To kick off their virtual book tour for Monster, authors Dani R.R. Hermi & Nevi Star have taken some time to let us get to know them and their book a little better. Welcome!
Monster Book One, a Parliament of
Twilight novel from authors Nevi Star and Dani R.R. Hermit (aka
Hermie).
What
was the inspiration behind this book?
Hermie:
Funny enough, most of the Parliament of Twilight books were inspired
by reality TV. Monster
in particular came from a discussion about RT's back story and the
embarrassment of being a judge on a series of reality shows produced
by Wolf Productions. (RT is the main character from our upcoming
series Inertia
where
he is hosting yet another reality show.)
The two main couples in Monster
– Julian & Siris, Chip & J – were inspired by us joking
about RT having been on a show where they made a boy band and what
might have happened to those guys.
Which
character(s) spoke the most to you during the writing process?
Hermie:
Definitely
Julian. His journey of dealing with his desires versus his morality
was an interesting reflection of my own journey during this process.
I was struggling with the authentic desire to write erotica, but in
order to do it at the level I wanted, I had to make the choice to
walk away from my professional Tarot Reader career. It wasn't easy,
and I fought with some of the same issues Julian will have to during
this series.
Nevi:
Siris. His journey of discovering that his destiny was so far from
the life he thought he wanted was oh so very personal for me.
Which
scene is your favorite?
Hermie:
The
part at the end of chapter 5 and continuing in the next chapter where
Siris is being thrown onto the plastic sheeting in Skye's kitchen.
His thought process during this part is so perfectly Siris!
Nevi:
My
favorite part is the very first scene where they see each other again
after all this time. It's so full of all of the potential of what
they are going to be to each other, what they are going to go through
together. Especially the moment where Julian throws out the cut line
from the boy band song! Genius!
How
did the two of you come to write this book together?
Hermie:
Writing is such a part of our story, it's hard to say HOW we
started. But we were writing fan-fiction for years before we tried
our hands at originals.
Nevi:
It was actually through writing this ridiculous, epic fanfic saga
together with a couple of our friends that we realized we were
falling in love just like our characters were!
Do
you have any other projects in the works as a team?
Hermie:
The Parliament of Twilight owns our life! We have two other series
we're working on in this same world – Ghost House (book one is out
now) and Inertia (coming up in June).
Nevi:
We've also done a couple of other stories before we met the
Parliament. There's an epic fantasy world with mages and iconic bad
guys; a space opera that started out as a Star Wars fic but evolved
into so much more; and a handful of wildly off-canon fan fictions
that we're talking about converting to originals.
What
are some of your individual projects?
Hermie:
I'm
working a few short stories to submit to some contests and
anthologies. There's one I'm particularly excited about for the
“Don't Read in the Closet” event on the M/M Romance group on
Goodreads.com. I have a very ambitious story in the works, but I
don't know what's going to come of it. But really, most of my
writing time lately has been used for working on the Parliament of
Twilight books.
Nevi:
I'm the official artist for Wandering Stars Press, so that keeps me
pretty busy. I'm also working on several different Tarot and Oracle
deck projects. I have a blog where I post essays about the process
of developing the tenets for my burgeoning life-coach path. I hope
one day to turn that into a book. I'm working on a novel of my own,
a post-apocalyptic story set in a world populated with carousel
horses rather than people. I don't want to talk too much about it
yet, as I am not sure just when I will be ready to share it with the
world.
How
do your different personalities affect your writing projects? How do
you compliment each other?
Hermie:
Nevi comes at all the stories all crazy and spur of the moment. She
goes full tilt at the characters' emotions and perceptions. I'm more
about setting the scene, describing the action and building the
world. We sort of fill in where the other is weak.
Nevi:
And the dialogue is organic. We pass the notebook back and forth,
each taking on one character, often surprising the other with what
they say!
What
are the pros and cons to working with another author on a project?
Nevi:
There's
never a writer's block we can't get over. When one of us is stuck,
the other is overflowing with ideas to keep the story moving.
Hermie:
We're
always surprising each other with what we write. We don't really do
much planning, so there's a spontaneity to the writing process that
is both a pro and a con!
Nevi:
Yeah,
you just never know when some one is going to come along and blow a
whole in your carefully designed pyramid of doom.
Hermie:
(glaring
at Nevi) Yeah, you never know. . . Also, being as we're romantic
partners as well as writing partners, sometimes our characters'
issues become our issues and we have to have a five hour long heart
to heart just to make sure we're okay, even if our poor characters
aren't!
If
you could be any anime character, which one would you choose?
Hermie:
Uh,
what? I have to choose just one?
Nevi:
O___o uh. . .
Hermie:
I think that I would pick Usagi-san from Junjo Romantica. His life
rocks!
Nevi:
If I have to pick just one, I'd say Luffy from One Piece.
Tell
us more about Wandering Stars Press.
Hermie:
As of now, it's just the two of us writing and our long time friend
Seth doing the job of editor and part-time marketing. We found out
the hard way that we write some rather dark, taboo subjects that most
publishers won't touch. To be honest, I went through about thirty or
so publishers' submission guidelines and found that we were
unacceptable for what they published for one reason or another. It
frustrated us so much that we finally decided to create our own
publishing house where there were no “morality rules.” Though
it's a long way in the future, we do have the idea of publishing
other authors like us as well.
What
is something readers may be surprised to learn about you?
