Wow! It’s Wednesday again Scribblers. This week I’m pleased to have fellow NineStar Author Schuyler L’Roux on my Scribbles Page to do a Top Ten List for his debut series There’s Always Something. This should be a lot of fun, so let’s get started.
The Top 10 Reasons I Wrote the “There’s Always Something” series
I answered an open call that Ninestar Press ran on Writing.com in 2015. The day I found the ad, I had started writing a sex scene that I thought was nothing more than a fun diversion. Ninestar had just opened, and I thought it’d be a perfect place for a new writer to learn the ropes of writing and publishing. So I fleshed out my random hookup and hoped for the best when I submitted the first story, “There’s Something about a Kilt.”
In 2015, I was living in Germany in a glorious year off that was dedicated to writing and publishing my first book. I couldn’t get so much as a nibble for that book and, like any proper writer, proceeded to get drunk and depressed. Finding Ninestar and starting “There’s Always Something” reminded me that there can always be another project and that my goal shouldn’t be success, but rather the joy in creating and completing a project.
I’d always toyed with sex scenes, but as nothing more than short exercises to test my writing or because I was hot and bothered. “There’s Always Something” gave me a chance fully incorporate sex into a living, breathing story. Sex became not just an exclamation point, but a way to propel the story forward or perhaps, as was the case in “There’s Something about Pain,” jerking the story to a complete halt.
I love wearing kilts. They’re functional, flirty, and oh, so breathable. I had a ton of fun writing about Gerry’s kilt and using it in sex scenes in fun ways.
I published the first short story in the series, “There’s Something about a Kilt,” early in 2016. I heard good things from reviewers, readers, and the team at Ninestar who published the story. But I didn’t give much thought to continuing the story. It was only after moving back to the United States (B’more!) and spinning my wheels with another novel that I came back to Thom & Gerry. Raevyn, Ninestar’s owner, was so encouraging about my return to the series, I jumped all in.
Continuing the series with “There’s Something about Pain” was a great challenge. I had to bridge all of the emotional consequences about the broken promise that ends “There’s Something about a Kilt.” Then I doubled down on the emotional trauma with the sequel, “There’s Something about Pain,” just upped the ante in the conclusion, “There Something about Flying.” Writing Thom & Gerry’s journey from a hot hookup to an emotional confrontation about acceptance, forgiveness meant so much to me.
If I had published “There’s Something about a Kilt” with another publisher, I’m not sure if I would have ever come back to write “Pain” or “Flying.” Ninestar Press is an incredible company. Raevyn is ethical, thoughtful, and driven for impassioned inclusivity. And the editors I’ve been fortunate to work with on “There’s Always Something” have in equal parts complemented my writing and challenged me to be a better writer and artist.
Gerry is absolutely my idealized version of self. Tall. Beefy. Redhead. Confident. I’m just missing the tall and beefy part, so I had a lot of fun creating fantasies for him. The physical scenes were enjoyable, but I also enjoyed challenging him emotionally.
Thom holds a part of my heart as a fellow writer. I had initially written him as an innocent angel, but Thom definitely evolves into much more than the bookworm blossoming under Gerry’s indulgent care as I originally envisioned. I liked reversing the roles Thom & Gerry initially played in the first story and then watching the consequences unfold in the second and third stories.
And for #10, I’ll give you the number one reason I did NOT write “There’s Always Something”—the Tom & Jerry cartoons. I never once thought about Tom & Jerry while writing Thom & Gerry. It was only after my partner mentioned it that I had any idea. I then laughed for five minutes straight.
Book Blurb - There’s Something about a Kilt
The first in the series: It’s a hellaciously hot day in Minneapolis and all Thom wants to do is enjoy his ice cream and forget about the stacks of essays waiting for him back in his stifling apartment. Until he meets Gerry, a kilted, tattooed Welshman. The conversation is smooth and the attraction immediate, but Gerry is only in town for the night and isn’t down for anything quick and forgettable. When they meet again, hours later, Gerry knows there’s something in the air and all bets are off. Including his kilt.
Where to Buy:
For There’s Something about a Kilt click here.
For There’s Something about Pain click here.
For There’s Something about Flying click here.
About Schuyler L’Roux:
I passionately believe in the power of sex—funny, world-changing, scratch-the-hell-out-of-your-back sex. I'm Southern and Welsh. But most of all, I'm optimistic. I write about thoughtful characters engaged in meaningful interactions and entertaining situations. With lots and lots of sex, of course.
Where to Find him:
On Instagram here.
On Twitter here.