Trouble Triangle
Tyler's Trouble Trilogy Book 1
by Travis Casey
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Tyler Chambers finds that his luck has run out...almost. After several brushes with the law, he avoids jail
by enlisting in the Navy. When Tyler gets stationed in Pearl Harbor all his troubles look to be behind him.
Life keeps getting better when smooth-talking Tyler lands a date with the base's hottest chick, Holly
Knight, but things sour quickly when he discovers how controlling and annoying she is. As he is about to
dump her, a revelation from his past comes back to haunt him and Holly is the only person who can save
his Navy career and keep him out of prison. But what does she want in return?
He should be grateful, but is besotted with another girl. Debbie Meyers is sexually confused and has her
own ideas for Tyler. She beds him easily enough and uses him in a vendetta against Holly. Tyler finds
himself in a TROUBLE TRIANGLE when both women want him for their own needs.
A story of lust, love and blackmail.
But who's doing what to whom?
*Adult Romantic Comedy*
**Get it FREE!! **
** He will also have a few other books for free this month! **
Forbidden Trouble 18+ 4/16-4/20
Enemy of my Enemy 4/23-4/27
Travis was brought up in Midwest America before embarking on a nine year Navy career that allowed
him to travel the world and learn about life. He has ping-ponged across oceans moving from mainland
United States to Hawaii, to Scotland, to Seattle, to England, to Minnesota, back to England, and back to
Minnesota where he currently resides ... for now
He writes easy-reading, light-hearted fiction and "You couldn't make it up" true stories about his own
experiences. Relax by the beach or curl up on the couch on a rainy day while Travis takes you on fun-
filled adventures that let you forget about life for a while and have a laugh.
GUEST POST
What inspired you to write this book?
I had no idea how to write a book. My
wife encouraged me to give up writing articles for a certain website
and focus on a book. Not knowing where to begin, I fell into "Write
about what you know." So I penned my Naval memoirs. The problem
was; I was not the Captain of an aircraft carrier. Nor was I a Navy
SEAl. I never captured
a terrorist kingpin, and I didn't sail the globe for thirty years
defending democracy. I was a stereotypical sailor having a damn good
time during my early twenties in an era when socially questionable
behavior was seen as normal in the 1980s US Navy. I wrote the book
(76,000 words), sent it to agents (23 of them) and received
rejections (23 of them).
So I joined an online writing group to
polish the manuscript. I figured some grammar gurus would insert some
commas, un-dangle some participles, and tell me what a great book I
had. After being stripped bare, swallowing my ego, and admitting my
shortcomings, I began my journey of learning the craft. I shelved the
memoir and started over.
How did you come up with the concept
for the book?
After shelving my Naval memoirs, I
decided Tyler Chambers could do more than I ever did. He could be
cheekier, more daring, suaver, and at times, a bigger a*hole. I got a
trilogy out of him and funnily enough, he followed in my footsteps.
He started with shore duty in Hawaii in Trouble
Triangle before getting on board a seagoing frigate and
sailing the Orient in Oceans
of Trouble. Then he went to Scotland where he found a whole
lot of Forbidden
Trouble.
Can you tell us a little bit about
the characters in Trouble Triangle?
I wrote it in first person and Tyler
was my alter ego. Many parts of the story are taken from true life
events and some are pure fabrication. I won't say which parts are
made up simply because I don't want to admit which parts are true!
But Holly, Debbie, and Mark all existed in real life and started out
as mirrors of real people I knew. However, as the book developed,
they all took on their own personalities and became different people.
Where did you come up with the names
in the story?
All the first names I used were from
the actual people I modeled the characters off—Holly, Debbie, and
Mark. But in all my books, I'm not a fan of clever or ultra-cool
names. All my characters have simple, pronounceable names, and I
don't spend much time deliberating on them. I go with whatever hits
me immediately and that is the character I create. For my latest
creation, I leaned back in my chair for about five seconds and Chad
Dixon was born closely followed by Lisa Knolls four seconds later.
What did you enjoy most about
writing this book?
A lot of it involved revisiting an
enjoyable time in my life. The skill was making it fiction.
