We’re so pleased to welcome NineStar Press author S.J. Foxx to TNA today to celebrate the release of her book, The Valet. S.J. is sharing her journey to publication, and there’s also a giveaway, so be sure to check out the Rafflecopter widget at the bottom of the post.
Welcome, S.J.!
From Roleplaying to Published ~ How I Progressed Into Becoming a Published Author
When I was thirteen years old, I joined a website called ‘Neopets,’ some of you might remember it. It’s a website where you raise a virtual pet, play games and compete in pet battles for neo points and… roleplay.
It’s something I discovered entirely by accident when I was browsing the forums on there. A board with odd titles like, ‘Murderer in the Supermarket!’ or ‘Pirates Capture Mermaids.’
I couldn’t quite figure out what the hell was going on, so I clicked onto a topic and watched as strangers ‘introduced’ their characters with a piece of descriptive writing, and when everyone had introduced their characters, people would begin to interact by posting a piece of narrative about their characters, and take it in turns to respond.
I figured that the general idea behind roleplaying is you have a basic plot, two or more characters and together you build a story. I was mind blown. I loved writing stories! I was known in school for being the weird kid who, when told to write a story about a ship, would come back with a story about being abducted onto an alien spacecraft by space pirates and having to save the world.
When I was ten, my friends and I used to play games in the playground, where we’d make up super hero alter egos and we’d ‘role play’ out their stories together.
So, I joined this ‘roleplay board’ as an angry little merman and never looked back.
I spent two years writing on these forums with strangers and eventually, branched into ‘one on one’ roleplaying. So rather than losing all of my hard work writing a story with six other people, only for one of them to vanish because it was bedtime, or mum had called because chicken nuggets were ready, I’d have one reliable role play partner.
We’d e-mail back and forth, weaving super complex stories with lots of fantasy and drama.
As I got older, I was more interested in writing more mature stories, with a little more gore and teen themes. So, after excessive bans from Neopets, I started to take my thirst for roleplay to AIM.
I made a lot of friends this way. Some of them I met at 13/14 and still talk to them now. I spent a lot of my childhood writing with these people and I got to know them very well. I still consider them friends and over the years, have managed to even meet a few.
Finally, I matured into roleplay boards. Invisionfree and Jcink. These were entire websites dedicated to the art of roleplaying. There’d be an overarching plot for the site and then “member groups,” that you’d be sorted into depending on your characters role, or species, etc.
The first board I joined had options of werewolves, witches, vampires, faeries and shifters. You’d apply as a character and if you were accepted, you could play as that character. The site was divided up into forum sections, which were usually place locations in where the roleplay was set. I learned so many skills through writing with other people. I learned a lot about characterisation, plot etc etc, but I also picked up a lot of bad habits, like writing purple prose and autonomous body parts. One day, through roleplay, I met somebody who wrote fiction for a living and a lightbulb went off in my head. There was nothing more that I liked than writing, I could probably write books, and so I did.
It was a slow process at first, but I had the support of this writing community. My friends were very good at giving honest feedback and I learned how to write books. I learned more rules about grammar and structure and prose. I love looking back at old stuff and seeing how much I’ve improved and I am excited to keep on learning.
About the Book
Title: The Valet
Author: S.J. Foxx
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: October 30, 2017
Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 50300
Genre/Categories: Historical, 1920s, jazz age, class difference, high society, England, aristocracy
Goodreads
Buy Links: NineStar Press || Amazon || Smashwords || Barnes & Noble || Kobo
Read an Excerpt from The Valet HERE
Blurb: After scandalising his family name, wealthy brat Hugo is kicked out of his parent’s home in NYC, and tossed into the English countryside. There, he must live with his extended family and learn what it means to be a “gentleman,” or be cut off and left without his inheritance.
Brattish, reckless, and out of control, it seems that Hugo may never learn his manners. That is, until he meets his match: a stoic, no-nonsense valet, Sebastian.
Hugo and Sebastian are swept up in a forbidden fling, and they play a game of power.
Can Sebastian get a handle on his master? Or will Hugo’s foolishness leave him penniless?
About the Author
SJ hails from a quaint, modest town in the north of England. However, for the past three years, she has been swept up in the whirlwind of London life, where people don’t make eye contact. Admittedly, she only moved here for the theatre.
A self-confessed geek; lover of the history, travelling and musicals. SJ loves to spend her weekends in museums, wandering around antique bookshops, or finding new, quirky places to explore. She feels blessed to be from a multi-cultural background, with an Irish mother and an African father.
Soppy as she is, you can be sure to find light-hearted, fluffy books from this author, with just a light sprinkle of feels.
Author Links: Facebook || Twitter
The Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Follow the Tour
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