Shira Anthony talks Real Romance: Getting it Right

Encore, Book 5 in the Blue Notes Series

&

Symphony in Blue, a Holiday Novella

Join me in welcoming fellow author Shira Anthony and the fifth installment in the Blue Notes Series, Encore, and her special Holiday Novella, Symphony in Blue!

Real Romance: Getting it Right

Thanks, Aisling, for hosting me on your blog and letting me talk about my Blue Notes Series from Dreamspinner Press.  I actually have two Blue Notes releases this winter:  Encore, the fifth novel in the series, and Symphony in Blue, a holiday novella.  Novels in the Blue Notes Series are interrelated, but each is a standalone story that can be read in any order.  The exception?  Symphony in Blue, which is a direct sequel to the first four books in the series (Blue Notes, The Melody Thief, Aria, and Prelude). Can you read Symphony in Blue without the others?  I think so, but I also think you’ll enjoy it more if you’ve read the other books first.  Symphony in Blue will be released on Christmas Day.  Be sure to check out the Blue Notes Holiday 2013 Blog Tour giveaway information at the bottom of the post—I’m giving away a Kindle loaded with ebooks and some other great, music-themed prizes!

Ask Aisling. I love, LOVE, fantasy. I write stories about sexy mermen and magical universes. But I also like to write stories about real men in real relationships, with real issues to contend with. Those real men are at the heart of my Blue Notes Series, and above all the other books, Encore is probably the most “real” to me. Let me explain….

I’m a former classical musician.  I played violin for more than 15 years, and I was a professional opera singer for nearly as long.  When I mentioned to a friend that I was writing a series of gay romances set in the classical music universe, that friend said, “How realistic is it that all the men in your stories are gay?”  My answer: totally realistic.  Most of the men I worked with—conductors, makeup artists, choreographers, stage directors, and of course, musicians (from pianists to my leading men)—were gay.  Most of my career was in the 1980s, a very difficult time for gay men, not only because of society’s hatred of homosexuality, but also because of the AIDS epidemic.  I lost friends and colleagues to AIDS.  Beautiful, talented, loving, wonderful men.  Lost forever.  Encore is dedicated to those men.

When I decided to write conductor John Fuchs and violinist Roger Nelson’s story in Encore, I based them and their lives on the men I knew and loved.  Some are gone.  Others still struggle to find their bit of happiness.  It’s like one of my co-stars in a production of Tosca told me, back in the early 1990s:  “We have no role models.  There’s nobody I know who’s been in a gay relationship that’s lasted more than a few years.”  I’d like to think that today, nearly 20 years later, there are role models for gay relationships.  Laws prohibiting same-sex marriage are falling like dominoes.  A majority of Americans believe gay men should be able to marry and have families.  But the reality is that the gay men I knew in the 80s and 90s (and still am friends with), are a product of a time when it was so much more difficult than it is now.  And many of them still struggle.

That reality is John and Roger’s.  I don’t think any two of my characters were ever more “meant for each other” than these men.  And yet it takes them more than 30 years to make things work.  Yes, they get their happy ending.  But what they have to endure before they arrive at the HEA?  It’s painful.  Gut-wrenching.  And entirely real.  When they finally get that hard-won happily ever after, it’s satisfying.  Even better?  Roger and John go on to mentor many of the other musicians in the series, and not just through their music.  They become the role models for David Somers and Alex Bishop (Prelude).  And those two men become the role models for Cary Redding and Antonio Bianchi (The Melody Thief) and Aiden Lind and Sam Ryan (Aria).  So in that sense, the reality of John and Roger’s struggle—the positive reality—creates a legacy for other men.  Just like the men I’ve known have forged a path for younger men.  And that’s one reality I’m happy to celebrate! ~Shira

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Blue Notes Holiday 2013 Blog Tour Info 

Blue Notes Series Holiday 2013 Giveaway:

          · Begins on release day for “Encore,” November 11, 2013

          · Ends on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2013, at midnight

          · Drawings are open to both U.S. readers and international readers, but physical prizes (Kindle, necklace, book, and t-shirt) are for U.S. readers only. I will award a virtual set of the first 4 Blue Notes Series books to one winner from outside the U.S.

