Lisa: Welcome to author R.L. Merrill to TNA today. She’s joining us to chat a bit about herself and her latest release, Hurricane Reese, from Dreamspinner Press.
R.L., let’s start by having you tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know.
RLM: I tested to become a police officer, but I couldn’t get over the damn 6 foot wall. Otherwise, I was in! When I couldn’t pass that part of the test, I decided to stick with school counseling and have babies. Eighteen years later I’ve got two kids, a total of 24 years of education experience, and a whole bunch of stories written!
Lisa: Would you care to share an excerpt from the scene with us?
RLM: SURE!
Scene Setup: When Jude brings his baby brother Bailey over to Reese’s for the first time ~
The Excerpt: Reese stayed at the hospital through lunch and told Grandpa he’d be back in the evening. He wasn’t sure why Jude hadn’t made it there, and he was worried. He checked his phone a couple of times, but there was no word. Then he went home thinking he’d grab some food, but instead he just collapsed onto the bed. He smiled when he smelled Jude’s cologne. He knew he should get up and change the sheets maybe even straighten up their mess, but he was too tired. It felt empty without Jude there.
“Reese? Are you home?”
Reese woke to the sound of Jude calling from the living room. He popped up out of bed, and had to fight to keep from running out and jumping on him—which turned out to be a good move, since he wasn’t alone.
“Heyyyy…. Wow, Jude, you didn’t tell me you had a mini-me?”
Jude looked as uncomfortable as Reese had ever seen him. And the kid was grinning like he’d just caught big bro in deep doo doo.
“This is my brother, Bailey. Bailey, this is Reese Matheson.”
“Yeah, I know,” Bailey said. He walked forward with his hand extended. Reese shook hands with the kid and smiled at Jude.
“Let me fix you both lunch,” Jude said hurriedly as he walked toward the kitchen. Reese recognized Jude’s need to busy himself when he was uncomfortable. Reese and Bailey followed him in. Jude pulled out some pasta from the drawer and started water boiling. He found the rotisserie chicken Reese had picked up and sliced breast pieces off for each of them. Then he pulled fresh broccoli from the drawer in the fridge to steam… and was promptly out of busy work. The whole time Reese and Bailey sat at the table chatting about life.
“So you haven’t actually started learning yet, even though you have your permit?” Reese asked Bailey.
Jude dropped a spoon loudly into the pasta bowl. “What? When did you get your permit?” Reese could hear the frustration in his voice.
Bailey shrugged. “A couple weeks ago, I think? Tita Gemma took me. Said she’d put me to work once I got my license.”
Jude looked as though he’d just been kicked in the stomach. He turned to finish the food and called over his shoulder, “Bail, go wash up. The bathroom is down the hall.”
“Sure. And thank you for lunch.”
Reese couldn’t hide his shit-eating grin. “You brought your brother over.”
Jude turned to face him and crossed his arms. “I did.”
Reese’s face was going to break if he smiled any wider.
“He cut school to go try to find a job. His counselor called me and asked me to come down to the school to talk.”
Reese’s smile faded as his look turned to confusion. “Why would he do that?”
“Because he’s unhappy living with our uncle. He had it in his mind that if he could contribute, I would take him and our sister and get a place of our own. Which I need to do. I’ll continue working with you, Reese, and with your grandfather, but I need to find a place for them.”
Reese folded his hands on the table. “Bring them here. We’ll make it work. They can have my room. You and I can stay in the garage. We’ll buy a bed.” He nodded like he had it all figured out.
Jude shook his head and turned to the food preparation as Bailey came back to the room.
“So, are you my brother’s boyfriend?” Bailey asked Reese.
Jude dropped the sauce-covered wooden spoon on the floor. “Shut up!” Jude snapped at his brother.
Bailey’s smile dropped, and he put his head down, completely admonished.
***
Reese couldn’t help but be amused by Jude’s discomfort, but he figured he should be the adult. “It’s a little early to be asking that question, I think. But I will say I care about your brother a lot, and I would hope you would respect his feelings in all of this.
Jude stood quickly and fixed Reese with a warning look. “We’ll talk about this later,” he said through gritted teeth.
Lunch was a quiet meal. The only exception was Jude asking Reese how Grandpa was that morning.
“Already getting in trouble. The pain meds seemed to be keeping him comfortable. He recognized me at least. That’s always good.”
Jude gave him a sad look. He returned to his food and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I need to take Bailey home to my uncle’s and tell him I’ll be working out a plan to move into a place with them within the week. I appreciate your offer, Reese, but I don’t think—”
“Just think about it before you say no. Please.” Reese knew he was pushing his luck. Things were so new between them that could be a catastrophe, but he trusted his instincts. And his feelings. He might be just getting to know Jude, but he knew him. Jude’s actions spoke volumes about what a good person he was. Just the fact that he was trying so hard to take care of his siblings while also taking care of Reese’s family….
