Author Interviews

Interview with J.P. Barnaby on 03-February-2014

Author's Interview

Let's start with you telling us a little bit about yourself, JP.
Let’s see… I’m a Pisces, I like long walks on the beach, my turn-ons are sensitive, intelligent men and my turn-offs are mean people who kick puppies. Okay, really – I don’t remember the last time I went to the beach. I get turned on by hot gay porn, and I’m not a fan of the self-righteous. Hello, I’m J. P. Barnaby (yes, that’s my real name), and I write the Little Boy Lost series, and the Survivor series for Dreamspinner Press, the Working Boys series, and the Monsters series for Wilde City Press, and a few other tidbits here and there. Ten weird, random facts about me:
1.    I’m physically and psychologically addicted to Cheetos and Diet Pepsi.
2.    I’m a software developer for a firm in Chicago.
3.    I studied Physics at Purdue University.
4.    I carry a Star Trek: The Next Generation lunchbox.
5.    I like all different variations of rock: alternative, classic, metal – the louder, the better.
6.    I started out my career in writing my making Edward and Jasper Cullen do all sorts of naughty things to each other.
7.    I write myself into my novels frequently. For example, Master Ethan has every bit of my eccentricities stemming from childhood trauma. Brian McAllister embodies my social awkwardness. Jayden Carter mirrors my love of submission. Jamie Mayfield channels and helps me deal with self-hatred.
8.    I find gay porn stars not only fascinating, but also sweet and fun to be with.
9.    Children give me hives.
10.    I’m having an affair with my iPhone and may even sleep with it.

What would people be most surprised to learn about you?
In my youth, I taught vacation bible school.

When did you start writing, is it something you've always been interested in, or did it develop later in life?
It developed incredibly late in life. I didn’t start writing until my late thirties. Before that, I’d never even thought about it. I liked writing papers in college because I liked pushing the envelope and challenging myself with every assignment. In one class, I remember, I had to write about a painting. So, I wrote about Van Gogh’s lucidity based on the correct alignment of the stars in A Starry Night. I also wrote an English Composition paper on the Quantum Mechanics super string theory. My English professors hated me.

Has it been everything you thought it would be or not?
It has been far more than I ever thought it could be. Over the course of the last four years, I have met some of the best, most interesting people, been to events I’d never conceived of, and had more fun than any one person should be allowed to have.

How did it feel when you realized that your very first book was going to be published?
My very first publisher acceptance letter came from Evernight Publishing for the short story His Heart’s Desire. I was absolutely psyched. It was one of only three M/M titles accepted for that anthology. But the one that blew me away, absolutely, was the six book contract from Dreamspinner Press for the Little Boy Lost series. Without Elizabeth North from Dreamspinner Press, there would be no JP Barnaby.

What's your favorite part of writing a book?
My very favorite part of writing a book is meeting the characters and watching them interact in my head. When I get a brand new idea for a story, and the main character introduces himself/herself and starts to tell me a sordid tale, it’s exciting. It’s kind of like watching a great movie for the first time, only the movie is in my head. Oh, and I can change the movie to see whatever I want.

Do you get time to read for pleasure? If so, which books do you enjoy?
I do read, not only for my own pleasure, but to review as my character Aaron Downing on his blog A F*cked Up Kind of Life (http://aaron.jpbarnaby.com). The books I personally enjoy are M/M BDSM. Aaron enjoys hurt/comfort, especially with characters he identifies with (which he feels are broken in some way).

Are there any other genres you'd be interested in writing?
I’m interested in all kinds of different stories, not all of them romance. Sci-Fi, fantasy, mystery, and other genres appeal to me. It’s all a matter of what kind of stories my characters whisper to me in the dark.

I recently took up a challenge and wrote a few books with comedy, which I did not think I’d be able to pull off. Charlie, Rentboy from Wilde City is a fun, quirky tale, and a new one coming in the Butt Ninjas anthology will make you laugh with every page.

