Hi everyone,
I've added some upcoming releases to my virtual story shelf. Most of these are contracted with publishers, so I've got approximate release times. The blurbs are rough, and the samples are unedited, so bear with me OK? The new stories are

The Wrong Room Simon, a reluctant secondary school English teacher, joins a writers group near his home in Essex, and accidently walks into the wrong room in the village hall. Instead of a group of writers he walks into a cocaine anonymous group. Between monthly returns to the writers group, chaired by Clara Bell – the grand dame of Aga sagas and no nonsense - he sneaks back to the cocaine anonymous group for story ideas to progress his writing as he wants to leave the school where he teaches. One of the slightly weathered cocaine anonymous men catches his eye. Published by Manifold Press.

The Guardian Angel Richard is going through a bit of a bad patch. No matter how many men he sleeps with it doesn’t seem to quite scratch that itch or give his life meaning. His friend, Amy can’t help him, even with Enya on all song shuffle, patchouli oil and a dream catcher. Richard is looking for a sign, but what he’s not expecting is for the sign to be in the form of a Greek statue-esque guardian angel, called Sky. The Guardian Angel’s Handbook XP Professional Edition has some frequently asked questions on the matter of contact between humans and angels. Published by Love Lane Books

Escaping From Him On a hot summer’s day, Darryl snaps and knows he has to leave the perfectly ordered, perfect flat he and his older, slightly too particular boyfriend, Chris, live in. He throws Chris’s stuff in a bag and pushes it down the stairs. He even kills a perfectly innocent air conditioning unit. Darryl escapes from Chris, to build himself a new life in Scotland. Darryl dreams of taking photographs for a living, but Chris wants him to just earn some money at the fried chicken shop up the road. Published by Manifold Press.

Glitzy Gay Saga This is my first third person narrative. It has fourteen characters, so I couldn't do it in first person. They're linked by family, interests, step family, money and sex. It has a family business. It has new money. It has old money. It has sex, lies and an Italian Stallion called Danny Traviati who’s not quite what he seems. It has a Sloaney woman called, Camilla, trying to manage on her ex husband’s alimony. It has a death too.This is very rough, very uncontracted and may well never see the light of day. But it was, such fun to write.

So, enjoy the samples. Let me know what you think.

Until next time,

Liam Livings xx

I'm a guest blogger on multitaskingmomma talking about reading gay romance and why I don't write explicit sex scenes in my stories. It's not graphic or offensive for anyone who's worried with a sensitive nature. I am, as always, tasteful and understated.

The text is copied here for those who subscribe to my blog:

On Bedtime Stories Anthology: Frangipani Kisses 

"This is a love story but without eroticism and we see here that it is indeed possible to depict love without including sex." "m: You talk about life and men in the gay community but not so much the romances." "This was a nice story, not really a romance, but a fairly sweet story of a gay man finding ‘himself’."

These are some review comments I’ve had about Frangipani Kisses and I’d like to explore why I write like this a bit in this post. It’s a few thoughts I’ve had as a gay man writing gay romance. I’m not saying women shouldn’t write gay romance, because fiction should be judged on its merits, not the author’s gender but I do have some observations on gay romance as a gay man reading it. I may be barking up the wrong tree as it’s a genre a lot of women enjoy reading, but as I am the type of man mainly portrayed in these stories, I think I can say my piece, even if I end up killing some gay romance fairies somewhere.

Gay romance vs gay fiction
If I’ve understood it correctly, the difference between gay romance, and gay fiction is the former has an origin in slash fiction, and has an emphasis on the romance element and hence has a love story and a happy ever after. The latter has an emphasis on the experience of living/coming out *as a gay man* doesn’t tend to have much in the way of romance, and doesn’t necessarily have a happy ever after, and in fact often has a very sad ending, all ending in drugs or disease filled deaths.

Where’s the emphasis in gay romance – the gay or the romance?
I’m a self-confessed gay romance virgin, so I recently read a few gay romance books, and I’d read a few last summer too, and I have a few observations. I am not mentioning names of authors or stories as this isn’t about mud-slinging, it is about some observations I have made, good and bad. I know that I’ve not read every gay romance out there. I know I’ve not read as many as many other readers have read, but just bear with me on this OK? From my reading, the emphasis in gay romance is on the romance element. In this romance = graphic sex (in many); happily ever after; strong attraction between two male characters. Conversely the gay element tends to be pushed into second place, with some of the portrayals of gay men not resembling any gay men’s lives I’ve seen or heard of. OK, there may be gay firemen and policemen, but honestly I’m sorry to say there are loads more gay hairdressers and flower arrangers *g*. I found that some of the conversations the characters had weren’t anything I’ve ever had with any of my gay friends. I have never had a conversation with any of my gay friends about preferred position in sex. I’m just putting that out there. That’s not to say I don’t talk about sex with them, of course we do, but not in that way. Also we don’t sit around giving each other tutorials about how to have the perfect bum sex either; we’ve got other more interesting things to do. There may well be gay men who do this, but I’ve not met any of them.  

