What do you get when a sleep-deprived blogger and a NaNoWriMo-bound author team up for a late night character interview? INSANITY.

Amy Lane is one of my Featured Authors for Coastal Magic Convention 2017. We’ve already done her promo post for the con (in which we published some wildly entertaining Flash Fiction), but Amy is such a fun author to work with, I couldn’t pass up a chance to do a spotlight post for her new Winter Ball series story Summer Lessons. What started as “lets do a character interview with Mason and Terry” turned into “how can Sue set this up so that Mason is as uncomfortable as possible and Terry is gleefully enjoying himself”, which then became a whirlwind collaborative session where Amy and I riffed off each other and built the story-style character interview you see below.

There’s a pretty awesome giveaway at the end—which you should enter!—but I hope you’ll give this a read for the sheer joy of the story. It’s really fun. And fans of Amy’s serial Beneath the Stain will DEFINITELY want to read on, as there’s a surprise cameo later in the scene…

Summer Lessons at the Bar

The setup

Amy Lane arrives at a dive bar—Killer Melon—on a Tuesday night with Terry and Mason from Summer Lessons. The floor is sticky, with mysterious dark puddles no one wants to step in, and the speakers are blaring Corner Plot. “Sue” is me, DaVinciKittie from GraveTells. (I really need a cooler superhero name…)

Amy: Come on guys–my kid says they’ll be here.

Mason: *to Terry* Why are we here again?

Terry: She’s a nice lady—she came into the station where we worked. Her son’s in the opener band, and she wanted to see him. She couldn’t get no one else to come with her.

Mason: You picked this woman up from a conversation at work?

Terry: *grins* She’s a grown up, Mace—like you!

Mason: *grumbles* Why does this not reassure me?

Amy: Ohmigod! Sue! Sue is that you? Guys look! I’ve got a friend!

Terry: See? She IS just like us, she IS!

Amy: Look, her whole table is empty. Sue, what are you doing here?

Sue: Got a tip some popular band would be here, promised to cover it for my blog. Something about a stain or an…elephant…or a monkey. I hear they’re good?

Amy: *wincing* God, I hope so—sorry. This is my son’s Goth band. Uh…yeah. Sorry. Sorry guys—Terry, I had no idea they’d be this dire.

Terry: So, what was that about another band? Because I heard—

Mason: Pleased to meet you, Sue?

Sue: *waves* Hi! You too! So Amy, who are your friends?

Amy: Oh—these are more victims, really. This is Terry Jefferson, he’s like a person in my neighborhood. We were talking music, and he said he’d heard of my son’s band, and I asked him if he wanted to come. He invited his boyfriend, and here they are!

Mason: *looks around miserably* Can I get you ladies a big one? I mean a cold big one? I mean drink a cold big—

Sue: GOD, yes! I’m dying. It’s SO LOUD in here! Think they have wine?

Mason: Only the kind that makes you throw up.

Sue: *winces*

Terry: Would they have to do that here, Mace? Cause this place smells pretty dank as it is.

Mason: Maybe a beer.

Amy: I’ll have an iced tea with lemon if they have it.

Sue: That’s so civil of you, Amy…. iced tea? In a dive bar? Uh huh.

Mason: Oh God. You’re really better off with the beer.

Amy: Uh, okay. Something that tastes more like fruit than beer.

Sue: *nods* Yes. That. For me too.

Mason: *to self* I think I need to know more women. Oh my God, it’s beer. *leaves to go get beer*

Sue: *watches Mason walk to the bar* Mmm, he’s a hottie, Terry. In sort of an adorable way. Where’d you find him?

Terry: I hated beer for a long time, but now that I’ve gotten drunk like sixty, seventy times it tastes a lot better. I mean, I don’t drink so much now, because Mace has better things to do but seriously, you should taste some of the crap I drank when I was eighteen… erm… twenty… uh, one. Did you say my boyfriend was hot?