Reese intended to take care of Jude, whether he liked it or not. If he wouldn’t move in there with the kids, Reese would find them a place and make sure they were safe. The image of Jude sleeping in his car flashed through his mind, and it pissed him off all over again. angered him. But he bit back a comment about the last time he trusted Jude with his own housing.
When Bailey finished his meal, Reese pushed back from the table. “Come on out back with me. Let me show you my private paradise.” Reese put an arm around Bailey’s shoulders, ignoring Jude’s questioning look, and led the boy out the back slider from the kitchen.
The backyard had sold Reese on the cottage, and his grandfather loved it too. There was a deck that ran the length of the house. Grandpa’s bedroom also had a slider, and that end of the deck was covered by an overhang. Reese had thought putting a hot tub there would be a great idea, but now he was more focused on the possibility of expanding the place. Beyond the deck was a large area of lawn surrounded by incredibly tall cypress and redwood trees. A wooden fence surrounded the property, and an iron gate opened onto a set of stairs cut out of the earth. They led down to a wide expanse of beach.
“Whoa,” Bailey said. He took a deep breath. “This is amazing.” Bailey stepped down off the deck and onto the stone pathway that stretched across the lawn toward the gate. Reese thought that perhaps adding an in-law quarters out back might work. There had to be a way to make the place livable for all of them.
“Hey, Reese? Do you surf?” Bailey spotted the small shed against the back gate where Reese stashed his surfboards and wetsuits.
“That I do. When I’m not all over the place. I haven’t been able to surf much because I’ve been taking care of Grandpa, but now that Jude’s back, I intend to get back out there. You surf?”
Bailey shook his head, his hands on the gate. “I haven’t ever been. I’ve always been kind of afraid of the ocean.”
Reese reached over and pushed the gate open. “Let’s go check it out.” They walked carefully down the steps, and Reese immediately felt the call of the waves. It was the place he was most relaxed, and yet he could feel tension coming from Bailey. They reached the bottom of the steps, and Reese slid off his Vans. He let his toes wiggle in the sand.
“Take your shoes off and stay awhile,” Reese said to Bailey. “It makes walking much easier, and there’s nothing like warm sand between your toes to wash the blues away.”
Bailey looked unsure, but he unlaced his dress shoes and placed them on the bottom step. Then he slid off his socks, rolled up his navy blue uniform pants, and pushed up the sleeves of his sweater.
“There, now. Doesn’t that feel better already?”
Bailey grinned at him and wiggled his toes. They walked across the wide expanse of beach toward the water. Bailey nervously watched the waves crash as they halted at the top of the dunes, just before the sand became damp from the path of the waves. Reese moved closer and let the water wash up over his feet. He really missed surfing. Perhaps in the morning….
Reese caught movement coming from behind him and noticed that Jude had joined them. Jude patted his brother on the back and then approached Reese.
“Hey,” he said quietly. Reese looked down at him and smiled. He wished he could take Jude in his arms and kiss him right then, but he figured Jude wouldn’t appreciate the display in front of his brother.
“Your brother is a great kid. I’m glad I got to meet him.” Reese was even more in awe of Jude and the easy way he took care of his brother. He was naturally a caregiver. The nursing school was just working out the details.
“I only came out to him on the way over here.”
Reese turned sharply toward Jude. “What do you mean? He didn’t know?”
Jude laughed. “He must have. He barely reacted. The kid is much more sophisticated than I gave him credit for. He’s such a great kid, and it’s killing me that he’s so unhappy.”
Reese felt honored that Jude was sharing these feelings with him. As more and more of his walls came down, Reese fell harder for him.
Lisa: If you could spend some real-life time with one of the characters in the book, who would you choose and why?
RLM: Grandpa. He’s gotta have the best stories! In future books I’m hoping to bring out more of his backstory, but can you imagine what he would have seen playing piano for Frank Sinatra? Boxing in the Navy? The retired mobsters he plays cards with? Sooo many stories. Plus, hearing stories about Reese as a young man would be fascinating.
Lisa: On the flipside, which character would you probably least get along with? Why?
RLM: Actually, probably Reese. Ha! He’s the guy I was always friends with growing up who never really quite understood the effect he has on other people. I was the person all the girls came to because I was friends with all of the guys, and sometimes beautiful people just don’t get it, which is understandable, but yeah. I’d be like Jude, my eyeballs would get stuck from rolling them so often.
Lisa: Let’s take off your author cap and put on your reader cap for a moment: what do you look for in a book, what sort of protagonists do you love, and do you have a favorite genre/sub-genre?
RLM: Ooooo I am a HUGE reader. I love flawed characters, or characters with a quiet strength. I will read “alpha heroes” but I usually love the characters that are fun, flirtatious, quirky, intelligent, and brave in non-physical ways. I loved Michael from Anne Rice’s The Witching Hour, I recently fell in love with Dex Daley from Charlie Cochet’s THIRDS series, and I love Celie from The Color Purple.
Lisa: What are your least and most favorite things about being an author?
RLM: The fantastic people I’ve met who tell me my books meant something to them. Never having enough time to write all of the stories.