Do I write romances?
"m: You talk about life and men in the gay community but not so much the romances." 
"This was a nice story, not really a romance, but a fairly sweet story of a gay man finding ‘himself’."

At first I was a bit surprised when I read that I didn’t write romances. To me it seems obvious I write about romances. I write stories with gay men as the main characters. Each story has a character looking for, losing, keeping love with another gay man, or a combination of all three. In Frangipani Kisses the story is of a long term couple and how they’re still very much in love with each other. To me all of these are romance. I tend to write more every day gay men, as I prefer to read about every day characters’ lives. I read chick lit, and enjoy reading a hero and heroine I can imagine being friends with, or having in my life in some way. That’s why I write more every day, boy next door typed gay men I think. You’re more likely to find a gay accountant or plumber in my stories than an astronaut or rocket scientist – not that there’s anything wrong with writing gay astronaut/cowboys/rocket scientist, it’s just I don’t tend to write them. Also it’s because that’s what I have more knowledge of from my gay male friends. And they say you should write what you know, so... So perhaps in my gay romance, my emphasis is, unwittingly, on the gay, and I show romance in a different way too. I suppose this isn’t too surprising since *as a gay man* I view everything in a slightly gay way.

Why I don’t write graphic sex scenes
I think there are lots more interesting things about gay men than what they do to one another in bed. I prefer to concentrate on the emotions, the love, the romance, than the sex, but that’s me. I suppose that’s what this quote is about. When I read it I thought, of course you can show love without sex. And in Frangipani Kisses, it was the strong loving bond between Keith and John that I wanted to explore, instead of which of them did what to the other in bed.

"This is a love story but without eroticism and we see here that it is indeed possible to depict love without including sex."

I don’t quite fade to black, but I don’t write graphic sex scenes, because I prefer not to read them. I know there are lots of readers and authors who love to write graphic erotic gay sex, and honestly life would be very dull if everyone liked the same thing. I’m not judging, I’m just saying what I like to read and write. And as I’ve written more I’ve found myself writing longer, more involved sex scenes in my more recent stories. The Guardian Angel (out in autumn 2014 from Love Lane Books) has a 3-4 page threesome scene in it, where I describe who’s doing what to whom, but without using graphic language, as that’s my preferred style. It’s key to the plot as it shows how the main character and his boyfriend’s relationship is dysfunctional, particularly by one thing that happens *in the threesome*. In another story, working title, Escaping From Him (out in winter 2015 from Manifold Press) the main character, is trapped in a controlling dysfunctional and highly sexed relationship with an older man, so it’s not all long-term couples in suburban bliss like in Frangipani Kisses. I’ve read some graphic gay sex and for me, as long as it was 1) physically possible 2) portraying safe sex and 3) appropriate for the characters and to progress the story, I couldn’t have been happier – unless I had Thom Evans sat next to me feeding me little chocolate muffins, but that’s not for here.

Let’s just unpack each of those three one at a time.

1. I’ve read some sex scenes that are either physically impossible, or would be very near impossible. Unless you’re a horny seventeen year old, the possibility of having sex *to a conclusion* and then doing it again straight afterwards is pretty much a no no I’m afraid.
2. One sex scene described something so unpleasant that I retched. It was anything but ‘hot’ or ‘sexy’ as one of the characters described it, it was also something you can only do if you’ve NOT practiced safe sex, which was probably one main issue I had. I grew up in an era of the AIDS don’t die of ignorance tombstones so from an early age safe sex and the dangers of not doing it were all around me. When I came out the youth groups, gay bars and pubs I went to were filled to the brim with free condoms to encourage us all to play safe. I know it’s not a real man having sex with another real man when it’s in a book – I am not stupid. But I think in fiction, as well as reality, if you’re going to describe the detail of what goes where, you should have details about safe sex too. Condoms are freeing as they eliminate the risk of harm. Thirty years of safe sex has been all about condoms, so why shouldn’t the fictional men we portray do this too? The language people use about HIV can be very emotive and I was disappointed to see two HIV negative men described as ‘clean’ in one story; it was the one thing that took away somewhat from a wonderfully entertaining story.
3. I’ve read some full strength graphic sex in some gay romances but when it showed me something about the characters, a weakness, an addiction, something like that, it was another thing the character did, to make him that character. And when it was a necessary scene to move forward the plot, I could see why it had been included and it was all good. I’ve also read chapter long sprawling double digit page sex scenes which served no purpose to progress the plot, didn’t show me anything I didn’t already know about the characters, and just felt like they were there for titillation. Now, if it’s erotica you’re wanting to read, that’s exactly what the sex should be there for. But in a romance story, I think the sex should, like the rest of the story, move the plot forward. And of course there’s no reason you can’t have titillation and moving the story forward, which I saw too in some of the stories. I understand many readers enjoy reading sex scenes for their titillation factor, and I also understand many readers of gay romance are women. As a man, I would not read fiction for titillation as men – I’m told – are much more visually stimulated. I would *cough cough* watch a film perhaps...but any more of that’s not for here either.

