I'm very pleased to welcome author Kay Berrisford here today. Kay is the author of several exciting paranormal/fantasy m/m novels--possibly my very favorite genre to read!
Welcome, Kay. Please tell us a
little about your new release.
Simon, Sex, and the Solstice Stone, is about a lonely,
geeky history student who meets the man of his dreams in the middle of a stone
circle that he’s studying. One problem.
The amazing guy, Aubrey, claims to be a time traveler from 1647. Despite their
mutual attraction, Aubrey’s desperate to get home before Christmas. What’s more, Aubrey’s method of shifting
through time involves outdoor sexual rituals at the stone circle, and shy
Simon’s not entirely sure he’s up for it—particularly as he’s trying to resist
falling in love with this man who seems desperate just to shag and leave him.
So there’s all sorts of trouble ahead for my guys, particularly when Simon
realizes Aubrey’s getting home is a matter of life and death.
Sounds intriguing. What inspired
you to write this book?
Loose Id put out submissions call for a romance
encompassing two key dates in the holiday season. E.g. your lovers meet at Thanksgiving, fight
through to Christmas, and then realize they’re soul mates on New Year. Loving
this idea, I decided to focus my seasonal novella between the winter solstice
(21st December) and Christmas, and devised a plot that encompassed magic, demonic
possession, stone circles, and of course, time travel. As a Brit, I originally decided
to steer away from Thanksgiving. After
all, I’ve never yet set foot on US soil, so who am I to write about one of the
most important dates in the US calendar?
Yet back in the 1600s—as in most periods since—British
and American history were intimately intertwined. I decided that Aubrey had
been born about 1621, and busily looking up that year, I discovered it had been
cast in history as when the Pilgrim Fathers’ celebrated their first
Thanksgiving, in Plymouth, New England. Although this particular harvest
ceremony in 1621 was arguably not
Thanksgiving in the modern sense, the earliest Thanksgiving-style ceremonies
certainly originated in this period—as a form of religious ceremony devised by
the Puritans in the English Civil War period, to differentiate their practices
from Catholic and Anglican tradition. And there I was, busy reading about the
English Civil War, in which Aubrey had served in Cromwell’s army.
Thoughts about Thanksgiving kept lurking, whether I
wanted them or not, and American history kept distracting me too. Aubrey’s modern day lover, Simon, lives in
the medieval part of the city of Southampton, and I wandered down there one day
to do some plotting and to seek out a romantic place for Aubrey and Simon to kiss. And where did I find myself? Under the Mayflower memorial, from where the
Pilgrim Fathers set sail in August 1620 (The Mayflower subsequently set sail
from Plymouth after its sister ship, Speedwell, sprung leaks, and they had to
turn back. Otherwise that ‘first’ Thanksgiving might have been in a place
called Southampton, New England!)
In the end, I decided to be brave. There was clearly a
place for Thanksgiving in my book, not least to give Aubrey and Simon longer
than the four days between the solstice and Christmas to fall in love! I got
busy mainlining Thanksgiving stories, researched Thanksgivings old and new—and
nagged a few American friends to make sure I wasn’t making any major
errors. So I’ve written a Thanksgiving
to Christmas book without having been to America after all. Then again, I’ve
written a time travel novel without ever having travelled through time. It will
be easier to rectify my lack of US experience than fulfil that dream, even if I
could understand the maths behind quantum theory! So I hope my American readers will forgive
me.
I'm sure we will. ;) So tell me, what character
do you like best? What is it you like about him/her? Can you see yourself in
any of your characters?
I’m definitely
most like Simon. In fact, experience and lifestyle-wise, he’s the most like me
of any character I’ve ever written. He’s
a history student, and I studied history. He ever lives in the same town as
me—although I don’t live in the old part of the city. I’d like to, though! Personality-wise, we’re not quite the same,
though we’re both guilty of snappiness sometimes and can be over keen to
please! I like Aubrey too, though.
What’s not to love about a gorgeous, brooding, Civil War soldier, who’d fight
to the death for those he loves?
Do you have a
dream cast for your book?
Benedict
Cumberbatch as Aubrey! Yummy!
Please tell us
in one sentence why we should read your book.
It’s got time
travel, magic, hot guys, danger, and al fresco sex—all wrapped up with a
Christmas bow!
Well, you've certainly sold me on it! Any other books
in the works? Goals for future projects?
I’m
working on the third novel in my Greenwood
series, which are a series of standalone m/m romances set in the Greenwood—a
magic realm of sex, magic, bondage, and blood, inspired by the myths and
legends of the New Forest, a historical royal hunting ground about ten minutes
drive from where I live.
