That’s lines, not sheets. Sheesh.

I’m delighted to welcome Scott here today to talk about one of his two new releases—stay tuned for another post in a week or two about the second release. Scott, I know, is a sci-fi and fantasy buff, and it’s no surprise to me that he tries his hand at both. Over to Scott to tell us about Between The Lines.

Magical realism.

 It’s hard to describe it – it’s one of those things you know when you see it.

The dictionary defines it as: a literary genre or style associated especially with Latin America that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction

In practice, it means taking a regular story and infusing it with a little something magical, or supernatural. I’ve been drawn to stories like this for years… including Larque on the Wing, the story of a housewife who finds a magical gay street in her little town, and a man who can bring the “real” her out – a handsome young gay man.

I’ve dabbled in it now a few times – I’m almost incapable of writing a “straight” story or romance. In fact, my first sale was a magical realism story called The Bear at the Bar, about a twink who changes places with a bear for the day.

My new novella, Between the Lines, explores what happens when a political operative finds a way to hear the things behind the things people say – to read between the lines and hear what they really mean.

And when you bring a little magic into the story, you never know where its going to lead…

 

Brad Weston’s life seems perfect. He’s GQ handsome, the Chief of Staff for a Republican California State Senator, and enjoys the power and the promise of a bright future. And he’s in a comfortable relationship with his boyfriend of six years, Alex.

Sam Fuller is Brad’s young, blond, blue-eyed intern, fresh out of college, running from a bad break-up, and questioning his choices and his new life in politics. To make things worse, Sam also has a thing for the boss, but Brad is already taken.

While looking for a gift for his boyfriend, Brad wanders into a curiosity shop and becomes fascinated by an old wooden medallion. Brad’s not a superstitious man, but when he takes out the medallion in his office, he sees the world in a new light. And nothing will ever be the same.

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
ISBN: 978-1-63476-235-9
Author: J. Scott Coatsworth
Cover Artist: Aaron Anderson
Length: 15k
Format: eBook
Release Date: 7/15
Price: 3.99

 

It began with a medallion.

The piece was a simple wooden disk, hand carved with the shapes of leaves and forest boughs and polished by centuries of use, giving it a patina of great age.

It sat upon a small green velvet pillow—the kind jewelers sometimes use, rather unsuccessfully, to enhance a plain necklace of false pearls. The kind you might expect to find on your grandmother’s settee, in a slightly larger size, embroidered with “Home Sweet Home.”

There was something compulsive about it—something hidden in the dark crevices of the carving, filled with the dust of ages.

At least that’s what Brad would recall years later, when he thought back on the first time he saw it: the moment when the lines of his mundane life suddenly snarled, snapped, and ultimately recombined into something quite different.

Of course, he didn’t know any of this at the time.

 

 

 

 

Dreamspinner Press

 

 

 

Scott has been writing since elementary school, when he and won a University of Arizona writing contest in 4th grade for his first sci fi story (with illustrations!). He finished his first novel in his mid twenties, but after seeing it rejected by ten publishers, he gave up on writing for a while.

Over the ensuing years, he came back to it periodically, but it never stuck. Then one day, he was complaining to Mark, his husband, early last year about how he had been derailed yet again by the death of a family member, and Mark said to him “the only one stopping you from writing is you.”

Since then, Scott has gone back to writing in a big way, finishing more than a dozen short stories – some new, some that he had started years before – and seeing his first sale. He’s embarking on a new trilogy, and also runs the Queer Sci Fi (http://www.queerscifi.com) site, a support group for writers of gay sci fi, fantasy, and supernatural fiction.

Find Scott at :

His website
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