Hello AJ Llewellyn!

This week we take a look at AJ Llewellyn. I asked him some quirky questions and got plenty of interesting answers!
Welcome AJ!
AJ Llewellyn writes for the following publisher(s): eXtasy Books.AJ’s favorite color is purple, he loves coconut ice cream and hazelnut gelato and is a dog and cat person. When it comes to having interesting pets he has a gecko in his garden in Hawaii. While the gecko eats all the spiders, AJ turns a blind eye and mentions that half the time the spiders are six times the gecko’s size. He likes warm weather and sun, but also likes the rain. “No rain, no rainbows.” If he could live anywhere in the universe, he’d live in Hawaii. He says, “It’s in my blood. I spend half the year there. Working on full time. Part of the reason is it’s half the distance Los Angeles is to Australia and my family would visit me more.” AJ is a morning person. His favorite day of the week is Friday. This is his story behind his favorite day, “I was born on a Friday but as a kid growing up, Friday meant no more school for two days and it was also fish and chip night. And cream buns for tea. We grew up in Sydney, Australia, raised by our grandmas and this was our routine. Fish and chips came from the local Chippy in newspaper with two huge potato scallops thrown in. I imagine now nutritionists would freak about the newspaper part but I tell you, it added to the flavor. I can still taste them. I miss those Friday nights. I watched British comedy shows like On the Buses and Are You Being Served and ate my cream buns…” His favorite number is 5. “The number of change in numerology, but I am a person who craves order. So go figure.” When asked if athletic shoes are sneakers or tennies and if a soft drink is called soda or pop, he responded: Tennies, mate! & Soda. But I love saying pop. It seems…naughty somehow!
Here’s a scenario posed to the author: “You’re at a conference and an agent comes up to you and says, “I’ve seen your name on the web. I’m interested in taking you on as a client. You have a couple of minutes to wow me to convince me that I should.” You can only plug one book in this short amount of time. What book would you plug to land this contract and why?” AJ’s response: I would say, “Phantom Lover, published in September 2007 by eXtasy Books. It is the first in a best selling series of novels about a gay couple, Kimo and Lopaka, who are hula dancers and who are happily married, yet are faced with constant challenges in the paranormal realm.
“Kimo has a secret life as a kahuna, a high priest and his marriage to Lopaka has enhanced his powers to such an extent that the happier he becomes, the more powerful he is and therefore his power is coveted by others. Now they have three children together and their baby twins are tapped to be the greatest healers the islands have ever seen. As the series progresses, they face danger even from people they thought could be trusted.
“I researched ancient Hawaiian black magic and discovered hidden vortexes that most white people never see…but this is essentially a love story. A love story that I never get tired of working on...incidentally, there are some wonderful, eccentric characters in the story, including Lopaka’s grandma who’s just found the man of her dreams, assorted magical family members, living and deceased, and oh yeah...chickens that lay blue eggs. These chickens can only be found in Hawaii. The first four books are out in paper back and there are fourteen books published in the series, with six more to come…so far.”
LOL…how’s that for an answer? Thanks for your time CR, this was fun! AJ xoxo
& thank you for the information AJ!

~ Feel free to share if you have something in common with him ~

An Interview With An Angel -Cam

After months of wheedling and whining, I finally got the Chief of the Archangels, Michael, to agree to let me interview some of the angel warriors. Of course the first one on my list was Cam. It’s no secret I’ve always loved him. So as I sat in a coffee house and waited for him to arrive, I was nervous to say the least.

After several tense minutes, Cam came in. I sucked in a breath as I realized how big he really was. Easily several inches over six-foot. This guy was a tower of muscles and attitude. The black leather pants and jacket he wore emphasized those muscles too. The way he styled his blond hair in messy spikes only added to his bad boy image. He gave me a tight-lipped smile, no doubt to hide his fangs, like the dark glasses he wore hid his bright blue, cat-like eyes. Half demon, Cam was unlike any angel existing. He was also sexy as hell. A fact that didn’t go unnoticed by all the female patrons of the coffee house. Heads turned so fast to get a better look at him there were probably six or seven cases of whiplash. Cam seemed oblivious to all this as he sat down at my table. After a few moments of pleasantries, we got down to business.


