Until September by Chris Scully Blog Tour, Guest Post, Excerpt, Review & Giveaway!

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Hiya peeps, today we have Chris Scully popping in with her new release Until September, Chris chats about people watching, we have an awesome excerpt, a fantastic giveaway and Aerin’s review, so enjoy the post and leave a comment to enter the giveaway! <3 ~Pixie~

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Until September

by

Chris Scully

As a teenager, Archie Noblesse clawed his way out of the poverty, heartache, and abuse of the reservation and left his family behind. Desperate to shake the shadow of his past, he reinvents himself as Archer Noble, an outspoken blogger and controversial author who lives only for himself. But when his beloved sister dies, Archer is saddled with guardianship of his niece and nephew.

Elementary school teacher Ryan Eriksson is devastated when his best friend Marguerite is killed, leaving her two young children orphaned. Helping Archer with his new responsibilities eases his grief, but when Archer offers him custody of the children, Ryan’s left with an impossible choice: get the family he’s always wanted, or respect Margie’s wishes and convince Archer to give parenting—and his heritage—a chance.

To buy time, Ryan promises to stay for the summer, hoping that Archer will change his mind and fall for the kids. But Archer’s reluctant, and the growing attraction between him and Ryan complicates matters. Legal decisions must be made, and soon, before Ryan returns to school. But with hearts involved, more than just the children’s future is on the line.

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Chris Scully & People Watching!

Hello! I’m Chris Scully. I’m thrilled to welcome you to my Until September blog tour! Join me at various tour stops, where I’ll be sharing some of the background of this novel, my thoughts on writing, and more. Comment on each stop to be entered in a drawing for a $20 Riptide gift certificate. Thanks for joining me on the tour!

People Watching

Have you ever been out somewhere and had the feeling you were being watched?

It might have been me, or someone like me. For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated with people: the way they think, the way they act, what makes them tick. I’m an observer and people-watcher; more comfortable in analyzing others than I am myself.

I’m the type of person who, while out with friends, might abandon the conversation entirely in favour of eavesdropping on a neighbouring table. Long before I began writing, I would watch people on the subway and listen in on the bus, and occasionally make up stories about the lives of these mysterious strangers. I’m into psychology, sociology, history, gender studies, and true crime—pretty much anything that deals with who we are and why we do what we do.

I try to be subtle about it, and I certainly don’t mean any harm by it. In fact, I think we all could stand to be a little more observant of those around us—we might learn a thing or two. While some may call this sort of behaviour nosy, I call it research. They say the mark of a great writer is the ability to build “real” three-dimensional characters, faults and all. What better way to do this than to study your subject? It’s not surprising that some of my “observees” have become characters in my books and simply people-watching is often the main source of inspiration for me. Until September began just that way, with a chance sighting of a young man on the bus who got my mental wheels turning and later became the inspiration for the character of Ryan.

So if you feel that little tickle at your neck, I apologize in advance. It could just be me… watching.

~Chris Scully~

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Excerpt

Archer Noble toyed with the buttons of his charcoal-gray Armani suit as he waited for the makeup lady to finish blotting the forehead of the panel show’s host and the cameras to start rolling. Unable to shake the feeling that his good fortune might disappear at any second, he caressed the expensive fabric. He may have taken a white man’s name, changed his haircut and his clothes, but there were times when he could almost smell the weary stench of the reservation clinging to him. It was in his pores, in the color of his skin. No matter how he tried, he would never be able to completely mask it.

The suit, the only designer one he owned, was reserved for public appearances like this. He changed it up by varying the brightly colored silk ties and pocket squares so that he never appeared to wear the same outfit twice in a row. The money he’d spent on the jacket alone would have fed his family for months growing up. On his feet, his sole pair of dress shoes, buffed to a high shine, were a long way from the secondhand sneakers he’d grown up with. If he had finally learned one thing in thirty-six years of clawing his way out of the muck, it was that appearances were important. People tended to think twice about shitting on you if you looked—and acted—like you had money. And nobody shit on Archer Noble, not since he’d left poor, dumb Archie Noblesse behind.

