Today I welcome fellow Sydneysider, Kevin Klehr, who is celebrating his latest release. Congratulations on the book, Kevin. I’m in love with your cover!
A TALE OF TWO WIPs
Winter Masquerade, my new ebook novella, was born while I was working on another manuscript. That other work is still in progress, but it has influenced several other stories, including a few shorts published in anthologies.
The Midnight Man is a manuscript I conceived several years ago and have become obsessed with in the way an author does with their first novel. My goal is to make it as perfect as I can. Iโm not sure why. Perhaps itโs my own personal challenge.
Both works deal with a gay guy in an unhappy relationship who finds himself while discovering romance in a surreal setting. But thatโs where the similarities end.
In The Midnight Man, middle-aged Stan finds the man of his dreams literally in his dreams, while his real life partner is having an affair. In Winter Masquerade, thirty-something Ferris is in denial about his problematic relationship as he finds himself on an enchanted cruise ship with a cast of eccentric characters.
The only person who can return him to the real world, the Alchemist, has been kidnapped. The ransom is high tea with scones and jam.
While I was going for an Alice in Wonderland feel, some parts of this novella become steampunk. When they do, Ferris must find the courage to survive Oliveโs murderous alter-ago. She is the harpist rehearsing for the masquerade ball who, when herself, is quite whimsical.
This odd idea to make one of the characters homicidal came from our friendsโ ten-year old daughter.
She helped me with the childlike aspects of the story, and its darker edges. In developing these darker themes, it made me realise that my other manuscript, The Midnight Man, needed the same treatment. Especially after an agent told me that story needed a better pay-off for the reader.
So, these two works have influenced each other. But the one about a charismatic band, a magical Alchemist and a man in search of real love, is ready to be enjoyed.
Blurb
Ferris wakes on the Sea Queen, an enchanted cruise ship sailing on a chocolate sea. He has no idea how he got here, but he desperately wants to go home to his boyfriend.
The alchemist is the only person who can help Ferris, but heโs been kidnapped. The ransom is high tea with scones and jam.
Meanwhile, the passengers are gearing up for the Winter Masquerade, a ball where love and magic reign.
With a murderous musician, an absent boyfriend, and a mystical party, Ferris soon learns that Wednesday is not the day to fall in love.
Buy Link
Click here to buy from the publisher.
Click here to buy from US Amazon.
Social Media
Author website: https://kevinklehr.com
Author twitter: @kevinklehr
Author Instagram: @klehrkevin
Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DramaQueensWithLoveScenes
Author YouTube: https://buff.ly/36GJZpJ
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