So those are my, very male, very gay views about the portrayal of gay men, sex scenes and gay romance stories. I am not every gay man, I know this. I am one gay man reading about other versions of gay men in fiction and wanting to share my thoughts.

What does gay romance mean to you?
Does it have to include graphic sex?
Can it include established couples, or does it have to be a first meeting of two men?

If you’d like to try some of gay romance, my virtual book shelf with reviews of published books and story samples is here http://www.liamlivings.com/stories.html

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/liam.livings

Twitter @LiamLivings
Liam Livings xx

It feels like this should be light, frothy, chick lit. Kathy Lette has written many books matching that description – and there’s nothing wrong with that by the way. I’ve read most of them and they’re *fab*. But this is not that book, it is so much more. So much more moving that about a woman finding a man.

A while ago, we had a friend and his six year old son round for Sunday lunch. As we ate lunch, chatting companionably, he tried to say something, but couldn’t as the conversation went in a different direction. He banged his glass and told us all to listen to him now. His dad explained that wasn’t how conversations worked, and he should wait for a pause until he made his point. After we finished eating his son then wouldn’t drink any fruit juice unless it specifically said ‘squash’ on the label as he refused to believe Ribena or lime cordial were squashes. The boy wasn’t being naughty, he was genuinely upset that we’d lied to him about it being squash when it didn’t say that on the bottle, only ‘cordial’ or ‘fruit juice’.

In this book, Lucy has a man, her son, Merlin, who has autism. Her son lives in a parallel universe, but she realises it’s quite a captivating place to dwell.

Lucy goes on a series of dates to find a man, since her husband left them as he couldn’t cope with having a son with autism. Lucy’s husband is vile. I actually shouted at some of the pages of his dialogue. Vileness personified.

Lucy is looking for a Potential Father for Merlin. As you’d expect this doesn’t go quite to plan, and some of the things Merlin says and does are hilarious and perfectly illustrate what it must be like having a child with autism.

It debunks the Rainman-esque myth that everyone with a form of autism is gifted in some way. ‘...Merlin’s ‘genius’ was like a comet, infrequent and brilliant but also accompanied by a lot of space garbage...’ She adds that ‘When you have Asberger’s Syndrome, the expectation that you’re a genius is as limiting as the assumption that you’re stupid.’

Does it have a happy ever after? What do you think? Of course it does, but it’s not an obvious, can see it coming a mile off, ending. It’s the right ending for Lucy and Merlin.

Wonderful. 

Until next time,

Liam Livings xx

Mark from Sinfully Sexy's review blog gave it a lovely review and 3.5* out of 5*.
There's a video, giveaway and interview on their website and I've copied his review and my interview below:


Mark’s Review You never forget your first love, or at least it always leaves a lasting impression on you that’s for sure and this is the case with Kieran.

Kieran is 18 and has a secret, well at least to himself for the time being, but after seeking out a gay youth group called OUT! His whole world changes forever. I loved the way you get a feeling for Kieran’s sense of trepidation of making the first call to the youth group leader and then plucking up the courage to go that very first time. I mean this is a momentous thing after all.

When Kieran arrives for his first evening, after telling his parents he was out with a friend, he finds that he is made more than welcome and also this incredible feeling he gets when he realizes there are others like me. I just loved the way this came across, Kieran’s fascination with the people at the group, the first shyness of walking in alone to such a closed group, but he finds a friend there, Kev, from his primary school days that he recognizes. But a guy called Jo is the one that fascinates him the most. So not only is Kieran intending to take a year off before going to University in order to travel around Australia, but also he is on his own personal journey of discovery emotionally and sexually. However, before he gets to Australia he has to go through a whole number of firsts.

