Liam Livings
Twitter
  • Home
  • Books
    • Kieran series >
      • Kieran's Out
      • Kieran's Pride
      • Kieran's Prince
    • Kev Series >
      • Adventures in Dating...in Heels
      • Rocky Road of Love...In Heels
      • Kicking Up My Heels...in Heels
    • Regiment of Majestic Gays Series >
      • The Regiment of Majestic Gays
      • I Should Be So Lucky
      • Say You'll Be Mine
      • Don't You Want Me
    • Christmas Books >
      • Plus One Christmas Elf
      • Coincidental Christmas Boyfriend
      • Bear Best Friend
      • Mistletoe Kisses
      • A New Life For Christmas
      • Silver Daddy Jingle Bells
    • Standalones >
      • And Then That Happened
      • Wrong Room, Right Guy
      • The Guardian Angel
      • The Player and the Geek
      • The Journalist and the Dancer
      • Unlocking the Doctor's Heart
      • Guarding the Prince
      • Wild for You
      • Love on the Dancefloor
      • Finding Home
      • Perfect Catch
      • The Trouble With Rent Boys
      • When Robbo Met Daniel
    • Non-Fiction >
      • Marketing the Romance
  • Contact
  • GHOSTWRITING SERVICES
  • Liam's Lovely News

How I Won Nanowrimo 2014 in 13 Days

11/12/2014

6 Comments

 
This is my second Nanowrimo. It seems to really click with me in 2013. I learned a lot about fast drafting, and prep for Nanowrimo when I did it last year. Last year’s Nanowrimo novel The Guardian Angel needed a good edit on my own, but it’s contracted with Love Lane Books and due out in 2015.

This year, I wasn’t sure which project to write, but since I’d written Kev Friends Perfect book 1 in August, book 2 in October (I had September ‘off’ self-editing The Guardian Angel, I decided to write Kev book 3 in November. Kev has been such fun to write. He’s a wonderfully strong character and he has this habit of getting himself in awful scrapes (and a penchant for workmen with capacious vans) and terrible situations – but he’s lovely with it. And always with such gusto, enthusiasm and fearlessness. Anyway, I digress...

So I wrote Kev book 3, which came out at 61,254 words. If you want to know more about how I write generally, it's based on Rachel Aaron's technique.

Looking back through my progress sheet – it helps me keep my word count spreadsheet updated, don’t hate or judge me please – it went something like this:

Week 1 (although November started the previous weekend, this was my first week as I didn’t write due to spending time with The Northern Gays in Warrington and Salford.
  • 3 November – planning the whole story with my Post it notes method (didn’t need much in the way of character biogs as it was a continuation of a series. I wrote character biogs for new characters as they came up in the story.) 6040
  • 4 Nov – 6283
  • 5 Nov – 6474
  • 6 Nov – 6277
  • 7 Nov – 4004 – I was starting to run out of steam at this point, the end of a long week of writing, and *life* too

Week 2
  • 10 Nov – 4312
  • 12 Nov – 3019 – definitely flagging at this point. I was well into the ‘post 20k words quagmire’ and as usual at that point thinking it was awful, pointless and I simply must stop. But, as Clara Bell, an Aga saga author who runs a writers group from my coming shortly story, The Wrong Room said, ‘Onward, onward always onward.’ And so I did.
  • 13 Nov – 7033 – I powered through the doubts and wrote, wrote, wrote like the wind. The doubts continued, but I pushed them to one side and didn't allow them to stop me writing.
  • 14 Nov – 4220 – running out of steam a bit after a long week, I think.

Week 3
  • 17 Nov – 4029 – my total was 51691 so *officially* I’d won at this point, but I still had a few more pages of Post it notes to write, so ‘onward, onwards’ I went.
  • 18 Nov – 3112 *shrugs* just one of those days I suppose
  • 19 Nov – 4288 – the end in sight
  • 21 Nov – I had written to the end of the Post it notes, but hadn’t reached the end of the story. I planned another 6 Post it note scenes, and then wrote them – 2153.

And then, because I must be a little bit insane, and am definitely very odd, I planned very roughly book 4 of Kev’s trilogy. (If Douglas Adams can have a trilogy in five parts, I'm gonna give it a go too). I know how it all ends up for him (happily obvs) but the end of book 3 is still quite a few years away from that. Hence book 4 appeared on the horizon, winking at me and jangling some keys to a beat up Transit van. I’m not yet at the Post it note planning stage, but I’ve a rough start, middle and end, and a timeline. But that will wait until sometime in 2015.

My stats
  • I wrote for 13 days which was an average of 4711 per day.
  • I wrote in bursts of 30mins – no internet, no distractions, having planned where I was going.
  • Some days I fitted in more bursts of 30mins than others – because, well, life happened.
  • Some days the words flowed, others, not so much.

