Good Morning Everyone! Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing A.J. Llewellyn, author of A Wizard in Waikiki.
Hi A.J., thank you for agreeing to this
interview. Tell us a little about yourself and your background?
Thanks for having me here! Well I was born in Australia and moved here in 1984.
I’ve been here ever since but traveled around quite a bit, always happy to
return to California. I write M/M novels in all kinds of categories and I love
what I do. I’ve had over 200 books published and there are more to come.
What were you like at school?
My teachers and classmates apparently
had low expectations of me since I was voted the least likely to succeed. The
other girl who won the same dubious extinction went on to be a superstar model.
Ha! We are still close friends and stay in touch, but I guess I feel I still
have something to prove because I work hard each and every day.
Were you good at English?
Yes. It was my favorite subject. I
wrote stories from the time I was a little girl. It was, and is, my passion.
Give us an insight into your main
character. What does he do that is so special?
Konu is a three-hundred-year old
Tahitian Wizard who comes back to Hawaii after a long absence and an enforced
banishment to the spiritual wilderness. Now he’s returned, he is fulfilling his
destiny to heal people. Some people believe he is who he says he is, others
think he’s a homeless nut. He has the power to cure many diseases but soon
learns that some people are resistant.
If this book is part of a series, tell
us a little about it?
Yes! Book Two, Peridot Dreams reveals more about Konu’s new lover Jason. Konu is
still adjusting to life in Hawaii and I am working on book 3, Luau Feet, right now. Konu works on his
toughest case yet – and finds himself falling deeper and deeper in love with
Jason.
How much research do you do?
A lot! I did a lot of homework on the Wizard Stones and just returned from
Waikiki yesterday. I went to repay my respects to the four stones and took a
flower lei to the ancient spirits guarding them. I was shocked how few people
notice them or know anything about the stones! Yet they are massive and have a
wrought iron enclosure around them.
Do you read much and if so who are your
favourite authors.
Oh, yes. Reading is my refuge. I am
amazed when authors tell me they don’t read. I don’t understand that at all. In
his book, On Writing, (which is my
bivble, by the way) Stephen King states that authors who don’t read have no
business writing. I actually agree with him.
What books are you reading at present?
I am reading Eucalyptus, by Murray Bail. It’s an Australian novel that was
supposed to be made into a movie starring Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe. It’s
a wonderful book! It’s very quirky, and a kind of Sleeping Beauty story about a
young woman who is so beautiful, all men want her, but her father, a tree
expert with a passion for eucalyptus trees, organizes a contest. Whoever can
correctly name a rare specimen of the tree gets to marry his daughter. I’m
loving it so far.
How successful has your quest for
reviews been so far?
I haven’t asked for reviews in a
very long time. I don’t think it’s good for authors to do that. I did when I started
out but I think they should come organically.
What are your thoughts on good/bad
reviews?
Well to be honest I’ve had both and
I sure prefer the good ones! Having said that, a publicist told me many years
ago never to read reviews good or bad because they mess with the muse. I
learned the hard way that she was right. I’ll tell you something I learned too.
Good reviews don’t mean you’ll get huge sales. Bad reviews don’t mean you won’t
either. I find that really interesting.
What’s your views on social media for
marketing?
Oh it’s very necessary and I do
something every day in relation to promoting my books.
Which social network worked best for
you?
I love Facebook and think some of
the reader/author groups are so awesome.
Any tips on what to do and what not to
do?
Yes! Don’t post endless excerpts or
the same blurb and promo on every single yahoo group/FB group etc. every single
day. You get a bad reputation and it puts people off.
Did you make any marketing mistakes or
is there anything you would avoid in future?
Of course I made mistakes. I’m
human! LOL!
I hired a PR person who
over-promoted a book for me and she got me banned from several Yahoo groups. She ran around posting my blurb and except on
all the wrong days and even went to the same groups over and over again. She
did the same thing to a few other authors. We sorted it out eventually but it
was horrible. Don’t rely on marketing gurus to promote your brand. Know who you
are working with, but also take some responsibility and do your own thing. I
think blogging works and book trailers. I have a couple out there, but
honestly, connecting with readers and writers through social networking sites
is your best sales tool ever.
