Blog Archives - Liam Livings

And Then That Happened 5* review - multitaskingmomma

26/11/2014

I'm blushing and dancing at the same time. Multitaskingmomma gave And Then That Happened 5* and a $15 giveaway.

I've copied the review below:

One of my favorite poems is Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken, I guess everyone knows this by now for I always go to those words when I meet unexpected challenges or changes in life. I may be bold in saying this but Liam Livings, you did such a wonderful job in giving life to this favorite poem of mine in And Then That Happened.

What could be considered a diversion from the norm, the author now takes his readers to the romantic side with the story of Dominic and Gabe. The two lovers who were not. The two men who saw friends die from AIDS. The two men who took their friendship to levels their boyfriends could not understand. Heck, they did not understand it either. The point is, they met, they connected, they loved platonically and they moved on.

For Dominic, being in a ten year relationship with his one and only man, Luke, was getting to be a painful experience. Not because of abuse, not because of cheating. No, it was more like they lost their connection somewhere along the way and their roads diverged from the other and there were no side roads to link them.

For Gabe, hanging on to his relationship with boyfriend of four years, A, was painful to endure. Again, not because of abuse but because instead of moving on and doing something about life, A just stopped and expected Gabe to stop as well. Gabe is not that type of individual, he needs to work, he needs to move, he needs to live. Hanging on to someone who would deny life was not something he could bear. But bear he did and went on bearing.

When Dominic meets Gabe, they were like two drowning people who managed to somehow, save each other. No, there was no cheating but others may say their emotions cheated on their existing relationships. They became friends, too close for others' comforts. There was love, but they were of the platonic type. The difference this relationship of theirs made on their respective lives, well that is the story. Things happen, as they always do. Making something out of it, that depends on the individual. Gabe and Dominic made a move to move on, to make a difference in their lives.

Is this a romance? Is this gay fiction? I say it is both but not. It is life as from the words of an author who sees and writes about them.
This made me tear up!

And Then That Happened is published available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
Until next time,

Liam Livings xx

And Then That Happened excerpts and giveaways

25/11/2014

*mopping brow and leaning against the wall* Well, I'm worn out already!

I've been blogging all over the place giving sneak previews of And Then That Happened, giveaways of $15 giftcard and a copy of the ebook, and talking about the characters, the inspiration, why they work in a hospital, among other topics, so if you'd like to catch up on the posts they're below:

Scatteredthoughtsandroguewords - extract about Dominic and Gabe talking about their love lives with their boyfriends.

Joyfully Jay - what inspired me to write the book and an extract about what an an then that happened moment really is.

Mmgoodbookreviews an extract as Dominc and Gabe reflect on their love lives after being to a concert together.

Becausetwomenarebetterthanone more opportunities to win the $15 giftcard and ebook.

Love bytes reviews talking about what genres I write in and an extract about Di Anne, the ward adminstrator Dominic has to line manage.

Prism book alliance - how long have I been writing, and an extract about depression which one of the characters in And Then That Happened, experiences.

Hearts on fire - which films I watched as inspiration, and Dominic and Gabe talking about their favourite film, Housesitter, with Goldie Hawn.

The Novel Approach, the main themes in And Then That Happened and an extract as Dominic describes how it feels to be marooned in a relationship with his boyfriend, Luke.

My fiction nook an extract of Dominic hoping to take advantage of him looking after the off duty rota to see Gabe again, and me explaining why Dominic and Gabe are nurses.

I hope you enjoy the extracts and me answering interview questions all over the place. I'm going to have a lie down now!

And Then That Happened is published available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
Until next time,

Liam Livings xx

Characters, Long or Short, Lessons Learned - And Then That Happened

25/11/2014

I'm in Elin's Comfy Chair talking about And Then That Happened.

Here's the full text copied below:

You’re an old hand at this author malarkey by now. :) If you could go back in time, is there anything you would like to tell your newbie self that would have made things easier?

I wouldn’t go that far; I’ve only been writing to be published since 2012, but I feel I’ve learned how to write quickly, then edit slowly, so I have been able to write quite a bit in 2014. Anyway…I seem to use similar names for characters, so a spreadsheet/list of character names would have helped, rather than having to *find & replace* halfway through writing it.

Also, don’t sweat the details of the first draft too much, just tell the story, get it down on paper. There’s that many stages of editing, with myself, post beta readers, content edits, line edits, proof stage, that worrying at first draft stage whether I’ve used a particular phrase or words too often at that stage is pointless (I think). Just get it down, you can change it when you read it as a reader, not as a writer. My favourite phrases at the moment seem to be: A jolt to the groin (so much so that my BF said the story should be renamed A Jolt To The Groin, and even made me a mock cover for it); For wont of anything better to do (Sue Brown’s comments in that story were hilarious as she worked through the manuscript. Towards the end she just put *not again* in a comment box.)

