M.A. Church: Welcome S.L. Danielson and Nephylim

Hey guys! Ya'll ready for a little rock and roll, lol? Today I have S.L. Danielson and Nephylim visiting with me. They're here to talk about their new release, Upstaged: Opening Act.

Good morning! We thought we’d give some insight as to how this first volume of our new series came about… what we call the US/UK collaboration.

1. Where'd the idea for Upstaged come from?

Steph: The idea, for me, came from a photo sent to me from Mika. She said doesn't he deserve a story? That put the juices of inspiration to work. I'd always wanted to do one about a band too, and love young adult, so why not?

Nephy: I can't really remember where the idea came from. It just happened. Didn't we start off talking about the characters? You made up Erik and I made up Asher. Then we found the wonders of One Note and brainstormed the sketch of the first book.

Steph: Yeah, I think so; we named Erik and Asher right off...

Nephy: I think right at the beginning we were talking about the rabid fan and the stalking thing

Steph: Ha, yeah, which was a great thought; but not in practice. We planned on Vince being the stalker; but as soon as I wrote him, he changed. He didn't feel like that to me.

Nephy: It was after that 1st party scene, where he had dialogue. Asher was feeling really down and he comforted him. I think it was when he and Asher had that moment. That’s when we first started talking about him changing.

Steph: Yes Then when he took Asher back to his place and he was so sweet and shy. You said he was being so lovely, it'd be a shame to make him a stalker - so we didn't..

2. What was it like with one author in the US and one in the UK? Any continental clashes?

Nephy: There were a few idioms and local saying that threw us sometimes.

Steph: Same here, some phrases I had to ask what they meant and a lot of 'u' usage.

Nephy: And 'z's. I don't think we clashed at all.

Steph: No clashes at all. It was just a matter of clarification otherwise it went swimmingly brilliant. I now understand UK lingo.

Nephy: And as we had one character who was American and one British we could each use our own languages in the characters.

Steph: Exactly I never wrote for Asher or Daisy; I couldn't do them justice.

Nephy: The one I had the most problem with was ‘book it’. I could never get to grips with that one. Oh and carry out instead of takeaway.

Steph: Connor was another matter altogether, lol. He’s pure blood Irish.

Nephy: Haha Yeah he started as mine and migrated.

Steph: (blushes) I adopted him after book #2...so you'll see that later on. I have Irish blood in my ancestry.

Nephy: Yeah, Asher was a bit confused sometimes by the lingo the culture and he hated Erik's Americanisms.

Steph: So was Erik, and Vince, and Billy. Erik was very brash and harsh; not subtle at all. Hehe.

Nephy: Well, neither was Asher really

Steph: (snorts) Not at all.

Nephy: He was just non subtle in a different way

3. So how did you two meet? What spawned working together?

Steph: I met Nephy when she subbed to my company, RFP.

Nephy: You published my book.

Steph: We got on so famously, we decided to make a go of it ourselves. We’d talked quite a bit about her book and found we had a good friendship and similar outlooks.

Nephy: It came up in discussion that I'd never co written and we thought we'd try it, see how it went.

Steph: It was wildfire after that. I've never written so fast. the ideas flowed out like a flood. It was crazy.

Nephy: we'd finished the first book in what three weeks we had seven in five months

Steph: It was wild. our families were tugging at us to slow down.

Nephy: But we couldn't. we were compelled to do it; it took over.

Steph: Oh yeah.

Nephy: It was like an addiction but in a very good way.

Steph: Lol...definitely. But it was wonderful. and we're not done yet.

Nephy: Nope.

4. Where do you see the collaboration going?

Steph: I see it going to 10 books...which is amazing to me.

Nephy: Well, we have another Upstaged in the works. Plus another series we just started. I persuaded you to dip your toe into science fiction.

Steph: Hehe, yes. Fantasty...the fae world. That's totally new to me; still getting used to it.

Nephy: But it's sexy as hell.

Steph: I dunno what's after that one, but I'm sure we'll think of something. Yes it is. I love Crow and Frank.

Nephy: It has the potential for another series. Crow is the sweetest thing... although he shocks the hell out of Frank sometimes.

Steph: (nods) That he does.

Nephy: He seems so sweet and clueless.

Steph: Frank doesn't know what to think sometimes.

Nephy: But then doesn't turn a hair at the thought of killing someone.

We hope you pick up the first volume of Upstaged: Opening Act, available at Amazon, All Romance Ebooks and Smashwords for $5.99 J

Cheers!

Blurb:

Erik is lead singer with The Von, an up and coming grunge band. He’s a big, brash American with the world at his feet and is so far in the closet he’s in Narnia. Then along comes snarky Brit, Asher and turns his world on its head. Well and truly upstaged, can Erik overcome his fear and is Asher just too damaged to be saved?

Excerpt:

As the harmony finished its bar, Erik opened his eyes mid-verse and saw that the pale kid in the back was staring him down like no tomorrow. What the hell is that's guy's problem? It's like the gaze of death over there. Whatever. He shut his eyes and made the image leave his mind; music was all that mattered. As the lyrics slowly left his throat, another noise interrupted his flow. Pop! Pop! He fairly jumped away from the microphone, fearing a shortage. He glanced at his band mates.

"Dude. what the fuck?"

Joey and Billy both shook their heads. When he came to Daisy, she looked near tears. She shuffled her feet, making her black dress shift with her.

"Dammit."

Erik touched her arm. "What is it, Daisy?"

She pointed to the pale kid and made a fist at him. "It's Asher. He's blowing bubble gum bubbles to throw us off!" She gave him a look like no other; one he hoped never to see aimed at him for any reason. But his ire was up. He hopped off the stage and stared the irritating teen down. Just as he walked up, a large pink bubble had been blown; Erik burst it with his fingers.

"Dude! What the fuck is wrong with you? Popping bubbles while I'm singing? That's just so wrong and rude, man. Course, you snobby Brits think you're just too damn good to sit here and listen to us angsty Americans aren't ya? What the hell are you even doin' here?" ...

... Rage now coursed through Erik's veins; his Viking heritage coming to bear. He balled his fists and fairly snorted, like a bull ready to spear the matador, when Daisy tried to intervene. "Asher! Stop it right now or you'll be sorry!"

"Not as sorry as this sorry looking excuse for a singer. More like a fifty year old karaoke singer after a packet of Woodbines."

"That's it, you asshole! You're goin' down!" Erik yelled as he threw his full weight behind a huge, pale fist that packed the wallop of a freight train, just ask Billy. He lunged forward to deliver the blow, when a hand stopped him. He paused, shocked. Was it.... wtf? Who could stop his fist? Asher had. Somehow this waif had managed to stop him at full throttle... not an easy feat.

His lips were open, his eyes wide as he took in his fist in Asher's small hand. Words escaped him as he was lost in the scintillating beauty of the teen's violet eyes. They were beautiful, haunting, yet seemed to hide a deep pain that no one could get near.

Erik paused, his breath taken hostage by the moment. His eyes blinked, and he was shocked to find another sensation had taken center stage. He was being kissed! By Asher! He wanted to pull away at first, especially since they had an audience; yet he didn't. He wanted to stay. The lips were so soft and, despite its coldness the lip ring didn't stop him. His demeanor softened and his fist uncurled in Asher's hand. Other parts of his anatomy made notice too; though he'd not dare say a word in front of this group.