Sue: Hmm? Oh, I’m pretty sure I said “adorable”. It’s all this noise. You just misheard… *looks innocent and smiles charmingly*

Terry: *looks suspicious* *yells* We met at a friend’s Christmas party! It was blow job at first date!

Sue: I’m not sure if that’s TMI or I want to ask for more details…

Terry: No, he didn’t fuck me til I was sore until later!

Sue: Still undecided. Tell me more. *grin* Just kidding… unless you want to.

Terry: *remembering social niceties* No, no—I think that’s all you need to know. He’s a good guy. If he’s not sticking his foot in it that is…

Sue: Yeah, he really seems like it. Uh…That bartender is leaning awfully close to him over there.

 

Meanwhile, back at the bar…

Mason: I’ll have four beers, and two of them need to be… fruity!

Bartender (over the music): Did you just call me a fruit?

Mason: *louder* I SAID FRUITY BEERS NOT ARE YOU QUEER!

*music scratches. sudden silence*

*from back of the bar, we hear Terry giggle*

Bartender: Jesus dude, does this look like the kind of place you get fruity beer?

Mason: *miserably* I don’t know. Look, my boyfriend dragged me in here, and these two nice women wanted iced tea, and why did the band stop playing?

Bartender: Heh—I think they must be getting ready for the big surprise. Here’s your Miller Lite. I put oranges on top of two of them. Tell the girls it’s some sort of exotic fruit mix beer.

Mason: They don’t look stupid—

Bartender: *scowls fiercely*

Mason: No, I didn’t just call you stupid, but sure. Two Miller Lites. With oranges. We’ll call it a Miller Sunrise.

Bartender: Twenty-five dollars.

Mason: If I give you two twenties will you not beat me up?

Bartender: Sure.

 

Meanwhile, back at the table…

Sue: *takes drink from Mason, eyeing it suspiciously* Did you say “Miller Sunrise”, Mason? What is that exactly? Are you sure it’s not beer?

Mason: *talking over warming up band* It’s got fruit!

Sue: Oh! Well yes, it does! *takes a tentative sip and decides it is definitely beer* Thanks a ton for bringing these for us. *sets beer aside, out of Mason’s line of sight*

Amy: *tastes beer* *grimaces* *drinks anyway* Thanks guys! Sue here was just asking Terry how you met. He said it was love at first blowjob—hee hee—he’s a riot!

Mason: You didn’t love me at the first blowjob.

Terry: Well I would have, if I’d known what love was.

Mason: *smiles besottedly* That’s incredibly sweet.

Terry: *to everybody* I know what love is now, so that’s how I know it was love then too.

Sue: *to Amy, quietly* Aww, they are SO CUTE. Seriously. Adorbs. *catches a passing waiter and switches her full beer with an empty one from his tray. Mason and Terry are too busy staring into each other’s eyes to notice*

Amy: *takes another drink and grimaces again* They really are. I didn’t know Mason until tonight—he’s a little shy, but Terry just opens him right up like a lubed up—

Terry: Oh! I know where you’re going with this!

Mason: I’ve already been there. Heh heh heh.

Sue: HAH! *covers mouth to stop spitting on people* Oh look! *points at the tiny, slightly raised stage in the corner* Something’s happening on stage. That guy looks familiar…

Amy: Oh dear God—is that Mackey Sanders?

Terry: Jesus! That’s Mackey fucking Sanders!

Mason: Who in the fuck is Mackey Sanders?

Sue: *screams in excitement* Oh my God—that’s OUTBREAK MONKEY! I am SO glad I came!

Travis, the band’s manager stations himself to the left of the table: *arms folded, glances down at Sue’s phone* Oh God—don’t—are you pushing that out on—

Sue: Twitter and Facebook and—

Mason: Oh my God, would you look at his arms, Terry? He could crack your head between his biceps!

