I am so excited to have Scotty Cade back here as Diverse Reader's Saturday Author Spotlight. He's so fantastic so if you missed him the first time you'll be glad he's back! He's written so many fantastic books for this genre from Forever for Now, the Unconventional Series, Losing Faith, and his new book Only Forever. There are many more so you should check out all his work. We will look at some of his books, do and interview, and end it with a giveaway... the usual. So get comfy!
Thank you, Scotty,
for being Diverse Reader’s Saturday Author Spotlight. This is your second time
being here as our spotlight so I get to poke you a bit more and figure out how
things work inside that brilliant brain of yours. So, let’s get started.
Brilliant? LOL! Okay,
so you’ve obviously mistaken me for someone else. J
But you know what, I’ll take it. I like the sound of it and it feels good to be
called brilliant, if only for a few minutes. So thank you. You know what also
feels good? To be invited back to spend a little time with you and your readers.
So again, I say thank you for having me.
Tell us what your
average day is like as an author? Not a regular day, a day when you know you
are dedicating yourself to writing.
For six months out of every year I get to write full time. The
other six months I, along with my husband Kell, operate our inn & restaurant
on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. Although I do get to write some, its not
full time or even close.
So here’s my day when I’m writing full time. It starts with my
6:45am internal alarm. It happens like clockwork every morning rain or shine.
Some days I pop right up while others I open one eye, pull the blankets up over
my head and try, in vain, to steal a few more winks and savor a few more warm
cuddly moments. But alas after a few moments I always give in and get moving.
The coffee goes off automatically at 6:30 so its hot and fresh when I mosey on
downstairs in my fluffy bathrobe and slippers. At seven I watch the first
thirty minutes of Good Morning America, just to catch up on what happened while
I was asleep and then I shower. Always.
I swear to you I cannot write in my bathrobe or without my
teeth brushed and my hair dried and combed. And trust me I’ve tried. And on a
side note, when my BFF Sjd “Jo” Peterson is here, which is now, I’m lucky if
she even brushes her teeth. Most of the day she is wrapped up in a blanket in
her sweats with a half dozen dirty coffee cups surrounding her. I swear that
woman is addicted to caffeine. But I digress.
So back to me. Anyway I dress and head down to my office
fresh as a daisy. For those of you who winder what my surroundings are like
when I write, I’ll give you a little insight. If you’re not interested, just
skip this part. My study, as I call it, is off our formal living room. Its wood
paneled with a fireplace, built in’s one one end and two wing backed chairs
with ottomans on the other end. In front of the built in’s is my beloved
mahogany antique desk with leather inlay on the top. Kell bought it for me many
years ago and it is one of my most prized possessions, second only to him. So
now you know. I need solitude and comfort and to be surrounded by all the
things I love. There I’ve said it. I’m a spoiled man.
Again, I digress. Anyway, I spend the first hour and a half
checking and replying to email and catching up on social media. By the time all
that’s finished, it’s almost ten and I finally settle down to write. I bang on
my keyboard until about 12:30, stop and grab a little lunch. Usually a boiled
egg or an avocado. Then I’m back at my computer and that’s when I really get
going. I don’t know what it is about the afternoon, but I seem to get more
quality writing done between two and five in the afternoon and when it flowing
I just don’t stop. If I do attempt to stop, the story nags at me so much that
I’m forced to sit down again and type until I’m out of words. Kell is so
patient, bless his heart. If I’m focused on a scene, he will start dinner and
patiently wait until I’m done so we can eat together. To borrow a few words
from Barbra Streisand “Oh my man I love him so.”
When you get edits
back; how do you choose when to follow your editor’s advice and when to say,
“No, I’m not changing that?”