At the youth group he meets Jo, who is a little older but not much, and decides that he is going to be Jo’s best friend. I loved the way that this is all played out, typical for a teenager, relatively innocent and yet endearing at the same time. At first I wasn’t sure about Jo, is he just using Kieran to drive him around, a good time friend who would drop him in an instance as soon as he served no purpose anymore. But again Jo surprised me with his support and sincerity for Kieran.  Kieran manages to persuade Jo to go to Australia with him and everything is set, or so we think, but Kieran has to go through a lot more before he sits on the plane heading for Oz.

Jo and his other friend Kev are out and proud, however Kieran isn’t and is going through the usual agony of having to make up excuses to his parents and brother about where he is going and what he is doing. Oohh, the craftiness of it all. I only remember this myself all too well – lol! He has a best friend, Grace, and they share everything together. I liked this aspect a lot, I think most gay teenagers have a best friend who is a girl, I know I did and was exactly no different to Kieran in this respect. They shared absolutely everything together and even survive the trials and tribulations of jealousy. Yes, I said jealousy. Kieran is discovering a whole new and exciting world that understands exactly how is feeling. However in this excitement Grace is left a little on the side-lines at one stage until they have a good talk and sort it out. Again another typical make or break scenario for teenagers. I think when we’re young the best friend always feels jilted for the new flame, but then I guess were not wise enough to know any other and learn with time. Grace and Kieran manage to sort things out though.

So Kieran gets hooked up on a date with someone after going to Brighton Pride and falls madly in love after getting himself deflowered, well who doesn’t with the first deflowering! Already he is dreaming of a house, matching curtains, puppies and a happy ever after. Bless! We’ve all been there, come on, be truthful. Eighteen and already setting up house with the first great love of our lives. But Ben turns out to be a real twat and dumps him and doesn’t even have the decency to tell him outright. When he does confront him with Jo at his side the upset and heart-break is all consuming. My how that first break up can hurt. I bet we all remember that one too. Yu could feel Kieran’s heartbreak and restrained anger, but what is there to do when you have just be dumped by what turns out to be a complete twat. I just hate people like that and could only too well sympathise with Kieran at that point. Kieran’s mum knows something is up, which mother wouldn’t know, so she wheedles the truth out of Kieran and he comes out to his mum and then his family. This was such a heartfelt scene. His parents now trying to come to terms with Kieran being gay and in their attempts obviously now gone to one extreme to the other; rainbow flag flying parents. I found this a lovely change in turn where Kieran now becomes embarrassed about his parent’s new found cause. Also includes some really funny moments, that made me smile. But I could also understand his parents trying to come to terms with a completely new concept for them too.

Then his mum decides it would be a good idea if the whole family went with him and Jo to Australia. Oh my, I could have just imagined Kieran’s face at this point - lol! You know when you’re still at that stage in life where your parents are the one main cause of embarrassment. But they would only come for the first part and then return home, so all is not lost. The family have also accepted Jo and thinks he’s great. The Australian adventure begin. I guess as this story is going to be released in three books, the first part did leave me wondering a little bit about exactly where is this story going? I don’t need cliff-hangers to get me to read the next book, I just had the slight feeling sometimes I was treading water plot wise at times and it wasn’t really going anywhere, expecting something to happen soon, but never really did. It’s a story about one teenager’s discovery of his emotions, coming out, getting his cherry popped and then dealing with the aftermath. So the question is will I be moving on to the second book? Well, the answer is most definitely yes. I have to find out what happens down under for sure.

What I liked about this book a lot were the characters. The characters and their conversations were delightful carried the book nicely, full of camp at times between Kieran and his friends, colourful and always entertaining, but also deeper depths of emotion with the more serious aspects of Kieran’s coming out not being made trivial or superficial. This was the driving force and strength for me in this book. The style for me personally was a little like reading a diary of a teenager writing about his experiences or getting hooked on a really good soap in the positive sense with all it’s emotional ups and downs. We see and experience everything through Kieran’s eyes and his perspective on things which made the read almost like a personal memoir. It’s not an M/M erotic story, but more a story about one young man’s coming out and what he experiences as a result. I feel that everyone experience’s their coming out differently and that the parents, family and friends play a make or break role in this area. Here I’m thankful to say that Kieran’s mum was understanding, so was his dad. His brother, well I guess you can only expect sibling rivalry here and Liam brought this across very well. there were times I could have slapped Kieran’s brother for him – lol! 

So I guess in book two we’ll find out how Kieran fairs down under and I’m sure there’ll be more hilarious and embarrassing moments for him with his family. 

Interview

Can you tell us a little bit what Best Friends Perfect Book One is about please?

