My web site is: www.andrewgreybooks.com
List of books:
Satyr Series:
Children of Bacchus
Thursday’s Child
Child of Joy
Winter Love
Spring Reassurance
Bottled Up Series:
The Best Revenge
Bottled Up
Uncorked
An Unexpected Vintage
Farm Series
Love Means… Courage
Love Means… No Shame
Love Means… No Boundaries
Love Means… Freedom
Love Means… No Fear
Gym Series
Spot Me
Pump Me Up
Core Training
Crunch Time – Mar 2011
Other Novels
A Taste of Love
A Shared Range
Accompanied by a Waltz
A Troubled Range – Mar 2011
Seven Days – Apr 2011
Bio:
Andrew grew up in western Michigan with a father who loved to tell stories and a mother who loved to read them. Since then he has lived throughout the country and traveled throughout the world. He has a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and works in information systems for a large corporation. Andrew's hobbies include collecting antiques, gardening, and leaving his dirty dishes anywhere but in the sink (particularly when writing) He considers himself blessed with an accepting family, fantastic friends, and the world’s most supportive and loving partner. Andrew currently lives in beautiful, historic Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
How do you usually come up with a story idea? Dreams? Writer’s journal? Eavesdropping on conversations? Newpaper?
My ideas come from everywhere, people I meet, news stories, vacations, works of art, things I remember. Accompanied by a Waltz came to me while I was riding a tour boat on Lake George.
What is your process from idea to first draft?
I get the idea, develop my characters and start writing. I don’t have a well defined process other than to write what I feel. I usually get the idea for the beginning of a story and I also know where I want it to end. The rest is a journey.
Who or what inspires you when your creative mojo is lagging?
My partner Dominic is the main inspiration for me. We’ve been together almost seventeen years and I could not write or wouldn’t know what true love was if it wasn’t for him. He takes care of me and supports me so I can write. Without him, I could not do this.
Who is your Yoda—your seasoned mentor?
I wish I had one, but I don’t. A couple years ago I found a local chapter of Romance Writers of America. The ladies in my chapter are a wonder source of support and knowledge.
What importance do you place on writing workshops? What workshops would you recommend to us?
I have never attended a writer’s workshop of any type. Once a year, my writer’s group goes on a retreat and monthly we have speakers or discuss various topics around craft or story development, but that is as close to a writer’s workshop as I’ve ever gotten.
What person would you like to thank for inspiring you in your writing aspirations? How did this person help you?
I have to give a lot of credit to Dominic and my parents. When I told them I was writing a novel, none of them laughed or made fun. They encouraged me and my mother even read my early stories. (Now that was an eye opening experience for her.)
Have you ever used songs for inspiration?
Yes. A few years ago, Dominic and I were at a symphony performance of Beethoven’s Ninth symphony. During the performance I got the idea for Robbie, my violinist who happens to be blind from Love Means… No Boundaries.
Do you play music when you write? If so, what kind? Or, do you have to have silence or background noise to set your writing muse free?
I don’t generally listen to music, but I generally have the television on so I can ignore it. Either that, or I sit in the kitchen when Dominic cooks.
Do you read in a different genre than you write? If yes, why? If you read in the same genre that you write, do you feel that it influences your writing in any way?
I read a lot of different things from m/m romance to mystery and adventure stories. All of it influences my writing because I write what I like.
Have you ever given assistance to a struggling new writer? Has another writer ever come to your aide? How?
I have given a number of writers moral support mainly in my writers group. The most important advice I’ve ever given is not to give up. But I also have critique partners and we read each other’s work and provide feedback.
What do you consider your greatest accomplishments in your career so far?
Have a work that will be out on April called Seven Days. In every life there are pivotal days that change everything. This story has seven of them.
If you won the big lottery, what would you do with the money? Would give any of it to charity? If so, which one?
If I won the lottery, the charity I’d probably donate to would be my local library. Books and knowledge are important and libraries are suffering. There is a great tradition of community libraries in this country that is under threat by budget cuts and apathy.
What is the best advice you want to give to a new writer?
Write what you like, enjoy the process, and never give up. Success is not being published or selling a million books, but finishing a manuscript that you can be proud of.
If you could choose an animal for a mascot, what animal would it be? What do you admire about this animal? Do you feel you have qualities similar to this animal? If so, what are they?
I’d like to think that my mascot would be a Bengal tiger. Fierce, but intensely beautiful. They are also loners, which I definitely am, especially when I’m writing.
