Today, I have author Stephen G Hardy in the interview chair. We’re discussing his latest series release The Christopher Books, a contemporary, LGBTQ+ novel with speculative elements.
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LGBTQ+ Contemporary/Literary fiction with a speculative element
Christopher Dunn is a young man who possesses unique qualities that draw people to him. In return, everyone who meets him is changed for the better. Everyone could use a Christopher in their lives.
The three books in the series need to be read in order.
Overall Heat Rating for the series: 2 flames
Follow Christopher as he explores various types of relationships and the impact he has on the lives of others.
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1. How long have you been writing fiction?
Stephen: I wrote the first draft of my first novel, Search for Complete, over three months in the summer of 2019. I haven’t stopped writing since.
2. What made you decide you wanted to put yourself out there to be published?
Stephen: I had a story that I felt was timely and important and needed to be read. It was scary, at first, to allow myself to be so vulnerable.
3. What was your first published book?
Stephen: “Search for Complete,” book one in the series was my first book. There are now three books in the series. The other two are “The Price of Happiness” and “When the Sun and Moon Touch.”
4. Do you have a favourite character from one of your books? Why?
Stephen: Christopher Dunn is hands-down my favorite character and one I don’t think I shall ever find another to compete with. He is just someone everyone could use in their lives. I have a friend who has read the books, and she often tells me that when she is unsure what to do, she asks herself, “What would Christopher do?”
5. Is there one genre you haven’t tried but you see yourself writing in the future?
Stephen: Historical Fiction.
6. Do you write hetero romance? Why or why not?
Stephen: I haven’t written one, but there is a hetero romance of sorts in “Search for Complete.” I am not sure I will write one in the future, but you never know.
7. What are your thoughts on erotica?
Stephen: It has its place, but it isn’t a genre I seek out or have a desire to write.
8. What are you currently working on?
Stephen: I am currently querying Agents a m/m romance entitled, “It’s Not a Paper Moon.”
9. When creating your characters, do you have models/actors/real people in mind, or are they totally fictional?
Stephen: My characters are always based on people I have met or know, and sometimes, I base them on myself from different points in my life. I am not the same person at 62 as I was at 22. I try to tap into those memories.
10. If you write gay romance or erotica, just how descriptive are you in their sex scenes?
Stephen: I am not graphic in my sex scenes, but the action is alluded to or suggested.
11. As a gay fiction or m/m romance author, do you feel that the trend is changing where it is becoming more mainstream?
Stephen: There is a huge number of sub-genres in m/m romance available these days. My husband reads mostly paranormal m/m romances with werewolves and elves. I admit it isn’t something I am interested in.
12. What would you say is the distinct difference between m/m and gay fiction?
Stephen: I don’t know that there is a clear distinction. Gay fiction is books that reference what it means to be gay, and m/m romance is a part of that. My trilogy features m/m romance, but I wouldn’t classify it as such.
13. Do you believe it’s important for you to know the gender of the author?
Stephen: No, I do not.
14. What is it about gay fiction and/or m/m romance that you enjoy writing?
Stephen: I like to see myself and my life represented. It’s what I know and what I am most authentic in writing.
15. What promotional method works best for you?
Stephen: Influencers promoting my books.
16. Fun questions:
a) Your favourite gay TV show or movie?
Stephen: Maurice, Cobalt Blue.
b) Your favourite gay celeb?
Stephen: Andrew Scott
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Title: Search for Complete
Series: The Christopher Books, book one
Author: Stephen G Hardy
Genres: Contemporary LGBTQ+ Fiction with speculative elements.
Tropes: Friends to Platonic lovers
Themes: Interpersonal relationships, Conversations as Catalyst for Change
Length: 80 127 words /335 pages
Release Date: June 4, 2023
Blurb: “Why do I get the feeling that Christopher is the type of man that would make the perfect husband for any woman and, at the same time, the perfect wife for any man?” Laura says shortly after Christopher begins his new job at the TV station. Laura’s statement would turn out to hold more truth than she could imagine. No one who meets Christopher, especially not Laura, as well as David, a gay man he meets at a party, understands what it is about him that draws them to him. They also don’t realize that Christopher is searching for something, a search complicated by their desires for him.
Awards: 2024 International Impact Book Award winner for LGBTQ+ Literary Fiction; The BookFest Awards, Fall 2023- Honorable mention LGBTQ+ Literary Fiction
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
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Title: The Price of Happiness
Series: The Christopher Books, book two
Author: Stephen G Hardy
Genres: Contemporary LGBTQ+ Literary Fiction
Tropes: Love and loss
Themes: Parenthood, interpersonal relationships, finding oneself
Length: 84 447 words/330 pages
Release Date: November 24, 2023
Blurb: As Search for Complete left off, the birth of his twins had just completed Christopher. However, though he has what he had searched so long for, he now must deal with the associated costs, namely the unraveling of his relationship with Laura, the mother of his twins. The birth of the twins should have brought Laura joy, yet, instead, she finds herself on an intense emotional rollercoaster. Laura resents Christopher’s happiness—resents that he is a better mother than she is. But most of all, Laura resents that the twins are Christopher’s spitting image—nowhere does she see herself in them. Christopher fears his happiness in becoming a father has become Laura’s undoing. As he tries to help her adjust to the reality of their situation, Laura struggles to find herself in the tangled mess of their relationship.
