Steps to You
Toni Griffin
Series: Fear, book one
Release date: September 26, 2015
Thank you Toni Griffin for stopping by and answering a
couple questions for us. :)
Why do you write?
A lot of authors will tell you it's because if we didn't then
we'd go mad from the voices in out head. I do tend to believe this. I hated
English at school… I'm so much more a maths fan… However, when I was leaving
work one day Brian Townsend started talking to me and telling me all about his
mate Marcus Holland. I went home that night and started writing their story,
and I've been writing ever since.
Which of your books was the most difficult to write?
Funny enough it would
be this one, Steps to You. It took me nearly two years from start to
publication, way way longer than any other story of mine. STY is the first
fully contemporary book that I've written. I also had to keep putting it aside
to work on other projects that were due. Thankfully the boys forgave me for
ignoring them for so long and started talking again. This book was definitely a
labour of love and I was determined it would get finished.
Give us an insight
into your main character.
What does he/she do that is so special? Leo Harris, I just love
him. Even though he's shit scared, his sister, being the nosey so and so she
is, wants him to get out and she hands him a ticket to climb the Sydney Harbour
Bridge. Leo goes, although reluctantly. He pushes through his fear and even
though he needs some help and encouragement, from Ryan, he make it through the
climb. Leo loves his family and would do anything for them. This is shown at
several points in the book.
How much research do
you do for your books?
Depends on the book. For this one I actually went and climbed
the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was such an incredible experience. It all depends
on the book. Some, don’t need any research, and then others I can spend hours,
searching online and reading over any number of different things. I'm currently
in the beta edits stage of As Fire Rains Down and this book needed a lot of
research. It's set in a part of the US that I've never visited, It involves
shifters I've never written about and ancient American Indian gods. This book
involved the most about of research that I can remember doing.
Who designs your
covers?
The wonderful Freddy MacKay at Mischief Corner Books makes the
majority of my covers. She's yet to send me a cover that I didn't love. I
especially love the cover to Steps to You as it shows off the Sydney Harbour
bridge and the city behind it wonderfully.
Meredith Russell
created the covers for the first four books in my Holland Brothers series.
Blurb:
Is
there something in life that you're afraid of, like heart pounding, shortness
of breath, Jesus Christ I'm going to pass out, scared? For Leo Harris that
something is heights.
Why his nosy sister would gift him with a pass for the Sydney
Harbour Bridge climb is anybody's guess, let alone expect Leo to make it
through in one piece. If it wasn't for the kindness of a sexy stranger he meets
at orientation, Leo doubts he would have been able to step one foot onto the
mammoth structure.
Ryan Anderson's known as a workaholic, as he has no reason not
to be, that all changes in one day when he meets Leo. Ryan quickly falls head
over heels as he sets out to make Leo his.
Categories: Contemporary, M/M
Romance, Gay Fiction
55,000 words
Publisher: Mischief Corner Books
Cover Artist: Freddy MacKay
Leo leaned against the brick wall,
desperately trying to gather his courage. All he needed to do was cross the
street and enter the building opposite. Leo had never considered doing
something like this in his life. Hell, he wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for
the gift voucher his nosy sister and her equally pain-in-the-ass husband had
given him.
"You need to get out of the house more,
live a little," his sister had berated him as he'd stared down at the
piece of paper in his hands, unsure exactly what he was feeling.
"I get out plenty," Leo tried
defending himself.
"No you don't, and you know it. You may
physically leave the premises to go to work and do your grocery shopping, but
you never go out and have any fun." Teresa sighed, and Leo really felt the
urge to clip her across the back of the head. "You don't go out clubbing,
very rarely go to restaurants, and you refuse point-blank to start a profile on
a dating website."
There was no way Leo was putting himself out
there at the mercy of all those desperate men who were just looking for a quick
hook-up. He was sure that scattered in amongst all those horny fellas, he might
find one or two that seriously wanted a relationship, but he wasn't willing to
wade through all the toads in order to get to his prince charming. If the man
existed—and that was a big if as far as Leo was concerned—he doubted they were
fated to meet through an online dating service.
"Teresa, I like my life. I'm
happy." Once again he tried to placate his sister, to no avail. Just
because she was happily married with two-point-three children didn't mean
everyone else had to be.
"No, Leo, you're not." Teresa
waved her hand in his face when Leo started to object again. "I know you
and I love you. Please just do this for me." She fluttered her lashes at
Leo.
He heaved a sigh, knowing he would give in
to her, just like he always did. As annoying and meddling as his sister could
be, he did love her dearly and couldn't imagine a world without her in it. The
snickering from across the room was not lost on Leo, but he decided to ignore
Blake. After all, the man was just as bad as Leo when it came to giving into to
Teresa's demands.
