Sean Michael – In The Spotlight

Today we’re really honored and pleased to have as our guest on the blog an author who needs no introduction – Sean Michael. This author is well respected by his peers and his books become best sellers immediately they are released because fans can’t wait to get their hands on them. Sean has been writing professionally for 10 years and currently has approximately 130 books available (this includes both print and ebooks) through his publisher, Torquere Press.

Sean writes compelling stories on many different themes and his name is legendary in the world of M/M romance. His books range from paranormal (Need and Chosen), fantasy (Where Flows the Water and As it Should Be) to sports (Going for the Gold series), BDSM (Velvet Glove universe, Bent – a Hammer novel) cowboy romances (Fine as Frog Hair), the gritty Jarhead series about being gay in the military, life and death and starting over (Catching a Second Wind), and Between Friends about the everyday lives of couples and their emotional trauma when faced with real life issues. These are just a few of Sean’s stories which have made him a fan favourite all around the world.

The “Author of the Week” format is usually a short profile of the writer but because of Sean’s extensive body of work I have incorporated some of the elements of the longer monthly interviews since to do any less would be cheating his fans. Many of the questions were volunteered by Sean’s fans and I would like to thank Kacie Quinn, Emmyjag, Lilygcs and JenB for taking the time to contribute their queries.

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Sean, you are undoubtedly one of the leaders in the gay romance genre and we’re curious about whether your writing has always been well received. Was it difficult to be published in the early days?

It’s always a challenge to get started and I can paper my walls with rejections, like everyone else. Once I found my voice, though, the acceptances started rolling in. 😀

What was your first published story and is it still available?

Three Day Passes was my first published story, and it’s still available. My first sale, though, was actually to Starbooks Press, a short story in Wet Nightmares, Wet Dreams edited by Huxley that was released after Three Day Passes. It’s also still available.

How has your writing evolved since you were first published?

I’d like to think I have a better sense of flow now, of plot. I’ve also worked very hard on not being so insular as a writer — introducing more characters, more of the setting. I’ll be honest — it’s the
characters that get to me, so it’s easy to focus on nothing at all but them.

What is your most significant accomplishment as a writer?

Being able to support myself with my writing.

Gay romance in all its forms has only recently been recognized and promoted as a legitimate writing genre and art form, assisted by the enormous popularity of M/M romances. Who or what would you say helped pave the way for gay romance authors?

I think the advent of the Internet and small ebook presses have made a big difference. It’s really opened up the audience for m/m romances as it’s all done via the computer.

Tell us something about Sean Michael that you have never revealed before.

I absolutely despise cell phones — they’re everywhere and so intrusive.

What’s the best perk for you about being a writer? What’s the worst?

People wanting to read what I write — that’s got to be the coolest thing ever.
The worst thing is editing. It’s a necessary evil and it’s not something I really enjoy at all.

A lot of your work is very edgy, particularly in BDSM and breath play. How do you go about researching for these stories?

It’s part imagination, part experience, part listening to personal narrative. Writing hard-core BDSM isn’t different, in process, than writing anything else. It’s just a lot more fun.

One of your biggest fans wants to know where you get your inspiration for your stories. She said, and I quote “His characters are always so well written, almost ‘life-like’… I feel connected to them in some way by the time I’ve finished reading the book.” So, do you get your inspiration from the world around you, do you just use your imagination, or is it a mix of both? Also, is it an easy transition from original inspiration to the finished product?

It’s pretty much a mix of both. I’ll see someone or something, or get an idea and the characters will pop into my head. Once they’re formed, they’re almost real and have their own personalities, needs, etc. In my head, these people are real, breathing pains in my butt with attitudes and agendas.

Is the transition easy? Usually, yes. Now, that said, a character that formed in my head as one thing can end up something completely different. For example… the Jarhead series started life as a science-fiction space opera, believe it or not.

Your world building is phenomenal and obviously you have an incredible imagination and the discipline to translate your vision into something that readers can really relate to. Aspiring writers are always looking for practical advice from authors with your stature on how to translate their vision into stories that readers will buy. What advice can you offer them?

My biggest two pieces of advice for new writers are simple. Read and write. Read something everyday. Read what you love, what you hate. And write everyday, whether or not you want to. Really. That’s the best I have.

Series Books

Obviously, with your incredible body of work we can only touch on a few of your books, particularly the series, so here goes.

A fan asked about their and my favourite paranormal Sean Michael books – Need and Chosen. Are you going to write any more books about Trick and Bast?

