Please welcome Cassandra Gold, who's here to tell us about her new m/m romance. In HOT AND BOTHERED, shy, geeky Gil has been hiding his attraction to his sexy baseball player housemate, Dustin, by being rude to him. His plan seems to be working—until the temperature climbs and Dustin begs to sleep in Gil’s air-conditioned bedroom. Gil intends to turn him down flat, but somehow finds himself agreeing. He thinks the night will be torture, but a lot can happen on a hot summer night…
HOT AND BOTHERED is available now from Cobblestone Press: http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/hotbothered.htm And don't miss the excerpt at the bottom of the post.
Tell us about HOT AND BOTHERED. What gave you the idea for this story?
Hot and Bothered just kind of popped into my head. Living in Missouri, I get to enjoy (lol) the extremely humid summers, and I thought about what it would be like not to have a working air conditioner. The story came from that tiny idea. I started writing it expecting to be flashfiction, but it turned out to be quite a bit longer than that.
Why do you write?
This is probably a trite answer, but I write because I like to write. I've loved reading and writing since I was small. When I was really little, I wrote about horses. Then I went through a horror phase. Now it's romance. When I stop loving it, that's when I'll stop writing.
What do you like to read?
I like to read a lot of different things. I read a LOT of m/m romance in just about any genre: mystery, fantasy, sci/fi, contemporary, historical. I also like m/f romance, especially Regency and paranormal. When I want something different I'll pick up some nonfiction or humor.
How did you start writing?
I've been writing in various forms since elementary school, but I began writing romance in 2006. I entered a Halloween writing contest held by a publisher that's now closed. I'd been reading m/m for a while and really loved it, and the story idea I had was m/m. I was nervous but I wrote the story and subbed it. It was selected as one of the winners of the contest, and I've been writing ever since.
If there were one misconception about m/m that you could clear up forever, what would it be?
That it's all about the sex. People seem to see m/m and instantly think a book is going to be very explicit, or that it'll be like porn, but that's no more likely to be true than with any other type of romance. I've read wonderful m/m stories that had closed-door sex, or none at all. Often, those stories end up being labeled "explicit" because there are two men involved, even though there is no sex. I think that's pretty ridiculous.
What kind of impact do you hope your work will have on readers?
I'm a huge crybaby and often find myself getting emotional over stories, but it's a good kind of emotional. I hope my work has that effect on readers. If I'm doing my job, they will laugh, cry, or get that "awwww" feeling while reading one of my books.
Kirk, or Spock?
Spock. He's the logical choice. ;)
For an excerpt from HOT AND BOTHERED, please click the link below.
Dustin came into Gil’s room the way he always did, without knocking. He brushed his overly long blond curls out of his eyes. “God, it’s hot!”
Gil turned toward the door, put his book on the desk, and scowled at his housemate. “Do you barge in on everyone, or do you save that for me?”
Dustin gave him a puzzled look. “What? You were just reading.”
Grrr. “That’s not the point!” Gil wasn’t sure how many times he’d lectured Dustin about knocking first. Obviously his words had gone unheard. Why bother getting into it again? He sighed. “Never mind. Did you have a reason for coming in here?”
“Yeah. It’s hot.”
Gil rolled his eyes. “I think we’ve established that, Dustin. What do you want?”
Dustin’s expression morphed into the puppy‐dog look he always put on when he wanted something. With his big blue eyes, blond curls, and near‐angelic features, the sad face almost always worked. “Well…”
Luckily for Gil, he was one of the few people who seemed to be immune to Dustin’s charms. At least that’s what he kept reminding himself. He narrowed his eyes at his housemate. “What?”
The other man aimed a hopeful smile straight at Gil. “I was thinking since you’re the only one with air conditioning, you might be willing to let me stay in here tonight.”
Having chosen just that moment to take a drink from his bottle of water, Gil choked and began to cough. No. No way! Dustin crossed the room and patted his back, a little too hard, until Gil waved him away. When he was able to speak again, he told his housemate what he thought in no uncertain terms. “No.”
“Aw, come on, Gil. The fan in my room broke. It’s like two hundred degrees in there! Even at night I can’t stay cool.”
“No.”
* * * * *
Five hours later, Gil had showered, brushed his teeth, and put on a T‐shirt and shorts. He was just climbing into bed when the door opened again. Dustin entered, carrying some blankets and a pillow. Gil felt the sudden urge to punch himself for agreeing to let the other man stay in his room. What the hell had he been thinking? It wouldn’t have killed Dustin to stay in his own room.
Dustin grinned, shaking his damp hair out of his face. “Man, feels good in here. I wish I could have sprung for a window unit like you did.”
Gil frowned, feeling guilty for being so mean. Even though he and the other man were nothing alike, he knew Dustin wasn’t just trying to mooch off him. His housemate could only afford to be here because he had a baseball scholarship. He worked full‐time during the off‐season, and Gil knew any extra money Dustin got went back home for his mom and five younger siblings. He never failed to come through on his portion of the bills, either, which was something Gil couldn’t say for the other two guys sharing the house.
Still, every time he talked to Dustin he became tense and rude. He could explain part of his rudeness away with the other man’s annoying tendency to tease Gil and come into his room without knocking. He had to admit the rest of his behavior was due to how he felt every time Dustin came near him. Gorgeous, athletic, funny Dustin was everything he’d always wanted but never been brave enough to get, which made him feel like the skinny, awkward geek he was. He hated the feeling. He covered up his nervousness with a haughty coldness that didn’t seem to faze the other man. In fact, sometimes Dustin seemed to find Gil’s attitude amusing, which only made him angrier.
Irritated with himself for dwelling on the subject, Gil flopped down on his bed and turned to face the wall. “Can you get the light?”
“Sure.” Dustin dropped his stuff on the floor and turned the light off, bathing the room in soothing darkness.
They were both silent for a few minutes as Dustin arranged his blankets on the floor and got comfortable. Then Dustin spoke again. “I wonder why they call them the ‘dog days’ of summer.”
“The Ancient Greeks and Romans called the hottest days of summer the dog days because the sun rose and set with Sirius, the Dog Star. They thought we could feel Sirius’s heat on Earth, even though the star is actually too far away. The earth’s tilt is really what causes the heat, not the Dog Star.” He trailed off, feeling stupid for going into lecture‐geek mode when Dustin had probably just been making small talk or asking a rhetorical question.
“Really? That’s cool.”
To Gil’s surprise, the other man sounded as if the mini‐lecture had interested him. Then, after a pause so long Gil thought Dustin had gone to sleep, he continued, his voice uncharacteristically subdued. “You must think I’m really dumb. You know so much stuff, and all I know about is sports.”
Shocked, he turned over to face the other man. His eyes had adjusted to the dimness of the room enough for him to see Dustin biting his lip, eyes downcast. Even in the near‐dark it was obvious Dustin really believed Gil thought he was dumb. Gil must have been even more of a jerk than he’d realized. Another twinge of guilt, this one stronger, ran through him.
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