So, what have I learned?
  1. I like a deadline and a challenge.
  2. I respond well to a target word count per week – I prefer weekly than daily as it gives you more flexibility if and when life happens. I gave myself a word target for each week, and carved out time to write, and I met that target.
  3. Rest. You'll see I didn't write every day. I couldn't. After spewing 29,000 words onto the page in week 1 I didn't want to look at my laptop at the weekend. I wrote between 4 and 5 words per week. Rest is good, it gives the unconscious brain a chance to recharge. Rest is good. You don't need to be doing stuff all the time. I read, watched TV, walked, cooked, saw friends. And the following week I was ready to jump on that week's word target like a hungry cat on a rat.
  4. I watched about an hour’s less TV each evening when I wrote. I didn’t miss anything. I still spent time talking to my BF and socialised during November.
  5. Preparation is key: Write blogs you want to post during the month in advance, then just post them; Eat simple meals – don’t expect to do a day of *life* then make an elaborate dinner, then write 4000 words. We ate soup and prepared meals we’d made at the weekends.
  6. When you reach the post 20k *AAAHHHGGGs* write through them. Forge onward. Don’t stop. I’ve spoken to lots of other writers, and very many (not all, but nearly all) get to this stage. It’s once the shiny new idea syndrome has worn off, and you’re well into the *work* of writing the story down, flogging through your plan, or however you first draft, and it’s so easy to abandon it for another now much shinier new idea. DO NOT DO THIS. REACH THE END. EVEN IF IT’S BILGE. GET THERE. You can come back and edit it to be less bilge (and trust me, it’s normally not that bad on second look). You can’t edit a blank page.
  7. If you reach a part when you can’t write the scene, write a line of xxxx and (they have an argument) or whatever needs to happen, and move onto the next scene you can write.
  8. If when you come back, you *still* can’t write that argument scene, leave it, write on, until the end, and if you still can’t write it, leave it for your own edits. You never know you may not need that scene. Sometimes I’ve struggled with scenes, but when I stood back and thought about what needed to happen, why I needed that scene, I struggled. The post it note went in the bin and the scene wasn’t written. Each scene should move the plot (in all the elements of plot there are) forward. Not just be there *because it’s nice*. I’ve read books that were a series of chapters like that – beautifully written prose, wonderful long descriptions, endless conversations with characters about terribly intelligent things. But basically, NOTHING HAPPENED. They didn’t move the story forward. John Grisham doesn’t have chapters like that. Readers skip stuff like that. Don’t write the stuff that readers skip. (This, I fear, is sadly why I struggle to read many classic books. I can not bear pages of description about a horse and cart crossing a field, and a woman’s rosy cheeks as she held a pint of frothy mead. TELL ME THE STORY. WHAT IS HAPPENING? WHO’S SAYING WHAT TO WHOM? Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons does a wonderful job of satirising that sort of novel (while telling a fabulous story too btw, but more of that’s not for now.)

How did you do for Nanowrimo? Readers, did this phenomenon pass you by, or were you cheering from the sidelines to your author friends? I’d love to hear from you.

Until next time,

Liam Livings xx

6 Comments

Hump day hunk - Gabe from And Then That Happened

10/12/2014

0 Comments

 
I'm at The House of Baggot talking to Mandy Baggot about Gabe one of the heroes from And Then That Happened.

I first met Mandy Baggot at the Festival of Romance in 2013, and then saw her again at the RNA conference this summer. I really did network with an awful lot of people at the RNA conference didn't I? I loved talking to the new authors I'd met.

Full interview copied below:

This week on Hump Day Hunk the wonderful Liam Livings is introducing his hero, Gabe from his latest novel, And Then That Happened.

Meet Gabe
Picture
This isn't *strictly speaking* Gabe, it's Bradley Cooper, taken from IMDB, but overall it's pretty near exactly how I imagined Gabe when writing his story.
What makes Gabe the perfect hero?

You know that saying: sing like nobody’s listening, love like you’ve never been hurt before, dance like nobody’s watching and f**k like you’re being filmed - Well that’s *exactly* how Gabe lives his life. And once you’re in his life, you get his full undivided attention - and all his dramas too obvs. He’s always running off to have the next adventure, the next experience, and he does it all without holding back, which is why he sometimes falls flat on his face, and gets hurt. He’s also sensitive, caring, loving and isn’t afraid of having a good cry.

What would Gabe plan for a perfect date?

It could be anything really. A quiet night in with him cooking for his boyfriend. Maybe a few drinks in London, then going clubbing all night, and watching the sun rise from Trafalgar Square in central London. Even if it was something when he and his boyfriend were out and about, he’d still manage to make the boyfriend feel they were the only two people on the planet, giving the boyfriend his total undivided attention, no looking at mobile phones, not taking calls, not swanning off to see other people.

What is Gabe’s favourite TV show and music style?

He’s a massive Goldie Hawn fan, so any film with her in and he’s there. His favourite of her films is probably Housesitter they have a bit of an ongoing joke about how the character makes things up in her life. He also enjoys Death Becomes Her – and why wouldn’t he, it’s a camp classic! He likes Erasure, and isn’t afraid of anyone thinking it’s *too gay* music. He’s proud of what he likes, and doesn’t apologise for it.

