Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work.
Today, A.G. Carothers – A. G. Carothers is actually a dragon very cleverly disguised as a human. They are a non-binary author of LGBTQIA Romance and Urban Fantasy, who enjoys writing original and entertaining stories. They are very excited to share the worlds they’ve created with you.
A.G. currently lives in Tennessee with their platonic life partner, who is not a dragon. They yearn to live back in Europe and will someday. In their spare time they are addicted to losing themselves in the lovely worlds created by other authors
A.G. is committed to writing the stories they see in their head without restrictions. Love is blind and doesn’t see gender, race, or sexuality.
Thanks so much, A.G., for joining me!
JSC: How would you describe your writing style/genre?
AGC: I’m not sure how to describe my style. Sometimes, it’s like Yahtzee, where you put all the dice into the cup and shake it about and then throw all the dice and see what comes up. I never usually go into a story with a trope in mind or even a strict genre. I oftentimes figure all that out once the story is done and try to put labels onto my creation. As a creature who hates labels to begin with this is often difficult. Sometimes I feel like just going “It’s a story. There’s stuff in it and stuff happens, just read it and enjoy.” hehehe
JSC: What was your first published work? Tell me a little about it.
AGC: SYN Consulting: Dragon War Chronicles Book One is my first published work. I wrote books 1-3 back to back in three months. Then I spent two years editing them. Lol Then I found an editor who agreed to work with me and take a chance. Only after editing again was it ready to be unleashed upon the world.
I’d drafted some stories before, just little scenes really. But nothing had really consumed me until I started writing this new world I had created. I spent so much time researching and figuring out dynamics of the world and how all the elements worked together.
The paradigm that DWC is set in is in the near future. Dragons fled their own world through magical portals to several worlds across the universe. A refugee group fled to earth to start a new before their world crumbled and died. Determined to not repeat their mistakes with their world they’ve spent the several millennia they’ve been on earth staying in the background and protecting the world from environmental destruction.
The dragons hid from the native population and created new creatures to act as their emissaries. Book one starts at a time where dragons are slowly dying out and they’re on the verge of a clandestine war with the humans. A war they sadly haven’t seen coming due to a combination of their arrogance and bad habit of sticking their head in the sand.
It’s at this juncture in their history that we meet our initial main characters and where the journey begins.
JSC: Do your books spring to life from a character first or an idea?
AGC: All my books have started with a character. Sometimes that character has been born of an idea but the world that evolves is from the character. Where that character comes from on the other hand can be from many places. Some have derived just from a simple image while others have been born of a concept or just the desire to see a certain kind of character. It’s then that I start to think about what the character would be like as far as their personality or habits. I think about what their ambitions are, what their goals are, and I think about who would be around this person. That’s where a lot of side characters come from is just from thinking about where this initial character interacted with the world and who they might have met, who their friends are and all that jazz. It’s from thinking about that where the world fills out around them and then I start thinking about what else is in the world and how those things interact with the character. World building is probably one of my most favorite things to do.
This Book:
JSC: What was the hardest part of writing T.A.G. Family Christmas?
AGC: I’m not much of a holiday person in general especially as I’ve gotten older and I live away from family and therefore don’t have the same obligations that I normally would have forced upon me by my family the more I’m not a holiday person. That being said I have a soft spot for the month of December in France. In all the time that I lived there and visited there I spent several Christmas is in New Year’s there. My fondest memories and the ones that I cling to the most are of Christmas time in France. No matter where you are and the country whether it’s Paris or Toulouse or you know some small country village you can find the same things. The town squares are going to be decorated with lights and trees and there is going to be A Christmas market. The Christmas markets well always have local artisans and vendors selling food, drinks and gifts that are usually all you know handmade or stuff along those lines.
There was always something magical about walking around during the day or in the evening in the cold even though I hate the cold it was still magical. It’s something that I always miss during this time of year and it’s a feeling that I’ve never had anywhere else. So, the hardest part of writing a book about this time of year was not getting lost in the longing for that feeling. I knew that I was going write a holiday book it would have to take place in France because other than Santa Fe it’s the only place where I have enough feelings that I can try to convey through my characters.
The first book of the series T.A.G. You’re Seen takes place in Santa Fe, New Mexico during Christmas and it starts specifically on Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve in Santa Fe has a special event downtown that literally tens of thousands of people attend. It was fun to explore that event through Yoshi’s eyes as a stranger to this weird tradition that Santa Fe has with the farolito walk.
Coming back to this now third Christmas time for the assassins Guild I tried to see again the things that I love about France and Paris during this time through my characters’ eyes. Writing certain parts was definitely more time consuming as I just sat in my chair and remembered the feel of the cold, the smells in the air, the taste of the ambiance around me and I lamented that I’m not a very poetic writer. But I believe I did it justice.
JSC: What question do you wish that someone would ask about your book, but nobody has? Write it out here, then answer it.
AGC: Does TAG and DWC take place in the same paradigm?
The simple answer is yes. Now does that mean that you have to read both series? No, you don’t necessarily have to read both series. I say that because there’s only a few things that will seem out of place in tag without having read DWC. This is also why I don’t tag it as being paranormal or urban fantasy because all the characters except now for a few are human and as far as the humans are concerned, they don’t know that anything else exists but as a reader there’s a few things that happened that are a little odd that then don’t seem as odd once you take into consideration that they are the same world. And I know many of my readers haven’t made that connection but if they haven’t before they will now because I put in a very big neon sign connecting the two of them in this book.
