Romance
Date Published: 02/14/2017
Publisher: James Fant Books, LLC
Can a man and a woman be best friends without somebody catching feelings?
Travis Barber and Sade Styles are best friends of the opposite sex. Despite what everyone thinks, they are not getting busy...yet.
Co-owners of a popular barbershop/salon in named CoEd, Travis and Sade spend the bulk of their days together. But when Sade’s apartment lease runs out and Travis offers her the spare bedroom of his newly built house, will they end up sharing more than just the utilities?
This witty, fast-paced romance seeks to answer the question: can a man and a woman be best friends without crossing that fine line into the land of lovers. Best case scenario, nothing happens. Worst case scenario, they get to know each other a little too well and end up hating each other!
Are Travis and Sade making the best move for their friendship?
Interview
What
is the hardest part of writing your books?
The hardest thing about writing for me, or
the biggest challenge I face, is time. My cup truly runs over with ideas for
novels. Then the novels I write, that were birthed from an already overflowing
cup of ideas, spawn more ideas. This is a blessing, really. But there are only
24 hours in the day and I guess I do need to sleep for at least a couple hours
a night. So to overcome this challenge, I've learned to budget my time wisely.
I take mass transit now so I write while I ride. If I'm standing in a long
line, I whip out my smartphone and type while I wait. It's all about finding
those stolen moments and stealing them back...from whoever it is that stole
them.
What
songs are most played on your Ipod?
The
Root by D’Angelo is in heavy rotation on my MP3
player. In the song, D’Angelo tells the story about a woman who has him so deep
in the thrawls of love that it feels like she has a root on him that cannot be
reversed. He goes to the doctor and the man tells him there's nothing wrong
with him. You see, the woman--the root worker, if you will--has so subtly
infected him that physicians cannot detect the infection. I love the song
because of its funky chords and tight beat but also
because the crooner basically tells you one
of those old school blues stories. It makes you empathize with the guy in the
song and envy him at the same time.
Do
you have critique partners or beta readers?
I do but I could always use more. Beta
readers are so valuable for a project because they let you know up front if a
story needs more detail or less detail; if the prose is flat or too fat. They
help polish coal into diamonds. But you have to have good enough sense to
listen to them. And they have to be unapologetically honest with you.
What
book are you reading now?
I'm currently reading The Selected Poems by Langston Hughes. He's one of my heroes. I
recently completed his novel, Not Without
Laughter and thoroughly enjoyed the poetic flare of his prose. I'm also
reading The Sweet Spot by Joann
Livingston. It's about small town scandal and mysterious stranger. So far,
pretty interesting.
How
did you start your writing career?
I started off with poetry first: small
pieces, one page deals. One day I wrote this elaborate poetic short story and
shared it with my friends. They all responded with some variation of, "You
wrote this? This is awesome. Really? You wrote this?" So I wrote more
short stories. Then a short story idea morphed into my first novel, An Ode for Orchids. And now, here we are
at my current novel, COED. It's a
story about best friends of the opposite sex who become roommates. How long
will it be before one of them wants more than mere friendship? I had a lot of
fun writing this novel because it shows how friends can turn into lovers. My
wife and I started off as just friends.
Tell
us about your next release.
Heart
of Stone is scheduled to be released on Memorial
Day, 2017. This is a coming of age novel about a man trying to be good in a
world that keeps bringing out his bad side. Will he become vulnerable enough to
make sacrifices? Or will he fall victim to the hardness of his own heart?
James Fant is an award winning author who lives in Charleston, SC with his lovely wife and two hilarious children. When he’s not reading everything from business management to mysteries or “entertaining” his family with piano solos and spoken word, James writes inspirational romance and suspense that warms the heart and hopefully makes readers laugh—in public.
Contact Information
Twitter: @jamesfantjr
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