He glanced around the vast studio, blinking under the bright lights, and tried not to let his awe show. After years of scrounging freelance writing and speaking gigs, and the occasional appearance on PROUDtv, his sacrifices were finally paying off.

Sales of his latest book, I Don’t: The Truth About the Gay Marriage Agenda, had surpassed his expectations. In fact, the whole same-sex marriage issue had been one big cash cow for him and his publisher as everyone scrambled to voice their opinion on the debate. Now, after six weeks of making the rounds on the public access cable and local radio circuit, an op-ed in the Huffington Post, and a two-second sound bite on CNN, he had finally hit the big time. A national network with a live, syndicated talk show. Kim, the publicist his agent had set him up with, was a miracle worker.

He glanced over at her. She stood in the shadows next to the floor director. Behind her, the small studio audience was filing into the seats. Kim gave him a nod and a thumbs-up. She had done her part. Now he had to do his.

Who would ever have thought poor, scrawny Archie Noblesse, who grew up without a TV set and never finished high school, would make it all the way to Los Angeles, television capital of the world?

This was the final stop on his North American book tour. With the initial controversy over his book dying down, and the US Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage come and gone, the networks were starting to lose interest—their focus had moved back to the crisis in the Middle East—and the pressure to stay on top was eating at him.

Archer’s phone vibrated in his pocket. The area code indicated a Toronto number, but one he didn’t recognize. It wasn’t Marguerite’s. The thought of his sister reminded him he hadn’t spoken to her in weeks. He made a mental note to call her later tonight. Right now though, he didn’t want to be disturbed. He switched the phone off and tucked it back away.

“So, where are you from?” asked the middle-aged, well-dressed woman seated to his left as they waited to begin. They had been introduced in the green room, but Archer couldn’t remember her name. Something innocuous and appropriately suburban: Patty or Debbie. She wore a navy-blue skirt and matching blazer and, yes, even a string of pearls around her neck. She was part of some family-values organization. He didn’t recall which; they were all the same anyway. On her other side sat a dour-looking pastor from an evangelical church he had never heard of. This was a conservative panel for a conservative talk show, and they certainly had all the usual bases covered—religion and family morals. One of these things does not belong, thought Archer, who only two days ago had guested alongside a drag queen and gay porn star, and then fucked said porn star in the restroom afterward.

“Canada,” Archer replied. He knew where this conversation was going.

She gave him a patronizing smile. “I meant originally. Hawaii? You look a bit Hawaiian.”

“And originally, I’m still from Canada.” Archer loved screwing with people who tried to figure out his ethnicity. Aboriginal people were something of a novelty in American media. Hispanic was usually people’s first guess, followed by Filipino. Hawaiian was new. “I’m First Nations Cree.”

She frowned, but then the lights went down and Glenn Smith, the host, took his place behind the curving desk with a practiced smile. Archer straightened his tie and savored the surge of anticipation coursing through his veins.

“Three, two, one, and . . . we’re on.”

“Friends, today we are discussing a serious topic that is having repercussions throughout this country: same-sex marriage.” Glenn Smith’s cherubic face squinted into the camera, lips tightening to reflect how serious he was. “My guests are Pastor Gordon Sinclair of Holy Light Church, Mrs. Penny MacDonald from the American Family Association and leading member of One Million Moms, and Archer Noble, controversial blogger and author of I Don’t: The Truth About the Gay Marriage Agenda.”

Glenn turned to the weasel-faced pastor and began the discussion. Archer listened with half an ear. Not that it mattered anyway. The arguments were always the same. Blah, blah, destroying the fabric of society. Blah, blah, sanctity of marriage. You’d think someone could come up with an idea that hadn’t already been beaten to death.