How can readers discover more about you
and you work?
My details:
A.J. Llewellyn
is an author of M/M romantic fiction who was born in Australia, and lives in
Los Angeles. An early obsession with Robinson Crusoe led to a lifelong love
affair with islands, particularly Hawaii and Easter Island.
Being marooned
once on Wedding Cake Island in Australia cured her of a passion for fishing,
but led to a plotline for a novel. A.J.’s friends live in fear because even the
smallest details of their lives usually wind up in her stories. A.J. has a
desire to paint, draw, juggle, work for the FBI, walk a tightrope with an
elephant, be a chess champion, a steeplejack, master chef, and a world-class
surfer. She can’t do any of these things so she writes about them instead.
A.J. I started
life as a journalist and boxing columnist, and still enjoys interrogating, er,
interviewing people to find out what makes them tick.
Friend me/Find me:
email:
ajllewellyn@gmail.com
website:
www.ajllewellyn.com
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TITLE:
A Wizard in Waikiki
AUTHOR:
A.J. Llewellyn
PUBLISHER:
Ai
Press
COVER
ARTIST: Sid Love
LENGTH:
62 Pages
RELEASE
DATE: April 25, 2016
BLURB:
Summoned from the past, Konu rises naked from the sea to reclaim his power for
the freedom to live—and love. If the forces of evil don’t get to him first!
On a hot day in
Waikiki, beachgoers are stunned when a tall, handsome man rises from the ocean.
Striding naked to a small, ringed enclosure containing four huge stones most
tourists never even notice, he becomes visibly upset. These are Wizard Stones,
positioned between the beach and the foot traffic on Kalakaua Avenue. Konu, the
naked man, is agitated by a young Asian girl draping her beach towel over the
stones. He's come a long way, from Tahiti, and is one of the ancient wizards
whose power was infused into these sacred stones four hundred years ago.
With the invisible
battle between good and evil raging, Konu has been dispatched to help balance
the power. Landing in modern-day Waikiki, he's stunned by the changes – and to
find he is alone. A cop tries to arrest him for indecent exposure but the young
girl's grandfather – who thinks Konu's a homeless lunatic offers him refuge.
Will the ancient forces of evil beat this wizard in Waikiki? Or can Konu find
his power again, and perhaps…even love?
Publisher’s note: This book was previously published. It has been edited and re-released with Ai Press.
He rose from the cold,
dark depths of the ocean, pain and fear eating at him as his human form slowly
molded and emerged, begging for air. Precious, sweet air. He needed to breathe.
As he stumbled onto the hot sand at last, the heat seared his feet, but the
pain in his body vanished as he took deep, gulping breaths. His human form was
so astonishing, it struck him as being perfect, even though his feet hurt.
It wasn't ego. He had
been forbidden to enjoy his physical, earthly body for five hundred years.
I am alive. I am human.
I am here!
He longed to stand and
just… be, to absorb the moment he'd waited for, but Konu sensed the stares of
people at the beach. His long, wet black hair clung to his face and shoulders
as his gaze took in the mass of bodies… the colorful strips of fabric they
wore. He had come a long way. Under cover of darkness, using only the stars for
guidance, Konu arrived at the place they called Waikiki. Now, in the late
afternoon light, his strength sapped, he'd been forced to leave the sanctity of
the sea. He'd tried to wait for night, but he was tired… so tired.
For five hundred years,
his soul and those of the four sorcerers he'd worked with, watched and waited.
In the distance, at the
edges of the sand, he saw the flash of large beasts… loud sounds, flickering
tiki torches, the flashes of smiles. He heard laughter and the jarring sound of
a dozen different languages. Then he saw them. All of the sights and sounds
stilled. His heart gave a lurch at the sight of the stones.
His stones.
