Hi everyone–
Do you like quirkiness in books? As you may know i recently released a novella called Hearts and Flour. It’s the “quirky” tale of a passionate vegan, raw-food fanatic who falls for a cross-dressing cupcake baker! Yep, not a story you read every day?
If you’ve read any of my books, you know that quirky is not altogether unknown to me! LOL. Quirky technically means characterized by peculiar or unexpected traits. There’s the word I love! Unexpected. I really enjoy writing and reading unexpected traits and combinations in my heroes. For example, when I started writing Hearts and Flour, I didn’t know that Quentin, the cupcake baker, was a cross-dresser. This is amazing since his cross-dressing becomes one of the central issues of the book. But I got my hero Micah, the vegan, to a party where I knew he would meet Quentin and suddenly Quentin, called Queen, showed up in women’s clothes. I was so surprised but I loved it because it added to the unexpectedness of the story.
In my book Fire Balls that some of you may have read, Rodney, the hero, is small, very flamboyant with pink hair and six earrings. But he’s also a black belt in karate and a total alpha male by nature. The recent release, Snow Balls, kind of turns that combination upside down. My hero, JJ, is big and hunky and looks like a football player. But he’s more queen than quarterback! 
My bisexual heroes have a touch of the unexpected too. Shay Shaleen in Genetic Celebrity looks so much like a woman he can walk in female fashion shows, but he’s a tough street kid with a chip on his shoulder. I like to put some unexpectedness in the story too. Like in Brush with Catastrophe, my hero is the most untalented of witches, but he has to save the world — with a paintbrush!I think my love of the unexpected is what drew me to writing MM romance to begin with. These romances have no defined gender roles, so it’s easy to create unique combinations. I just finished writing a paranormal romance called The Pack or the Panther which is literally the battle between cats and dogs. And i’m now deep into writing a book in which a big, hunky, seemingly sophisticated guy is actually a virgin. Quirky? Maybe. Unexpected? Definitely.
What are some of your favorite quirky or unexpected books? : )
BTW, over at Beautiful Boys Books, we’re having a Big Backlist Weekend. Come on over and enter to WIN!