Was this show being broadcast up in Toronto where Margie would see it? He would send her a link if it went online. She hated his alter ego but still faithfully sought out his every appearance, saved every article, with all the devotion of a younger sister.

Archer made eye contact with the PA he’d been flirting with earlier. The man was younger than he preferred and a shade too Abercrombie & Fitch for his taste, but the production assistant was clearly interested, and Archer’s flight back to Vancouver didn’t leave until morning.

“What about you, Mr. Noble?” Glenn asked, finally swiveling in his direction. “You are a practicing homosexual who doesn’t believe same-sex couples should marry or raise children, correct?” Archer heard Penny’s swift intake of breath, as if learning she’d been seated next to Satan himself. Yes, that’s right, lady. Betcha never saw that one coming.

“Oh, I’m practicing, Glenn.” Archer leaned forward in his chair with a wink to the camera. Bastard obviously hadn’t even read the book. “Actually, Glenn, I’ve never said we shouldn’t be allowed to marry—that’s a civil-rights issue, and the lawyers are welcome to argue over it—they have to earn their keep, don’t they? My book is about why on earth we would want to in the first place.

“The gay establishment doesn’t speak for all of us. Yeah, gay marriage is a threat, but not to your families or straight marriage.” Here he deliberately paused. “It’s a threat to my sexual freedom. It’s one more way to make us more socially acceptable, to oppress our sexual freedom by forcing us to conform to antiquated notions of religion and monogamy. And making us feel worse about ourselves if we don’t.”

Glenn’s nostrils flared. His stare hardened and then narrowed in on a point behind Archer. Seeking guidance from his producers perhaps? Archer sped up.

“Gays want to be accepted by society. Isn’t that what you hear all the time? But why aren’t we demanding acceptance as we are? Civil unions weren’t enough? In pushing for traditional legal marriage we’re not asking for acceptance, we’re trying to mimic heterosexuals. And why would we want to be just like heterosexuals? I thought we were loud and proud. You can’t be both.”

“But—” sputtered the pastor.

Archer kept going. “You’ve got this whole fairy-tale fantasy thing taking hold now, a generation of upper-middle-class white lesbians and gays obsessed with the idea of marriage and happily ever after. The notion that marriage and, by extension, monogamy is the ideal is laughable. Monogamy doesn’t even work for straight people. The sexual freedom we’ve spent years fighting for is being eroded from within. Instead of being liberated, we’re being brainwashed into thinking anonymous, promiscuous sex is bad. But you know what? That will never go away; it will only go underground and we’ll stop being able to have open, healthy relationships because we’re living off a rom-com script that was never written to fit us.”

Glenn’s eyes bulged. His face was red with rage. Still, Archer had done his research on the host. He would have to push harder to get the explosion he wanted. “Thank you for your opinion, Mr. Noble, now—”

“If you ask me, these demands for same-sex ‘marriage’ are simply slowing chances for real progress,” Archer continued as if Glenn had never spoken. “The only people winning here are the lawyers and wedding planners.”

“What about equality?” Glenn’s eyes narrowed as though he saw a way to trap Archer. “I thought you people were all about equality. Are you saying you don’t want that?”

Archer flashed a quick smile. “Do I think I’m as good as you? Certainly. Do I deserve the same rights? Of course. But don’t mistake that for thinking we’re the same. We’re not the same. Unless you like sucking dick, Glenn.”

Chaos erupted in the back of the studio. A roar of outrage emerged from the shadowed audience. Cha-Ching. Archer could practically see the dollar signs now.

Out of the corner of his eye Archer caught the producer frantically signaling, and Kim doing her best not to laugh. Glenn smiled tightly to the camera. “We’ll be back in a minute, folks, with more of our show after this commercial break.”

As soon as the red light on the camera winked out, Glenn jumped to his feet. “Get this faggot off my set,” he shouted and stalked away.

