Author Spotlight: Hank Edwards

I'm pleased to introduce Hank Edwards a long-time author of gay erotica who is launching his first erotic romance with HOLED UP from Loose Id. Everyone please welcome Hank.

Here's a blurb for HOLED UP, and don't miss the excerpt at the bottom of this post.

FBI Special Agent Aaron Pearce, tall, muscular, a lone wolf with an attitude, is assigned to protect Mark Beecher, a witness to the plans for a terrorist attack. The discovery of an unknown informant within the FBI’s ranks, however, forces the two men to hole up in a loft apartment with only one another for company. After long conversations and their shared attempt to unravel the puzzle of the terrorist group’s next target, Pearce and Mark find they cannot deny their mutual attraction. Pearce gives in to his passion, sleeping with the man he’s sworn to protect and going against his training as he risks heartbreak once again. When the informant reveals himself to Pearce and takes him hostage, Mark finds he cannot run and leave Pearce to die. Instead, their roles have been reversed and now he is the only person who can save Special Agent Pearce.

HOLED UP is available from Loose Id here:

http://www.loose-id.com/prod-Holed_Up-963.aspx

And now, the questions:

What do you like to read?

I have very eclectic tastes. I really enjoy Stephen King, his every day events that turn slowly to horror are great. I have also read John Sandford’s “Prey” series and I’m working through Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch books, so I like that detective, step by step crime solving fiction. But then I also love Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books, I have been known to literally LOL while reading them. On the erotica side, I love Simon Sheppard and R.J. March along with M Christian and Greg Herren.

Who has inspired you, and how?

My father has been a big inspiration to me the last two years. He had a stroke in 2007 that paralyzed his left arm and leg, but he continues to work with his physical therapist and occupational therapist and he gets tired and grumpy at times, but he still gets back to it and works on bettering himself. He’s had several medical setbacks the last two years, but he’s always willing to keep trying. It’s that kind of optimism and spirit I like to think I have within me as well.

What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

Ugh, there are so many! Too much TV, for one. Another is my music taste. I run the gamut from Pop to Jazz to an occasional symphony, but my first love is slick, well crafted, energetic pop music. But my all time favorite guilty pleasure is a freshly opened bag of Better Maid plain potato chips. Ah, the salty goodness just makes everything right.

If you could change one thing about the publishing industry, what would it be?

Wow, just one thing? I would have to say the response a struggling writer receives from an agent or publisher (if there’s any response at all). The form letter is just so cold, so impersonal. I understand they receive hundreds or thousands of submissions, but the form letter or, worse, the lack of a response, is just such an energy drainer. Some kind of feedback would be great.

What kind of impact do you hope your work will have on readers?

I include humor in all my writing so I would hope it would make them laugh as well as stimulate them. I think sex and humor need to be mixed up more often, if you’re not having fun with it then it’s just work.

Thank you Hank for your fascinating answers!

For an excerpt from HOLED UP, please click the link below. (Please note, the following excerpt is for mature readers only. By clicking the link below, you certify that you are 18 years of age or older)

Pearce stood up and looked down at Mark on the sofa. The cleaning lady trying to come in the apartment had scared him, more than he wanted Mark to know. If something happened to him, Pearce needed to be sure Mark could protect himself. “Have you ever fired a gun before?”

Mark shook his head, almost looking guilty. “No.”

Pearce moved across the room and picked up his gun. He ejected the clip and expelled the bullet from the chamber as he crossed back to the seating area. “Stand up.”

Mark got to his feet, nervous eyes on the gun.

“Here,” Pearce said, handing over the weapon. “Take it. It’s okay, it’s not loaded.”

Mark took the gun in his hand. “It’s heavy.”

Pearce nodded. “That’s because it’s deadly. Don’t ever forget that. Once you pull the trigger, you can’t take it back. Got it?” Mark nodded at him. “Good. I’m not saying don’t do it. I’m just saying that you have to mean it.”

“Okay.”

“Now, hold it in both hands.” Pearce watched him but wasn’t satisfied with the way Mark held the gun. He moved around and stood behind the man, grabbing hold of Mark’s wrists to steady him. The clean scent of the body wash floated up to him, and he dropped his head, breathing it in, though he told himself it was to site along the barrel. He could feel the heat of Mark’s body on his chest, and his cock stirred. He had to fight to keep from pressing himself against the round cushion of Mark’s ass, from thinking about how it would feel to slip his cock between those firm mounds and into the tight, hot center of the man.

Pearce cleared his throat, forcing those thoughts away as he spoke, his voice quiet, his lips right next to the pink curl of Mark’s ear. “Okay. You need to relax. It will have some kick when you fire, so don’t lock your elbows.”

He worked with Mark for almost an hour, showing him how to load a new clip, chamber a round, and turn the safety on and off. He showed him everything except how to actually fire the weapon, for the obvious reason that they were indoors.

“Okay, I think I’ve got it,” Mark said and slapped the clip home.

Pearce nodded at him, then stood up and walked toward the bathroom, pulling his sweatshirt off as he went. Halfway there, he stopped to fix Mark with a look. “Oh, and one more thing. I need you fully engaged in what we’re doing here. While I’m protecting you, Eric never happened, got it?”

Mark’s gaze jumped back and forth from Pearce’s face to his bare chest, and Pearce had a pretty good idea which of them Mark had been fantasizing about in the shower. Mark finally nodded and shifted position on the sofa to hide what looked like a sizable erection. Maybe being stuck in this loft together for a week wouldn’t be too bad after all.

“Good.” He headed for the bathroom, looking back once to make sure Mark was watching him walk away. “There’s no food in this place. Know of any take-out restaurants around here?”

Mark nodded. “There’s a decent Chinese restaurant down the block and a pizza place around the corner.”

Pearce shrugged. “Either one’s good for me. Think about what you want and we’ll discuss how to get it.”

Once he was in the bathroom, Pearce leaned on the counter and stared at his reflection in the mirror still steamed around the edges from Mark’s shower. Did he really want to get involved with this man he was supposed to protect? He had gone rogue from all bureau support and now he had come out to the man -- this gay man -- he was protecting. Pearce knew he was walking a dangerous line. It went against every oath and code of the bureau, but the attraction was there, no denying it.

“Don’t be a fucking idiot,” Pearce grumbled to his reflection, shucking the sweatpants to reveal his hardening cock. He turned away from the mirror and started the shower, stepping in and trying not to think about the fact that Mark had just been in this same space, nude, stroking his own erection and, more than likely, thinking of him.

With more restraint than usual when he was aroused, Pearce ignored his yearnings and lathered up. He avoided touching himself as he rinsed off, busying his hands with washing his hair instead and, after rinsing out the shampoo, stood for a moment beneath the hot spray, pointedly ignoring his insistent hard-on. He needed to stay sharp, focused, to keep Mark alive.

3 Comments

I remember seeing this in one of Loose Id's ads. I love thrillers and it sounds like a fun read. Great excerpt, too, different than the one LI used, I think.

Posted by: Bean | July 08, 2009 at 02:32 PM