It’s about Kieran, who’s eighteen, and since he’s in his gap year before going to Australia, he has a bit more time to think about himself, his feelings. All this time means he’s ready to take the plunge and go to a gay youth group, to really see if these are his people, if he fits in and is gay, as he suspects. While at the gay youth group he meets Jo and Kev, both gay men, who’re a quite a bit older and a bit more experienced at ‘being gay’ than Kieran. Kieran introduces Kev and Jo to his circle of friends, which already included Hannah, who he works with at the hospital in the New Forest, and Grace, who he met while at secondary school. I wanted to explore the concept of ‘best friending’ someone. When you first meet someone and you know you want that person in your life, some people have a tendency to ‘best friend’ that new person, trying to see them at every opportunity. Kieran best friends Kev and Jo and sees how they mix with Hannah and Grace. I also wanted to explore a phenomenon you get with new friends, where they aren’t always what you first believe them to be. Kieran has a set idea of what Jo and Kev are like, and why he wants them to be his new gay best friends. But with time he realises both of them aren’t quite what he first thought. This unexpected difference can be both good and bad, as we get to know new friends, and that contrast and gradual discovery of our new friends is what Best Friends Perfect is about.

Who was your favourite character to write in Best Friends Perfect Book One?

I enjoyed writing all the characters. Kieran is particularly lovely to write as there’s a lot of me in Kieran. I also enjoyed writing Hannah and Grace – both of these friends are based in part on two of my best friends in real life – they both know and are very flattered. But I think the character who I really enjoyed writing the most was Kev – the cross dressing friend Kieran meets at the youth group. In early drafts beta readers said they enjoyed Kev so much, they wanted to know more about him, have more on page time with him, understand why he cross dressed, and lots more about him. So I added more Kev time and all these things to later drafts, and that’s all included in the version which is published. I enjoyed writing Kev so much that I’ve decided to write a Kev spin off series, telling his story, covering the same time period as Best Friends Perfect, but from Kev’s point of view. Writing Kev is always so much fun because he’s not like me at all, it’s great to have a character who’s bold, fearless, and has such a strong sense of fun. Kev is all those things, but he has his sadder side too. Yes, so the most fun character to write, for a whole host of reasons was definitely, Kev.

What was it like to write Best Friends Perfect, your first published book?

I’d been talking about wanting to write a novel for a while, and I had an idea and a broad plot of where it would go. Both my boyfriernd and my friend Louise, told me if I want to write a book, I should just write it. I don’t know who from, but I was expecting some sort of a sign to say I could write the book. I’m not sure what the sign or tip off of permission would have come from, but anyway, I just got on and wrote it. I had written quite detailed character biographies as I’d been thinking about the story for a while. I had a chapter by chapter plan of what was going to happen, and then one December I started to write it. I sat at my laptop in front of the fire, in that dead time between Christmas and New Year’s Eve and wrote the first chapter. I gave myself a word target of about 6,000 words a week, and stuck to that, gradually adding more and more to the story, until about seven months later, I’d reached the end, at a whopping 200,000 words, which is about three times the length of Best Friends Perfect Book One. I didn’t know that was a very long story for a debut novelist, and after beta reader feedback, and revisions, and my writing Auntie, Clare London, reading the whole thing twice, Wilde City Press agreed to publish it as a trilogy. I was luck with Wilde City Press accepting it as they don’t only publish gay romance, they also publish gay mainstream fiction, which this story is. It has a romantic element in it, Kieran and Jo’s search for love – in all its forms – runs throughout the trilogy, but it is mainly a coming of age story – with plenty of British humour and a good dose of camp too as it’s from me!

What was your favourite part to write of Best Friends Perfect Book One?

The most fun were the scenes at the gay pride festivals and marches. They reminded me so much of when I used to go to every single gay pride march, I once went to Bournemouth Pride, which was so small it was like a little gay village fete! I enjoyed looking through my pictures of my first Brighton Pride parades, and reading my diary from the late nineties to ensure the period details – clothes, music, shoes, cars – were right. I also really enjoy writing scenes with the characters in pubs, clubs and bars as it gives them a chance to really let go and be the strongest version of themselves – good and bad. I used to enjoy going to the clubs and pubs of Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire in my late teenaged years, and writing these scenes gave me the opportunity to re-live that a bit

Best Friends Perfect Book One is available from Wilde City Press and Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

Best Friends Perfect Book Two is out now from Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk and Wilde City Press

The characters’ journey continues, and concludes – for the moment – with Best Friends Perfect Book Three which will be published in February 2015.

