BOOK TOUR w/ AUTHOR INTERVIEW and GIVEAWAY: 'Glass Tidings' by Amy Jo Cousins
Title: Glass Tidings
Author: Amy Jo Cousins
Published: December 5, 2016
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Cover Artist: L.C. Chase/Deviant Art
Genre: Erotic Romance; Contemporary Romance
Length: 237 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; Holiday: Christmas
BLURB:
Eddie Rodrigues doesn’t stay in one place long enough to get attached. The only time he broke that rule, things went south fast. Now he’s on the road again, with barely enough cash in his pocket to hop a bus to Texas after his (sort-of-stolen) car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, Midwest, USA.
He’s fine. He’ll manage. Until he watches that girl get hit by a car and left to die.
Local shop owner Grayson Croft isn’t in the habit of doing people any favors. But even a recluse can’t avoid everyone in a town as small as Clear Lake. And when the cop who played Juliet to your Romeo in the high school play asks you to put up her key witness for the night, you say yes.
Now Gray’s got a grouchy glass artist stomping around his big, empty house, and it turns out that he . . . maybe . . . kind of . . . likes the company.
But Eddie Rodrigues never sticks around.
Unless a Christmas shop owner who hates the season can show an orphan what it means to have family for the holidays.
Hi Amy, thanks for allowing us to be a part of your Glass Tidings release. Do you prefer Amy or Amy Jo?
I actually go by AJ in real life, which comes from years of tending bar. Tipsy people have a really hard time with Amy Jo. It becomes Mary Beth, Ellen Joy, etc. way too easily! AJ was easier, plus it always felt like it fit me better. AJ, I like it, and will do my best to remember it. So, AJ, this is your first time here at the Banter, welcome! As is customary I like to ask a few fun questions straight away just to set you at ease. Ready?
Absolutely! And thank you for having me! I love doing interviews. They always make me think of something new about my book or myself, which is fun.
That's what we like to hear! First, you have a very vocal presence on social media. Which is your favorite platform and why?
I’m probably equally drawn to Twitter and Facebook, both. I’m not naturally succinct (that cackling noise you hear is everyone who knows me laughing at the mere idea), so FB posts give me a lot of room to write in more depth about either social justice issues or books I’m reading and loving. But I learn so much from Twitter, it’s ridiculous. I follow a ton of incredibly smart people and the education I get there is amazing. I’m constantly reading and sharing terrific articles and posts, and peoples’ tweet threads about publishing or politics or (again) social justice. Plus, both platforms let me rec books nonstop, which is one of my favorite things to do.
I must stay I am still a hold out on Twitter. With as much as you read I’m sure you have an inspiring quote, would you like to share?
Sure, “I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” ~Jorge Luis Borges
Or, alternatively: “My experience of life is that it isn’t divided into genres. It’s a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You know, with a bit of pornography if you're lucky.” ~Alan Moore
Oh, I like those, AJ! Okay, last easy one, what is one book you wish everyone would read and why?
*expires on the spot at the idea of picking just one book* I caaaaaaan’t! I’m going to skip straight away from fiction, because trying to do that will kill me, and say that Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains (about the founding of a nonprofit delivering a preferential option for the poor in healthcare) literally changed my life and attitude toward what I can do to change the world, Stephen King’s On Writing is fascinating for writers and readers both, and Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist is brilliant. There. That’s the best I can do. Three nonfiction books I think everyone should read!
Well, I guess that wasn't easy. *giggles* I can appreciate and understand it is hard to pick just one. Let’s get to the harder stuff, like why we’re here; you and your books! For our readers who may not yet have had an opportunity to read your work please give us four words to describe your stories.
Did you not read the part where I said succinct and me aren’t friends? LOL. I can do this. Okay. Queer (even the m/f books usually!), hellyeahsteamy (this is totally one word), contemporary (FOR NOW), flawed (as in the characters, not the books themselves, which I think are great, but are indeed no doubt flawed too…). Man, I suck at this game.
I think you did just fine. Your new book Glass Tidings is part of Riptide Publishing’s 2016 Holiday Charity Bundle in which proceeds benefit The Trevor Project. Which I have to say I am a huge supporter of. Can you tell our readers what the project does?
