The Importance of John Barrowman

photo credit: John Barrowman via photopin (license)

If you've seen John Barrowman on television, it's probably as Malcolm Merlyn in Arrow or maybe Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who or Torchwood. These are both gritty, serious characters, befitting Barrowman's almost ethereal 6-foot handsomeness.

But if you've read anything else about Barrowman, you know he's an entertainment powerhouse--and fun. Dressing up as Squirrel Girl for Comic Con? Come on, that takes a sense of the absurd that calls to my heart.

I recently had a trailer made for my August 23 release, Mind Mates. And when I got the proof, I was floored. I thought, "This is the most awesome trailer I've ever seen." Problem was, there was absolutely no sense of the absurd. And though Mind Mates is packed with sizzling sex and high-octane action, there's fun too.

My question to the hubby was--do I accept it as is? Or do I ask for something funny in there and possibly ruin it?

We often value serious and gritty over sparkling and fun. We often choose things based on the gritty, real pull of the conflicts in the blurb. Hubby said if there's sass or wit, that's a bonus. Smart guy.

So I accepted the trailer as is (though next time I'll remember to ask for the other vendors at the end). Here it is. What do you think? Did I make the right call?




Here's an excerpt, one which shows a bit of Gabriel's somewhat skewed sense of humor (and my sense of absurd language, lol). Was hubby right? Is the fun a bonus?

Enjoy this excerpt from Mind Mates (Pull of the Moon book 2)

Gabriel has just rescued his employee, wolf shifter Emma Singer, from a nasty fall. She's on her feet but still wrapped in his arms when Emma's alpha Bruiser stalks in.

Bzz-bzzt. A buzz like an angry hornet stung wizard prince Gabriel Light’s ears the moment the predator slunk into the store. 

Cap’n Crunch me. Gabriel had magically alarmed the door for just such an event, but why now, when he’d finally gotten a semi-innocent excuse to wrap his arms around this warm bundle of soft, sweet-smelling heaven?

Emma. It felt like he’d been dying to hold her forever. Now, with her in his arms, was the first time in months he could breathe.

But that buzzing alarm told him the approaching beast was male, a wolf shifter, and, from that level of sting, Emma’s alpha. The beast was not going to appreciate seeing her in another man’s arms.

She started trembling, no doubt in response to the alpha’s rampant fight-club stench, a musk even Gabriel could smell. He tried to ease her tension with a joke. 

“Hey, Emma. How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh?”

She skewered him with a disbelieving stare, icing his flesh. He’d blundered, she didn’t understand he was trying to comfort her, nobody gets my skewed sense of humor… Then she gulped and said, “Eight? Like, um, eight legs?”

Immediately his world brightened. “Nope. Ten tickles. Get it? Tentacles?”

She managed a tiny laugh, tinkling bells to his ears, and her body relaxed slightly under his arms. “That was such a dad joke.”

He loved that she, of all the people he knew, actually laughed at his jokes. He smiled into her eyes like a besotted fool.

Of course, that was when the he-wolf prowled into view. 

Gabriel wondered how far he could get with the wolf by protesting his intentions were honorable. Probably not far. The creature was only barely in human form. 

The wolfman was medium height but had a face like a dented shovel and a body like a trash compactor, his muscles-on-muscles popping in a stringy T-shirt that barely qualified past no-shirt-no-shoes-no-service.

Worse, with the hair sprouting everywhere, nose elongating like a snout, and lengthening canines, this alpha was dangerously pissed.

Hard to reason with a pissed-off wolf. They tended to bite first then ask questions…never.

Yet instead of releasing Emma, Gabriel’s hand dropped from her clenched jaw to open protectively on her back.

“The fuck?” the wolfman snarled.

Something inside Gabriel snarled right back.

When a powerful wizard prince comes out of hiding to save his sister, he is forced to team with a pretty shifter—one with ugly, dangerous powers of her own. As vengeful enemies close in, a forbidden attraction flaming between them, the two race to find a mysterious key.
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HG1F7G2/
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1124016228?ean=2940153092669
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/645333
All Romance Ebooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-mindmates-2068656-140.html
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/mind-mates/id1127456235
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Mary_Hughes_Mind_Mates?id=KAFqDAAAQBAJ
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/mind-mates
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01HG1F7G2/