Ada Marie Soto Interview

Author Name Ada Maria Soto
Book Name Bowerbirds
Series Nested Hearts #2 (Review of Empty Nests: Nested Hearts #1)
Release Date August 26 2015
Words 60,790 words
Categories Contemporary, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Blurb

Two very different men have a chance at happiness, but only if they can let go of their painful pasts and allow love to take precedence.
After spending his teens and twenties raising his son, James Maron is now dating Gabriel Juarez, the wealthy and sophisticated CFO of the TechPrim technology empire. But after a life of proudly holding his head above the poverty line with the ethos of work, priorities, responsibility, and thrift, he is not looking for a Sugar Daddy, he does not need to be rescued, and Gabe’s wealth is as terrifying as feeling love for the first time.

Gabe has never been good at balancing his high pressure job with his relationships. Money usually clears most of the bumps, and when a boyfriend walks away, Gabe figures it’s for a good reason. But James isn’t like other boyfriends. He doesn’t want Gabe’s money for one, and if Gabe wants to keep his relationship together he will have to finally face the ghosts of his own past and reconsider his priorities.

Ada Maria Soto Interview

Gay Romance Org is happy to be interviewing Ada Maria Soto author of Bowerbirds. Hi Ada, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.

Hi, it’s nice to be here. I’m Ada. I’m a born and raised Californian who has been living in New Zealand for the last decade. I studied theater, film, and television and worked a little in each. Currently I’m an almost full time mom to a two year old and I write when I can. In my tiny scraps of free time I do things like knit and make jam. I’m also a sports fan but I’m not great at picking winning teams to support.

Bowerbirds picks up pretty much right where Empty Nests left off. James and Gabe are properly together now but they still come from very different worlds each of which brings its own baggage. Gabe is very much a fixer and wants to ‘fix’ James’s life to make up for how busy he is with work. James is very proud and does not want or need a sugar daddy to fix anything. He’s also terrified at the very idea of being in love since it’s something he’s never done before.

Do you have any strange writing habits?
I don’t think I have any that are particularly strange. I certainly have preferences and there are things that make it harder to write. I think I write much better if my feet are warm. I like to have a cup of coffee or tea at arm’s reach. Usually it goes cold before I’m halfway done but I need to have it there. I can’t write naughty bits during the day if my kid is in the house, even at nap time. I can do it after she goes to bed at night but by that point I’m usually pretty tired myself. I’ll often write long blocks of just dialog then go back and add in description and emotion on the second pass. When I’m thick into writing a book I’m very careful about what I read because I can be a bit of a mimic. If I’m writing in third person and reading a book written in first person, first person will start to randomly show up in my own writing. If I’m going for epic romantic prose I can’t read Steinbeck or Hemmingway. If I’m working on precise and technical sections I can’t read Hunter S. Thompson. I once made the mistake of trying to write while in the middle of reading a first person, modernist, nonlinear book. I put out some weird stuff for about a month after I finished.

Just as your books will inspire others, what books have inspired you?
Death is a Lonely Business
Catch-22
Empire of the Sun
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72
Thud and Snuff
Leaves of Grass
Howl and Other Poems

What do you consider to be your best accomplishment (writing or life)?
On my dark days I’d say I’ve accomplished nothing. On my brighter days I’d say I’ve written three books which is more than 99% of the populations have written. I have two degrees, both of which I received with honors, and that is after nearly flunking out of high school. I’ve gotten my kid to two without screwing her up (I think). So that’s something there.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Hopefully well into a successful writing career. And maybe I will have gotten my kitchen redone. I’d really like a gas stove. Glass top stoves are the work of the devil.

If you had a super power, what would it be?
Flying. I never had flying dreams as I kid, just really long bounces.

Excerpt

FOR THE millionth time, a load of baseball gear left by the apartment door nearly sent James tumbling. It was one of the very few things he would not miss when Dylan left for college. He checked his watch and saw it was pushing five in the afternoon. He could technically still make it to the laundromat and get a couple of loads through, but the place filled up quick after five and it became difficult to get the good machines. Ada Maria Soto

Dylan came out of his room, his hair sticking up at odd angles from his postpractice shower. “Hey, Dad. I was starting to worry. How did the concert go last night?”

As a last-second surprise, Gabe had gotten them tickets to the California Honeydrops at the Fillmore. After a couple glasses of wine, Gabe had even talked him into dancing. “It was good. Stop leaving your gear by the door.”

“Good?” Dylan tried for a scolding look, but there was too much humor in his eyes. “No, just good does not end with you coming home… um… twenty-one hours later than expected.”

Dylan had been nagging him about getting a social life and a boyfriend for years, but James hadn’t realized he would become so nosy about it once it happened.

You’d think he was the parent here. “The concert ran a bit late, and we got a room in the city.” Then they decided not to leave that room until a few hours after the normal checkout time, followed by a late lunch.

“Which hotel?”

“Does it matter?” James asked as he picked up Dylan’s baseball gear.

“It might.”

“The Saint Francis,” James muttered, deciding to risk a Monday wash.

“Again? Well, here’s to scoring a sugar daddy.”

“What?” James froze for a second as he tucked a baseball bat under his arm.

Dylan headed for the kitchen and rummaged around the fridge. “I mean, a guy with a steady job is a good thing these days, but one who can score you concert tickets and hotel suites on a whim is a pretty sweet deal.” He pulled an apple from the veggie bin.

“He’s not—”

James felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He juggled around the gear until he could pull it out and saw he had missed a call ten minutes earlier.

“He’s not what?

“Hi. It’s me. Stuck in traffic. Seriously, traffic on a Sunday. I think the Niners are playing or something. Don’t worry, I’m on the hands-free setup. Just wanted to say I had a really nice time this weekend. The concert was a lot of fun. The other activities were fun too. Don’t know how busy I’m going to be this week, but I’d love to be able to come up there for lunch or dinner. Catch a movie or something. Oh, Tamyra left me nine messages, the last one informing me that I’m getting ‘Genie in a Bottle’ for my new ringtone. I’m hoping I can pass it off as a postmodern ironic statement or something. Oh look. Traffic is moving. Well, I’ll talk to you later. Drive carefully. Bye.” Bowerbirds

James kept the phone to his ear even after the message ended. Dylan stared at him, one eyebrow raised. He had a funny feeling Dylan practiced that look in the mirror. James hung up the phone. “You know what? My love life is none of your business.”

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About the author

ADA MARIA SOTO is a born and raised Californian Mexican-American currently living as an expat in the South Pacific with her toddler and partner.
She has studied and worked in theater, film, and television with all the usual crummy side jobs of a struggling artist. She has dysgraphia and phonological dyslexia but refuses to let that slow down her writing.

She is a sports fan dedicated to the Oakland A’s, San Jose Sharks, Auckland Blues, USA Eagles, New Zealand All Blacks, New Zealand Black Caps, and the Chennai Super Kings.
She loves to hear from her fans, or really anyone who has read her work.