Today I welcome Charley Descoteaux to the Land of Make Believe. Charley and I share the same President in office when we were born – but I’m not saying which one – but please don’t hold that against her.  She has two new releases she is going to talk about besides telling us a bit about herself.

Author Interview: Charley Descoteaux

Welcome Charley.

Thanks for having me, Andrew!

Why don’t you start by telling everyone a bit about yourself.  How long have you been writing?

I’ve had characters talking in my head as long as I can remember—I stashed character sheets and bits of stories in with my sheet music in grade school. But life happened and I didn’t start writing with the goal of being published until I was 29. It was my birthday and I thought, wow, in a year I’ll be 30 and what do I have to show for it? That was almost twenty years ago, and I’ve published fiction and non-fiction in print publications under three names since then.

Not regularly, but that last sentence sounds pretty good!

Talk a bit about your newest release, Directing Traffic.

It’s the story of Neil, who started living with his partner right out of high school and never really went through that period of findinghimself that a lot of people do in college. His partner was twenty years older, and a brilliant and all around great guy, so Neil never questioned that Lloyd had all the answers. After Lloyd’s sudden death Neil was left to find his own answers, but it took him a long time to even figure out the questions. The last thing he was looking for when he took that trip to the coast was a new love . . .

This has been a busy spring for you, besides Directing Traffic, you also had another Novella published recently – A Sunday Kind of Love.  What’s that about?

A Sunday Kind of Love is about an aging jazz musician who’s been knocked around a bit by life and feels the best he can hope for in the future is to slip through it unnoticed. But then the boy who calls him Dad shows up the day after his high school graduation and forces him to open up a little, and that leads to a little more . . . It’s a story about taking your power back and making the life you want.

Tell us something interesting that is not in the blurb?

Well, I’m not sure how interesting it is but in Directing Traffic, Neil talks about a vacation ritual. He keeps trying to carry it out, because it’s what he and Lloyd did on visits to Long Sands Beach, but it doesn’t quite work out the way he’d planned. Parts of his ritual are based on the one I’ve developed over twenty-some-odd years of visiting Cannon Beach, Oregon. Even though it’s gone from a slightly artsy little burg to a wannabe-upscale retreat, I still love it there. One of its most photogenic landmarks is on Brooke Albrecht’s gorgeous cover—Haystack Rock!

Have you ever based characters on anyone you know?

Sort of, but not consciously. Main characters usually just show up in my head fully formed and telling stories, but sometimes I notice little things that could be people I know, habits or idiosyncrasies or something cool they said.

What’s your favorite part of the writing process?

I love it when a story’s just cookin’ along and something happens that I didn’t plan ahead of time but that fits perfectly with what’s already happened. That, and when it’s finished and someone says they like it, because my part is only half the story and the reader has to bring the rest.

What’s your least favorite?

Killing my darlings! Writing was so much easier when I didn’t know that just because I’ve written a lovely line or a cool plot twist—that doesn’t mean it belongs in the story. Ah, I’m so horrible at cutting something if it’s not crap! *lol*

Since there is always another story to tell, what are you working on now?

I actually have three stories I’m working on, but my main WIP has taken over my brain. It’s about a bass player and a photographer, but they’d both laugh at that description. Phil & Lee are two of the most vivid characters I’ve met yet, which means they keep surprising me and have woke me from a sound sleep more than once! The good news is I think their story will end up novel length, or at least close. It’s been a while since I’ve written anything that long so I’m a little nervous, but excited too.

What have you read lately that most people haven’t read but should?

I’m not one of those people who finds the cool books before everyone else has—I usually stumble on the hidden gems because someone’s talking about them on Goodreads or Facebook. Since I’m in school full time and usually end up reading 200-300 pages a week for classes, novellas are my D.O.C. lately! Aleksandr Voinov’s Skybound was wonderful, a hauntingly beautiful story told from a new (to me) perspective—I loved it, but I’m sure not the only one.

If you could meet any writer, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

Not original, but I’d choose Stephen King. I was lucky enough to grab a ticket when he came through town on a book tour a few years ago and he was a riot. I’d love to just listen to him tell stories for a while. And maybe we’d talk baseball too.

What’s a fun – non-writing – day for you?

Hmmm, not many of those! Between school and writing and keeping the fridge stocked . . .  Kiddo & I enjoy movie marathons. We usually spend the major holidays with a few friends on Skype or IM and movies synced across the country. I’m pretty boring these days!

Besides reading and writing, what else do you enjoy?

One of my favorite things, is to knit while watching NFL football—14 days until the 49ers start the pre-season! I’ve been a fan since the 1970s, so I’m really looking forward to this year but will be glad I don’t live in the Bay Area during Superbowl 50! During the regular season I watch every game I can get, but would call myself a 49er and Seahawks fan. Someday I’ll get up the courage to go up to Seattle when the 9ers are playing!

{Sorry, but as I’m from Maryland, I have to say – Go Ravens! Let’s win two!}

Thanks for being my guest, now it’s time to plug your work.

Blurb:

Directing Traffic, by Charley Descoteaux

A new love was the last thing on his mind . . .

Neil Sedwick expects to spend his vacation in a sleepy tourist trap mourning his late partner’s death. Instead, he puts his recently acquired CPR certificate to use and saves an elderly resident’s life. But it’s the survivor’s nephew, sexy middle-school teacher Ty Bigelow, who causes Neil to reevaluate his routine and consider reopening his heart.

Though the electricity between them is undeniable, Ty is struggling with his own feelings of inadequacy, and Neil is moored to the past. Even the healing peace of an old man’s garden and the ever-changing waters of the Oregon coast may not be enough to prepare Neil to overcome a crisis of the heart.

