Sooooooo.... I have the awesome, the incredibly talented and may I say beautiful B.A. TORTUGA on my blog today. Okay, so before I let B.A talk... and she'll be far more fascinating than I... can I just say I'm having a fangirl moment here. Seriously. I love this lady's work. And she doesn't know this but...when I first met her at AAD long ago (hell, not that long, lol) I wanted to tell her how much I loved a few of her books that I'd read, but...I couldn't. I was too nervous! True freaking story.
I don't think she knows that... and when I see her this year she'll get the ever loving f*** hugged out of her. Julia, too. Because BA is one of the nicest, most down to earth people I've met. And I'm ubber jealous of her and Julia. I hope I have find a man half as awesome as J.
Okay, enough of me gushing ... sorry, I warned you I was a fangirl. Now on to the real post…
You know you’re in trouble…
…when you have to tell your editor, “I didn’t have to research prison, honey. You know how many felons I’m related to?”
True.
From car theft to drugs to larceny, I have it covered.
Before I go any further, I want to say thank you to Kris for hosting me. I know y’all know this, but this woman is joy made flesh and I love her dearly. She always knows when to make me smile.
So, I wrote a book about an ex-con and, because I have a huge family with obvious moral flexibility issues, I knew what that meant.
I knew that being out of prison doesn’t mean prison is over. I knew that felony charges can keep you from voting, from traveling, from living in a house with a rifle without special dispensation.
For instance, my ex-con, Sage? He has to get permission to go into Dallas, sixty three miles away. He had to get permission to come home to help his sick daddy. He has to submit to drug tests from police officers, on demand.
You want me to make it worse? The man he went to prison for killing was the sheriff’s nephew…
I think my editor (who was a genuine dear and who I tease because she knows I adore her) was a little taken aback by the mass of details, about how Sage never got to forget that he was who he was.
I think there are a lot of people who would say that was how it’s supposed to work, too.
I spent a lot of time worrying about Sage and Win (and yes, I know how weird that sounds, but it’s true. I totally worry), about how they were going to make it, how Sage could survive coming back to Texas.
I think you can see why:
“Bubba, you and Win didn’t come in for lunch. Momma set out plates when she saw his truck.”
“He wasn’t here for lunch.” No. Adam had come to see if he’d been ass-fucked in the joint and whether he liked it.
“Oh. I…. Everything okay?”
“Nope.” Everything was not okay.
“Oh.” Rosie picked her way over, past all the leather and metal, and dusted off a bench. “You want to tell me?”
“I was in jail. His family hates me. Mainly though, I was in jail for a long time. He’s a hero and a cop, and I’m an ex-con.”
She sat there for long moments, looking at her hands, which she twisted in her lap. “I think you’re the best man I’ve ever known. If he doesn’t, he’s not the one for you, Bubba.”
He nodded. “Whatever happens, happens, honey.”
Sage loved Adam and he knew it, but he was an ex-con. He’d let a man fuck him so people didn’t beat him up. He wasn’t a good man; he was just a man. If Adam couldn’t handle that, well, who could blame him?
The Terms of Release is releasing March 24, 2014 from Dreamspinner Press and I’m proud enough to bust.
Official Blurb:
They say a man can always come home. So after doing hard time, Sage Redding heads to his family’s northeast Texas ranch to help his ailing daddy with the cutting horses.
Adam (Win) Winchester is a county deputy and the cousin of one of the men killed in the incident that sent Sage to prison for almost a decade. While Win's uncles, Jim and Teddy, are determined to make Sage and the entire Redding family pay for their loss, Win just figures Sage has paid his dues and maybe needs a friend. Maybe he needs more than a friend. In fact, Win’s counting on it.
No one’s denying Sage is an ex-con who went to prison for manslaughter. Regardless of the love he has for his father, he’s returned knowing things will likely go badly for him. Maybe a man can always come home, but he may not be able to stay.
Adam (Win) Winchester is a county deputy and the cousin of one of the men killed in the incident that sent Sage to prison for almost a decade. While Win's uncles, Jim and Teddy, are determined to make Sage and the entire Redding family pay for their loss, Win just figures Sage has paid his dues and maybe needs a friend. Maybe he needs more than a friend. In fact, Win’s counting on it.
No one’s denying Sage is an ex-con who went to prison for manslaughter. Regardless of the love he has for his father, he’s returned knowing things will likely go badly for him. Maybe a man can always come home, but he may not be able to stay.
Paperback buy link (first 20 copies come signed): http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4820
Ebook buy link:
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4776
Where to find BA:
http://www.batortuga.com -- website
batortuga.blogspot.com – blog
@batortuga on twitter
https://www.facebook.com/batortuga
Love this book so much. I got to beta, natch
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