Tell us about your main characters-
what makes them tick?
Nymphomaniacs, borderline alcoholics,
party people of the 1980s. What's not to love?
How did you come up with the title
of your first novel?
As with all my novels, I think of a
title and then check it on Amazon. My first choice was "Double
Trouble." There were at least ten books with that title. I
didn't want people buying the wrong book.
"Trouble in Paradise" was my
next choice but another half a dozen books showed up. I eventually
focused on the triangle part of the relationship and Trouble Triangle
was named (and unique).
If you had to do it all over again,
would you change anything about Trouble Triangle?
I began writing it in 2011 and was
totally focused on Tyler being an indulgent, stereotypical sailor. So
the story is about him and the entire trilogy (Tyler's Trouble
Trilogy) is about a young man coming of age. However, there is a
subplot that is current in today's climate. Holly and Debbie are
lesbians serving in the 1980s military—a time when gays were not
allowed. So it is also a story about them having to hide their
sexuality. If I had written it with a different POV (point of view)
it could have been a very different book. But it's still there and
I'm proud to have woven such a (then) taboo subject into a romantic
comedy.
What is your favorite part of this
book and why?
Writing Holly's dad, Reverend Cornelius
Knight. My dad was a preacher—although not quite like Holly's dad.
Rev. Knight is a TV evangelist who is there to see if Tyler will
measure up to his standards as Holly's boyfriend. I had so much fun
writing an over the top, fire & brimstone preacher meeting a
screw-up like Tyler. It was hilarious and surprisingly easy to write.
It just flowed.
Anything specific you want to tell
your readers?
This is why I joined the Navy as
opposed to another branch of the service.
If you could spend time with a
character from your book whom would it be?
I had a serious literary crush on
Holly. She could be annoying, but what that girl liked to do in
public places … Whew!
Are your characters based off real
people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
They start out based on people I know
but develop into their own character. After Triangle, I became more
confident with my abilities to write fiction and relied less on
basing characters off real people.
Do your characters seem to hijack
the story or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story?
There were times I was just a passenger
sitting at the keyboard writing what they told me. I'm not kidding,
sometimes they would write me into a corner and it would take me ages
to figure out how I would write myself out of it. Or I'd read stuff a
few days later and ask myself "Where'd that come from?"
Convince us why you feel your book
is a must read.
It helps if you’re a fan of the
1980s. If that was before your time, this is a good way to learn
about it. But Tyler goes after a girl out of his league. "Like
way out," as Holly put it. He has to use all his charm,
and a good deal of BS to win her over. Once he gets her, he becomes
more taken with Debbie. His angst becomes the tent pole of the
story—that and he has an incredible knack for digging himself into
a hole. Not only is he trying to juggle two women, but he also joined
the Navy under dubious circumstances and those circumstances are
about to bite him in the ass.
Have you written any other books
that are not published?
As I mentioned, I scrapped my first
book and my tenth book is under revision (again). I hope to release
it sometime in 2020.
What did you edit out of
this book?
A lot. In total, I cut over 11,000
words since the first draft.
Fun Facts/Behind the Scenes/Did You
Know?'-type tidbits about the author, the book or the writing process
of the book.
I have Googled the real Holly, Debbie,
and Mark to see if I could find them to let them know they inspired a
book. Sadly I came up empty in my searches—or perhaps it's just as
well.
What can we expect from you in the
future?
I've started a new novel and I'm going
to write half of it from a female, first-person POV—and I will
attempt this feat without a sex-change. Yep. Beta readers get ready.
Do you have any “side stories”
about the characters?
I was in a Taco Bell in Honolulu with
the real Holly. A few of my Navy buddies came in, and dragging me
aside, asked if I wanted to go to Dirty Dan's—a strip joint. I
glanced at Holly then whispered back that I couldn't go because I was
on a date—and what's more, I didn't need to go because I was
on a date. When I returned to the table, Holly stated: "I heard
that." I apologized and let her know I told them to get lost.
She said, "I've never been to a strip club. I'd like to check it
out." So we went.
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