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Sloan Parker FAQs
Last Updated: 11/22/11
Sloan provides answers to the most
commonly asked questions from readers and interviews.
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Thanks for
your interest in my stories.
I will be
adding to this list and answering the
"coming soon" questions as time allows. If
you have any question you’d like me to
answer that is not covered on this page,
please drop me a line.
Happy reading,
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FAQ Categories
Sloan's Books: More
Sloan's Books: Breathe
Sloan's Books: General Questions
Help with e-books
About the Writing Process
Writing Resources/Advice
About Sloan
Sloan's Books: More
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Will there
be any more stories with Luke, Richard, and
Matthew?
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I have two
more books planned to continue with the guys
from MORE. The next story will be
written from Richard's point of view and
will pick up not long after where book 1 ended.
The third book will be told in Matthew's
point of view. I have outlines created for
both novels, but do not have any release
information at this time.
I'm also
writing a book with Luke's friend Walter
Simon that should be released before Richard
and Matthew's books. Walter's book is
drafted and is a stand-alone story, although
Luke, Richard, and Matthew make an
appearance. None of the books have titles
yet.
Read more on my blog about why the wait for
more of MORE (dated 9/28/11) |
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When will
MORE be available in print?
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Loose Id, the
publisher of MORE, does not make every ebook
available in trade paperback due to the
length of the story and other factors. I am
currently investigating other options
to bring MORE to print. I cannot guarantee
it will happen, but I'll share any
news on my blog and website as soon as I
have details. |
Sloan's Books: Breathe
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Where did
the idea for this story come from?
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The idea for
Breathe came to me after hearing about an
accident that killed a woman near my home. I
talked more about how this inspired Breathe
on my Behind
the Story page for Breathe. |
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Will there
be any more stories with Jay and Lincoln?
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Ever since
finishing Breathe I've had an idea in mind
for an additional scene with Lincoln and
Jay. I've got a draft written, and as soon as I can fit it into
my schedule I'm going to
revise and post it to my website as a
free epilogue to their story. |
Sloan's Books: General Questions
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What
titles do you have out and where?
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I currently
have two novel-length ebooks published
through Loose Id. Click each title below for
a blurb, excerpt, and links for where to purchase:
I also have
three short stories available as free
downloads.
And a free serial story
available on my website:
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When will
your books be available in print?
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Loose Id, the
publisher of MORE and BREATHE, does not make
every ebook available in trade paperback due
to the length of the story and other
factors. Loose Id still holds the print
rights for BREATHE. I am currently
investigating other options to bring MORE to
print. I cannot guarantee it will happen,
but I'll share any
news on my blog and website as soon as I
have details. |
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When is
your next book due out? What is it about?
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As of
1/18/12: I'm
currently revising Walter's story (Luke's friend from
MORE). No
release date yet. My publisher needs to
review the final manuscript before making a
decision on whether they'd like to publish
this story.
Walter & Kevin's
story:
Walter is falling for a much younger
man and is in for all kinds of trouble
as he tries to save the club he loves.
I'm also
continuing to work on my serial story,
More Than Just a Good Book, as I have
time. The next installment will be announced
via my
blog and
newsletter.
You can keep
up with my progress on all my projects on
my
works-in-progress page. I try to update that
at least once a month, if not more often. |
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What is
the best way to learn about your new
releases?
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You can find
out about my new releases by following my
blog
or signing up to receive my
newsletter. |
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I don’t
see your ebook when I search Amazon.com. Is
it available for the Kindle?
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If you’re
searching for my ebooks on Amazon.com and
key in “Sloan Parker” in the search bar on
the homepage, you’ll get one of my novels
but not the other. To find MORE you have to
search within a department such as “Books”
or “Kindle
Books” or a category within those
departments. However, BREATHE is available
by searching anywhere.
Why is this? I contacted Amazon and learned
it’s because MORE is labeled as “adult”
content while BREATHE is not. Not sure how
that happens, but the limitation in where
you can search for it didn’t occur until
several weeks after my publisher released
the book at Amazon. My guess is the excerpt
for MORE is highly explicit so either Amazon
or reader comments/complaints bumped it to
an “adult” rating. If anyone knows more
specifics for how this label gets applied to
a book, I’d be interested in learning more.
Now don’t get me wrong, MORE is adult
content, so I have no issues with the
labeling (although I wish the labeling was
more consistent across all explicit content
on Amazon.com and that all explicit
materials were treated equally). I just
wanted to explain how the search works for
those who may have the same question as
others have asked me.
So, if you’re looking for MORE for your
Kindle on Amazon.com, it’s there. Just
buried a bit. You can always go to my
author page to view my books available
on Amazon.com. Or you can search for my name
directly via your Kindle since that searches
the Kindle story only.
I’m guessing this limitation in searching
for adult-labeled books may be the same for
other erotic romances so don’t give up after
one search. If there’s a book you really
want from Amazon.com, drill into the
“Kindle” or “Books” category and try the
search again. I’m not sure how that works
for print books, but I’m guessing it’s the
same and you’ll need to browse to the
“Books” category before performing a search. |
Help with eBooks
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Which file
type do I need to read your books?
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My e-books
can be purchased in several formats for
various e-readers and apps. In addition to
buying direct from your device, you can also
purchase from my publisher,
Loose Id, or from many of the
e-bookstores such as
All Romance eBooks or
Fictionwise.
My
free reads are also available in
multiple e-book formats.
