Author Name: Debbie McGowan & Raine
O’Tierney
Book Name: Where the Grass is Greener
Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing
Cover Artist: Debbie McGowan
Release
Date: September 28, 2015
Blurb:
Mistakes were made, that’s for sure. But was it the night of passion? Or
walking away afterward?
That’s
the question Seamus Williams must face when he gets a late night phone call
from someone he never expects to hear from again.
“I
miss you, Shay.”
Chancey Bo Clearwater is a cowboy through and
through. He spends his days finding work on whatever ranch will take him and
his nights at the pool hall. He’s
always done what needed doing and never thought much about what he wanted. ’Til that drunken night with Seamus.
A world of problems now stand between Seamus
and Chancey exploring what might have been, the least of which being the
Atlantic Ocean. On one side there’s
Chancey’s
daughter who mood swings from angel to demon in two seconds flat; on the other
there’s the new lodger, hogging
Shay’s telly and his cornflakes,
and making private Skype time hard to come by.
Is this relationship doomed before it ever
begins? Or can a surprise announcement from Seamus’s brother be enough to help the two find their
second chance?
Where
the Grass is Greener features Seamus Williams – the older brother of Patrick from Leaving Flowers.
Pages or Words: 75,000 words
Categories: Bisexual, Contemporary,
Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Western/Cowboy
Excerpt:
“You’re quiet today, Seamus. What’s up?”
the landlord asked.
“Just
tired, is all. Got a leaky roof and the fecker was drippin’ all the damn night. And didn’t I get up this morning and kick the bucket?”
“You
look alive and well to me, so you do. I say well…you
look like shite.”
“Yeah,
thanks very much. Think I’ll
go join the lads, see if I can’t
get a few more insults thrown at me.”
Seamus gave the landlord a wry grin and went
over to the others, who were already well into the first of the three games
they got in every lunchtime. He watched one of them take a bad shot and
accidentally pot the black, the clunking of the ball as it rolled its way
through the machinery of the table setting Seamus’s
teeth on edge. John was right: he was dog-tired and probably did look like
shite. He’d
barely slept after the missed call, trying to decide whether to return it or
not. His mind played tricks on him, one minute convincing him it was urgent and
he should call back, the next telling him to stay strong. He’d made the move. He’d come back to Ireland. That’s what he’d
wanted all along.
He had wanted it. Ever since Mam died, his
sights had been set on coming home. He’d
only stayed for Paddy’s
sake, and now Paddy had Aidan there was nothing to keep Seamus in the States,
although he was no further away from his brother now than he had been in
Kansas. Never mind that he’d
already made the decision before he knew Aidan even existed. No. It was a good
decision. He was just—
He already knew, before he pulled his phone
from his pocket: same Kansas number, same caller. His thumb hovered over the
red button. Reject the call. Reject the call.
He answered.
“Seamus
Williams.”
“At
last! I thought I was calling a wrong number. Man, it’s so good to hear your voice.”
“Er,
yeah. Yours too. What’s
up? Has something happened?”
“Nothing
new. I just…”
The rapid-hard thump of Seamus’s heart filled the pause, two seconds, three,
four, and more. He drew breath to speak, but there was nothing to be said. Or
nothing he should say.
“I
miss you, Shay.”
***
The first call had been a drunk dial. Thank the
heavenly father that Seamus Williams hadn’t
picked up. Lord, the shit that might have come tumbling out of Chancey’s mouth. Now he was dead sober, but only
slightly more composed. Had he really just said he’d missed Seamus? He tried for a laugh. It
sounded as fake as it felt. Well he had missed Seamus. Nothin’ wrong with that.
“You
gonna say somethin’?” He knew he was putting on the accent. Drawing
out his vowels, droppings his g’s.
His grandmother—who
was from south Texas and who had an accent so deep it was digging itself a hole
to the centre of the Earth—used
to yell at him when he’d
get lazy with his words.