Please tell us a little about your most recent releases.
In the Absence of Monsters (released 1/22/14 from Wilde City Press) is the culmination of years of introspection and self-questioning. It’s about a Dom recovering from the trauma of being held by a sexual predator for eight years.
http://www.wildecity.com/books/gay-mainstream/in-the-absence-of-monsters/

The Perfect Tree (released 12/18/2013) is a quick freebie teaser for the release of In the Absence of Monsters, showing Master Ethan and Jayden playing on Christmas Eve.
http://www.wildecity.com/books/gay-erotica/the-perfect-tree/

Got $250? Looking for a good time? Meet Charlie, a hot little rentboy working through his engineering degree on his back. Charlie, Rentboy is available from Wilde City Press.
http://www.wildecity.com/books/gay-erotica/charlie-rentboy-working-boys-book-one/

What can we look forward to in the future from you?
Andy, Go-Go Boy is the second book in the Working Boys series, and will be released in late March 2014.
Andy Finnegan is a six foot three brown-haired, blue-eyed, Mack fucking truck. An ex-marine who spends his nights dancing for your entertainment, he has a dark side hiding beneath the beautiful veneer.

Spencer, the sequel to Aaron will be released in the first quarter of 2014 from Dreamspinner Press.
It’s been nearly five years since Aaron woke up in the hospital so broken, he couldn’t stand the sight of his own face. The flashbacks no longer dominate his life, but he’s still unable to find intimacy with his lover, Spencer Thomas. With time, patience, and the support of his family, his therapist, and his loving partner, Aaron has figured out how to live again. The problem is, Spencer hasn’t. His life has been on hold as he waits for the day he and Aaron can have a normal relationship. Hoping to move things forward for them both, he takes a job as a programmer in downtown Chicago, leaving Aaron alone.

Reeling in the wake of Spencer’s absence, Aaron receives another shock when his attackers are caught.

Now, he must testify and verbalize his worst nightmare. Publicly reliving his trauma without Spencer at his side destroys his precarious control. But he finds someone who can understand and empathize in Jordan, who watched his brother cut down in a school shooting. With Spencer gone and the DA knocking at his door, Aaron seeks solace in Jordan, and Spencer will have to risk everything to hold on to Aaron’s love.

Anything you want to say to your readers?
It has been a wild ride, and I have so many people I can thank for that, but none more than the readers who stick by me and read the stories told to me by the voices in my head. Your support, your love means everything to me. So, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.



J.P. Barnaby's recent releasess:
In the Absence of Monsters
http://www.wildecity.com/books/gay-mainstream/in-the-absence-of-monsters/
Jayden Carter knew the path he wanted his life to take. He wanted to get his Master’s Degree in History and teach. But when he answered an ad for a roommate and met mysterious doctor, Ethan Bryant, he’s brought into a world he never knew existed and his path changes.

It changes again for Jayden and he leaves Ethan with their friend, Lexi, in tow. Ethan loses himself in a haze of self-destruction and pain. With the help of a childhood friend, Gabriel, Ethan battles the demons of his childhood and finds a way to survive. Gabriel and Jayden wage an epic war for Ethan, but in the end, they may all end up losing.

Originally published as The Forbidden Room and A House of Cards: Deconstructing Ethan

Charlie, Rentboy
http://www.wildecity.com/books/gay-erotica/charlie-rentboy-working-boys-book-one/
Got two hundred and fifty dollars for an hour of fun? Then say hello to Charlie, a hot little rentboy working his way through an engineering degree on his back.  He’s got shaggy blond hair that’s great to hang on to while you fuck him from behind, and sweet innocent blue eyes that look very enticing when he gazes up at you with your cock in his mouth. That is, until he’s hired by innocent rich boy John Middleton, head of Middleton Communication. John is so far in the closet he could find Narnia. But when John and Charlie get together for an explosive weekend of sex, everything goes to hell.



Excerpt from In the Absence of Monsters:

Chapter One


The Ad: 26 year old SWM seeking disciplined roommate to split 5 BR house. Utilities included. Male pref. Call for appt.

If I had to spend one more fucking night on my sister’s couch, postal would be an understatement. Even though it was my last year in college, the housing admin people delighted in torturing me by sticking me with a nightmare of a roommate. Ian brought girls back to the room, scary ones, at all hours and wasn’t shy about what he did with them. Now, I’m no prude, but I didn’t need to watch him pound some chick while I tried to write a ten-page paper on Valley Forge; both left me rather cold. In the middle of the semester, non-existent housing forced me to my sister’s place. Don’t get me wrong, I love my sister. We’d been best friends our whole lives, but hearing her and Josh go at it at all hours of the night hasn’t been fun either, especially since I’m between girlfriends myself. Mr. Hand has been my only source of companionship.

