Knights and Butterscotch
Knights and Butterscotch is a story of modern-day knights, paint-splattered artists and a lightning bolt of attraction that hits hard enough to make a man think he's going crazy. And then things get complicated.
That's the strap line and I hope it gives a flavour of the story. It's about a Knight, Matti, who holds honour and duty to his King and country close to his heart, and always strives to do the right thing. But then he's suddenly hit with a lightning bolt of attraction for Jamie, a passionate painter. The sex is so hot Matti starts acting in ways he would laugh at, if it weren't him being the idiot. But, slowly, lust turns to love and they build a proper relationship together. Just when Matti thinks things are going well there's a desperate turn of events for the King, the war and the whole country that complicate everything. Can Matti's ideals survive, along with his love, under the new circumstances?
I was really keen to place them in a contemporary day setting with lots of references to films and other things we'd find familiar, while retaining the ideals of the romantic Knights we think of in old Camelot.
Please tell us about the book you wrote when you were ten.
Oh that was terrible! It was about an older boy I liked at school. Only, he didn't fall in love with me but with his best friend. There were lots of scenes of them walking along riverbanks, holding hands and kissing gently. I didn't really understand about kissing, let along anything else. As for male genitalia I was completely naïve. So they always walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind them – still holding hands, of course.
You write about love between men since you were young, so why does your passion lie here?
Honestly, I have no idea. I love reading and watching heterosexual love stories but, for me, there is something special about two men falling in love. I think it might be partly because I like my men to be quite manly. It's really interesting to see how they handle an epic love with someone similar.
The book has been compared to Josh Lanyon and Sherrilyn Kenyon, so how does this make you feel?
Wow, I hadn't heard that. That's wonderful. I wouldn't compare myself to those great writers but I do try to make my characters as real as possible, even if I sometimes create the world they live in.
What was the appeal of the knight for you with this book?
What's not to love about a Knight? I've always loved the idea of a rough and ready hero, one who tries to do the right thing no matter what the cost to himself. A man who has honour and a sense of duty, which he holds true to quietly, without fuss. Knights embody all that but it I think it gets really interesting if you put him in a modern day setting.
Who are your favourite reads?
That's so hard; there are so many great writers out there. I'm a big fan of Sue Brown, S.A. Mead, RJ Scott, Shehanne Moore and lots, lots more.
What is your writing process?
I don't have a set one but usually it starts with the idea. That can come from an image, a character or even a mood that I want to explore. Then it's the hard slog of getting the words onto the computer. I can't type properly but it doesn't matter. The slow speed of my two-finger typing gives me time to think as I go. Often, if the characters are talking to me, I can fly through scenes but then comes the dreaded linking passages, needed to hold everything together. I hate writing those but I won't allow myself to write out of order as it means I have to do lots of linking scenes all at once. I force myself to stay in my chair until it's done, but I can often be found cleaning the crumbs out of the keyboard instead.
What is next for you?
I've just finalised a new story and submitted it to a publisher. Now comes the awful wait. My fingernails won't survive!
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