Monday, January 20, 2014

Trials and Triumps Guest Post by V.L. Locey



Many thanks, Giselle, for having me here!
                Hello all, my name is V.L. Locey, and I`m a multigenre romantica author. I`m also not the best judge of what the book buying community likes on occasion. I thought I was, I mean, I really did. Who would have guessed that selling a zombie romantic comedy would be so darned hard?
                I think that the combination of the words 'romance' and 'zombie' kind of freaks out  most readers of romance out. I can sort of see why. Zombies are rather squicky. But what about zombie hunters? They`re not squicky at all. Just ask the seventy-two billion fans of Daryl Dixon.  I bet none of them think he`s squicky. I sure don`t. *fans face*

                When I penned my first zom-rom-com as I like to call them, it was part of an anthology. The short story, Two Guys Walk Into An Apocalypse, garnered some high praise. My publisher and I were both excited to bring more to the readers, so I decided to write a few follow up novellas. The second novella, Two Guys Walk Into An Apocalypse 2: It Came From Birmingham, was released. It did very little in terms of sales despite pulling in some good reviews from the few folks who read it. I was stumped, and frankly, I still am. It has everything. Two hot gay leading men, laughs, zombies, drama, action, sex, Tennyson. Yet sales languished. I know that zombie romance is a niche market, but I`m still stymied over how poorly the book did.
                On the flip side of the 'Go Figure' coin is my surprise over how many people fell in love with my skunk shifter, Templeton Reed, in my M/M shifter novella, An Erie Halloween. Yes, I thought it was a good solid story, but I was highly skeptical of a skunk shifter being able to lure in the readers. Generally shifters are powerful animals -  wolves, big cats, or bruins - that ooze sexuality.

                My leading man was going to be a mild-mannered office worker that turned into a striped skunk when pressured. I was stunned when so many fans of the genre - as well as reviewers - embraced this meek, near-sighted, sometimes offensive manimal. Whatever it is in Templeton that draws the readers, I can`t say for sure, but I am more than happy about how people seem to be enjoying Templeton and his wolfish lover, Mikel. I`m already working on a follow-up novella for the lads along the shore of Lake Erie.
                Hopefully it will do well. I think it might. Then again we all have seen what happens when I think something is going to go one way . . .

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You can find both the books mentioned, as well as others by yours truly, at the Torquere Press Store:
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I love to meet new friends and fans! You can find me at-
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V.L. Locey



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