Angel Martinez Is "Not in the Stars", She's Right Here, And She's Brought A Giveaway

TNA: Hi, Angel, welcome to The Novel Approach. We’re so glad to have had the chance to participate in the Not in the Stars virtual tour. Let’s get started.

Would you kindly tell us a little bit about yourself, hobbies, interests, a few things your readers might not know about you but would find interesting?

Angel: Hi! Angel Martinez answering questions for the Mischief Corner Books authors today. Would love to say my life has been some nice, neat progression, but, eh. I’d be lying. I’ve been, in no particular order, an army medic, an LPN, a retail worker (various sorts), a banker, (shudder) a call center drone, a state park employee (summer job), and a claims processor. I love to travel – all over the US, Canada, Europe, China (once) – though I’ve always lived in the same town.

I’m an aging hipster who loves art and music, film and strange little shops, but I won’t annoy you by talking pretentiously about something you just have to see or just have to listen to. People should make up their own minds about stuff.

TNA: What was your first published M/M title, and if you could go back in time to the moment you sat down and began writing it, what’s the one piece of advice you’d give yourself now that you have the benefit of experience?

Angel: It was a contemporary novella called Aftermath (not currently on the market.) While it might have done better at a different publishing house, it was never a big seller. Not a bad little novel (in my opinion), written as a reaction to some terrible things I heard on a radio program regarding male rape survivors. The intent was good, but if I had to start again, I’d be sure to start out with my stronger suits, SF and fantasy, the stories that flow from me more naturally.

TNA: Do you remember the first M/M book you ever read? If so, what was it, and what about it made the most lasting impression upon you?

Angel: Oof. I had read a lot of gay fiction and plenty of genre stories with gay characters before I read an actual M/M book. It took me well into my forties to start reading romance at all. I think the first M/M novel I read was LE Bryce’s Twice Born. The writing was gorgeous, the plot complex and strange and the world-building spectacular. It was this book that said to me “romance doesn’t have to be the same thing over and over, it really doesn’t.”

TNA: How would you describe your books to someone who hasn’t read them yet? Do your characters share common qualities? What’s your idea of a great protagonist?

Angel: My books tend toward the plot with a little porn side of the spectrum – which is what I prefer in my reading as well. Stories with actual story in them, action and character growth that’s achieved through more than endless agonizing. Most of my serious works have some elements of humor in them, my humorous works always have some serious pillars at their core.

Funny about characters – yes, so many of my characters end up with physical or emotional challenges. Even Shax has issues that have taken centuries to clear up. A great protagonist is going to have some warts. I don’t mean the kind you use Compound W on, I mean they shouldn’t be perfect. There should be faults and flaws, mistakes and bad reactions, internal obstacles they need to overcome – but they need to strive to do so.

TNA: Would you care to share a little bit of information about your current WIPs with us?

Angel: I have three works currently in progress:

1. For the Loves Landscapes event this year – No Enemy But Time – which will be a fantasy set in my Canines, Crosshairs and Corpses world
2. The 4th volume in the Endangered Fae series, No Fae Is An Island (which is due to MLR in a couple of months, eep!)
3. The 2nd book in my Variant Configurations series – which will take us back to Damien and Blaze and give Shudder a chance at his own story

TNA: Many thanks to you, Angel, for dropping by.

And, readers, make sure to click on the Rafflecopter link below to enter for a chance to win an e-copy of Not in the Stars or any backlist book from Mischief Corner Books.

Blurb: Since the dawn of human expression, man has gazed up at the heavens in wonder, inspired by the wheeling of the stars to explain his surroundings. While our perception of those surroundings have changed, from thinking of the Earth as a flat, stable plane to realizing we’re falling through space in a tiny atmospheric bubble, our wonder remains constant.

Space stations, alien races, far-flung planets—join the Mischief Corner authors as they explore the possibilities the stars might offer. The catch? Returning to mundane old Earth might be harder than you think.

Buy Links: All Romance e-Books | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Mischief Corner Books

About The Authors: Angel Martinez, Freddy Mackay, Toni Griffin, Mathilde Watson

Mischief Corner Books is an organization of superheroes… no, it’s a platinum-album techno-fusion group…no, hold on a sec here…

Ah, yes. Mischief Corner is a diverse group of authors who met on a mountain in Tennessee and decided since we probably were too easily distracted to rule the world that we’d settle for causing a bit of mayhem instead.

In addition to making mayhem, we are releasing books as a consortium. The books cover a diverse range of genres and topics… we live to break molds. Our books are available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, ARe and other outlets.

Social Media Links:

Facebook | Author Page | Twitter

The Giveaway: