in the lost younger man. When Kerry’s roommate kicks him out, Malcolm and Charlie invite him into their home. As Charlie and Kerry bond over Charlie’s garden, Malcolm sees Kerry may be just who they have been looking for to complete their lives. All they have to do is show Kerry, and each other, that Kerry's submissive tendencies will fit their dynamic.

But someone is sabotaging Kerry at every turn. As he struggles to discover the culprit, he fears for the safety of his new friends. If Malcolm and Charlie cannot help, their lifelong search for their perfect third may not end with the happily ever after they imagined.

A good car thief needs sixty seconds, but grand theft heart might take even less time than that.

Freedom and trust; opposite sides of the same coin that could give expert car thief, Marky, the win he's looking for. Little does he know escaping his gang ties will lead him through heartbreak and into cuffs he hadn't even thought to watch out for.

Now he can trust the powerful man who wants to help, or he can keep running. It all depends on how much he values his freedom, and whether or not Roland has managed the impossible; hijacking Marky's carefully guarded heart.

Off Stage: Sets One & Two

The grunge band Firefly was Trevor “Damian” Learner and Lenny Stevens’s dream since they were boys growing up in rural Ontario. They found the right people to live the dream with them, even landed the best representation in the business, but the higher their star rose, the harder it became to ignore their issues.

Now, needing guidance beyond what each other and their bandmates can offer, Damian and Lenny must let go of a relationship that’s hurting everyone around them and accept support from men who know what they need better than they do. Two submissives will never make each other happy without the dominance they both crave but can’t find in each other.

First Damian needs to get his life on the right path and accept the rules Stan sets forth for him. Then Lenny will have to step into the wings, leave the spotlight, and concentrate on his own well-being—and Vance’s guiding hand—before they can help the band reach its potential.

After a disastrous five years away at college, Joe returns to his aunt's farm and finds his childhood sweetheart Cameron eager to rekindle their relationship. Joe has a hard time confessing that he didn't come home until now because he's only just managed to leave Andre, his controlling boyfriend, and has a harder time renewing his submissive role in his affair with Cam. Cam thinks he has to find a way to remind Joe how to be strong. But what Cam doesn't realize is that Joe is strong, strong enough to leave behind a life of shame—though he's terrified his past will catch up to him. Joe must confront his ex and take back his own life, on his own terms, before he's able to give Cam everything they both desire.

Interview

Hi, Jaime. It is SO exciting having you here today as the spotlight author.  We are all huge fans of yours here on this blog. The Foster Family was the first book of yours that I read and I immediately adored you.  I will be asking you a few questions and likely fan-girling a bit.

That is so incredibly sweet of you to say. It amazes me always when I hear someone has really liked one of my stories.

First things first, because it’s my favorite. Ménage is my favorite trope. You’re one of very few to perfect it in my eyes. What was most important to you when structuring The Foster Family?

For me, it was very important that Kerry have his own agency. As the third, and late-added partner in a relationship that had been seeking a third for many years, and also being a good deal younger and less solvent than Malcom and Charlie, it mattered that he brought his ow personal strength to the mix. He had a lot going against him going in, and I wanted him to be attractive to Charlie and Malcom for more than his pretty looks and desire to say “yes, Sir.” I also wanted there to be strong ties between Charlie and Kerry, and between Malcom and Kerry that could stand up to the strength of Malcom and Charlie’s twenty years together. Otherwise, the torque on the threesome of one tie being stronger than the rest would have twisted the relationship out of shape.

Are you a plotter or a pantser? Tell us why this works best for you?

I definitely fall into the pantser category, and it mostly works for me. My love of this way of writing goes back to when I was a kid and I was just telling stories to myself in my head. I didn’t want to know where the stories led until I got there, and that is still the case. Every now and then, though, I do have to brainstorm with writer friends to iron out plot points and figure out exactly when it was I wrote myself into a corner, but thankfully, the more I do this, the better at it I get. At least, I try to improve!

Picking just one of your books, which one would you love to see on the big screen and why? Also, cast your characters.

I’d love to see the Tales from Rainbow Alley books made into a mini-series. There are too many stories to tell in one movie, and I can’t pick any one couple I like more than the others, so it’ll have to be a series. As for casting, well. That’s a lot harder. I think if I concentrate on the Alpha couple, Jude Law might Portray Rolly with enough command and still allow for his more tender side, while Mark is much harder to pinpoint for me. He’s dark-haired and blue-eyed, with some clear traits of his Lakota ancestry, even if he’s a long way, both in time and space, from that tradition. I just don’t know who I might chose to play him. Any ideas? Who would you pick? I’m always curious to know how readers imagine my characters, as I’m often told I can be skimpy on description.

You’re an author and you also review. Has reading and reviewing been a huge guide when writing?

I confess it’s been quite a while since I had time to do much reviewing of any note. It’s a discipline that requires serious time and energy to do right. Something just had to give. But I will say that all the reading I do, as well as proofing audio books and all the reviewing I did in the past, and judging for the Rainbow Reviews contest I did for a few years, prompted me to look critically at why some stories worked for me, and why some did not. It taught me what pitfalls I should avoid, if I could, and gave me ideas for how to make problematic plots work better. There’s nothing like deconstructing something that’s broken to help you figure out how to fix it, and that kind of out-of-the-box thinking has helped me so much in creating stories and characters with my own unique feel to them.

