Title: Tyler Knoll’s Just For Fun Series (Books 1-4)
Author: A.B. Gayle
Genre: Satire, humor, gay, gay romance, LGBT
Length: Novella
Publisher: Wayward Ink Publishing
Synopsis
Tyler Knoll was born one wild, stormy night in April 2013.Of course, Tyler might tell you he was born twenty years earlier, but should we believe anything he says? That’s for you to decide.
In Tyler’s first adventure—like many a gay man before him—he was SNARED by gay porn, wallowing in tales of bigger, stronger, harder….
Then his fickle mind was seduced and SHREDDED by the prospect of BDSM and slavery.
When a Big Misunderstanding SLASHED at Tyler’s sanity, almost costing him his life, he turned to another genre for his salvation. But even this encounter proved potentially hazardous—not from freezing temperatures, but at the hands of irate fans.
Finally, tired and SCREWED by his all his trials and tribulations, he discovers—like many storybook heroes before him—that sometimes Mr. Right is closer than we think.
INTERVIEW
What a wonderful way to start a new week here at Rainbow Lyrics and Mellow Mushrooms. AB Gayle stopped by this morning and check out the wonderful conversation that took place:
Hello
A B, welcome to Rainbow Lyrics and Mellow Mushrooms. It’s great to have the
chance to talk to you today and find out more about Tyler Knoll’s Just For Fun.
Thank you so much for being here.
Thanks, Layla, great to be here.
First
I have to ask what your inspiration for the story was and how you went about
getting started.
It all started when a group on Goodreads
was discussing what they liked and didn't like about the genre. Some felt
stories were getting too wishy washy, following the Harlequin model in m/f
romance, while others hated the raw grittiness that was more often found in gay
porn. Challenges were thrown around to write something that showed the worst of
these excesses.
This was just before
"Leather+Lace" was released, so I'd also been up to my ears in the
editing and publication process. Everything mashed together in my head like a
bad dream and Tyler Knoll (a pun on the brand Tylenol) and his writing
tribulations was conceived.
Are
you an outliner, or a seat of your pants writer?
Normally, I'm very much an outliner. This
book was the opposite. It grew (and was amended) in response to various
comments by reviewers and beta readers. For example when one reviewer of "Snared"
the first book commented: I laughed
outloud several times and probably would have given it a four if it weren't for
the end. I didn't like Gareth and the way the story ended left me feeling a
little disappointed.
So in the second book, "Shredded",
I immediately addressed her dislike, or should I say the character Dilbert does,
by ensuring he keeps Tyler and Gareth apart.
And when one reviewer gave it a one star
with the comment "Tiresome and annoying." I
gleefully incorporated her remark and built it into a tirade against the
"editor" for changing the writer's voice.
Ditto the third book, "Slashed,"
after another reviewer commented on "Shredded": "Aargh.. Even
more frustrating than #1... Such a tease Tyler... Make IT happen,
please..." Hence #3 has a very graphic sex scene but where and with whom
is not what you would have expected in a hundred million years.
Do
you have any particular rituals when you write? Music you have to have? A
particular food, or drink, or location you always write in?
Normally I do. "Leather+Lace" was
written to the accompaniment of Fleetwood Mac and "Red+Blue" to Ry
Cooder. When I wrote "Mardi Gras" Lou Reed played in the background.
Tyler Knoll prefers rap, but I don't, so we had a bit of an argument there.
What
is your favorite part of the story?
The afore-mentioned sex scene. Oh wait!
Maybe the bit where he first meets the Virtual Representative of The Universal
Reading Department (aka the VR from TURD ) for the first time! Talk about meta
personified.
Did
you find yourself with material left over after the story had been told and if
so, do you intend to write another installment?
Ideas more than material. Although just
about all the cliches got used ,since then, I've thought of a few other things:
mermen, cockblocking, knotting, mpreg. Maybe I should have written one where a
merman and a werewolf get together but the werewolf hates water unless he is
human form and then all four could have been used! Mind you I still have to get
my brain around mpreg. I mean WHY?!?!
Comedy isn't easy to write. A book on the
same level of humor all the way through can be wearing. The funnier it is, the
smaller doses at a time that you need. The nature of the humor definitely
changed throughout. This was deliberate as I felt if Tyler didn't change from
these experiences then it wasn't a "real" story. But even that change
was brought in as a plot point.
Was
there a particular part of the book that was difficult to write, and if so,
why?
Weirdly, I found "Screwed" was
the most difficult even though that was almost traditional romance. It was
tricky getting the balance right. Tyler had to be to be funny, but the MM
tropes had to be brought in as well. The misunderstanding, the lack of
communication (and how it gets solved eventually), and the big break up. I mean
the situation, when you analyse it, is all so ridiculous, but it's meant to be.
Here, he is the unreliable narrator who doesn't get what Dilbert is up to. Or
even who Dilbert is.
If
you could have dinner with one character in your story, who would it be and
where would you go to eat? Might I ask as well, what each of you would
order?
I would love to go out with the VR from TURD.
Preferably to experience Heston Blumenthal's Sound of the Sea at "The Fat
Duck" I could just imagine the sarcastic asides that would eventuate. Seeing
it's an "aural" dish (well it must be if it's just the sound of
something), he could whisk me there in the dimension he inhabits.
What
inspired you to become a writer? Was it something that you always dreamed of
doing?
I've only been writing for a few years. It
was never something I envisaged myself doing, and I'm not sure I consider
myself a "writer" per se. It doesn't come easy for me, and I am very
envious of those for whom words just flow. They've been doing it for a lot
longer than I have, so it's not just a question of talent. Although there
is no denying some writers have "It." Reading books by those that
possess this rare quality makes me wonder why I bother sometimes. I feel a hack
by comparison.
