I’m really happy to welcome Louise Lyons to my blog today to talk about her new novel Conflicted.
1.What is the inspiration behind your new story?
I’m a bit of a tomboy and I love cars and motorcycles. I have a sporty car and I’m a member of club, which goes to car events and exhibits their cars. I love to watch drag racing too and I’m a big fan of the Fast & Furious movies. These interests gave me the idea to write a story based on two rival groups of car enthusiasts.
- In your new story, which character did you enjoy writing the most, and why?
I love Paul Appleton, my main character. He’s very angry at the world in general and he repeatedly gets into trouble. Underneath, he’s very insecure and hurt and he fights against falling in love with great determination. I enjoy writing his conflicting emotions, which is what gave me the title for the book.
- Are there themes in your stories you find yourself drawing on again and again? If so, what are they?
I enjoy writing angst and making my characters suffer. I like to make my readers worry that things might end badly, but I always bring it back to a ‘happy ever after’.
- What is your greatest writing ambition?
It’s not a terribly big one really. I don’t hope to become a best seller with a contract for a movie! But I would love to be able to make enough from my writing, to give up the day job and spend my days planning around my stories, rather than going to an office. As much as I enjoy my job, I’d love to be in the position where I don’t need one.
- Do you have a pre-writing routine you go through before you settle down to write?
I start by reading over the last chapter I wrote, or the part of the chapter that I’m in the middle of. I make any amendments I think of as I go along and then I’m back in “the zone” and ready to continue with the story.
- Some scenes are easier to write than others. What scene in your new story did you find the hardest to write, and why?
There’s a scene past the halfway point, where Paul finally opens up to Greg and tells him why he’s behaved the way he has and what has hurt him in his past. It’s an angry and emotional scene and I found it difficult to get everything Paul was feeling to come out in my words. Hopefully it worked.
- Which would you prefer—great reviews or great sales (assuming they are mutually exclusive)?
Gosh, can I say both? Actually, I think I’d prefer great reviews. It’s all very well getting great sales with your first book and then finding out everybody hated it and gave it terrible reviews. I’d worry for the future of subsequent books, in that case. I’d prefer a handful of amazing reviews and hopefully a good reputation to establish a readership.
- What do you do to reignite flagging inspiration?
I turn the computer off and go running. I live in a quiet area where there is open countryside, so I take off along deserted lanes and think about something else. Quite often, I’ll get the inspiration I’m looking for while I’m out and then when I’ve finished my run, I can at least make notes on what comes next in the story.
- How do you come up with the titles for your stories?
I often find this the most difficult part. I often leave the story untitled until I’ve written a good portion of it and then the title might come to me from something a character says, or the way they feel, or a significant event.
10. What do you look for in a good story?
I like stories that make me feel something – whether they make me laugh, or cry, or make me feel angry. If the writer brings out any of those emotions in me from their words, then I’m hooked. I like characters I can identify with too. I find it difficult to like weak characters, who won’t fight for what they want, or what they think is right. I like characters who struggle, but emerge triumphant and happy in the end.
Blurb
Two competing gangs of car and drag racing enthusiasts with a shared history of pain and rivalry leading to outright hatred. Two men from opposite sides of the tracks, yet more in common than they’d like to admit.
Paul Appleton is a troubled man who has never been in a relationship, having lost everyone he cared for in his life. His mother died when he was very young and subsequently, he lost his brother and his best friend. Now Paul is convinced love will always end in tears.
Greg was living on the streets after his parents died and was stabbed by a junkie, ending up in hospital. The Buchanans took Greg under their wing while doing charity work, and Greg joined their loving family when he was adopted. He and his siblings are also car enthusiasts with much more money and therefore better cars than Paul Appleton’s gang.
When they eventually find a connection, Paul fights his feelings and tries to convince himself his lover is only a temporary bit of fun, but Greg has other ideas.
Excerpt
Greg went to the bar to get a beer and was just handing over the money when he noticed the very man he had been hoping to avoid was right next to him, nursing his own bottle of Budweiser.
“I thought you went to a bar in Stevenage,” Paul commented without looking at Greg.
