Liam Livings is the name I use for all writing related things – UK Meet, the Romantic Novelists Association and the Essex writers group I help run. Liam is the same person as *** (my real first name), except he doesn’t talk about his day job or share pictures of his boyfriend or family on social media. Everything else – the Eurovision Song Contents, the cars, the baking, the obsession with opinionated strong female’s autobiographies, Ryan Reynolds, Goldie Hawn, Kylie and ABBA – are all the same as *** real name.
At that point, way back in 2012, I’d written Best Friends Perfect trilogy – a semi-autobiographical completely fictional account of a young man’s coming out and search for love and friendship in the New Forest, Australia and London. I’d also been reintroduced to Clare London through my boyfriend’s aunt, Liz, who is also Clare’s hairdresser. Clare is also Liz’s accountant, and friend of many years. I’d met Clare at Liz’s wedding reception in 2004 at which I’d told her I wanted to write a book too (how many authors have heard that one) and she said if ever I did, I should get in touch with her.
Fast forward eight years and Clare and I had dinner in central London, where she told me so much about writing / publishing / offered to beta read Best Friends Perfect, and told me about this event, she was organising, that brought together readers, writers, bloggers and publishers of GLBTQ fiction.
When I first wrote Best Friends Perfect it hadn’t occurred to me that it was GLBTQ fiction, gay romance, gay fiction, mm romance, or any of those things – because at that point I
I grew up a very sheltered life in the New Forest, listening to electro pop, watching Dawson’s Creek, Queer as Folk and Beautiful Thing, Priscilla Queen of the Dessert and Muriel’s Wedding, and up until the age of fifteen had never had a Chinese meal. In fact, the first time I went to a Chinese restaurant, as part of a work’s do from the nursing home where I worked as a cleaner, sat among the care assistant, nurses and other cleaners, I grabbed the white rolls the waitress had put on the table and was about to dip mine in a bowl of sweet and sour sauce until a care assistant nudged me and said, ‘It’s a towel, to clean your hands, not a spring roll to eat.’ I styled it out by unrolling the white roll and rubbing my hands enthusiastically with it.
Anyway, I digress...so I wasn’t aware of any of those genres, and I’d just written the story I wanted to tell, and it happened to have a variety of GLBTQ characters as the main focus. And that’s how I came to drive to Brighton in September 2012 to attend my first UK Meet, only knowing Clare. I left the event with a pile of business cards and email addresses, some great tips about how to build a website, what Nanowrimo was, which publishers may be interested in my first novel, and having volunteered to join the organising committee for UK Meet as I have a marketing background and helium hands.
I had met my writing family.
Since then, I’ve been on the organising committee and have hopefully helped bring my marketing skills to promote the event to its different customers, I’ve done panel beating twice, entertainment bookings twice and tried to avoid mansplaining things at the planning meetings every. Single. Time.
About Liam Livings
Liam Livings lives where east London ends and becomes Essex. He shares his house with his boyfriend and cat. He enjoys baking, cooking, classic cars and socialising with friends. He escapes from real life with a guilty pleasure book, cries at a sad, funny and camp film – and he’s been known to watch an awful lot of Gilmore Girls in the name of writing ‘research’.
He has written since he was a teenager, started writing with the hope of publication in 2011. His writing focuses on friendships, British humour, romance with plenty of sparkle.
You can connect with Liam
Twitter @LiamLivings
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/liam.livings
Blog http://www.liamlivings.com/blog
Website www.liamlivings.com
Amazon.co.uk author page https://www.amazon.co.uk/Liam-Livings/e/B00MU1UWFK/
Amazon.com author page https://www.amazon.com/Liam-Livings/e/B00MU1UWFK/
Some of his books
The Guardian Angel
What happens when a man falls in love with his guardian angel?
Richard Sullivan is plagued by white feathers turning up at the oddest moments. Amy, his best friend, suggests his guardian angel is trying to contact him, but he dismisses the idea out of hand as nonsense.
Until, that is, he meets Sky. Six feet of muscle in a man skirt with white feather wings.
What exactly is a guardian angel? And what happens when your guardian angel takes leave and sends in a temp to cover? Do you wait for a perfect boyfriend on the off chance you may be able to touch him, to be with him, or do you grab happiness with another human? And, why the hell has Richard’s life suddenly become so complicated?
Heat Wave: Astoria
Brad's shop is known as the most popular tourist attraction for certain men in his home town, Astoria. Brad doesn't do relationships -- why would he? He’s an unashamed slut, and he loves it.
British IT programmer James is much happier working with software and computers than people. He finds escape in his encyclopedic knowledge of childhood films like The Goonies and Short Circuit.
When James walks into a quilting shop in Astoria, he decides he'll take his brother's advice and talk to a stranger. That stranger is Brad, melting slowly behind the counter during the longest heat wave America's had in years.
Can a man who thinks in binary code and always plans things to the finest degree cope with the twists and turns of emotions? Can someone who never thinks before he leaps allow himself to jump into the biggest unknown, a relationship? And how can they cope with James’ impending return to England?
Will two men who never expected to meet learn to embrace the whole messy relationship that love brings into their lives?
Escaping From Him
Darryl’s on the run – from controlling boyfriend Chris, an air-conditioner called Dave (deceased), an intolerable, claustrophobic situation and a person he just can’t be any more. The trouble is, he doesn’t have a plan – or any money – and all he knows is he needs to get away from everything. That’s where a lucky lift to Glasgow comes in, which turns out to be just the beginning of a whole new life …
Best Friends Perfect Book One
Kieran, 18, comes out to himself then his family by going to a youth group. There he meets Kev, a cross dressing gay man with awful taste in boyfriends and Jo, a grade A drama student, at college and in his real life. Kieran navigates his way through the maze that is being a gay man in the late nineties, with help from his two new best friends, and his two old best friends; Hannah, just coming out too and trying to work out if Steps are Abba for the nineties; Grace a one woman charity shop bargain hunter with encyclopedic
Gosh Brighton seems like no time ago at all. :)
ReplyDeleteI know, yet it's 4 years ago!
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