Writing is intensely personal. You’re building a world from the ground up. Every molecule, every atom, every bit of information bends to your whim. It’s akin to being a god.
What happens when you have two gods, each wanting to remake a world in their image? It becomes give and take.
Kc Wells and I are working on a story together called “Someone to Keep Me”. It’s about Scott, an American boy who is desperate to get away from his controlling parents. He finds someone who makes all the pretty speeches and tells him they need to be together and that Scott should come to England. Scott, blinded by an opportunity to live his dream, agrees and takes off. Upon his arrival, however, things are not what he was expecting them to be.
This story has taken many hours of Skype conversations between Kc and me. We discuss the plot down to the cellular level, each making sure the other is satisfied with the direction that the story is going. (Plus changing some words around because even though she’s from England, I question her English speaking abilities sometimes.)
It’s been a great joy to work with Kc. She brings compassion and character to our boys. I bring angst and hurt.
All in all, it works out beautifully.
Ben Winters
Scott Keating – American
We’re about 58,000 words into it and I’m having a blast.
We’ll be ready to submit the story soon (fingers crossed), so if it gets accepted you’ll soon be able to meet Ben and Scott, and hopefully fall in love with them in our first collaborative effort.
(First off, feel free to click the book covers to see the listing on Amazon!)
In the last couple of months I’ve been granted many honors from authors.
Mr. Webb and Laura Harner mentioned me in dedications for their books.
Starry Knight by Mr. Webb
Deadly Shades of Gold by Ms. Harner & Mr. Webb
KC Wells mentioned me in dedication AND named a character after me (okay, I was a male escort, but still…) in her book, “Making It Personal”
(MAKING IT PERSONAL IS COMING SOON!)
N.R. Walker named a character after me in her book “Blindside” (I was in love with Mark, one of the three greatest characters she’s ever made (the first two being me and Mark’s mom))
Silvia Violet named a shifter for me (and I LOVE my shifters!)
What does this tell me? I’ve impacted the lives of others. Some for the good (Mr. Webb, Ms. Harner, Kc Wells, and Silvia Violet) and some for the bad(?) (N.R. Walker, who named a character after me because she said it was MY fault she wrote the story. Heck, as long as I got a story about Mark, I’m happy to take the blame!) Even if I never wrote another thing as long as I lived (which won’t happen, I’m having too much fun!), I would know that I contributed to these wonderful folks and it fills my heart with pride.
If you had told me a month ago that I would be rushing to Amazon to check the rating of 500 Miles, I would have laughed and asked, “Why? How far down do the ratings actually go?”
Yet here I was, for a few days straight, having friends like Kc Wells and Becky Condit checking the ratings almost every hour. When I woke up yesterday and got the text (and voicemail) from Mrs. Condit telling me I *HAD* to wake up, and I *HAD* to check my ratings, I was dead to the world. Fortunately, my friends took care of me and gave me screen shots.
For most of the day on Saturday, 6/15/13, 500 Miles vacillated between #2 and #3. This was HUGE for me. I would never have dreamed it was possible that I could have a book anywhere near the top of Amazon, let alone in the second position.
So here I sit, a big grin on my face, because people actually enjoyed my story. They fell in love with Mark, Eric, and Jase (even if, as Piper Vaughn and Kris Jacen said, they wanted to slap someone) and that just tickles me to death.
So thank you to all the wonderful folks who let my boys into their heart. I want you to know how much this has meant to me, and how this journey has given me more confidence.
You all rock SO hard and I’m grateful to each of you.
Okay who has been messing with Amazon? I find myself on a list with Cardeno, Aj Rose, Mary Calmes, Marie Sexton, B.G. Thomas? Either I am dreaming or there is something seriously wrong here.
I have to be honest, when my father told me that my writing would never amount to anything? I believed him. I stopped completely, certain that I would never be able to accomplish what others were doing. I would read books and think to myself, -yeah, I could do that-, but would never try because it would hurt too much to be wrong.
When I wrote Pitch, I had so many people encouraging me every step of the way. Then the opportunity to do 500 Miles came along and I just had to grab it.
Looking at this today? I would love to go back in time and tell my fourteen year old self the truth. YouCANdo it.Oh, and to tell my father to bite me. Yeah, that would be sweet, too.
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,847 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#9 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Fiction > Romance
#9 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Romance > Gay Romance
#10 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Fiction > Gay
About a billion years ago (give or take a few months) I gave up writing. I was told I was wasting my time and what I was doing would never amount to anything. I listened to that voice (it belonged to my father) and let it quell my desire to tell stories. For a time.
Then I met Eden Winters. She had published a book called “The Telling” and it was to be my first male/male romance story. I wrote to tell her how much I enjoyed the book and that started a friendship between the two of us. (BTW, never be afraid to write to an author. They’re amazingly receptive and appreciate hearing that you like their stuff.) One day she asked me if I wrote and I told her no, and then explained why. She convinced me that the voices in my head were more powerful than the ones I heard from my father and I needed to give them room to grow. So I did.
At first there was a story about a young man, Taylor, who is away at college with his best friend, Benny. It speaks of Taylor’s unrequited crush for Jackson, an athlete they knew in high school that now attends the same college. This was just supposed to be a one-off. Something that came to me while I was sleeping and had to get up in the middle of the night to write it all down. However the characters refused to stay quiet and the story morphed. Now the boys are in high school and they are dealing with so many other things.
From that prompt came the story of Mark, who is in love with his brother Eric’s best friend, Jase. Mark’s world is shaken when Eric and Jase ship overseas to join the Army. While overseas, Jase sends Mark a tape that takes his already shaky world and crumbles it to dust.
I fell in love with these boys. They made me smile and cry as I told their story. When I submitted it, I never expected that it would be picked, especially when I found out there were several big names that were also going to try for the same anthology. When Kris contacted me and told me I was receiving a contract (my first) I was stunned and maybe cried just a little.
The story came out on June 7 and the reaction was unlike anything I had expected. People wrote to tell me how much they loved it. Someone wrote and told me what it meant to her. Several folks told me they cried for my boys and their loss. And one of my favorites came from Piper Vaughn and Kris Jacen who told me they wanted to smack one of them when he…well, I don’t want to give away everything.
That said, there are people I need to acknowledge for giving me the strength and encouragement to try because without them I would have given up. Every person listed above is part of that list. But there is also Anne Tenino, Amy Lane, Max Vos, Cate Ashwood, Mary Grzesik, Silvia Violet, Madison Parker, Lauren Lewis, Aj Rose, Amy Peterson, ZAllora Allora, Grace Santiago, Jayden Brooks and so many other people.
Without you people, my guys wouldn’t exist and I wouldn’t be celebrating with each of you today.
