TBG: Rhys Ford is here today talking about…well, a variety of things.  Plus, she has a new book releasing this week from Dreamspinner Press, Dirty Deeds, which is book 4 of her very popular Cole McGinnis Series.  Anyone remember the crazy ending of Dirty Laundry??!!  She’s also here to give away a $20 Amazon gift card (or other e-tailer).  Thank you, Rhys, for all that you do!

Rhys’ Ramblings

I’ve always told stories.

Even as a little kid… a very grubby little kid… I told them to my friends. Friends who were more often than not, stuffed animals and dolls. I would read things and pretty much act them out with my fuzzy companions. Sometimes, on the rare occasion when there was a live flesh friend to play with, we were superheroes or pirates or samurai. Ninja sometimes. Secret Ninja Circus was on television… KIKU was the Japanese station and it’s the only clear one we got. Most of the television I watched had subtitles and well, reading was a good skill to have if you wanted to keep straight who the hell was whom in a black mask.

I watched Kikaida, Kamen Raida and Princess Knight. Most of my role models were male or in the case of PK, a female who went around pretending to be male as a disguise.

None of that made me feel like being female was to be weak. I never connected the two. Life just was what it was and if I wanted to be Kikaida that day, I was just male in my head.

Some people have said this is a gender fluidity. I’m all… nah, it’s just that I don’t cleave to stereotypes. Boxes marked boy and girl were never comfortable so I never wore them. I began to feel uncomfortable later when people started saying things like; oh she’s very butch so she’s a lesbian. Which was confusing because I’m about as attracted to another female as a gay guy. For me, the feminine bits were never exotic and beautiful. They were kinda odd looking and for God’s sake, couldn’t we have gotten the pee standing up thing? What was with this squatting shit?

My brain often took a left turn at logic. Because, you see, there were other things to be interested in than what box I could fit in.
Stories unfolded. Emotions were felt. Things explored and re-explored if it made me feel good inside. As the world outside of me crumbled and turned to pain, I hid in the words in my head, cloaking myself in other bits and pieces I knitted myself. Because I could live in my own head if need be.

And I did for quite a long time.

But time passed. And I passed different points in my life where I no longer needed to shut down and realized, I was okay with who I was. Who I’d made as this person. There were things to work on. God so many things but the word… the world building… the stories…the personalities shouldn’t be shoved aside like a child’s box of broken crayons.

This was something I’d done all my life. I’d watched people and made up stories about what they did or who they loved. I’d read what people did with one another; in a store while they walked about with tight body language or even sometimes a brief glance of affection when having dinner. Most often I watched as people lived around one another instead of with each other. And while that made me sad inside, it made me realize that sometimes, people just existed.

You see, I never wanted to just exist. I kind of wanted to wade into life and remain…that little grubby kid.

I write like how I want to live. I want to be armpit deep in the filth and beauty of the human being. I want to hear the arguments and wear the laughter. And that’s what I hope to bring the reader. Sometimes not the prettiest of stories but definitely the most… grubby.

I think the best stories are the grubby ones. Really. When the reader isn’t too certain that things are going to be okay. Where there has to be faith in the writer. Where sometimes a little blood might be spilled in order for the story to go forward.

But most of all, they should be fun.

In Dirty Deeds, I’m definitely going to get the reader a bit grubby. I get Cole very grubby. This is a book where he’s had to take a step back and look at where he is. He’s… happy. Really. But there are things out there that are a bit… unsettled and Cole being Cole, he’s got to go out there and see why. And to uncover the things he’s got buried in his own back yard.

But oh, best part about getting a character grubby? He can take a hell of a long time getting clean again.

It’s also a hell of a lot of fun showing how he gets clean. And isn’t that a big part of why we write or read about two men in love? The showers? Okay and other things—but the showers. *grins*

So I imagine I’ll continue to tell stories. For a while still. For as long as I can imagine worlds and personalities and well, for as long as anyone continues to read them. Maybe even beyond.

Dirty Deeds by Rhys Ford

(Book 4 in the Cole McGinnis Series)

Blurb: Sheila Pinelli needed to be taken out.

Former cop turned private investigator Cole McGinnis never considered committing murder. But six months ago, when Jae-Min’s blood filled his hands and death came knocking at his lover’s door, killing Sheila Pinelli became a definite possibility.

While Sheila lurks in some hidden corner of Los Angeles, Jae and Cole share a bed, a home, and most of all, happiness. They’d survived Jae’s traditional Korean family disowning him and plan on building a new life—preferably one without the threat of Sheila’s return hanging over them.

Thanks to the Santa Monica police mistakenly releasing Sheila following a loitering arrest, Cole finally gets a lead on Sheila’s whereabouts. That is, until the trail goes crazy and he’s thrown into a tangle of drugs, exotic women, and more death. Regardless of the case going sideways, Cole is determined to find the woman he once loved as a sister and get her out of their lives once and for all.

Rhys Ford’s Dirty Deeds releases March 28th and can be pre-ordered at Dreamspinner Press!

About Rhys Ford

Rhys admits to sharing the house with three cats of varying degrees of black fur, a black Pomeranian puffball and a ginger cairn terrorist. Rhys is also enslaved to the upkeep a 1979 Pontiac Firebird, a Toshiba laptop, and a purple Bella coffee maker.

You can find me on my Blog, Facebook, & Twitter

And at the Starbucks down the street. No really, they’re 24/7. And a drive-thru. It’s like heaven.

My books can be purchased, folded and first chapters read at Dreamspinner Press.

In honor of Rhys’ upcoming release, Dirty Deeds, she’s offering up a $20 gift card to Amazon (or other e-tailer)! Yay!

The giveaway starts now and will end next Monday, March 31st, 2014, at 11:59 pm EST. After which the lucky winner will be randomly picked.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below with your email address and you’re in!

Make sure to follow the blog for the winners’ announcement post or check back next Tuesday, April 1st, 2014, to see if you’ve won.

Don’t forget, Dirty Deeds is available for pre-order and will be releasing from Dreamspinner Press on March 28th, 2014! Check out Nikyta’s review to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!