Dominic and Gabe, the MCs of And Then That Happened, are two very memorable characters. Did you make them up completely or was any aspect of their situations or personalities that were inspired by your own personal experience or that of friends?

As I’ve written more I think I put a bit of myself in all the characters I write. I don’t think I every completely make up characters from thin air. I like to use a phrase, a characteristic of someone I know or have seen, lyrics from a song, an expression in a film, something, then think what if and use that as the start for a character, brainstorming their background, likes and dislikes etc. I have a marvellous questionnaire for characters from Kate Long’s session on characters at the RNA conference, it really helps you get to know your characters.

I met a friend who was in the process of splitting up with his boyfriend, and some of that, and other elements of him have gone into Gabe’s story, but this friend is *not* Gabe. Almost all of Gabe was from my imagination. Dominic’s careful nature with money and how he is with his friends is very much like me I suppose. I think his forthright nature is a bit of wish fulfilment on my behalf. The Di Anne character and actions may have been influenced by my friend’s account of a colleague she worked with at the time, who is not called Di Anne, nor does she work in a hospital, obvs.

Of all your characters who would you be most enjoy pushing downstairs, sharing a taxi cab with, or having them move in next door so you saw them every day?

In And Then That Happened, I’d push Matt (Dominic’s best friend) downstairs as he deserves it. I’d love to share a taxi cab with Carol Anne (Dominic’s mum) as she’d have me in stitches at her (unintentionally) funny stories about her daily trials and challenges. Anyone who doesn’t let you kiss them too close for fear of spotting the surgery scars behind their ears is going to be a laugh to talk to I reckon. I’d love Gabe to move next door, so I could see him every day. His enthusiasm for adventures, and grabbing life by the balls and just getting on with it, would be a great tonic.

Short vs long. As a reader, which do you prefer to read? As a writer, would you say that a short story is harder to write than a long one?

Depends what I’m reading. I read a YA novel of only 350 pages, but it had very few characters and was first person POV. It was just what it needed to be. I love a good multi character saga – Lace, Valley of the Dolls or An Absolute Scandal [read Liam’s blog posts here, here and here] – 900 pages with thirty characters and I absolutely *loved* every single page of it :) However, I read a horror novel and the start was great, the end was great, but it really needed 200 pages removing in the middle. I kept reading thinking, I get it, I get what’s happened, we don’t need to see the same thing happen to a different character *again*. But I’m sure others would make that criticism of my well-loved sagas I’ve mentioned; not me though. There’s something about a long book, I absolutely adore, diving into the story, losing yourself in the narrative. I normally save the big 600page plus ones for holidays.

As a writer, the first thing I wrote was 200,000 words – Best Friends Perfect, which I now know was way too long for gay fiction, so it’s being published as a trilogy. Length depends on genre I reckon. My fellow RNA authors say 90,000 is a normal length for them and saga authors say it’s got to be 135,000 words or it’s not a saga. But in gay romance it seems to be shorter, 65,000 or fewer.

I think a short story is harder to write as you’ve not got any space to faff about with, but it’s easier in that once you get to 20,000 words you’re done. Personally I prefer to write longer, as it gives you more page time to explore the characters, get them to do stuff, think about things, fall in love, fall out of love, all that jazz.

I’ve just finished a first draft of Kev’s story (Kieran’s cross dressing best friend from Best Friends Perfect) and it’s three 65,000 word stories (a lot happens to him, he’s one of those characters who despite everyone’s best efforts always ends up in trouble, but he’s lovely with it) so in total it’s almost 200,000 words. With that many words you can have people coming in, leaving, coming back, have new characters they meet, a variety of romantic interests. But with a short story, you can’t really have that much tooing and froing with characters cos there’s not the time to get to know them, I’ve found, anyway.

What’s next from the pen, typewriter, state of the art word processor of Liam Livings?

In 2015 I have a series of sequels I’m planning to write. For exactly the reason I like longer stories, I think I’ve worked out I like a series, I like to come back to the characters, really go on a journey with them. Also if you have the characters, broadly
the setting, as far as planning the next book, you’re pretty well in to the next story aren’t you? No need to start from scratch, you just have to think about what they’re going to do.

I attempted to write a gay version of Lace/Valley Of The Dolls called Glitzy Gay Saga, and I’d like to revisit that; see if it’s not quite as *disastrously awful* as I think it is at the moment, then see if I can write a sequel and take the characters to a British film industry setting or something similar. Such fun!

