The Bones of You VBT

Blurb:

Oliver Andrews was wholly focused on the final stages of his education at Cambridge University when a well-meaning friend up-ended his world with a simple email attachment: a clip from a U.S. morning show.

The moment he watches the video of his one-time love Seth Larsen, now a Broadway star, Oliver must begin making a series of choices that could lead him back to love—or break his heart.

The Bones of You is full of laughter and tears, with a collection of irritated Hungarians, flirtatious Irishwomen, and actors abusing Shakespeare that color Oliver and Seth’s attempts at reconciliation.

Excerpt:

They walked into the house, laughing (“I haven't seen one tweed cap, Oliver. I feel cheated.”), and realized that Janos was home. He was watching a football game, and looked over the back of the sofa at them and held a hand up in greeting before turning back to the television.

           

“He's not what I expected,” Seth whispered as they moved into the kitchen with their food.

“Oh? What did you expect?” Oliver asked, pulling out two plates and silverware.

“Viktor Krum.”

Oliver grabbed the edge of the counter and laughed loudly.

“American television has done the Iron Curtain a major disservice,” Seth whispered, jerking his head in Janos's direction. “I expected a sallow complexion and a black unibrow, not, well… that. Why are the good-looking ones always the homophobes?”

Oliver bit his lip to keep from laughing again and motioned for Seth to take his plate to the small table against the far wall. “Janos,” he called out, “there's enough for you, if you want any?”

           

Janos turned and looked their way, giving Seth a thorough once-over. “No, thank you,” he said; his voice sounded mildly disgusted.

           

Seth went still briefly and bristled with visible indignation. “Don't worry. We didn't order it with a side of homo, so you should be fine. Although it seems like you had a helping of jackass earlier; no wonder you're not hungry. Must have had seconds.”

           

Janos twisted on the sofa, his arm draped over the back as he gaped at Seth. Oliver was momentarily shocked into silence, but Seth had never really needed assistance in the face of bigotry—only support.

          

“Van egy nagy heréje, akkor a buzl. Én szeretem.”

            

Oliver and Seth both narrowed their eyes at him, Oliver trying to figure out what the hell Janos just said.

           

“Translate. Now.” Seth's voice was positively icy; he vibrated with anger. “Or you're going to learn in a very painful way that I'm a hell of a lot tougher than I look.”

           

Janos seemed to pick up on this and answered quickly, with his hands up in surrender. “I say: for a f-, uh… homosexual? You have… what, balls? Testicles.” He grabbed his crotch and continued. “I say I very much like this about you.”

           

With as droll a voice as Oliver had ever heard, Seth replied, “Isn't that interesting that you're fond of my testicles so quickly; normally it takes until the third date for me to hear that.”          

Laura, thanks so much for stopping by. So, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?

Thanks for having me! First and foremost, I'm Texan. I'm an Ann Richards, Molly Ivins Texan which means I'm proud to stand on my own two feet with my convictions, but I usually have a tray of pecan tarts on me to share. I grew up acting in commercials and theater, did Indie film work, studied Microbiology, became a Master Gardener, and naturally that led me here talking with you about my book about lost loves.


How did you get started writing?

I've always written; my parents still have a story I wrote when I was ten years old, in fact. My dad is a sweetheart--he had it bound and kept it, and even did the same for the stories my children have written. I loved thinking out stories and little fantasies as a child, and either wrote them down or acted them out. I never got out of that habit.


What was the inspiration for your book?

Without question, it's the beautiful song with which my book shares a name, The Bones Of You, by an English band, Elbow. (They're magnificent.) It was one of those haunting songs that tells a moment of an epic story, leaving you wanting more. Well, it left me wanting so much more that I fabricated an entire story based on the scene of a busy man stopping in his tracks as he hears a song that reminds him of his past lover, flooded with painful memories and unsure with what to do.

What’s the one genre you haven’t written in yet that you’d like to?

Western--it seemed such a masculine and uninviting genre for girls when I was growing up. So naturally I want to tackle that and prove it not to be the case!

Are there any genres you won’t read or write in? Why?

See the above. Honestly, it just didn't feel like it would be my cup of tea, but I'm a massive Stephen King fan (as so many of us are) and fell in love with his Gunslinger series. It had the perfect mix of Lone Wanderer, Fantasy, magical elements and romance to show me just how wrong I'd been, even though it's not a true Western. But since I never say never...

So, what are you working on right now? Got any releases planned, or still writing?

And that leads to a new book I'm just beginning to work on, set in the last quarter of the 19th Century, cowboy culture, the violent nature of gunslingers in towns like Deadwood and Tombstone, and of course, two cowboys who can't deny their feelings for each other, something that was actually common for the time! Before that book is released, however, I have a story I'm currently writing set in our time. It revolves around a young woman who has lost her lover to a tragic accident, leaving her adrift and unsure if she can let herself have feelings for a new young woman in her life. (Spoiler alert: she will.) That particular story deals with a lot of the issues that arise in butch-femme lesbian relationships, as well as how people can bury themselves in their grief and what it takes to dig themselves out.


Alright, now for some totally random, fun questions. Favorite color?

Green, green, green! Beautiful, crisp, fresh, and full of life green!


Favorite movie?

This may sound strange, but The Last Picture Show. That movie was formative for me. It's a perfect example of how I see romance, love, relationships, what's right, and oh, the pining! Plus, it's just a gorgeous movie. (But I have to defend my book writers and say that the book is even better.)


Book that inspired you to become an author?

I don't know that I ever thought I could be an author, but every story I've read has made me want to be a writer. Maybe the Emily of New Moon series written by L.M. Montgomery. Her heroines were all writers, and I just loved them all to bits and pieces; they made it seem possible even with their failures.



Alright, you have one superpower. What is it?

To be able to manipulate cellular matrix. Which is basically the nerd way of saying a Wonder Twin without the water/animal limitation.



You can have dinner with any 3 people, dead, alive, fictitious, etc. Who are they?

Paul Lynde is my first guest, hands down. If I'm going to conjure someone from the dead, they better be someone whose word I want to hang on, not to mention laugh myself sick. Carol Burnett, and once I stopped crying over how much she means to me, can you imagine how much fun she would be? The stories she could tell? And of course, Jesus. He was this awesome, super sweet guy who lived down the street from me where I grew up, really good-looking, too. I haven't seen him in years, so it would be fantastic to catch up. (Oh, did you think I meant..?)


Last question: Which of your characters are you most like and how/why?

Well, anyone who knows me should know the answer to this is Moira. I should state that I do not have a drinking problem. Moira would say it's a drinking solution, at any rate. I also over-identify with Oliver's people-pleasing ways, especially when it comes to our fathers. Second-guessing choices that we've made, hoping we're not adversely affecting those around us... Yeah, he wasn't difficult for me to write, that's for sure.

That’s all from me, thanks so much for taking the time to stop by!

Thank you so much for the opportunity!

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Author Bio and Links:

A life-long fan girl, Laura Stone takes a leave of absence from the glamorous life of motherhood while the kids were in school, devoting her days to writing full-time. In the past she's worn the hat of actress, Master Gardener, and computer geek, but now sticks mostly to a Texas Ranger's ball cap as she raises her children. They're not fully raised, but then again, she would say that she isn’t either.

She began telling stories to her parents at the age of four. She was so successful in catching her parent's attention that her father actually dislocated his back, trying not to sit on her imaginary cat, Doka.

She lives in Texas as proof that it's not totally populated by hard-line right-wingers—and because that's where the good tamales are from.

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