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Archive for the ‘New Release’ Category

New Release – A Taste of Honey, a bear anthology from Dreamspinner Press

Posted in New Release, tagged , , on August 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

A Taste of Honey – edited by B.G. Thomas

Blurb:

In the mood to try something sweet? How about a collection of stories about bears and the special men in their lives? Guys don’t have to be in their twenties, perfectly sculpted, and hairless to be hot. Bears are real men with real bodies—and that doesn’t always mean a perfect six-pack or an immaculately smooth chest. With bears, it can mean more man to love. The men in this anthology are chubs, cubs, grizzlies, pandas, polar bears, and more—all looking for a connection. And beneath their burly physiques are hearts of gold. Explore the bear scene and beyond with these big, hairy guys and the men who find them irresistibly sexy.

The Bear Fetish by John Amory
The Bear Next Door by Jack Byrne
The Bear at the Bar by J. Scott Coatsworth
Barefoot by Lillian Francis
Just Breathe by John Genest
Bear Chasing by Renae Kaye
Golden Bear by G.P. Keith
Hunting Bear: A Fairy Tale with a Very Hairy Ending by Edmond Manning
The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Getting Over Yourself by Robert B. McDiarmid
Truck Stop by Christopher Hawthorne Moss
Banyan Court by Samuel Scott Preston
Amped by Zoe X. Rider
The Bear King of Snowbird Mountain by Michael Rupured
Life’s Tiny Surprises by Tara Spears

Available now from Dreamspinner Press

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New Release – Rescued by Felice Stevens

Posted in New Release, tagged on August 19, 2014| 1 Comment »

Title: RESCUED
Author: Felice Stevens
Publisher: LooseId
Book Link: http://www.loose-id.com/rescued.html

Book Blurb: Ryder Daniels has spent the last year recovering from rejection: his parents couldn’t accept his sexuality and his lover chose drugs over his love. The only bright lights in his life are his younger brother and his rescued pit bull. But now his mother’s punishment for his lifestyle has cut him off from his brother he loves so deeply. Devastated, he throws himself into the work of the Pit Bull Foundation he and his friends started.

Jason Mallory can no longer hide the dissatisfaction of his relationship with his longtime girlfriend. When her marriage ultimatum pushes him to break things off, he’s determined not to jump into the dating scene. But when a group of injured pit bulls are found on his construction site, he can’t forget the guy who shows up to help.

After Jason adopts one of the dogs, he and Ryder become fast friends—until one night, Ryder lets down his guard and Jason recognizes his desire. Soon, they can’t deny the passion between them but will family differences and ugly prejudices keep them apart, or can they fight to prove that love is precious, no matter the flavor?

Author Bio: Felice Stevens has always been a romantic at heart. She believes that while life is tough, there is always a happy ending just around the corner. She started reading traditional historical romances when she was a teenager, then life and law school got in the way. It wasn’t until she picked up a copy of Bertrice Small and became swept away to Queen Elizabeth’s court that her interest in romance novels became renewed.

But somewhere along the way, her tastes shifted. While she still enjoys a juicy Historical romance, she began experimenting with newer, more cutting edge genres and discovered the world of Male/Male romance. And once she picked up her first, she became so enamored of the authors, the character-driven stories and the overwhelming emotion of the books, she knew she wanted to write her own.

Felice lives in New York City with her husband and two children and hopefully soon a cat of her own. Her day begins with a lot of caffeine and ends with a glass or two of red wine. She practices law but daydreams of a time when she can sit by a beach somewhere and write beautiful stories of men falling in love. Although there is bound to be angst along the way, a Happily Ever After is always guaranteed.

Connect with Felice Stevens
Website- ww.felicestevens.com
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/felice.stevens.1?fref=ts
Twitter- https://twitter.com/FeliceStevens1

Buy Links:
LooseId- http://www.loose-id.com/rescued.html
Amazon- To be live on the 19th

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Saturday Recommendations

Posted in New Release, Recommendations, Saturday Recs, tagged , on August 16, 2014| 1 Comment »

55c46-1868508 It’s been a good week for reading – my laptop had a problem and writing hasn’t been possible so I’ve been comfort reading and picking at some recommendations. So this week I have not one but TWO books for you.

First of all I had best come clean that my first rec is a brand new release from one of my dearest friends – a book that I read in first draft mode – but I still think that I Knew Him by Erastes is superb and very unusual, as you will see.


