Ellis Carrington - Who’s the weak one?

Jadette, thanks so much for asking me to be on your blog today!

You know, I’ve been asked many times now where the inspiration for my book, Amor Prohibido came from and the truth is there are probably half a dozen answers because a lot of things came together in my head at once when I conceptualized that story. The BIG part of it that I haven’t really discussed yet, is probably the trickiest: the ongoing and very muddy debate about same-sex marriage and same-sex domestic violence.

Shortly before I started writing Amor Prohibido I had a conservative acquaintance approach me with a strong need to voice his objections about same-sex marriage. He claimed he had no objection to homosexuality and same-sex relationships but that his objections to gay marriage were about the legal implications. Who, he asked, would be seen as the weaker party in the event of a divorce?

Wow, did this ever give me pause. Big pause. This question of his unwittingly insulted a lot of people, gay and straight alike. More than that, it made me think about the still rarely-discussed topic of violence and domestic abuse in same-sex relationships. It is estimated that one-in-FOUR individuals in a same-sex relationship is abused. That is a scary-high number. And no one is really sure, because it can happen in so many different ways and few discuss it or ask for help. In large part because of the very kind of question this person had posed to me. Nobody wants to be the “weak” one in a same-sex relationship, and this is something I know firsthand as I spent quite some time in an abusive relationship with another female. I imagine that this goes double in a relationship between two men.

Thing is, it rarely has anything much to do with physical strength.

So this was a large part of the inspiration for Amor Prohibido’s hero, Jacob.  Though the focus of Amor Prohibido was not the abuse, but in how Jacob heals and reclaims his strength. How he finds love again with Pakal, an immortal Mayan spirit guide. How in the end he doesn’t really need to be saved, but he winds up saving the man he loves, instead. Because he is not the weak one, he’s stronger than he knows.

More about Amor Prohibido:

Jacob Freehan has no job, no man, and no motivation. In pain both from ending a long-term abusive relationship and a severe back injury, he escapes to the sunny seaside town of Puerto Morelos for a little yoga, a little R&R, and possibly a place to quietly end his own life.

Pakal is a centuries-old immortal Mayan spirit guide who has been charged with getting Jacob on the path toward healing. Romantic involvement with a spirit charge is strictly forbidden, and it has never been a problem...until now. Pakal sees something special in Jacob, but failure to keep a rapidly growing attraction at bay could result in Jacob losing his life and Pakal being condemned to the Underworld forever...

Excerpt:

“Uh, yeah. Hi. Pakal, right?” As if he didn’t remember. Just like he remembered the hills and valleys of the large man’s muscular arms, the golden glow of the sun as it shimmered on his chest. The strong grip with which the man had shaken Jacob’s hand. He had, in fact, remembered it the night before in his dreams, and again that morning in the shower.

Pakal nodded and grasped Jacob’s injured leg without any pause to request permission. “Let me look at this,” he murmured.

Ah, damn. Pakal’s hands were warm, firm, and alarmingly reassuring as they massaged the muscles around Jacob’s aching knee. And then…there was that strange pulse again, strongest at the points where Pakal’s hand touched Jacob’s skin.

Though it had been a little startling at first, the sensation wasn’t at all unpleasant. It reminded Jacob of walking into a large dance club and feeling his body throb along with the bass line of his favorite music. 
He had an inexplicable urge to place a hand over Pakal’s bare chest, to see if it was the larger man’s heartbeat that Jacob’s body was vibing with.

And here, for a little added visual, a picture of the beach on which this scene took place.

Amor Prohibido is available now from Amber Allure!

Ellis’s bio:

Ellis Carrington is a woman who loves men who love men, and has been ever since her rebellious teen years when she jacked a copy of The New Joy of Gay Sex from her local public library and said to herself, “Now THAT is hawt!” She’s a wild child who hates to color in the lines, but who lives and loves passionately. Ellis can be found in and around the Washington D.C. area, swilling Starbucks with her real or imaginary buddies. Her greatest loves are good friends, good music, and of course reading M/M romance.

• email: EllisCarrington@gmail.com
• web: http://EllisCarrington.com
• Goodreads
• Facebook
• Fanpage 
• Twitter