SPOTLIGHT ON DAMON SUEDE ( Liberty States Fiction Writers, Create Something Magical Conference Author) &Giveaway

WELCOME TO BOOK OBSESSED CHICKS SPOTLIGHT ON AMAZING AUTHOR, DAMON SUEDE. NOW I AM TRYING TO REMEMBER WHEN I ACTUALLY "MET" DAMON THE FIRST TIME, BECAUSE IF YOU LIVE IN THE NEW YORK AREA, DAMON IS EVERYWHERE. I'VE SEEN HIM AT LIBERTY STATES, THE BOOK EXPO, RT.. HE IS QUITE A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH. EVER SINCE DAMON SUEDE'S FABULOUS READ, HOT HEAD, THIS TALENTED WRITER HAS AN AWESOME FOLLOWING OF LOYAL READERS AND FANS AND IN RETURN, DAMON IS SIMPLY AWESOME WHEN IT COMES TO THOSE FANS.

Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?

I grew up in Texas, raised by a wacky, loving family who    raised me to be a kind of free-range disco vigilante…            fighting crime and seducing hot bohunks. I graduated high school  at 16 and hightailed it to NYC because I‘d known   from the age of seven that THAT was my home. LOL For     realz. Everything about the city called to me. I had been a   song-n-dance kid; I had a freak voice and did a bajillion     shows, a lot of Shakespeare and musicals, weirdly.               showbiz drove me like a demon. I lived and breathed it. 

When and how did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve always been a casual writer going back to early              childhood, but while doing a show in London in the early 90s, I realized that I should be writing and directing for a    living which led to life as a commercial playwright, which  in turn got me sucked into the Hollywood sausage factory. Back in 2010, I wrote my first romance on a literal dare from an author friend. Hot Head became a surprise bestseller     and set me free to write fiction full time.  I haven’t looked   back! 

Tell us about your upcoming work?

Well, I’m finishing a category length romantic suspense, sort of blue collar meets blue blood which has been a blast to write. I’ll be wrapping that soon. The sequels to Bad Idea and Horn Gate both loom later in 2014, but I have to fit them into my schedule. And Hard Head (the sequel to Hot Head) has taken way longer than intended but it’ll be coming sometime in the not too distant future. Then I’ve got my steampunk for which I’m still trying to steal time. Work to do…work to do!

Do you have any mentors? Heroes?

Sheesh. Many. I think every artist stands on big shoulders.

Can you tell us your favorite character from your books so far and why?

Ack! No way. That’s like picking a favorite kid out of a big family. I love each of my characters for different things and those are always changing. I love Griff for his vulnerability. I love Trip for his creativity. I love Jillian and Rina for      their humor and loyalty. I love Mrs. Anastagio for her         prudence. I love Isaac for his obstinacy. I love Ox for his    patience. I love Dante for his shamelessness. I love Silas     for his hunger. I love Ziggy for his courage. I love Scratch    for his indelible monstrosity. I could never pick a favorite. 

Was it difficult for you to get published?

It’s gonna sound awful, but…no. This is where I’m a            terrible example for young writers. I wrote Hot Head in six weeks. I sold it in two days. Elizabeth North at Dreamspinner literally read it in a single sitting and called with an offer immediately, for which I will always be grateful. I never had the anxiety many authors go through. Then again, I      had been writing professionally for 20+ years at that point, so maybe I’d earned my bones a bit. LOL 

Hobbies?

·         Reading: I read like a woodchipper and books are easily one of the biggest items in my budget. You         name it, fiction, history, politics, science, lit crit.           Reading saves my life daily. 

·         Two-stepping: every weekend I can get my ass into Wranglers and boots. 

·         Terrible movie marathons: that is to say I have a     collection of thousands of godawful DVDs and will       willingly wallow in Pia Zadora or barbarian                  exploitation film festivals.  Anything that’s corny and  rotten that was made with affection. 

Tell us a bit about your workshop(s) at the conference?

I’m doing a couple things. I have a reader panel on popular tropes that I’m doing with Tere Michaels and                      Kate McMurray which will be looking at the way certain     classic story patterns persist and why. Then I’m doing a     writer track panel called Indelible Dialogue, to help writers who want to pump up their character’s  convos. Because  of my background in film/TV/theatre, I come with a big      bag of tricks and some useful warnings that keep saving   my bacon on the page.

Special mention, my boyfriend Geoff Symon, who is a         forensic investigator, is teaching a class on Forensics for     Fiction. He’s been watching (and helping) me for years,      and he’s worked up a fantastic syllabus to help genre          authors get the CSI right and beef up the crime in their      work. 

Do you have any favorite TV shows?

I don’t watch much TV. Trouble is, I worked in TV/film for too long to enjoy most things. I see all the bolts and             sutures. I can’t watch network TV at all, but we tend to be binge watchers with cable titles

Game of Thrones is pretty damn fabulous, probably              because Martin has serious chops as a TV writer and knew exactly what he was doing in there. A BBC show about       vampires called Ultraviolet, which only ran for one season, more’s the pity. And I’ll do I, Claudius marathons anytime you give me half a chance. LOL 

What’s next for you?

After I finish this category, my boyfriend and I are gonna    take some kind of weeklong vacation. Not sure where yet, but I know that my laptop won’t be making the trip. I’m    headed to Rainbow Bookfair in April and then RT down in New Orleans in May, and then BEA at the Javits Center     come June. 2014 is shaping up to be a fab year. 

What would you like readers to know about you?

That I am grateful beyond words or measure. Writing           romance has been one of the most joyful, liberating              experiences of my life. I love reading so much, that the        chance to write books that people dig seems like an             overwhelming blessing. Stories are how the world invents  itself, how we change our lives on the micro and macro       scales. SO thank you for reading and midwiving the future into existence, one dream at a time. 

DAMON AT RT2013 IN KC. 

BIO:

Damon Suede grew up out-n-proud deep in the anus of       right-wing America, and escaped as soon as it was legal.    Having lived all over, he’s earned his crust as a model, a messenger, a promoter, a programmer, a sculptor, a singer, a     stripper, a bookkeeper, a bartender, a techie, a teacher, a     director… but writing has ever been his bread and butter.

Though new to gay romance, Damon has been a full-time writer for print, stage, and screen for two decades. He has won some awards, but counts his blessings more often: his amazing friends, his demented family, his beautiful            husband, his loyal fans, and his silly, stern, seductive       Muse who keeps whispering in his ear, year after year. Get in touch with him at DamonSuede.com.

a Rafflecopter giveaway