Young Harry Bircham, up at Cambridge, seems at first sight to be our traditional historical hero. He’s handsome, intelligent and is desperately in love with his best friend. But there’s SO much more to Harry than that. Perhaps his wit is a little vicious? Well it was the fashion of the time. Perhaps he’s a little possessive? One can excuse his anxiety when one reflects that the object of his devotion doesn’t seem quite as into Harry as Harry is into him. Maybe he’s inclined to cut corners to get what he wants? But then Harry is moving in top drawer circles without a lot of family money to back him up. Harry does what he has to and is always going to come out on top – unless it’s his whim to be on the bottom. Pushy? I should say so.

The book is filled with delicious 1920s set pieces, from Cambridge student life, to country house parties to polo matches and Harry sails through it all, doing his own thing. What his thing is would be a spoiler, and I don’t want to do that, but I remember when I first read it that my eyes got wider and wider.

This is absolutely NOT a M/M romance so shouldn’t be read as such, but it is a riveting and exciting story – one that you’ll read alternately cheering Harry on, then saying “Oh no he DIDN’T!” I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

And I promised another, didn’t I? I saw this book recommended by S. A. Meade, whose work I think is cracking, so I took a chance.

So what if you’re a retired spy, a faithful servant of your masters, now out to grass and enjoying a quiet coffee in a cafe in Britanny? What if, as you tussle with the cross word and look out across the street to the sea, a man sits down at your table – a man you were sure was dead and who you know has every reason to want to end your life in the most painful way possible.

That’s the premise of In the Presence of Mine Enemy by Helena Maeve. I’m wondering why I’ve never read anything by this author before but I fear that it’s because her work is labelled as erotica. Yes, the sex in this book is explicit, but there was some point to most of it and the bits that didn’t seem to have much point plotwise showed character development.

This is another strong, exciting and edgy book that’s not at all run of the mill romance. Give it a go.

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New Release – Catching Kit by Kay Berrisford

Posted in New Release, tagged , on August 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Yay for a re-release with extra oomph from one of my favourite authory people, Kay Berrisford.

Catching Kit, Book One of the Underground Elves series is released today from Love Lane Books.

Blurb:
Denny is a top secret agent on a mission to protect London from Ethereal Beings – elves – who are seen as dangerous mind-reading parasites who prey on human emotions.

Kit is an elf on the run, misunderstood and persecuted by humans. When Denny catches him, he shatters everything Denny’s been taught about elves. He’s gorgeous and funny and claims he’s been searching a long time for a guy like Denny. He shares Denny’s kinks and now he needs Denny’s love to survive.

But if Denny doesn’t take Kit to jail, he’s in big trouble. Dare Denny break the law and gamble his life to save the Ethereal Being in his bed?

Catching Kit is available today from Love Lane Books, from Amazon UK and Amazon US.

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Today in the Comfy Chair – Douglas Black

Posted in Guests, New Release, tagged , , on August 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

My guest today is Douglas Black – a new-to-me author whose work I will definitely be following up. In addition to that he has a profession for which I have a huge affection and I wish he lived a bit closer so I could run some of the weird stuff past him that members of the public bring into the museum for identification. “It’s just a stone” comes much more easily from a man with letters after his name. 🙂

BUT today he is here to talk about his new book.

Welcome, Douglas. Perhaps you could kick off the interview by telling us a bit about yourself?

Hello! Thanks so much for having me! I confess, interviews are a little strange for me since I really don’t like talking about myself, but I promise to give it my best shot. Shall we start with the basics?

My name is Douglas Black and I’m an archaeologist by day and an MM erotic romance author by night.

The writing really started when I was in university. I was by no means destitute, but there came a point in my third year where textbooks and field equipment got a lot more expensive and the amount of meat in my diet and central heating going on in my flat took a real nose-dive as a result. One of my friends wrote short stories for pornographic magazines to earn money on the side. She suggested I try it, and I didn’t take much convincing.

I stopped writing after university, but in 2012 I came back to the genre, because I had a story I really wanted to tell. A character called Jake jumped into my head while I was on holiday and I started messing around, writing about him. He’s really an amalgam of my wonderful partner, and the one who got away, and he’s by far the favourite character I’ve ever written. Jake started this journey, and now, after telling his story, I’m still here two years later because I enjoy writing. It’s that simple really.

