Author Spotlight Tuesday - Brynn Stein!

Today I have author Brynn Stein as my guest!

What is your favorite genre to write?

            So far, contemporary. With fan fiction, I liked science fiction the best, but it’s just not speaking to me yet for original fiction. I have dabbled with the supernatural a bit. My first published book was about a ghost, called “Haunted”. And I had a book submitted, but haven’t heard about a contract yet, about a young empath. But, other than those, all the stories have been contemporary.  They all contain a good bit of angst. I love angst. Life and love often come with pain, and I think I write that well. There have been a couple of comments about there being too much angst in my last book, “Living Again” but in my world, there’s no such thing as too much angst. I do tend to shoot for the happy ending though, after all that angst. “Through the Years” is different in that regard. There’s not the traditional happily ever after ending…though the ending is at least hopeful.

Sunrise or Sunset?

           

            Sunset. Sunrise comes what the heck too early for me. I’m not a morning person by nature. My profession forces me to be (I’m a teacher) but I much prefer evening. I do love watching the sunset. Of course, I’ve been known to catch a sunrise or two. When my eldest daughter was three, she came barreling into my room at literally the crack of dawn, saying, “Mommy, mommy, you’re missing it!”

            “Missing what?” I responded sleepily.

            “The sunrise!”

            She was so excited, I couldn’t just dismiss it. I got up, on a Saturday no less, and cuddled with her on the couch and watched the sunrise. It’s one of my fondest memories.

            Another famous, for me, sunrise was more recent when my mother, two daughters, and I went to the beach on the east coast. We got up early to go enjoy the sunrise over the ocean. It turned out to be the last vacation I took with my mother while she was still lucid. She’s in an assisted living facility now and not doing well. Both daughters have moved away from home now, even though I still see them often.

            That’s another sunrise I’ll remember forever.

 Through the Years is historical -- how does writing a historical differ from writing a contemporary?

           

            This particular historical wasn’t all that much different than contemporary…at least not most of it…because I actually lived through a good bit of it.  The early parts of it though I had to research and draw from experiences of older friends to make sure I was getting the colloquial language correct, and put all the historic events in correct order at the correct times.

            I worked very hard for authenticity and to avoid anachronisms. There was one that almost made it into the book. I had the characters use the word ‘frag’ (referring to the military usage) a year before it actually started being used. My wonderful editors from Dreamspinner caught that one. But I think we successfully avoided any others.

Long or thick?

            Um….<sputter>…both???

Who was easier to write -- Edward or Gene?

           

            The book was written in first person from Gene’s point of view, so I’d have to say Gene. Edward is actually written more as Gene sees him than from Edward’s own perspective at all. Gene tends to forgive Edward of a good bit, probably more than he should. He loves him after all. And I think that comes across.

How many daddies does it take to change a light bulb?

            LOL. I don’t know. I never actually address it in the book. Isn’t it funny how a lot of books don’t address common everyday things? Characters don’t tend to go to the bathroom, unless it drives the story somehow. We don’t see them brush their teeth unless something is going to happen while they do that that will be important to the story. So, no changing light bulbs in “Through the Years”.

            Although, now that you mention it, a character could be trying to change a light bulb, fall off the ladder and hit his head. Maybe even get amnesia or something. Hmmm…I might have to think of that for future books. <G>

What is your favorite time waster?    

            Facebook. I spend entirely too much time there. Not only to I spend hours reading others’ posts and commenting, I tend to get sucked into the various games there. Currently I’m on a Kitchen Scramble kick.

Black and white, or all the colors of the rainbow?

           

Depends. In my free time (when such an animal exists) I draw, and for that I usually stick to black and white. I’ve experimented with colors, but I do better with black and white.

But for everything else, definitely colors. The more the better. The brighter the better. Unless you’re talking about wall paint, then it needs to be a little more subdued. We painted our living room recently in what was supposed to be a pale mauve. It turned out to be more like “Little Girl’s Room” pink. It took some getting used to, but I like it now.

Do you procrastinate more at the beginning, middle, end of a story, or not at all?

            Again, it depends.

            For “Through the Years” I didn’t procrastinate at all. It came flowing out from start to finish and it was all I could do to keep up.

            For “Living Again”, it was in the middle. It was getting pretty heavy and I think subconsciously I needed a break. That’s what’s happening with the one I’m writing now, also. It’s getting dark, so my subconscious says, “Are you sure you don’t want to play just one more game of Kitchen Scramble”? 

Hard or soft?

           

            Depends.  Clothing, bedding, furniture? Soft.  Men? …well, you can probably guess. <G>

What's the sexiest food/meal?

            Crab legs. Especially the long, thick part. Dip that sucker in butter, then suck on it suggestively…some of the best evenings with then-hubby came after a dinner of crab legs. <G>

Abs or glutes?