Gabe has brown eyes, but the smile, the dark hair, and the beardedness, is pretty much right in this pic (above) of the gorgeous Bradley Cooper – from IMDB.

I can share a small sample of when they first meet:

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.

****

And Then That Happened is available now on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
0 Comments

Georgia Hill talks to me about baking and the Maldives

10/12/2014

0 Comments

 
I'm on Georgia Hill's blog talking about baking, my writing journey, where I get my inspiration from, my ambition and whether I'd do I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

I met Georgia at the RNA conference in July 2014 as she's a fellow member of the RNA - a wonderful organisation to support authors and bring them together.

Full text is copied below.

Today, we have the lovely Liam Livings on the blog.

Hi Liam and welcome. Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m somewhere between twenty something and thirty something. I live with my partner and cat on the edge of London. I love baking, cooking and entertaining friends. I love to read a guilty pleasure autobiography, a good glitzy bonk buster, saga or some modern popular women’s fiction. I try to avoid reality TV and instead prefer to immerse myself in a drama like Broadchurch or Mrs Biggs, or a long running American series, like Brothers and Sisters Orange Is The New Black, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, things with strong characters I can follow through their journey. I love to lose myself in a good film, a mix of new ones and my old favourites I watch again and again, each time marvelling at how much I still love them.

I have little or no interest in sport, except occasionally the men’s Olympic diving or gymnastics, but that’s not *strictly speaking* for the sport side.

Tell us a little about your writing journey? How did you begin?

I’ve kept a diary since 1998. I’ve written short stories pen portraits about people I’ve met since I was a teenager. I’d wanted to write something to be published and after a friend told me to just get on and do it, I did just that. With the help of Clare London and some wonderful beta readers, I polished my manuscript and it is published by Wilde City Press as the Best Friends Perfect series. It’s a young adult, coming out story set in the nineties. Since then I’ve joined the RNA and helped put on a gay fiction conference in 2013 and 2014 and my first gay romance story, And Then That Happened has been published by Love Lane Books.

Tell us something about your writing process.

I write character biogs on paper. Then I plan the story on post it notes from start to end – each post it note is a scene, and usually ends up being 500 – 1000 words when I write it. I start from the first post it note and work my way through to the last one, trying to leave as few days without writing as possible. I leave it for a month, then self edit, then send to betas, then edit again, then submit.

So, where does your inspiration come from?

Where don’t I would be a shorter answer… I get inspiration from so many places – conversations I overhear on public transport, when I’m out and about. I get inspiration from song lyrics, passages in books, from films I watch, from people and things in my life. I get it everywhere.

What’s your writing ambition?

I enjoy writing so much, so I want to do as much of it as possible with the time I have available. I’d like to share my stories with as many people as possible.

Onto more trivial matters. What’s your writing snack of choice?

I try not to snack too much while I’m writing. I find the crumbs get in the keyboard! I drink hot strong and one sugar sweetened tea – and lots of it – while I’m writing.

Quick-fire!

Tea or coffee?

Tea, always. I used to have 4 sugars and half milk in my coffee and it took me years to work out I didn’t actually like the taste of coffee at all.

 Strictly or X Factor?

Neither I’m afraid. I just can’t even…

 Would you do I’m a Celebrity?

For £40,000 to stay in for a minimum of 72 hours, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I also reckon I’d have a good laugh getting to know some of the other *slebs* too.

Dream holiday destination?

The Maldives maybe? Somewhere with dappled shade, a pool, somewhere to sit and read and do very little. I like a fly and flop holiday. If I read 5 books in a week’s holiday that’s a success for me.

And Then That Happened is available now from Amazon UK | Amazon US
Picture
0 Comments

What Would I Spend A Million £ On - Interview with Jane Lovering 

8/12/2014

0 Comments

 
I was interviewed by Jane Lovering, another wonderful author I met at the RNA Conference this summer. She's asking me if I'm a cat or dog person, what I'd spend a million £ on and whether dairy products are a necessity or the work of the devil.

Here's the full interview:

An Interview with Liam Livings, who is a most pleasant young man, even if he doesn't like big dogs... This week, to give you all a bit of a break from my constant whittering, which you bear manfully, I am giving you a treat! No, it's not chocolate. No, it's not kittens either - it's an interview with the truly fabulous Liam Livings.

So, once I'd got him strapped into the Questioning Chair...what?  Doesn't everyone have a Questioning Chair?  If not, why not, they are most valuable for exercises such as this.. I asked Liam some questions about his latest novel 'And then that happened'.


Firstly, introduce yourself...