When you arenít writing, is there any other creative activity you enjoy? Have you ever written about it?

At the moment, I pretty much just work and write, but I used to fancy myself as a bit of an artist. I had what, I suppose, might be considered an unorthodox approach (my art teacher certainly thought it was!) I used mixed media, combining paints with pencil and pen sketches before throwing in newspaper cuttings, photographs and old placards from protest marches. My work was always very political.

It’s been years since I created anything new. I know it’s the excuse everyone uses, but I just don’t have the time anymore. However, I am writing a story that involves a character, Teddy, who’s very much based on me when I was in my late teens and early twenties (very opinionated, political and always off on some protest march or another) so maybe I’ll make him an artist on the side!

What are you reading? Can you recommend something that you wished you’d written yourself?

There are books I wish I had written, but they don’t fall into the MM erotic romance genre.

Three spring to mind. The Crimson Petal and The White (Michel Faber), Wolf Hall (Hilary Mantel), and Into The Wild (Jon Krakauer). All three authors, I think, took writing to a higher plane with those books. You have to look at how they use words. It’s as simple as that, but that’s what being a master of ‘The Craft’ means, and you can see those authors’ level of skill in those books.

In that crucial inspiration stage of a new story which comes first? Plot, situation or character?

For me, the situation comes first. The one exception to that was my novel, Port In A Storm (which will be rereleased this year). My character Jake emerged fully formed and I just wrote down his story. Jake is my ideal man, my personal fantasy though, so I think that’s why that book was different.

Normally I come up with a situation, then I have a look around and see what type of character would do least well in that situation and once I find that character, I chuck them in and try to help them not drown. How cruel does that sound?!

Do your characters arrive fully fledged and ready to fly or do they develop as you work with them? Do you have a crisp mental picture of them or are they more a thought and a feeling than an image?

They definitely never arrive fully formed. I don’t like perfect characters, because people aren’t perfect in real life, so all of my heroes have flaws. Not necessarily big ones – I haven’t written a character yet who just cant stop killing people, for example – but they have flaws and the situation I’ve created usually informs what those flaws are and how they (and the character) changes and develops throughout the story.

Is there any genre you would love to write, ditto one you would avoid like a rattlesnake? What inspired you to write about a private investigator?

I’d like to try my hand at crime fiction, but I’ve avoided doing so thus far because I just don’t know how good I’d be at it. It’s on my ‘To Do’ list!

Villains challenge the main protagonists and give them something to contend with beyond the tension of a developing relationship. The cruel sea. The serial killer. The society itself. Your hero’s inner demons. What sort of villains do you prize?

Villains are incredibly important, so I try to be very careful when it comes to telling their story. I think it was Stephen King who said no one in life sees themselves as the villain, so I always try to look for the motivating factors behind a character. I don’t want a cardboard cutout bad guy. I want my readers to be able to understand where the anti-hero is coming from, even if they don’t like him or her.

What are you working on at the moment? Can you discuss it or do you prefer to keep it a secret until it’s finished.

I have two releases coming out in August. The Bucket List, and Spanish Heat (due out on August 22nd) so I’m naturally very excited about those. I’m also snowed under trying to bring Jake’s story back to life. I originally self-published Port In A Storm, but I was never happy with it. It’s such a personal story for me, so I want to make it perfect before it gets rereleased, but I certainly hope to be able to share it with everyone soon!

Could we please have an excerpt of something?

Of course, have an excerpt from The Bucket List. (And would you believe it? It’s available now!)

Kade looked up at the unfamiliar facade of the building in front of him. If he hadn’t just checked his location for the third time, using both the sat-nav on his phone and the one in his car, he would have sworn he must have taken a wrong turn when he reached the unfamiliar streets of Glasgow’s East End.

Unlike the supermarket he normally frequented, this one had no branding or signage to speak of. There were no garish colors and definitely no cheesy logos. If it had an official name, the owners clearly didn’t think it was worth sharing with their customers.

The building looked like a windowless warehouse, and the car park, devoid of neatly painted grid lines and pointless shrubbery, was just a gravel-covered, pothole-ridden piece of ground hemmed in by a giant metal fence. If it hadn’t been for the steady stream of people coming and going through the single-door entrance, Kade wouldn’t have known if the shop was open or closed.