Konu flushed with anger
as a woman draped a thick, brightly colored towel over the iron gate and onto
one of the four boulders representing the sacred mana of the ancient, fifteenth
century wizards—Kapaemahu, Kahaloa, Kapuni and… Kinohi, Konu's grandfather.
Konu had been the fifth wizard, the sacred protector of the stones… until he'd
been banished.
“Hey!” the woman
shouted as he pulled her wet towel from the iron gate surrounding the stones and
tossed it onto the ground.
The word Aloha flashed
up at him from the pooled fabric.
Konu narrowed his eyes
as his gaze shifted to the woman. Was she the sign he'd been seeking?
He reached in through
the bars to touch the boulders. It wasn't easy. The gate kept a distance
between the stones and prying human hands. He glanced at the white pigeons
sitting vigil on the rocks. The tiny bird heads turned in his direction. These
miniature keepers of the fire looked as exhausted as he felt. They were dirty,
unkempt, very sick birds. Konu read their energies. His mind flashed on mass,
migratory deaths. These were the survivors. They had flocked to the stones as
creatures in trouble always had. They needed his help.
The gate had a small
lock that in his normal strength, he could have removed, but he was weakened by
the journey. He was relieved that the four wizard stones seemed intact. His
heart almost broke at the sight of one very scrawny bird that looked near death
as it lay on his grandfather's rock. The bird kept pecking at itself, biting at
a raw wound in its wing. Konu held his hand near the bird, unable to reach it.
The bird scuttled a little closer. It tucked its head under its wing and Konu
worked his magic. He tried to sense if the bird wanted to live or die, but
people were jostling him now, and he had to work fast.
He gave the creature
life and with a flap of his hand, produced a few worms on top of the rock face.
The bird gobbled quickly. The stone's supernatural power would restore the
bird's fire-core. Konu grappled to touch the rock. He saw now that people had
brought offerings. Purple orchid leis dangled along the gateposts. Somebody had
left a shell lei, too. He gingerly stroked it. A recent addition.
Two bronze plaques
stood before them. He scanned the writing. He recognized it as English. He had
to retrain his mind to read the words.
The voices around him
grew loud again as his hand crackled like lightning against the sensing power
of the stones. Ah, magic still dwells here. He felt the separate, yet unified,
energies of each wizard infused inside the stones. He took a deep breath as his
hand came to the last stone, which represented his grandfather. Konu, long
exiled from his family, yearned for this sincere connection with Kinohi. His
hand neared the stone, but fell on a yellow lei. Ilima, flower of the gods.
He bent his head and
wept.
They haven't forgotten
us.
So long he'd waited and
now he was here, his emotions had gotten the better of him. He gripped the iron
bars for a moment, blinking away the hot tears on his face. He reached out once
again, this time touching his grandfather's stone. A dim stirring from within.
The mana was still there. Polluted, but it was there. Sleeping. The stone had
sought to protect itself. He understood now why his family had sent him here.
The bird he'd healed
stood on wobbly legs. Konu saw that one of them was broken. With another flick
of his wrist, he restored the injured foot. The bird glanced at him with one
beady eye, hopped to the tallest rock, and settled down to watch him.
“Fly,” Konu said, but
the bird remained with its companions.
“He threw my towel down!” the woman beside him shouted. “Somebody get the police. This guy is lolo…he's crazy!”
A.J. Llewellyn lives in California, but dreams of living in Hawaii. Frequent trips to all the islands, bags of Kona coffee in the fridge and a healthy collection of Hawaiian records keep this writer refueled.
A.J’s passion for the islands led to writing a play about the last ruling monarch of Hawaii, Queen Lili’uokalani as well as a non-erotic novel about the overthrow of her kingdom written in diary form from her maid’s point of view.
A.J. never lacks inspiritation for male/male erotic romances and on the rare occasion this happens, pursues other passions such as collecting books on Hawaiiana, surfing and spending time with friends and animal companions.
A.J. Llewellyn believes that love is a song best sung out loud.
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