Wednesday, 1 October 2014

Blog Tour: Wet Paint by Will Parkinson

One of my very favourite authors (and people), Will Parkinson, is here today to talk about his newest Young Adult novel, Wet Paint. It's the sequel to Pitch. If you haven't read both of these books, get on it! You won't regret it. They are fantastic.

Will has a very special treat for us today. He's written a little ficlet for us! I am so excited! So without further ado...


Although Addy’s heart and body bear the scars from his life before he was adopted by the Deans, he’s ached for something he thought he would never find. Until he met Benny. He isn’t sure how anyone can care for someone as broken as he is, even though he wants it desperately.
High school senior Benny Peters has his whole life planned out for him, until a chaste kiss at summer camp opens a new world of possibilities. Determined to erase Addy’s insecurities, Benny works to take away his boyfriend’s pain and replace it with love.
When Addy’s past intrudes on their future, it’s going to take everything Benny can muster to show that no matter what – or who – they face, they belong together.

E-book: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5417
Paperback: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5418

Cover Artist: Reese Dante

Publisher: Harmony Ink Press

Video trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVOiQ8yOsII


Ficlet:

The brush slipped through the soft hair for the twentieth stroke. A heavy sigh and Becca Monroe put the brush back on the vanity. She hated her hair. She hated herself. She looked at the calendar. School was only a week away. By now, Benny would be back from summer camp. She looked longingly at her phone. He’d told her to call if she wanted to talk, but he kept urging her to forgive herself. After what she’d done? How she’d hurt his best friend and almost gotten someone killed? Redemption had a higher cost than that.

She couldn’t forgive herself. Only Jackson and Taylor could do that. She’d hurt them so badly, and opened the door for the evil that stepped through. If it wasn’t because of her…

Another sigh. She’d cancelled her social media accounts when the messages started. How she was a horrible, vindictive bitch. How she had no right to be alive. That the world would be better off without her. She had agreed more than once with those sentiments. Her parents had gotten her a prescription for sleeping pills after the whole thing with Kevin. She held up the tube that held twenty-seven pills. How easy it would be to swallow them all, maybe with a drink from her father’s liquor cabinet. To lie down and go to sleep and never hear those incriminating voices in her head again. She fingered the bottle, then popped the lid and poured the pills into her hand. They were so small. She could probably divide them into three or four batches, swallow them down, and go to bed. No more nightmares. No more hatred.

She startled when her phone rang, spilling the pills out onto the rust colored carpeting. She began to pick them up, hoping the phone would stop ringing. It finally did and she breathed a sigh of relief, only to curse when it began again.

“What?”she snapped.

“Hey, Bec.”

“Benny.” She said his name like a prayer. He’d been a rock through this whole mess. He never judged her and had actually held her in the hospital when she broke down. Of course she’d held him too, when the stress got overwhelming.

“I just called to let you know I’m home. I was wondering if you wanted to get together.”

The floor was still littered with the pills. The easy way out. No more anything, she thought.

“Bec?”

“I’m pretty busy right now, Benny.”

“Oh? What are you doing? Maybe I can help.”

She winced. “No, there’s nothing you can do for me. Nothing at all.”

“Okay, if you’re sure. I need you to do me a favor, though. On Monday, there’s going to be someone new at school and I really want you to meet them.”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“It’s a big deal to me. And I think it’s someone you’ll want to meet too.”

Becca closed her eyes. “I’ll be there. Who is this person?”

She could hear the smile in Benny’s voice. “Someone important in my life."

“Oh, you finally got yourself a girlfriend?”

“Be to school on Monday. Remember, you promised. And Bec? Everything is going to work out. I promise.”

Benny hung up and Becca turned her attention back to the pills. She scooped them up and put them back into the bottle. She decided to talk to her parents. She knew she needed more help that she admitted. And she had made a promise.

Placing the pills back on the bureau, she once again picked up the brush. If Benny had a girlfriend, the least Becca could do was make a good impression on her.

This year was going to be so interesting.






About the Author:

WILL PARKINSON believes that no matter what obstacles are thrown in the path of young love, it will always find a way to win in the end. He wants his characters to have their happily ever after, but that doesn’t mean that it’s going to come easily.
None of this would have happened if he had followed the advice he was given many years ago. “What are you wasting your time on that for? It’s never going to amount to anything.” He believed it for the longest time, abandoning characters he’d created in his childhood.
He picked up his very first m/m story by a writer named Eden Winters, who was an absolute joy when they corresponded. She asked him if he wrote and he told her the story. Eden explained to Will that the voices in his head would never go away and how he needed to let them out. With that thought in mind, Will put e-pen to e-paper once more. It was truly a liberating experience and one he has no intention of giving up again.

Website: http://www.willparkinson.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WillParkinsonau
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/will.parkinson.520
E-mail: will@willparkinson.com






Excerpt:

ADDY SAT in the car, worry creasing his brow. Not even an hour ago, he’d been so happy. Why was he so nervous now? His thoughts drifted back to his conversation with his dad. Would Benny still want him when he found out what had happened? Would he think Addy was too broken? Addy shivered. He tried to tell himself Benny would never be like that, but how could he know for sure?

“What’s up, little man? I can hear you thinking from over here.” Benny chuckled.

“Nothing, Benny. I’m okay.”

“Addy, c’mon. I can tell you’ve got something on your mind. I need to know what it is. I can’t help if you won’t let me.”

Addy took a deep breath. “I’m afraid,” he admitted. “Of what? Camp?” “No... of losing you.”

“I don’t understand. Why would you think you’d lose me?”

“Benny.” Addy sighed. “I need to tell you some stuff. It’s not going to be easy, and it’s really not going to be nice.”



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