He sighed and leaned against the bonnet of his car. All he really wanted to do was get back behind the wheel and drive back to what was familiar. The temptation was almost overwhelming. It wasn’t like he hadn’t had enough changes and uncertainties to deal with recently without dragging the weekly shopping into the mix. He pulled out his phone and scrolled down until he found Ian’s number. Ian answered on the second ring.

“I’m standing outside an Asian supermarket. Are you happy now?”

“That depends,” Ian said. “Are you actually going to go inside, or are you just planning on standing in the car park, biting your bottom lip and looking at your feet?”

Kade looked up from his boots and removed the phone from his ear momentarily so he could stare at it instead. He heard Ian’s laughter through the handset.

“Fuck you very much,” Kade said under his breath when he put the phone back to his ear.

“And you. I’ll see you tonight. You know, I’m impressed. Doing two things outside of your comfort zone in one day? Hell, the council must be pumping chemicals into the water again.”

“Yeah, yeah. Very funny.” Ian was still laughing when Kade rang off and slipped his phone back into his pocket.

Ian’s jokes didn’t feel very funny to Kade at the moment, and his behavior had nothing to do with too much fluoride in the city’s water supply, as Ian well knew. Instead, it had everything to do with that stupid bloody list.

The bucket list. His bucket list. Only it wasn’t really his at all, because Kade hadn’t had any say in whether or not he wanted a bucket list, let alone what he wanted to put on it. Ian and his boyfriend, Paul, had drawn it up the morning after Kade had shown up on Ian’s doorstep, shouting and ranting and crying because Niall had left.

~~~


The Bucket List

Blurb:
When Kade Doherty gets dumped, he expects sympathy from his friends. Instead, he gets a bucket list. His friends want to help him enjoy life again, but Kade isn’t convinced a list of outlandish leisure pursuits will help much with that. To keep the peace he goes along with the plan and in the process, he meets Blake. Blake’s Australian accent and surfer-boy looks are the stuff of sexual fantasies and Kade surprises everyone – including himself – when he wastes no time making a move.

Kade goes with Blake into the Scottish highlands, but just as he is beginning to get used to life with his very own Mr. Australia, reality comes knocking. Kade’s newfound happiness falls apart when his abusive ex demands they meet. Blake senses something is wrong and he wants to help, but Kade knows he can’t confide in Blake.

After all, Kade hasn’t exactly been honest. He might feel like a different man when he’s with Blake, but Kade knows he’s still just an accountant from Glasgow with slight obsessive compulsions and a bucket list that someone else wrote. He knows Blake won’t hang around, let alone help, when he finds out the truth.

Or will he?
Buy The Bucket List here

Author Biography

Douglas Black was born and raised in bonnie Scotland. An archaeologist by trade, Douglas started writing MM erotica as a means of avoiding starvation at university before returning to the genre in 2012.

Welcome to your fantasy.

Author Links

Blog
http://douglasblackerotica.wordpress.com

Amazon

Facebook Author Page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Douglas-Black/1632968396841732?ref=hl&ref_type=bookmark

Twitter
@DBlackErotic

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New Release – Repossession is 9/10ths of the Law by Hank Edwards

Posted in New Release, tagged on July 30, 2014| 1 Comment »

Repossession is 9/10ths of the Law by Hank Edwards is out today from Wilde City Press and it looks like loads of fun.

Blurb:

Alan Baxter barely scrapes by working as a deejay in suburban Detroit. To make ends meet, he takes a job as an automobile repossession agent, and discovers his very first assignment is a car owned by his drug dealer ex-boyfriend. On top of that, a body is discovered in the trunk…by a cop. Soon Alan’s life is completely upturned as he is pulled into a mystery involving more bodies, a highly lethal new street drug, a mysterious man with a top hat and cane, raging dwarves, a house fire, a cranky police detective, and his even crankier cat!

You can buy it directly from Wilde City Press here

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New Release – Second Helpings by Charlie Cochrane.

Posted in New Release, tagged , on July 22, 2014| 1 Comment »

So excited to see a new release from one of my fave authors! Here are the details.

Second Helpings

Blurb: Stuart Collins’s life might as well have ended a year ago when his partner died in a car crash. Even Stuart’s widowed father has found new love with an old friend, Isabel Franklin, so why can’t Stuart be bothered to try?

Then he gets a phone call from Isabel’s son, Paul, who wants to check out whether or not Mr. Collins is good enough for his mother. During dinner together, though, they end up checking out each other. Trouble is, Paul’s got a boyfriend—or maybe he doesn’t, since the boyfriend’s supposedly giving Paul the push by ignoring him. Or maybe Paul just wants to have his cake and eat it too.

Honesty with each other is the only way to move forward. But maybe honesty with themselves is what they really need.

Buy here from Riptide Publishing

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Guest Post – Fantastical Nightmares from S. A. Garcia

Posted in Guests, New Release, tagged , on July 18, 2014| 1 Comment »

I’m really pleased to be hosting S. A. Garcia today, in honour of her latest release, Canes and Scales, an exciting steampunk fantasy from Dreamspinner Press.