I hope you enjoy entering these characters’ world and getting to know them as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Liam Livings xxx

We’re about half way through the Great British Bake Off, and I am gripped by it every week. I love how the most trivial things are taken so seriously – the definition of camp: the horror of a burned caramel mix, or the drama around a not-risen sponge. There’s also a fairly high double entendre rating too – discussions about soggy bottoms, how good people’s buns are – it’s a rich seam to mine in that regard. It’s like a Carry On film from the sixties – Carry On Camping with Barbara Windsor’s bra springing off her bosom, or maybe Carry On Matron, Hattie Jacques chasing a very camp and very not interested Kenneth Williams around the hospital.

I digress.

Sorry.

I’ll just pause here for a passenger announcement: ‘Welcome to Liam Livings air. Please fasten your seatbelts for the duration of this flight of fancy. Passengers are reminded this is a joke. If however you feel the need to leave the flight at any point, the emergency exits are located here and here, or just close your web browser.’

So, in honour of the Great British Bake Off, the recent gay games, and the commonwealth games, welcome to my version – The Great British Gay Off.  Mattay Keytay @singingbathmatt gave me the idea for this on Twitter, so thanks!

They would be held over summer, when traditionally there seem to be many other sporting events. They would be televised on BBC 3, with Julian Clarey and Scott Mills as hosts. The judges, obvs would vary depending on the category, but I’d take from the crème de la crème of each category.

I’ve listed a few different games within this competition and how well I’d do at them.

Clothes coordination – capsule wardrobes. Packing for a fortnight within the Rynair 10kg of hand luggage restrictions. My standard weekend away wear consists of a pair of jeans, trainers, and two or three long sleeved cotton T shirts (I won’t countenance anything other than cotton against my skin) and a hoodie. Done. Simple. Actually, maybe I’d do really badly in this category. Although I have a growing wardrobe of natty jackets...so on balance...

Hairdressing – Mum is a  hairdresser, and I’ve sometimes cut her hair, under close supervision obvs. I’ve coloured her hair too. And I’ve been known to sport hair that’s red, blond, and shades in between. I had highlights in my hair, a light frosting from la salon de ma mere (my mum’s salon) until a friend told me I was too old to have highlights. Now I’ve got little grey bits coming through, which I’m half debating whether to colour out, or return to the highlights. I vacillate between options most evenings. It’s been known to keep me awake too. 

Wedding / event planning – I’ve been to a few gay weddings, and they’ve been so varied and perfectly suited the grooms, it was a joy to be there. I don’t think I’d do well with this, as even though I enjoy a good weekend away with friends or a party, the stress of putting together a wedding would somewhat take away from its enjoyment I think.

Decorating – I wouldn’t even get past the heats, or whatever they’re called. I’d be lucky to get past the Essex stage of this. I know when I like an interior decor *look* but have no imagination to translate that into my own home. My flat was white, with pine and mirrored wardrobes, with a light brown carpet. *shaking head at self* I know, I know. I have friends who re-decorate with the seasons, every time I visit them they’ve thrown up some new wallpaper, or painted through all the woodwork. It makes me exhausted just looking at it.
Looking good in Lycra – some would do well at this. Some of the, shall we say, better built men of that persuasion. I only get my legs out 1) on holiday or 2) in extremis when it’s more than 30C. I would do very badly here. 

Beard trimming & Manscaping – I wouldn’t do well at this. I think I’m the only man in the northern hemisphere in his twenties – thirties, without some form of beard. I can never get past the week long itchy scratchy stage, and always cave and shave it off. Apparently the fashion for facial foliage has caused a £72billion loss in razors, shaving gel etc in Europe in the last year.

Quiffs – I think I’d do well in this category. Lift, length of quiff, hold, how short the sides are in comparison to the length of the quiff. I may get a bronze in this. In fact, maybe I’d get silver. *checks quiff in mirror*
Baking and cooking – baking I’d probably get past the Essex heats, but cooking, I’m less into that as I have a really sweet tooth, so tend to be less interested in *proper* cooking. I sometimes go to restaurants and have two desserts if I don’t fancy much from the starters or mains. Try it, waiters look at you like you’ve just asked for a lap dance from them. 

Knowledge of divas' back catalogues – I have a scarily detailed knowledge of ABBA. If there was a book written about it, of a documentary aired about it, I’ve read or watched it. Just to keep up the stereotypes I’ve got *most* of Kylie’s back catalogue – the good, bad and indifferent as she swept through the years. If you search on my iphone for artist, the two most popular are ABBA, Erasure, then Kylie. I’ll just put that out there. I think I’d do well in this category.

