Today we’re very happy to welcome L.A. Witt and Aleksandr Voinov  on Book Lovers Inc.  Their new series the Market Garden was written in collaboration. They are here today to give us a glimpse at how this series (and others) came to be. I can honestly say this is one of the hottest series I’ve ever read.  I couldn’t be more happy about this collaboration =)  Let’s give a warm welcome  to these wonderful authors and don’t forget to comment to be entered in the giveaway.

Aleksandr Voinov and L. A. Witt, and we’re thrilled to stop by and talk about If It Flies, the newest story in the Market Garden universe!

Comment on this post to enter in a drawing for a choice of two eBooks off my backlist (excluding If It Flies or Covet Thy Neighbor**) and a $10 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on March 17th, and winners will be announced on March 18th. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.

(Please note: Both authors are currently on vacation right now, and are traipsing all over the UK causing all manner of mischief and mayhem together while we recharge our writer batteries. As such, our responses to comments may be a little slow. We will both try to stop in as much as possible, but please be patient with us!)

Co-Writing: The Final Frontier

Okay, so maybe it’s not the final frontier, but in terms of uncharted territory, co-authoring was, well, pretty alien to me until a few months ago. There was a time when I swore I wouldn’t do it, aside from a multi-author series where we don’t actually write together. Then came a time when it looked intriguing, but I wasn’t sure how it would work.

And then there came a day where another author, one who I happened to respect and admire like few others, took me up on the suggestion that we write together. Now, when I say “took me up on the suggestion,” that sounds like we just had a conversation, one of us brought it up, the other said “Sure!”, and the rest is history. To a degree, that’s true. That’s how the initial conversation went.

Not long after that, though, we were instant messaging about a particular historical period and a nebulous idea of some characters, a situation, and all of that fun stuff. I’ve been there with other authors in the past. We’ve batted ideas around, we’ve talked about the logistics of writing together, etc., but then we’re usually distracted by something shiny and it falls by the wayside. No big deal; we’re writers, we have eleventy billion other ideas clawing at us, and especially for those of us who’ve never done it, co-writing is a little intimidating.

But that’s not how this conversation ended. We spent a day discussing the story idea, and came up with names for our characters, and hammered out an inciting incident, etc. And I’m thinking to myself, “This is historical, yo. It’ll be months before we can even write it because there’s so much research involved.”

Famous. Last. Words.

Because the next day, we started batting around the ideas again, and then the author in question – Aleksandr Voinov, of course – said, “Okay, I’m creating a document in Google Docs. LET’S DO THIS THING.”

I stared wide-eyed at my screen for a moment, thinking “Oh my God, are we really doing this?”

And then words were appearing in that blank Google document, and the story was going, and the characters were doing things, and—oh for God’s sake, Aleks. Really? Third person? But…but…I only write in first, and I… well, okay, don’t have much choice now, here we gooooooooo…what are we doing? What’s happening? Oh, hell, I don’t know either, let’s just run with it and—where in the world are you going with this scene? Oh. OOH. I did not see that coming. Hehe, well, good sir, just you wait and see what I have up MY sleeve…

Five days later, our first historical was finished. There’s much more to that story, which I’ll get into when the book is released this summer, but suffice it to say, it was an adventure. Shortly after that, Aleks had an idea for a contemporary story, which became If It Flies. And from If It Flies came Market Garden. And…here we are.

Our unholy alliance has, since its beginning in November 2012, resulted in two novels, two novellas, two short stories, a currently half-finished novel, and more ideas than I can count. Working with Aleks has been a crazy and fun experience. The fact that our temperaments are ridiculously compatible helps, too: we’re both stubborn when we want to be, but even-keeled enough to know that when we disagree, there’s no point in head-butting or ego-clashing. Can’t really ask for more than that, you know? I mean, besides someone who is so close to the same wavelength it’s utterly terrifying sometimes. You’ve heard of people finishing each other’s sentences? Happens to us so often I’m starting to wonder if he implanted some sort of chip in my brain (or perhaps my shoulder?) so he could make me do his literary bidding. I mean, I’m cool with that and all, just curious…

And hey, what do you know? I can actually write in third person now!

