Blake Deveraux and his MEN OF DANGER

Blake Deveraux is a newcomer gay author that I meet trough Julian Fantechi interview and I found this mature author that writes with passion and an edge in this series books called MEN OF DANGER that is a sucess right now on libraries.

From Atlanta where he lives GAY LIKE YOU had the chance to interview this blond, talented, intelligent and sexy man called Blake Deveraux that we are sure will make in big words about our own stories, feelings and emotions as men that love men.

No more words and come in to the MEN OF DANGER of Blake Deveraux and joing to his Yahoo Group too.

The first time I knew about you it was trough a comment from a reader saying where he could find your book and besides he was impressive with Julian Fantechi the guy on the cover which interviews has been one of the most view by readers.

Yes. My Italian Stallion! You’ve gotta love some Julian.

It was a good marketing to post him in the cover of the book; did you have to him in your mind since the first time?
Actually no, I didn't but I met him shortly after and he SO totally fit the Daniel character, plus I mean Julian...who WOULDNT want him on their covers....uhmmm I mean BOOK covers

Certainly he is a stallion and as you said a very sexy model.
Oh yes he is. He is very intelligent and insanely handsome…. Where’s the justice huh?

Tell us about your series novel?
There are three books so far in the Men of Danger series, book one (the one that's in print already) is Dangerous Obsessions, book two is Dangerous Liaisons (which has Julian on the cover) and Dangerous Deceptions is still in the contractual phase.

What do you talk about in Men of Danger? Why did you choose the title?
Honestly I wanted to convey the sense that these characters weren't just falling in love or lust because they were bored or whatever, I wanted the reader to know that the stakes for my characters are very high, they have very intense lives, and loves. It’s a very high energy series, and I wanted to convey that. In both book one and two, the characters find themselves in situations that could end their lives, as well as their love.

Can we call Men of Danger a gay series book or do you think is that a label for your writing?
I think since most of the characters are homosexual and the love interests are between men then it certainly wouldn't be overstepping. I wanted to humanize the gay culture a bit, to pull back the curtain some and have people realize these guys have the same feelings they do. Probably one of the BEST moments concerning book one is that a self proclaimed straight guy loved it, and said that he had really taken a step back to look at how he categorized gay men, and how he basically had assumed they were somehow "different" when the only REAL difference is WHO they love not how they love. Of course that being said... there is certainly a different mentality between men in a sexual or personal relationship than a man and woman. I think that's one thing that separates my writing from a lot of books in the genre, MOST are written by women, who by nature tend to feminize the men and at the end of the day, a gay guy might wear a dress, and like sex with men but he’s STILL a man, and thinks like one...

Certainly you are right and the difference is who and not how they love and a man even gay is a man, so do you think your writing don't stereotype them or use old clichés?
I don't think so. I mean everybody knows a gay guy who is a walking stereotype but I live in the south, and I can point out half dozen STRAIGHT stereotypes…so for the most part I think my characters are men first and gay second. I've tried to do things in my life both personally and professionally that will hopefully help people look at people as who they are first not a black lawyer, a gay banker, or a white cop but a lawyer who happens to be black, a banker, who is gay, etc..You know what I mean? I don't think your sexuality should define who you are. It’s simply a part of who you are. For the same reason I think your race shouldn't define who you are. I don't want people being shocked by the content of my book. Of course I'm selling romance, and sex between two (or sometimes more LOL) men. I'm not at all adverse to people marketing to gays, or whatever, I'm simply saying that I hope someday people won't be affected negatively or positively by a gay couple, they simply will be a gay couple. A man and woman walk down the street together nobody thinks about it...or who they are or about their lives, yet two men hold hands and I'll wager half the people that see them mention it later to someone they meet. I think that's unfortunate. I don't think that gays always help that though, some gay people put it so much out there, that it makes it hard for society not to judge.

So do you think your Men of Danger will help in some way to straight people to see different to gay people?
Just regular guys NOT to be treated like the stereotypical gay men. I think in a small way it has already. It’s opened dialogue with people I don't know I'd have had the opportunity to talk to otherwise but on a lighter note if you've read any of the sex in the book, you've got to know it's a gay book LOL there's some pretty scorching sex in it. One of the most notable things that's come out of it, is my newfound respect for Julian Fantechi, all joking aside, he is an exceptional man. He was SO kind to me, in a situation that it would have been much easier for him just to give me the brush off.

There you go again I bet you have a fantasy with him, don’t you?
I don’t know many people with a pulse that wouldn’t! He is one fine looking man.

Did you need to make a lot of investigation and research on the book, how much of you is there in the book after all a writer get involved in his own creation and why did you want to write about this subject or did you do before already?
I did a fair amount of research into the bdsm thing because although it's a curiosity of mine, I've never dabbled much in it. There is a fair amount of Blake in the book though; Brandon and I share a lot of history. We’ve been through the same things. He's not a cut out of me but his pathology is certainly similar. In a lot of ways it was therapeutic to write the first book, it allowed me to get angry at things and people I'd never really dealt with before without the confrontational issues that would entail in real life.