Hermie:
Um, well I think every knows we're together. That's not a big
secret. We are a pair of lesbians that write m/m fiction. That
usually surprises people.
Nevi:
I'm addicted to QVC. I have a huge Monster High Doll collection and
I name all my plush toys after characters in our books.
Hermie:
I crochet ponies. Well, only one pony so far and a duck. I also
read Tarot semi-professionally.
Is
there anything else you would like to share?
Nevi:
Hermie's
the cake baker. She makes all the best sweets.
Hermie:
Nevi's addicted to the My Little Pony cartoons!
Nevi:
But seriously, we LOVE music. It's such a huge part of our process.
Hermie:
We
have something like 100 mix CDs designed for listening to as writing
inspiration for our stories!
Thank
you so much for your time!
About
the Authors
Dani R.R. Hermit (affectionately
called Hermie) and Nevi Star, are the writers who founded Wandering
Stars Press.
What do we write, you ask?
Our genre is gay erotica, with a spice
of horror, mystery, comedy, drama and sometimes a western or space
opera. We love boys loving boys (in all the wrongest ways). If you
love that too, then maybe we can be friends. Both Hermie and Nevi
have some solo projects in the works, but more on those as they
develop. You can stay up to date on the news from Wandering Stars
Press on our blog
or Facebook.
Who are we when we’re not writing?
We’re life partners who’ve been
together 13 years through all of life’s ups, downs and craziness.
Ours has been a long and sometimes arduous road, but it’s only made
the journey deeper and more interesting, adding fuel and fire to the
stories we can tell.
Nevi is a spirit artist and a shaman.
She is a World Walker. Nevi also does all the covers for WSP's
books. She is currently working on a post-apocalyptic pony novel of
her own, a My Little Pony themed tarot deck and a spirit squirrel
oracle deck.
Hermie has been studying tarot for 20
years and reading professionally for a small, private clientele for
about 13 years. She is also a genius at making sweet treats –
homemade candies, cookies, cupcakes. (All gluten free!) She does all
the cooking for our little pirate crew (or we would all starve or
poison ourselves lol) and loves her neurotic kitten.
What inspires us?
Our first love and
inspiration is Japanese Anime & Manga! We discovered Yaoi and it
was all over. We already had a love affair with slash fan fiction,
so taking that to some anime based fics really developed our style
into what it is today. A close second is music. We create playlists
that are character, story-arc or novel specific and play them at top
volume while we are driving, writing and sleeping! We do karaoke in
our living room as a means to cleanse our story demons and open up to
the next day's work (and because it's a blast to get together with
our pirate crew and sing our hearts out!). But we also love TV,
movies and books. You can see which albums, shows, series, etc. are
our favorites by following our board on Pinterest.
Follow us:
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/wanderingstarsX
Website & Blog:
https://wanderingstarspress.wordpress.com/
See our profile on GLBT BookShelf:
Monster
(Monster #1)
by
Dani
R.R. Hermit & Nevi Star
Gay
Contemporary
Dark Erotic Paranormal Romance
Categories:
Action/Adventure,
Horror
Publisher:
Wandering
Stars Press
Release
Date:
January
23, 2013
Heat
Level:
Sizzling
Word
Count:
290
pages
Blurb
It’s been years since
Siris and Julian’s boy band broke up and they all went their
separate ways. Now they’ve run in to each other in a little redneck
bar in the middle of nowhere, coming face to face with the ghosts of
their past and the feelings they never quite grew out of.
Siris is here handing out
golden tickets to some new reality TV show for the network that owns
his record label. Julian is here to meet up with yet another new
partner. On the surface it seems like a coincidence… or is it?
Neither man is happy when
they realize that The Parliament of Twilight, who once ruled their
lives, means for Siris to be Julian’s new partner. Julian worries
about what he could do to Siris. Siris just wants to go back to being
a mega pop star and has no interest in being a monster hunter. Thrown
together against their will (and better judgment) how will these
former friends do on their first case?
Warning: This title is
intended for readers over the age of 18 as it contains explicit sex
scenes and/or situations (including BDSM/Light
Bondage) and adult language, and may be
considered offensive to some readers.
Read an Excerpt:
Siris felt dizzy as he was led, still blindfolded, down what felt like a long hall. He was on his knees and Skye hadn't taken his hands out of their bonds. With them tied behind his neck like this, Siris found he didn't have the best balance as he moved to follow Skye to wherever they were going. Thankfully, the bartender was taking it slow, not seeming to be in a hurry.
His knees were no longer on rough carpet. Siris thought they had come into some kind of kitchen. A few hesitant steps in and he heard more than felt the crinkle of plastic sheeting under his knees. Siris stopped, a sudden wave of fear washing over him. He had seen this movie. A part of him was certain this was the killing room floor. His body would be taken apart and thrown into the sewers to be eaten by giant rats and no one would ever know what happened. He whim:pered, refusing to move any farther.
Skye pulled his hair firmly. When all that got was another little whimper, he yanked hard. The pull threw Siris off balance and sent him sprawling across the plastic. Siris hit the floor hard with his face. He slid a little across the slick plastic, ending up in a very awkward position. He wasn't able to move himself easily and there was certainly no getting away.
“Please don't kill me,” he said as loudly as he dared. He thought he tasted blood in his mouth. He licked his lips and felt where he had split the bottom one.
“I don't want to kill you,” Skye assured him, moving around the room, rummaging in drawers and cabinets. “You have something I want.”
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