Wicked Faerie's Tales and Reviews: Black Dust by Lynn Charles - Blog Tour with Author Q&A and Giveaway

Author Name: Lynn Charles

Book Name: Black Dust

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27830185-black-dust

Publisher: Interlude Press

Cover Artist: Cover Art and Design by C.B. Messer

Release Date: April 7, 2016

Blurb:

Fifteen years after a tragic car crash claimed a friend’s life and permanently injures his then-boyfriend, Broadway musician Tobias Spence reconnects with his former love. As Emmett and Tobias explore their renewed relationship, the two men face old hurts and the new challenges of a long-distance romance. Will Tobias lose his second chance at love to the ghosts he can’t seem to put to rest?

Pages or Words: 312 pages

Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance

Excerpt:

"I can't, Emmett. I—can't go back."

"Then we are clearly not ready for any sort of commitment."

"Wait. You won't agree to—to us—unless I come to Indiana?"

"I won't," Emmett said. "It's all feeling a little one-sided to me, and I'm not okay with that."

"You don't understand."

"I do understand, Toby. I was there for everything that makes you afraid of that place."

"Yes. You were," Toby said, taking Emmett's hand in his. "But my concerns about going back have nothing to do with you."

"Maybe they should have something to do with me."

"That's—" Toby pulled his hand away. "That's not fair."

"It really is," Emmett said. He reached across the table for Toby's hand again. "Please?" Toby took his hand and Emmett squeezed, holding on as if he might never let go. "We experienced a great tragedy together. And while Scotty's parents lost their son, no one felt the things we felt. No one else woke up screaming and sweating when we heard the sounds of the crash in our sleep."

"Emmett—"

"No one else knew the fear of maybe never walking again. No one else lost weight and a semester of school because he might get thrown in jail. No one else felt the things we felt together. That's all ours. As much as you want to, you cannot take me out of the equation."

"But, that's just it, Em. I don’t want to feel those things again. I cannot walk back into that—that darkness."

Emmett pulled their joined hands to his lips and kissed Toby’s knuckles. "You already have. You have been so enamored—you've practically spent this entire week making love to my scars. You're there. And it's not so dark anymore."

"No, because you're whole again. You're not broken anymore."

Emmett saw it, then. He saw in the way Toby had almost obsessed over the ridiculous tattoo and Emmett's scars, as if begging for them to also bring him the powers that Derek had wished upon Emmett's body those years ago. He saw it in Toby's insistence that they start all over as if the accident never happened, as if the years of silence weren't strung between them like a rope and plank bridge connecting two separate lands.

So he said it. To give it power. To make it a truth they shared—like their shared tragedy. "And you still are. Broken."

Toby nodded, grasping at Emmett's fingers like a lifeline. "I'm so—" He took a deep, shuddering breath. "I'm so exhausted making sure no one knows."

"Oh, Toby." All the more reason “trying again” was a bad idea. Unready to let go, Emmett kissed Toby's fingers again. "Then come to my home," Emmett offered, trite as it sounded in his own ears. "I've remodeled the master and made a party room in my basement for the kids."

"You've never told me—"

"It's beautiful, really. It's on a couple of acres, and the back of the property is lined with a stream you can hear from the kitchen when the windows are open. It's very peaceful. It sounds like you need some peace."

"You deserve a beautiful life."

"So let me share it with you. At least think about it?"

Toby nodded and began to clean up. "Will you still come see me in San Francisco after school's out?"

"I don't know. I'd really like an answer before I agree to see you again."

"Okay. I'm sorry it's not as easy as it should be."

"I am too, Toby. Being with you was always so easy."

Buy the book:

Interlude Press web store: store.interludepress.com

Amazon: http://amzn.to/25KWsn3

Apple iBookstore: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/black-dust/id1059517904?mt=11

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/black-dust-lynn-charles/1122958897?ean=9781941530634

All Romance eBooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-blackdust-2014678-149.html?referrer=55feb862851f8

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/593332

Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/Black-Dust-Lynn-Charles/9781941530634?

Indiebound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781941530634?aff=InterludePress

Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Lynn Charles author of Black Dust.

Hi Lynn, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.

I'm happy to be here! I’m an author, wife and mother living in Central Ohio. I’ve been writing—from lavish journal entries to fictional stories—most of my life. My first novel, Chef's Table, was published in December 2014 with Interlude Press. Black Dust is about a couple who, fifteen years after a tragic car accident tore them apart, are given a second chance to heal and to love.

1) What is the nicest thing anyone has ever said about your writing?

I'm always fond of hearing that people disappear into the worlds I create. The food in Chef's Table, and hopefully, the music in Black Dust. Our world is multi-sensory, and it's especially important to use all the senses when writing, so it makes me especially happy when readers pick up on that and land in the pages smelling Emmett's cologne and hearing the soft touch of Toby's fingers on the piano keys.

2) Are you a full-time or part-time writer? How does that impact your writing?

Part-ish full time? I wrote part-time until middle of 2015 when finances fell into a place that allowed me to quit my job. But, I cannot say that I always put 40 hours into the task. I'm still working on time management and setting a good schedule for myself. But, I find having the time before me, and not having to stop what I'm doing to pick up and work a five hour shift helps me in ways I hadn't imagined. I tend to take awhile to wind into writing, so I was losing so much time after work shifts that I would lose entire days of productivity. But having a full day before me helps me just take a deep breath and GO.

3) What interested you about the theme of this book?

The idea of how the same tragedy can effect two different people two different ways. And how society views those effects. On the outside of this story, it would appear Toby has picked up, moved on and made something out of his life, while Emmett stayed near home and "just" became a teacher. I enjoyed the idea of challenging that, of redefining what really is a successful healing from something that happens at the major turning point of your life.

4) What is the most difficult part of writing for you?

Starting. Every day. Once I am going, unless it's a scene that cripples for one reason or another, I'm usually good. Sometimes, it amounts to me "pretending" that I'm an author. Just fake it, Lynn. And before I know it, words are happening and characters are playing and I forget to eat.

5) Name your four most important food groups.

I hope you're not looking for a healthy answer here. And we'll ignore my own health in answering because if health weren't a concern, my four main food groups would be: chocolate, bread, cheese and Jeni's ice cream. It wouldn't be a pyramid either—just a nice huge square of food.

Meet the author:

Lynn Charles earned her degree in music education and for many years performed and directed choral music. When she’s not writing, she can be found strolling through local farmers markets near her home in Central Ohio in search of ingredients for new recipes. Her novel Chef’s Table was published in 2014 by Interlude Press.

Where to find the author:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lynncharles.net

Twitter: http://https//twitter.com/LynnCharlesNet

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lynncharlesnet/

Website: www.lynncharles.net