If you are
not downloading your purchased book direct
to your device, here are some
suggestions for which file type to use with
these popular readers, devices, and apps. I
don't own all of the following, so if anyone
knows of a better suggestion, please
let me know.
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NOOK: |
EPUB or PDF |
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Kindle: |
MOBI or PRC |
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Sony Reader:
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EPUB
or PDF |
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iPad: |
EPUB (can import
via iTunes) |
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iPhone:
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EPUB
(can import via iTunes) |
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Adobe Digital Editions: |
EPUB |
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Microsoft Reader:
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LIT |
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Laptop, Computer, or Netbook |
PDF or HTML |
View this graphic for more device
and format options
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About the Writing Process
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How long have you been writing?
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I’ve been
writing since the second grade when I first
entered a short story in a local
competition. I didn’t win, but I knew then I
wanted to write a novel. Many years (and
many stories) later I had my first release,
MORE, in March of 2010. I’ve been writing on
almost a daily basis since 2007 when I began
reading and writing m/m erotic romance. |
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What’s the
biggest surprise you've discovered about the
writing process?
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That I’m
constantly learning something new and
refining my process. That each project might
require a slightly different way of working
to achieve the desired goal. That hard work
and dedication are only part of this
business, but they are a big part of it. |
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Why do you
write what you do?
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Coming Soon |
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Do you
plan out all your stories or do you write as
you go?
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Coming Soon |
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What do
you start with: the plot or the characters?
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Coming Soon |
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Where do
you come up with ideas?
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My ideas come
from a lot of places. Life mostly.
Daydreaming, photos, people watching, my
dreams, blogs, music, news stories, even a
snippet of a conversation can send me off on
a tangent into my own world. Once I have my
mind set on the characters, the plot ideas
really start to flow. I have a folder full
of ideas (some several pages long, some only
one sentence). I turn to these when I want
to start dreaming of a new idea and new
characters.
I do a lot of pre-planning and outlining
before I start the first draft. Actually, my
outline is more of a rough draft than an
outline. I’d never let anyone read it, but
it has the bulk of the story, and in some
scenes includes detailed descriptions,
actions, and dialogue. |
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What was
the most challenging character to write?
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***** Warning: Spoiler ahead for MORE
*****
I’d have to
say Luke Moore’s father in MORE. Not that he
was hard to write at the time I wrote that
book, but I don’t think I did him justice.
In hindsight, I wish I had revealed more
about him and his true motives earlier in
the story. His actions weren’t so much about
a man striving for political office, they
were about a man who hated himself and thus
hated his son for openly being what he
couldn’t be. I actually felt sorry for him
in a way. I’m not sure many readers did,
though. Which probably means I didn’t do
such a great job in showing who that
character was and why he was doing the
things he was doing to his son. It was never
meant to be about politics. Although that
was one of the things he loved that he ended
up losing. The story was meant to be about
homophobia at its worst and most
destructive: hating yourself for who you
are.
********* END SPOILER *********
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Who's your
favorite of all your characters?
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This is a
tough one. I don't think I could ever pick
just one. I have loved all my heroes. In
fact I
probably wouldn't have kept working on their
stories if I hadn't fallen in love with
them. For me each man is so unique, with his
own set of admirable qualities that it's
hard to compare them.
I have been surprised by some
of my secondary characters. They came alive
in ways I hadn't expected. I was surprised
by how much I came to love Nancy and her
kids, especially Adam, from
BREATHE. Which makes me feel
good. Especially after reading what Donald Maass
said about too many secondary characters in
fiction being weak (from The Fire In
Fiction):
"Supporting players in manuscripts
submitted to my agency are too often
forgettable, as well. They walk on and
walk off, making no particular
impression. What wasted opportunities,
in my opinion, especially when you
consider that secondary characters
aren’t born, they’re built."
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Writing Resources/Advice
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Do you
have any advice for new writers? Any
resources you would recommend?
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Read. A lot!
And write every day. Study everything you can
find about the craft of writing and decide
what rules or methods work the best for you.
Study grammar. Research various publishers
or agents and decide which route you wish to
take when submitting your work. Buy and read
from the publishers where you think your
writing would be a good fit. Did I mention
reading? In my opinion it's important to
have a strong reading background in the
genre you wish to write in. I know some
authors can't read from similar books when
they are in the middle of a project. Which
is fine, but then I'd recommend reading
another type of fiction. Keep reading and
writing as much as you can, and your own
writing and voice will grow stronger every
day.
I've created a list of
writing
resources I have found helpful in the
past and some that I still use on a daily
basis.
Also,
especially for new and unpublished writers,
I suggest following agents, editors,
publishers, and published authors on
Twitter.
You can learn a lot about the business via
140 character tweets: how to query, tips on
writing, how use social media, what's going
on in the publishing industry, and more. Be
sure to use your author name for your
Twitter handle so you can begin branding
yourself and your work. |
About Sloan
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How can
readers contact you with any questions or comments?
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I love
hearing from readers. You can contact me via
the email address or form on my
contact page. |
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What do
you do when you are not writing?
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I enjoy
spending time with my partner (which I never
get to do enough). I’m never bored when we
just hang out together. We're big into board
and card games and going to movies. I also
spend as much free time as I can reading or
listening to audio books. I'm a reader at
heart. I wish I had more time to catch up on
my TV and movie watching, but for the last
few years I've watched mostly reruns so I
can do other things while listening to the
TV. I sadly haven't seen a new show in way
too long. |
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