Magic Thursday Interrupted

MAGIC THURSDAY INTERRUPTED:
Brought to you (as a last resort that I hope you'll still appreciate!) by Maree Anderson


Hi all,

We're interrupting our scheduled Magic Thursday giveaway this week. What can we say? Sometimes, even for superhuman goddesses like us Darksiders, real life gets in the way and totally screws with our schedule.

Now we know how much you all look forward to our giveaways. And our lovely webmistress, Eleni -- classy lady that she is -- had been racking her brains trying to come up with a classy "filler" that might appeal to you all. And then, because she was pressed for time, she made the bad baaaad mistake of enlisting my assistance. Uh oh....

My solution?

Duh. Simple: WE NEED A MAN!

But wait. This is the Dark Side, and we have high standards -- and quite possibly some male followers! -- so not just any man would do. He needed to be multi-dimensional. He needed to be able to discuss man-stuff like one of the boys, as well as be mega-appealing to the ladies. So posting photos of a bunch bare-chested himbos was not going to get the job done this time. (I know! Sorry, ladies. Believe me, I was as shocked as you must be right now when I realized this.)

But don't despair quite yet. It goes without saying our man still needed to have delectable pectorals and washboard abs, because a bit of masculine eye-candy is always good for the feminine soul. (Sorry guys, but apparently we women are only human after all.) Not to mention, the ability to answer a bunch of nosy and often extremely personal questions with good humor was paramount.

But where was I to come up with this paragon of a man at such short notice?

Well, lucky for us, here's one I kinda prepared one earlier ;-)

You may know him as “Atlas” from the UK TV series Gladiator.

You may recognize him from one UK bodybuilding contest or another.

If you’re an avid erotic romance e-Book reader, he might look very familiar for some reason... that will soon be revealed.

Haven't had your morning coffee yet? Still not having an “Aha!” moment?

Okay. I'll put you out of your misery.

Today's Magic Thursday Interrupted post features my interview with accidental cover model Sam Bond -- who just happens to be featured on the cover of my December SFR release, From The Ashes.

So without further ado.....

INTERVIEW WITH SAM BOND
by Maree Anderson
February 2011

Sam, thank you so much for letting me invade your privacy interview you. It’s not often that an author even discovers the name of the gorgeous, totally hot, bare-chested guy hero who features on one of her book covers, let alone gets the chance to ask him a heap of personal questions.

And just so you know, I had a little bit of a fan-girl moment at the mere thought of this interview and I kinda blanked. I mean, OMG, what if all I can come up with are a big bunch of boring, dumbass questions? Nightmare! *hyperventilates, searches frantically for a paper bag*

So I had a rare moment of complete brilliance and posted the link to your official website all over my writers loops, told a bunch of writer and author friends a bit about you, and begged them to help me out. You’re not gonna believe the question that came up the most (but then again, you are a totally hot-looking guy, so maybe you will)….

Are you available???

Followed closely by: Do you like older women???

BTW, please don’t feel obliged to answer those two questions. But if you do, you might help put a bunch of us out of our misery.

Sam: I am seeing a girl called Emily. She is smart and sweet and makes me laugh. If I were single and someone else matched that criteria, age would not necessarily be an issue.

OK, so now we’ve got the personal stuff out of the way (Bwah hah hah! Yeah, riiight!) let’s start with questions of a professional nature.

Your bare-chested self features on the cover of my December release From The Ashes and I know for a fact that there was no tinkering with the photo to buff you up, slim you down, or anything else. You obviously work very hard to take care of yourself.

How do you stay motivated?

Sam: That’s a good question. Just recently I have realised that I don’t actually stay motivated. I’ve played all sorts of mind games in the past to keep myself motivated for a competition and I’ve tried all sorts of tricks to get me up early in the mornings. After backpacking for three months though, and not training at all in that time, I can see that I only do well in my training and achieve the best results when I am enjoying it. I do enjoy weight training so from now on my focus will always be about having fun. The aesthetics will come hand in hand by default when playing around with iron plates.

We writers are all about goal-setting. Finish the damn manuscript. Write the damn synopsis. Don’t be a weenie: Send out the darn query. Deal with rejection. Send out the darn query. Get an agent. Get published. Make some decent money….

Did you set specific goals and envisage the path your career has taken?