The
books can also be read in any order, though certain themes unite them. Now I
think of it, one of those themes is passionate al fresco lovemaking. Maybe that
is a common theme of all of my books, as there’s a fair bit in Simon, Sex, and the
Solstice Stone! While Bound
to the Beast, my previous Greenwood novel, was the tale of Herne the
Hunter, my WIP, Lord of the Forest,
features the most famous Greenwood legend of all—Robin Hood. I’ve stripped his
story right back to the most ancient legends and mingled them with the real
history of the early thirteenth century. As with Herne, uniting Robin with the
love of his life is proving quite an adventure.
My other WIPs
include my first shifter novel and a medieval fairytale.
Wow. I know we'll all be anxious to read those! How did you celebrate the sale of your first book?
When Bound for the Forest came out, I was at
my parents, and my dad had just built a new garden shed. So we had a ‘shed party’ complete with
champagne! We said we’d repeat the event with consequent releases, but we
haven’t. When Simon, Sex, and the Solstice Stone, was released, I was visiting my
parents again. But it was November and far too cold for hanging out at the
bottom of the garden. We celebrated with just the wine!
What was your
most rewarding experience since being published?
Every time
somebody tells me they enjoyed one of my books J Just those few words can mean so much and
make all the time and effort worthwhile.
What was your favorite book when you were a child/teen?
When I was
about seven or eight, my favorite books were The Lion, The Witch, and the
Wardrobe, and a rather more obscure tome called Beaver Towers, by an author called Nigel Hinton. It was about a boy who was swept away by a
magic cloud that took him to a remote island.
Once there, he became embroiled in a war between the animals of the
island and a witch called Oyin. I kid you not, Oyin is about the most scary
character EVER. She’d turned some of the animals to stone and the rest were
waiting in the dungeon of Beaver Towers, the castle which she had captured,
waiting to be burned alive! When reading
it as an adult, my husband told me he found it rather stressful. I think that’s
why I loved it. Unlike a lot of
children’s book back then, Beaver Towers conjured a genuine sense of danger and
threat.
What's your
favorite season?
This year, I’ve
really loved autumn. We spent the end of October in Berlin, and the colors in
the garden of Schloss Charlotenburg, near where we stayed, were just stunning. The New Forest back home in England looked
amazing too.
Favorite places
to travel?
I’m lucky
in that my husband’s job has us jetting all over the world. In the last year
we’ve been to Montreal, Florence, Milan, Dubrovnik, and Berlin, and next year
we’re off to Washington DC among other places (my first trip to the USA!) My favorite cities are probably Berlin, Budapest,
Venice, and Melbourne. The first three
were stuffed with amazing history and sights. Melbourne I love because after a
grueling 24 hour flight, I felt instantly at home there. Everyone was just so friendly!
Favorite color?
Green. Unwaveringly, always, without a doubt, green.
The color of nature and life J
Can't argue with that. If you could
travel in a Time Machine would you go back to the past or into the future and
why?
I’d definitely
want to go backwards, as long as I could have a return ticket! I’m a history buff—as must be obvious by
now—and I’d love to travel about Europe in the early 1900s and see all the
color and life in the beautiful medieval cities, before so much was destroyed
in the two world wars. I also love the
Tudors, but I’m not sure I’d want to go back to visit the court of Henry or
Elizabeth or anything. I don’t want to
get my head chopped off!
I think my main
reservations about traveling back in time would be similar to Simon’s in Simon,
Sex, and the Solstice Stone. I want to have
a look around, but I don’t want to catch the Black Death, be accused of being a
witch—or exist too long without access to tooth paste!
On a side-note, when near our local university yesterday, I saw a girl wearing a
sweatshirt with the slogan: “Historians.
Better than Time Travel than Scientists.” How cool is that?
That's great! Now let's take a closer look at Simon, Sex, and the Solstice Stone:
Blurb: Simon’s holiday season is
looking grim. His boyfriend’s dumped him, and his self-esteem is rock bottom.
Stuck in the UK where nobody celebrates Thanksgiving, the shy, geeky student
drowns his sorrows at an ancient stone circle. When a gorgeous stranger,
Aubrey, shows up and attempts to seduce him, Simon is flattered but also
freaked—especially when Aubrey claims to be from an historic sex cult who’d
uncovered the true powers of the circle. It’s a time machine. Aubrey intended
to travel back three hundred and sixty-five days, but an error propelled him
forward three hundred and sixty-five years into a world alien to him.
Simon reluctantly takes the lost time
traveler under his wing, and Aubrey teaches Simon the ways of sex, love, and
magic. Simon’s never felt so alive, but as their bond grows, Aubrey remains
determined to perform a dangerous ritual and return home at the winter
solstice. Fearing he’s no more to Aubrey than a sexual sacrifice, Simon must
discover the dark secrets of Aubrey’s pagan past. Only then can Simon choose
between risking all for the man he loves or a lonely Christmas without him.
Excerpt:
“Wh-why
have you brought me here?” stuttered Simon. “You should have called an
ambulance.”