You jus’
sound ign’rant,
Chancey Bo Clearwater. Full name, cue snickering cousins, and young Chancey
sank down low in his chair, ashamed at the way he sounded despite the fact they
all talked just alike. The accent followed him when he moved to Oklahoma, where
he picked up a whole set of strange ‘O’s, and even having lived in Kansas now for the
better part of his life, it was still there underneath, just waiting to crop up
in stressful situations.
“I
didn’t expect to hear from you,
that’s all.”
“Surprise.” He was trying for friendly, for calm. Trying
to keep the I wanna put my fist through the wall and did you really mean to let
me find out through Lulu? out of his voice.
“Isn’t this call costing you a million dollars?”
“Skype.
On my phone. I bought minutes, y’know?”
“Is
that right then?”
“But
I didn’t
think. It’s
probably charging you too.”
“It’s fine.”
Is it? Seamus sure as hell wasn’t saying much. There was a long pause as
Chancey considered his next move. He’d
called because he’d
wanted to talk. Not talk. Not like that. Nothing to say on that front. Seamus
had made it all as clear as crystal dropped in the mud when he’d left his parting message with Lulu down at
the pool hall, Rack ’Em.
In a last-ditch effort, Chancey said the only thing he could think: “Boss Tina asked after you the other day when I
went around for work.”
That got a laugh out of Seamus, which gave
Chancey more relief than he cared to admit.
Buy the book:
eBook (Beaten Track store): http://www.beatentrackpublishing.com/shop/proddetail.php?prod=wtgig_format
Q & A with authors Debbie McGowan and Raine O'Tierney
Today
I’m very lucky to be interviewing Debbie McGowan & Raine O’Tierney authors
of Where the Grass is Greener!
Hi
Debbie & Raine, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little
about yourself, your background, and your current book.
Hello! We’re Debbie McGowan and Raine
O’Tierney, two halves of a fun writing whole. We started collaborating early in
2015 and we’ve been writing recklessly together ever since! Our new book is Where the Grass is Greener (book 2 of The Seeds of Tyrone)--in addition, we’re
working on book three, have almost completed a new humorous intrigue book, and
are about halfway into something dark and mysterious. Any time our queue gets
low, we just add things to the pile!
How
do you feel about e-books vs print books?
DM:
When ebooks first became available, I had
a Palm PDA, and I read all of Dan Brown’s books on it. It was liberating (the
format, not the books), but I was still attached to paperbacks. Now I have a
Kindle, and I love the portability of it, the fact that I don’t get cramp
holding a book open, and I can read in the dark. I’m an official convert. As a
publisher, I also love how easy it is to correct errors in ebooks, because no
matter what process a book has been through with editors, proofreaders, etc.
there will always be some small error or omission that an eagle-eyed reader
will spot.
RO:
I am one of those totally weird people
who listens to eBooks on her Kindle.
I don’t mean through Audible. I mean the on-board robot voice. I’m always
listening to Debs books that way and it drives her nuts because it makes the
inflection weird! I love my Kindle because I can read comic books on there as
well. (Especially the ones I get from Comixology which you can read panel by
panel.) But what I absolutely have to
have in print? My own books. I like to be able to put my hands on them and say I did this. It’s such a cool feeling!
What
process did you go through to get your first book published?
DM: The traditional process. Synopsis plus first
three chapters off to lots and lots of publishers and agents. I was eventually
offered a contract with two different publishers. The one I went with was a
small, new publisher with similar ideals to Beaten Track.
RO:
I had been editing Sweet Giordan for years when my co-workers went to RT Convention in
Kansas City. They came home with a business card from Dreamspinner Press and
said “SUBMIT TO THEM!” so I did. Six weeks later or however long? I was
accepted!
How
do you find or make time to write?
DM:
Recently I took a writing holiday,
because I wasn’t finding any time to write at all. I’ve kept up a more healthy
writing routine since, but I have to consciously stop work on other people’s
books to work on my own. There are never enough hours in the day.