Lisa: What’s the one genre/sub-genre you haven’t written yet, but would love to? What’s kept you from it so far?
RLM: MYSTERY!!! Oh I love thrillers too. I recently have been dabbling in horror, which was always my favorite to read growing up, so I’d love to write a really creepy thriller. I’ve started a dystopian western that I also want to finish. I’m all over the place hahahaha.
Lisa: If you could choose one of your books to be adapted for the silver screen, which would you choose? Why do you think it would translate well to film?
RLM: Besides Hurricane Reese, I’d LOVE to see my trilogy Teacher be made into films. The story of a rock star who has to have vocal cord surgery and the teacher he hires to help him get his high school diploma while he’s recovering is one of my favorites and one I think people could easily see onscreen.
Lisa: What would you say was the most intimidating thing about publishing your first novel?
RLM: This was my first traditionally published novel after self-pubbing for over three years. It was scary and exciting and I just didn’t want to screw up. I wanted my book baby to be a success for my publisher, to thank them for taking a chance on me.
Lisa: If you won the lottery, what’s the first completely self-indulgent thing you’d do?
RLM: Buy the vintage movie theater down the street from my house and turn it into a theater/music venue with an attached bookstore/donut shop hahaha where the Diet Coke refills are plentiful.
Lisa: Let’s pretend you’re taking a road trip, and you can choose any three of your characters to go with you. First, who would you want on the ride-along, and why them? Second, who would be most likely to:
RLM: I would totally take my band from my first novel Haunted (that’s more than three though…) Jade, Marcus, Mage, Devon and Star from the band Maggie’s Bones.
*Have to hit every rest stop bathroom
Jade would totally have to hit every rest stop because he’d be too antsy to sit still that long.
*Whine about how long it’s taking to get where you’re going
Jade. Again. Because antsy.
*Break wind with the windows rolled up
Mage. He would say something about holding it in being bad for one’s spiritual health. Like it would back up your chakras or some shit haha.
*Flip incessantly through songs on their music app
Marcus, forever in search of songs to stretch his vocal ability and always looking for the next new sound for Maggie’s Bones.
Star would sit and giggle the whole time and Devon would roll his eyes a lot. He’d be driving, of course. Probably his classic Dodge Challenger named Rose.
Lisa: If James Corden invited you to Carpool Karaoke, what song(s) would you sing with him?
RLM: Oooo 1. Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin, 2. Sad But True by Metallica, 3. Say You’ll Haunt Me by Stone Sour, 4. Anything by Led Zeppelin, and 5. Born for Greatness by Papa Roach. And something by Korn… too many good ones to decide! James and I would have to, like, take a two hour drive and we’d both be hoarse by the time we were done.
Lisa: Alrighty, last question for all the marbles: Star Trek, Star Wars, both or neither? Explain.
RLM: Both. We need both.
Lisa: Thanks so much for taking the time to hang with us today, R.L.. It’s been great chatting with you!
About the Book
Tony award-winning musician Reese Matheson’s life resembles a natural disaster, and caregiver Jude De La Torre is caught in the eye of the storm. Can the love these two opposites find together survive caring for an ornery octogenarian with wayward balls and a meddling family insistent upon tradition?
A public break-up is not what Reese expects upon returning from the successful run of his musical in London. All he wants to do is spend time with his beloved grandfather and musical mentor, who suffers from Alzheimer’s. Reese knows he doesn’t have much time left before the elder Matheson doesn’t remember him. In classic “Hurricane Reese” form, he moves into the cottage by the sea, displacing Jude, the intriguing caregiver he’d hired two years before. When Grandpa proves too much for Reese to handle on his own, Jude comes to his rescue, taming Grandpa… and the Hurricane as well. Soon all Reese can think about is how to get Jude out of his scrubs and into his bed. Permanently. Will Hurricane Reese destroy everything in its wake, or will this gay odd couple learn to harmonize together?
Buy the Book: Dreamspinner || Amazon
About the Author
Once upon a time… a teacher, tattoo collector, mom, and rock ’n’ roll kinda gal opened up a doc and started purging her demons. Several self-published books and a debut gay romance with Dreamspinner Press later, R.L. Merrill is still striving to find that perfect balance between real life and happily ever after. She writes stories set in the places she loves most, such as Hollywood, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Northern California—and Iowa. Ro also loves connecting with other authors online, at the annual Romantic Times Booklovers Convention, and chapter meetings for the Romance Writers of America, of which she’s been a member since 2014.
A sucker for underdogs, Ro has adopted a wide variety of pets including cats, dogs, rats, a snake and fish. Her love of horror is evident the moment you walk in her door and find yourself surrounded by decorative skulls and quirky artwork from around the world. You can find her lurking on social media where she loves connecting with readers, educating America’s youth, being a mom taxi to two busy kids, in the tattoo chair trying desperately to get that back piece finished, or head banging at a rock show near her home in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Connect with Ro: Website || Twitter: @rlmerrillauthor || Facebook || Facebook Reader Group || Spotify Playlist
And stay Tuned for more Rock ’n’ Romance.
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