          · Prizes (U.S. Only):

                    o Grand Prize: A Kindle loaded with the first 4 Blue Notes Series books and some of my other back titles

                    o 1st Place: A sterling silver music themed necklace

                    o 2nd Place: Winner’s choice of one of my back titles in paperback (i.e., not including the 2 new releases)

                    o 3rd Place: Blue Notes t-shirt, cover of the winner’s choice

To Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway Click Here

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November 11th (release day – Encore): Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words (Melanie Marshall)

November 12th: Live Your Life, Buy the Book

November 14th: Michael Rupured’s Blog

November 15th: Joyfully Jay (Blue Notes Cover Art – Interviews with the Artists)

November 18th: Elin Gregory’s blog

November 22nd: Aisling Mancy’s blog

November 26th: Andrew Q. Gordon’s blog

December 6th: Oscar’s Bruised Petals (Sandra Gardia’s blog)

December 10th: Brilliant Disguise (Tali Spencer’s blog)

December 16th: Rebecca Cohen’s blog

December 20th: Purple Rose Teahouse (Charlie Cochet’s blog)

December 23rd: Mrs. Condits and Friends

December 25th: Symphony in Blue Release Day Party at Melanie Marshall’s Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

December 27th: Helen Pattskyn’s blog

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ENCORE
CHAPTER ONE

Toledo, Ohio

September 1971 

JOHN WOUND his way around gaggles of girls who blocked the hallway, turning it into a twisted obstacle course. He dodged a locker door here, someone slinging a backpack full of books there, and nearly got whacked in the gut by a kid holding a trumpet case. John’s elbow connected with the hard fiberglass of the case as he pivoted to avoid the collision.

Shoot. That was going to make one big bruise. Not to mention it hurt.

He rounded the corridor and stepped inside the band room, relieved to find it empty. He leaned against the wall and took long, raspy breaths to try to calm his pounding heart. He wiped the sweat off his face, then rubbed his hands on his brown polyester pants.

“Hiding?”

“What?” John nearly jumped when he realized he wasn’t alone. His voice sounded high and girlish to his ears.

“Are you hiding?” The speaker was a kid with wild brown hair and a hint of shadow on his jaw. He sat on one of the chairs by the podium, twirling a violin bow around like a baton. John hadn’t seen the kid when he’d first come in, but it was clear the kid had seen him.

“I… n-no.” Damn. Was he stuttering now? He hadn’t stuttered this badly since elementary school.

The kid just laughed. “You new here?”

“Y-yes. Transferred last week.”

“You got a name?”

“J-John. Fuchs.” John’s face was on fire as he croaked out his name. “Wh-who are you?”

“Roger Nelson.” Roger ran a hand through his curly hair, which only served to make it stand up like horns. Roger reminded John of a devil, and it wasn’t just the hair.

“N-nice to m-meet you, Roger.” John walked over and offered Roger his hand.

Roger laughed and ignored the gesture. “Yeah.” John could see his eyes were a deep green. Luminous. “Where’d you transfer from?”

“Saint B-Barnaby’s.”

More laughter. “So you’re slumming it with us now?”

“I guess.” He sure wasn’t going to tell Roger about his parents’ divorce, or about how they’d decided they no longer had the money to send him to private school one year before graduation. “I hear you’ve got a great orchestra.” At least he wasn’t stuttering anymore. He’d spent years in speech therapy in elementary and junior high school, but when he was nervous, it sometimes came back.

“We’re pretty good,” Roger said. John knew this was an understatement. His mother had done her homework—Marysville Senior High School’s orchestra had won the state Division A championship the year before. “You play?”

“Piano. But I also play viola, trumpet, and flute.” When Roger’s eyes widened, John quickly added, “Not very well, though.” John looked down at his feet and studied them intently. “I’m going to be a conductor.”

When Roger didn’t respond, John asked, “How about you?” He realized how stupid a question it was the instant he’d asked it. Of course the guy played violin.