Dancing – if knowing the moves to Reach, by S Club Seven, or some of the Steps dance routines counts, I’d do well here. *back from checking it’s 2014* oh, that’s all old hat is it? No matter, then I’d do badly here too I’m afraid.

Partying – Maybe ten years ago or more, I’d have done well here. I used to watch the sun rising over London having been up all night dancing and partying. I used to corner the prettiest drag queens in the VIP lounge at Heaven and chat to them until someone took them away. I went through a period when I told everyone I met in night clubs my job was a biscuit designer. ‘You know the party rings, I came up with the colours,’ I’d say. Much more interesting than what my real job was at the time. My new friends for the night would disappear back to the dance floor, never to be seen again. I know plenty of friends who still burn the candle at both ends, but I’m much more a night in with a film and a takeaway.

Any more categories from you? 
Did you watch the Great British Bake Off, the gay games, the commonwealth games, anything with men in lycra?

I'm doing a giveaway of an ebook copy of Best Friends Perfect Book Two. If you comment to this post by 21.00 GMT on Wednesday 24 September 2014 with your category for the Great British Gay Off, and your email address, I'll enter you into a rafflecopter for a copy of Best Friends Perfect Book Two which is out now from Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk and Wilde City Press

Enjoy!

Liam Livings

The lovely people at The Prism Book Alliance gave a 4.5*/5* review for the Bedtime Stories Anthology.
Here's what they said about Frangipani Kisses, my little story:


'Frangipani Kisses by Liam Livings

I really enjoyed this story. It was not the typical romantic HEA but instead a HEA based on life fulfillment and job satisfaction. It featured an already established couple who are still madly in love and who support each other through the tough times. This was a great look at a different aspect of a relationship and was my favorite of this anthology.'

*blushing*

Buy Links

Wilde City
Amazon US
Amazon UK
All Romance eBooks
Barnes & Noble

1999, Kieran, 18 is searching Australia, the New Forest and London for Prince Charming with new best friend, Jo. They sample some men, and march with Pride. What happens when you fall for a straight man? What’s Jo’s solution, and why doesn’t Kieran agree?

Kieran introduces Jo to his other best friends, Hannah, Grace and Kev. The others don’t think Jo’s quite so perfect, but that’s just Jo is, isn’t it?

Kieran and Jo go to university in London, and meet Irish students Sean and Andrew. Why does Kieran feel more alone than ever? Where has Jo disappeared with Andrew? Will Sean call Kieran back?

Best Friends Perfect Book Two is out now from Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk and Wilde City Press

I will blog about aspects of this story over the coming weeks. If you have any questions you'd like to ask me about the story, let me know here, on facebook or twitter and I'll pull them together in a blog post.

If you are a book review blogger you should have recieved your ARC from Wilde City Press. If not, and you'd like to review this story, just let me know through social media or m

Until next time,

Liam Livings xx

Amos has posted a great review of the Bedtime Stories anthology. Here's what he thought about Frangipani Kisses:

I rarely say that a certain story from an anthology is my favorite but this time I am breaking my own rules and saying that Liam Livings’ “Frangipani Kisses” really stole my heart. In it we meet John who just lost his job as an accountant. He decided that until he was ready to look for another position that he would so some volunteer work at a cancer charity shop and he soon made some new friends through this. Keith, his partner, was there for him and John so appreciated it. However, John did feel the desire to make money and Keith told him to use his skills as best he could—not only was John a good accountant, he was a fine baker. What is so lovely in this story is that we meet two men who love and trust each other. This is a love story but without eroticism and we see here that it is indeed possible to depict love without including sex. One lover helps the other and we see more than just love, we see true friendship.

It's available on the Wilde City Press website, Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

My Writing Process
It’s a grand title, but basically it’s how I write what I write. There’s no mopping of brows dramatically waiting for the muse to land on my shoulder. It’s me, a laptop, some post it notes, pencil and paper, and that’s it.

Anyway, I’ve just finished the first draft of part one of a trilogy. It’s a spin off from Best Friends Perfect, it’s Kev’s story. Best Friends Perfect Book Two is out now from Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk and Wilde City Press if you’d like to meet Kev.

I’m often asked how I write from other authors, friends, family, and now I’ve written a few things I think I’ve got my method refined.

For other authors this isn’t me saying this is how you should write. No one can tell you how to write, all they can do is tell you how they write. Then you can see if any of it works for you.

Another word of caution, this is for a first draft. This is for the bare basics of a story, no agonising over whether I’ve used the same word too many times in a paragraph, none of that. If my story was a house, this is the foundations, walls, roof and windows. No interior fittings, maybe a bathroom and kitchen, but no central heating, carpets, wallpaper nothing. OK? I’ve told the story from start to finish. It will need a few goes over on my own before it gets to beta readers and they’ll have some feedback and plenty of things I’ve missed too, before I revise again and submit it.

