Blog Tour: Nother Sip of Gin by Rhys Ford

Hello!

Never thought I’d be back on the road with these guys again but … here we are. And nothing makes me happier than to take to the pages with the Sinner Boys all over again. ’Nother Sip of Gin came from a friend asking me if I’d ever consider pulling together some of the blog spots I’d done into a book they could read on their Kindle. I’ve held that possibility in my head for a while and then I got the time and space to pull not only the foundational stories I’d already shared but a few brand new stories I’ve always wanted to explore, short bits of emotions and life moments I’ve enjoyed pulling together. I’ve included long stories like Hair of the Dog and a few others because well, they were fun to write in the past but also provided a solid base for so much of the Sinners lore.

For this blog tour I wanted to take a bit of time to talk about five lyric snippets and how they connect to the characters as well as the meaning behind a few of them. It was great to go through the anthology and once again visit with the guys. I’ll be writing a novella about Connor and Forest in the near future so this trip down memory lane has been a great revisit with old friends, reacquainting me with their voices, quibbles, and most of all, their lives.

Nother Sip of Gin Giveaway

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’Nother Sip of Gin by Rhys Ford

A Sinners Gin Anthology

For Crossroads Gin rock stars Miki, Damien, Rafe, and Forest, life is a Möbius strip of music, mayhem, and murder. Through it all, the sweet, hot moments between tours with lovers, friends, and family keep them sane, healthy, and happy. This Sinners collection features short stories spanning the entire series, from before the first note to after the lights go out.

Purchase ’Nother Sip of Gin at Dreamspinner.

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¾ Orange notebook #3, Page #5

I came into this world, not knowing where I’ve been

You came into my life, working down into my skin

I fell in love once, with a man who loves me still

You’ve been loving him since birth,
And probably always will

We dance around each other

A mongoose and a snake

You grab and hold and cherish

So tight that I might break

Can’t you see your love, is as poisonous as your bite?

You tell me to let you love me,
And I’m afraid I one day might.

This song actually has to do with Miki’s relationship with Brigid. I sent Brigid up as an emotional antagonist for Miki because in a lot of ways she represents everything that he doesn’t understand because he’s never had it. Brigid is a true Irish warrior, brash and bold with sometimes a tenuous hold on common sense but with a fierce heart and a strong soul. Her husband is actually more of the counselor, a man used to listening to both sides of the situation and taking in opinions. Brigid will listen to the cries and sorrows of those she loves but she will also be the first one to pick up a sword — however metaphorically — to defend her family. With her own children, she knows they can be of the devil because she raised them and can recognize when they’re trying to manipulate a situation. It’s when she looks at Miki that things change.

Where she struggles to understand how Quinn thinks, she knows her third son has a good solid base beneath him but Miki lacks that. No matter how someone looks at it, Miki is shattered. Past broken. And that not only brings out the knight errant lurking in Brigid’s soul but also the rage at what was done to a young man who should have been raised in a cradle of love. She recognizes warrior-poet of Miki’s soul and her own heart is broken at the fractures she sees in him. She’s a fixer. Just like the majority of her children, including Kane, and everything inside of her says what Miki needs the most is to be loved.

She’s not wrong but Miki also isn’t what exactly anyone would ever call cuddly.

Brigid’s fierceness and intensity make Miki wary. She’s a complicated person in a lot of ways and seems to be able to peel back a lot of his defenses just by being around him. Brigid makes him vulnerable in ways Miki can’t understand or accept in the beginning. She does what others don’t do. She doesn’t approach slowly. She isn’t frightened when he bares his teeth. All of his posturing and snarling mean nothing to her. She instinctively knows he’s not going to attack her and in a lot of ways, Miki aches to be enveloped in her unconditional love. Brigid represents an intangible force of endless affection coupled with a storm bristling with lightning to defend him if he needs it.

Brigid is more than willing to wade in the battle and slay every dragon in Miki’s name. Anything to defend him. Anything to keep him safe. Without reservation. Without any regrets. He’s not sure what to do about that and a lot of ways which really scares him about Brigid isn’t how intense she loves but how broken he would be if he let her love him and she abandoned him. A big part of his complicated relationship with Brigid isn’t about Miki letting her in but rather his fear of how much it would hurt when she walked away. Because in Miki’s world, everyone at some point walked away, including Damien even if he couldn’t control that situation.

Brigid represents the unequivocal and undeniable strength of a mother’s love and while Miki’s desperate for that, he struggles to trust it. Or at least he did, but he eventually found his way.

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Author info:

Rhys Ford is an award-winning author with several long-running LGBT+ mystery, thriller, paranormal, and urban fantasy series and is a two-time LAMBDA finalist with her Murder and Mayhem novels. She is also a 2017 Gold and Silver Medal winner in the Florida Authors and Publishers President’s Book Awards for her novels Ink and Shadows and Hanging the Stars. She is published by Dreamspinner Press and DSP Publications.

She’s also quite skeptical about bios without a dash of something personal and really, who doesn’t mention their cats, dog and cars in a bio? She shares the house with Harley, a grey tuxedo with a flower on her face, Badger, a disgruntled alley cat who isn’t sure living inside is a step up the social ladder as well as a ginger cairn terrorist named Gus. Rhys is also enslaved to the upkeep a 1979 Pontiac Firebird and enjoys murdering make-believe people.

Rhys can be found at the following locations:

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Facebook Group: Coffee, Cats, and Murder

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