Thanks so much for joining us on the GRL 2017 Official Blog Tour. We’re so pleased to welcome Supporting Author Caraway Carter to TNA today. He’s joining us to introduce himself to attendees who might not know him yet, so feel free to give him a “hello”!
Welcome, Caraway!
Many authors attend GRL every year, and I’m still discovering new ones. I’m pretty sure there will be attendees this year who have no idea who I am. So, I thought I’d give you a little overview of who Caraway Carter is and what makes him tick. It’ll be a short bio, Q&A, and random information too.
What kind of name is Caraway? I am a rabble rouser for the Joust at the Southern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire, the original one in Irwindale, California. My Muther, Allspice Carter adopts children every year. She chooses our names from herbs and teas, hence Caraway Carter. When I asked my Muther, if I could use the name for my pen name, she was ecstatic and said she couldn’t imagine a better use of the name.
I will warn you that I have a terrible signature, which often ends up looking like a penis, but I figure if I write Male/Male romance, that shouldn’t be too hard a problem.
What got you into writing? I’ve been a storyteller for as long as I can remember. I would tell these fantastical tales to get out of having to do chores. Then, in my late thirties, I discovered Live Action Role Playing (LARP), where I could tell strange tales for fun. One of the first games I played had five of us sitting around a table, creating characters and roleplaying them, a year later that game had over a hundred players.
My first characters were vampires, Sidney Bowles: Toreador Photographer – Bob Davidovich, Bob Davidovich SM, BDSM, or Bob, whichever is easier for you to say or remember: Malkavian Harpy – Dr. Lysander Cushing: Ventrue Stem Cell Researcher. I played characters online, and there was Luka the Brujah who longed to be a Malkavian, Terence Rose: a Hedonist Ventrue, George Porter: The Brujah who wanted to be a Setite.
Roleplaying for nearly ten years, made me realize that I created stories, and I did it well. Online writing got to be my escapism, and I almost lost my job over being online all the time. I took this love of storytelling and combined it with stories about men I wanted to fall in love with, and after taking a class on how to write to a call, the first short story sold, two days later another story sold, and I never looked back.
The first story that sold should be releasing in a collection this summer, at least that’s the world. It’s a fan anthology by Laura Antoniou, and the book is going to be called No Safewords II, the story is called 650.13 – which is the Dewey decimal for service. The first novella sold to MLR Press – Hawaiian Trunks.
Colorado will be my third GRL. My first was in San Diego, and I only had a three-hour drive to get there, left super early and arrived not knowing a soul. I remember wondering what I should do, and I sat in my car for a good hour. Something you might not know about me, but I’m terrified meeting people for the first time. What will they think of me? Will they care? Will I be too fat for them? Will I be too gay or not gay enough?
And I realized after I sat down to eat breakfast that none of those things matter. I was meeting Hans Hirschi and Hunter Frost for the first time, because we were all published by Beaten Track Publishing and we had planned on helping out at the Publishing booth.
We found each other at breakfast and, I don’t think I ever left his side the rest of the day. When Hunter showed up, we were inseparable. I highly recommend finding someone to be your buddy. When you need a rest, make sure you guys have a sign. GRL can get overwhelming, it can get exhausting, and there were times where I just lay in my hotel room resting.
Who has inspired you to write? My husbear, who I’m excited to say is getting his first book published this year, but he won’t be at GRL, maybe next year.
He’s honest with me and will give me suggestions. I’ve got a couple of friends who are my alpha readers, and they demand that I finish certain stories because they want to know what’s going to happen. I am guilty of leaving them out to dry.
Something else that just came to mind, bring water bottles, and keep hydrated. Lots of walking, talking and laughing, makes a person parched. And I’m not talking alcohol; I’m talking about good old-fashioned water. And take lots of cold medication a couple of weeks before the con, and during, you will more than likely leave Colorado with a bug of some sort, but best to be prepared just in case.
Some things to think about bringing along, antacid, the pink stuff that coats your stomach from all that drink, aspirin or non-aspirin whichever works best for you. And I usually bring a cuddle pillow, something that reminds me of home, because sleeping away from your loved ones and family can be tough, even surrounded by friends.
Who do you fanboy over? I adore Hank Edwards. He’s not coming this year, so I can’t gawk. I can’t tell you how nervous I was meeting him; I giggled and stumbled over words when we spoke. He’s a hoot. I love Devon McCormack, he forgot who was I was, but that’s ok… He’s brilliantly funny, we had a random photo op at his signing, but this year, I might try actually to speak with him instead of gawking.
I’m a big, redhead. I don’t know when to shut up, I am obnoxious when I’m around people I know and I have been known to say the exact thing you are thinking, no matter how inappropriate. I have a loud laugh, and I love to give hugs.
I’d like to thank Kelly Miller for the questions.
Author Bio
Caraway Carter has worn numerous hats. He’s been a furniture salesman, a dresser, a costumer, an actor/waiter, a rabble rouser, a poet and most recently a writer. He married his husband on Halloween and they are the loving parents of two rambunctious cats. He loves words and stringing them together, he loves sex and sexy men, he loves seeing how far his muse will take him and he’s looking forward to entertaining you.
Find Caraway Online: Amazon || Goodreads || Facebook || Twitter
About GayRomLit Retreat
GayRomLit is an annual retreat that brings together the people who create and celebrate LGBT romance for a one-of-a-kind, must-attend gathering of dynamic, informal, and diverse fun.
Each year, the retreat rotates to a new city and hosts tons of events from raucous parties to mellow tête á têtes while still maintaining a spirit of familiarity. GRL is the place to connect with old friends, find family you didn’t know you had, and meet with both newly published and established authors in the gay romance genre.
This year’s retreat will be held in Denver, Colorado on October 19-22, 2017 at the Denver Marriott Tech Center.
For more information or to register, please visit Our Website.
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