Me: Thank you for taking the time out to talk to me today. I know how busy you are with leading the empaths.

Cam: Tell me about it. (laughs) Just cleaning up after Bear and Dina’s messes is a full time job. When you multiply that several times over, it makes it almost impossible to keep up.

Me: So all empaths are a handful then?

Cam: You’ve got to understand something about empaths. They are consistently having to deal with other’s emotions bombarding them from all sides. Since we’ve come to live on Earth it’s even worse, since humans are the hardest to block. So, if they want to let their hair down from once in a while who can blame them?

Me: But you’re still left picking up the pieces after they mess up?

Cam: It could be worse. Michael has to keep all of warriors in line.

Me: Speaking of Michael—

Cam: Oh, God. Here we go. Why did I even mention his name?

Me: How did you feel when you found out he was really your uncle? (Cam curls up one corner of mouth and I get a glimpse of a really sharp looking fang.)

Cam: Great, it was nice finding a new relative. (Even though I couldn’t see his eyes, I knew he was rolling them.)

Me: Come on, Cam. Are you trying to tell me there are no lingering hard feelings after he hid it from you all those years?

Cam: Look I’m not going to lie and say it didn’t hurt when we first found out, but I got over it. I realized Mike had his reasons and I put on my big boy panties and got over it.

Me: So it’s all water under the bridge?

Cam: What are you looking for? Tears, as I talk about how close we are and how we go to the ballpark every weekend? Sorry, not going to happen. The relationship between the Chief and I is complex. I can’t figure it out in my own head let alone being able to talk about it.

Me: How about your mother?

Cam: What about Lehor?

Me: How is your relationship with her? She lied as much as Michael, if not more so.

Cam: I would prefer not to talk about her.

Me: She’s your mother. How can you not want to discuss her?

Cam: (Leans forward and whips off his glasses so he can fix me with an icy glare) Next topic.

Me: But—

Cam: Next. Topic.

Me: (Gulps) Okay, moving on. Why don’t you tell me about Amadeaha?

Cam: (He slowly runs his tongue along his left incisor.) Now that’s a topic I can really sink my teeth into, if you catch my drift. Amadeaha is my mate. Hell, she’s more than that. She’s my life. I don’t know how I survived without her.

Me: So I take it you like her then? (Laughs)

Cam: You have no idea. Before her I was a mess. She really helped me clean up my act. Amadeaha doesn’t even care that I’m half incubus, she just accepts me as who I am. To her my differences don’t matter.

Me: I heard she likes your fangs.

Cam: She, really, really likes them. She likes what I do with them even better.

Me: Amadeaha is the niece of your biggest enemy, Jehel. Have there been any issues because of that?

Cam: You’re not who your family is. Appolion, Abdiel and Rachael taught me that. Amadeaha is nothing like her uncle. Where he’s an egotistical ass, she is caring and giving.

Me: Have any of the other angel warriors had a problem with it?

Cam: They know better. If anyone so much as looks at her cross-eyed they will have me to deal with.

Me: I can’t think of any warrior that would want to tangle with you.

Cam: Then you haven’t met my oldest brother, Ramiel. He still makes me spar with him every night. He says just because I’m the leader of the empaths doesn’t mean I still don’t have to train.

Me: I would love to see one of those matches. Who usually wins?

Cam: It’s pretty even. He’s stronger, I’m meaner. (We both share a chuckle before growing serious again.)

Me: The angel warriors have been in the middle of this war against the Justice Council for a while now. How is it going?

Cam: Not good. Our teams are vulnerable to attacks and they are getting picked off like flies. The bitch of it is we can’t stop sending them out. If we did then the demons would have a field day on the humans. Unlike Jehel and his Justice Angels, we’ve taken vows to protect mankind and we value those vows.

Me: So do you have any idea on how to turn the war around?

Cam: No, which makes for many sleepless nights for not just me, but Mike and the leader of the healers, Raphael. We take each loss of life as a personal failure and we can’t rest until this whole clusterf*&k is over.

