The other main character
Writing Unstable Stud was a challenge for me in a variety of ways, but one of the most challenging was the point of view. It’s written entirely from the point of view of Luke, so we only see Clay, the stable owner and love interest, through Luke’s eyes. Anyone who has read my books knows I rarely write single POV books. The only other ones I can think of are Inherit the Sky, Seducing C.C., Château d’eternité, and Once in a Lifetime. That’s two more than I thought there were when I went back and checked, but four (now five) out of fifty isn’t very many. I like writing both characters’ POV because their thoughts often reveal things to us that the other main character can’t—and may never—know, but one of the rules of category romance, or so I was told before I started this one, was a single POV.
We meet Clay slowly through Luke’s eyes, the handsome, unapproachable stable owner, then the bereaved lover, then the man with magic in his hands where his horse is concerned (where Luke is concerned too, but that’s later). The challenge then is to convey Clay’s grief, his recovery, his interest in Luke, and his doubts when they occur in a way that readers can sense too.
Two of my favorite scenes in the book involve Luke watching Clay with King of Hearts, Clay’s prize stallion. King is all tied up in Clay’s grief and loss, and their relationship is as strained as everything else in Clay’s life, but Luke can see the progress in that relationship in a way he can’t see Clay’s growing interest in him (although hopefully the reader can).
Luke stopped just inside the door, captivated by the picture through the wide opening. Clay stood silhouetted against the gray sky, his black trench coat covering him from shoulders to knees. He wasn’t wearing a hat and had snowflakes caught in his hair. As Luke watched, he reached up and brushed them away, leaving his usually immaculate hair ruffled. Behind him King rolled in the snow once more, then trotted over to the fence where Clay stood and knocked his shoulder.
Clay reached up to stroke his forelock. King dropped his head lower, and Clay leaned forward to rest his forehead against King’s. Luke turned away, feeling like an intruder on the intimate scene.
Whatever else could be said about Clay, he loved King even more than Luke did, and it looked like he was finally remembering how to show it.
Little glimpses like this one let Luke—and through Luke’s eyes the reader—see a side of Clay he has hidden from the world, and even from himself. As he becomes more present in the barn, he begins to heal and to be ready to move forward again, with a new lease on life. Much like King, Clay has been hiding away, silently grieving, convinced life will never be the same again. Luke’s task then is to prove to them that life might not be the same, but it can be good once more.
Blurb
Horses were his passion, until he laid eyes on his boss.
Eighteen months ago, tragedy struck Bywater Farm when a riding accident killed Clay Hunter’s lover and traumatized his prize horse, King of Hearts. Clay and King lingered in limbo, surviving but not really living, until a breath of fresh air in the form of Luke Davis, a new groom in the stud barn, revives them both.
When a fall from King’s back sends Luke to the emergency room, Clay watches the shaky foundation of their budding relationship tumble down. Can Clay really love a jockey again, or will his fear of losing another man he loves keep them apart for good?
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About Ariel
When Ariel Tachna was twelve years old, she discovered two things: the French language and romance novels. Those two loves have defined her ever since. By the time she finished high school, she’d written four novels, none of which anyone would want to read now, featuring a young woman who was—you guessed it—bilingual. That girl was everything Ariel wanted to be at age twelve and wasn’t.
She now lives on the outskirts of Houston with her husband (who also speaks French), her kids (who understand French even when they’re too lazy to speak it back), and their two dogs (who steadfastly refuse to answer any French commands).
Visit Ariel:
Website: http://www.arieltachna.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ArielTachna