GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY: Theory Unproven by Lillian Francis

Today we are thrilled to be joined by Lillian Francis who is celebrating the release of Theory Unproven.

Blurb

Working with elephants in their natural habitat has always been Eric Phillips dream. Getting what he’s always desired introduces him to Tyaan Bouwer, the bush pilot that flies in his supplies, and Eric discovers the allure of South Africa goes beyond the wildlife and the scenery.

But in an area where bushveld prejudices and hatred bleed across the borders, realising their love will be a hard fought battle. Keeping hold of it might just kill them.

GUEST POST: It’s All Greek to Me

Setting a story in South Africa with an Afrikaans lead character will inevitably require the use of some foreign words in the text. But how can you explain what they have said to the reader? As with stories set in the future or on other worlds there will be the inclusion of words that mean nothing to most readers (or any readers if the author has made them up as part of the world building).

A glossary is a possibility but I’m not a fan of breaking off from my reading to flick to the back of the book for an explanation of what is being said. I’d rather a translation be supplied within the text by one of the character’s reply, actions, or reaction to these unknown utterances.

Not that this is a phenomenon (wow, I spelt that right on my first attempt) exclusive to words in a foreign language or world building from the author. I was asked by one editor not to use the term ‘scrum-half’, even though we were in the POV and thoughts of a British character, because the US audience wouldn’t understand. Strange since two of my beta readers on that story were from the USA and neither mentioned that as something they had an issue with. Also I believe this assumption that stories need to be Americanised does most American readers a disservice. But I digress, and in all honesty that is a larger topic for another day.

How do you cope with finding a word or expression that you don’t understand in a story and what is your preference for the way the author deals with it?

Excerpt

Dropping the underwear into the drawer with little sense of order, Eric rubbed at his hip where he’d connected with the carved wooden finial.

“Wasn’t expecting that,” he muttered to himself. “Bastard drawer never opens that easily.”

Returning to the contents, Eric started to spread out the clean pants to mix with the vests and socks already scattered within the drawer. Light from the window caught the reflection of something shiny, and Eric frowned. There was a reason he kept his underwear in such a haphazard fashion, and the corner of one of those reasons was clearly visible now that it had caught his eye. He was almost certain he’d hidden that away, completely covered by socks and pants, after he’d finished with the reading material last night. He pushed the underwear to one side, revealing the shiny surface of his favourite magazine. The main photo shoot featured a couple of models whose work Eric could really appreciate—and had on many occasions—and they graced the cover of this edition. With the cover models pressed together from chest to hip with nothing on display except naked butts, broad shoulders, and solid thighs, there could be little doubt what delights the pages of the magazine held.

Just the memory of the contents within had Eric’s cock showing an interest. Unfortunately, there were too many staff around to indulge his fantasies again, and he had a plane to meet.

Tyaan’s plane. Tyaan, whose strong back and broad shoulders filled his shirts, and arse and thighs pulled against the material of his trousers when he bent to retrieve Eric’s cargo.

Eric glanced once more at the solid forms of the two models on the cover of the porn mag before covering them completely with socks. He sighed.

Tyann. Just his type.

Giveaway

Buy Links

All buy links will appear here:

http://lovelanebooks.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/theory-unproven-by-lilian-francis.html

About the author

An avid reader, Lillian Francis was always determined she wanted to write, but a ‘proper’ job and raising a family distracted her for over a decade. Over the years and thanks to the charms of the Internet, Lillian realized she’d been writing at least one of her characters in the wrong gender. Ever since, she’s been happily letting her ‘boys’ run her writing life.

Lillian now divides her time between family, a job and the numerous men in her head all clamouring for ‘their’ story to be told.

Lillian lives in an imposing castle on a wind-swept desolate moor or in an elaborate ‘shack’ on the edge of a beach somewhere depending on her mood, with the heroes of her stories either chained up in the dungeon or wandering the shack serving drinks in nothing but skimpy barista aprons.

In reality, she would love to own a camper van and to live by the sea.

You can read more about Lillian here:

http://lillianfrancis.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/lillian.francis.100

https://twitter.com/LillianFrancis_