We’re so pleased to have author Kim Fielding joining us today on the tour for her latest release, Creature, book three in The Bureau series. Kim’s here to chat with us about some of the research she did for her 1950s setting, and there’s also a giveaway so be sure to check out those details below.

Welcome, Kim!

Hi! Kim Fielding here. I’m happy to be here to celebrate the release of my new book, Creature.

This story is set in 1953, which meant I had to do research (yay!). One thing I had to learn about was popular music of the time. It turns out that I’d chosen an interesting year, because in August 1953—maybe a month before my story takes place—a young man named Elvis Presley walked into Sun Records to cut a demo. His first song wasn’t played to the public until July of the following year. Chuck Berry began playing in 1953, but his first big hit wasn’t until 1955. Bill Haley and the Comets had their first hits in 1953. Little Richard had his in 1955, as did Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash.

In short, as my story takes place, we’re on the cusp of a musical revolution. Rock and roll is about to become not just a commonly used term, but an entire lifestyle. But… we’re not quite there yet.

So what were Americans listening to in 1953?

The top Billboard hits of the time came from big band music, R&B, and pop. Perry Como. Eddie Fisher. Tony Bennet. Nat King Cole. You may cringe to learn, as I did, that the number three bestselling record of the year was Patti Page singing “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?”

I have to think that as my story is happening, a lot of Americans were listening to radios and jukeboxes and thinking there has to be something better than this. And I like to think they were delighted when the revolution hit. My own personal tastes run toward classic punk, but the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and the Ramones would never have existed if not for those musical pioneers that are about to climb onstage in 1953.

About the Book

Author Name: Kim Fielding
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: May 7, 2018
Format: eBook
Is This Book Romance?: Yes
Word Count: 34K
Cover Artist: Reese Dante
Genres: paranormal, historical
Pairings: m/m
Tropes: Frankenstein? Lovable monster? It’s really not tropey
Series Title: The Bureau
Position in Series: Book Three
Necessary to Read Previous Books: No
Warnings: some violence and abuse, but not in detail
Blurb: Alone in a cell and lacking memories of his past, John has no idea who—or what—he is.

Alone on the streets of 1950s Los Angeles, Harry has far too many memories of his painful past and feels simply resignation in facing his empty future.

When Harry is given a chance to achieve his only dream—to become an agent with the Bureau of Trans-Species Affairs—all he has to do is prove his worth. Yet nothing has ever come easy for him. Now he must offer himself and John as bait, enticing a man who wants to conquer death. But first he and John must learn what distinguishes a monster from a man—and what a monster truly wants.

Buy Link: Amazon

Tour Excerpt

John was greedy.

Every time the first sliver of sunlight came through the high barred window, he’d crawl across the floor and lay sprawled on his back, waiting for the thread of heat to grow into a ribbon. Eventually it became a blanket, warming him through the thick layer of grime that coated his skin. He closed his eyes and spread his scrawny limbs, and for a short time he possessed a crumb of comfort. One small thing he could claim as his own.

But then the sun would recede, unraveling his blanket until nothing remained but darkness and cold and the unforgiving hard surfaces of the cell. During those bleak hours, he hated the sun with an icy rage that chilled him more than the stone floor on which he lay. But every morning when the first rays again snuck in the window, his love was rekindled. John gorged on the light as long as it was his.

John wasn’t his real name. He didn’t remember his name, didn’t remember having a name. But a man needed a name, even if he was all by himself in a cell with inconstant sunlight as his only visitor. Sometimes he said it out loud just to hear the solid consonants echo against the walls. “John. I am a man called John.”

Only… he wasn’t at all certain that he was a man. He had all the parts a man ought to have, at least as far as he could tell. His legs were too weak to hold him upright, his arms as thin as broomsticks, and his cock hung flaccid and useless. Yet he did have legs and arms and a cock. Like a man. But within the long emptiness of his memories, he’d never once had food or drink, and men needed those things to survive. And in those days before he was in the cell—God, he wished he didn’t recall those days—people had done things to his body that no man could have survived. He still had marks from those days, bumpy scars and puckered ridges that itched under the dirt but wouldn’t heal.

And he had no heartbeat.

If he wasn’t a man, though, he didn’t know what he might be instead. So he called himself John and a man, and he greedily drank the sunlight when he could.

“John,” he whispered today as the light slipped away. “I’m John. Come back to me soon, please.”

About the Author

Kim Fielding is the bestselling author of numerous m/m romance novels, novellas, and short stories. Like Kim herself, her work is eclectic, spanning genres such as contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, and historical. Her stories are set in alternate worlds, in 15th century Bosnia, in modern-day Oregon. Her heroes are hipster architect werewolves, housekeepers, maimed giants, and conflicted graduate students. They’re usually flawed, they often encounter terrible obstacles, but they always find love.

After having migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States, Kim calls the boring part of California home. She lives there with her husband, her two daughters, and her day job as a university professor, but escapes as often as possible via car, train, plane, or boat. This may explain why her characters often seem to be in transit as well. She dreams of traveling and writing full-time.

Follow Kim: Website || Blog || Facebook || Twitter || Email || Newsletter || Kim’s Books

The Giveaway

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