So in some way it was like a catharsis for you and you could play on the book as maybe you could not to do it in real life and make things happen in there with intensity, but a writer even when not necessary needs to live to create and put out in words.
Exactly. Most people who live through multiple traumas tend to internalize, and this was a way of allowing those feelings to be validated safely, most victims have been told they are worthless for so long, they tend to believe it. I still think I'm ugly so go figure huh... LOL

Come on Blake you are not ugly.
Thank you.

You can ask Julian and he will say that you are cute I bet.
I hope so.

Tell us more about the books…
Honestly almost all the characters in the books are gay, so interaction w/ straight community, isn't a recurring theme, although gay people dealing with the prejudice and mistreatment that follows, is dealt with. Frankly I wanted to have a lot of gay characters who range the spectrum. From one side to the other, so maybe people would see that stereotypes don't always fit. Book one is how Brandon and Daniel meet and how they work through the beginning of a relationship, book two is about their making commitments to each other, and dealing with the ramifications of those commitments, and book three, has characters from book one and two beginning a relationship. And book four will be the furthering of that relationship. It’s about the stages of love really how real people deal with what life throws at them and it's not always wine and roses, sometimes we aren’t' nice to each other and we have to learn to face those times with patience and love.

You said that your writing in these books helped you to deal with things you could not deal in real life, were they hard to find out?
Oh yes it kind of forced me to accept the anger and resentment that I'd denied existed in my heart you kind of tell yourself you're bigger than they are...you have overcome. I have overcome, but not without sacrificing a lot of who I was and not without a lot of negativity turned on me. It has been worth it though; so many people have reached out to me as a result of this book.

From where this anger and resentment did it come from? did it affect to you in your writing somehow?
It is still amazing to me that there are people in this universe who treat rape of a man as a simple fact of life... that they were somehow responsible, they asked for it. That makes me mad.

When did you decided you wanted to be a writer, what kind of influences did you get from other authors?
I like the classics, John Steinbeck, Walt Whitman, Margaret Mitchell, and Edgar Allen Poe. I respect their ability to transport the reader to another time and place to convey the energy, and life from those characters. I enjoy the formality of the older stuff the descriptions in Gone with the wind are so... vivid, and regal.

When did you decided to be a writer, since a child?
I've always written, as long as I can remember, before I could spell, I'd draw stories on paper…

What about where those stories?
Almost always contemporary themes, stuff about life as I saw it...usually with a hero, and an underdog. But in my stories, usually the hero gets saved by the underdog so I'm not sure they were ever really traditional, just contemporary.

What do you like about being a writer the possibility like to be a lot of people or a kind of God?
No, nothing like God... I'm more drawn to having my thoughts touch other people in the same way they touch me, to have readers connect with the characters, for me that far outweighs any other motives. Of course it's nice to get the opportunity to meet insanely handsome cover models!

Did you go to college to study literature? When did you publish your first book?
I went to college, not for literature. I was an accounting major, of all things. I published my first book this Jan. with Red Rose Publising, Dangerous Obsessions.

So you were an accounting all the time and then you decided it was time to make it happen your real wish being a writer, why did you wait so long?
I'm a business man first and foremost. I own a restaurant, as well as another small business. As for waiting for so long I guess, I didn't ever have the courage to send in a submission, so a very important person in my life told me to send it in and I did. And the rest as they say is history.

How can you define the way you write?
I write only what I've worked out in my mind beforehand. I write the story of the people that inhabit my imagination, they do as they please, and I simply document their lives.

What do you think is the difference with others gay authors in the market?
Primarily that my books don't have as "feminine" a feel as some of the others I've read, and that I generally allow my characters to make mistakes that some writers are afraid of. I allow my characters to screw up basically, because it lends authenticity to the character.

You are a self educated author that learnt a lot what advices could tell young people that want to write and talk about gay lives and has the talented but still are afraid to show the world?
There is no right way or wrong way frankly in the final analysis it's all about marketability. Can you make your story widely, accepted, or have broad enough appeal that people will buy it, without sacrificing what makes your writing unique.

What are your next projects what do you want to reach with your writing?
It’s a hard task and one that I'm not sure I've mastered, since the jury is still out on how well my books will be received. I am planning a new series a crime/romance/suspense with a recurring character tall dark handsome and Italian.

I know people will enjoy that a lot.
I can hope.

What else would you like to tell our readers?
I think I do most of my talking to the readers through the books I write, I'd love for my readers to talk more to me! Thank you for the opportunity to be interviewed. I appreciate your work and the time and effort you give to what you do.