I am truly blessed to have Andi Byassee as my editor at
Dreamspinner Press and trust me when I say that woman is a saint to put up with
me. She knows me, my writing and my grammar issues very well. But more
importantly she instinctively knows what I’m trying to get across to a reader
and never asks anything of me that would even remotely change what a character
is saying or where the story is going. If she sees something that could
potentially be an issue, she brings it to my attention, we discuss it and if I
agree, together we fix it. If I argue that it may change how the story is
perceived, she gives me almost enough creative ownership to hang myself and
then she saves me. LOL! In fact, we work so well together I give her full reign
on an edit and welcome her suggestions to make a scene better. Like I said, she
knows me and knows how I write. That makes all the difference in the world.
You made a really
cool announcement last year. There was a wedding. And your kid married another
author in this genre’s kid! I love this. Can you tell us a little about it
without getting too personal? I don’t like to pry but I love this story.
For starters, I have no secrets from my readers or anyone
else for that matter. I’ve always been open, honest and direct regarding my
life and opinions so no worries about crossing any boundaries. In short, Kell
and I sponsored a young exchange student. And when I say young, he’s twenty so he’s
no baby.
In just a matter of month’s, he became part of our family,
like a son to us. So much so that all of our staff at the Inn starting
referring to him as “Junior.” Two summers ago my Bff Jo Peterson came to the
Vineyard for a visit and brought her daughter and imagine what happened? The
two hit it off. Just friends we thought. But over last winter that friendship
became much more and they fell in love. So naturally Jo and I were ecstatic to
be related and so far, the rest is history. They married at our home just
before Christmas and are doing wonderfully. Jo’s daughter relocated to South
Carolina to be with him and they seem over the moon happy. Its so sickening to
be around young love. J
Growing up what were
some of your favorite books?
The
top four are as follows counting down: #4: John Steinbeck’s “The Pearl.” #3: Herman
Melville’s “Moby Dick.” #2: Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea.” And drum roll please. My #1 all time favorite
book, the book that had the most profound impact on me as a child is “The
Scarlet Ibis,” by James Hurst.
Here’s
a little about “The Scarlet Ibis.” The book is written in first person and the
narrator, who is not named but simply called "Brother" recounts the
life of his younger brother, William
Armstrong, nicknamed "Doodle." Doodle is born with a heart defect and
is never expected to live. In fact, he is so sick that his father even had a
small coffin made for him. Doodle surprises everyone and survives his babyhood,
but unable to roll over, sit up or even move for the most part. Brother, so
upset that Doodle can’t play with him even goes so far as to plan to smother Doodle
with a pillow, thinking that having no brother was better then having a brother
who wasn't truly there. Luckily, Doodle surprises Brother and smiles at him. So
touched, Brother leaves him be.
Doodle
eventually learns to crawl, backwards like a doodlebug, hence the nickname. But
the doctor warns them that the strain might very well kill him. Doodle,
although able to crawl, is still very weak and feeble and Brother wants someone
who could run and jump and play with him. Brother resents having the weak and
fragile Doodle and because Doodle can’t walk, Brother is forced by his father to
pull Doodle around in a wooden go-cart. It is then that Brother decides to
train Doodle to be a "normal human being."
Brother
first decides to teach Doddle how to walk and eventually, shortly before his
sixth birthday, Doodle does walk for the first time, with help of his Brother.
Encouraged by this, Brother decides to teach Doodle how to run, climb, swim,
row and even fight to prepare Doodle for school. However, almost a year after
the plan was made, Doodle was far from accomplishing his brother’s goals.
One
day during a storm, Doodle was staring out of the window watching the wind howl
and a big red bird appeared in their garden, looking sick and tired. The boys'
father identified it as a scarlet ibis, a tropical bird that was apparently blown
off-course by the storm. When the storm is over and the bird dies, Doodle,
pitying the creature, buries it, while Brother looks on and laughs.
Continuing
their training, the boys go to the nearby pond to practice rowing. The wind
kicks up again and it begins to rain. When they finally reach the riverbank,
Doodle is tired and frightened. Brother, angry and frustrated that Doodle could
not finish his training runs ahead, leaving the frightened boy behind. When
Brother does not see Doodle, he returns for him, his anger dissipated. To his
horror, he finds Doodle, lifeless, lying on the ground with blood flowing out
of his mouth, staining his throat and shirt a brilliant red.