Leo looked down once again at the piece of
paper. "Seriously?"
Teresa laughed at him. "You're going to
love it."
Somehow he doubted that.
Even now two weeks later, Leo still didn't
like this idea any more than he had when Teresa had given him the voucher for
his birthday.
Leo checked his watch and sighed as he
realised that if he didn't get a move on, he would be late. He heaved himself
off the brick wall and crossed the road. Leo's stomach roiled and he hoped to
Christ he wasn't going to be sick.
The large glass doors whooshed open and Leo
stepped inside, heading in the direction of the register. As he waited in the
line, Leo looked all around him. Men and women perused the shelves filled with
jumpers, magnets, trinkets, and stuffed bears all containing the Sydney
BridgeClimb logo. His eyes settled on a square column with signed photographs
of famous people who had completed the climb.
Before Leo knew it, he was being called to
the desk. "Morning," the cheerful girl behind the counter said.
"Morning," Leo replied, more than
a little subdued. He handed over the voucher and waited. He was asked to
confirm he didn't have any medical problems that would prevent him from
completing the climb today, and Leo thought seriously about lying, then
reluctantly shook his head.
"Brilliant, you'll love it up
there."
Leo smiled but was' sure it 'came out more
like a grimace.
"Here's your ticket." She handed
Leo a thin rectangle. "And this is your voucher for your photos."
"Photos?" Leo asked in confusion.
"Yes, when the ticket was booked, three
photos were also purchased. You will be able to choose upon your return from a
selection the guide will take of you while you're up on the bridge."
Crap, Teresa probably wants proof that I
actually followed through. "Thank you," Leo said as he took hold of
the photo voucher.
"You're most welcome." She pointed
to her left. "If you would go up those stairs, your climb should be
starting in roughly five minutes."
Leo nodded and stepped to the side, allowing
the next person in line to move forward. He followed the instructions and
walked up the large staircase, bypassing all the shelves of tourist
memorabilia. If he really wanted something else to commemorate this foolhardy
trip, he could always pick it up on the way out.
Upstairs was just a small balcony. Roughly
three metres in front of him was a wall with three doors, two on the left side
and one nearly in front of him. To his right, there was another square pillar
with signed photos along with three touchscreen computer monitors.
Leo headed to the left where there was a
large round seating area currently occupied by several people. They were all
watching a television screen hung up by the farthest door, which showed people
getting ready for the climb through the various stages and gave them an idea of
what to expect.
He sat on a small piece of available sofa
and watched the screen with rapt attention. Leo was so engrossed in what was
going on he nearly missed it when some of the people around him stood. Leo
looked around, startled, and noticed one of the doors open with a young man
standing in it collecting tickets from those going inside.
Leo checked the clock on the wall and
noticed it read the start time of his climb. He quickly stood and made his way
over.
"Morning," Leo greeted as he
handed over his ticket.
"Good morning."
The man gave Leo back the ticket, less the
stub, and motioned him inside. The room wasn't overly large and wasn't well lit
either. A large horseshoe-shaped seating area ran down the sides and back of
the room. People sat with clipboards on their laps busily filling out
paperwork.
Leo made his way to a vacant space, picked
up the board, and unclipped the pen. Just as he was about to start writing, he
was distracted as he noticed another person walk through the door. Leo nearly
caught his breath at just how gorgeous the guy was. Broad shoulders, a trim
waist, and enough height that Leo wanted to climb the man like a squirrel
climbs a tree. Short dark brown hair, trimmed on the sides with just a little
length on top, his expression was one part kind, three parts sexy, and had Leo
wanting to swallow his damn tongue.
The man wore a tank top and a pair of footy
shorts, but Leo could see the bike shorts clearly underneath. They hugged his
thighs like no one's business, and Leo wished he was that article of clothing
more than anything. His gaze travelled all the way down. The man's dark curly
leg hair covered well-defined thighs and calves, and had Leo wanting to groan.
Socks and sneakers completed the outfit.
Leo knew his perusal of the man had only
taken seconds, but it felt like he had been staring at the guy for an entire
lifetime. When the man headed in Leo's direction, he found himself hard pressed
to pull his gaze away and concentrate on what he was supposed to be doing. Leo
wanted to curse his luck when the man took the empty seat on Leo's left.
You can find Steps to You here:
Let’s talk about Toni Griffin:
Toni Griffin lives in Darwin, the smallest
of Australia’s capital cities. Born and raised in the state she’s a Territorian
through and through. Growing up Toni hated English with a passion (as her
editors can probably attest to) and found her strength lies with numbers.
Now, though, she loves escaping to the
worlds she creates and hopes to continue to do so for many years to come. She’s
a single mother of one and works full time. When she’s not writing you can just
about guarantee that she will be reading one of the many MM authors she loves.
Find Toni here:
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