Drumroll....and the Winner Is...

Thank you to all who voted in the What Should Alexi Write Next Poll. As you can see, the winner is...May to December!

The tentative title for this book is actually A New Forever. A little more detail about it: This story is about a conservative, older gay man (I'm thinking late forties) who was with the same partner for twenty-odd years before his partner was killed in an accident. He thought that they were going to be together forever, and his entire personality and sense of self was rooted in being part of this couple. For a man who has always thought of himself as strong and independent, realising that he doesn't feel whole alone is nearly as much of a shock as losing his beloved husband.

After a period of mourning so intense that at times he's doubted his sanity, he starts to get a grip on life again - and his friends and family begin to encourage him to get out and about, get back into the dating game, have a few reckless flings. They drag him to clubs and bars, where he meets a much, much younger man (I'm thinking just into his twenties) who is the classic twink: skinny, slightly effeminate, cute and promiscuous. This young man pursues the older man doggedly and eventually they begin an affair. At first the older man's friends are all for this, encouraging him to get his rocks off and move on. But the older character and the younger one find that they have a lot more in common than meets the eye, and their affair soon becomes about a lot more than sex. Now the older man's friends and family are horrified because they don't see any future for such an odd couple, and they dismiss the younger man as a shallow slut. fine for fucking, not for a relationship. The couple have to battle through their own and everyone else's preconceptions to try and make (that's right, you saw it coming ) a new forever.

I wanted to write this story because I come across a lot of stories where a person has been bereaved and is mourning, but as the book goes on you begin to see that the deceased partner was really not right for the character at all. They were inconsiderate, unfaithful, just incompatible. So when they meet their new partner, everything is pretty much smooth sailing apart from the baggage caused by that previous, unhappy relationship. Examples of books where this is done well are 'Catching a Second Wind' by Sean Michael and 'Blue Fire' by Z A Maxfield. There's nothing wrong with this device, but I wanted to have a look at a person who is mourning a partner who was really right for them, who made them happy and would have done for the rest of their lives. How do you rebuild your life after losing half of it?

I also wanted to have another look at a relationship with a big age gap and how this affects not only the couple but their network of friends and family. Finally, in this book I'd like to challenge some ideas about what a twink is, and examine how the balance of power in a relationship can shift. But don't worry! There's a definite role for humour in the book as well.

I will be working on this story as soon as I can clear some space from working on my fantasy novel. Comments, questions...? Feel free.

Hurray for And Is Never Shaken!

Well, And is Never Shaken has been available for one day, and it is already showing up on the little 'Bestsellers' carousel on the left of the Dreamspinner Press website. Obviously 'Bestseller' here just means that it's sold a few copies quite quickly, but it's the first time I've ever seen bestseller linked to any of my work in any way, so I'm happy.

In other news, I'm giving away a few copies of this novella on Reviews by Jessewave. You need to post a romantic playlist in the comment trail to get your name in the hat. There have been some awesome entries, which are likely to swell my musical collection before long. There's only a few hours left in this giveaway, so if you haven't been there yet, please visit.

Finally, thanks to everyone for their votes in the What Should I Write next poll. Again, there are only a few hours left to vote, so if anyone else has an opinion, please let me know!

And Is Never Shaken Playlist

With And Is Never Shaken coming out from Dreamspinner on Wednesday, I thought I'd post my playlist for it. The novella was heavily influenced by music - I had a dream about being reincarnated, during which I heard the classical piece Gnossienne no. 1. and that was the original inspiration for writing Cassian and Andy's story. Not only that, but music is very important to the characters and in the development of the plot.

This playlist is made up of both the songs I was listening to while writing it and the music that features in the story.

1) Cry by Rihanna
2) My Hands by Leona Lewis
3) Meditation from 'Thais' Performed by Joshua Bell
4) Midnight on the Water Performed by Waterson: Carthy
5) The Lark Ascending by Vaughn Williams
6) Gnossienne No. 1 Performed by Johannes Cernota
7) Let's Get It On by Marvin Gaye
8) The Heart Asks Pleasure First/The Promise by Michael Nyman
9) Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini Performed by Daniel Petrov and the Russian State Orchestra
10) Awake by Secondhand Serenade
11) This Moment by Melissa Etheridge
12) Run by Snow Patrol
13) Lost by Anouk

I put this list of songs on repeat and shuffle and listened to them constantly, even while out of the house on my iPod. Listening to them might give readers a special insight into the story - or not. I guess it'll depend on how people feel about random mish-mashes of classical, pop, Indie, Motown and R&B!