So this whole co-writing thing was intimidating and a little mind-boggling in the beginning, but has become a great experience, and one I only wish I’d tried sooner. I’ve also begun co-writing with Cat Grant, and we’re currently working on something uber-tasty involving dirty, snarly military men. More to come about that one.

As for the future, I’m looking forward to writing more with Aleks, with Cat, and… who knows who else might come along?

L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer currently living in the glamorous and ultra-futuristic metropolis of Omaha, Nebraska, with her husband, two cats, and a disembodied penguin brain that communicates with her telepathically. In addition to writing smut and disturbing the locals, L.A. is said to be working with the US government to perfect a genetic modification that will allow humans to survive indefinitely on Corn Pops and beef jerky. This is all a cover, though, as her primary leisure activity is hunting down her arch nemesis, erotica author Lauren Gallagher, who is also said to be lurking somewhere in Omaha.

L. A.’s backlist is available on her website, and updates (as well as random thoughts and the odd snarky comment) can be found on her blog or on Twitter (@GallagherWitt).

Aleksandr Voinov is an emigrant German author living near London, where he is one of the unsung heroes in the financial services sector. He published extensively in his native German, then switched to English and hasn’t looked back. His genres range from horror, science fiction, cyberpunk, and fantasy to contemporary, thriller, and historical erotic gay novels.

In his spare time, he goes weightlifting, explores historical sites, and meets other writers. He singlehandedly sustains three London bookstores with his ever-changing research projects. His current interests include special forces operations during World War II, pre-industrial warfare, European magical traditions, and how to destroy the world and plunge it into a nuclear winter without having the benefit of nuclear weapons.

Visit Aleksandr’s website  , his blog  , and follow him on Twitter, where he tweets as @aleksandrvoinov.

If It Flies Blurb:

If it flies, drives, or fornicates, it’s cheaper to rent it.
Spencer is in a rut. Long hours at the law firm are sucking the life out of him, and he doesn’t have time or energy for a relationship. He’s lonely, horny, and itching for something new, so he tries the Market Garden, an exclusive—and expensive—brothel. Spencer isn’t in the door five minutes before a cocky rentboy makes his move.

Nick isn’t just any rentboy, though. He’s a Dom, he’s a sadist, and he’s everything Spencer didn’t know he was missing. One night turns into more, and before long, Spencer is one of Nick’s regular clients.

Both men think they’re just scratching each other’s backs: Spencer’s exploring a submissive, masochistic side he never knew he had, and Nick is getting off and getting paid. But as time goes on, it’s clear their strictly professional arrangement . . . isn’t, and if Nick has one hard limit, it’s that he doesn’t get romantically entangled with his johns. The problem is, while Nick doesn’t want to be owned, Spencer’s no longer content with just renting.

If It Flies is available NOW from Riptide Publishing, and is part of this complete breakfast. Er, I mean, the Market Garden universe.

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Giveaway

Riptide Publishing is giving away a 10$  Riptide Gift Card and the chance to win 2 books from L.A Witt’s backlist** to one lucky commenter

All you have to do is leave a comment or a question for L.A. Witt or Aleksandr Voinov and you’ll be entered in this giveaway. Don’t forget to comment on the other posts in this blog tour! 

(You can read our full giveaway policy here)

Please be sure to include a valid email address in the comment form (need not be in the actual body of the comment)

Open to ALL (18+)

Giveaway ends on March 17th 2013. Riptide will be picking the winner.

Good luck!

About Caro The HEA Lover

Caroline is a HEA loving, yarn addicted French who's desperately hoping to get a HEA of her own. If she's not reading then she can be found knitting while listening to Audiobooks or watching Tv shows. Her secret addiction is reading websites that make fun at other people's expense (DYAC, Failbook)! Caroline also blogs at the Secret HEA Society with Susi.

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