Greetings and happy Thursday! Today I am proud and honored to have author Nephylim / Cheryl Headford here with me with her upcoming YA release The Face in the Window.
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Ace is blind and Haze is damaged. They live in different worlds and not everyone is happy when they become boyfriends. Haze is struggling with the after effects of a traumatic event in his past that has left him at the mercy of an uncontrollable rage. When Ace’s brother steps up his campaign of torment against Ace, they’re all in danger from Haze’s outbursts, though it isn’t until things get completely out of control that the healing can really begin. But with Ace unseeing and Haze perched on the edge of a cliff, will either of them survive long enough to benefit?
I've had the opportunity to read this novel before it's release date and I was blown away. It had been a while since I'd become so engrossed with a story that I forsake everything else just to finish it. (I even told my sister about it!)
In true Nephy style (if you've ever read her Wednesday Briefs you'll know what I'm talking about), these two young man go through hell, but they also come out stronger than ever. The Face in the Window was a heartwarming, emotional story (I laughed, cried and got excited with them every step of the way) which I will be reading again and I hope you pick up as soon as it's out. Now, enough of me stealing the spotlight. It's Cheryl and Nephy time!
Welcome to In A Dream Beyond, Cheryl! Though this is not your first visit… *g* You’ve been here before as Nephylim and though I’ve been fairly warned, I simply have to ask: Where did this split personality come from? Has it always been this way? Why do both of them like to write and when did they start writing?
Well, I’m
not sure, now I think about it, that ‘split personality’ is the right term.
We’re not even two sides of the same coin. We’re never that separate.
The real
writer is Nephy. She’s a bit of a bad girl and a lot wilder and more carefree
than Cheryl, who’s the good girl. Cheryl goes out to work to earn the bread
while Nephy would spend all her time writing if she could – well either that or
creating something artistic.
However,
both of us are, at heart, YA writers and YA publishers think Nephy is maybe a
bit too naughty for their readers. So Cheryl gets her moment in the spotlight.
This has its benefits because, now people I know will know it’s me, so to
speak.
Nephylim
was the name I came up with a long, long time ago for the part of me who wrote.
She was the one with the muse, who wrote anything and everything that came into
her head. Cheryl is far more reserved. I identify so much more with Nephylim
and I think I’m growing into her as I get older. I already feel more at home
being Nephy than Cheryl. Even the name makes me
cringe
We both
started writing in primary school. Even at age eight or nine the teacher was
teasing me that one day she hoped I’d dedicate a book to her. It was obvious
even then I was going to be a writer, and I’ve been a writer ever since. Not
that I’ve always shared that writing, or that I ever will share some of the
stuff I wrote back then.
It wasn’t
until about 4 years when, after a visit from two friends and my first attempt
at writing gay characters, I discovered the wonderful online story site Gay
Authors, did I start sharing my work with others. Before that I’d forced a few
family members to read a chapter here and there but never got positive feedback
so stopped bothering.
Once I
started posting on GA I became hooked on the fact that people were reading, and
enjoying, what I was writing. Of course, that was Nephy and it was very dark.
The Face in
the Window was an experiment for me. It was the first story where I reined
Nephy in and deliberately tried to write a story that was sweet and gentle
rather than dark and dangerous. I half succeeded. I should have known Nephy wouldn’t be far
away. To tell the truth I don’t bother trying to keep her out of the picture
anymore because it’s Nephy who truly loves writing and she’s better at it than
I am. I’m the one who writes legal documents and she’s the one who writes
stories.
The real
bottom line is that I want to draw a distinct line between my YA writing and my
erotic writing. YA is important to both of us and I’ll explain more later.
Your upcoming release The Face in the Window, touches topics such as anger, guilt, and
disabilities. It looks like Nephy, the
other half of your personality is still torturing characters. Is it possible to
keep the two apart? Or do they inevitably influence one another?
Whichever
way you look at it, writing is a therapy for me, for us both. If I’m stressed
or worried or angry or just plain crazy, I write. Not that I don’t write when
I’m calm and happy , but I find that my day to day stresses tend to leak into
my writing and that’s why I’m so calm and laid back and why my writing isn’t. J
Nephy is
the one with the creativity. She’s the one who keeps our muse in a cage and
taunts him with apples (don’t ask), so she gets most of the work out of him. He
tends to get sulky and un cooperative with Cheryl. When he does deign to
provide nice, calm, sweet inspiration he takes malicious satisfaction in
leading the story down paths that can only lead to Nephy’s world.
