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| Out in the Sticks |
About the Book
Title Out in the Sticks
Genre Gay romance
Author Name H. Lewis-Foster
Book heat level (based on movie ratings): R
Lawyer Adam Sibden has moved to the charming English village of Sharpley to forget about men. But when he
takes his car to the local garage, he can’t help being attracted to the handsome
young manager Jim Turley. At the village pub that evening, a misunderstanding leads
to a highly embarrassing moment for Adam, but Jim thankfully comes to his rescue
and makes him feel more at ease.
As the winter weather takes hold, Adam finds himself stranded
with a punctured tyre, following a disastrous meeting with his ex-boyfriend Lucas.
Adam calls the garage’s breakdown service, and when Jim ventures into the snow to
find him, he offers more help than Adam could have hoped for.
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Interview with Adam Sibden
Tell us about yourself,
please.
My name’s Adam, I’m in my thirties and I’m a lawyer. I’ve just
moved to a village called Sharpley—I still work in Nottingham,
but I decided to move out of my apartment in the city. It’s been a tough year, and
I wanted to make a fresh start. I really like living ‘out in the sticks’, as my
colleagues call my new abode. There a few downsides—the village shop is shut by
the time I get home and the broadband speed is pitiful—but the big upside is the
people I’ve met here, especially Jim.
What is it that you want,
but cannot have? Authors call this the conflict of the story.
I suppose what I really want at the start of the story is to
forget about men. That was the whole point of moving out to the countryside. I had
such a rotten time with my ex, Lucas, I didn’t even want to think about having another
relationship. But then I met Jim, and what can I say? He made me realize there are
some good men out there—and Jim is the best of them.
Tell us about your significant
other, that person who makes living worthwhile.
Jim manages the local garage, and he’s a damn good mechanic,
but he’s great with the customers, too. That’s where I met him, in fact, when I
took my car to be serviced, and he’s been part of my life ever since. I know it’s
corny, but Jim is the most amazing man I’ve ever met. He is gorgeous, of course,
but he’s kind and generous, too. I didn’t think I’d ever trust another man when
I split up with Lucas, but Jim was there for me as a friend, and now he’s so much
more. He’s rescued me in so many ways, from a punctured tire to a broken heart,
and I can’t imagine my life without him.
What would that person
say about you?
I think he’d say I’m a bit impractical—I still can’t build a
decent fire in the hearth at Sage Cottage. Luckily Jim is an expert, having lived
in the countryside most of his life. I hope he’d say I’m pretty good in the kitchen—I’m
better than Jim, anyway. The only thing he’s not brilliant at is cooking—he even
managed to burn baked beans—so I guess he loves me for my culinary skills, and hopefully
a few other things, too.
If someone from your past
showed up, who would you NOT want it to be, and why?
Sadly, there are quite a few people I was happy to leave behind
when I moved to Sharpley. The person I would least like to see, however, is Lucas.
He turned out not to be the person I thought he was, but in some ways I’m grateful
to him. If it wasn’t for him, I never would have moved to Sharpley, and I never
would have met Jim.
Are you happy with the
way your story ended? Why or why not?
Twelve months ago, I thought my life was over, but now I’ve made
a new life in Sharpley. I can see a future now, with Jim and all the other friends
I’ve made here, so I couldn’t be happier with the way my story ended.
About the Writer
You have the length of
a tweet (140 characters) to describe yourself as a writer. Let’s see what you can
do.
I always like to write something new – historical, contemporary,
futuristic – with all sorts of characters and settings. Variety is the spice of
my writing life.
When you wrote about this
character, what made you the most happy? What made you the most sad?
What made me most sad was the way Adam had been treated by people
he thought he could trust. He’s a good person and he feels really let down. He’s
trying to make the best of things, by moving to a new place, but he still bears
a lot of emotional scars. The happiest aspect of the story is the fact he meets
Jim, who is exactly the right person to help Adam build his new life in the countryside.
Why do you write?
I write because I love it. I won’t say it’s not difficult sometimes,
and fitting it in with everyday life can be tricky, but now I’ve started, I can’t
imagine stopping. It’s an amazing feeling, to know that people anywhere in the world
could be reading my stories, and when someone tells you they’ve enjoyed your writing,
it makes all the hard work worthwhile.
What do you want to write
next?
At the moment, I’m writing a story set in the 1960s, in an English
university town. It’s really interesting writing a story that’s not quite contemporary,
but not quite historical. I hope I’ve captured the spirit of the time, both its
possibilities and limitations, and the effect this has on the characters. While
it’s perhaps not such a straightforward romance as some of my stories, there are
some lovely characters in it, and I hope readers will enjoy it when it’s published.
Author Bio
H. Lewis-Foster has always worked with books, in one form or
another. As a keen reader of gay fiction, she decided to try writing herself, and
is now the proud author of several short stories and a debut novel.
H. has lived in various parts of the UK and has recently moved to the north of England, where she’s
enjoying city life, especially the theatres and cinemas. She tries not to watch
too much television, but is a big fan of Downton Abbey, and while she’s writing,
she loves listening to Test Match Special (where they spend far more time talking
about cakes than cricket!)
H. has also ventured into playwriting and was thrilled to see
her first play performed at the Southend Playwriting Festival earlier this year.
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