Confusion
clouded Aubrey’s sharp eyes, but he seemed to dismiss Simon’s words. “Here,
drink.”
Aubrey
picked up a plastic bottle of mineral water that had been in Simon’s bag,
unscrewing the top with his teeth. Simon took it, and Aubrey cupped a hand
about the back of his neck, lifting him so he could take a swig.
The
cool liquid refreshed and wet Simon’s dry lips, but his head hurt as much as
ever. As for Aubrey? The man seemed frantic to keep Simon with him.
After
screwing the lid back on, Simon threw the bottle down and slumped back into the
man’s lap. “Look, you can take the phone. I’ve got nothing else of value.”
Well, there were the car keys in his pocket, but he was not going to draw
attention to those. Strange the man hadn’t already taken them. “Just…please let
me go.”
“I am
not robbing you.” Aubrey stroked Simon as he might a feral cat ready to sink
fangs into him any minute. “Neither would I keep you here against your will.”
“Then
what the fuck are you doing?” Simon
rolled off the man’s lap, catching himself on his hands, and then collapsed
face-first into the carpet of leafy mulch. Feeling Aubrey’s touch on his
shoulder, he turned over and glared.
Aubrey
reached toward him, then snatched his hand back. “Wounds like this can be
dangerous. You must—”
“What
the hell do you expect me to do?” Simon moaned, pressing his hand to his head.
“We’ve known each other for five minutes, and you stuck your tongue down my
throat.” He’d not complained about that bit at the time, but it seemed a moot
point now. “And why are you carrying a knife? It’s against the law. Don’t you
know?”
Aubrey
slid his hand to the hilt. Simon’s blood congealed to ice, but the man drew the
dagger only to place it on the ground between them. “If it ails you so much,”
he said, “I throw it down.”
Simon
grabbed the weapon and examined it. Though the cutting edge had been sharpened,
stained with something dark red that looked disturbingly like blood, the flat
was dull and mottled through heavy use. As for the handle, with its spiral
motif and slender hand guard that curved up around the hilt like a bow, Simon
could jump to only one conclusion.
This
weapon had been meticulously crafted and dated from the English Civil War. It
looked like the kind pikemen and musketeers carried as a backup. Simon regarded
Aubrey’s dress anew. The man’s short trousers had buttons at the knees, much
like seventeenth-century-style breeches. The white shirt, which the rain had
set clinging to Aubrey’s shoulders, could have dated from any time in the past
six centuries but didn’t appear of modern cut.
“Are
you with the Sealed Knot or something?” Simon placed the dagger down on his
side farthest from Aubrey. “Is that why you’re camping here? You’re in one of
those history reenactment groups?”
Aubrey
sucked in a shaky breath and drew his fingers across his lips. “You speak of
many strange things. Pray tell me. What year is this?”
“Eh?”
Simon wrinkled his nose. “It’s 2012.”
“Oh ye
gods.” Aubrey’s weather-bronzed face whitened.
Suspicion
stole through Simon’s veins. “What’d you think it was?”
Aubrey
looked so helpless. He inched his shoulders up in a shrug, and his voice
cracked. “Yesterday it was 1647.”
The
man’s meaning impacted Simon like a second blow to the head. “Say what?”
“I…don’t
know.” Aubrey scanned the ground as if seeking answers amid the leaves and
fungi. “I was supposed to go back. To undo…” He trailed off and was quiet for a
long moment, squeezing his lower lip between his teeth. “Something went
horribly wrong.”
“You
bet it did.” Simon performed the mental mathematics. “Just assuming I believe
you, and I’m not saying I do, you’ve been sent forward three hundred and
sixty-five years.”
“I was
supposed to go back three hundred and
sixty-five days! I have to get home.”
Aubrey covered his face with his hands, and Simon resisted an impulse to reach
out, to comfort him. This didn’t strike him as a man easily reduced to despair.
But
that was not the issue. Simon was still a captive, kind of. And Aubrey tore
time? He’d actually completed that andaga ritual?
Well,
the Stones were powerful—Simon harbored no doubts about it—and Aubrey did
remind him of Doctor Who, but… No, the Stones were not a time machine. That was just insane.
He made
a renewed attempt to raise himself. “I’m the one who needs to get home.”
“No!”
Aubrey grabbed him, gouging into his waterproof jacket. “Since I got here,
you’re the only person who’s understood anything of what I speak. I need you.”
Aubrey
pleaded with his eyes and his lips, his anguish as tangible as a punch to
Simon’s solar plexus. Coupled with his ravishing looks, it was all too much to
bear. No way could this guy need him. At best Aubrey had to be a rival student
taking the piss. Shit, maybe Pete put him up to it. At worst he was a psycho
toying with his prey.
Simon
twisted from Aubrey’s grasp, forcing words from a fear-tight throat. “Get away
from me.”