~~~

Fantastical Nightmares

Nightmares are terrible things. I know many people claim they don’t remember their dreams, but I bet everyone remembers their nightmares, especially the dangerous ones.

Nightmares render us helpless. How many times have you tried to break free from a horrible dream but the damned thing just keeps grinding along? Nightmares are the sub consciousness’s toxic waste. No one enjoys them, unless you’re into abuse and torment. Then hey, hope you enjoy those nightmares. For me, waking up sweaty and gasping in fear is not fun. Let’s face it, there are no safe words in nightmares. They don’t stop because you want them to stop!

But imagine if someone deliberately sent you a terrible nightmare, one so soul shattering that you know, unless you wake up, you will die? I know it’s been done before, but I attempted such a scenario in Canes and Scales: The Novel for the first time in my writing career— wait, I can’t say career, because you usually make money at a career— let’s just say writing adventure. I regard writing as a splendid adventure, and on days when I don’t have the time or energy to write, the lack of adventure impacts my mind. That is a true nightmare.

There I go, turning this around to be about me. But wait, I wrote the book— part of this needs to be about me.

Although nightmares play a large role in Canes and Scales: The Novel, the entire book is a dream come true— I always dreamed about expanding my first published novella into a novel. I never expected the story to transform into an epic fantasy! In this sweeping novel, Linden and Alasdaire suffer plenty of trauma, drama, evil elven deathspells, and danger.

They also experience an epic romance, supported by elven dream magic yet challenged dark Elven magic.

Here’s an example of when dark Elves send nightmares into their life. An Elven banespell sends Alasdaire into a deadly nightmare by casting his beloved Mother and his beloved Linden as enemies.

 

The BLURB:

 

Serpent Prince Linden of Ardaul is determined to drag his barbaric, power-hungry country into the modern age by encouraging learning, advances in the sciences, and tolerance. His insane brother Edward, the King, delights in making him pay for his efforts.

Long years of watching his back, fighting wars, and solving conflicts started by his cruel brother have taken a toll on Linden’s body and mind, and he needs a respite. When Linden meets an alluring young bed slave named Alasdaire, his weary heart responds. Alasdaire is an exotic mix of southern royal Totandian elf and human, and, although he’s also suffered hardship most of his life, his loving personality captivates the Prince.

Despite their differences, Alasdaire, canes—and Linden, scales—unite in body and soul, but their romance is nearly shattered by betrayal. When Linden becomes King, magical assassins, treachery, and threats plague them. They narrowly escape death more than once. The lovers must discover who wants them dead and more importantly, where they can turn for aid. Neither enemies nor allies are what they seem. Only time will tell who means to harm Linden and Alasdaire—the elves, the imprisoned Edward, or something even deadlier—and time is one thing they don’t have.

 

The EXCERPT:

 

Alasdaire

 

What a miserable place. Nothing but strange gray shapes surrounded me, gray accompanied by deeper, sinister grays. My body retained color; in fact, too much color met my startled stare. Bright blood seeped from the jagged fang marks rending my chest. My hands had turned black. Flexing my knuckles stabbed pain through my stressed skin. My aching legs barely moved me along a narrow path.

I did not belong in this horrible gray land. I belonged with my Linden.

Wait, Linden’s ugly serpent attack had thrust me into this lifeless domain. His love had faltered in its devotion, the emotion as false as my welcome at the palace of death. Why would a mighty king care about a bastard half-breed whore?