 

Buy Link:

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3917&cPath=55_879

 

Excerpt:

Neil stood outside the little cafe and read the sign advertising burgers, beer, and fun. He thought that to be an overly optimistic—possibly even arrogant—claim, but went in anyway. Ty sat at a table in the far corner on the other side of a pool table. Two boys, who looked barely legal, did more laughing than shooting as Neil went to sit across from Ty.

“I didn’t know this place had a pool table,” said Neil after they’d said their hellos and thank-you-for-comings.

“Do you play?” Ty sat up a little straighter and smiled wider.

“Not for a while. And I never was very good.”

“Neither am I. We should play after lunch.”

The waitress came and took their orders. They chatted about the beach and how much the little town had changed over the past few years. It turned out they’d both taken their vacations there since well before the gentrification started and agreed the project had robbed the town of much of its charm.

“But we keep coming back anyway,” said Ty, dragging his last fry through the mixed ketchup and grease on his plate.

Neil wondered how he stayed so slender if he ate like that. He finished the last few bites of his Caesar salad and thought how unhappy Julius would be to see what this dive had done to his namesake entrée.

“Um, yeah, I guess. The beach is nice, though, and clears out pretty quickly once the kids go back to school.”

“How about a game?” Ty jumped up and started racking the table.

Neil wondered if he’d really seen a shadow pass across Ty’s face at the mention of kids and school. He was probably—straight, married, or both—worried about his uncle.

“I don’t want to keep you if—”

“You’d be doing me a favor. Once I leave here, I have no plans. Idle hands and all that.” Ty grinned and sauntered over to the rack on the wall.

Neil literally shook his head to remind himself where he was and that he really shouldn’t stare at this kid he’d just met, especially not his ass, and then forced himself across the little room to choose a cue. If that perfect round bottom had been created by burgers and fries, maybe he should reconsider his own eating habits. He was a little uncomfortable bending over the table with Ty standing right there watching, but his break probably wouldn’t have been any better had he been standing anywhere else.

Neil had felt a static tension in the room as soon as he reached the table, and as they played it only got worse. And all that bending over and thoughtful lining-up of shots that were missed by miles didn’t help.

They each had two balls left on the table, and Ty asked if Neil wanted to make it more interesting.

Neil laughed. “Not sure I can handle more interesting. But what do you have in mind?”

“Loser buys dinner.”

Ty bent over to line up his shot and his tank top draped over the table, giving Neil a prime view of Ty’s tanned chest and a tease of muscular stomach. Ty missed an easy bank shot.

“Or I can get it after I win.” Neil sank the two ball in the side, and then bumped a stripe in for Ty along with the six ball. As he lined up the eight ball, Neil realized what he’d done. He’d just asked this young guy out to dinner. He’d never asked anyone out before, not once, and this seemed as though he’d done it behind his own back. His hands shook enough to ensure the cue ball followed the eight straight into the pocket.

Ty laughed. His laugh made Neil grin, even through the burning blush he was sure encompassed his entire face, neck, and most of his chest.

“I warned you I wasn’t very good.”

Ty shook his head. “You weren’t kidding.” He replaced his cue in the rack, and maybe he was a little pale when he turned back around. “You don’t have to—”

“You’re suggesting I welch?”

Ty’s grin returned fast, forcing Neil to wonder again about his age. When he grinned like that, he looked almost as old as Neil himself, who wasn’t quite ready to admit he was pushing forty. But when he turned away from the cue rack, he seemed barely old enough to be in the bar. Ty raised an eyebrow, and Neil realized he’d been staring.

“Where would you like to eat?”

“You’re buying, so you decide.”

“My hotel has a restaurant next door. I’m not sure if it’s any good….”

“Sounds fine to me.”

Neil smiled and nodded, and they agreed on a time. When Neil left the cafe, Ty walked alongside him. They continued in a companionable silence to the end of the main drag. Neil expected him to drop away at any time, stunned by the realization he didn’t want that to happen. Ty kept walking with him, his flip-flops matching every step of Neil’s canvas deck shoes.

They reached the hotel, and Ty said softly, “Food’s good here.”

Neil glanced at Ty and then started up the weathered wood staircase to his room, holding his breath. He slowly let it out when he heard the slap of Ty’s flip-flops behind him. Neil’s hand shook the tiniest bit as he swiped his key card and opened the door. He hesitated, and Ty brushed past him into the room. Neil flinched away from the jolt he got when their arms touched.

Neil closed and locked the door and Ty was right there, his auburn curls shivering with his quiet laughter. Close up, his hazel-green eyes were even more beautiful than from across the table, and before Neil was able to think past them, Ty’s hands were on his chest and one snaked up into his hair.

Just before Ty’s mouth found Neil’s, he whispered one word that made Neil smile too.

“Electricity.”

Bio:

Charley Descoteaux has always heard voices. She was relieved to learn they were fictional characters, and started writing when they insisted daydreaming just wasn’t good enough.  In exchange, they let her sleep once in a while. Charley’s a firm believer that everyone deserves a beautiful love story even, or maybe especially, the folks who would usually be in the supporting cast. Home is Portland, Oregon, where the weather is like your favorite hard-case writing buddy who won’t let you get away with taking too many days off, and in some places you can be as weird as you are without fear.  As an out and proud bisexual and life-long weird-o, she thinks that last part is pretty cool.

Rattle Charley’s cages:

Blog:  http://cdescoteauxwrites.com/

Facebook Author Page:  http://www.facebook.com/CharleyDescoteauxAuthor

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/CharleyDescote

Goodreads: http://tinyurl.com/aqe7g7r

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/charleydescote/

e-mail: [email protected]