I’m an
ageing goth, with a strange relationship with death and a liking for all things
dark and dangerous. How can I not let Nephy take the lead?
Why the decision to write YA? What’s your
favorite thing about this genre?
There was
never a moment when I decided to write YA. It’s something I always wanted and
intended to do. In fact, it’s the foray into erotica that was the surprise
adventure for me.
My daughter
is gay and has been since she first explored her sexuality. Attempts at
boyfriends were disastrous from the word go and, as soon as sex was involved
she was almost physically sick the first time she saw male genetalia. The poor
boy ended up with a red face in more ways than one.
Through
her, I discovered that what I’d thought was a far more liberal and tolerant
society actually wasn’t when it comes to homosexuality. I threw her an
engagement party and one of her friends asked if I could adopt him because his
parents, whilst ostensibly ‘accepting’ his sexuality, were horrible to him
because he was gay. Similar stories emerged all over the place when I started
to write for GA and I realized how marginalized gays, especially young gay men,
still are.
I made some
really good friends on GA and I made up my mind that I was going to write
stories of the absolute highest quality I could for people who, let’s face it,
have very few gay role models in any form of media. Then, when the opportunity
came to publish I kind of went on a mission. I refuse to label my work as m/m
or ‘gay’ if I can help it. I write about people – their lives and
relationships. They sexuality should be relevant only so far as elements of the
story may demand.
This brings
me back to the YA genre. Young adults are going through a tough time in every
way you can imagine, from bodily changes, to peer pressure, to moving away from
their parents (emotionally and/or physically), looking at relationships in
different ways and generally coping with a whole lot of life changes and
transitions. This is a time when a lot of insecurities and doubts creep in,
when eating disorders, self harm and even suicide become real issues for some
people, and this is the time when people look outside themselves for role
models.
Young
adults want to be seen to be grown ups with everything that entails, while
still retaining a lot of the insecurities and inexperience of childhood and
adolescence.
I think
it’s very important that gay teens and young adults are able to look out into
the world via the media and see there are other young people out there, just
like them, dealing with the same issues and coming through the other side. They
want to see the have relationships that work, despite the odds, find love, be
strong and happy and make their way in the world.
Where are
those role models? Where are the televisions programmes, films, books, soaps
etc with gay teens as major characters? Even when they are they’re usually in
bad situations.
That’s my
dream – to see young adult books, with gay main characters in the windows of
major bookstores and not hidden on a dingy shelf at the back. I want to see gay
Harry Potters and Percy Jacksons on bookshelves and in Hollywood movies. I’m
not even that concerned whether the books and films are mine or not, although
it would be nice if they were.
Anyway,
that me off my soapbox. I’m not even sure I answered the question.
Did you have to do any research to write The Face in the Window?
Yes. I
researched all kinds of things associated with blindness. I didn’t use them all
but I was particularly fascinated with Braille keyboards and phones. Phones
like Ace’s actually exist and are amazing.
When I was
at university I was involved with a project involving reading for blind students.
I did some recording and also one to one reading with a blind girl. She was
absolutely amazing. I’ve never forgotten her. She was albino like Ace, only
with pink eyes. I was totally fascinated by her long white eyelashes and
beautiful hair. She was so nice and easy to work with and she was one of only
three people in my year who got first class honours.
It was
therefore very interesting for me to research into what universities have
available for blind students these days and I was very impressed with how
things have moved on.
I also did
some research on the kind of anger issues Haze experiences and it’s surprising
how much information is out there about this kind of thing. I have to admit
some the diagnoses of ‘disorders’ and ‘conditions’ make me very uncomfortable
but that’s a soapbox for another day.
In Haze’s
case, I explored Explosive Anger Disorder, but came up with an eventual
diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Where did the inspiration for this particular novel
come from?
Five years
ago I was diagnosed with epilepsy and had to give up driving. I thought it was
the end of the world, and it pretty much was. However, it did mean I got to
ride the bus.
In the
valley where I live the bus takes a circuitous route. The bus goes up the
valley, turns around at the top and comes back down. Beyond the bus turning
circle is nothing but mountain.
Right where
the bus turns, then pauses before it makes its return journey, there is a big
house, set back of the road on a slight rise. One day, I was sitting on the bus
looking at the house, and I saw someone look out of one of the dormer windows.
That provided the kernel of a story that percolated in my mind for a while.
Then, on
GA, I read a few completely separate posts that fitted together over a period
of time. One post, about the stories on
GA commented that all the characters were good looking, strong and confident.