I’m Liam Livings, I write gay romantic fiction, with British humour and lots of sparkle. I’m a cat lover, an amateur baker, a classic car enthusiast. I love camp trashy films and dramas that make me cry (Brothers and Sisters, Six Feet Under, Broadchurch, Walk Away And I Stumble) I love to read *widely* from escapist glitz, some gritty(ish) crime, celebrity autobiographies and popular romantic fiction. I live in the Essex Golden Triangle – made popular by TOWIE. And I embrace all of its highlights, fake tan, handbags on one arm, designer hairstyles (that’s just the men) whole heartedly. I have family connections there so when we moved here from central London it was a bit like moving home. Mum worked as a trainee hairdresser in the salon five minutes walk from where we live now.

You can connect with Liam:
Twitter @LiamLivings
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/liam.livings
blog http://www.liamlivings.com/blog

I have no idea why Liam's bit is so..well...paragraphular.  It's not like he talks, you know, all those spaces... anyway, onwards and upwards.

Now give us the 'elevator pitch' for your book...

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

So I want all of you to rush over there directly and purchase said book, right?

Dog or Cat?

Cat. I love dogs, but only small dogs (see my answer later). But there’s something about cats, their only wanting to be affectionate on their terms, and on special occasions that I admire. When a cat sits on your lap after it’s been fed, that’s a really magical moment, I think.

Huh.  Liam has, I think you can tell, never met my dogs. Or my cats, either - nothing magical about Zach sitting on your lap, just a faint, indefinable smell.

Favourite T shirt slogan?

Hello Sailor! (in pale blue on a grey T shirt I bought at Brighton Pride many years ago. It always got looks whenever I wore it.) I’d like one that said ‘I’m Liam, fly me’ but I think that would have worked better when I was single, and in the first flushes of youth...

What would you spend a million pounds on?

I’d buy a slightly larger house (making sure it was mortgage free) a bit further into the Essex countryside with a barn and ‘carriage’ driveway (yellow crunchy gravel and my initials in the gates – it’s Essex obvs) and I’d buy some classic cars – a Citroen DS, Citroen SM (I like my cars, weird, seventies and French). I’d give my brother and sister in law enough to buy them a house without a mortgage. I’d take me, Mum and my brother on holiday with our partners. And I’d put the rest in the bank (if I were in charge of spending, rest assured there would be some left for the bank.)

Dairy produce, absolute necessity or food of the devil?

Let me put it to you this way – I don’t smoke, I hardly drink, but I have a chocolate crate in the under stairs cupboard. It is *always* stocked with various chocolate goodies, biscuits, Crunchies, Fry’s orange creams, Dairy Milk Tray, etc. So without dairy products I’d not be able to have all that. So an absolute necessity. I always have organic full fat milk – I like to live a bit dangerously you see ;-)

Look, here is a man who has a SPECIAL CHOCOLATE CRATE!! Never mind buying his book, we should have him framed...

When expecting short-notice visitors, where do you hide the mess?

I very rarely have short-notice visitors – I think it’s a London thing. People in London never ‘just pop in’ on people, it’s always planned. The only person who’d drop in short notice-ish is Mum, who’s 2hrs drive away, and I’d leave any mess around because 1) she’s family 2) her house is hardly a show home from the Ideal Homes
Exhibition.

Acres of wilderness or busy city?

Halfway between the two – suburbia. Mum lives in the New Forest in a tiny village, but it’s only 20mins from Southampton or Salisbury. I’m an hour from central London, or a short drive to open countryside of Essex. Compromise is my watchword, I feel.

Would you prefer to meet an emu or a moose?

An emu – I’d want to see how small its head was and how long and powerful its legs were.

If you were a dog, what breed would you be?

A Papillon - a toy spaniel. Fancy looking, playful, lots of running about.

Cocktails or straight up vodka?

Neither – I make a terrible drunk. I usually end up in tears or doing a multicoloured yawn onto the floor, or both. So I seldom drink, and rarely drink to get drunk. I may have a snowball with a glace cherry or a frangelico at Christmas, but apart from that a half of bitter and I’m done.

Why write romance?

Because those are the stories that come to me. I enjoy writing about human relationships, love, loss and that’s what *I think* romance is about.

Thanks for Jane's great questions.

Liam xx
0 Comments

My Inheritance Books - Rhoda Baxter interviews me

8/12/2014

0 Comments

 
Rhoda Baxter, a fellow Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) member I met at the RNA conference in summer, interviews me about the books I have inherited from the generation above and the book I'd like to leave for future generations.

I've copied the interview below:

I’m delighted to welcome the lovely Liam Livings to Inheritance Books. I met Liam at the RNA conference last year and he laughed a Jane Lovering’s and my jokes during our presentation, so I like him a lot. He also owns some rather snazzy jackets. Hi Liam, welcome to Inheritance Books. Would you like a mince pie? Now you’re comfy, please tell us a bit about yourself.

I live in Epping Forest, in Essex, it’s very highlights and fake tan, driving around in a Mini Cooper, but I embrace it with both hands. I’ve got family connections there so grew up coming to the area as a child when Mum and Dad came back to visit family at Xmas. When my boyfriend and I both got sick and tired of living in 2 tiny flats in central London we drew a circle from Charing Cross of 15miles and picked somewhere we could afford a house, with a tube station. It’s got a London phone number – I leapt with joy when BT told me I had a 0208 number. It has London buses and a tube station, but strictly speaking, it’s part of Essex.

