Hello, everyone! This is Quinn Anderson, author of The Other Five Percent and the Murmur Inc. series. Thanks so much for following my blog tour. I’m thrilled to be here and to talk about my latest novel, coming out July 10th. Stay tuned for fun facts about The Other Five Percent, an inside peek at writing it, and to find out more about our dashing leading men. Leave comments on the tour posts for a chance to win a $10 Riptide Publishing gift card!
Logan Vanderveer has a joke he’s been telling since college: he’s ninety-five percent straight. He did some experimenting in school, but none of the men he fooled around with inspired him to abandon “the plan”: meet a nice girl, get married, and settle down, just like his parents always said.
None of them except Ellis Floyd, who aroused desires and feelings that scared Logan. So much so that he abandoned their burgeoning relationship just as it might have become something. But four years later, Ellis is back, and Logan finds himself questioning his sexuality in a big way.
Ellis doesn’t fit into Logan’s plan. He’s happy being a starving artist, whereas Logan has sold his soul to corporate America. Ellis is ripped jeans, and Logan is tailored suits. And, most notably, Ellis is out. But seeing him again is dredging up memories—like how it feels to kiss Ellis, and that time they almost went all the way. With chemistry like theirs, Logan isn’t sure he can—or should—keep ignoring the other five percent.
Excerpt...
If asked later, Logan would swear up and down that he had not, in fact, jumped out of his skin. He also hadn’t whirled around with all the grace of an unhinged ballerina. And he certainly, certainly had not made a shrill squeaking noise that’d made all the dogs within a five-mile radius sniff the air.
“Ellis,” he yelped when he’d regained control of his vocal chords. “Uh . . . uh.”
“So you do recognize me.” A wry smile slid onto Ellis’s face. “I wasn’t sure.”
For a bewildering moment, Logan honestly considered just getting into his car and gunning it. His watch was ticking in his head, and his desire to avoid this particular conversation hadn’t lessened. It was only the thought of hot coffee spraying across his leather seats that checked him. And Ellis’s eyes, admittedly; they were beautiful from a distance but downright captivating up close . . .
Logan tore his gaze away and swallowed. Uh-oh.
Ellis gave him a quizzical look. “You okay?”
“Um, yeah,” Logan answered with all the majesty of a cow giving birth. Seriously, man, get it together. Is this your first time talking to another person? He tried again. “Sorry, I ran off like that. I didn’t see you.”
“Really?” Ellis’s smile sharpened. “You sure left in a hurry for someone who didn’t see me.”
Well, fuck. It seemed Ellis still wasn’t the sort to mince words.
“Uh, sorry, man. I just realized I’m late for work.” It wasn’t a total lie, but his voice took on the high-pitched, whiny quality it got when he was being dishonest. “I gotta get going.”
He reached for his door handle slowly, as if a sudden movement might make Ellis strike.
He hesitated, however, when Ellis’s expression turned mournful. “Dude, seriously? It’s been four years since we’ve seen each other. You can’t spare a minute for an old friend?”
Logan’s heart did a strange lurching somersault in his chest. His sisters’ voices rang in his ears: “Logan Allen Vanderveer, where are your manners? You’re acting like the guy is going to bite you.”
Well, if memory serves, he very well might.
That thought threatened to give him another flashback. He shook it off. Maybe he should lay off the caffeine after all.
“Right, sorry.” He gave himself another mental shake. “How have you been since I last saw you? That was what, sophomore year? Where are you working these days?”
Logan’s eyes slid down to assess Ellis’s garb. A paint-splattered black shirt—not stylistically splattered either. Accidentally splattered. Logan could tell the difference—ripped jeans, and red high-top sneakers. If this was how Ellis dressed on a Monday morning, he probably hadn’t gone the corporate route like Logan had. Logan had to admit, though: it was a good look for him. Especially now that he’d gotten all . . . muscle-y. Muscular. Whatever.
Ellis caught his eye, which was lingering somewhere around the sliver of underwear visible just above Ellis’s jeans, and raised an eyebrow challengingly. “Did you just give me a once-over?”