“I couldn’t be bothered driving over there tonight,” Greg said and gulped some of his beer. He leaned against the bar and glanced at Paul. His gray T-shirt looked about three sizes too small and only emphasized the size of his shoulders and broad back. Intentional, no doubt. His faded jeans were even tighter, and clung to his muscular thighs and firm ass as if they were painted on. Damn, he was hot, and Greg wanted to kick himself for thinking that.
“Not even in the new car?” Paul turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow. His eyes were deep brown and piercing, as if he were looking into Greg rather than at him.
“Not tonight.”
“Nice, by the way. Shame we don’t all have rich parents to shower us with toys like that.”
It was just what Greg expected – a brief compliment quickly crushed by an insult. He was immediately pissed.
“You know nothing about it,” he growled.
Paul shrugged. “I can’t blame you. I wouldn’t have said no either.”
“Listen, Appleton, I won’t pretend I’m not smug as hell driving around in an R34, but I didn’t ask for it and to be honest, I would rather have bought a car I can afford with my own money, which I do earn, by the way. I don’t just live off of them like a fucking leech!”
“Alright, chill, I’m sorry,” Paul said.
“Yeah, well, it gets up my nose that people think I’m rich and spoiled when I work hard like anybody else. I can’t help the fact that I got adopted by the Buchanans. I came from an ordinary family, same as most people, even you.”
“My family was anything but ordinary,” Paul grumbled. “So how come you were adopted anyway?”
“You actually want to know?” Greg asked in surprise.
“Yeah, why not?”
“Okay, we might as well get a seat, then.” Greg turned away from the bar and headed for a corner away from the main bustle, leaving Paul to follow if he felt like it. Greg wasn’t particularly delighted by the prospect of spending more time with him, but since he was here, there wasn’t much else Greg could do. Annoyingly, his pulse sped up as he made his way to an unoccupied corner bench and sat down. He chewed his lip. Paul was still at the bar, speaking to someone he apparently knew, but a moment later, he moved away and walked toward Greg. Fuck, those jeans were tight, and Greg would have bet Paul had no underwear on either.
Jesus, don’t stare. He shifted his eyes up – to bulging pecs. Heat rushed to his groin, and he tried to think about something else. The last thing he wanted was a hard-on, but too long with no fun except for his own hands, and now the company of the hottest guy in the pub, had him stiffening regardless. Greg wondered what the chances were. Would Paul be up for it? Greg knew nothing about him, but he couldn’t imagine him being shy. Greg would bet Paul would shag anything that looked twice at him – or certainly play around with them.
“So? You were going to tell me where you came from,” Paul prompted, dropping onto the seat a little distance away, facing Greg.
“Uh…um…yeah, well, my parents were just ordinary – my dad was a builder and my mum was a waitress. They died in a car crash when I was sixteen.”
“Sorry to hear that,” Paul said with a frown. “Did they treat you okay?”
“My parents? Of course, why wouldn’t they?” That comment puzzled Greg, but he carried on talking. Anything to stop himself imagining Paul’s hand, which was gripping his beer bottle, wrapped around Greg’s cock instead. “They had a huge mortgage, the house got repossessed after they died, and the system didn’t want to know. I lived on the streets for a year, then ended up in hospital, and Agnes Buchanan, who was there doing charity work, took pity on me. And the rest is history.”
“That was lucky.” Paul nodded. “What put you in hospital?”
“A bloke with a knife.”
“Shit.”
“So, how did you end up living with…Stewart Sanders, is it?” Greg asked.
“It’s a long story,” Paul grunted. “I left home when I was sixteen, and he and Abby took me in.”
“Why did you leave?”
Paul scowled and drained the rest of his beer before answering. “It’s not important.”
“Humor me,” Greg said, genuinely interested.
“I’m not here to entertain you!” Paul snapped and got to his feet.
“Hey…” Greg protested. Hell, the guy had a chip on his shoulder. A huge chip. And he was about to walk away from Greg just when he was beginning to convince himself that they were getting along, and that he might possibly get his hand inside those tight jeans later. But Paul was already walking to the bar.
