A Tale of
Three Shorts Tour gets readers up close and personal with three late fall
releases by Taylin Clavelli. The three short stories, Invisible, Sleepwalking,
and DIY Delights, will take you from loss and sorrow, to tender love, to
laughter, and a deep sigh when you finally reach the end of each tale. Come
meet the men of A Tale of Three Shorts and their stories!
Invisible
What do you do when you become invisible to the love of your life?
Review:
3.5 stars
3.5 stars
The story was interesting for me, because instead of watching a couple fall in love for the first time, you get to see them deal with a fading relationship. Sean and David have been together for 12 years, but they have started to drift apart. So many times you read a book and at the end it's "...and they lived happily ever after." But life is never that easy, so it was nice to read a book where the characters had to work to keep their relationship going, and deal with the fallout from drifting apart.
I enjoyed reading the story, but felt that it would have done better as a longer story, since you see the direct aftermath and then there's a time skip to see what happens in the future. While I liked hearing from both men's POVs, including the self-discovery they went through in the immediate aftermath, I would have also liked to see more details about how they mended their relationship, instead of just seeing a small portion of it and then skipping ahead to the future. All in all though, I did enjoy reading Invisible, and would definitely recommend giving it a try.
I enjoyed reading the story, but felt that it would have done better as a longer story, since you see the direct aftermath and then there's a time skip to see what happens in the future. While I liked hearing from both men's POVs, including the self-discovery they went through in the immediate aftermath, I would have also liked to see more details about how they mended their relationship, instead of just seeing a small portion of it and then skipping ahead to the future. All in all though, I did enjoy reading Invisible, and would definitely recommend giving it a try.
Sleepwalking
Devastated
by loss, Matthew sleepwalks through life, existing but not living.
Can someone rescue him from his waking nightmare and help him to live again?
Review:
4 stars
4 stars
This is another book that deals with a lesser seen aspect in romance, the death of a loved one. I liked how the author really described and talked about not only the emotions you go through when dealing with a devastating loss, but also how she didn't rush the resolution. Matthew wasn't magically healed, it took time and effort. I also enjoyed how Matthew and Elliot's relationship slowly evolved and I loved the little details the author added, such as the visits to different art museums, which just added to the story for me. All in all, I greatly enjoyed this story, and I think the author did a great job writing about such a difficult topic.
DIY Delights
While
renovating his first house with his partner, Mike, Duncan discovers a plethora
of reasons to use his favourite word… Bollocks!
Review:
5 stars
5 stars
This is my favorite of these three shorts. I mean come on, the book starts out with examples of how to use bollocks in a sentence and the energy and humor continue on from there.
The whole story is one man's view of his life, viewed through a very odd lense: how his usage of the word bollocks has changed over the years and over the course of a home renovation. The entire story is told through a conversational narrative from Duncan, a humorous and quirky character that I loved getting to meet. It's funny and sexy, full of tragically funny mishaps and DIY surprises and of course, lots of smexy times. All in all, this was a fun little read that I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend if you're looking for a laugh.
Taylin, thanks so much for stopping by. So,
why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?
Many
thanks for having me. I am married with two children and live in central
England. I am not far off reaching my half century, but it’s only my body that creaks.
My brain tries to convince me I’m half that age. I enjoy horse riding, martial
arts, writing, and movies.
How did you get started writing?
I
used to read a lot of fanfiction – still do - and had an idea for a plot I’d
like to read. I asked an author whose stories I’d been reviewing, if she’d be
interested in writing something along the lines of my plot bunny. She said,
“Why don’t you write it?”
When I
heard her words, I thought she was kidding, but she convinced me to give writing
a go and the rest they say is history.
What was the inspiration for your book?
There are
three short stories all of which had differing inspirations. DIY delights was
inspired by my experiences doing up the family home. The storyline of the
bathroom that ended up 4 inches bigger all around is my actual bathroom.
Invisible
was again personal, but more emotionally personal. The nugget of the plot of
feeling invisible to one’s partner happened to me and several of my friends.
Thankfully we came out the other side of it. But for my characters, my
experience wasn’t colorful enough for a story, so I took my knowledge and
applied it to my boys.
