Blog-Versary Author Post & Giveaway: Kevin Klehr – When Worlds Collide
When Worlds Collide
by Kevin Klehr
First off, I’m honoured to be part of On Top Down Under’s six-year anniversary. It took me a few days to work out what I wanted to share, but it all came to me as I took my morning swim today.
I have a new Romance Novella coming out on December 10 which takes place on New Year’s Eve. There’re several reasons I’m particularly excited about this one. The first is that I’ll be working with a new editor – the owner of NineStar Press, the publishing house it’s contracted to.
The second is that it will be my first release in Australian English (like UK/Canadian English). When my first novel, Drama Queens with Love Scenes, was released through a small Boston based company, my editor complained about the amount of spelling mistakes in the manuscript. When she went through it, she emailed it back to me. When I opened it, I had red squiggly lines under her corrected words.
Colour became color. Realise was now realize. We decided that, as it was being released through a US publisher, we’d change everything to US English to avoid confusion.
This is the case with all my work. When Drama Queens with Love Scenes made its way to other publishers, they too were American. And as this already-edited book had been Americanised, there was no point in reversing the spelling.
But the other reason I’m looking forward to the release of what is currently titled Midnight Angel, is that it combines characters from my Angels and Actors series, and the Nate and Cameron novellas.
This is not something new to my writing, but this will be the most obvious example of my fictional worlds colliding. A while back I noticed that when I named a minor character in a book, I’d unknowingly use the same name for a major character in my next book.
For example, I used the name Tayler for an incidental waiter in Nate and the New Yorker, after choosing it from a baby name site. When I wrote Social Media Central, I just happened to use the name, Taylor. So, I made this a thing. A subtle thing, but a thing nevertheless.
In Nate’s Last Tango, one of Nate’s best friends, Ben, starts falling for a guy named Fox. Fox also shows up in a sex club before he’s even met Ben in From Top to Bottom. Same character. Same description.
There is a scene in Drama Queens and Devilish Schemes where Adam and his guardian angel, Guy, are in a fantasy 
setting which is based on the wondrous city, Buenos Aires. Historic buildings surround them. People are dancing the tango, including a man with a blond curl who has a male partner.
In Nate’s Last Tango, Nate and Cameron are in Buenos Aires. Nate’s ex is named Elliot. Elliot has a blond curl. And Nate sees him dancing with another man at a gay tango lesson.
While it’s been fun adding these understated references to scenes from other books, Midnight Angel throws Guy, Nate, and Nate’s friend Lucy, together in the same narrative.
In it, Luke is waiting for Nate and Lucy to arrive for a New Year’s Eve dinner party. Luke likes Nate and is hoping to start a romance that night. When his guests don’t show up, Guy comes to the rescue.
For those who know my stories, this tale takes place before Nate meets any of his other love interests from previous books, and after Guy meets his boyfriend, Joshua. Guy has a lot of advice (and magic) for Luke around the nature of love and longing.
This will help put Midnight Angel in context.
Thanks again, Kazza, for inviting me to your site’s sixth anniversary. It’s always a pleasure to add content from down-under.
**GIVEAWAY**
As a special gift for one lucky reader of On Top Down Under, I’m giving away an eBook. The winner can visit http://www.kevinklehr.com/ and choose any novel of mine. They are all listed on the home page along with their blurbs and in some cases, their trailers. Giveaway ends Midnight Oct 15th, Australian EDST.
Please note, the winner will be contacted within 24 hours of the giveaway’s close. We allow 48 hours to contact us back, if not a redraw will occur. Please check your email’s spam folder. Good luck and cheers.
Author Bio:
Kevin is the author of a number of books including the Actors and Angels series and the Nate and Cameron Collection.
The Actors and Angels series are three comedies about theatre in the Afterlife, where two friends explore their love for each other through several lifetimes with the help of a gay angel. The third in the series scored a Rainbow Award for Best Gay Alternative Universe/Reality novel.
The Nate and Cameron collection are two novellas that delve into a relationship between a dreamer and a realist, where the latter is coming to terms with loving second best. The two stories, Nate and the New Yorker and Nate’s Last Tango, are also available in one paperback edition.
And his latest novel, Social Media Central, explores a future where e
The Actors and Angels series are three comedies about theatre in the Afterlife, where two friends explore their love for each other through several lifetimes with the help of a gay angel. The third in the series scored a Rainbow Award for Best Gay Alternative Universe/Reality novel.
The Nate and Cameron collection are two novellas that delve into a relationship between a dreamer and a realist, where the latter is coming to terms with loving second best. The two stories, Nate and the New Yorker and Nate’s Last Tango, are also available in one paperback edition.
And his latest novel, Social Media Central, explores a future where everyone is addicted to their screens.
Kevin lives with his long-term partner, Warren, in their humble apartment affectionately named Sabrina), in Australia’s own “Emerald City,” Sydney.
Contact Kevin:
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Those little name details linking your books are clever. I’ll have to look for them.
I can’t understand an editor coming unglued at colour v color. Do they suppose American’s to be so provincial? I’m delighted you can finally stick to your story of origin’s roots.
Hi Matt. Sorry I’m replying so late. I was on a work trip when the blog was published.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Loved the blog post. I do not care about colour vs color. I love seeing it actually. Thanks for the great post.
Hi Debra. Sorry for the late response but I was on a work trip when this blog was published. I think there’s more of a cross-section of spelling now due to social media. That wasn’t the case when my first novel was released. Even Australians are using spelled instead of spelt now. But we stick to our guns with maths rather than math.
As an Aussie, I must admit that nothing irks me more than reading books using American English spelling. Given what computers can be made to do today, it seems a simple matter to be able to select the version of spelling for an e-book download. Thanks, Kevin, for taking into account the feelings of people such as myself. regards, John.
Hi John. For some reason all my workplace Word documents default to US spelling and we can’t work out why. We’re sure we’ve got all our settings right.
I live in the deep south in the U.S. and I even get annoyed over the spelling being Americanized when a book is not set here. That’s been one of my biggest pet peeves since I started reading forever ago. I often wonder if editors really think we’re that clueless. 🙂
I love how the names and books are linked. I’ve always enjoyed learning how certain things in books come to be.
Thanks for stopping by to help us celebrate our 6th year, Kevin. And good luck to all who enter the giveaway.
Can I just say ditto to everything you’ve said, Cindi? Because. Ditto. Plus, glad to have another Aussie on, and a Sydneysider 🙂
Hi Cindi. What threw me most is that a fellow Australian author with the same publisher wrote her novel in local English. That’s when I decided, no more.
My last editor was relieved when I changed my last novel, Social Media Central, to US English.
Thank you to Kevin Klehr and everyone who popped by. Congratulations to Matt who chose a copy of Social Media Central 🙂