Hi guys, we have Pene Henson popping in today with the tour for her new release Into The Blue, we have a short interview with Pene, a great excerpt and a fantastic giveaway! So enjoy the post and click that giveaway link <3 ~Pixie~

Into The Blue

Pene Henson

Tai Talagi and Ollie Birkstrom have been inseparable since they met as kids surfing the North Shore. Now they live with their best friends in a pulled-together family, sharing life and the saltwater in their veins. Tai’s spent years setting aside his feelings for Ollie, but when Ollie’s pro surfing aspirations come to fruition, their steady world shifts. Is the relationship worth risking everything for a chance at something terrifying and beautiful and altogether new?

Interview!

Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Pene Henson author of Into the Blue.

Hi Pene, thank you for agreeing to this interview.

Is there a character in your books that you can’t stand? (Antagonist for example) And what makes them someone you don’t like?

Mine’s a happy little book. The closest we come to an antagonist is

Ashton, a pro-surfer Tai had a fling with a year before the story. But Ash is okay. He seems a bit too sure of himself because he’s not, really. He’s hopeful and tense and privileged and just another kid.

Paul, Ollie’s former agent, who’s kind of a dismissive jerk but not really a badd guy.

Are there misconceptions people have about your genre?

My genre is romance, queer romance. People do assume there’s little emotional reality to the genre, and little depth. That the conflicts are repeats of one another and that the characters are simplistic. Those people have read the wrong romance novels.

Is there message in your novel that you hope readers grasp?

There are so many messages, it’s embarrassing. But they’re tiny ones. Like… sometimes even beautiful things need to be broken and rebuilt. And it’s not always best to keep protecting people, sometimes you need to let them try and fail. And communication is hard and worth it. 

How has your writing evolved since your first book? (If this is your first book, how do you hope it evolves?)

This is definitely my first book. I hope I can be brave enough to explore conflicts and cultures and the imperfections in people in more depth rather than shying away from it. Also if someone can magically make me funny that would be awesome. Thanks.

One food you don’t care if you never eat it again.

Hmmm. Eating duck seems like a mistake. And I’m not as excited about pizza as some people seem to be.

Excerpt

Across from them, one of the Brazilians plays guitar. Ollie doesn’t recognize the song even when a couple of others sing along. The beach is wider and the sand finer than on the North Shore, but every beach is a little like home. Ollie misses the Blue House; he misses the surf and the palms and the shoreline he knows so well. He misses Jaime and Sunny and Hannah. Still, though he’s as far from home as he’s ever been, Ollie’s comfortable. These are his people, too. He leans back on his arms and looks up into the dark.

He’s watched the night sky since he was a little kid, but down here in the Southern Hemisphere he doesn’t recognize the hundreds upon hundreds of stars. The Southern Cross is up there. Ollie tries to orient himself.

Tai shifts toward him, then looks up and follows Ollie’s gaze. The warmth of Tai’s body settles into Ollie’s heart, grounds him. Ollie leans into him a little, and their arms brush to the elbow. The contact simmers in the air between them.

Unexpectedly, Ollie knows what he wants. “Come back to the hotel,” he says quietly to Tai. He pitches his voice low. It hums across the tiny space between them. No one else can hear him over the pounding surf and the sound of the music. It’s easy to be bold in the dark of a beach where Ollie’s never been before. He’s shocked by that same boldness.

About Pene

Pene Henson has gone from British boarding schools to New York City law firms. She now lives in Sydney, Australia, where she is an intellectual property lawyer and published poet who is deeply immersed in the city’s LGBTQIA community. She spends her spare time enjoying the outdoors and gazing at the ocean with her gorgeous wife and two unexpectedly exceptional sons. Into the Blue is her first novel.

Where to find the author:

Facebook Author Page | Twitter | Goodreads | Blog

Giveaway!

Grand Prize: $25 Interlude Press Gift Card, Five first prizes of an e-copy of ‘Into the Blue’ by Pene Henson!

Pene Henson Rafflecopter giveaway!

Check out the other blogs on the blog tour