            Glutes, definitely. Just something about a guy with a nice, tight, a$$....mmm. <G>

Can you share a few sexy lines from Through the Years?  

Here’s the start of one scene, but you’ll have to read the book for the rest of it. This is actually one of the first scenes I didn’t fade to black for, so there is more of it in the book. A lot more.

            I unbuttoned his shirt and pulled the shirttail out of his jeans. He lifted himself up a bit onto his elbows, so I could get the shirt out from under his back. He was surprised when I didn’t unbutton the cuffs. I pulled the shirt—and his arms—over his head and tied the shirttails to the slats of the headboard. He made a play of struggling, but I tied the shirt into a knot, as best as it would go, and trailed my fingers down his arms.

I kissed his forehead, his nose, his cheek, and started in on his neck. He wiggled in earnest then. He always liked to pet my hair when I did that, and now he couldn’t. I peppered kisses down his chest and belly and licked under his waistband. I thought he was going to give me a bloody nose from how hard his hips surged up against it. I unbuttoned his jeans and undid the zipper, then slowly pulled the waistband down.     

“Hey, that’s no fair!” He practically moaned as he lifted his hips to help me get rid of the jeans. “It’s my birthday. I should be doing the unwrapping.”

“Too bad,” I mumbled as I nibbled at the elastic of his boxers. “I won the race, old man.” I pulled at the elastic with my teeth while keeping my hands busy pulling the jeans ever lower.

“God, Gene.” He did groan that time. “You’re going to kill me.”

Comment below to be entered into the raffle I’m conducting during my blog tour.

Here’s how the raffle works:

I’ve listed the tour stops below and have given either the link to the blog in general or to my post specifically. Feel free to stop by as many as you want. For each stop that you comment on, you will receive one entry to the giveaway. I’ll check all the stops numerous times throughout the tour and will draw five winners on Thanksgiving Day, so even if you come in late to the tour, you can go back through the list and comment on past stops.

I’m giving away five prizes. 1) a signed paperback copy of Through the Years; 2 and 3) electronic copies of Through the Years, 4) your choice of either a signed paperback copy or an audiobook of Living Again (the audiobook won’t be available until December), and 5) an electronic copy of Haunted.

Blog Tour Stops for Through the Years

Blog Stop	Date	Blog Owner	Blog Address
1	October 6	Anne Barwell	http://annebarwell.wordpress.com
2	October 7	Grace Duncan	http://www.grace-duncan.com/
3	October 8	Jessica Skye Davies	http://jessicaskyedavies.blogspot.com
4	October 9	Shira Anthony	www.shiraanthony.com
5	October 10	Emma Tett	http://emmy-j.blogspot.co.uk
6	October 11	Kim Fieldings	http://kfieldingwrites.com/
7	October 12	Bike Books Reviews	bikebookreviews.blogspot.com
8	October 13	Tempest O’Riley	http://tempesteoriley.com
9	October 14	Sean Michael	http://seanmichaelwrites.blogspot.ca/
10	October 15	Allison Cassatta	Allisoncassatta.blogspot.com
11	October 16	Jana Denardo	http://jana-denardo.livejournal.com/
12	October 17	Louise Lyons	http://louiselyonsauthor.wordpress.com
13	October 18	PD Singer	http://pdsinger.com
14	October 20	Shae Connor	http://shaeconnorwrites.com
15	October 21	Suki Fleet	http://sukifleet.wordpress.com
16	October 27	Charlie Cochet	http://purpleroseteahouse.charliecochet.com
17	October 28	Elizabeth Noble	http://www.elizabeth-noble.com/my-blog
18	October 29	Tara Lain	http://taralain.com
19	October 31	Sophie Bonaste	http://sophiebonaste.blogspot.com
20	November 4	Kit Moss	http://kitmossreviews.blogspot.com
21	November 10	Lane Hayes	lanehayes.wordpress.com
22	November 13	Mike Rupured	http://rupured.com

Brynn Stein has always loved to write. Fan fiction, original fiction, whatever. While Brynn wrote in numerous genres – everything from mystery, to contemporary, to supernatural – she had always tended toward strong male characters. And then she discovered ‘slash’, male/male romance, and all those strong male characters were finally allowed to express their love for one another. It seems that there are always at least two characters clamoring to tell Brynn their story.

Brynn lives in Virginia near her two two-legged children, and with one four-legged one. Her supportive family encourages her writing and provides a sounding board for fledgling stories. When she isn’t writing, Brynn teaches children with special needs. In free time, when such a thing exists, she reads anything she can get her hands on, and haunts bookstores. She draws and paints, and enjoys the outdoors—especially if she can get to the beach—and is always thinking about her next story.

Please feel free to contact Brynn at any of the following:

https://twitter.com/BrynnStein
http://brynnstein2.wordpress.com
https://www.facebook.com/

or

brynnstein2@gmail.com