Guest Blogger: Author HD Hatcher

As regular readers will know, we’ve been very fortunate to have several wonderful authors stop by for an interview over the past few months. I hope you're all enjoying their visits as much as I am, and that you've taken the time to check out a few of their works . . . after all, it's why they're here!

This month, I am pleased to host my first guest post, courtesy of HD Hatcher, who has stopped by to promote his latest work, A Cold Dark Place.

Before we get into things, though, I'd like to tell you a bit about the man himself:

Author HD Hatcher is no newcomer on the literary scene. He is author of In the Heart of the Closet, a piece nominated for both the 2006 Stonewall Book Award and the 2005 Lambda Literary Award. He is an avid supporter of gay and lesbian causes, suicide prevention programs, as well as Animal Rights. Hatcher currently resides in the Grand Strand area of South Carolina, near his hometown of Conway, with his Life Partner of ten years, Jerry.

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For his guest post, HD was kind enough to share his thoughts on writing A Cold Dark Place, and on some early reactions to the book from those in his life.

HD Hatcher- A Cold Dark Place

I had someone ask me how I came up with the title, A Cold Dark Place. When I decided on the title, I wanted the reader to know right up front that there was nothing warm and fuzzy about this novel.  However, I had to be really careful not to give the impression that all gay love affairs are doomed to a sleeping pill overdosing free-for-all. 

A Cold Dark Place was hard for me to write at times. I will be the first to admit, that it is very dark. For my own sense of well being, I had to sprinkle in some humor throughout the book to lighten up the mood a little. I used humor as a tool to allow the reader to catch their breath before I nailed them with more bad news.

Before, A Cold Dark Place was published, I allowed a friend of mine to read the manuscript to see what she thought about it. About a week later, I received a very disconcerting visit from her. She was devastated to think that I had actually gone through such a horrific experience. 

A Cold Dark Place is written in first person, so I can definitely see where she may have drawn this conclusion. I wanted readers to feel as though a friend was opening up to them and telling their deepest darkest secret (it apparently worked).

She is a very smart lady and understands that most writers will often draw upon life experiences to create the overall feel of their books. But, I had to remind her that A Cold Dark Place is a novel and not an autobiography. Luckily for me, my youth was only mildly traumatizing, and not as devastating as some were led to believe.

I once received a letter from a publisher rejecting A Cold Dark Place because they believed that the story was too sad and sent a negative message to gay youth. My initial responses were: “Nuh uh?”, “Really?”, “Seriously?”

 I didn’t know whether to be upset or flattered. A Cold Dark Place is not based on gay relationships as a whole. A Cold Dark Place is based on the love between two people. As we all know, sometimes love finds our favor and sometimes it doesn’t. That’s the way it is with love in general regardless of our sexual preference.

I want to thank you for having me and for allowing me to take up so much of your time.
I hope that we can do this again in the near future.

-HD

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About A Cold Dark Place:

On a chance meeting, (at a mutual friend’s house) Luke finds the love of his life. Andy is what Luke has been longing for all of his adult years: the perfect man. But, this perfect man is not only straight—he is married to a woman who is more devilish than Satan himself.

 In a bittersweet journey that will change his life forever, Luke must reach deep inside and find the strength he never knew existed. A Cold Dark Place is the story of a man who must pick up the pieces of his broken heart after a lifetime of heartbreak and betrayal.

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Thanks so much to HD for stopping by. If you'd like to follow his virtual journey in support of A Cold Dark Place, check out his schedule on the Calendar of Events page at The Virtual Book Tour Cafe.
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