Readers shouldn’t feel bad about not making the connections if they’ve read both series because I’m very sneaky and it was a connection that I didn’t necessarily want to be seen until it was time for it to be seen. Also, the two series happen on two different timelines entirely. The events in TAG take place almost ten years before the start of DWC.
JSC: Who has been your favorite character to write and why?
AGC: For this book, it has to be Bob. Bob is just very not unphased but calm and accepting of Connors craziness. It was also good to see him being accepted by this group of men that he insinuated himself into and start to see him be more at peace. Later when we get to his story will learn more about his background and a lot of the ugliness of the world he lived through.
JSC: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
AGC: A marine biologist. I wasn’t like some kids where they waffle back and forth about things for like ever or you know one day they want to be a fireman and the next day they want to be an astronaut now from really early on I wanted to be a marine biologist. I obviously did not become marine biologist but that’s OK. I don’t regret my life.
JSC: Tell me one thing hardly anyone knows about you.
AGC: This is a really hard question because I’m a very open book so if anyone spends any amount of time talking to me they will eventually learn everything about me. It doesn’t help that I have very little filter and I will go into detail about things until you tell me to stop because of TMI.
But something that almost no body knows that now everyone will know is that I used to think I might be a sex addict. I have done a lot of things in my life for sex. Some I wasn’t too proud of and some I’ve been very proud of, but I’ve always had a very high sex drive since I was little.
At one point, when I was in my late twenties, I was seeing a therapist on the regular basis so I asked her about it. She said with all things there’s often times a thin line between healthy and unhealthy habits that can push one into an addicted state. She assured me that I was not addicted to sex. Physiologically I may need the hormone dump from sex more than other people, but I wasn’t causing harm to myself or others in the pursuit of that. If at any point that changes then I should think about having reevaluations of that. Thankfully, I’m too much of a control person to let my desire overrule my sense. lol
JSC: Which of your own characters would you Kill? Fuck? Marry? And why?
AGC: I’ve killed a few characters, but I couldn’t bring myself to kill ones that are closer to my heart. I even saved one that I had been planning to kill because by the time we got to that part of the timeline he’d become a larger character and I just couldn’t do it.
I would fuck any of my characters. I’d have a big fat orgy with all my characters if I could. It’d be one of those parties where you wake up days later not knowing where you were, naked, and sore all over. Then the memories flood you and you’re like damn…let’s do it again. Lol
Now, marrying a character is a tough question. I have some absolute sweethearts and I have some assholes. Lol I think I’d have to marry one of each to keep balance. Lol I’d steal Xander and Majid.
JSC: Star Trek or Star Wars? Why?
AGC: Star Trek. My mom is a trekkie and so I was raised a trekkie. But really Stargate>Star Trek or Star Wars. lol
And now for A.G.’s new book: T.A.G. Family Christmas:
Happy Holidays from everyone at T.A.G. Your one-stop shopping source for all your killing needs.
It isn’t all stabbings, poisonings, and shootings here at The Assassins’ Guild. We decided to pause that and take a little time to celebrate being alive, and for some, being in love.
This is your friendly communications agent, Mr. No, here to tell you about the holiday fun Mr. H and his boys got up to this one Christmas.
Once upon a time, there was a Bob. This Bob got tasked with three missions. Not just any old ordinary missions, but missions of love…
Between guarding Connor, being stalked by Enrique, and being his usual sneaky self, Bob must put into motion three big surprises for his chosen family.
But it’s not all snowman contests and catching Mr. Ti in potentially embarrassing situations while they vacation in a chateau outside of Paris. Oh no, something is afoot. Mr. H won’t let the new problem code-named The Poacher interfere with family time.
So, take a little time out of your busy schedule and join us for a T.A.G. Family Christmas the likes of you’ll never forget.
Attention: This story contains adorableness taken to a whole new level. There are adult situations, language, kinky snowmen, and all the churros you can eat.
Get It On Amazon
Excerpt
Asbjørn
Twelve Days till Christmas
I watched the gentle rise and fall of Connor’s back as he slept. Now that we were on vacation and I was exiled from the kitchen here, I had several hours to just watch Connor. I still had no idea what to get him for Christmas. It was our first one together, so it had to be something special. In years past, I’d gotten him little things. A stuffed animal here and there or a rare action figure, but now things were different.
What did you get someone who literally had the world at his fingertips? I had briefly entertained the idea of proposing, but that seemed a little cliché and maybe a little too soon for that. How long should I wait? Marriage was but a piece of paper that declared to the rest of the world what I knew in my soul and heart.
I had thought maybe a new sex toy, but again that seemed unromantic. Cooking something special was out of the question because I could do that anytime, and I did do it. Jewelry seemed cliché, as well. We’re already on a romantic trip. Granted, we weren’t alone, but I couldn’t help feeling even more in love with Connor in this setting. The French countryside, fireplaces in every room practically. There could be more snow, but I didn’t have any control over that.
Connor rolled over and snuggled into my chest, flinging a leg over my hip. I traced the freckles on his back with my fingers as I thought. I sighed and rolled onto my back, bringing Connor with me. He shivered as the blanket slipped down, but I straightened it over us before it woke him.
What did Connor enjoy most? What did he value?
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I could have hit myself on the forehead at missing the obvious. I couldn’t do it on my own, though. While Connor was in the shower, I’d steal a few minutes with Bob.