Can I please have an excerpt of something?

Here’s the scene when fate throws Gabe into Dominic’s life.

The fourth of June 1999 at eight thirty pm, it was raining, as expected in a British summer. I looked up from my handover note in the staff room; he pushed the door open slowly and sat opposite me, smiling at everyone else.
It was my fourth of a string of extra nights, and I felt the sort of tiredness that comes from a series of night shifts where you grab hours of poor quality sleep during the day, between batting about with housework and other chores. The sort of tiredness only people with young babies or night workers can fully understand. His arrival immediately woke me back to more than normal levels.
My gaydar gave me mixed signals as he wore Timberland shoes and a very plain jacket over his nurses tunic.
He smiled at me, shook his curly dark brown hair so water sprayed around the room, then removed his jacket. ‘Look at me, Ernest! Just look at me! I’m soaking wet!’
The day sister looked him up and down. ‘Ernest, who’s he?’
‘A joke.’
‘I’m assuming you’re Gabriel, from the agency.’
He nodded. ‘Gabe.’
But as soon as he quoted Death Becomes Her—I knew for definite, without a shadow of a doubt, he was as gay as bunting. No straight man quotes that film, not in this world or the next. ‘Spanish, are you?’ I asked, feigning disinterest.
‘My dad is.’ He stared at me, his long brown eyelashes framing his eyes perfectly.
I deliberately allocated myself at the far end of the ward from him. I didn’t want to come across as too keen. Besides, I was happily partnered.

Now Is Good by Jenny Downham - books that made me cry

21/11/2014

Blurb
Tessa is sixteen.
Tessa is dying.
But before that moment comes, she has an awful lot of living to do...
So she’s made a list of everything she wants to do before she dies. Number one is sex. Starting tonight.

If you liked John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars, you should read this. This book reduced me to a sobbing heap. I had to put the book down to get a grip on myself. Even writing this now, re-reading extracts, is making me cry. Yes, really. It’s that good and that sad.

It is written in first person present tense. Normally I don’t like present tense, but the way it’s written, it just flows perfectly. There’s not a huge cast of characters, Tessa’s parents, brother and her best friend, Zoey.
Zoey and Tessa’s relationship, how they support one another, is beautiful, moving, perfect, spikey at times, but just perfectly how teenaged friendships are.

It is a very easy to read young adult story, which can easily be enjoyed by adult adults too.

Drugs are next. And after drugs, there are still seven things left to do. If I tell him, he’ll take it away. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life huddled in a blanket on the sofa with my head on Dad’s shoulders. The list is the only thing keeping me going.

She has sex, she takes drugs, she shoplifts, she drives a car, when she’s too young to have a licence. She basically grabs her life by the balls and takes it.

It has a beautiful romance too, which builds gradually, and also makes it so much sadder when you get to the end.

we made love twenty-seven times and we shared a bed for sixty-two nights and that’s a lot of love

This book doesn’t have a happily ever after. There’s a reason the author chose present tense. But don’t avoid the book for that reason, buy it, read it, then grasp your life and hold it tight to yourself making the most of now, of today, of life in all its sadness, happiness and wonderful variety.

This book reminds me of a beautifully sad ITV drama from 2005, Walk Away And I Stumble, starring Tamzin Outhwaite, Julie Graham and Mark Strong. It ends very sadly in a way that makes you happy to be alive, with this message on the screen, I typed it and stuck it above my desk, where it’s hung since 2005:

Be wild and have fun, embrace the world, the universe.
Share together this day for the hour is tremendous, the emotion overwhelming.
We love to laugh and smile with friends and family.
This moment is powerful like a promise.
Drink, play, dance, dream, hope and be happy.
Join us, take pleasure in life.

Liam Livings xx

PS: in other news, And Then That Happened is published today on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk It's my first full length gay m/m romance novel, and it might just make you cry too.

Calling All Writers In Essex!

19/11/2014

If you're a writer in Essex/ East London who wants to be published, if you're a writer who wants to write for pleasure and just wants to talk to other writers, come along to the local writers group I attend.

Details in the flyer below.

If you want to read about a writer who goes to a writers group, but accidently walks into the wrong room of the village hall where the group is called, and all the japes that come from that, my story, The Wrong Room will be published in 2015 by Manifold Press. There's a sample on my e-book shelf.

If you're a writer who wants to come to this group, do let me know by emailing me.

The Inspiration Behind And Then That Happened

18/11/2014

I'm on the Love Lane Books blog talking about the story behind And Then That Happened.

The text is copied below.

