This week’s guest is Christiane France, author of I’m Sorry (as well as many other books). Thanks for joining us, Christiane.

Q: To start us off, why don’t you share which genre you write in, and why?
A: Romance—gay, ménage and hetero. Mostly contemporary, but some paranormal, time travel and historical. I like people to be happy, so I love a good love story.

Q: How long did you write before you received your first contract for publication?
A: I started when NY was the only game in town, so it took most people a very long time—especially those of us with a day job. In my case, iot was about 13-14 years.

Q: So, if you don’t mind sharing, would you tell us about your latest work in progress?
A: I’m currently working on two stories—LIKE A MOTH TO THE FLAME is a ménage where the woman (Ramona) falls for a swinger who swings both ways. She thinks both ways means men some days and women on others. When she discovers “both ways” in his case means he enjoys a threesome, she’s too much in love with him to admit she’s never done it or back off, so when push comes to shove she tries to bluff her way through with disastrous results. Bad move, Ramona.
 The other story is REINCARNATION–and the second in my series of m/m contemporaries set in Las Vegas. When Lee and Reno meet in a gay bar they both get a sense of déjà vu. Reno thinks he’s imagining things, after all he has lots of reasons to be cautious and watch his back. But Lee eventually figures it out, except Reno can’t be the guy he’s thinking of because that guy is dead.

Q: Out of all the stories you’ve written, which is your favorite?
A: THIS TIME FOR KEEPS. It’s a paranormal released by Amber Allure last October and it’s a tiny bit of a tear-jerker when the reader discovers what really happened with Pete. http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/ThisTimeForKeeps.html

Blurb:
Josh and Pete were always breaking up and getting back together. The last time it happened, they swore their ten-year affair was over for good. Pete moved out, and Josh took a job overseas, but Josh figured it was simply a matter of waiting to see who would give in first—the same routine they’d gone through a dozen times before.
Except this time, Pete doesn’t call, and when Josh tries to contact him, it turns out both of his numbers are disconnected. Josh tries to convince himself that Pete doesn’t love him any more, that Pete has found someone new and moved on. But ten years is a long time—too long to dismiss like it had been nothing. If Pete no longer loves him, then Josh needs to hear that from the man in person.
Determined to find out the reason for Pete’s silence, Josh returns home to the mind-numbing news that Pete is dead—he was killed two months earlier when he tried to stop thieves from stealing his car. But during his shock and grief, Josh also comes to the realization that death doesn’t always break the bond between two lovers destined to be together forever…

Q: Do you need to be in a specific place or atmosphere before the words flow?
A: I do my best thinking in the bath. The actual writing I do in the den, but for the words to flow I need absolute quiet.

Q: What’s the strangest source of inspiration you’ve found for a story?
A: Ideas literally are a dime a dozen, and while I may come up with what I think is a great idea, it doesn’t always come out as the story I originally envisioned. REINCARNATION is a case in point—I heard about a family who told everyone their son was dead rather than admit they’d shown him the door because he was gay. I thought this was a great premise for a story, but my characters didn’t like it and came up with a new and much better idea all on their own.

Q: If you could offer one tidbit of information for new writers, what would it be?
A: Never start a love scene when you’re in the mood, or if you’re not in the mood. And never, never not ever start writing a love scene and stop in the middle.

Q: Do you have an evil day job or do you write full time?
A: I retired from my evil paralegal job 2 years ago and now I write fulltime.

Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?
A: Writers rarely have spare time. But I like to read and watch TV. I also like to knit and crochet and play with The Boys—my two black and white Persian kitties. And I really love to shop.

Q: Name one thing readers would be surprised to learn about you.
A: Nothing I can think of offhand.

Q: What’s your favorite dirty word?
A: F***

Q: What’s your favorite holiday, and why?
A: Christmas. My parents were married on Christmas Eve in our village church—my mom wore a cream satin dress and shoes and carried bronze-colored button chrysanthemums. And the choir sang It Came Upon A Midnight Clear. Boy, I wish I could have been there. They’re both gone now, but every Christmas Eve I try to imagine the two of them standing in St.Mary-le-Moor, saying their vows.

Q: Do you have any tattoos or piercings?
A: No. I love Christmas, but I am not a Christmas tree, so I don’t need to be decorated.

Q: If you could be intimate with three people (not necessarily all at one time *g*) without getting in trouble with your significant other, who would they be?
A: Orlando Bloom. Clive Owen. And that Hugh Jackman’s pretty darn cute, too.

