Title: Bare Threads (Saving Liam #4)
Author Name: DP Denman
Publication Date & Length: February 2, 2015 – 221 pgs
Liam is not a family man. He’s learned to avoid the entanglement and its mire of expectations; expectations he’s destined to crush. Unfortunately, his usually placid boyfriend is pushing him into the arms of his new family and he’s fighting every step. When a person he never expected to see again reappears, Liam finds a reason to make a few concessions for the sake of real love and the only man he is willing to call family.
1) Can you describe in detail what your writing environment is like?
My writing space is a spare bedroom with a corner desk constantly inching toward pigsty status. Half the room is my office. Half belongs to my furbabies and their warm, fuzzy beds. The theory is if I provide enough comfortable places for them to sleep, the cats won’t feel it necessary to nap on top of my hands while I’m trying to write. The one currently stretching out across the keyboard makes it obvious the theory has flaws.
2) Is there one of your characters that you relate to (from any of your works)? Why?
I can relate to all my characters on some level, but there isn’t one that really tells my story. I know what it is to be an outcast. I know that moment of clarity when you realize love is conditional on your behavior, attitude, level of conformity. Several of my characters come from that same situation so in that respect we understand each other quite well.
3) If you couldn’t be an author, what would you do instead?
If I could pick any career I would be an explosives expert and blow things up for Hollywood! I’d be the person with their finger on the button, turning a set that took weeks to build into a flaming pile of splinters.
4) Is there anything that you learned during the writing process that you wish you had known before hand?
I take craft courses on a regular basis so I’m always learning how to do things better. I would love to have done a few things differently on that first book because it would have made the story a better experience for the readers. I think that’s the nature of writing, though. Even NYT best sellers need to improve as authors and make each book a little better than the last. There’s no such thing as tenure in this business. You either continue to put in the effort you did in the beginning or you lose readers to someone who does.
Rumor has it, Dean Koontz reads each page of his manuscript 40 times before it goes to print, looking for ways to improve it. That’s why he is where he is. He earned that spot and continues to earn it with every story. I’m learning to adopt the same attitude. A good story can always be better and when people are dipping into their limited budgets to buy the book they deserve a better story.
5) Is there anything that you wish you could change about your book now that it is out?
I don’t think so…but then it’s early yet. Some of the reviews might change my mind. LOL. I like the way Liam and Justin’s story closed. I suppose I could have dragged it out for a few more books but I make it a point to write until I can clearly see the Happily Ever After and then leave it. It’s too easy for the series to get stale if you stick with the story too long. If all that’s left to write are minor spats about who hung the toilet paper the wrong way and someone forgetting an anniversary, it’s time to shift focus to something new.
Award winning author DP Denman writes character-driven contemporary romance about gay men. Her stories are real and intense, but resolve in endings that make people want to read the book all over again. She is from the Pacific Northwest and bases all of her stories in Vancouver, British Columbia.
In her spare time, she is a dedicated LGBTQIA rights activist, fighting for those who have been marginalized and abused. To that end, 25% of the royalties from every book go to support LGBT charities.