The concept of 'And Then That Happened' came from a Canadian friend in January 2005. We were sitting around telling funny stories about things that had happened to us. She told this long story about something awful happening to her that had come from nowhere. When she finished, it was obvious we weren’t meant to laugh, so there was this big silence that filled the room as everyone looked around and didn’t know what to say. She then said with a smile, ‘So, OK, and then that happened.’ She shrugged her shoulders, and everyone went back to normal with a nervous laugh.

From then on it’s always been my shorthand for one of those things life throws at you from nowhere – because isn’t life just like that? There can be good ATTH and bad ATTH, it’s about the randomness and the in the middle of doing all this stuff in my life, this thing came along and happened. Make sense?

My friend, H had been trying for a baby for years but she’d been told she couldn’t have one due to a medical condition. She moved to New Zealand with her boyfriend, split up from him and started seeing another man, and then got pregnant. Her opening phrase in her email was, ‘How’s this for an ATTH?’ It’s similar, but not the same as Nek Minnit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nek_minnit feel free to disappear into a Wikipedia black hole...

So I left that concept bubbling along for a few years.

After I wrote my first novel, Best Friends Perfect, I wanted to have someone who rather than being at the start of coming out as gay, had been in a gay relationship for a while. I was then interested in exploring this character if their relationship had withered on the vine somewhat.

I also wanted to explore how a character would deal with having mental health issues. I’ve had these, and it’s still one of those things people just don’t talk about. I wanted to show what it’s like to feel as if you can’t get out of bed, to cry at everything. I don’t want to spoil the story, but the supermarket dream in the story – that happened to me, on more than one occasion.

You know when you meet someone at exactly the time they need you in their life, and exactly the time you need them in yours? Well, that happened to me. N was in the middle of a breakup with his long term boyfriend for a whole variety of reasons, and in some small way, I think I helped him with that. I was also going through a lot of things at the time and together we negotiated our way through it. He knows I was inspired by meeting him to write this story. This friend isn’t Gabe in the story, but a lot of the things I learned from meeting this friend have been used in the story.

I also used to work in a hospital as a health care assistant, so the setting wasn’t too hard to come up with.

I dusted off the ATTH concept, put that with the end of a long term relationship, and some other stuff from N which I won’t say as it will spoil the story, added in the setting and wrote the first draft of And Then That Happened.

So, and then that happened.

I’d love to hear if any of you have any questions about the concept, or my inspiration for writing the story.

Until next time,

Liam Livings xx

5* Review Best Friends Perfect Book 2

18/11/2014

Multitaskingmomma gave Best Friends Perfect Book 2 a lovely 5* review.

The text is copies below.

Liam Livings' works are one of the few gay fiction that I love to read. His works make for such interesting reads and screams realism even if the story is set in the 1990s. For readers like myself, a child of the 80s, it is wonderful to read a story that makes reliving those days a joy.

This is part two of the story that tells of the adventures and misadventures of Kieran as he sorts his life as a gay youth and actually get to enjoy the process. The friends and family all form a beautiful support group that is kind of idealistic, but truly, there are people like that out there.
As could be read from all of the books written by this author, this is gay fiction at its best. Once the page is opened, it is impossible not to get lost within the world that unfolds, or even laugh at the silliness of the characters' actions. On that note, Livings has this gift of creating characters that drive the story to wherever it takes the readers. There are times when each character just frustrate but then comes about others where the only reaction is to sigh in relief and wonder that people like these actually exist.

What makes me love reading this adventure that is focused mostly on Kieran, is the way it makes me just relax into the story and just go with the flow of the plot unfolding. There are no twists or angsts that I would consider over-dramatic. Instead, the read is flawless in a way that before I even knew it, the (mis)adventure is done. Then I ask, where is the next page?

It's available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

Happy reading!

Liam Livings xx

And Then That Happened - published 21 November!

17/11/2014

cover by Meredith Russell

This will be published by Love Lane Books on 21 November. There's a blog tour which where I'm answering various questions about the story, characters, and including little snippets of the story from throughout.

But for now, here's what it's about:

Should you settle for a nearly perfect happiness or put your heart on the line for more?

It’s 1999 and 28-year-old Dominic’s carefully planned suburban life with his boyfriend Luke is perfect. His job as a nurse, his best friend Matt, his relationship with his parents, everything is just right. He and Luke have been together ten years, seen each other through friends’ deaths and their parents’ ups and downs, and even had a commitment ceremony.

Gabe isn’t happy with his boyfriend, but he stays with him, because, well it’s complicated.