I love baking, cooking, cats and classic cars. I’ve written a diary and other bits and pieces for years and finally in 2012 I started writing to be published. And Then That Happened is my first full length gay romance to be published.

Which book have you inherited from a generation above? Why is it special? 

Lace by Shirley Conran. I tried to read Fifty Shades of Grey but couldn’t get on with it. So I asked, Clare London, one of my author friends what to recommend instead; she suggested Lace, saying it was where the original bonk buster started. I read an interview with Conran saying she wrote it like a sex instruction manual for young girls, knowing they wouldn’t buy a real sex instruction manual, but if she put similar things in a novel it would be read. She sold millions! To me it symbolises popular women’s fiction at its best. Yes, it’s trashy, yes it’s not *literature* whatever that is, but the characters are wonderful. The thing that kept me reading late into the night and until the bath water was cold was the friendships between the women. They were wonderful, as they changed husbands, careers, boyfriends etc, the women’s friendships stood the test of time. I love its glitzy locations too – ‘Against an international backdrop of the rich, the famous and the depraved, these women – bound together by ties stronger than love itself – created legends.’ *I’m so there* Published in 1982 it was a book that showed women they could have a career, they could be as ball busting as men in the workplace, and more than that, they could do it while still retaining the great qualities women so often have – friendships. I read an article that said, ‘Women use their friendships like a coffee shop, men use theirs like A&E.’

I love that quote about friendships! Another to put on my wall. Which book would you like to leave to future generations? Why? 

Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes. This was the book that got me into women’s popular fiction. It covers some really serious topics: drug and alcohol addiction, and their affects on family and friends, but it does so in such a way you don’t feel preached at. You gradually find out *how* bad Rachel’s problem with drugs and alcohol was at the same time as she does. Its structure is simple – first person narrative, with two main threads, the now (in the Cloisters rehab place) and flashbacks when Rachel was firing on all four drug-induced cylinders in New York. The other characters you meet in the Cloisters are also so real and heartbreaking you can’t but get involved in their stories. Oh, and it taught me all I know about writing tasteful yet not fade to black sex scenes. I’ve read it a number of times, I’ve read it from a ‘reference’ point of view learning about structure, characters, sex scenes. It is, I think the apogee of popular women’s fiction from the recent past, and something that, like Lace, hasn’t dated and will be read and enjoyed for future generations.

Thanks to Rhoda for the great questions!

Liam xx


0 Comments

JL Merrow Interviews Liam Livings

8/12/2014

0 Comments

 
I was interviewed by JL Merrow about my favourite character, how long I can manage without writing, whether I'm an organised person and writer and there's an extract from my latest release, And Then That Happened. Enjoy!

I've copied the interview here too:

I’m delighted today to welcome the lovely Liam Livings, one of my fellow UK Meet Organisers, who’s here to answer a few questions about his new book, And Then That Happened, and give us a sneak peek at it!

JL: It’s a bit like asking a parent if they have a favourite child—but do you have a favourite character from And Then That Happened?


LL: Gabe was such fun to write, he’s absolutely the opposite of me – he’s totally fearless, just jumps in and gets on with things, he also doesn’t pull the punches when he gives people advice, he’s basically very uninhibited in every way. It was great to write his advice to Dominic, and the way he leads them on fearlessly to the next adventure, or past the next obstacle.

Dave, Dominic’s dad, was tremendous fun to write too. He’s not had an easy early relationship with Dominic, but as time has passed, they’ve grown closer, and are able to talk about those more awkward things dads and their sons can’t always talk about.

Excerpt – Dominic and his dad talk about his boyfriend, Luke

‘What’s Mum’s favourite film?’

‘What’s that got to do with the price of cheese?’

‘Humour me, what is it?’

‘That one, with the thin one, learns to talk proper, flower girl. Move your bloomin’ arse.’ He snapped his fingers. ‘My Fair Lady. She loved that film. Course, now I expect she says it’s some highbrow one with French subtitles, but definitely when we was together, courting, married, that’s what it was.’

I told him about the Goldie Hawn film Luke hadn’t taped. He listened, rolling another cigarette with the gondola, which distracted me a bit, but also provided a bit of light relief from the awkwardness of telling my dad about my love life, and the sadness of remembering how I felt when he told me he hadn’t taped it.

‘When I was a lad…’

‘…you lived at the bottom of the garden in a paper bag.’

‘No need to take the piss, Dominic. You’re not too old to get a slap.’ He saw the look in my eyes change in an instant and realised what he’d said. ‘You know I don’t mean it, son.’

‘Anyway, when you were a lad…’

‘If I kept a job, gave her a few kids, that was it. I came home from work and that was it. I was too tired to take an interest in your mum.’

‘But you knew her favourite film.’