Sam: Well I don’t actually consider anything I’ve done thus far (as a result of my physique) a career. I see it as more of a career-break actually – a sabbatical while I pursued the opportunities that presented themselves. But goal setting is part of my life yes.

What’s been the most surprising part of your career so far? And the most rewarding?

Sam: Working on the television show (Gladiators) was a great experience and was what started it all off. Without a doubt the biggest surprise though, was seeing myself on the front of a book. I really had no idea this had happened.

We writers are also well-known for doing some crazy things when we get “the call” to say someone wants to buy our book. And most of these crazy things are accompanied by ear-splitting SQUEEEEs of utter joy.

How did you feel when you got “the call” about being on UK Gladiators? How did you celebrate?

Sam: You know what? I did exactly the same thing. The roar was so loud I had to go back into the office (my place of work at the time) and apologise to everyone.

Indulge us, pleeeease! Run us through a typical day of you doing what you do to maintain your hawt self.

Sam: I’ll try and keep this clean shall I?

Maree: Yeah, considering I don’t have an “R” rating on my website, I guess you should. Rats.

Sam: Sadly my routine is really not very interesting. I only train for about 2 hours, 3-4 times a week. And when I’m not training I’m either spending time with Emily, riding the motorcycle, or of course, working.

Okay, now we’re gonna get to the real good stuff! *rubs hands in glee*

Describe your ideal romantic moment.

Sam: Beer, pizza, bedroom. I’m kidding of course, but then that does sound very appealing.

Maree: I’ll say! Though DH and I always swap the beer for wine ;-)

Sam: I don’t dare get too philosophical about this subject, knowing that the readers of this interview will most likely be female and therefore more qualified than me, but an ideal romantic moment for me is one that catches me off guard. A complete surprise is perhaps more romantic than a planned outing to a fancier restaurant, wouldn’t you think?

If you were a girl (and I hear all the world’s women weeping buckets at the mere thought of such a travesty!) what kind of guys would you date? (SNAGs? Nerds? Jocks? Joe Average?) Would it be looks or personality that would first attract you?

Sam: It would be the same as what I look for in a woman – money But if I had to give a serious answer it would be whoever charmed me, made me laugh and someone I could see a great future with.

Maree: Emily is a lucky girl!

Do you have any pets?

Sam: Emily takes some looking after and she has a pet rabbit which enjoys more affection than me. But I don’t have a pet, no. Besides, my motorbike already takes up a huge amount of my time. How sad is that, hey?

If you had to choose an occupation that didn’t involve keeping yourself ultra-fit, what would it be?

Sam: I’d be a doctor. If I could afford to go back to University and retrain, I’d love to study medicine.

What do you think about having your photos available on royalty-free stock image websites? Do you have any concerns about what people will do with the images?

Sam: I’ve already said it was a massive shock but I’m actually really pleased. The photographer took those images free of charge as a favour to me (so I could use some on my website). I’m glad he got something out of the arrangement.

Maree: And to be quite honest, we’d probably never have discovered you if you hadn’t become a cover model—albeit an unintentional one. So we’re pretty glad about it, too!

Do you ever get recognized in public as “that guy on the cover of a book” rather than “that guy Atlas on Gladiators”?

Sam: I’ve never come across that, no. I almost hope that I do though.

What’s your favourite food?

Sam: My mother cooks a mean roast dinner. But I do enjoy pizza, the odd jug of beer, and of course who doesn’t like chocolate?

What’s your most guilty pleasure?

And….gotta leave it there, coz Sam was very forthcoming and answered Every Single One of my questions! What a man! Sigh.... Where was I again? Oh yeah. So as this interview is too long and detailed to post here, if you'd like to:

1) read the full interview/drool over more photos/sigh over video footage of our Sam working out and competing;
2) find out whether he shares an attributes with Asher, the alien hero of From The Ashes, or
3) find out (among loads of other things!) Sam's most guilty pleasure, his all-time favourite book, and whether he's ever read a romance,

then please click on An interview with Sam Bond to read the full uncut interview over on my website.

Psst. Did I mention there was video footage of Sam working out and competing????

Hope you enjoyed Magic Thursday Interrupted.

And if interviews with accidental cover models who happen to be TV stars and all round nice guys aren't your thing, then rest assured that the Darksiders normal scheduling will resume next week.

Cheers!
Maree


Please note: This interview may not be reproduced, in full or in part, without first requesting permission from author (Maree Anderson).