As for
Sleepwalking, it was inspired by the Adam Lambert song Sleepwalker. The person
in his song sounded so sad; the emotion tugged at my heartstrings. After that,
various images kept entering my head, and I had to get them down on paper. The
first line – I saw a picture of you hanging in an empty hallway --inspired the
opening sequence where Matthew see a picture of his dead husband on the fallen
wall of the police station.
What’s the one genre you haven’t written in
yet that you’d like to?
Futuristic.
I don’t mean a few years down the line, but hundreds, maybe millions of years
in the future. The barrier for me though is having enough of an imagination to
create a world that stands up to the laws of physics, but is sufficiently
different to anything already out there. I am a huge fan of Star Wars and Star
Trek.
Are there any genres you won’t read or write in?
Why?
I
don’t like hardcore horror. Won’t watch it on the TV or read it. I’ve tried but
have been unsuccessful in getting past the first chapter. I watched a couple of
horror movies as a child, and they gave me nightmares for months after.
As for
won’t write – I won’t write BDSM stories. I have read many stories that include
BDSM and have enjoyed them. I can understand why that world is something to
desire and experience. The reason I won’t write in that genre is that I don’t
know enough about the culture and don’t have the balls to research it enough to
do the genre justice. I wouldn’t be able to do it justice.
So, what are you working on right now? Have
any releases planned, or still writing?
I
am working on two stories. One is called More Than Biology – where a boy
researches sexuality and asks the questions, “Are we born gay, or can we choose
to be gay?” Internally he is confused, and the story is his journey of
discovering what is right for him.
I am also
working on a story called Secret Of The Manor, which is a story of a man who
encounters a ghost who needs a champion to enable him to rest in peace.
In the
Wayward Ink anthology, A Likely Story, due out in December contains my story
Chimera Air. It is an airline completely staffed by gay people, where the
customer isn’t always right. The anthology also contains a collaborative comedy
piece written by Lily Velden and myself Dr. Justin Gaylord. He’s a sex
therapist who has issues with some clients. On the outside, he remains
perfectly professional, while, in his head, he fights a war between his
professionalism and his wayward thoughts.
Alright, now for some totally random, fun
questions. Favorite color?
Blue.
Favorite movie?
Oh,
so many, but for now I’ll say, Lord Of The Rings.
Book that inspired you to become an
author?
There
was no one book which inspired me to become an author, but the one story which
got me into reading M/M was Money Matters by cbaty.
Alright, you have one superpower. What is it?
See
in the dark.
You can have dinner with any 3 people, dead,
alive, fictitious, etc. Who are they?
Thranduil
from the Hobbit. Arthur C Clarke and Sir Ian McKellen
Last question: Which of your characters are
you most like and how/why?
They all
have bits of me in them, so can’t choose.
About the Author:
Taylin
Clavelli lives in the United Kingdom, about 15 miles south of Birmingham, and a
short journey from the world famous Cadbury’s Chocolate factory. She’s married
with children and loves her family with all her heart.
Her love
of books has been a long standing affair, with Taylin liking nothing better
than to lose herself in an imaginary world.
Until she
met Lily Velden, she never considered trying her hand at writing. However,
after talking ideas, Lily encouraged her to put pen to paper—or rather, fingers
to keyboard. Since, with a few virtual kicks in the right place, she hasn’t
stopped. Her confidence eventually led to her writing an original work for
submission.
Her first
published work was Boys, Toys, and Carpet Fitters, developed for the
Dreamspinner Press Anthology – Don’t Try This At Home.
Now she
absolutely adores immersing herself into the characters she creates, and
transferring the pictures in her brain to paper, finding it liberating,
therapeutic, and wonderful.
Outside
of writing, her interests include; martial arts (she’s a 2nd Degree Black Belt
in Taekwon-do), horse-riding, all of which facilitates her love of a wide
variety of movies. Her action heroes include Jet Li and Tony Jaa—finding the
dedication these men have for their art combined with their skill both amazing
and a privilege to watch. If pressed, she’ll admit to thinking that the screen
entrance of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean
– Curse of the Black Pearl, and Shadowfax in LOTR, to be the greatest screen
entrances ever. Her all-time favorite movies are Star Wars and Lord of the
Rings.
The
simple things in life that make her day, putting a smile on her face are:
Laughter
– especially that of her children.
The smell
of lasagna cooking – it makes her mouth salivate.
The dawn
chorus – no symphony ever written can beat the waking greetings of the birds.
Great interviews this book sounds good. ;)
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