‘I did, son, I did that.’

JL: I tend not to cope very well if I haven’t got a writing project on the go! How long can you go without doing any writing/editing etc before getting twitchy?

LL: A week. I’ve had a few weeks abroad for holiday this year when I was banned by my BF from taking my laptop – he wanted me to have a proper rest especially from keyboard time. Even during those weeks I took my notebook and made notes and thoughts about pieces of conversation I’d over-heard, things I’d read in books, phrases I liked from films, so I’m always observing, noting, storing things for later. During one of these weeks I planned a novel out with my post it note method too. But after the week away from the keyboard I was itching to get back into it.

JL: Getting organised is a bit of a work in progress for me. Are you one of those lucky people to whom organisation comes naturally?

LL: In life I am very organised. I am a lists and diary man. I have a weekly to do list (it’s so much more flexible than a daily one which always seemed to leave me disappointed or feeling guilty) which I update throughout the week, adding and crossing things off. I have separate sections in the list: writing, life, UK Meet, other.

In my writing I am also pretty organised, with character biogs and notes I add to as I write, scenes planned in post it notes for the whole novel, even character arcs if I’ve got lots of characters and need to keep track of what happens to each of them during the whole story. So yes, I suppose you could say I am organised. But I like it that way, it helps me get things done, and feel I’m moving forward with things.

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.

Buy links: Amazon UK | Amazon US

Until next time,
Liam Livings xx

0 Comments

Robert Fanshaw interviews Liam Livings

6/12/2014

0 Comments

 
I've been all over the place being interviewed by fellow Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) members. And today, it's Robert Fanshaw's turn to grill me we're talking about my favourite And Then That Happened character and whether I enjoy writing, or not.

Full interview is copied below:

Caroline is, of course, jealous of the all the new people I meet at writers' conferences and events. I'm not allowed to question her extended business lunches or overnight stays in five star hotels, but I have to give detailed descriptions of everyone I've talked to and whether I fancy them or not. I particularly enjoyed telling Caroline about Liam Livings, who writes romantic fiction with gay themes for a wide audience, and who I met at the RNA bash this summer. I know Caroline would love Liam, not just because he's very handsome, but because he would listen quietly to her relationship problems and make a great story out of them. I'm delighted to welcome Liam to this blog, on the occasion of the publication of his new book, And Then That Happened .

I'm always interested to find out how other writers get the words down. Do you write every day? No. And yes. Let me explain.
In 2014 I’ve written a first draft roughly every other month, and used the other months to edit, do promotion, plan other stories. When I’m writing a first draft I like to try and stay with the story as much as possible, not leaving it for more than 2 days without writing. I did Nanowrimo in 2014 and wrote 61,000 words over 13 days, spread over three weeks. So when that’s happening, I do try to write every day. But when I reach the end I often take a week or so off from this sort of writing, because it’s exhausting. Then I plan, plot, do other things.
When I’m not drafting I’m always doing other parts of *writing* making notes about ideas, planning character biogs, going to my local writers group of the Romantic Novelists’ Association London Chapter meetings to talk to other writers. So even when I’m not sat at my laptop writing, I’m still thinking about writing, reading about writing, so when I do get back to the laptop I’m usually raring to go.

Do you find writing fun while you're doing it? I love writing; everything about it – plotting, working out characters, getting the ideas, first drafts, http://www.liamlivings.com/blog/my-writing-process-blog-tour even getting edits back and working with an editor to improve the story. I love it all. I’m not creative in any other ways – I can’t sing, draw, paint, dance (ballroom dancing, I can certainly throw some shapes on the dance floor of a night club, but that’s not for now) so being able to express myself through writing is a wonderful gift. Even when I’ve gone through very dark times, writing has helped me through them, just putting a few sentences together on a screen or a piece of paper helped me through some difficult times earlier in 2014 http://www.liamlivings.com/blog/grief-is-the-price-we-pay-for-love-1-of-2 and http://www.liamlivings.com/blog/grief-is-the-price-we-pay-for-love-2-of-2

Who is your favourites(s) of your characters in And Then That Happened? Dominic was interesting to write. I wanted to have a character who had experienced mental health issues, particularly depression, just as I have. I wanted to include that in his story to show it’s all around us, it’s something people live with on a daily basis. I think it’s important to cover these sort of issues in what many people think are just lightweight fluffy romance stories, because they’re real issues. I aim to make my characters as real and three dimensional as possible, with the imperfections and problems real people have.
Gabe was such fun to write – his grab life by the balls attitude is wonderfully refreshing. He just dives in and thinks later. I’m not at all like that. It was such fun to see how Gabe’s impulsive nature gets him into certain situations, and write about how that affects him, behind all the bravado, and smiles.

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

Liam Livings xx


0 Comments

Charlie Cochrane interviews Liam Livings

6/12/2014

0 Comments

 
I was hosted as Charlie Cochrane's guest author, talking about what I've learned since I was first published, any regrets and what gave me the ideas behind And Then That Happened.