Girls seemed to like my puppy dog eyes, and lean build. The slight Puerto Rican accent didn’t hurt either, so I generally didn’t have a problem finding female companionship. I just had a problem getting them to stick around. The analytical part of my brain, the one farthest from my cock, tried to convince me that I needed to focus on school, keep my head in the game, so I could get into a good grad school. The reasoning felt kind of hollow as I stared up at Kimberly’s ceiling, alone with my chubby every night.

So, when I came across the ad on a campus announcement board, I was thrilled. Would I like to share a five-bedroom house? Hell yes, I would. I snatched up my cell phone and dialed the number on the flyer.

That one phone call changed the entire course of my life.

“Bryant.” A terse voice answered on the second ring.

“Um, hi…I saw your flyer posted on campus and was wondering if you’re still looking for a roommate?” I wanted him to like me so I could stop being intimate with the support bar on Kim’s beat-to-hell sleeper sofa. Good first impressions are everything.

“I am. What is your name?” He sounded less like I had interrupted him with a bill collection call and more like I’d been upgraded to a charity asking for money, or maybe a cousin inviting him to a wedding. Someone you had to talk to, but didn’t necessarily want wasting your time.

“Jayden Carter.” I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry, and tapped my fingers on the psychology book in my lap.

“How old are you?”

“I’m twenty-two.”

“Do you drink, smoke or do any kind of illicit drugs?”

“Occasionally at social functions, no and no,” I replied, switching the phone to my left ear. The questioning went on for a few minutes about my employment status and my post-college plans, which I assumed he wanted to know in order to determine how long I’d be there. It was almost like a job interview. I guess if someone is going to live in your home with you, you’d want to know as much as you could about them. In fact, I’d probably want to know more about the guy in the next bedroom than the guy in the next cubicle. We made arrangements for me to check out the house and he emailed a rental application. I couldn’t imagine that I wouldn’t like it, but I wasn’t too sure about Ethan Bryant.

It didn’t matter though, when I saw the three-story house, words failed me.

The spice-colored brick house, set off by immaculate landscaping, gave the impression of a wealthy family, not a single guy looking for a roommate. Full, dense oaks framed the front porch of the home set with a darker dusky trim. It faintly reminded me of a Norman Rockwell painting, warm and inviting. I fell in love with the place and wanted it to be my home. I’d even stay for grad school just to live in it longer.

The long covered porch had intricate railing and huge wicker chairs. I could see myself sitting in one with my laptop, writing my next great paper. My nervousness grew exponentially as I raised a hand to ring the bell, and prayed I didn’t screw things up. The door opened onto a well-lit foyer where Ethan Bryant stood, framed like a Rembrandt in the doorway.

As he opened the screen door, he ran a hand over his short black hair, almost reluctant to let me in. Nothing in his deep set, unreadable brown eyes welcomed me, but I followed him in anyway. Clearly defined muscles were barely contained under his fitted t-shirt and I was willing to bet he had a lot of company of the female persuasion. Girls seemed to like that brooding, “artsy with a goatee” type and that’s exactly what I saw in him.

“This is the living room. Cable is included in the rent, so is internet,” he said as we passed through the foyer and into a comfortable, masculine room. Large chocolate leather sofas sat against two walls and framed an entertainment center with a state-of-the-art flat panel television with other electronics showcased within the cherry and glass. Small accent lamps, too delicate to have been picked out by a man, sat on unobtrusive side tables.

Moving through the next doorway, he showed me an impressive open-concept kitchen with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. I didn’t know much about interior design, but it seemed he’d spared no expense with the house. If he had that kind of money, I wondered why he needed a roommate. The Audi in the driveway, the size of the house, the expensive sweater he wore, all of it showed he wasn’t hurting for money.

My palms started to sweat when he took me to the second floor and showed me the huge bedroom that would be mine, if I played my cards right. I fell in love with the floor-to-ceiling windows. The office, joined to the bedroom by a spacious bathroom, held a desk and several bookcases. All it needed to complete the happy picture was me.

Ethan seemed to be more comfortable talking in person and I found myself starting to like him. As it turned out, he was not a brooding artist, but rather, a shy unassuming doctor. After agreeing on terms, he said he would allow me to move in right away at a prorated rate for the month, which I appreciated. I didn’t want to spend another two weeks with Kimberly and Josh when I could be living in his gorgeous house.

Contact Details

Website http://www.JPBarnaby.com
Blog http://www.jpbarnaby.com/#blog
Twitter http://www.twitter.com/JPBarnaby
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/JPBarnaby
Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3240453.J_P_Barnaby