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C S R Discussion Day: London And Love By Carringtonrj

Cia

Entry posted by Cia in CSR- Can't Stop Reading

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Did you get a chance to read CarringtonRJ's story, London and Love? Set in... you guessed it, London, this story follows the life of a US transplant from San Francisco as he struggles to adjust to his new life in the city where he's all alone. Shy and awkward, usually, Tony learns there's more about himself than even he knew, which is saying a lot since he started out life as Tanya! First, though, check out my interview with CarringtonRJ and then make sure you leave your thoughts and reviews. The author will be here "live" between 10 and 12 BST (That's 5 to 8 hours ahead of US time).

 

Do you eat your fruits and vegetables?
I do. I eat a banana and a kiwi fruit for lunch every day. My housemate cooks a lot. She cooks a lot of good food. My daughter doesn’t really eat meat so we have cook all kinds of things to appeal to her. I’ve been more healthy over the last four or five years – the time I’ve been contributing to GA coincidentally.

 

Are you a person who makes their bed in the morning, or do you not see much point?
I try to be tidy. Though I have nobody to impress in the bedroom. So it doesn’t matter much.

 

What’s one location you’d love to go to research for a story?
I would like to visit Italy again. I think it would be a dream to travel round Italy all summer, in the company of an enthusiastic significant other.

 

If you were writing a book about your life, what would the title be?
Swoon.

 

What brought you to the GA?
I wrote a gay-themed story to impress a queer friend. S/he was not interested – didn’t even acknowledge the story. It struck me that there might be somewhere online that I could post it. So I searched and found GA. I met some truly wonderful people here. So I’m glad I came.

 

What inspired you to write London and Love?
A friend I met on GA. He’s ftm. I wanted to write a dream version of what might happen if he came to live in England. He’s the best friend I have. I hope this little gift is somewhere near good enough to show how much I respect and love him.

 

Your story explores quite a few topics many people find uncomfortable even within the gay community. Do you write purposefully to explore those elements or are your characters and stories just what comes to you creatively?
I didn’t set out to look at anything controversial. I just let the story develop as seemed natural, really. Some of the events are based on true events, so that led me. Other things are dreams or hopes. Others just followed from the meetings of the characters.

 

With the story set in London, were you able to use a lot of the city you know personally or was it more research-based?
I don’t live in London but I do live in England and love to visit London. So it was based on my times there. No real research. Just what I recalled from visits over the years.

 

Tony, Richard, and Tiff are diverse characters though they mesh well as main characters. Do you have a favorite?
Tiff is the sort of woman I tend to fall for. Tony is a based on my dear friend. Richard would be my kind of guy. He may also be based on someone who is not entirely unlike me. If I were a real person, I might be Richard.

 

What about a favorite scene in the story?
I liked the day Tony returns from America and it snows.

 

Now that I’ve pumped you for all the good stuff ;) how about you share what you’re working on now. Or do you have any future projects you’d like to share a teaser excerpt?
I am working very hard at my work place, so I don’t have that much going on in terms of writing. I am working on Gay Metal, but I haven’t had the time to finish it. I blog every day, writing little “poems”. It’s all I have energy for these days. Hope to get back to more stories soon. I am writing a story for a Portland artist that is gay themed and a not gay story about a poet and a princess for a real princess! I love requests and commissions. I would love to write more for GA if wanted.

 


Don't forget CarringtonRJ will be here between 10-12 BST! Leave your questions or compliments, or come back during that time.

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12 Comments

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Aditus

I didn't manage to read 'London and Love' yet, as RJ I don't have much time beside my job atm. I really love his writing though, it's special, poetic.

 

'I am in Venice' is one of my favorite stories. I love the city and found its mystery in this story.

Travelling through Italy is always lovely and inspiring. I hope you find the time one day and give us wonderful stories after. 

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Mikiesboy

I read this over a few nights, in early May. It is a beautiful and sensitively written story. The places and people were very much alive for me. It's well worth your time to read.

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Percy

This is one of RJ's finest stories. I appreciated that it included a trans character but the focus of their relationship wasn't so much around Tony's trans identity. Their relationship was multi-faceted as relationships in real life tend to be.

 

I am not sure I know of another story with such a fine representation of queer identity. All three of the characters have fluid sexual identities and at times are willing to explore interpretations of their gender identities. Yet they are doing all this against the foil of jobs/earning a paycheck, family responsibilities and their own evolving threesome of a relationship.

 

That said, there is a healthy amount of romance and good, satisfying sex in the story - enough to qualify as a great escapist summer read. I'm glad GA featured this story not least because it gives me a chance to publicly laid my best friend and thank him for writing such a great story with me in mind. q

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Percy

This is one of RJ's finest stories. I appreciated that it included a trans character but the focus of their relationship wasn't so much around Tony's trans identity. Their relationship was multi-faceted as relationships in real life tend to be.

 

I am not sure I know of another story with such a fine representation of queer identity. All three of the characters have fluid sexual identities and at times are willing to explore interpretations of their gender identities. Yet they are doing all this against the foil of jobs/earning a paycheck, family responsibilities and their own evolving threesome of a relationship.

 

That said, there is a healthy amount of romance and good, satisfying sex in the story - enough to qualify as a great escapist summer read. I'm glad GA featured this story not least because it gives me a chance to publicly laid my best friend and thank him for writing such a great story with me in mind. q

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Percy

Oops. That should be "publicly laud my best friend." I am sure there was nothing Freudian in that typo AT ALL. :-)

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Timothy M.

Oops. That should be "publicly laud my best friend." I am sure there was nothing Freudian in that typo AT ALL. :-)

 

LOL, I did wonder.

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carringtonrj

if i were to get publicly lauded or the other, I would choose to to do it with Percy for sure. The best of friends.

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Valkyrie
  • Site Administrator

I haven't had a chance to read London and Love yet, but I've read other stories by carringtonrj and enjoyed them. :)

 

Do you find that that it's the characters or the plot that drives your stories?  Do you write outlines or notes when you're writing or just write as it comes to you? 

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carringtonrj

Thanks for the questions. :) You've been a lovely reader to write for. I think the characters are always central to my stories. They drive it. Sometimes I do make notes. Usually I have an outline of the overall plot. But sometimes I let it develop more organically, just for fun. With London and Love I knew where it would head, just about, but I wasn't totally sure either. It was an in between story, in lots of ways, and fun to feel it develop. 

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Percy
I didn't manage to read 'London and Love' yet, as RJ I don't have much time beside my job atm. I really love his writing though, it's special, poetic.

 

'I am in Venice' is one of my favorite stories. I love the city and found its mystery in this story.

Travelling through Italy is always lovely and inspiring. I hope you find the time one day and give us wonderful stories after.

 

"I am in Venice" is a beautiful story, I agree. It made the city and Italy seem like a mysterious, romantic place. Really put it on the map for me.

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Lisa

CONGRATS, on being featured, RJ! :)

 

I loved London in Love. I love the way RJ writes; all his stories are just so poetic, and the characters and dialogue just flow beautifully.

 

I would definitely recommend this story (and all his stories) to anyone who hasn't read him yet. :)

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Headstall

Sorry I didn't get to this one yet, but I am a fan of RJ and his writing... he is superbly skilled, and I have some catching up to do...

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