Planning – Characters
Assuming I have an idea – that’s a whole separate post – I hand write in pencil a few A4 pieces of plain paper with character biogs. Their name, age, job, what they like, don’t like, any notable speech ticks or accents, where they’re from. This is the characters, not what happens to them, just getting to know the characters. I usually add to these while drafting as I make up / find out more things about the characters

Once I have the cast of the story assembled, I then plan the story itself.

Planning – Story
I use post it notes and write scenes in pencil on post it notes, fitting up to 12 on a piece of A4 paper. Each post it note is a scene. Sometimes they contain lots of detail about what the characters say, where they go, what happens, or I may just write a prompt like this from a post it note18 or so scenes into the story:

Mimed Love’s Unkind by DS – Tony helped w wig + he’d made costume @ college. Bedroom practiced

Thought abt writing K letter – got stuck Dear Sir/Yours faithfully

show him not tell him – if he runs, meh

Went well – K takes me home, wanted to know abt R, but didn’t want 2 spoil grt night

This 55 word post it note ended up as a 450 word part of a scene.

I plot the story right through to the end. A 65k word novel I’ve just finished ended up having more than 72 post it notes.

These first two stages can take about 6-7hrs to complete, depending on how well I know the characters, how long the story is, how long I’ve been thinking about the story before I’ve actually planned it. But roughly, a day.

Writing
Then, usually a day after the above processes, I crack open Gummidge, my laptop, put the character biogs to the left of the laptop, the post it notes plan to the right. And then I open my 1.5 spaced, indented paragraphs word doc template and I write.

Based on this approach of the below three points from Rachel Aaron.

1. I write with no distractions: no music, no internet, no emails, the door closed,
2. Knowing what I’m writing (the plan)
3. Being enthusiastic about what I’m writing – I make sure I only plan to write bits I am excited about writing. Any of the linking bits between scenes to show how someone got from x to y, I don’t write. I watch a lot of Gilmore Girls, and each scene has a purpose, usually a punch line. They rarely show them driving between two locations, just to you know, show you they’re driving there. They cut to the next snappy scene and get right into it. That’s how I try to write. (I am not perfect, I know there will be things that’ll have to be cut in edits, but that’s another post altogether)

Short sharp bursts
I write in 30 minute word sprints as above, and usually write 1000 words in this time. Depending on what’s going on in real life I write between 2000 and 6000 words a day while I’m drafting. I’ve started using an old kitchen timer I got from Great Auntie’s house after she passed away.

Staying with it
I like to stay with the story, and don’t leave it for too long or I worry I’ll lose where I was, lose the enthusiasm, or never finish it. Anyone got half finished manuscripts on your hard drive? I did that Belbin Type thingy and I’m a completer finisher. Something unfinished is like a box without a lid to me. Even if you’re not a completer finisher, staying with the story does help minimise the above risks I reckon.

I wrote this last story in 14 days of writing, between 10 August to 28 August. There were some days I wrote 0 words because real life happened. I wrote to the end of what I’d planned, which wasn’t really an ending. I wrote the back story bits as a separate document as I didn’t want to get hung up on where they’d fit with the main story. I just wrote them until I reached the end of their post it notes plan. I planned a proper ending of the main story. I wrote it. Then I worked out how to mix the now story with the back story – mixing the two word docs into one complete – but rough first draft – manuscript.

How did I mix up the two documents?
I’ve tried this a few different ways. It seems I like a bit of back story to show how my characters behave now the way they do. I tried it with a spreadsheet of each different chapter summary. I disappeared into an Excel shaped hole and still was no further along. I tried it with a new word doc bullet pointed each chapter as it was now, and then where I wanted to move them too. I got very mixed up with that too. I then tried moving it about in the main (new copy) of the manuscript. That ended badly too.

What did I do in the end?
Just like the post it notes, I went retro. Charlie Cochrane suggested a big bit of paper, numbers for each chapter as they were now, with a 1 sentence of what it was about, then I moved it about on a table like a deck of cards. Less than an hour with scissors and paper and I had it all planned out.

Then I copied and pasted from a source document into a new document and it all ended up in the right order. And that’s exactly what I did to mix the two separate word docs for this current story.

So that’s me, that’s how I do a first draft.

What about you?

What tips and techniques have you picked up from other authors?

Readers, is this interesting or could you not give a monkeys?

I’d love to hear from you all.

Liam Livings xx