I'm thrilled to welcome author Anna Martin to my blog, to play Tush's Ten Questions!
I will admit, I hadn't come across Anna Martin's work yet, but the cover for her new release 'Tattoos & Teacups' caught my eye, and I read it straight away! Check out its gorgeousness below, plus an excerpt from the book and a chance to WIN WIN WIN!!!
Five
Q's about the author
1.
Who are you, and where do you come from?
I’m
Anna! I’m 26; I grew up in a little seaside town on the south-west
coast and I live in Bristol now, I’m a writer (and I just love
saying that.) During the week I work in Marketing for a financial
services company which is far less exciting than it sounds. I’m
aware of the fact that it doesn’t sound very exciting in the first
place. My favourite colour is red.
2.
What inspires you?
Oh,
gosh, all sorts of things. I suppose music and places are my biggest
inspiration. After visiting Seattle I felt much closer to the setting
for Another Way,
even though the city itself wasn’t a big part of the storyline. And
Tattoos & Teacups
is sort of my love story dedicated to Edinburgh.
3.
Describe your writing style in three words:
Sexy,
funny, sweet.
4.
What's next in store for you?
Writing
wise? I have the sequel to Another
Way coming out in September, it’s
called Of Being Yours
and it’ll be published by Dreamspinner Press. After that… I’m
not sure. I’m working on the beginning of two new novels but I
don’t really know which one will become my full focus yet. One is a
M/M/M story, the other is set in rural Somerset (where I’m from).
In
my personal life I’m about to head up to Edinburgh for the FringeFestival in the next few weeks. It’s one of the biggest theatre
festivals in the world and I’ve worked there for the past five
years as a theatre technician and venue manager. I absolutely love
it, it’s the highlight of my year!
5.
Read any good books lately?
Good
new books? Not really… To be honest I’ve been too busy to sit
down and get stuck into something new! I re-read the Jurassic Park
books (again) recently because I love them an unhealthy amount. It’s
the one book I will recommend everyone read because it’s just so
beautifully rich in character and plot and setting. That, and I love
dinosaurs.
Five
Q's about the book
'Tattoos
& Teacups'
1.
What inspired the idea for your story?
I
sort of had an idea about an older, stuffy professor character
falling in love with a “wild child” younger man but wasn’t sure
where I wanted to take it. Then when I was working in Edinburgh last
year I decided I wanted to write something that was influenced by my
love of the city.
Then
NaNoWriMo came along and I managed to churn out 50,000 words in the
30 days (well, 29, but who’s counting?!) and eight months later
here it is!
2.
The basis for the character of Robert is traditional & perhaps a
bit 'prim', while his love interest, Chris, is a vibrant, tattooed
musician. Who would you say you identify with more?
Oh,
Robert, for sure. He’s very secure in his intellect but very
insecure in his outward appearance and how people see him, and that’s
definitely something I drew on my own experience of. I never went
about consciously echoing my own personality when I was writing him,
but because he’s British I felt like I could use my own ‘voice’
as his rather than trying to adapt my voice for an American
character. It was very liberating.
My
biggest worry when the book was published was that people wouldn’t
find it funny because even when I was editing it I was laughing out
loud at some of the things Robert says. But from the feedback people
have given me I think the humour came across!
[ Trust me, Anna, it's funny in all the right places! -- Tush ]
3.
There's focus on tattoos in the story; did you do a lot of research,
or are you into tattoos yourself?
I
have quite a few tattoos myself and they’re all in the same Sailor
Jerry, traditional Americana style that Chris has. Tattooing is an
art form and I think society is starting to accept this. My tattoos
all have very specific meanings as well as being aesthetically
interesting – I like being able to document things with art on my
body.
Flash for a trademark Sailor Jerry swallow.
4.
What do you think draws people to tattoos?
Well,
you do see a lot of stupid tattoos out there as well as some really
amazing ones, so there has to be a range of reasons! Really, though,
isn’t it a declaration of individualism? We all want to be seen as
unique and tattoos physically mark us as completely one of a kind.
5.
If your book was a movie, what would your budget be, and who would
play your characters?
Ooh,
good question! My initial reaction is to say Gerard Butler for
Robert, of course, since Chris mistakes Robert for him when they
first meet. But that would mean the joke was lost… you know, if
they could find someone with a good Scottish accent who looked
vaguely like Butler then that’d work for me!
And
I think Jackson Rathbone could make a good Chris. He already has a
few tattoos and the Southern charm thing going on. And he’s cute!
Abigail Breslin would make a great Chloe (Robert’s teenage
daughter) and Lena Heady would have to play Luisa (Chloe’s mother).
* * *
Tattoos & Teacups EXCERPT:
ONCE, when I was on a trip to New York City, I stopped to watch a
group of hip-hop dancers who were performing in the street. I was
fascinated by the brash colors and thumping beat of the music, and
the tricks and flips they performed with apparent ease. Although I
stood back in the crowd—there were two or three people in front of
me—I couldn’t help but be both impressed and intimidated as one
of the dancers walked right up to the person in the front row,
throwing his arms wide out to his sides and pushed his chest almost
right up to the other man’s, shouting, “Boom!” Right in his
face!
The
sheer gall of the dancer made me smile, even as my stomach flipped at
the idea of such confrontation. Much to my surprise, the other man,
not the dancer, just laughed and made some funny noise in the back of
his mouth, like he was rolling his Rs, and the dancer seemed to take
this as encouragement to perform a backflip from standing, to the
raucous approval of the assembled crowd.
Chris
made me feel like that. Intimidated, and a little impressed. He was
the same as that dancer in so many ways: loud, colorful, swirling
into my life with a loud “Boom!” and disappearing just as
quickly. Like those hip-hop dancers, though, I was left with the
simmering feeling that I’d experienced something completely new,
and I was irrevocably changed for it.
* * *
*COMPETITION TIME!!*
Read on for a chance to WIN!
For
a chance to win an ebook copy of Tattoos and Teacups by Anna Martin
please visit the contact page on her website,
and send your name, and the type of format you would like with the
heading ‘Tush!’.
Winners will be notified by 31st
July. Please note – the winner will need to have an account with
Dreamspinner Press in order to receive their free ebook.
It’s
completely free to sign up! Visit dreamspinnerpress.com for more
information.
Thanks
for stopping by, Anna!
Check out more on Anna here....