So in
the end, Doodle died like the scarlet ibis: bloody red and far away from home.
I was crushed, to say the least. While in the beginning of the
book I had no hope for Doodle, as the story progresses I slowly started to
believe he would survive. I pulled so hard for Doodle and his brother, wanting
them to both have normal lives, I was devastated when Doodle died. I guess that
was the irony of the story for me. I wanted a normal life too. But even as a
kid I struggled with my sexuality. I wanted to fit in and be normal and
identified so strongly with the story it stuck with me. OMG! I do go on. Don’t
I? I didn’t mean to get so lost. But I hope I more than answered your question.
When writing a book
what is the easiest part and the hardest part for you?
The easiest part is the first and last chapters. Because my
stories usually start with just an idea they are very easy to start. Its
keeping the idea alive and interesting for at least sixty thousand words that’s
sometimes a struggle. Oh and tying up all the lose ends. That can be daunting.
Thank God for Andi, my editor. She finds the discrepancies I miss and fixes
them for me.
What does 2017 have
in store for us, from you, book wise?
2017, writing wise, will be a limited one for me. I have
been terribly distracted renovating the old house we bought over the summer and
trying to sell our business on Martha’s Vineyard. But I keep plugging at it. I
have a manuscript nearing completion call “From a Jack to a King,” and
hopefully it will drop around July. And I’m also working on “An Unconventional
Family,” the third and last in the “Unconventional” series. But no worries. Once
things settle down I will pick up my pace again!
Do you find it easy
or hard to write sex scenes in books?
Hard as hell. I mean really—how many ways can you have sex.
There are only a few parts. Part A goes here, part B goes there and part C.
Well…who knows where that goes? I try to make up the lack of options with a lot
of emotion, but yeah. It gets tough sometimes.
What is something that
you read in gay literature that irritates you because it’s not accurate?
For starters…being a gay man, I really get annoyed by sex
scenes that can’t really happen the way they are written or described. For
instance, part A can’t go into part B from that angle or from that position.
Not unless you’re one of the “Flying Wallendas,” and hanging from a trapeze.
LOL! And I know many of your readers are too young to know who the Flying
Wallendas are but look them up. And secondly, this is just a pet peeve of mine,
but I hate the stereotypical “cheaters.” Not every man cheats and I hate when
the angst to a story is cheating. I don’t judge any type of relationship open
or monogamous, but just be honest.
How can your fans
follow your work: Facebook, Twitter, etc…?
People are feeling
pretty hopeless right now in this community. There’s a great fight but morale
is down. As an author what could you say to your readers that can lift them up?
Maybe something you tell yourself every day?
I too am one with our community. Very saddened, disappointed
and fearful of what is happening in our country and more importantly inside our
government. But I try to keep a positive attitude. If not, I would spiral down
into a hole and never see the light of day for at least four more years.
Seriously, many mornings as I watch the news I want to throw my coffee cup at
the television, but I simply keep reminding myself, “This too shall pass.” History
repeats itself and we shall overcome. No one that I know, including me, is sitting
back and riding the horrible wave. People are standing up, shouting and being
heard. I do a great deal of that in personal life but I try to keep my business
page as neutral as I can. But don’t let that fool you into thinking I am
complacent, because I most certainly am NOT. I’m mad as hell.
FAST FIRE QUESTIONS
Are you a righty or a lefty? Righty
Coke or Pepsi? Coke
iPhone or Android? iPhone (so it syncs with my Mac and
iPad.)
What was your favorite subject in school? History
Least favorite subject in school? Math
Favorite alcoholic beverage? Yes please.
Iced tea or lemonade? Iced Tea.
Okay, Scotty, again
thank you!!! I can’t wait to see what you write for us this year.
Thank you again for having me. It was fun and thought
provoking for me. We all work so hard and such long hours that one has little
time to think about some of the thing you asked about so its fun to actually
think about this for if its only for a few brief minutes. XOXO
Good luck.