Archer calmly stripped off his mic and stood. “Guess that’s it for me. Very nice to meet you,” he said to his companions, who were still gaping in shock.

– Read more at: http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/until-september (Just click the excerpt tab)

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About Chris

CHRIS SCULLY lives in Toronto, Canada where she grew up spinning romantic stories in her head. When the tedium of a corporate day job grew too much, she took a chance and found her creative escape in writing. Always searching for something different, she has discovered a home in M/M romance and strives to give her characters the happy endings they deserve.

Tired of the same old boy-meets-girl stories, she found a home in M/M romance and strives to give her characters the happy endings they deserve. She divides her time between a mundane 9-5 cubicle job and a much more interesting fantasy life. When she’s not working or writing (which isn’t often these days) she loves puttering in the garden and traveling. She is an avid reader and tries to bring pieces of other genres and styles to her stories. While her head is crammed full of all the things she’d like to try writing, her focus is always on the characters first. She describes her characters as authentic, ordinary people—the kind of guy you might meet on the street, or the one who might be your best friend.

Although keeping up with social media is still a struggle given her schedule, she does love to hear from readers.

Author Contact:

Facebook | Website | Email: cscully@bell.net
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Giveaway!

Win a $20 in Riptide credit!

(Just leave a comment on this post)
Don’t forget to leave your email or method of contact so Riptide can reach you if you win!
(Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on February 13, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. Entries. Follow the tour for more opportunities to enter the giveaway!)

Review

UntilSeptember_600x900Title: Until September

Author: Chris Scully

Genre: Contemporary

Length: Novel (298 pages)

ISBN: 9781626493551

Publisher: Riptide Publishing (February 8th, 2016)

Heat Level: Low, Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts

Reviewer: Aerin

Blurb: As a teenager, Archie Noblesse clawed his way out of the poverty, heartache, and abuse of the reservation and left his family behind. Desperate to shake the shadow of his past, he reinvents himself as Archer Noble, an outspoken blogger and controversial author who lives only for himself. But when his beloved sister dies, Archer is saddled with guardianship of his niece and nephew.

Elementary school teacher Ryan Eriksson is devastated when his best friend Marguerite is killed, leaving her two young children orphaned. Helping Archer with his new responsibilities eases his grief, but when Archer offers him custody of the children, Ryan’s left with an impossible choice: get the family he’s always wanted, or respect Margie’s wishes and convince Archer to give parenting—and his heritage—a chance.

To buy time, Ryan promises to stay for the summer, hoping that Archer will change his mind and fall for the kids. But Archer’s reluctant, and the growing attraction between him and Ryan complicates matters. Legal decisions must be made, and soon, before Ryan returns to school. But with hearts involved, more than just the children’s future is on the line.

Product Link: http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/until-september

Review: Usually I review a book immediately after reading it, so that my thought and feelings are fresh in my mind. Unfortunately, work and life got in the way, and it’s been 2 weeks since I finished his book, but I’ll try my best to review it.

First of all, even though it’s been a while, I definitely remember I loved this book, every beautifully written, emotional, gorgeous, heartbreaking page. It’s never easy dealing with the loss of loved ones, but it’s even more excruciating when young children lose their mothers and have to rely on the goodness of others to survive. I’m not gonna lie, this book made me tear up a lot, and usually I’m not a crier. But I just couldn’t help it; if this story won’t pull at your heartstrings, then you’re an insensitive bastard.

Archie and Marguerite are brother and sister, have grown up in the poverty ridden reservation in Canada, and had to rely mostly on each other to survive and love. Archie is a few years older than his sister, and when his drug addict mother refused to care for Marguerite, Archie had to resort to stealing and other minor infractions in order to care for his sister.

After their mother disappeared, Archie and Marguerite were sent to live with their grandmother and her family; Archie suffered tremendous amounts of abuse while in their care, and the only escape and chance for Marguerite to have a normal future was for Archie to run away at the tender age of 15 and fend for himself in the hopes that he’d be able to build a life.

