AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Tell us a bit about Match Maker
Match Maker is the tale of two tennis players who were blackballed from the professional tour (think Rafa and Federer as lovers.) Four years later, one has the chance to coach a straight, teen tennis star, and they both return to the game they love. But, of course, there are people in this straight-dominated sport of tennis that will go to any length to stop them.
Match Maker is a story of courage, love and of picking yourself up and following your path, no matter what.
What was your inspiration for the plot?
I played in amateur tennis tournaments for over fifteen years, usually playing five to six tournaments each year on the West coast and Hawaii. I took lessons from two different coaches during that time. I know a bit about tennis, and it’s a game I’m passionate about.
I combined my love of tennis with the inspiration I got while reading Patricia Nell Warren’s famous novel, The Front Runner. Although, I did not make this a love story between coach and student. It is much more than that.
Do you have another vocation besides writing?
I managed groups of software engineers in San Francisco until 1999, when I walked away from corporate America to become a writer. Since then, I’ve become a world traveler and writer. I travel the globe four to six months every year, and write full time. Between those two activities, and keeping up with my husband, Herman Chin, I am twice as busy now as I ever was working a 9-to-5.
What can we look forward to in the future from you?
Dreamspinner Press has just released my new novel, Butterfly’s Child, the story of a gay man who goes back to his hometown for his grandmother’s funeral, only to find that he has a teenaged son he didn’t know existed. It’s a story about a gay father and straight son coming to terms with each other, with a little romance thrown in with one of the locals. This is a tale of family values, about finding love in unlikely places, about finding one’s path in the world. Mostly it’s a heartbreaking/heartwarming story of gay-parented families.
I am also finishing the final polish of another modern Western called Simple Treasures. I’ll be sending it to my publisher before the end of this year. The protagonist is a gay Native American who has no long-term memory, and faces a difficult life like an Alzheimer patient. But he finds hope with a sexy, yet equally troubled, young man.
Also, my husband and I have recently started a screenplay with a DADT theme. We’ve never collaborated on a project before now, so we have no idea how this will work. If you never hear from me again, it’s because we’ve killed each other…
Where can we find your website?
My website addr is: http://alanchin.net/
My blog addr is: http://alanchinwriter.blogspot.com/
Thank you for the opportunity to talk a bit about myself and my work. There are few things writers enjoy more, and I’m no exception.
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