If money, education and fear factors were set aside, what three careers would you like to attempt other than writing?
I’d love to be a singer on Broadway, a painter, or an antique dealer. I would love to be an artist.
If money, talent and fear were no object, what big adventure would you like to have?
I would love to go on safari in Africa, see the savannah and all the animals that live there. I also think I’d look great in a pith helmet.
What characteristics do you like to instill in your heroes? What characteristics do you feel are necessary for a good heroine?
My stories have two heroes and I like them to be surprising in some way. The physically powerful man that’s fragile or injured on the inside. The smaller man whose smart and takes charge.
I don’t really write heroines since my stories are m/m romances, but I do write a really good bitch.
If you had the power to change two things in the world, what would those two things be?
I’d wipe out hunger and make it illegal for large trucks to ever drive in the left lane on the freeway.
If could have a super power for a day, what would it be? Why?
If I could have one superpower for a day, it would be the ability to fly. I think that would be unbelievable even if just for a day.
Blurb
Jonathon Pfister’s life has settled into a maudlin existence since the death of Greg, his lover of seventeen years. But Greg’s daughter Jeana has decided she’s had enough, so she rents a small apartment in Vienna for him as a Father’s Day present. Jonathon agrees to go, against his better judgment.
Surprisingly, Jonathon finds the change of scenery refreshing, and he even makes a young friend in Hans, his landlady’s son. Then Hans’s older brother returns home, and Jonathon begins to truly awaken. Fabian touches something inside him, especially when the younger man takes it upon himself to woo Jonathon in full Viennese style, with a waltz. But shadows of the past and expectations for the future loom over them both and will have to be banished for their lovers’ dance to stay in step.
Excerpt
At the docks, Jonathan removed the cover from their small boat. When they’d first bought the cabin, they had just had a fishing boat with a motor. After the first time they’d gotten caught in the rain, Greg had bought a larger boat with a Bimini top. After transferring their gear from the car to the boat, Greg parked the car while Jonathon started the boat motor, and soon they were skimming over the surface of the water, Greg at the wheel, Jonathan sitting next to him.
Greg took his time, like he usually did, keeping the speed down and letting the peacefulness of the lake, trees, and sky work their magic. A few homes could be seen, but most of them sat back far enough that most of the lake looked like the trees came right to the water, like they were in the middle of nowhere.
Almost at the far north end of the lake, Greg slowed the motor and eased the boat against the dock. Jumping out, Jonathan secured the craft, and Greg cut the engine. The sound echoed for a split second and then faded away. There was nothing to replace it except the slosh of the water on the shore and the birds calling from the trees.
The sun was already starting to set by the time they’d hauled everything up from the dock to the four-room log cabin. Outside and in, the place was rustic domesticity at its best. Carrying the suitcases inside, Jonathan placed them in their bedroom, the larger of the two. He loved this room, with its log walls, pine plank ceiling, pine windowsills, and rough beams.
“Would you like me to unpack in here while you check out your kitchen?”
“Okay,” Jonathan answered, “but I’ll meet you on the porch in twenty minutes.”
“Deal.”
Jonathan checked out what had been provided and smiled when he saw fresh steaks, chicken, and a foil packet marked “use first” in rough script. “Looks like lake trout for supper.” God bless their caretaker, Winston, a lifelong laker and their neighbor one cove up.
Grabbing two beers from the fridge, Jonathon carried them to the porch, setting them on a table before standing at the birch-branch railing, looking out over the water. It wasn’t long before a pair of arms snaked around his waist and a head rested on his shoulder. “When you asked to buy this place ten years ago, I didn’t understand why.” Greg’s breath tickled his ear.
“Do you know now?” Jonathon leaned into the touch as a loon called to its mate from the lake below.
“The peace and quiet gets into the soul. I didn’t know how much I needed it.”
“That’s why I bought it, but not why this place is so important now.” Jonathan turned in Greg’s embrace. “This place is important now because when we’re here, you’re mine and mine alone.” Jonathan couldn’t help hugging Greg tightly. “There are no phones, no office, no kids, no courts, no lawyers,” he whispered in his lover’s ear, “and before you say it, you don’t count. You’re not a lawyer when you’re here. You’re just my lover. That’s why this place is so important. I would have sold everything I owned to have a place like this with you.” Jonathon felt a hand on his hair, petting softly. His emotions were very close to the surface, and he didn’t look up.
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