A
Honeyed Light
by
Freddie Milano
Genre:
M/M Paranormal Romance
Kunal,
relative newcomer to the strange town of Harmony, has his hands full
preparing for Diwali. That should be enough to keep anyone's mind
preoccupied, but Kunal can't really ignore that he's nearly thirty,
single, and still buried in the closet.
Out
of town at a gay club one night, he bumps into Oscar, proprietor of
Harmony's only sex shop, and figures his secret is now officially
out. What he doesn't expect is a slow seduction, or to have to decide
what it is he really wants in life.
Amazon
* B&N
* Kobo
* LessThan Three Press
How did you come up
with the town of Harmony?
Harmony was actually a group effort. My two friends, to whom
A Honeyed Light is dedicated, were instrumental in coming up with this small
haunted town in Virginia that was home to an eclectic group of people, as well
as the ghosts of those who came before. Each of us has a hand in some of the
background characters, the ghost stories, and the way Harmony came together.
You'll find out more about Harmony as the series continues, so I don't want to
give too much away now!
When creating a
character, do you come up with the visual concept or the written concept first?
It depends. Sometimes I visualize a character -I see a face I
really want to write about and I build around that. But sometimes I have a
solid idea of a plot and then need to figure out what character would fit in
there. So really it's the chicken AND the egg.
Kunal was one of those that the written concept came up first. I wanted to write about the holiday of Diwali for a collection from Less Than Three Press, because I didn't want the collection dominated by Christmas stories. So then I decided to write about this Indian-American character struggling with his sexuality in this weird haunted town, just trying to celebrate his birthday and his favorite holiday. After I got his concept nailed down, I went looking for visual representation.
Kunal was one of those that the written concept came up first. I wanted to write about the holiday of Diwali for a collection from Less Than Three Press, because I didn't want the collection dominated by Christmas stories. So then I decided to write about this Indian-American character struggling with his sexuality in this weird haunted town, just trying to celebrate his birthday and his favorite holiday. After I got his concept nailed down, I went looking for visual representation.
Enter: Shahid Kapoor
Which character is
your guilty pleasure?
I'm going to have to go with Olli. She's fun and spunky and
doesn't really care too much what people think of her. She's got a lot of
qualities I like to think I have, or that I wish I had. But honestly, I just
think she's fun to hang around with. And she's super fun to write!
Plotter or pantser?
Plotter. I outline, I write character profiles, I find
pictures, I do a ton of planning. But that's not to say that what I outline is
what winds up happening. I leave wiggle room because sometimes these dang
characters have a life of their own and stuff happens I wasn't expecting that
works better than my planned outline. I did stick pretty close to my outline
for A Honeyed Light though.
Is there anything you
really wish you could do, character-design-wise, that you feel is outside your current
skillset?
Yoooo, I wish I could cook like Kunal. He is really good at
it and has been doing it his whole life. He also enjoys it way more than I do.
I just want to be able to have gulab anytime I want to be honest.
Freddie
Milano lives with her partner-in-crime, two adorable and devilish
cats, and far more ideas than she really has time to set down on
(electronic) paper. She’s been writing since she could hold a pen,
though most of the embarrassing stories thankfully never made in onto
the internet, and can stay safely buried.
She
loves wine, Korean pop music, tea, chocolate, coffee, mythology, and
both video and tabletop gaming. An ESFJ surrounded by introverts,
Freddie has learned the art of socialization in moderation. Besides,
staying in just leaves her more time to write.
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