When Perfection Collides With Chaos, Sparks Fly
Crispin Eladrin, desk fae at the Office of the Lost, could find a needle in ten haystacks. His desk is so neat it would make an accountant blush, and he's never failed to complete a recovery mission. He has no idea how adorable he is, especially when he's at his most annoyingly officious.
Enter utterly chaotic Leopold Lane. His life is a masterclass in disastrous events--and it's about to get worse. He's the latest thing that Crispin has been sent to retrieve, but when they meet, sparks fly. Literally. And now they must find their way back before someone—or something—enchants them, eats them, or stomps them to death.
Neither knows why the Office of the Lost is so hell-bent on acquiring Leo, but they're determined to survive long enough to find out--and to see if opposites really do attract.
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Hi! I’m Kim Fielding. I have a new book out, co-authored with the amazing J. Scott Coatsworth. Office of the Lost is a lighthearted portal fantasy featuring an extremely organized and particular desk fae and a human who’s a one-man disaster zone.
Do you love the opposites-attract trope? I know I do. It often leads to really entertaining stories. I can think of quite a few examples from TV shows, movies, and books I’ve enjoyed. Beginning from the old Odd Couple series (if you’re going to try to argue that the attraction there was merely platonic, I’m not listening), and continuing through Good Omens, many of the Buffyverse couples, and a very substantial portion of romance literature.
It’s a really fun trope from both a reader’s and writer’s standpoint. It can be a wonderful source of humor, but it can also drive drama very strongly. I think that’s because both humor and drama rely on the existence of tension, and differing protagonists are a natural source of tension. From a romance perspective, opposites can complement each other well, with each person helping the other be good at things they’d otherwise struggle with.
However, in addition to being a romance writer, I also have degrees in psychology. And I’m sorry to tell you that research indicates people are generally attracted to people they have a lot in common with. Which makes sense, even if two people sharing interests makes for less riveting stories.
There’s a compromise to be found, however. An author can take start off with two people who, on the face if it, appear strikingly different in temperament, habits, and interests. But as the pair gets to know each other better, they can find similarities. Maybe it’s simply that they’re both striving for a common goal—which psychology also informs us is a great way to build bonds. This can also be a wonderful way to make a relationship build in what feels like an organic way, and to make us care about these people.
I hope that’s what Scott and I accomplished with this book. Leopold and Crispin seem very different indeed. In fact, they’re not even the same species! But as they get to know each other better—sometimes while being chased by something that wants to eat them—they might discover that they hold some important commonalities.
Scott
Scott lives with his husband Mark in a yellow bungalow in Sacramento. He was indoctrinated into fantasy and sci fi by his mother at the tender age of nine. He devoured her library, but as he grew up, he wondered where all the people like him were.
He decided that if there weren’t queer characters in his favorite genres, he would remake them to his own ends.
A Rainbow Award winning author, he runs Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, Liminal Fiction and Other Worlds Ink with Mark, sites that celebrate fiction reflecting queer reality, and was the committee chair for the Indie Authors Committee at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for almost three years.
Website: https://www.jscottcoatsworth.com
Facebook (personal): https://www.facebook.com/jscottcoatsworth
Facebook (author): https://www.facebook.com/jscottcoatsworthauthor/
Mastodon: https://mastodon.otherworldsink.com/@jscottcoatsworth
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jscottcoatsworth.bsky.social
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jscottcoatsworth/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8392709.J_Scott_Coatsworth
QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/j-scott-coatsworth/
Liminal Fiction: https://www.limfic.com/mbm-book-author/j-scott-coatsworth/
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/J.-Scott-Coatsworth/e/B011AFO4OQ
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-scott-coatsworth
Kim
Kim Fielding is very pleased every time someone calls her eclectic. She writes fantasy, mm romance, science fiction, horror, and whatever else her muse demands.
Winner of the 2021 BookLife Prize for Fiction, a Lambda Award finalist and Foreword INDIE finalist, she has migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States and now lives in Oregon, where she will never have enough bookshelf space.
She’s a university professor who dreams of being able to travel and write full time. She also dreams of having two daughters who fully appreciate her, a husband who isn’t obsessed with football, and a house that cleans itself. Some dreams are more easily obtained than others.
Website: https://www.kfieldingwrites.com
Facebook (personal): https://www.facebook.com/pgerstenfeld
Facebook (author): https://www.facebook.com/KFieldingWrites
Mastodon: https://romancelandia.club/@KFieldingWrites
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/kfieldingwrites.bsky.social
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kfieldingwrites/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4105707.Kim_Fielding
QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/kim-fielding/
Liminal Fiction: https://www.limfic.com/mbm-book-author/kim-fielding/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Kim-Fielding/author/B006FN2T78
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kim-fielding
Scott & Kim are giving away a $20 Amazon gift card with this tour:
Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b60e8d47327/
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