Becky Black Beams In

Another blog tour, and today it's m/m romance author, Becky Black here to talk about her third book, Higher Ground.

Becky is a very good friend of mine, and she's to blame for getting me into this writing 'mess'. Back in 2006, she convinced me to post my first ever fanfic on the internet, and got me involved in a fan fiction board/forum, and well, the rest is history. Last year we met for the first time, and it was great to be able to talk (I found it weird that she had a northern accent, yet I knew she lived Up North) about the thing we both love, instead of typing to one another.

This book is my favourites of Becky's! I've read all three. But this one I helped beta read, and I just loved the concept of them having to get to higher ground. Right, well, I've wittered enough, on with the interview ... 

Q: Can you give us your elevator pitch (to the reader) for what your book is about?

I'm thankful that so far I've never had to do one of these. I'm absolutely terrible at talking about my work in person with real people. But here goes:

Zach and Adam, two young scientists working on a distant space colony, begin a relationship. But it's interrupted almost before it starts by a natural disaster that forces the colony residents to flee for their lives. Zach and Adam are thrust into a leadership role neither is prepared for, both still untested in life, and have to find new strengths within themselves to rise to the job. Far from being put on hold by this disaster, their relationship accelerates into fast-forward. They become a great team, but can their romance stand up to the pressure?

Q:  My 'Twitter' question - Describe your heroes in 140 characters each. (I'll let you do each hero in 140 characters)

Adam
Smart, but a jock too. A fun-loving, party animal, but dependable, charming, and happy to show how he feels. A little lazy, a bit of a tease.

Zach
A very smart abstract thinker. Not good with people, but no misanthrope. A man who fears the briefness of life. Passionate, but controlled.
 

Q: Why do you like setting your books in space? Where do you get your inspiration?

I like the milieu of humans in space, living their lives and working out among the stars, or building new worlds, but still facing the same problems we've always faced when it comes to love and relationships and families. And I do like to create the exact social circumstances I want to put my characters into, to make them face problems and dilemmas I'm inspired to write about. I think science fiction also allows the writer to look at contemporary issues in a metaphorical way, rather than writing "issue fiction" in the contemporary setting.

Q: Forget your heroes are in space, they're just sitting down in a traditional English pub, that sells good pub grub. What would they order off the menu?

Adam's an active sort of guy, very physical and likes a good feed. He'd have a large steak, rare, with a salad, with plenty of dressing. And since he's a botanist he could tell you all about the species of lettuce and tomato on the plate.

Zach is less of a sensualist. He's an intellectual. He'd go for fish and chips - fish is brain food!

Q: And can you prove that all published writers are really human?

I don't know about all of them - I have my doubts about a few who I think might be tireless book-producing machines. But me, I'm human. You can tell this by the mistakes I make. Machines never make mistakes. When someone says there was a "computer error", what they really mean is "there was a human error in programming the computer." Mistakes define humanity. Hmm, philosophical. I also enter into evidence my bill for tea and coffee.

Links to places to find and interact with me:

• Website
• Twitter
• Facebook

Becky is a bit shy, so didn't want to share her profile picture. Instead she's provided pictures and an explanation to her inspiration for her two heroes. 

I don't often find a picture of someone who looks just right for my character and I very rarely "cast" a famous actor as one of them. But if Higher Ground was a movie I'd want to cast Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch as Zach - though possibly with the hairstyle of Daniel Faraday in Lost.

And this picture works nicely for Adam. And him lying in bed wearing a slightly stunned expression, coincidentally works nicely for a scene in the book too!
 

Teaser and blurb:

Zach is impatient and likes to hurry. Adam likes to take it slow and to tease. But, they'd have worked it all out — if only the end of the world hadn't gotten in the way.

Zach Benesh is sure his prediction is right - the island colony of Zahara is about to sink into the ocean. Adam Gray isn't as certain, but he's happy to follow the intense, brilliant geophysicist into the mountains to escape the flooding. Though he'd be even happier without three hundred other people - and their pets - tagging along. He’d like to have Zach all to himself out there.

But Zach’s prediction is right and as disaster begins to unfold towards an unstoppable, inevitable conclusion, the two young scientists must become a team in the fight to save their people. They draw strength from their rapidly developing relationship, but the higher Zach and Adam climb, the more difficult the tests they face - as lovers and as men.

Excerpt:
Excerpt of Higher Ground

Higher Ground on Loose Id’s site. 

Thanks for teleporting over, Becky. Good luck with Higher Ground. I'm loving that image of Adam, there, and that Zach would order fish and chips.