Thank
you for joining me here today. It’s been a pleasure having you.
Thank you for having me!
And now for an excerpt from Tyler Knoll's Just For Fun:
Excerpt
"I
don’t mind a bit of domestic discipline from a stern Daddy, and I absolutely
adore being tied up and fucked! This room would be perfect because the exposed
plumbing snakes over the ceiling, providing lots of anchoring points for chains
and ropes. Not that there are any here at the moment, but there could be. And
to add to the already creepy atmosphere, the bare concrete walls are covered in
graffiti, but I’m too chicken to take a closer look, in case they’re cries for
help, scrawled in human blood.”
Hang
on. Blood? Whose blood would it be?
“My
predecessors. Mrs. Stringer warned me when I first started in the job. Just
give Eric the bag of documents to shred then leave. Don’t hang around like the
idiots who didn’t return for hours and others who never came back at all.
She’d been dead serious too, I could tell.”
Didn’t
come back at all? How come?
“I
don’t know, that’s the trouble. Every time I probe for details, people just
shake their heads and eye me strangely. I eventually asked Mrs. Stringer,
fearing I’d strayed into a non-con, dub-con or even slave recruitment agency,
but she just peered at me over the top of her glasses and shook her head,
saying, They never tell me but, on average, they quit after a couple of
weeks. And they’re the ones who come back to collect their belongings. Most
simply tender their resignation over the phone and are never seen again.”
Sounds
fishy.
“That’s
what I thought! But then I figured all those slave-fic stories doing the rounds
must have come from somewhere. They can’t all be based on the writers’
imaginations, can they? So I took Mrs. Stringer’s advice and, so far, I’ve
managed to resist capture by dropping the bag and running. But today, as soon
as I arrived, because he wasn’t around, I tried to open the lockers, thinking
he might have hidden the bodies inside or left collars or other incriminating
evidence, but none of my keys worked.”
If
the man is that dangerous, why are you lingering? Don’t tell me you’re TSTL!
“TSTL?
The Sky is the Limit? Or do you mean Thus Spake the Lord! I told you I’m not
religious! And if you’re not careful, I’ll use up my quota of exclamation marks
before I get to the end of the second chapter.”
Too
Stupid to Live!
Oh.
“No. At least I don’t think so.” My mother maintains that I am, but we won’t go
there."
I give Tyler Knoll's Just for Fun, a Four Dancing Hamster Award.
I found this to be a rather intriguing read. A quirky
author’s journey from penning his first book to finding his legs in the
publishing world. The fact that each book, in structure and style changed and
progressed, showed the way an author progresses from their first dabbles into
storytelling to the point where they really find their flow and voice.
Tyler Knoll was snarky, awkward, sarcastic and that was all
without the inner monologue and addressing the readers and editors. There were
moments when he was endearing and there were other moments when you had to
wonder if all he was motivated by was getting laid or if he was always looking
for the one thing that he was constantly denying he wanted.
There were moments when I truly felt bad for him, that he found himself in positions of being unable to speak up for himself , or had expectations that were far higher than what the end result turned out to be. He grew through his disappointments though, and I think he came to realize that one day he was going to find himself in a situation that he couldn’t write his way out of.
The truly interesting part, for me, is that humor doesn’t usually speak to me, and I can’t recall a time when I’ve read a romance book that was as filled with humor as this one, but the funny bits here actually didn’t bother me. The inner monologue reminded me of the things many of us think throughout the day but would never dare to share out loud.
It was the final book that brought the whole story together for me. It’s really what made it a romance story in the end. Up until that point, Tyler’s life seemed to be all about the hookup, which was fitting for his age. This is one of those books that you have to enter into with an open mind and be ready for anything and everything to happen. It’s just what it says, Just for Fun, so be prepared to laugh right alongside Tyler and his misadventures.
Buy links
Everyone who bought SNARED gets a 20% discount at buying the Just for Fun composite from the WIP website! Check the website for details.WIP: http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com/?p=1278
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Tyler-Knolls-Just-Fun-Books-ebook/dp/B00ZW6552U/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tyler-Knolls-Just-Fun-Books-ebook/dp/B00ZW6552U/
Amazon AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/Tyler-Knolls-Just-Fun-Books-ebook/dp/B00ZW6552U/
Amazon DE: http://www.amazon.de/Tyler-Knolls-Just-Fun-Books-ebook/dp/B00ZW6552U/
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-tylerknoll039sjustforfuncompositebooks14-1839904-149.html
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tyler-knolls-just-for-fun-ab-gayle/1122175760?ean=9781925222548
Book trailer
Giveaway
Prize: $20 WIP Gift Card and 1 ebook copy of Tyler Knoll’s Just for Funa Rafflecopter giveaway
About the author
Unlike many authors, A.B. Gayle hasn’t been writing stories all her life. Instead she’s been living life.Her travels have taken her from the fjords of Norway to the southern tip of New Zealand. In between, she’s worked in so many different towns she’s lost count. A.B. has shoveled shit in cow yards, mustered sheep, been polite to customers, traded insults with politicians. Sometimes she needs to be forgiven as she get confused as to who needs what where.
Now living in Sydney, Australia, A.B. finally has time to allow her real life experiences to morph with her fertile imagination in order to create fiction that she hopes her readers will enjoy.
A.B. values feedback on her writing, both negative and positive.
A.B. Gayle can be found at:
Website: https://abgayle.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abgayle.writer
Twitter: https://twitter.com/abgaylewriter
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/abgaylewriter/
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