In The Price of Happiness, Stephen Hardy has created a profound and moving novel on the themes of parenthood, identity, love and loss—and the cost of getting what we want.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
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Title: When the Sun and Moon Touch
Series: The Christopher Books, book two
Author: Stephen G Hardy
Genres: Contemporary LGBTQ+ Literary Fiction
Tropes: M2M relationships
Themes: Finding oneself, forgiveness, love
Length: 87 639 words/353 Pages
Release Date: March 29, 2024
Blurb: Christopher has settled into life as a single father to his twins, Loren and Christine. Content with his life, he is contemplating the imminent return of their mother Laura, who has been traveling through Europe for nearly a year, when he meets Benjamin, a direct descendant of the sun. Suddenly, his contentment is upended as he tries to understand the reason for their meeting. Despite what Benjamin says, that they are meant to be together, Christopher initially tries to hold
Benjamin at arm’s length, believing that he is only to be for Benjamin what Joseph was to him—a friend and mentor.
Note: The stories need to be read in order. This book does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
Opening scene from book 3: When the Sun and Moon Touch
Their laughter brought me great joy as I watched Loren and Christine mount the short flight of steps and slide down the slide on their behinds. They were quite independent, except for each other, even at the age of two, and had refused my assistance. While they romped, I sat on the bench to watch and enjoy what had turned out to be a lovely day for the end of March. In this moment I felt as though I had not a care in the world.
The sound of an email arriving on my phone startled me. Pulling it from my jacket pocket, I was surprised to see it was from Laura, as it was rare to get one from her.
Christopher-
I am planning on returning at the beginning of May. Please let the rental company know they need to have the tenants vacate by the end of April. Thanks.
Laura
That was it. There was nothing about how she was doing or what she planned to do upon her return. She did not even ask after the twins. But then she never asked about them. I tried not to read anything into this, but it was not easy.
It had been nearly a year since Laura had left our children in my sole custody while she backpacked her way around Europe in order to find herself, something I had supported both emotionally and financially. She never let on how she was doing in any of her very short emails. And now, she was coming back.
I put my phone away and looked at the twins, thinking about what Laura’s return could mean for us. Would Laura still feel the same way about things as she had when she left: that the twins belonged to me and not to her?
“Excuse me?”
Blinking at the sound of someone’s voice, I looked up to see a handsome man looking down at me with grey-green eyes that were all the more striking given his dark coloring. Suddenly, something flitted within his eyes, and I caught my breath. Could it be? Composing myself, I said, “Hello, may I help you?”
“Hi. No. I,” The stranger paused, suddenly flustered, “Sorry to disturb you, but are those children playing on the slide yours?” he blurted out.
“Yes, they are.”
“I thought so. They look just like you.” He held out his hand. “My name’s Benjamin Johnson.”
“I am Christopher Dunn,” I replied, taking his hand and then indicating the place beside me on the bench, “You may join me if you wish.” I had to find out if what I had seen was indeed there.
Benjamin sat beside me, looking down at his hands while I looked at him. Looking up, he seemed about to say something and then stopped.
“Yes?” I prompted.
“Yes, what?” He stammered.
“Sorry, I thought you were going to ask me something.”
“Um, I was, but never mind.”
“No, please. Tell me what you were going to say,” I said, giving him a small smile of encouragement.
“Well, and I know this will sound ridiculous, but I had this weird feeling that something led me to you. God, I’m sorry. That sounds like some bad pickup line,” Benjamin said, laughing to cover up his embarrassment. Even with his dark skin, I could tell he was blushing.
“I do not think it sounds crazy at all.” I turned to face Benjamin, giving him my full attention. “Tell me more about this feeling.”
“I don’t know that there’s anything more to tell.”
“I think there is and would like to hear it,” I said, staring intently into his eyes, still amazed by what I saw there. What were the chances that I would meet someone like Joseph here in Balboa Park, seemingly by chance? But no, Benjamin had been guided to me if his statement was true.
“Um, okay, well, I was walking through the park and felt this pushing sensation against my back whenever I stopped to look at anything. It continued until I saw you.”
“Has there ever been another time you felt this?” I asked, not moving my eyes from his face.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“I see.” For some reason, I did not believe him. “I take it you just moved to San Diego.”
“How did you know?”
“Your accent, for starters.”
“Oh, yeah. I guess that is a giveaway. I keep forgetting that here, I have an accent. I moved here in mid-January from Atlanta.”
“Was there a special reason for the move?”
“A job.”
His words surprised me. “Oh. Had you been looking for a new job?” I said, recalling that I had moved to San Diego for a similar reason.
“Actually, no, I hadn’t been looking. I got a call from a recruiter and . . .” Benjamin paused.
“And?”
“Sorry. I just remembered that when I got the call about the job, I felt something was compelling me to take it. Kind of like what I described to you just now about being guided to you. But that must have been my imagination as well.”
“I see. You felt yourself being pushed to move here, and you felt the same sensation leading you to me,” I said, more to myself than to him.
“Crazy, isn’t it?”
“On the contrary, Benjamin, I find it very plausible.”
“Are you saying that I felt that desire to take the job here in order to meet you?”
“It is entirely possible,” I replied, still marveling at the coincidences of our experiences.
“But what possible reason could there be?”
“That remains to be determined.”
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Stephen Hardy was born in the San Francisco Bay Area but grew up in the Pacific Northwest. His career as a fashion designer took him back to San Francisco before he headed to New York City, where he met his husband of twenty years. Tiring of the hectic pace of the fashion industry, Stephen gave up his career to become a stay-at-home dad for his and his husband’s two adopted sons and a quiet life in Connecticut.
Now residing in Phoenix, Arizona, and with the kids grown, Stephen returned to university, where he rediscovered his love for writing. His focus is on contemporary fiction, examining social issues regarding gender, sexuality, and relationships. Search for Complete is his first novel, and a sequel is expected in early 2024.
Follow Stephen: Blog/Website | Facebook | Instagram
Maggie Blackbird 