I know it won’t be a popular answer, but I don’t plan to, no.

How are you coming along with the next Windbrothers book? One fan had a question which she hopes you will answer – Why did the second book change so drastically from the first? The impression given was that this was going to be a sweet story but the second book was focused almost entirely on the sex. Is there a reason for the shift?

The second book focused more on the personal relationship between Surial and Kade. The next book in the world that I’ve got coming out stars Avan and Daslin, who are also an m/m couple — it’s the story of how they met. After that I’ll continue with the wider story arc started in the first Windbrothers book and it should go back to the style of the original.

Velvet Glove universe. Can you tell the fans who love this series how much longer the storyline will continue? Are Herc and Mal ever going to come out as a couple? Are you planning on adding any new couples to the mix?

The great thing about the Velvet Glove universe is that it is so very rich and there are always new characters popping up. The other great thing about the Velvet Glove universe is that its okay if some of the characters offer up long novel plots and others offer up short stories. I love playing in it.

Are you going to feature any more sports in your Going for the Gold series?

I have a pair of downhill skiers and a baseball player and his lover on tap. There’s all kinds of sports left that I haven’t touched, too, so there might even be more.

A Private Hunger is an unusual story with an HFN ending. Can you comment on a fan’s question about the possible fate of Matt, who could end up being eaten by Drakon and not in fun way?

Yeah, I deliberately left that ambiguous because in all honesty, as the character was drawn, I couldn’t just turn Drakon into a pussycat, not without selling him short.

Your story Three Come Together in the Bedposts and Broomsticks Taste Test anthology was really intriguing, in a Dungeons and Dragons sort of way. How did you come up with the idea of a threesome, with two of the three being the same person with a split personality?

Like so many stories, I just started telling myself a story on a long bus trip and things happened. I wish it was more drastic, but that group was formed out of sheer boredom 😉

Your very popular Jarheads series is a huge fan favourite and the readers all want to know if you have any plans for another novel featuring Rig, Rock and Dick? You have been whetting their appetites by dangling little vignettes since the series ended and they want to know why you won’t commit *g*

Well there’s a novella coming out in spring of 2009 in an anthology called Bedside Manner and it’s starring the jarheads.

And the little vignettes are easy, they don’t need to be connected to each other and I can have fun with the characters with a few hundred words and then go on to something else. I don’t know if there’s enough story for them to do another full novel. Of course I said they were done before writing On the Sand… 😉

Could you give us an idea of what’s coming up in the next few months?

December 17 — I have a story in Toy Box: Candles called Deck the Sub, featuring Marcus and Jim from Bent
December 20 — Made to Order, a holiday novella featuring Rock’s Sarge
December 24 — Forge, another Hammer novel, this one staring Simon and Jeremy

In the spring of 2009 I have In Sickness and Health, a Jarheads novella, in the Bedside Manner anthology, as well as another Going for the Gold novel. The last two Between Friends novels are also on my plate for 2009.

You revealed sometime ago in an interview for Coffee Time Romance that this would be your dream ” …. buy an island for me and my hermit crabs, my partner, and all the time I could ask for just to write? Now that is a dream.” I can understand the rest but … hermit crabs? *g*

What’s not to love? Crabs walk sideways. They’ve got their home on their backs, which they shed when they outgrow. Crabs need love, too!

Tell us something fun about Sean Michael?

I love playing in the sand at the edge of the ocean — the feeling of the sand between my toes, the water rushing over my feet and then retreating again.

Maybe some of us will think of hermit crabs as more than food in future since they are apparently Sean’s pets of choice, but I have to be convinced that they can take place of dogs, cats and other household pets. Can they do tricks? *g* By the way, Sean, there are islands for sale in Canada in the area around Kingston known, of course, as “A Thousand Islands,” but maybe the winters would be too cold for the crabs. :DD
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I would like to thank Sean, sometimes referred to as “Space Cowboy” and “Gangsta of Love” for taking the time to answer our questions. This author is a complex person with very strange hobbies – apparently he is trying to become an expert in the advanced arts of plate spinning and soap carving sex toys. Who knew?

I hope that if this interview was not too painful, Sean will agree to return next year when he can be featured as our monthly interview which is much more in depth and we also get to play a little.

Sean Michael’s contact information

seanmichaelwrites@gmail.com
www.seanmichaelwrites.com
sean_michael.livejournal.com

Sean’s extensive backlist can be found at

http://www.torquerebooks.com