Guest Post and Giveaway: Patchwork Paradise by Indra Vaughn

Please join us in welcoming author Indra Vaughn today, on the tour for her latest novel, Patchwork Paradise. Enjoy Indra’s guest post, and then be sure to check out the giveaway details below for the chance to win an ebook from her backlist or the Grand Prize–a $25 Riptide store credit.

Good luck!

Hi guys!

Thanks for joining me on the Patchwork Paradise blog tour. I’m very excited to share my latest release with you!

I kind of wanted to talk about secondary characters, because I believe they’re pretty important and they rarely get any room in the spotlights.

When you research secondary characters, you’ll find whole essays on how every secondary character has a purpose and they get stuck in boxes (the faithful friend, the sidekick, the driver, the mentor, etc.). I don’t think of my secondary characters in this way. When the main characters appear on paper, they kind of come along ready with their own set of friends, family, and even enemies. The people around us shape us and influence us every day, so when these secondary characters creep into my books, they’re usually as fully formed with their own backstories that hardly make it on paper. It might not be important to readers where they grew up and what their hopes and desires are, but I usually have a little file with all these things typed out.

For instance in Patchwork Paradise, there’s Cleo and Imran, an established couple that is having trouble in their relationship. In theory the how and why of their issues have nothing to do with the book, but I have enough information to write their story too, if I wanted to. Most of it never makes it into any of my books.

And then there’s Thomas, who starts out as a side character and slowly works his way into the reader’s (and Ollie’s) heart. When I started to write Patchwork Paradise, he was never meant to be more than a secondary character. There was someone else who was supposed to be Ollie’s love interest (and I still want to write his book some day because he’s such a sweetie) but Thomas and his crush just wouldn’t leave me alone.

Are there any side characters you’d love to know more about? Any author notebooks you’d love to get your hands on to see what the other characters have been up to? (JK Rowling comes to mind, for instance…)

About Patchwork Paradise: Oliver and Samuel’s relationship is fairy-tale perfect. They share a gorgeous house in Antwerp, go out with their friends every weekend, and count down the days to their dream wedding. But their happy ending is shattered one late night, and just like that, Ollie is left bereft and alone.

The months that follow are long and dark, but slowly Ollie emerges from his grief. He even braves the waters of online dating, though deep down he doesn’t believe he can find that connection again. He doesn’t think to look for love right in front of him: his bisexual friend Thomas, the gentle giant with a kind heart and sad eyes who’s wanted him all along.

When Thomas suddenly discovers he has a son who needs him, he’s ill prepared. Ollie opens up his house—Sam’s house—and lets them in. Ollie doesn’t know what scares him more: the responsibility of caring for a baby, or the way Thomas is steadily winning his heart. It will take all the courage he has to discover whether or not fairy tales can happen for real.

About Indra Vaughn: After living in Michigan, USA for seven wonderful years, Indra Vaughn returned back to her Belgian roots. There she will continue to consume herbal tea, do yoga wherever the mat fits, and devour books while single parenting a little boy and working as a nurse.

The stories of boys and their unrequited love will no doubt keep finding their way onto the page—and hopefully into readers hands—even if it takes a little more time.

And if she gleefully posts pictures of snow-free streets in winter, you’ll have to forgive her. Those Michigan blizzards won’t be forgotten in a hurry.

Connect with Indra: Facebook || Twitter

The Giveaway

To celebrate, Indra is giving away an ebook from her backlist at EVERY BLOG STOP! She’ll also be giving out a grand prize of $25 in Riptide credit. Leave a comment to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on April 2, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

The Fine Print:

*Entrants must be 18 years or older to qualify
*All comments must be relevant to the author’s prompt to be eligible (when applicable)
*The Novel Approach will not be held liable for prize delivery unless otherwise specified
*Void where prohibited by law