Another commented there were very few characters with any kind of disability.
Whilst the first observation wasn’t necessary true, the second certainly was.
My friend
and I made a conscious decision to write about a story with flawed characters
and disability. She chose to write about a deaf character and I decided on a
blind character. This came at a time when I was riding the bus route regularly
and that house was nagging at me. I put them together and Ace was born. My son
still refers to that house as Ace’s house.
As a family lawyer, you deal with a lot of stressful
and extreme situations, to what the degree do these real stories influence your
work as an author?
A lot. Some
of my stories were written specifically to explore issues that are raised time
and time again within my work and have actually helped me better understand the
clients who present with these issues. One example is the issue of why people
remain in abusive relationships and suffer domestic violence time and time
again. This is explored in Love in Chains, which is on GA and definitely not a
story for the faint hearted.
Some of my
favourite characters are based on people I have met, either as clients or
colleagues.
In my
series, Enigma, the psychiatrist in book I is based with someone I’ve worked
with professionally. In book II Enigma II – Fighting the Man, I’ve put an awful
lot of work experience in there. All of the dealings with Social Services – the
case conferences, attitudes of social workers, social work policies etc are
drawn from actual experiences.
And then,
of course, there’s the fact that I get so stressed at work my fingers can’t
wait to get home and write away the stress.
What was the best thing about writing this
book?
One of the
things I really enjoyed was doing all the research on the special things
available for Ace, such as the phone, braille keyboard, books etc.
Another
thing I enjoyed was getting into Ace’s mind and getting to know him. It’s an
interesting experience trying to ‘see’ ordinary things through the eyes of a
blind person. Like the fact that his room has no decoration but lots of
different textures and a music system set up for optimal performance in
particular spots. Thinking about how a room ‘sounds’ is cool. I enjoyed
watching Ace grow and admire how fearless he is.
The
descriptions were also very rewarding for me. I like details in any event but
the descriptions I give in The Face in the Window have to be more explicit and
involve different senses. Little things like Ace not knowing shrimps turn pink
when cooked fascinated me as they came to me. Ace started telling me all kinds
of things about his world I never would have thought of.
My
favourite parts of the book are the first trip to the beach and the party at
Uncle Colin’s.
What’s next for you or Nephy?
Cheryl, has
been fortunate enough to have another book accepted by Featherweight
Publishing, which is about a young man who wakes after a long coma and has to
learn to do everything all over again, from walking and talking, to
remembering. Not only does Noah have to learn to be himself again, and to
remember who ‘himself’ was in the first place, but as his memories return they start
taking some very worrying twists that eventually plunge himself and his best
friend into a nightmare.
This one is
in very early stages though and probably isn’t going to be out until the middle
of next year.
Nephy, is
in the final stages of editing the third book in the Upstaged series which is
co written with Stephanie Danielson and will be published by Romance First
Publishing.
She has
also had another book accepted by Romance First Publishing which is also a YA about
a fairy who allows himself to be seen by a human one too many times and, as a
punishment has to be his slave for three months. Draven is a terrible slave and
it’s just as well Keiron doesn’t want a slave in the first place. This is the
closest either Nephy or Cheryl have come to comedy and I’ve laughed out loud
over and over again when writing it.
I’m hoping
Upstaged will be out Christmas time or just after and Fairies at the Bottom of
the Garden early next year
October Spookiness
A book
recommendation for October
Omorphi by
Cory Kennedy. Not a spooky book but the best one I’ve read in a long time.
Favorite
scary film
Voodoo Moon
It’s
Halloween and you are… standing around a
fire in robes with a group of friends doing a Samhain ritual
Favorite
thing about autumn
The colours
of the trees and mountains, and walking through crunchy leaves.
*If you celebrate
Halloween*What
are you planning to dress up as this year? or If you could dress up as
something on Halloween, it’d be… ?
Share a
scary (or autumn) anecdote with us
Believe
this or not, as you wish. When I was about 25/26 I started attending a Druid
Grove in WorstonLancs. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as…complete as I did when I
was there. I tried to get up there for at least four of the eight festivals
every year and I’d go to week long workshops a couple of times a year.
Samhain has
always been my favourite festival and the Samhain rituals have been intense every time.
The house
we met had its own stone circle in a grove and we were in the middle of a
ritual, standing around the fire in robes when we all heard something crashing
about in the bushes. We ignored it as best we could, but hurried the ritual as
much as we could. The crashing and scratching in the bushes continued until the
end, moving around the circle. When we’d finished, everyone took lanterns and
searched the bushes (well, everyone who weren’t too scared (cough – responsible
enough to check on the food) ).