Heat crept up Logan’s neck. “No.”
Ellis’s other eyebrow joined the first.
“Well, yeah, I did. Sorry. Um, that’s really embarrassing.”
Ellis grinned. “Can’t be more embarrassing than that stuffy suit you’re wearing.”
That broke Logan from his self-consciousness. “Excuse me? I’ll have you know this suit is designer.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it’s some real special thread with the name of someone super impressive on the label.” Ellis looked him up and down, not bothering to hide it. Logan couldn’t even protest, considering he’d just done the same thing. “All teasing aside, you look good. For a suit.”
Logan willed himself not to fidget. “Yeah, same to you.”
“I guess a lot has changed since college.” Ellis opened his mouth only to close it again. It looked like he was on the verge of saying something else but couldn’t quite articulate it.
Logan got the distinct impression that he didn’t want to find out what that was. Every minute around Ellis was threatening to launch him down an offshoot of Memory Lane he’d just as soon cordon off. He was tempted to mention how late he was again, but if that hadn’t been a good enough excuse before, it probably wasn’t now. He needed to come up with something else.
“Uh, listen, Ellis . . .” An idea flitted into his head, courtesy of G-Dawg. He gestured to the cups in the backseat. “It’s been great running into you, but you caught me in the middle of a coffee run. The guys in my office get really cranky if they don’t have their caffeine. If I’m late, it’s my ass.”
Ellis’s lips twitched up at the corners, and Logan immediately regretted his word choice. “I understand. I should have guessed from your clothes that you’d ended up in an office job.”
“Yup. Good ol’ capitalism. My company is pretty strict about tardiness, so . . .”
“Right. I’d hate for anything to happen to your ass.”
Quinn Anderson is an alumna of the University of Dublin in Ireland and has a master’s degree in psychology. She wrote her dissertation on sexuality in popular literature and continues to explore evolving themes in erotica in her professional life.
A nerd extraordinaire, she was raised on an unhealthy diet of video games, anime, pop culture, and comics from infancy. She stays true to her nerd roots in writing and in life and frequently draws inspiration from her many fandoms, which include Sherlock, Harry Potter, Supernatural, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Buffy, Marvel, and more. You will often find her interacting with fellow fans online and offline via conventions and tumblr, and she is happy to talk about anything from nerd life to writing tips. She has attended conventions on three separate continents and now considers herself a career geek. She advises anyone who attends pop culture events in the UK to watch out for Weeping Angels, as they are everywhere.
Her favorite television show is Avatar: the Last Airbender, her favorite film is Tangled, and her favorite book is Ella Enchanted. She can often be spotted at conventions, comic shops, and midnight book releases. If you're at an event, and you see a 6'2'' redhead wandering around with a vague look on her face, that's probably her. Her favorite authors include J.K. Rowling, Gail Carson Levine, Libba Bray, and Tamora Pierce. When she's not writing, she enjoys traveling, cooking, spending too much time on the internet, screwing the rules, finding the Master Sword, guided falling, consulting for the NYPD, guarding the galaxy, boldly going, and catching 'em all.
Connect with Quinn:
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorQuinnAnderson/
- Tumblr: quinnandersonwrites
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Riptide giveaway: To celebrate the release of The Other Five Percent, one lucky winner will receive a $10 Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on July 15, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!
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Happy release day and thanks for the excerpt, Quinn. Congrats on the blog tour :)
ReplyDeleteamie_07(at)yahoo(dot)com
love this excerpt and congrats
ReplyDeletejmarinich33 at aol dot com
I like the excerpt!
ReplyDeletevitajex(at)Aol(dot)com
Congratulations on new release. Sounds like a good read, adding to list.
ReplyDeletecvsimpkins@msn.com
Thank you for the excerpt =)
ReplyDeletehumhumbum AT yahoo DOT com
Congrats and thanks for the excerpt. This sounds like an interesting read of opposites, second chances, and discovering one's sexuality. - Purple Reader,
ReplyDeleteTheWrote [at] aol [dot] com