BLOG TOUR STOP with EXCLUSIVE Short Story PLUS Giveaways: 'Running Blind' by Kim Fielding an

Tour Stops!

Oct 31 – MM Good Book Reviews – I Fought the Law

Nov 1 – The Novel Approach – Kyle at Yaoi Con Short

Nov 2 – Rhys Ford – VOA Interview with Greg Tremblay and Joel Leslie

Nov 3 – Mary Calmes – Exclusive Excerpt from Running Blind

Nov 4 – DSP Blog – Siblings

Nov 7 – Divine Magazine – Release Day Exclusive Excerpt

Nov 8 – Gay Book Reviews – The Lord and the Amnesiac Rogue

Nov 9 – Kimmer’s Erotic Book Banter – Kyle and Ecos Short

Nov 10 – Love Bytes – Losing Sense

Nov 10 – Tammy’s Two Cents – Universities

Nov 11 – Sinfully Gay – Running

Kimmers' Erotic Book Banter is so excited that Kim Fielding and Venona Keyes stopped by on their busy schedule to leave us a little exclusive "behind the scenes' for Running Blind. Kyle and Ecos short story!

In our story, Running Blind, Kyle Green is an established and in-demand voice over artist for movies, anime, commercials, and book narration. This short story is how Kyle got his start as the voice of Ecos, and takes place about six years prior to the current story timeline.

“Hold on, Kye, I have to get this.”

Matt was fascinated by the synchronicity of the colorful umbrellas going up as it began to rain.

He darted into the street to take a photo of the multicolored umbrellas, wet and reflected in the pavement with the backdrop of the bright, electronic signs. A graceful ballet with complete strangers, and they all knew the right way to move. I laughed when Matt was shooed off the road by the traffic officer. Don't know how Matt did it, but he got the officer to pose for a shot before bowing and making it back to the dwindling crowd on the sidewalk without getting a ticket. Matt and his goofy smile he got when he captured a shot he thought was perfect.

“You love the day-in-the-life shots,” I said.

“Yup, this one's a beauty. Might be good enough for the week's compilation for AP.”

He had been taking shots all day while I was in the studio recording for two Yaoi animes, Werewolf PTA and Seahorses in Love. Matt had never been to Japan and he was enamored with the way of things. Our umbrella, left behind in the hotel, was not doing us much good, and we stood out like the two gaijin that we were.

“Come on Matt, it's beginning to pour. My favorite Udon-ya is just up the street.”

Matt covered his lens and we made a run to the noodle bowl shop.

As we stepped inside, it was exactly as I remembered it from years ago. The delightful smell of the fresh soba and udon noodles in fragrant broth surrounded me in this little seven table eatery.

“Irasshaimase!” The greeting, just as I remembered it from Miss Nishimori. I smiled and Matt and I bowed and said in unison “Konnichiwa.” Matt was quick to learn the basics here in Japan. His greeting was almost as good as mine.

“Kyle?” she exclaimed.

“In the flesh!”

“Come in! Come in! I have your favorite noodles today and your favorite tempura!” She smiled. “Who is your polite friend?”

“This is Matthew Labrecque. He is my boyfriend.”

When Matt heard his name, he bowed again.

We passed the only other diners in the place, as Miss Nishimori sat us at a table next to the kitchen.

In English, she commented, “Oh my! You two are so handsome together! I will bring out your food shortly.”

Matt leaned over to me when we were alone. “We didn't order anything.”

“Oh, she knows what people want to eat. It's her gift.”

“You mean she know what you like to eat.”

Two cups of steaming brown rice green tea were gently set down on the table by the young girl. She gave us a sly smile before bowing and walking back into the kitchen. By the looks of her, she was a grandniece. Nice that rebellion ran in the family. I smiled as the aroma of my favorite tea surrounded my head and filled my senses. I sipped my tea and memories flooded back of the days I used to sit here after school, eating, then washing the dishes.

“Miss Nishimori bucked the trend in Japan; she never married. She was too busy taking care of her parents, then the restaurant. She has a twin sister and a brother who are high up in two corporations, like C-suite high up. They' re married and have children, so she didn't see the need to marry. Her shop here collects an eclectic mix of people that just didn't fit in Japanese society.”

“Like gangly teenaged American boys?”

I smiled wider. “Yes. And Emos, Goths, older singles, people with no family, and same sex couples all used to converge on this place. It was a place we all could be free from the pressure and structure society placed on us, and we could be happy.”

Matt's eyes bugged out when he saw the cart laden with many dishes. Miss Nishimori transferred them all to our table. Before us were my favorite noodle combinations--both hot and cold, steamed fish, tempura, and her famous carved pickled vegetables. Miss Nishimori bowed and left us for the only other restaurant patrons.

“Holy crap!” Matt said. “There's enough food to feed your entire family and mine!”

We both laughed, said “Let's eat!” and began to dig in. I was so hungry, I tuned out the conversation with the two men and Miss Nishimori, and began to slurp up my noodles.

We were about halfway done with our spread and the nearly orgasmic noises induced by the delicious food had died down to a hum, when one of the occupants from the other table, a tall, blond man in his twenties, American I thought, approached our table.

“Hi! My name is Daniel Beck,” he said as he stuck out his hand to shake. “Were you by any chance at the Audiophonic Studios yesterday and today?”

I shook his hand. Daniel Beck, Daniel Beck. I knew the name, but couldn’t place it. “Daniel Beck? I'm Kyle Green, and yes I was in the studio, recording tracks for a few animes and audiobooks.”

“Am I glad we found you here!” Daniel had a beautiful smile. He turned to his dining partner. “Aero! Obasan is correct! This is the person you've been looking for!”