Full interview is copied below too:

If I were that bloke who announces the snooker players, I'd be saying, "We're delighted to see him back here again - the packet in the jacket, Liam Livings!" I'm thrilled to have him back here to discuss his latest release, "And then that happened".

When you were last here we chatted about watching your first book fledge. What does it feel like with the second and the third?

I often have to pinch myself when I realise I have contracts with publishers who want to publish my books. I’ve definitely refined my *process* as I’ve written more books.

What do you think you've learned since you were first published?

So much: that sending the manuscript to the publisher isn’t the end, it’s end of the beginning, that there’s a whole new set of stages afterwards, with line edits, content edits, cover forms, blurb and even then it’s not the end, it’s the beginning when you start to get reviews. And that’s scary. Also, *whispering* not that long ago, I didn’t know what an ARC was, or the difference between a line edit and a content edit, or that gay romance and gay fiction aren’t the same thing. But everyone I’ve worked with has been so lovely, and explained things when I’ve asked silly questions.

Is there anything you regret doing since you were published?

That I hadn’t written my first story I wanted to be published, sooner. I was waiting for someone to give me permission to write it, or something. It meant that my granddad never knew I was going to write, and he wrote his account of World War II for me to know what he’d done. It would have been nice to have told him.

What inspired "And then that Happened"?

The concept of an 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.

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?’

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.

Have you ever been writing and discovered something totally unexpected about one of your characters?

I tend to work out the main details of a character before I start writing. I knew about Dominic’s parents and his best friend Matt before I started writing. What I didn’t know was how Dominic meeting Gabe would change his relationship with his parents and best friend, and how in turn they’d all react. That was fun to work out.

Which book do you wish you'd written and why?

I wish I’d written Now Is Good by Jenny Downham. It’s a YA story about a sixteen year old girl, Tessa, who is dying, and working her way through her list of things to do before she dies. It is first person present tense. It is so simple in the writing style, but so beautifully phrased and so life affirming about living for the now, really living your life, and not waiting. One of her things on Tessa’s list is love, and another is her boyfriend being allowed to stay over in her bed.

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

I cried so hard at the end, and throughout at some points, I had to put the book down to gather my breath. The simplicity of the story, and the way the characters come so vividly to life through their dialogue is wonderful. It’s the best book I’ve read in 2014 and how it made me feel will stay with me long after I’ve given the book away for someone else to enjoy.


And Then That Happened


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.

Picture
is published available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
Until next time,

Liam Livings xx
0 Comments

Clare London interviews Liam Livings and GIVEAWAY

5/12/2014

0 Comments

 
I'm on Clare London's blog talking about the most important elements of good writing, what I enjoy in a book, what I think about the online community and what I'd call the book about my life. There's also a giveaway of one ebook using rafflecopter - more details on Clare's website.

Here's the interview copied too if you subscribe to my blog. If you don't it's easy to enter your email address in the box on the right hand side >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> and each new blog is delivered straight to your inbox.

Welcome today to fellow author Liam Livings - also my fellow organiser on the UK Meet team - who has surrendered to my incisive and downright nosy interview questions :). He's also offering a free giveaway of his latest book. Read on to find out all about it!

HOT OFF THE PRESS! Liam's books are included in the fabulous annual Goodreads MM Romance BEST OF... polls. Best Friends Perfect is nominated in Best Contemporary Mainstream and also in Best Cover Art. You can vote in all the categories if you're a member of this Group HERE.

And now.... over to Liam:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clare: What is your writing process? Do you follow a regular routine?

I write character biogs, then a one page overall story plan, then I plan the story out using post it notes for each scene. Each post it note is usually between 500 and 1000 words when I write it. Twelve post it notes to a piece of A4, I plan through to the end of the story – or as far as I can get actually, sometimes I leave the ending until I’ve written nearer to it. Then I start to write, with my character biogs on one side of my laptop and the scenes plan on the other. I like to stay with a story while I’m writing it, trying not to leave it without adding more for longer than 2 days, but that doesn’t always happen. In 2014 I’ve alternated drafting months and editing/promo/other writing stuff months. More detail here http://www.liamlivings.com/blog/my-writing-process-blog-tour and here http://www.liamlivings.com/blog/my-writing-process-how-i-get-the-first-draft-done

Clare: What are the most important elements of good writing? What tools do you consider are “must-haves” for writers?

Being able to create believable well rounded characters the reader invests in and cares about, and an interesting story with plenty of twists and turns along the way to keep the reader guessing. These are more important than trying to be clever with words. If you’re reading a story and it feels like the author is trying to show off and be clever, that’s wrong. A story should entertain, divert you from your real life, not be a way of an author showing off how many long words he or she knows. Characters and story structure/ plot, they are the most important elements of good writing. I’ve read novels from genres I’d never normally choose and because they had these two elements – in spades – I loved it. I’ve also read books from my usual genres and they’ve fallen flat, if I don’t care about the characters, or the plot meanders or is too predictable, it’s a no from me I’m afraid. Also, writers need other writers I think – so they should go to local writers groups to discuss all the things their partners and friends nod about vaguely but don’t really understand. And join local writers organizations, like the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Romance Writers of America and attend their meetings too.

