Friday, May 9, 2014

Talking with author Vastine Bondurant and a Giveaway

Welcome author Vastine Bondurant today as we chat about her latest book, Glory Lands and remember to enter the raffelcopter below to be entered to win either a $100 Amazon Gift Card or Victoria Secrets (winner's choice).


Have you always wanted to be an author?  No. I’d always written, ever since childhood, but just because I loved it and lived in a dreamy fantasy world all the time. Writing was the escape for that. But in terms of writing professionally, I don’t think I really thought much about it until I wrote as an adult.

Are you a plotter or a panster or combo of both? And you explain the difference? Both. I don’t do outlines, but for some stories I do have a complete plot in my head and carry it out as envisioned. Other times, though, I’m total panster with the plot taking its own course.


What is your most interesting writing quirk? Oh, wow. I don’t think anything about my writing is interesting. I’m not even interesting enough to have writing quirks.


Can you please tell us about your latest book(s)? My latest is titled Glory Lands, and it’s a story set in the Texas Piney Woods in 1931. A preacher’s son is caught and arrested for homosexual activity and the minister—as well as the entire small rural community—is forced to face their faith and to examine what they’ve always believed the ‘good word’ instructed.

How did you come with the idea for this story? A man I know told me about a small town rural sheriff in the East Texas town where he grew up. This happened to be the same town my mother was raised, so I knew it well. He told me a horrible account of something the sheriff did and it haunted me. And I tried to imagine what a bigoted lawman would do about homosexuality in his town. So that possibility became a story idea.

Can you share with us your current work(s) in progress? So many. Foremost is a sequel to Glory Lands and a sequel to another novella of mine (under my pen name C. Zampa) titled Honor C.

Who is the one author that you would love to meet someday and why? What a cool question. There are so many I’d love to meet! But if I had to choose just one? Ayyy! I suppose James Ellroy. Why? He wrote two of my favorite novels, L.A. Confidential and American Tabloid. I’d love to meet the mind behind those works, the brain that conjured such noir-ish, delicious stories.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone that wants to get into writing? Something I wish I’d been told: do not—I repeat—do not go into this gig with the idea of being famous. Do not focus on that, even though, as for all of us, it’s just that dream in our heads. Focus on your writing. Period. The preoccupation of being famous or being better than someone else can so easily stunt your writing growth because you’ll lose track of who you are.

Can you share with us something off your bucket list? I’ve never been asked that. Let me think. To visit Italy and France, New York City and Niagara Falls. To learn to play the banjo.



What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for? Big, big To Read Pile. Ayyy. But the upcoming release I can’t wait for is Because of Jade by Lou Sylvre. I’ve fallen in love with her Vasquez and James series, and this will be the final one in this series. Bittersweet yet excited.

What is one book everyone should read before they die? Oh, hands down…To Kill a Mockingbird.

What is your favorite time of year & why? Fall. Just that crispness in the air, the beginning of the holiday season. Something so cozy about it all.

Who is your Celebrity crush?  And what would you do if you ever meet them? Oh! My longest standing one is the Italian actor Alessandro Gassman. If I ever met him? I guess have a heart attack, the excitement would be too much for me. LOL. After I asked him to say my name with his accent, though.


Is there anything else you would like to add? Just a thank you for hosting me and for helping me to share my book. I’ve enjoyed the visit!

Glory Lands
Dreamspinner Press
Historical M/M
Available at Publisher / ARe /Amazon US

A Texas Piney Woods Story

Rural East Texas, 1931. Preacher’s son Emory Joe Logan and a fiddler from Shreveport, Glory Lands, meet and form a tender bond. When they are caught and arrested for homosexual acts by Sheriff Elihu Bishop, the lawman’s sanctimonious bigotry threatens to rip the young men from their families.

Emory Joe’s father, Pastor Charles Logan, is brought to his knees in terror, confusion, and anger. He still regrets not standing up against Bishop when the lawman murdered a youth in cold blood nine years ago.

Now there’s no longer a choice for the preacher to stand up to the lawman. Cold-blooded justice, bigotry-disguised-as-religion, and hatred take on a whole new meaning when they’re standing on his doorstep, ready to take the son he loves.

About the Author:

I’m Texas born and raised, an old fashioned, bling-loving girly girl. I love to read and write stories of men and women and the sizzling chemistry that draws them together. Passion. My heart is helplessly bound to romance of a time long gone- gritty, sexy stories of men in fedoras and overcoats. Old Spice Aftershave, Lucky Strike cigarettes, fancy cuff links, hair pomade, mobsters. Clandestine whispers on Bakelite telephones from the shadows of cheesy restaurant phone booths. Stories of a time when sex was all the more sexy because it wasn’t plastered on every billboard—no naked Joes and dames in every ad in every magazine. Lovemaking—hot, sweet-and-naughty, a secret between lovers. My make believe world is sex and danger, hotter than Hades but wrapped up in a deceptive package—gals with soft skin, pretty lace slips, seamed stockings, satin peignoirs, powder puffs and Chanel No. 5. And the tough guys in dress shirts and suspenders who lust to get their hands on the garters they know tease just beneath those kick pleats. I’m a goner for the dynamics of testosterone meets sugar and spice.

Find Vastine online at:



a Rafflecopter giveaway

5 comments:

Lupa Padmae said...

I can't wait to read this one. Great interview

Karen Candido said...

Cant wait to read it!

Ronda Tutt said...

Oh wow! Your book sounds like an intense read. It Lind of freaks me out because I live on the edge of Bastrop Texas which is where the beginning Pinywoods begin. Just thinking about the abuse of power and bigotry these small town lawmen get sometimes gets under my skin. It really infuriates me how justice is served. Of course there is a fine line between religion morals and obeying the law the way I see it.

Enjoyed your interview

mrsqueentutt@gmail.com

Ronda Tutt said...

Hey Love I have tried to enter your rafflecopter several times today and it will not even come up. It just says page not available. I don't know if you will even get this message because from the looks of it no comments have even been displayed. At any rate I hope you get my comment and message.

Sexy Erotic Xciting said...

I added this one to get pile. It looks wonderful- great interview as well. I also tried to do the rafflecopter but I get page unavailable.
Evelise
Evarcher5@gmail.com