Q: If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want with you?
A: Dh and The Boys. Without them, nothing else matters.

Q: If you won the lottery tomorrow, what would you spend the money on?
A: Depends on how much I won. If there was enough, I’d like to make certain our local SPCA had every technological advantage and enough $$ to get them through the current financial downturn. I’d also like to move somewhere that’s warm.

Q: Which household chore do you abhor and why?
A: I like a clean house, so I brainwashed myself into loving it all. However, dh does the dishes and since we bought a Dyson vac, he does that, too.

Q: What’s your favorite comfort food?
A: Chips and chocolate—but not together.

Q: Do you have any guilty pleasures you feel comfortable sharing?
A: A constant craving for chips and chocolate.

Q: Do you have a favorite book or movie?
A: Too many to count. But one of my most fave movies is Dirty Dancing.

Q: Anything else you’d like to share?
A: I love to cook, and I love to invent new recipes, the latest being to cook and shell some shrimp and cover them with a mixture of two prepared sauces—pineapple-rum and mandarin-ginger, plus some minced garlic. Totally yummy alone or served over rice.

Q: In closing, tell us a bit about your latest release (& share a yummy excerpt for those who aren’t yet familiar with your work)

A: I love Las Vegas, and my latest release as of today is I’M SORRY. It’s the first in my contemporary m/m series set in Vegas and involves two men who meet again 10 years later.

I’M SORRY
By Christiane France
Publisher: Amber Quill Press/AmberAllure
http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/ImSorry.html

Blurb:
Misinformation and misunderstandings drove Chad and Reese apart and shattered their dream of a new life together.
Ten years later, they meet again in Las Vegas, and try to figure out what went wrong. However, Reese tells a completely different story to the one Chad heard back in New York, and now he’s convinced what he heard was true and Reese is lying. Problem is, he still loves Reese, and Reese says he feels the same way. But can love overcome all the hurt and the pain and give them a second chance at happiness?

Excerpt:

This scene is when Chad and Reese met for the first time back in New York:

Reese sat down beside him, and from that moment on Chad felt as wired as a teenager going to the prom, secure in the knowledge that tonight was finally the night. Under cover of the table, their legs, hips and hands touched, and everything around Chad disappeared except the need to feel, to touch, and to make Reese his in every way possible. And from the look on Reese’s face, he knew Reese’s thoughts mirrored his own. They didn’t need to say a word or spell anything out, they both knew what they wanted just as they knew nothing on earth would stop it from happening.
 As the speeches wound down and the chatter of the guests at the nearby tables increased from a murmur to a roar, Reese smoothed his hand firmly upward from Chad’s knee to his groin. Chad held his breath as Reese’s hand pressed hard against his aching cock, wondering what he had in mind. But then Reese murmured, “What say we adjourn this meeting to some place more private?”a
 The nearest place they were able to find was a dark, drab room in another hotel, a cheap, touristy place a few blocks away. But décor was the last thing on their minds. Before Chad had finished locking the door and putting on the safety chain, Reese had shucked his clothes and was on his knees on the bed, breathing hard, and saying for “For God’s sake, man. Hurry up. I’m dyin’ here.”
 Within seconds, Chad’s tux and underwear was added to Reese’s things on the floor, and he joined Reese on the bed. With both of them on the edge of coming, they didn’t bother with the usual niceties such as foreplay or condoms. Chad lathered Reese’s hole with a handful of spit, refused to think about the dangers of riding bare back, and just grabbed hold of Reese’s penis as slammed into him like a runaway freight train.
 The only memorable thing about their first time was that it was over almost before it began. But once their initial needs were satisfied, they both realized this was no one-time thing—that they’d probably never get enough of one another. They cuddled beneath the inadequate bedcovers for a while, just long enough to catch their breath, and then adjourned to the tiny shower cubicle that was barely big enough for one person, never mind two.
 By the time they finished soaping each other’s bodies and rinsing off in the tepid water, they were both fully aroused again.
 As Chad stretched out on the bed and pulled Reese down beside him, he said, “Unless you have somewhere you need to be, I’d like to take it slow and easy this time.”
 “Sure, why not? Let’s make this a night to remember?”
 There was something offhand and casual about the tone of Reese’s voice, and it made Chad feel uncertain about what was happening between them to the point where he seriously considered getting dressed and leaving. Maybe he’d misread Reese and this was just a spur of the moment thing after all.
 He forced himself to ask the question. “There’s someone else in your life?”

www.chrisgrover.ca