Me: Do you wish that you’d never become the leader of the empaths?

Cam: No. I love this job and I wouldn’t trade for anything.

-Stephani

Ghosts

As some of you know, I am attending college for a degree in Paranormal studies. Of course people want to know if they do exist. Some for the sake of connecting with loved ones who have traveled over, some just for the sake of knowing something other then humans exist.

During my studies I can assure you that they do indeed exist. They don't go to heaven as we would all like to think but rather to another plane. See life is on a timeline, a straight line as you will or what some call a "plane."

Have you ever gone to a place you knew to be haunted and actually felt the hair on the nape of your neck stand on end? Or felt a warmth surround you only to smell something familiar, the scent of a cologne or perfume? Don't shrug the feeling off. It is our loved ones trying to reach out to us.

Even though they are gone in physical form, they aren't gone in spiritual form. If you listen closely you can hear them speaking. How many of you have had a vivid dream of a lost one?

They are called "astral dreams" These are the dreams in your subconscious mind that allows a loved one to get through. Don't ignore these dreams, they are in fact real.

Each week I will bring more information on the spiritual world in hopes of helping those who have lost a dear one to the other side and want to know.

I am not John Edwards or a medium...I am only here to provide you with the facts. If you have questions feel free to ask.

Until then,

Be good to one another...

AP Miller

The CHIROPRACTOR

By A.J. Llewellyn

So my first and last day as a celebrity assistant, culminating in a fender bender resulted in a pretty sore neck for me that no amount of Motrin could assuage. My friend Tracy who got me the gig in the first place felt so guilty he insisted on calling the celebrity and demanding that she foot the bill for my chiropractic care.
Not only had I signed a confidentiality agreement, but when I arrived for my appointment yesterday at "Dr. Mike, Chiropractor to the Stars" office, I even had to sign a waiver, which in essence guaranteed I would not be suing her.
"We keep these on file," his secretary informed me. "She's a lousy driver."
After waiting for freaking ever, I was ushered into Dr. Mike's office, told me to sit on the massage table and immediately said, "I hear you write gay porn."
Oh, Buddha.
"No, I write gay erotic fiction."
"Whatever. I have a story your readers will love."
Now, I don't know about other writers, but this sort of thing happens to me a lot. To be honest, sometimes I do get incredible nuggets. But not this time.
I could not turn my head to the left, but this was where Mike chose to sit so I had to shift my whole body so I could look him in the eye.
"So I'm dating this chick and man I adore her. And she has a kid..."
Can you please look at my neck? Please? I'm in agony here. I tried not scream the words out loud. I tried to concentrate on not punching him in the mouth when he said, "...and the kid has given her worms."
"Worms?"
"Pin worms, actually."
"Pin worms?" I thought I was going to be sick.
"Yeah, once one kid in school gets 'em they all get 'em," he informed me. "So anyway, she called me and said I needed to get checked out since I love anal sex and as she put it, I'm down there for hours giving her head."
"Mike," I said. "Please, I don't want to hear this. This is not sexy. My readers don't want to read about worms."
"SHUT up! You're kidding me! It's real life, A.J. Come on, don't tell me you never went down on a guy and found little white worms crawling out of his ass. They come out at night, you know."
"No, never."
"Never?" He looked stumped. "You know a lot of guys get hepatitis from eating other guy's asses."
"Not in my books." I opened and closed my eyes. "My characters don't give each other...worms." I was trying to imagine Kimo going down on Lopaka and finding unexpected company.
Now I was getting worried. "Mike, I'm in agony."
"Hunnnnh," Mike said, sounding peeved. He stood behind me and poked and prodded around my neck until he hit a sore spot. His fingers dug into it.
"Lie down on your stomach," he said. And I did. He kept pressing down on my neck, his entire massive body rising from the floor each time he weighed down on me. He finally cracked my upper back and dragged me up by my arm.
"You can't lie in that position too long," he said. "Go sit in that chair."
I stumbled across the room and he followed me, circling me like a cougar.
"I really like this chick," he said. "But the antibiotics I now have to take make me shit my brains out. I haven't had a salad...no roughage for two weeks."
"Mike, I really don't want to hear this," I said as he stood behind me and suddenly twisted my neck with such force, I am amazed it's still on my shoulders. The collection of cracks I heard was deafening.
"Did that hurt?" he asked innocently, holding my head in his hands.
"You just broke my neck, Mike. Of course it fucking hurts."
"SHUT up! I haven't done that in 30 years. Now on the count of three I'm going to do the other side."
The bastard lied and cracked it on two.
"Your girlfriends must love you," I said.
"SHUT up! They fucking do. I miss my ex. Man we had some real piggy sex. We used to watch the Playboy Channel together." He grasped my arm and threw me back onto the table. He grabbed a jar of ointment and started massaging it into my neck.
"The Playboy Channel?" I asked. "Is it explicit?"
"Very. Well...they show squirting, but no male ejaculation..."
"Squirting?" I asked.
"Yeah, chicks squirt. You didn't know that?"
No, I did not. I was at a loss for words when he went on. "The other four channels are very explicit. They do show male ejaculation but no anal sex."
I grinned. "Oh, then I wouldn't enjoy that much."
He stared at me. "You're talking about gay anal sex, right? SHUT up! How can you watch that?"
"An ass is an ass," I shrugged. "I bet you couldn't tell the difference in the heat of the moment."
He looked pained. "SHUT up! I do NOT wanna be hammering some babe and looking down to see...balls."
"I do," I shot back.
Dr. Mike sent me home with a cervical collar, I am certain as a form of punishment for not diggin' his worm idea, and a demand that I return there today.
"A.J," he said, as he shook my hand goodbye. "I bet one of your characters comes up with worms."
He would lose the house on that bet. He got a funny look on his face and excused himself, running to the bathroom.
And I returned to my life, grateful my man Herve wasn't around to see me looking like Invalid of the Week. And I tried, oh so hard, not to think about...worms.