Absolutely. This is the second story I’ve written to raise money for The Trevor Project, actually. I love them. They work in crisis intervention and suicide prevention for LGBTQ youth, via a variety of emergency services available by phone, online chat, and text. They’re also a national resource for education on LGBTQ youth suicide prevention with training options for schools, mental health professionals, and families. They do terrific work. They truly do! I have to say I am a little confused as to how the bundle works, because your contribution can also be purchased on its own? If they do not purchase the book with the bundle does the sale not aid the project?
All sales, whether of the bundle or the book by itself, result in a contribution to The Trevor Project. A portion of my royalties are donated across the board from all sales, so people can buy whatever works for them! That is wonderful to know! I noticed in looking at the blurb for Glass Tidings it appears it might be a little angsty. Typically this time of year we see hearts and flowers stories. How would you describe this tale and what motivated you to write it?
When I think “angsty”, I tend to think of books that devastated me, and Glass Tidings isn’t dealing with some of the super heavy stuff that really angsty books do, I don’t think. But it is about two deeply lonely men who have isolated themselves from the world, despite the fact that they’ve wanted so badly to connect with people in the past.
Not devastating. I can handle that. How about telling us a little bit about Eddie and Gray? What kind of men are they, AJ?
Whoops! Jumped the gun on this question. LOL. Let’s see, I’d also say that Eddie is a drifter/artist who’d only agree with the first part of that description and who doesn’t celebrate any holidays with anyone usually, and Gray is a hermit who celebrates Christmas as a business owner, not a person. They’re also both fans of old school science fiction, which was fun for me to write!
Sounds like they may be able to draw a little from each other. Just what we all like to hear. Are there any other holiday stories you have written that our readers should know about?
I’ve written a few now! Real World from the Bend or Break series is a holiday book about Tom and Reese from Off Campus, giving them a gloriously mushy HEA at last. I wrote The Christmas Ship for Wish Come True (another charity anthology, this time for Lost-N-Found Youth, and LGBTQ youth shelter in Atlanta) about a guy who accidentally catfishes a college football player.
Our readers will definitely appreciate having more seasonal reads to devour. And giving to a good cause while their at it is a cherry on top. Switching gears now, I see that you have several FREE reads linked on your website. One of which is Five Dates. I’m almost ashamed to admit that is the only one of your novels I have had the pleasure to read thus far. A bloggers life! But let me say….I loved it! In fact, for fans of Devin and Jay, is there any thought to seeing where they are now?
There is! I’ve got most of a follow up short written about them, but I keep having so many contracted books in the pipeline that I haven’t had time to finish it. Those two are close to my heart though, so I hope to get that done someday. I write a lot of books that I think of as having HFN (Happy For Now) endings, and when I get the chance to follow-up with further stories, I love it. Because relationships are hard, and just being in love doesn’t mean you won’t screw up, but sometimes overcoming the screw-ups is what lets you know you’re really with the right person. So, fingers crossed!
Oh, *squeal*, I’ll cross my toes too! I have to agree, the trials are what make or break a relationship. Tell us, AJ, what is your favorite book you have written and why?
You know, it’s funny, but I reread one of my books last week that I would have said ranked pretty low on my list (I mean, I like everything I write or else I wouldn’t publish it, but some books are favorites and other less so), and I freaking loved it. It broke my heart and made me whole again at the end. So I normally answer Off Campus, because it started the whole Bend or Break series and is, in and of itself, incredibly special to me. But I think a more accurate answer might be: whichever book I’ve reread most recently.
Last question, name someone living or dead who you would like to spend the day with and why.
My dad. He never got a chance to meet my kid and I think he’d be blown away and fascinated by what an amazingly smart and insightful boy I’ve got. I would give anything to be able to spend a day with the two of them, just hanging out, talking baseball and movies and politics and teaching my kid how to run the table in a game of eight ball.
Sounds beautiful! It has been such a pleasure to have you here today, AJ, and I hope everyone will take the time to scoop up Glass Tidings and aid The Trevor Project. It’s such a worthwhile cause. Our youth are our future and a beacon to acceptance and change. I hope that you will feel inclined to stop by again and regale us as to what you are up to.
This was terrific fun! Thank you for the excellent questions and the support for such a great cause. I’ll come back any time!
Amy Jo Cousins writes contemporary romance and erotica about smart people finding their own best kind of smexy. She lives in Chicago with her son, where she tweets too much, sometimes runs really far, and waits for the Cubs to win the World Series again.
Giveaway
To celebrate the release of Glass Tidings, one lucky winner will receive $20 in Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on December 10, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!