Needless to
say, nothing was found and nothing was heard again for the rest of the weekend.
Don't forget to get in touch with Cheryl / Nephy:
Want to read an excerpt? I know you do! Nephy allowed me to pick it and it took me quite some time as I couldn't decide what special moment to showcase...but in the end, well, you guys know me, I'm a sucker for romance and first kisses...
The Face in the Window Excerpt
With his face tilted upwards towards the sun and
a huge grin on his face as he felt the sea breeze across
his shoulders he was happy and content, completely
relaxed. It was a humbling experience to realise that
at this time his happiness and security were entirely
in my hands. One step away from him and a few
minutes silence was all that it would take to isolate
and terrify him. Or would it?
Looking at him standing only a few feet away,
his hair literally glowing in the sun, more colour in
his cheeks than I had yet seen, I don’t think I would
have been surprised if he had sprouted wings and
flew away. There was nothing he wasn’t capable of;
he was heroic.
“What are you thinking?”
I jumped at his soft voice which drew me sharply
back from my musings.
“Thinking? I was thinking how utterly beautiful
you are and that at this moment I could believe you
were capable of anything.”
He grinned. “I am.”
Stepping forward he missed my careful gateway
by a few inches with one foot and there was a crunch
as he stood on the dried seaweed and probably the
empty shell of a long dead crab. He didn’t pause or
flinch. Stretching out his hand, his fingers touched
my arm which I had automatically thrown out towards him, afraid he might fall.
The touch of his fingers was so very light as they
slid down my arm to my hand and laced with mine
as he closed the last few inches. Now we were so
close I could feel his breath on my face, smell his
sweet, spicy scent. I closed my eyes and let my hand
fall to rest on his hip.
My fingers hit the handle of his cane, which he
had collapsed and hooked onto his belt. The cane
swung inward and poked into his leg.
“Ha. Shame on you. Attacking a poor blind
boy with his own cane. You should be ashamed of
yourself.”
“Not yet,” I whispered huskily and did what I
had been dreaming about for days.
I could taste salt on his lips and felt them curve. I
had thought that he would be shy and hesitant but
he was neither of those things. He was clearly not
inexperienced either, when he pulled me towards
him so suddenly and so hard that I almost literally
fell into his arms, and it was he who pushed the kiss
on to the next level.
The Face in the Window Excerpt
With his face tilted upwards towards the sun and
a huge grin on his face as he felt the sea breeze across
his shoulders he was happy and content, completely
relaxed. It was a humbling experience to realise that
at this time his happiness and security were entirely
in my hands. One step away from him and a few
minutes silence was all that it would take to isolate
and terrify him. Or would it?
Looking at him standing only a few feet away,
his hair literally glowing in the sun, more colour in
his cheeks than I had yet seen, I don’t think I would
have been surprised if he had sprouted wings and
flew away. There was nothing he wasn’t capable of;
he was heroic.
“What are you thinking?”
I jumped at his soft voice which drew me sharply
back from my musings.
“Thinking? I was thinking how utterly beautiful
you are and that at this moment I could believe you
were capable of anything.”
He grinned. “I am.”
Stepping forward he missed my careful gateway
by a few inches with one foot and there was a crunch
as he stood on the dried seaweed and probably the
empty shell of a long dead crab. He didn’t pause or
flinch. Stretching out his hand, his fingers touched
my arm which I had automatically thrown out towards him, afraid he might fall.
The touch of his fingers was so very light as they
slid down my arm to my hand and laced with mine
as he closed the last few inches. Now we were so
close I could feel his breath on my face, smell his
sweet, spicy scent. I closed my eyes and let my hand
fall to rest on his hip.
My fingers hit the handle of his cane, which he
had collapsed and hooked onto his belt. The cane
swung inward and poked into his leg.
“Ha. Shame on you. Attacking a poor blind
boy with his own cane. You should be ashamed of
yourself.”
“Not yet,” I whispered huskily and did what I
had been dreaming about for days.
I could taste salt on his lips and felt them curve. I
had thought that he would be shy and hesitant but
he was neither of those things. He was clearly not
inexperienced either, when he pulled me towards
him so suddenly and so hard that I almost literally
fell into his arms, and it was he who pushed the kiss
on to the next level.
Thank you so much. Your review was very kind and I loved the excerpt you chose :)
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