There’s no wonder that Archie grew up to be insensitive, never affectionate, unable and unwilling to believe in love, and emotionally unavailable to those around him, including his sister. It’s sad that his niece and nephew didn’t really know who their uncle was, but they had to rely on him to give them a family after losing their mother in a tragic car accident.

Marguerite wanted both Ryan (her best friend and teacher at the kids’ school) and Archer to temporarily care for the children until Archer would hopefully step up and apply for permanent guardianship; Archer hasn’t been around children since his sister was little, and he has no clue how to deal with the kids, never mind that he doesn’t plan on sticking around and hopes Ryan would take the children off his hands.

They reach a compromise when Archer agrees to give it his best shot, and if he decides not to keep the kids at the end of the summer, then Ryan would keep them for himself.

Ryan is a lovely character, a beloved teacher and friend, whom everyone adores, and has always dreamed of having a family of his own. Basically Ryan believes/dreams of everything Archer despises most about homosexuality. Ryan is not normally Archie’s type either, but when Archie starts noticing Ryan, he can’t seem to stop. There’s chemistry between them, even though it takes longer for Archer to acknowledge it, and the sexual tension is delicious at times.

One thing I didn’t like about this book was the constant back and forth between Archer and Ryan. The constant denial when it came to their feelings and whether they were (or even wanted to be) in a relationship was fine and dandy at the beginning, but got tiresome after the book reached its midway mark. I wanted them to stop denying it so that they could get on with the sex and everything else.

But you know what? That’s about the ONLY thing I didn’t like! Those two amazing children broke my heart, made me cry and made me smile as well, I really loved them to pieces and they made this book amazing instead of just OK.

Chris Scully is a new author to me, but I’ll read his/her work again, definitely!

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Check out the other blogs on the blog tour

February 8, 2016 – AReCafe
February 8, 2016 – Book Reviews and More by Kathy
February 8, 2016 – Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
February 8, 2016 – Two Chicks Obsessed
February 8, 2016 – QUEERcentric Books
February 9, 2016 – Cup o’ Porn
February 9, 2016 – The Day Before You Came
February 9, 2016 – Booklover Sue
February 9, 2016 – Prism Book Alliance
February 9, 2016 – Love Bytes Reviews
February 10, 2016 – 3 Chicks After Dark
February 10, 2016 – My Fiction Nook
February 10, 2016 – The Jeep Diva
February 10, 2016 – Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents
February 10, 2016 – MM Good Book Reviews
February 11, 2016 – Joyfully Jay
February 11, 2016 – Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews
February 11, 2016 – Bookaholics Not-So-Anonymous
February 11, 2016 – LeAnn’s Book Reviews
February 11, 2016 – GGR-Review
February 12, 2016 – Creative Deeds
February 12, 2016 – KT Book Reviews
February 12, 2016 – TTC Books and More
February 12, 2016 – Sinfully MM Book Reviews
February 12, 2016 – The Novel Approach
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13 thoughts on “Until September by Chris Scully Blog Tour, Guest Post, Excerpt, Review & Giveaway!

  1. Sounds like a really sweet one. It’s already in my TBR list
    susanaperez7140(at)gmail(dot)com

  2. Thank you for the wonderful review. I makes me want to read the book even more than before. Thank you for the post and the giveaway!

    ree.dee.2014 (at) gmail (dot) com

  3. I sometimes people watch; especially if I’ve been drinking. I hope they don’t think I’m staring too rudely. Thanks for the post & excerpt. legacylandlisa(at)gmail(dot)com

  4. Fun post, Chris! I don’t think there’s anything wrong with observing. I think there are times when I’d turn away, when people are into something heavy, but I’m sure that’s when things are most interesting! Every time i go through an airport I imagine it to be the best place to people watch. Maybe I’m wrong considering how fast people go by, but there are always an amazing amount of people to observe.

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