What is your favorite and least favorite part of writing and publishing?

Beginning the next book is always a rush. I can’t think of another thing I love better than opening a fresh word document and starting. Unfortunately, that addiction to beginning the next thing has a rather unfortunate side-effect in that I tend to sort of ignore everything that’s already done. Which leads us to the part I like the least, and which I think I need the most practice at: marketing. It’s hard for me, marketing a book my brain is done with. I’m on to the next thing by the time marketing comes around. Or in some cases, the next, next thing! Getting back into the headspace of a completed book in order to remember what excited me about it can be hard when my heart has moved on the one I’m writing now. I guess I am a literary serial monogamist! Lol!

Can you tell us what you’re working on or any projects in the future?

Yes, see? THIS! I surely will tell you what I’m doing now because that’s what’s got my heart engaged full throttle. Today I am writing the sixth Tale from Rainbow Alley, Safe and Sound (which is the working title. That may or may not change) It stars Simon, the professional sub we met way back in book one, when Mark first snuck into Spades with that stolen ID, and Rikki, the cook we met in Face to Face, when Skate and Denny temporarily moved into Mark and Rolly’s house. Both these guys have a lot of hurt in their pasts, and for both, it’s time to figure out what they really want to do with their lives. Lucky for them (and us!), the journey seems to be easier when they are walking the path together. That doesn’t make it free of pitfalls. Simon’s ex isn’t as gone as he had hoped, for one thing. And Rikki is having a hard time putting his violent past behind him, especially when Simon continually finds himself at the mercy of another of his ex-boyfriend’s schemes.

As for future projects, the third and final Off Stage book comes out in June, giving Kilmer his happily ever after. Called Off Stage: Beyond the Footlights, it will be out at Dreamspinner Press, and it was a bear of a book to write, but I am very proud of it. It’s one of my more angsty offerings, I think, but as always, the guys get their hearts’ desires, because that’s how I roll.

I have a co-written book with Sarah Masters that is already on pre-order at Pride publishing called Nurture, about a victim of domestic violence turned horrific, and the police officer who believes in him. The story focuses on Paul’s recovery from his ordeal and his journey from fear to confidence.

I have contracted a second Bluewater Bay book at Riptide, which has entered edits, so fingers crossed my editor still loves me once she’s got through the first round! That one doesn’t have a title yet, but you might be happy to know it is another ménage.

I’ve also contracted with Riptide for a series called Well Met at the Hen and Hog, which is a series centering on the staff and regulars at a fictional Toronto, English-style pub called the Hen and Hog. I’m excited about setting this series in my home province, in a city I love to visit. Look for three books to start, starring bartenders, the pub owner, cross-dressing dancers, strippers and aspiring creative types of all kinds: an artist, a culinary hopeful, and more. I consider these stories to be a sort of Rainbow Alley lite. Interconnected by friendship and work, the characters are all integral to one another’s lives, but the angst level and the D/s dynamics are dialed back so I could focus more on everyday kind of guys.

What is the first thing you’ve ever written and how do you feel you’ve grown from that?

Hmmm. The first thing I ever wrote for real? Like, the S.E. Hinton fanfiction I wrote before I even knew fanfiction was a thing? (Because there was no internet and no computers back then. Just paper books, pens, and paper. I kid you not.) As for how I’ve grown? I can type now. Thank goodness! Because I never could read my own handwriting, and also because spellcheck!!!. Every book I write, I get better at plotting, I understand character arches better, and I feel more comfortable with my prose. One thing I’ve noticed since I started doing this for a living, though, is sort of like when you first notice your kid is growing up and losing their wonder in the world. I find I sometimes realize I’ve been spending too much time following the rules because that’s what serious writers do to sell books. I have to practice the lack of inhibitions I had when I used to write about mermen shifters and barbaric elves and street rats who weren’t afraid to fall in love with each other. Oh. Wait. I still do that last one…

Can you tell us how your readers/fans can follow your work: Facebook, Twitter, Website?

Website: http://jaime-samms.com

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000982219151&ref=tn_tnmn

Livejournal:http://dontkickmycane.livejournal.com/

Deviantart: http://dontkickmycane.deviantart.com/

Twitter:https://twitter.com/#!/JaimeSamms

Amazon Author page: amazon.com/author/jaimesamms

Fast Fire Questions:

Favorite flower: pretty ones. I really honestly have never met a flower I did not love.

Day or night: Dusk and Dawn. Brand new days, soft, slowing-down time at night.

Coffee or tea: Coffee. So much coffee. Preferably Tim Horton’s x-large double-double, if you’re taking orders.

Inside or outside: I think I am Canadian enough I can’t not say outside. I think that’s hardwired into our DNA when we are born on Canadian soil. Until the first 25C below zero day, then I can say inside until spring. I totally hibernate. Which is why I got a husky dog…. So sometimes there is a failure of logic going on. I’m sorry. Writers are a little weird, I’m told.

Favorite color: somewhere along the pink/purple spectrum

Favorite season: Fall

Beer or wine: Beer. Most definitely beer.

Okay, thank you so much for talking with me today!

Thank you so much for having me over. It’s been fun!

Giveaway

Jaime will give away one e-copy of the first book in the Tale from Rainbow Alley series, and an e-copy of any other book in the series, reader's choice.

Contest ends April  21st

Thanks!

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