Review of Three By Moonlight on The World of Words blog!

Some really kind words about Three By Moonlight and about my in-progess novel from Susan Mary Malone, author of By The Book, at The World of Words blog.

"Sometimes (and when all is perfect), genre accomplishes exactly what Literary does—including that same depth, inherent internal conflicts as well as external ones, providing a clue into the human condition that makes it all worthwhile.

"We can all point to many examples as well. One such is J. Nelson Aviance’s Fantasy work, about vampires and werewolves and mages. His recent collection, Three by Moonlight, includes brilliant writing, compelling characters (I’d follow Eyulf the werewolf across eight galaxies), and gripping stories. And this is just a tease for his novel in progress. A young author to watch, Aviance drew me into a genre that, as all who know me can attest, is not something I’d normally pick up for pleasure and insight. But that’s exactly what I found there. And it’s smart—a key ingredient to what I love."

Love scenes

So, finished up going through the corrections that my editor marked in my manuscript. Took out some, restructured subplots, and added a number of scenes. My big dilemma was deciding where the line was for the love scenes. While this isn't Paranormal Romance, there is a strong romantic element, especially since much of the character development happens through the relationship between Duke and Eyulf. But even in Paranormal Romance there is a line you don't cross, in terms of the level of graphic content, unless you intend to move into erotic genres.

Where is that line? For genre fiction that ISN'T a variation on the Romance genre, that line is blurry. I wrote the love scenes as honestly as I could. I tried to infuse it with as much chemistry and sensuality that I could. I purposely did not want to give a tutorial on this or that sex practice. Further, my love scenes aren't just any love scenes, they're gay. I want as many readers as possible to identify with my characters, without the hangups of having no experience with which to relate, or any other kinds of inhibitions or hangups.

I used, 'If you have to ask if you went too far, you probably did,' as a general principle. So, how far is not too far? That depends on the writer, on the characters, on the situation, and on the genre. I'm happy with how the scenes turned out. Ultimately, the reader needs to connect with the character, needs to identify with them and what is on the page in a real-time imagineered experience. They don't necessarily need an anatomy lesson or a description of the Kama Sutra. But the writer needs to be honest. Needs to deliver the material with the glossy lens of a realized ideal. I guess.

I guess I'll see how I did when the book gets reviewed.

Three By Moonlight Launch!!!

Well, the day has almost arrived, my launch on Amazon.com. Truthfully, it's been available in paperback for a day or two already, but I had papers to finish up for grad school and had to get the Kindle version formatted and ready to go. I'm so excited!!!

So, a couple things, first, go to my homepage and listen to my interview on The Bear Podcast. The guys were super sweet and I think it went pretty well for being my first interview.

Second, HERE is the link to the book on Amazon.

Third, HERE is my author page on Amazon.com, so if you haven't gotten enough of me yet, you might find more there.

Here's to hoping for huge success!

Also, my editor Susan Malone is done with my first novel manuscript. It's going to be in the mail in the next few days on it's way back here. I seriously can't wait. Thankfully I have a lot of work for school to finish up to distract me! Details on that will be forthcoming, very forth- in the coming. I will probably start posting about that come July-ish.

First Interview Coming Up

I'll announce it officially when it's done, but I've got my first-ever interview for the upcoming Three By Moonlight early next week and I can't even say how excited I am! It'll be for a podcast, the owners of which loved the stories. It's so gratifying to have someone I'm not related to and who isn't my editor love my work!!!