This week I am delighted to be having a slice of cake with author Marvin Neu.
M.D. Neu is an award-winning Gay fiction writer with a love for writing and travel. Living in the heart of Silicon Valley (San Jose, California) and growing up around technology, he’s always been fascinated with what could be. Specifically drawn to sci-fi and paranormal television and novels, M.D. Neu was inspired by the great Gene Roddenberry, George Lucas, Stephen King, Alice Walker, Alfred Hitchcock, Harvey Fierstein, Anne Rice, and Kim Stanley Robinson. An odd combination, but one that has influenced his writing.
Growing up in an accepting family as a gay man, he always wondered why there were never stories reflecting who he was. Constantly surrounded by characters that only reflected heterosexual society, M.D. Neu decided he wanted to change that. So, he took to writing, wanting to tell good stories that reflected our diverse world.
When M.D. Neu isn’t writing, he works for a nonprofit and travels with his biggest supporter and his harshest critic, Eric, his husband of nineteen plus years.
What kind of stories do you write?
When it comes to the books I write, I try to write novels that take the readers to new places, I write books that deal with aliens coming to our world “today” and us as a human culture having to learn to work and live in this new reality. How do we relate to an alien species when we can’t get along with each other?
I also enjoy writing stories that can be classified as ‘cosy vampire stories’ I write these stories based in a believable reality and not so much based in gore, legends, and sex. Even though there is quite a bit dealing with mythology my vampires aren’t mindless feeding machines in human skin, and they certainly aren’t the damned creatures of the night that we have all come to expect.
Another area I explore in my writing is the world of ‘what ifs’. What if Dragons were real, and they helped fight off deadly curses? What happens to a group of friends after their hometown is no more? What happens if an Angel of Death loses his wings and has to live as a human? What if there is a lost continent off the Pacific Ocean, hiding under the sea where no one can find it?
These are the books I enjoy writing, and that I hope people appreciate reading.
Can you describe your writing why?
For me, I want to write what my teenage self would have wanted to read. I want to write about epic adventures that take me out of our world and put me down in a new world to explore. I also find myself remembering how I craved for the works that spoke of the world I wanted to see. What this means, to me and my writing, is I endeavour to be as inclusive in my writing as possible. I focus all my works on the queer community, showing that queer as not only normal and every day but that queer is cross-cultural, cross economics, and cross-gender.
I believe representation is everything. The more we shine a light on the queer world the less scary it becomes for others. My hope is, through my works readers will see more and more of us as we truly are, we’re just like them. Nothing more and nothing less. I believe we are one people and what we do or don’t do in our private lives really doesn’t affect anyone but ourselves and the people we chose to be around. So, everything I write reflects that philosophy.
With all my novels and short stories, I could've written the main characters as ostensibly straight. However, how many times have we heard that perspective? Wouldn't it be a more interesting if we went against expectations showing more diversity in our writing and in what we read.
Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most
The section I would like to share today is from The Calling. It’s a moment near the beginning of the book where my main character Duncan is having a conversation with Juliet about the idea of who and what God may have created. For me, I love the interplay and this was one of the first moments I envisioned between Duncan and Juliet:
“Are you a religious man?”
“I believe in God,” I replied with complete certainty. I didn’t follow any one faith, well not since my mother passed away. “I was raised Catholic.”
“You believe God created Heaven and the Earth and even Hell.” Juliet put her glass down on the coffee table. “He created man and the angels, including the devil and demons. So, wouldn’t it be possible that he created other creatures as well?” She paused, taking several breaths. “As you said, this is a large world. Is there no room for the likes of those creatures?”
Tell us about your latest project
My most recent novel is T.A.D.-The Angel of Death.
Tad loves bouncing around in time and watching humanity grow and change. He loves humanity and helping when he can. However, his job isn’t conducive to helping people. He’s an Angel of Death.
Doug is fun-loving and a drama queen. Despite his witty exterior, he has a dark history and is prone to self-destruction. He’s also an amazing drag queen and hairstylist with big dreams.
When Tad pushes the boundaries of his duties too far, his angel wings are stripped away from him, and he is sent to New York City to live as a human. Lost and alone he ends up meeting Doug, and the two start a friendship that will shape them both and last a lifetime. But nothing is simple when you’re dealing with a former Angel of Death and a Drag Queen. Could these two cause the fabric of our world to collapse or will they manage to keep the future as it should?
***
I have three additional projects right now. First, I’m wrapping up the sequel to The Calling, which I’m hoping to send off to my publisher by the beginning of February. Second, I’ve finished book three in my award-winning Sci-Fi series A New World, which I’m hoping to get out either by the end of 2020 or beginning of 2021. Lastly, I have my newest novel I’m writing, it’s all about a lost continent found in the Pacific Ocean. It involves a former porn start, a scientist, and the Prince of this long-lost continent. It’s set a few years in the future. I’ve really enjoyed writing this story, the characters are fun and I hope people enjoy the novel when it comes out. There is a long way to go before this new novel is released so people can subscribe to my website, or follow me on Social Media for updates not only on this story but all my works.
What is your favourite cake?
I love double chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting.
Keep up to date with Marvin's books on his website. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Check out what Marvin is reading on Goodreads.
Join me next week when I'm joined by JT Morse.
If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.
You can also support my writing endeavours and buy me tea & cake - it's what makes the world go round!
Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find all her books on Amazon. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop.
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