THE BONES OF YOUby Laura Stone~~~~~~~~~~~~~BLURB:
Oliver Andrews was wholly focused on the final stages of his education at Cambridge University when a well-meaning friend up-ended his world with a simple email attachment: a clip from a U.S. morning show.
The moment he watches the video of his one-time love Seth Larsen, now a Broadway star, Oliver must begin making a series of choices that could lead him back to love—or break his heart.
The Bones of You is full of laughter and tears, with a collection of irritated Hungarians, flirtatious Irishwomen, and actors abusing Shakespeare that color Oliver and Seth’s attempts at reconciliation.
Excerpt
They walked into the house, laughing (“I haven't seen one tweed cap, Oliver. I feel cheated.”), and realized that Janos was home. He was watching a football game, and looked over the back of the sofa at them and held a hand up in greeting before turning back to the television.
“He's not what I expected,” Seth whispered as they moved into the kitchen with their food.
“Oh? What did you expect?” Oliver asked, pulling out two plates and silverware.
“Viktor Krum.”
Oliver grabbed the edge of the counter and laughed loudly.
“American television has done the Iron Curtain a major disservice,” Seth whispered, jerking his head in Janos's direction. “I expected a sallow complexion and a black unibrow, not, well… that. Why are the good-looking ones always the homophobes?”
Oliver bit his lip to keep from laughing again and motioned for Seth to take his plate to the small table against the far wall. “Janos,” he called out, “there's enough for you, if you want any?”
Janos turned and looked their way, giving Seth a thorough once-over. “No, thank you,” he said; his voice sounded mildly disgusted.
Seth went still briefly and bristled with visible indignation. “Don't worry. We didn't order it with a side of homo, so you should be fine. Although it seems like you had a helping of jackass earlier; no wonder you're not hungry. Must have had seconds.”
Janos twisted on the sofa, his arm draped over the back as he gaped at Seth. Oliver was momentarily shocked into silence, but Seth had never really needed assistance in the face of bigotry—only support.
“Van egy nagy heréje, akkor a buzl. Én szeretem.”
Oliver and Seth both narrowed their eyes at him, Oliver trying to figure out what the hell Janos just said.
“Translate. Now.” Seth's voice was positively icy; he vibrated with anger. “Or you're going to learn in a very painful way that I'm a hell of a lot tougher than I look.”
Janos seemed to pick up on this and answered quickly, with his hands up in surrender. “I say: for a f-, uh… homosexual? You have… what, balls? Testicles.” He grabbed his crotch and continued. “I say I very much like this about you.”
With as droll a voice as Oliver had ever heard, Seth replied, “Isn't that interesting that you're fond of my testicles so quickly; normally it takes until the third date for me to hear that.”
AUTHOR Bio and Links:A life-long fan girl, Laura Stone takes a leave of absence from the glamorous life of motherhood while the kids were in school, devoting her days to writing full-time. In the past she's worn the hat of actress, Master Gardener, and computer geek, but now sticks mostly to a Texas Ranger's ball cap as she raises her children. They're not fully raised, but then again, she would say that she isn’t either.
She began telling stories to her parents at the age of four. She was so successful in catching her parent's attention that her father actually dislocated his back, trying not to sit on her imaginary cat, Doka.
She lives in Texas as proof that it's not totally populated by hard-line right-wingers—and because that's where the good tamales are from.
Connect with Laura:
Unexpected Acceptance
A theme often explored in LGBT literature—and with good reason—is coming out to a potentially unwelcoming family and the fallout this creates. With The Bones Of You, I wanted to write a character that reflects what my family's situation was: complete acceptance.
Seth Larsen on the surface is a Hollywood Gay Man: pretty, into fashion and the theater, and even has a higher-pitched voice than his male counterparts. In the small Midwest town where he grew up, he struggled with his peers accepting him, but his twist is that he never struggled with his family's acceptance. His father is the quintessential biker guy: tall, shaved head, long braided beard, leather, and a gruff exterior. But “Big Mike” Larsen is an absolute teddy bear of a guy with a heart bigger than he knows what to do with most days, and is someone who loves his son with everything in him. He accepts his son for everything Seth is.
“Big Mike” is a lot like some of the rough biker-types in my own family. They're welcoming to other “underdogs,” they're sensitive to outcasts and folks who don't always fit in the normal point of view because they don't fit in with what's considered “normal.” This boisterous, wild branch of my family tree were the first extended family to fully embrace my children when they came out, to publicly say how they supported them and their right to live a happy and full life.
There are lots of young people who are rejected by their families for coming out as LGBT. I wanted to add to the world of LGBT literature a romance novel where they are not only accepted by their family, but wholly embraced by their community. For all that my book is about relationships of various sorts, there's no question that the loving and respectful one shared among the Larsens—and the rag-tag bunch of guys and gals they've adopted—is my favorite of the families. When you spend time with the Larsens, you learn just how much the protagonist Oliver lost when he and Seth originally broke up—Oliver lost an adopted dad who loved and accepted him just as he was.
Growing up with that acceptance and support is the foundation of who Seth Larsen is: confident, determined, and undaunted. He knows what real love looks like and won't settle for anything other than the love his parents shared. The question the book asks of him, even though the story isn't in his point of view, is if he can have that with Oliver, a man who had access to every material thing a person could ask for, but lacked what he really wanted: a close and loving family.
THE AUTHOR WILL BE GIVING AWAY:
A $25 Interlude Press GC to one randomly drawn winner
and digital copies of THE BONES OF YOU to ten randomly winners via Rafflecopter.
One randomly chosen host will win a $25 Interlude Press GC.
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