Saturday Author Spotlight: Kevin Klehr #Interview #Giveaway

Happy Saturday to you all!! It's another Saturday Author Spotlight. This week we are shining the light on author Kevin Klehr. He's written such books as the Actors and Angels series and Nate and Cameron Series! He's here to answer some questions, show off some of his wonderful work, and giveaway some PAPERBACKS! So, don't miss this.

Drama Queens With Love Scenes

Close friends Allan and Warwick are dead. They’re not crazy about the idea, so to help them deal with this dilemma are Samantha, a blond bombshell from the 1950s, and Guy, an insecure angel.

Allan also has a secret. He has a romantic crush on his friend, Warwick, but shortly after confiding in his new angel pal, his love interest falls for the cock-sure playwright, Pedro.

Not only does Allan have to win the heart of his companion, he also has to grapple with the faded memory of how he actually died.

Purchase

Drama Queens and Adult Themes

Adam’s about to discover how much drama a mid-life crisis can be. He’s obsessed with Mannix, the nude model in his art class. But Adam has been married to Wade for nearly two decades, and they don’t have an open relationship.

Little do they know that Fabien, a warlock from the Afterlife, has secretly cast a spell of lust on Adam and his potential toy-boy.

As things begin to heat up, Adam’s guardian angel, Guy, steps in. But what’s the best way to save the relationship? Should Guy subdue Adam’s wandering passions or instigate a steamy threesome? 

Purchase

Drama Queens and Devilish Schemes

Adam is dead, but that’s not his only problem. His husband, Wade, is still alive and sleeping with losers. His guardian angel, Guy, has grown fond of the liquor cabinet. And Adam suspects his demise was the result of foul play.

Meanwhile, in the depths of the Afterlife, the devil forces Adam to put on a play for the sinners. If he fails to entertain them, Guy’s parents will spend eternity in the Underworld.

As he gambles with the freedom of the damned angels, Adam comes to terms with infidelity, friendship, and the reason why he was the victim of a double murder.

Purchase

Interview

Thank you so very much for being here today and to talk with us about the wonderful world of being an author. It’s a hard job but it is also a lot of fun. Let’s get started. 

Tell us how you got started in this business and the struggles you’ve faced along the way? 

Back in the era of big belt buckles, sun and moon prints and house music (yes, the nineties) I decided to revisit my childhood passion of writing. Before my initiation into puberty I wrote a lot. 

So, with pen in hand, I began on a novel called Staging Life. Then, due to real life, this fantasy world was neglected until a friend demanded I get back to it after he read the several chapters I'd written.

Fast forward at least ten years, three assessments and seven drafts later when it became Drama Queens with Love Scenes. In other words, a novel looking for a home.

Like many of us starting out, I'd be rich if I had a dollar for every rejection letter I'd received. Then a small Boston publisher took it on. It was late Sunday evening when I got the acceptance email and I was relieved all the hard work paid off, even though it was still going to be a whole year before it would be published.

A year passed and the owner of the publishing company sent me a very nasty email about the lack of sex in the book and how dare I call this book erotica. He said if I didn't fix it, the book would never see the light of day. I composed myself before replying, explaining that it wasn't erotica and if he wanted a sexy book, I'd write one. He apologised and editing began.

Then my editor thought it was full of spelling mistakes as it was in Australian English (like Canadian or UK) and not US English. Anyway, eventually it was published after I reluctantly agreed to three sex scenes. Hey, it was my first contract. I couldn't be seen as a difficult author.

Another few years and several of us at this publishing house weren't happy as we were always chasing up our royalties. Fortunately, Wilde City Press took my second book. Shortly after they also took my first novel as I left my original publisher.

Several more years and Wilde City folded. Just before it did, one of the editors I had worked with at Wilde invited me to submit a naughty novella about tops trying to bottom to NineStar Press. He loved it and NineStar sent me a contract. Now all my novels are with NineStar Press who have to be one of the most supportive publishers around.