Clare: If and when you get a chance to read, what do you enjoy in a book and what makes it ‘stay’ with you long after you've finished it?

I love a good – and by that I mean bad – celebrity autobiography. I love to read it through my fingers thinking oh no you didn’t did you? I like reading a mix of Aga Sagas by http://www.liamlivings.com/blog/an-absolute-scandal-by-penny-vincenzi-what-i-thought Penny Vincenzi, where, in the words of a friend, ‘the have it all, they lose it all, then they get it all back again’ with lashings of large country houses and extramarital affairs. Catherine Alliott writes wonderful Aga sagas too, I laughed like a loud laughy thing on holiday reading one of hers about a woman whose husband died in a cycling accident, but she realised she’d been quite looking forward to him *going* but not quite in that way. The writing style of Alliott and Vincenzi is something you either love or hate – long sentences, plenty of semi colons and huge amounts of dialogue. I love it. I also enjoy a good bonk buster – Lace, Valley of the Dolls, Jackie Collins and I’ve just discovered a new author, Tasmina Perry who writes modern glitzy bonk busters: Daddy’s Girls or Guilty Pleasures anyone? Such fun!

Clare: Paperbacks or ebooks?

Paperbacks if I have an option. I spend a lot of my day staring at a screen or my phone, so I like to read on paper when I can. Plus, I’m happier reading a paperback in the bath or by a pool than an e-reader. I don’t own a separate e-reader, but have the apps on my phone instead.

Clare: What do you love about the online community and what frustrates you about it?

I love connecting with new readers and authors all over the world. I love how the online community means you can keep in touch with people wherever they are. I dislike how much of a timesuck social media can be, when I should be writing! I dislike accepting someone’s friend request to then have them private messaging me about sharing pictures. That doesn’t happen too often. And I’ve made some lovely online friends on Twitter and facebook too.

Clare: If you were writing a book about your life, what would the title be, and why?

Either Too Busy Dancing because in my younger days I spent an awful lot of time dancing until the early hours in night clubs and recovering slowly during the week. Or Getting It Done! I’m a great believer in almost everything is better to have been DONE as best you can at the time (even if that’s not perfect) than waiting and faffing and hanging about for ages to make something perfect (whatever that is) and so often not actually seeing it through. So I’m a great believer in lists of things to do, and ploughing through them, getting things done. Once upon a time there was a committee that took 9 months of meetings discussing its terms of reference, and not getting any of the work done. I wanted to weep with frustration as they poured over paragraph 4 sub section 3 being a new sentence or a sub clause...

Clare: What’s THE book that you’re looking forward to writing one day in the future?

I really want to come back to Glitzy Gay Saga http://www.liamlivings.com/glitzy-gay-saga.html (my take on a gay bonk buster with touches of Aga saga and Sloaneyness thrown in for fun) and take some of the characters to the British film industry. I have ideas about an aborted Carry On film, a closeted director and a producer who’s such a man eater he makes Patsy from Ab Fab look like a nun. Of course, Glitzy Gay Saga may be *unutterably awful* but I’m leaving it a while before I come back to edit it with fresh eyes and then who on earth knows where I’ll submit it...but that’s not for now.

Clare: What are the Christmas holiday plans for the Best Friends Perfect cast?

I couldn’t say that as it would spoil the end of Best Friends Perfect book three and also the Kev Friends Perfect http://www.liamlivings.com/kev-friends-perfect.html series I’m writing at the moment. But suffice it to say, it’ll have a happy ending, but there will be plenty of twists, turns British humour and plenty of sparkle along the way.

Until next time,

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

Liam Livings xx








0 Comments

Christmas Serendipity Novella

3/12/2014

0 Comments

 

As it's now December I'm allowing myself to start to talk about Christmas. This is a reminder that way back in December 2013 I had a Christmas novella published called Christmas Serendipity. It was my first story to be published, and it's very special to me. This month is a year since I became a published author *modest happy dance*. Right, that's enough of that, onto serious festive matters...

I've rounded up the blogs and reviews about it below in case you'd like to try a little bit of my seasonal romance. If you like a bit of festive cheer, with a British setting, and plenty of romance and humour, settle down with some egg nog or mulled wine, or maybe a hot chocolate and read through these links.

The
page on my ebook shelf has reviews, posts from the blog tour.

Three of my favourite Christmas songs

Seven of my Christmas traditions

An interview with RJ Scott talking about the novella and what I like reading and writing

A
n interview with Cathy, one of the characters from the story

I hope you enjoyed them. Let me know if you'd like to know more about what I love about Christmas.

Until next time,

Liam Livings xxx


Picture
0 Comments

    Liam Livings

    Gay romance & gay fiction author

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Archives

    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.