Any Other World: Training Season #johnnyweir #mm #romance

My upcoming novel, Training Season, is a romance featuring a male figure skater and a rancher. The story has existed in various stages and forms for a few years now, but it has only come into its own in my latest sweep of edits and additions. It is turning into something that I feel rather pleased with, if I do say so myself, and I look forward to sharing more information on it soon, including a lovely cover designed by the always wonderful Dar Albert. Expect that cover reveal soon.

In the meantime, I wanted to talk a bit about the initial moment of inspiration for this novel. The spark originated from watching the following video. It is a fanvideo, a montage of Johnny Weir’s performances over some of his earlier years, set to the absolute perfect song. It was the combination, and the impeccable editing, that really engaged my mind and made me start to ask some really important questions. Such as, what does it look like when you work hard at something with no guarantee that the outcome of years and years of work will pay off? (Hello, I am a writer, I think I understand this quite well, actually.) Or what does it look like when someone keeps screwing themselves over because they just don’t believe, deep down, that they deserve it? What happens when they meet someone from outside of their world who gets them, sees them, and loves them anyway?

Other questions came up, too, but those were the very first ones, and they were all due to this little fanvid right here. Oh, Johnny Weir, you are a divine mess at times, aren’t you? And, yes, he is, in part, along with some other skaters and some people I know in my day-to-day life, the inspiration for the character of Matty Marcus–God’s gift to figure skating, and victim of his own worst impulses.

Enjoy the video. The way it makes you feel is pretty much what this book is about. The emotional base of it stemmed from this video.

Been Reaching High, But Always Losing Ground #music #life

A paper installation of Mt. Hood by Marisa Green and Peter Bogart. Click the photo to see more beautiful pictures of it, especially the lovely one of people standing underneath the floating mountain.

The above picture represents my mind right now. I’m in the midst of completing the final touches on this draft (and there’s sure to be another draft!) of Training Season, a m/m romance about a figure skater and a rancher. Yes, really. You did read that right.

As I push through to the end, adding the necessary pieces to make this mountain fly (see above), I find that other responsibilities in my life are falling through the cracks. Emails to friends, reading I’m supposed to do for a fellow author, careful review of my child’s homework (oops, I might suck), and even my 20 year High School Reunion. Yep, it’s true. I skipped it to work on this novel.

So this is me apologizing to you–whoever you are, all of you, any of you–because of how I’ve let you down. I know that I have in some way or another. Hopefully, before too long, I will be in a place where the novel is in my editor’s hands and I get some room to breathe. For my child’s sake, at least, I hope this is soon.

This song is also fairly representative of how I feel right now. Listen and enjoy!

You see, when I’ve touched the sky

The earth’s gravity has pulled me down

But now I’ve reconciled that in this world

Birds and angels get the wings to fly

If you can believe in this heart of mine

If you can give it a try

Then I’ll reach inside and find and give you

All the sweetness that I have

At this point in my life

–Tracy Chapman

Oh, heck, here is that pic I was talking about above, because it really is so lovely. The smile on her face, the glow of the lights, the floating paper mountain. Humanity. Only humans do these things.