Sorry for the long answer, but there was a lot to that story.

What is the greatest thing you’ve learned about yourself as a writer? 

Two things actually. The assessor I had for the early drafts of Drama Queens with Love Scenes told me I was good at writing dialogue, although in those early years I had to focus on 'showing not telling' and plot structure. 

The other thing I've learned is to trust myself. As I said, I had to focus on plot structure so I became a dedicated plotter. My second book, Drama Queens and Adult Themes is told in first person through four characters. So I had to plot to make sure the narrative still moved forward and not simply become a tale where several characters gave different points of views of the same story.

Now I trust myself more and partly plot and partly panster. I always know my ending, but at the moment I have a chapter by chapter outline for the first half of my current project and random notes for the second half. Yet I'm not sticking to the chapter by chapter outline and, although the same story is unfolding, it's just not in the order as my outline. In a way it's more organic.

Every author has that one book and character that stay with them forever. Who and what are yours and why? 

Guy, my insecure angel from the Actors and Angels series. He's full of wisdom and has a big heart, but as we know, that doesn't always equal confidence. He's the favourite character from that series of books with readers and bloggers which took me by surprise as the reviews started coming out.

He also appears in the short story, Conversations with an Angel, in the Bold Stroke Books anthology, Men In Love. And he is subtly referenced in my novellas about Nate and Cameron. 

M/M, well all of LGBT, literature has grown through the years. Based on how it is now, where do you see this genre in 5-10 years? 

Fellow Australian author, Nigel Bartlett, has a novel released through Penguin titled King of the Road. The main character goes in search of his nephew who has been kidnapped by a paedophile ring. The main character is also gay.

Nigel explored the misconception that gays were paedophiles in earlier drafts, but eventually realised that this wasn't what the book was about. The book has no sex. It has no love interest. It's a thriller where the main character happens to be gay. In the context of life in Sydney, none of the other themes need to be explored.

I also believe that thanks to more of us writing about characters who happen to be gay no matter the genre, bigger publishers have seen there's a market there. I think in five to ten years time more bigger publishers will take on our stories, while the current smaller GLBTQI publishers who have put in the hard work, will get bigger.

Can you tell us what you are currently working on and/or what your future projects are? 

In April, keep an eye out for a bi dystopian novel titled Social Media Central. It's the story of Tayler, a lonely guy who is the only person in Astra City not addicted to social media. Then he meets famous fashion blogger, Madeline Q, who introduces him to a world of social celebrities, all knowing governments and murder.

Two other projects are a long way from being published but they include a sequel to Social Media Central where Tayler encounters a city more isolated than his home, and The Midnight Man, where a man meets the man of his dreams, literally in his dreams.

Do you have any conventions or signings you’ll be attending this year? 

Fellow NineStar Press author, Rebecca Langham, and I are appearing at Supanova, a sci-fi convention in Sydney from June 15 to 17. She'll be promoting her novel Beneath the Surface, while I promote Social Media Central.

I hope to return to North America for one of the literary festivals at some time in the next two years. Just filling the piggy bank for the flights.

How can readers/fans follow you in the interwebs? Facebook, Twitter, Website? 

Website 

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram


Thanks for having me over. Sorry for the rambles but they're good questions.

Fast Fire Questions 

Indoors or outdoors? 

Indoors.

Cats or dogs? 

Hmm. Okay, long answer. I'm not an animal person but there have been few friend's pets that I've fallen for. Three were dogs and one was a kitten who acted like a dog.

Rom-com or horror? 

Horror (in films). Rom-com (occasionally in books)

Favorite nonalcoholic beverage? 

Milkshakes.

Favorite time of year? 

Summer. We're having a great summer here at the moment.

Best comfort food? 

Ice Cream.

Favorite color? 

Blue

Thank you for hanging out and talking with me. 

Giveaway

 The Nate and Cameron Collection - View Here- which is only available in paperback.

This contest will end on February 16th

Thank you so much

a Rafflecopter giveaway