Trav: And I will if you guys make this more than a quick appearance—

Mackey, up on stage: Hey y’all—this place gave us a quick stop on our tour—let’s say we get the word out that Outbreak Monkey is in the house!

Trav: Oh dear God.

Sue: YESSSS! This scoop is so mine.

Terry: Jesus, guy—you are really fuckin’ built. Are you the enforcer for the band?

Sue: *giggles at Terry*

Trav: I’m the manager—and I’m taken. See that little asshole fucking up all our plans for a quiet concert on the stage? He will gut you with a guitar pick if you hit on me.

Terry: *cackles* I love this fuckin’ band even more now!

*first chords of In One Ear resound across the bar*

Mackey: And this is one of our favorite songs to cover, especially when we’re so close to our home turf in Tyson.

*crowd goes berserk*

*place starts filling up*

Sue: Ooooo! Look, I’m trending! *points excitedly at phone*

Amy: You’re a goddess! But it’s getting pretty crowded in here—maybe we should…

Terry and Mason stand up and start moving to the corner—

Sue and Amy get squashed back against the bar—

And Outbreak Monkey commences.

 

Sue: *shouting at Terry and Mason* Bye! So nice to meet you!

Mason: *shouting* Bye! Sorry about your outbreak!

Sue cringes.

Terry: It’s the band, Mace. The name of the band.

Mason: Oh for Christ’s sake.

Sue: *laughs and gets swept further away from Amy and the guys* Amy! *still yelling* Let’s do this again! And invite the band next time, Ms. I-Know-Important-People!

Amy: This was a happy accident!

*Mackey lets out a primal scream over the mic*

Mason: Like what just happened in my shorts.

Terry: *cackles*

The band keeps playing.

Mason Hayes’s love life has a long history of losers who don’t see that Mason’s heart is as deep and tender as his mouth is awkward. He wants kindness, he wants love—and he wants someone who thinks sex is as fantastic as he does. When Terry Jefferson first asks him out, Mason thinks it’s a fluke: Mason is too old, too boring, and too blurty to interest someone as young and hot as his friend’s soccer teammate.

The truth is much more painful: Mason and Terry are perfectly compatible, and they totally get each other. But Terry is still living with his toxic, suffocating parent and Mason doesn’t want to be a sugar daddy. Watching Terry struggle to find himself is a long lesson in patience, but Mason needs to trust that the end result will be worth it, because finally, he’s found a man worth sharing his heart with.

Snag your copy of Summer Lessons and Beneath the Stain on Amazon*

About the author

Amy Lane has two kids in college, two gradeschoolers in soccer, two cats, and two Chi-who-whats at large. She lives in a crumbling crapmansion with most of the children and a bemused spouse. She also has too damned much yarn, a penchant for action adventure movies, and a need to know that somewhere in all the pain is a story of Wuv, Twu Wuv, which she continues to believe in to this day! She writes fantasy, urban fantasy, and gay romance–and if you accidentally make eye contact, she’ll bore you to tears with why those three genres go together. She’ll also tell you that sacrifices, large and small, are worth the urge to write.

Visit Amy online at her website | blog | Twitter | Facebook group | GoodReads

Giveaway

Amy is giving away two prizes on today’s post! One lucky reader will win an ecopy of Beneath the Stain*, which features the rock band who made a cameo appearance in the interview above, and another reader will receive an ecopy of the first two books in the Winter Ball series (Winter Ball* and Summer Lessons). To enter to win, just fill out the prize widget below. And stop on in to leave a comment and chat with Amy below!

Still not registered for Coastal Magic?

Join Amy and a TON of other truly fantastic authors and readers at Coastal Magic Convention in Daytona Beach next February! This is my very favorite reader-focused convention because we have so many opportunities to meet and hang out with our favorite authors and to meet new ones who are sure to become new favorites. If you can only make one convention next year, go to this one! Clicky below for registration and travel info!

*Denotes GraveTells affiliate link.