“Shit!” Greg growled under his breath. He was annoyed that Paul walked away and more annoyed still that he was disappointed. It had seemed like they might be starting to move past what happened at Octane, and Greg hoped the stupid feud might have been forgotten too.
Paul hadn’t gone far. He had wedged himself between two men at the bar and was waiting to be served another drink. Greg stared at his ass until he turned around again and then quickly dropped his eyes and pretended interest in the last mouthful of beer in his bottle.
“Sorry.” Paul appeared at the other side of the table, placed a fresh bottle of Bud in front of Greg, and then stepped over his legs and took up his original seat, maybe a foot closer to Greg than before.
“No, I’m sorry. I suppose I come across as if I’m prying, but really, I’m just interested.”
The corner of Paul’s mouth twitched up slightly into a hint of a smile. “Just don’t ask me about family.”
“Okay. So can I ask about your job at the club? Don’t they need you on a Friday night?”
“They rotate the weekend days off. It’s my first in the month I’ve been there. It’s a good job – decent pay too, better than the shitty warehouse I was in before.”
“Yeah, I imagine bouncers get paid pretty well.” Greg nodded. “Do you have to use your fists much?” Damn, Greg, what the hell did you say that for? He cursed himself.
Paul grinned. “Not really. You get more trouble with drunken girls trying to slobber all over you.” He pulled a face. “If there’s real trouble, you diffuse it rather than add to it. I do kickboxing and jujitsu to help with that.”
“Cool,” Greg said. It was something they had in common. “I did kickboxing for a few years. I’ve been thinking about taking up something else too.”
Paul nodded and took another drink. Greg watched the movement of his throat as he swallowed and imagined his lips were wrapped around his cock instead of the bottle. He shifted awkwardly and rested his arm across his lap, hoping not to draw attention to the fact that he was getting uncomfortably hard. Paul lowered the bottle, and his eyes slid from Greg’s face, down his chest, and fixed on exactly what he was hoping Paul wouldn’t look at. He grinned and trapped the tip of his tongue between his teeth. Oh fuck. He was checking Greg out and way more obviously than Greg was checking him.
Should Greg ignore it, or go with it? Did he seriously want to get off with Paul? How difficult would that make things if they ran into each other at shows or something in the future? What the hell would the family say if they found out? What on earth was Greg thinking when he considered taking a chance with a person who went out of his way to make trouble for himself and others?
Greg thought for another minute and realized that it was going to be the only chance he had, at least for that evening. Besides, who was going to know? Paul didn’t want anyone finding out about him anymore than Greg did.
“What are you looking at?” Greg grunted as a way of starting a sort of flirting interaction.
“Isn’t it obvious? Like my company, do you?” Paul responded.
“It seems like it, doesn’t it?”
Paul arched an eyebrow and leaned back. He shifted his ass forward on the seat and drew attention to the fact that the ridiculously tight jeans were virtually crushing him. Greg could make out the head of his cock pushing against the fabric. He wondered if it was his imagination or if he was more turned on than he’d ever been in his life.
Author Bio
Louise Lyons comes from a family of writers. Her mother has a number of poems published in poetry anthologies, her aunt wrote poems for the church, and her grandmother sparked her inspiration with tales of fantasy. Louise first ventured into writing short stories at the grand old age of eight, mostly about little girls and ponies. She branched into romance in her teens, and MM romance a few years later, but none of her work saw the light of day until she discovered FanFiction in her late twenties.
Posting stories based on some of her favorite movies, provoked a surprisingly positive response from readers. This gave Louise the confidence to submit some of her work to publishers, and made her take her writing “hobby” more seriously.
Louise lives in the UK, about an hour north of London, with a mad Dobermann, and a collection of tropical fish and tarantulas. She works in the insurance industry by day, and spends every spare minute writing. She is a keen horse-rider, and loves to run long-distance. Some of her best writing inspiration comes to her, when her feet are pounding the open road. She often races into the house afterward, and grabs pen and paper to make notes.
Louise has always been a bit of a tomboy, and one of her other great loves is cars and motorcycles. Her car and bike are her pride and joy, and she loves to exhibit the car at shows, and take off for long days out on the bike, with no one for company but herself.
Suki Fleet 