RO:
Yeah, sometimes I have to DEMAND Debbie
go work on her own stories. She’s way too giving. It’s because she believes in
other authors so much. As for me? I really have no life outside of the library
and writing. So I write on my breaks and on the weekend. Helps that I can write
pretty fast.
Name
one person who you feel supported you outside of your family members?
DM: It goes without saying that my co-author does
this all the time. She is an all-in-one beta-reader, editor, cheerleader,
inspirer. The other person I owe my writing to is Andrea Harding. She started
reading my books ten years ago, and without her encouragement, after Champagne I wouldn’t have put any other
books out into the world, and the entire Hiding Behind The Couch series would
not exist.
RO:
My friend Lisa has gone above and beyond
in her support of my writing. She has read almost every one of my stories in
their painfully unedited draft-form and the way she suggests her changes
“clicks” in my brain. I always find a new depth with her suggestions. Debbie is
also incredibly supportive of my
writing. She reached out to me last year around this time and asked me to write
for Beaten Track Publishing. I was so honored, I about lost my mind. She lets
me write the most insane things. She always just says: go for it!
Tell
us about a book you’re reading now.
DM: I’m reading Fair
Play by Josh Lanyon. It’s the sequel to Fair
Game and I believe there’s a book three to come. It’s about an ex-FBI
agent, retired due to a shooting injury, who is now a university professor. I’ve
been reading it for almost a year, simply because I fit it in around all the
work-related reading I do. I might finish it before Christmas...2016. :)
RO:
I am not actually reading anything at
this second, though I’ve got three audiobooks on my desk at work I want to
start. Ice Twins, The Martian, and Come as You Are.
Meet the authors:
DEBBIE McGOWAN is an author and publisher based
in a semi-rural corner of Lancashire, England. She writes character-driven,
realist fiction, celebrating life, love and relationships. A working class
girl, she ‘ran
away’ to London at seventeen, was
homeless, unemployed and then homeless again, interspersed with animal rights
activism (all legal, honest ;)) and volunteer work as a mental health advocate.
At twenty-five, she went back to college to study social science— tough with two toddlers, but they had a ‘stay at home’
dad, so it worked itself out. These days, the toddlers are young women (much to
their chagrin), and Debbie teaches undergraduate students, writes novels and
runs an independent publishing company, occasionally grabbing an hour of sleep
where she can.
RAINE O'TIERNEY wants to change the world…one sweet story at a time.
Known as "The Queen of the Sweetness"
(well, a few people have said it anyway!) Raine loves writing sweet,
character-driven stories about first loves, first times, fidelity,
forever-endings and...friskiness? In addition to her solo works, she’s one half of a collaborative team with author
Debbie McGowan.
When she’s
not writing, Raine is either playing video games or fighting the good fight for
intellectual freedom at her library day job. She believes the best thing we can
do in life is be kind to one another, and she enjoys encouraging fellow
writers.
Contact her if you’re interested in talking about point-and-click
adventure games or discussing which dachshunds are the best kinds of dachshunds!
Where to find the authors:
Debbie's Social Media Links
Twitter: twitter.com/writerdebmcg
Facebook: facebook.com/DebbieMcGowanAuthor and
facebook.com/beatentrackpublishing
YouTube: youtube.com/deb248211
Tumblr: writerdebmcg.tumblr.com
LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/writerdebmcg
Google+: plus.google.com/+DebbieMcGowan
Website: debbiemcgowan.co.uk
Raine's Social Media Links
Homepage: Raineotierney.com
LGBT Author Interviews: raineotierneyhatparty.blogspot.com/
Facebook: facebook.com/RaineOTierneyAuthor
Twitter: twitter.com/RaineOTierney
Tour Dates & Stops:
9-Oct
- My Fiction Nook, Wicked Faerie's Tales and Reviews, Inked
Rainbow Reads,
MM Good Book
Reviews
Rafflecopter
Prize: e-copy of one Debbie McGowan title and an
e-copy of one Raine O'Tierney title (winner's preference of file type and
title)
Thank you so much for hosting us!! <3
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