“Concertmaster.” In spite of the casual response, John thought he saw a hint of pride flash in Roger’s eyes. “But I’m going to be the guy who hangs off the back of the garbage truck.”

“Oh.” What do you say to that? He had no idea if Roger was joking, but he sure wasn’t going to embarrass himself by finding out.

Roger stood up and began to put his violin away. He was a little taller than John—who was now nearly six feet—with a lanky body and surprisingly broad shoulders. Good-looking too. John’s face warmed once more.

“Is Mr. Constantino in his office?” he asked, mostly because he was having a really hard time not staring at Roger. He didn’t really need to speak to the orchestra director.

Roger shrugged. “He was there a little while ago.”

“Thanks.” John waited for Roger to say something, but when he didn’t, John made his way over to the office at the far end of the room.

BY THE time John had finished talking to Mr. Constantino, grabbed his books from his locker, and headed outside to the main courtyard, the sun was beginning to set. The air was cool, not surprising for late October in northern Ohio, so John set down his pack and zipped up his poplin jacket. The smell of fallen leaves mingled with a more pungent odor. Marijuana. He looked around and saw Roger seated on the low brick wall at the edge of the courtyard, smoking a joint.

“Hey.” Roger inhaled and held his breath.

John swallowed hard, unsure of how to respond. “Hey.” Oh, that was great! “Uh, h-how are you?”

Roger laughed and exhaled as John walked over. He held out the joint to John. “Want some?”

“No, thanks.” He’d never even come this close to the real thing. “I’ve got to get going. Bus leaves in about five minutes.”

A girl with hair down to her waist walked over to them. John was sure Roger was going to hide the pot, but instead he held it out to her and she took a long toke. Roger put his arm around the girl’s shoulders and shot John a knowing look.

“Who’s he?” the girl asked as she blew smoke in John’s face.

John coughed and blinked.

“New kid. Orchestra.”

“I’m John.” John offered the girl a smile. He’d decided shaking hands was not public school etiquette after meeting Roger earlier.

The girl just stared at him, then turned to Roger and proceeded to kiss him. Not just any kiss. A french kiss. John felt sick to his stomach watching. He’d always thought kissing girls was gross. Now he was sure of it.

Roger kissed the girl back, then pushed her away before turning to John and asking, “Need a ride?”

The girl glared at Roger, who ignored her.

“I… ah… s-sure.” John wasn’t sure at all, but Roger was the only kid who’d acknowledged his existence since he’d arrived at Marysville and he figured it’d be rude to turn down the offer.

He and Roger walked in silence to the parking lot, where Roger led him to an enormous brown Buick. Small blue-and-pink spots dotted the exterior where someone had, he guessed, sanded off patches of rust in preparation for a paint job that never materialized. The windows were rolled down and the doors unlocked.

Roger grinned. “V-8.” When John didn’t respond, Roger continued, “This baby can outgun just about any car on the market.”

“Groovy.”

Roger’s laughter echoed off the nearby building. “Jeez, what the hell did they teach you at St. Something?”

“St. Barnaby’s,” John corrected, feeling keenly awkward.

“Yeah. That place. Nobody says ‘groovy’ anymore.”

“Oh.” John’s cheeks burned and he stared down at the blacktop, focusing on a weed that had forced its way through a crack and pushing it with his shoe.

“Get in.”

The slippery fabric of John’s pants propelled him over the vinyl bench seat as if someone had greased it. He stopped sliding about a foot away from where Roger was, key already in the ignition, his left hand releasing the parking brake. John looked around for a seatbelt. There was none.

“Always buckle up!” His mother’s voice resonated in his brain, and for once, he ignored it.

“Where to?” Roger had started the engine, which roared to life, backfired once, then settled down to a noisy rumble. “This baby purrs, doesn’t she?”

“I… er… yes.” Then, realizing he hadn’t answered Roger’s first question, he added, “2430 Covington Drive.”

“Fancy part of town, huh?”

Not for long. The Realtor had come by the other day, and John thought he’d seen her drool when his mother told her they needed to sell quickly. He wondered where they’d end up. Probably one of the duplexes closer to downtown—the places people moved in and out of on a regular basis.

