Featured Author & Giveaway: Eli Easton

Eli Easton Eli Easton has been at various times and under different names a minister’s daughter, a computer programmer, a game designer, the author of paranormal mysteries, a fanfiction writer, an organic farmer, and a dog rescuer. She is now happily embarking on yet another incarnation, this time as an m/m romance and YA author.

As an avid reader, she is blown away when an author manages to combine literary merit, laugh out loud humor, melting hotness, and eye-dabbing sweetness into one story. She promises to strive to achieve most of that most of the time. She currently lives on a farm in Pennsylvania with her husband, three bulldogs, three cows, and six chickens.

Connect with Eli Easton on Twitter @EliEaston or visit her website: www.elieaston.com or Tumblr: http://elieaston.tumblr.com.

Q&A with Author Eli Easton:

1. Tell us about your cover design for Superhero. Is there any symbolism from the story reflected in the cover?
   
   Yes, actually! The cover shows Jordan drawing Owen as a superhero. In the story Jordan wants to be a comic book artist and he and Owen start a comic that they publish on Tumblr. It’s called “Pin Man and Pencil Boy” and it’s basically them as superheroes (done tongue-in-cheek). Pin Man vanquishes villains by pinning them, like a wrestler would (because Owen is a wrestler). And Pencil Boy (which is Jordan) uses his magic pencil to draw or erase things to help them win their battles against the baddies. Owen also acts as a hero in Jordan’s life, supporting him after Jordan comes out at school.


2. What did you like to read when you were a teenager?
   
   As a pre-teen I loved books like “The Witch of Blackbird Pond” and “The Bluest Eye”. But when I was 12 I visited my sister and her husband gave me “Carrie” by Stephen King. After that I was hooked on horror. All through high school I read Stephen King, Anne Rice, Dean Koonz, John Saul and authors like that. I still like horror movies, but these days I don’t read very much straight horror. I like romance and YA.


3. How do you research for your books?
   
   Man, what did we do before Google? I am a Google fiend. I like to have images of a lot of the things in the story—not just the main characters but side characters, the pool in the backyard, a gymnasium, the truck Owen drives, etc. It helps me feel immersed in the story, so I Google around and find images that I like for those things. For this story, I also did a lot of Googling about wrestling—looking at wrestler stats, team names, wrestling uniforms. I found a good website with wrestling moves and lingo. I also watched some bouts on youtube. We’re so lucky to have all of that wealth of info available to us at a click of a button (and some judicious search terms).


4. Is there one genre of YA that you would love to write but haven’t?
   
   I have a concept for a dystopian trilogy that I’m hoping to start soon. I also like paranormal quite a lot. I’ve written adult paranormal stories but would like to do some in YA.


5. Do you need music or noise when writing or does it have to be completely quiet?
   
   I cannot write at all with music or the TV in the background. I really need to get into the language and dialogue in my head and that kind of sound makes it difficult. I live on a farm and natural sounds are fine, but nothing with words or even really compelling music because my brain will follow that instead of what I’m writing.


6. What would you like young readers to take away from your novels?
   
   The main idea in Superhero is to live with integrity and to not let other people’s expectations or opinions hold you back from being what you most want to be.

Now Available from Eli Easton:

Superhero It’s not easy for a young gay artist like Jordan Carson to grow up in Jefferson, Wisconsin, where all anyone seems to care about in middle school and high school are the sports teams. But Jordan was lucky. He met Owen Nelson in the second grade, and they’ve been BFFs ever since. Owen is a big, beautiful blond and their school’s champion wrestler. No one messes with Owen, or with anyone close to him, and he bucks popular opinion by keeping Jordan as his wingman even after Jordan comes out at school.

Their friendship survives, but Jordan’s worst enemy may be himself: he can’t seem to help the fact that he is head-over-heels in love with a hopeless case—his straight friend, Owen. Owen won’t let anything take Jordan’s friendship away, but he never counted on Jordan running off to find a life of his own. Owen will have to face the nature of their relationship if he’s to win Jordan back.

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Superhero Giveaway!

Eli Easton has generously donated a free copy of Superhero for one lucky winner. To enter the drawing, please leave a comment below along with your email address. A winner will be chosen on August 5th.