An older good-looking Japanese man got up, laughed when Miss Nishimori told him she could find anyone faster than her CEO sister, and came over to the table. Aero?

I stood up, and Matt did too. There was only one Aero I knew of, and that was Aero Kurokuma, the mangaka who did the manga Ecos. The worldwide sensational manga Ecos. That was where I remembered Daniel's name from—it was on the manga too.

I bowed. “Kurokuma-sensei, it is an honor to meet you.”

Matt looked confused as I slipped back into Japanese, and he didn't know if he should bow or not. Daniel smiled at Matt, and shook his head and made a face to indicate he didn't need to bow.

Just then, Miss Nishimori came by and gestured all of us to move to a larger table in the center of the room—a table for four. As if by magic, food from both tables had been packed up into to-go bento boxes, each wrapped in a beautiful furoshiki, with good chopsticks tucked in, and a pot of tea with a plate of filled steamed buns were waiting for us.

“Who are they?” Matt whispered, as we made our way to the table.

“The creator of the manga, Ecos.”

“The multi-volume manga, Ecos that takes up one of our bookcases? The one where you have it in both English and Japanese?”

“That's the one.”

Matt seemed to be starstruck. He loved to read the Ecos manga compilation paperbacks as soon as they arrived at the house.

After tea was poured, Daniel began the discussion. “I've finally convinced Aero here to make Ecos into anime. At first, getting the studio and the art director was taking a while, as Aero is very picky about who will do his art. I thought we'd have to get Hayao Miyazaki or bust. We found two very talented, little known animators who have the same vision and love for Ecos as Aero does.”

Aero Kurokuma nodded his head, continuing on where Daniel left off. “Art can be copied by a sharp eye, but a voice I only have ever heard in my head was harder to achieve.”

“So we've been in the studio for three days, listening to auditions, and Aero has rejected each one of them. As we were passing by one of the studios, he heard your voice, Kyle, and wanted you for Ecos.”

“Nobody said anything to me.”

“And they wouldn't have told you. We tried to get your name, and they wouldn't give it to us. The agencies want this to be filled by their Japanese clientele first before looking to foreigners. And Aero wants the same person to voice Ecos in Japanese and English.”

“Your Japanese is that of a native speaker.,” said Aero. “ I thought you were Japanese. When we could not get resolution, we knew you were gaijin. That is why the studio withheld your information. They wanted Ecos to be all Japanese.”

I admired how Daniel and Kurokuma-sensei seamlessly continued the thread of thought and conversion; English and Japanese.

“So, Aero here made a few calls to our manga publisher, and they were supposed to get back to us when they found out who you were.”

I chuckled. “I'm sure there weren't too many native speakers who wanted to ruin their careers by recording Seahorses in Love and Werewolf PTA. It was a fluke I got that gig in the first place.” The table erupted in laughter.

“Please honor me by giving voice to Ecos in the best way you know how,” said Aero.

Wow, I was gobsmacked. This was probably the most well-known, well-loved manga ever, and I was going to be the voice. I closed my eyes and picked the scene where Ecos first appeared to save Ta Neko, who later became his sidekick. I began to recite.

When I finished, Kurokuma-sensei had closed his eyes and smiled. “Perfect.”

Title: Running Blind

Authors: Kim Fielding and Venona Keyes

Published: November 7, 2016

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Cover Artist: Anna Sikorska

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Length: 200 Pages

Tags: Gay; M/M

Blurb

Kyle Green is on top of the world. He and Matt have been together for ten years, and—as the voice of Ecos, the wildly popular anime character—Kyle is treated like a rock star in anime circles. But in an instant, a stroke leaves him blind. When photographer Matt gets the opportunity of a lifetime, Kyle reexamines their relationship, discovers it has been a safety net rather than a true romance, and sets Matt free to pursue his dream. Kyle’s life and career as he knew them are gone, and he must now find the courage and creativity to draft a new plan.

After being away for fifteen years, Seth Caplan comes home to Chicago to care for his mother and to partner with a small start-up tech company. He and Kyle meet after Kyle’s collision with a child’s sidewalk toy, and they hit it off. Kyle wants to get back into running, and Seth becomes his guide. As they get to know each other, they start seeing each other beyond their three-times-a-week runs. But Seth’s revelation of the dark reason why he left his career in California sends the relationship into a tailspin and leaves both men running blind.

Dreamspinner Press; ARe; Amazon

Kim Fielding

Kim Fielding is very pleased every "me someone calls her eclectic. Her books have won Rainbow Awards and span a variety of genres. She has migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States and currently lives in California, where she long ago ran out of bookshelf space. She’s a university professor who dreams of being able to travel and write full "me. She also dreams of having two perfectly behaved children, a husband who isn’t obsessed with football, and a house that cleans itself. Some dreams are more easily obtained than others.

Facebook; Goodreads; Twitter; Amazon

Venona Keyes

Venona Keyes is a modern woman who believes in doing it all; if doing it all is only in her head. She amazes people that she can be wholly unorganized yet pack a perfect carry on suitcase for a ten day trip to Paris. Ms. Keyes is a believer in the just in time theory, and can be seen sprinting in airports to the gate before the plane door closes.

Venona has experienced love and loss at the deepest level, and is thankful for writing and daydreaming, for it kept, and still keeps her sane. Writing also introduced her to some of the most supportive and wonderful people, to which she will always be grateful.

Venona is a voracious reader, loves her feline boys, volunteers at an animal shelter, attempts to cook everything in her CSA boxes, is an accomplished speaker, is a seasoned triathlete, and enjoys swimming, biking, hiking, skipping, dancing, and her beloved overgrown garden.

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