He often walked the dog by the duplexes on garbage night, curious as to what ended up on the tree lawn after the latest renters left. He’d found an entire stack of LPs one night, including a boxed set of Tchaikovsky’s greatest hits and a recording of the Singing Nun. He’d hidden them in his closet—God forbid his mother find out he’d been going through other people’s garbage. She’d have a fit.

He hummed a bit of “Dominique” and smiled. He’d always liked that song. Dominique, neekah, neekah….

“What’s that?”

Roger’s voice brought John back to the here and now. “Nothing. Just a song.”

Roger reached for the radio as they stopped at the light. The radio blared, and John winced inwardly. He didn’t like loud rock music—it gave him a headache.

We’re not gonna take it!

“We’re not gonna take it,” Roger sang along. “Gonna break it, gonna shake it, let’s forget it better still.” Roger looked over at John and grinned.

“Who’s that?”

“The Who. That’s who.” Roger snorted, a look of smug satisfaction spreading across his face.

“Oh.” John had heard of them, although he’d never heard their music.

“Cool, huh?”

“Uh-huh. Cool.” John made a mental note not to mention the Singing Nun and to use the word “cool” instead of “groovy.”

As they drove, John watched Roger. He wore a pair of off-white painter’s pants with a half-dozen pockets and a hammer loop. John noticed how the pants pulled at Roger’s crotch when he sat. Roger’s shirt was a blue plaid flannel, unbuttoned to reveal a dusting of curly hair on his chest. John’s mouth was dry, so he chewed on the inside of his bottom lip. He felt a pulsing sensation in his groin and shifted to accommodate his embarrassing erection. He prayed Roger wouldn’t notice.

Disgusted with himself, he thought of his first and only discussion of homosexuality with his father.

They’d been sitting in the living room, watching yet another report about the war in Vietnam. It was pretty much the same thing every night—a daily tally of the number of American troops killed and the growing protest marches at home in the US. But this night, there was a story about a riot in New York City at a place called Stonewall.

“Fucking fluters,” John’s father said. “They should have shot them all.”

John, who was about fourteen years old, just stared at the images on the TV. “What’s a fluter?” he asked.

Jerome Fuchs looked down at his son and snorted. “Homosexuals. Fags. Deviants who prefer to spend time with their own.”

When John just blinked in response, his father continued, “They don’t like women.”

“Why not?” John was genuinely curious.

“How the hell should I know?”

Six months later, after Raymond Lessor kissed him in the coatroom, John figured out what his father had meant. He was exactly the kind of man his father had been talking about.

“You okay?” Roger turned down the radio and looked at him.

“Yes. I’m great.” He forced a smile and realized they’d just turned onto his street. “Oh, that’s my house, about halfway down.” He pointed.

Roger pulled into the driveway a minute later and John, backpack held in front of him like a shield, climbed out of the car. Slid, really.

“Thanks, Roger.” John waved tentatively, feeling like a complete idiot.

“It’s cool.” Roger cranked up the radio and pulled back out of the driveway. He waved, then gunned the engine and took off down the street, leaving a cloud of white smoke in his wake.

John waved the smoke away and watched the car disappear around the corner. “Cool,” he repeated as he swung his backpack over his shoulder and headed into the house.

About Shira:

In her last incarnation, Shira was a professional opera singer, performing roles in such operas as “Tosca,” “i Pagliacci,” and “La Traviata,” among others. She’s given up TV for evenings spent with her laptop, and she never goes anywhere without a pile of unread M/M romance on her Kindle.

Shira is married with two children and two insane dogs, and when she’s not writing she is usually in a courtroom trying to make the world safer for children. When she’s not working, she can be found aboard a 36’ catamaran at the Carolina coast with her favorite sexy captain at the wheel.  Click on the link if you want to hear a live performance of Shira singing “Vissi d’arte” from Puccini’s Tosca.

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Shira can be found here:

Website: http://www.shiraanthony.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shira.anthony
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4641776.Shira_Anthony
Twitter: @WriterShira
E-mail: shiraanthony@hotmail.com