Fate throws Gabe into Dominic’s life. And then that happened. Gabe’s open relationship, impulsive nature, enthusiasm for life and straight talking advice are fascinating to Dominic. They’re friends, they click over a shared love of Goldie Hawn and Gabe shows Dominic there can be more to life than planned and safe. So why can't he take his own advice?

And Then That Happened is about finding a new kind of happiness, even when what you have is already perfect. And how sometimes perfect isn’t quite what it seems.

Until next time,

Liam Livings xx

Best Friends Perfect Book 2 Review by Prism Book Alliance

17/11/2014

Beverley from Prism Book Alliance gave this book 4.25 stars out of 5.

Beverley's review is copied below:

I was looking forward to Perfect Friends Book 2 and having read it I want book 3 now!

Beverley’s View: I really enjoyed Perfect Friends Book 1 and was looking forward to reading the next in the series. I enjoyed this one too although I think it suffered a little for being a bit too long. Now I still enjoyed this one but it was the typically English and gay reactions to life the universe and everything, which endeared me so to this series. I think book 2 would sometimes be a bit slow for readers who don’t have an English background.

As I do, I relished so many references to nightclubs, pubs and shops in London that I knew. However, everyone will recognise the sometimes gauche way we act when we are growing up, and experiencing our freedom for the first time. This was summed up by one short conversation for me;

“What’s that?” I asked, nodding to his blue firework of a drink, adorned with small umbrellas, fruit and twirls of fruit peel.

It’s a ‘Blue Lagoon’. Fabulous isn’t it? Everyone who sees me will know that I’m sophisticated and mature…

“What’s it like?”

“Vile”

I had the same conversation over a ‘Green Zombie’!!

There were a lot of fun highlights when Kieran and Jo ‘do’ Australia and I love Kieran’s family. There is an almost shy humour to this book, very different from the quite snarky, banter you find in American or Australian books of this kind. One of my favourite sections was when Kieran and Jo go to Sydney’s famous’ Mardi Gras’ with Keiran’s Mum and younger brother. I shan’t spoil the whole section but the extract I’ve chosen shows the gentle humour quite well, it falls at the end of a description about Kieran’s Mum’s outfit;

She waved a rainbow flag on which she had written – with some help from us on spelling – Straight Mum Proud Of My Gay Son – we all felt quite proud how it sort of rhymed, if we did the aural equivalent of squinting as Grace would have said.

Earlier I squealed with laughter at another banner for their LGBT youth club during London Pride in England;

‘Out! A friendly space for young people to be themselves in Wiltshire and parts of Hampshire.’ It could have done with a bit of editing.

This is the second book in the series and although I enjoyed a lot of the character development having read book 1 I think it could be read as an enjoyable stand alone, but why not follow Kieran’s journey through the trilogy?

This is a book of gentle humour and hidden hurts encountered whilst growing up. Gay or not we have all been through similar experiences trying to find our place in the world. Being gay adds some different obstacles and additional dangers but basically it’s a story we can all relate to. All is not humour and froth though, and I hurt for Kieran when he first goes to University after returning from his Gap year in Australia. The sense of loneliness is so profound and his ‘come on’ speech to himself is still very fresh and familiar in my memory, regarding my own daughter;

I reasoned it was a bit unreasonable of me to ask him to break off from making new friends to check on one of his older friends. I’d travelled around Australia, so moving to London would be easy right?…

…Everything close enough to touch, yet all I wanted to do was go to sleep.

Throughout the book we see who Kieran’s real friends are and how beautifully they help him, and he them, to navigate the rough and often lonely road to becoming an adult. I felt at ease for Kieran, as I came to the end of book 2 and then they slipped in the first few pages of chapter one Book 3 and now I can’t wait for it to come out in February 2015.

It's available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

Happy reading!

Liam Livings xx

Best Friends Perfect book 2 Review by Amos Lassen

13/11/2014

Amos Lassen reviewed the second in the Best Friends Perfect trilogy and here's what he had to say:

'This is the second volume in Liam Livings’s “Best Friends Perfect” series. Set in 1999, eighteen year old Kieran is searching for his soul mate in Australia and London. His best friend Jo is there to help. What was not supposed to happen did—Kieran falls for a straight guy but Jo has the solution for this except that Kieran does not agree with it. He introduces Jo to his other best friends and they all think she is just fine. Then Jo and Kieran are off to college in London where they meet two Irish students, Sean and Andrew and twists and turns come our way.

Once again Livings has created wonderful characters and he has done an excellent job of developing the plot. He actually writes the kinds of stories that do not require anything more than opening a book and enjoying a read. Give him a try.'

It's available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

Happy reading!

Liam Livings xx