AUTHOR INTERVIEW and GIVEAWAY: With Parker Avrile of The Runaway Model Series

I must say that I am so excited to have the wonderful Parker Avrile at Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter today. Parker was one of the first authors who approached KEBB when we first opened our blog and it is such an honor to have an opportunity to sit down and chat.

Parker, I want to thank you for entrusting us when KEBB was so green and sticking with us to this day. Welcome!

I'm happy to be here, Kimmers, and thrilled that your team continues to read my work.

I like to start off my interviews with a little fun stuff, just to get you relaxed. Then I bring out the guns and make you think. *giggles* But before we go there, for those who don’t know Parker, tell our readers a little bit about yourself, and what you write.

In the past I've written under some other names for blogs and magazines, but like most writers, I decided to stretch my wings and write a novel. Now it seems as if I opened a channel into seeing all these different situations in my head. For 2017 I'm pausing to focus on my m/m novels.

Which we're thrilled about! Okay – the easy stuff. Living in Las Vegas, with all those great, award winning restaurants, where is your favorite place to eat?

I'm actually taking a break from Vegas, at least for a while, but maybe … Red Square? I'm all about the vodka and caviar. Aureole with its wine tower is always fun.

Oh, man, I have always wanted to see that wine tower. Lucky you! So, Julie, our Contributor who has read all of your work and loves it, wants to know what the first book is that made you cry?

Not sure since I'm one of those bookworms who started reading from before kindergarten, but it almost has to be Old Yeller.

Yeah, just thinking about that makes me cry. Moving on.... She would also like to know, what the first M/M book you ever read was.

It would've been a fanfic, but the first one with original characters might have been Tamara Allen's Downtime. I'm crazy about time travel stories. I wish they would come back into fashion. Me too! I love Somewhere in Time. All right, to the tougher ones. Or at least thoughtful. *winks* What prompted you to delve into the M/M genre?

I don't think we always know why we're attracted to something. One reason might be because I've spent a lot of time in male-dominated environments, so it's easier for me to “hear” men talking and to create male characters. I can see that. Write what you know. Correct me if I am wrong but your The Runaway Model was your debut? Why not set the stage for us. What’s it about and were you interested in modeling before writing it?

Yes, it was my first novel. The core of The Runaway Model is a boy who is chased out of his own home by a stalker, but he uses his looks and his intelligence to rise above his past and eventually find love. Looks can be a blessing or a curse. They can cause you to be pursued by bad people, but they can give you opportunities you wouldn't otherwise have. It doesn't have to be modeling, but I am interested in the theme of how looks and the way people react to looks can change a life for better or worse.

Growing up, I knew some models, including the typical blonde pretty friend who was given a huge diamond at 14 and also an older relative who was a former model who built on that to divorce well. But I wanted to tell a more romantic story that wasn't just about the cold pursuit of trading looks and youth for wealth, and I think it was easier for me to do that with a male model. Kyle knows he's attractive and he knows how to use it, but his heart hasn't been changed into a stone by his experiences.

The heart is important. You have a winter themed novel, Unfreezing, that you released during the 2016 holiday season. However it is not strictly a holiday read. What is this story about?

It's about an A-list screenwriter who has agoraphobia because of a past trauma. He figures he can't get over it, so he's going to have a robot made to take his place, and his ticket, to the Academy Awards. The guy who makes the robot is actually the one who helps him break through the ice... What he can't do for himself, he can do for the man he loves. I think that's true for a lot of us. Love allows us to do things we couldn't otherwise do.

Hear, hear! Now that we know a little bit about your books, do you have a favorite character you write presently and, if so, why?

Kyle, from The Runaway Model, is my favorite. He's my first original character, so he'll always have a place in my heart. At the end of The Runaway Father, he's still in his early twenties, so I imagine he will be making cameo appearances in my books for a long time.

I love the sentiment. While we’re on characters – in your dreams, is thee an actor you would like to see play one of your main characters?

The “look” of many of my characters is inspired by musicians and rock photography, and I think it gets in the way of me being able to visualize an actor in the role. Or, for that matter, even a musician. It is more like a persona.

Understandable. So, can you tell us what new material you may be working on?

I'm working on one right now about a musician who has just been kicked out of his band so he goes home to lick his wounds, only to reconnect with his first boyfriend, who is now a small-town doctor. I want to see what happens when the tabloids follow him home...

That sounds very yummy. *grins* I always have to ask, are there any causes within the LGBTQ community that you are passionate about or support?

I try to keep my causes separate from my fiction but it's probably no great secret I think we still have a ways to go in our fight against bullying and also against predators who deliberately target those who look different and thus appear vulnerable. I can't disagree with that. We all know that self-publishing can be challenging at times. Tell us, as a self-published author what is the best advise you have been given?

Write every day in the morning before you do anything else. Every working day. Once you start making a profit, save one-third of that money without fail so you never fall behind on your taxes. If you can do those two things, you'll be able to solve all the other problems.

Oh, and if you're blocked, write the ending first. You can't get there if you don't have a destination.

Lord, that reminds me of my grandmother. Always read the first chapter of a book then skipped to the last and read the ending and went back. *shakes head* Let’s wrap this up with one last thoughtful question and then I will throw in some more easy and fun ones. Name an inspirational person, living or passed, you would most like to spend a day with and why.

Julian Casablancas. I'd love to see how he works and how he thinks, and there's something about him that seems like he'd be able to talk to a fan. Many artists have that whole ego thing going on, so they are best admired from afar. Others like Bob Dylan or Alex Turner seem to have a good heart but no clue how to communicate how they do what they do.

Intriguing. As a lover of music I’m always curious to know if any specific song or song(s) had a part in any of the books you have written. Sort of acted like a muse.

I played the album Different Class by Pulp endless times while writing The Runaway Model but it would be hard to pick out a specific song.

An Ocean In Between The Waves by The War On Drugs will for me forever be associated with the character of Michel in The Runaway Millions. The idea of somebody you just can't reach.

Human Sadness by Julian Casablancas + The Voidz was an influence on The Runaway Father. Something about the way the father is supposed to set an example but, because he too is human, he keeps falling down.

It's so interesting to see everyone's music choices. Tell us something about yourself that your readers may not know.

I played on a professional poker team but we were not on TV. Well, we certainly hope you won. *laughter all around* Thank you so very much for coming today, Parker, and giving us a little bit of a glimpse at you and your writing. We hope you will stop by again.

I certainly will, thanks Kimmers. And as a thank you to you and your readers I have left an eBook copy of Unfreezing and The Runaway Father for one lucky winner. Although The Runaway Father is part of The Runaway Model series I designed it be read on its own so I hope your readers will enjoy it.

For more information about Parker's The Runaway Model series, and some of Avrile's other works, click HERE and see all of our reviews and promotions!