Aloha oe,

A.J.

New Year Blues

I love the holidays and am the first one to say so. During the time between Christmas and New Year’s I spend a lot of time reflecting on what I need to do in my life and for my writing career. Most years I have a wonderful time of reflection and planning without the usual “issues” of my every day life.

No so this year as my family tended to be very, very needy during my “me” time. And now I find myself in a place I can only call the blues. Life is bearing down on me and I had to come up with something that get me out of the funk that I found myself.

That “something” turned out to be an email I had received from one of my publishers. This particular publisher noted their sales were up 40% during the year. Yeah, you heard me right, 40%. Along with that, they were adding a print option for books of certain length and an advance.

That information was the push I needed to do my yearly reflection of my life and career. I came up with a short list I will share with you. Here it is:

1. Get an agent – This is something I’ve had on the back burner since my original agent dropped 50 of us. Now the time has come to start the search again.

2. Volunteer less – Those of you who know me totally understand this. I do a lot of volunteering for the various writer groups I belong to at the moment. Most of the time, it’s little things that can be added to my day. But occasionally, I do something big like EPICon 2009. After my time is done, I’m going to say ‘no’ more and start doing more things for me again.

3. Submit at least 2 stories/novels to eHarlequin – I received a personal rejection from the people at Nocturne Bites. I would be stupid not to follow this one up.

4. Finish something every month – Yeah, I know, very ambitious. But this is something I need to be doing. I write very fast but don’t push myself as much as I should. That ends this month.

5. Promote more – This is something I try and do daily. But this year, I’ve got to get rid of the word ‘try’ and start pushing my work a little more. I’ll share some of those ideas as I do them this year as they are really innovative. The first one is going on right now. Go take a look at Night Owl Romance and you’ll see the first item in that effort.

Every year, every writer needs to reflect on what worked and what didn’t. Every writer needs to have a plan. Every writer needs to work that plan. And that plan doesn’t mean you have to be so anal, you don’t have the space to breathe. No, just the opposite. Every writer needs to be flexible within the parameters they have set for themselves.

And within those parameters, if you just stick to your plan for at least 50% of the time, you’ll be a much better writer.

Experience the magic of being a writer. Until, next week!

Lynn