My breathing tightened, straining to push air from my lungs. I needed to focus. How could I think such a terrible thing about my lover? Magic had thrown me into this decayed realm—dangerous magic that tried to make me believe Linden wanted to harm me.

I refuted the lies. My voice cut through the cold mist swirling around me. “Linden loves me. Linden would never do anything to harm me. I need to find him again.”

I blinked in awe. My words forced my hands to assume their normal hue. The deep wounds in my chest had vanished. As I suspected, my negative emotions harmed me. Whoever attacked me sought to drive me to despair.

I refused to succumb. I needed to keep moving, keep seeking Linden. I crept forward. Suddenly a dismal swamp blocked my way on three sides. Noxious gas bubbled up from the dank water. I had no choice but to walk along a narrow path.

A small whitewashed cottage appeared through the tainted mist. The tidy red-tiled roof looked bright in the grayness. I moved closer, wondering what fresh anguish awaited me. Warm light spilled out from the diamond-paned windows. The door stood open, creating a golden rectangle against the grayness. The comforting sight reassured me.

Steps brought me to the open doorway. I gasped with delight. “Mother!”

Mother stood from tending the cheerful fire burning in the brick fireplace. As she smiled with equal delight, she held out her slim hands to me. Her smile looked comforting, soothing, and sweet—all the positive things I remembered about her from when she was alive.

“My precious son. Come, dear Alasdaire, be with me. Only I care about you. Only I love you. You do not belong with the treacherous Serpents. Come to me, Son. I have missed you. Come warm yourself and talk to me. I wish to hold you close.”

My mother spoke the truth to me. I walked forward three steps. I paused before I placed my foot onto the low stone step. Mother’s smile overwhelmed me. She held out her arms to welcome me into the warmth. She looked as beautiful and magical as I remembered her. Her precious smile made me tremble.

Mother stood in the doorway. “Come to me, Alasdaire. Come rest by the fire. My dear son, you look ready to collapse. Come in from the cold.”

Weariness plagued my body. I lifted my right arm up to her. “Mother.”

“Come to me, Son.”

I lifted my right knee up. My right foot hovered, close to stepping up into the cozy cottage.

Wait. Why didn’t her hands reach out to me past the doorframe? A sudden memory of an ancient shrine standing in the moonlight seared through my consciousness. A cool trickle snaked through my confusion. The tempting scene before me shimmered.

Reality roared free. This placed offered me no refuge.

I dropped my foot back to the ground. “Mother, please, come to me.”

Brief annoyance flickered over her lovely face. She beckoned to me. “Son, no, you need to enter to be with me. Come inside. Do you deny love for your mother?”

What painful words. “Never, Mother. I love you well, but I know when evil uses you against me.” I turned my back to her. My heart broke even more.

As I staggered away from the cottage, my mother’s lyrical voice begged me to come to her. “Alasdaire! The Serpent does not love you! Come back to me. Only I love you.”

I shook my head and kept moving away from her.

“No one loves you in your new world. The vile Serpent uses you as his whore.” Mother’s voice hoarsened. “I cannot believe my son would act so weak. You are weak! Only I can make you strong. Come back here! You know the Serpent only uses you. Your love for him betrays the elves!”

Echoes of the city elf’s rant teased me.

I started singing.

 

The birds sleep in their nests,

Mother knows what is best,

Hush, my little bird, rest,

Keep safe in our fine nest.

 

I used the simple lullaby to drown out Mother’s angry voice, a lullaby she had used to soothe me to sleep. As I sang, her threats snapped away from my hearing.

Rage filled my mind. How dare this foul magic use my mother against me? Who was doing this to me?

I stumbled forward, trying to avoid the sticky gray foliage twisting across the ground. The strange thick fog tried to halt my progress. The swirls and veils formed an oppressive web. I pushed forward, fearful of what would appear next.

******

Thanks for reading!

Canes and Scales: The Novel is avaliable at Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Are and other outlets. Canes and Scales: The Novel

Who Is S.A. Garcia?

Forty years ago, I started writing gay male romance. Writing about men inserting tab A into slot B didn’t seem the norm for a suburban female teenager. Reading Gordon Merrick, John Rechy, and Larry Kramer helped me fill in the serious informational gaps. Yes, I read those informative books in my bedroom. No wonder.

As the years progressed, I continued writing gay male romance, although the stories progressed from scribbles in notebooks to hiding on the computer. I wrote fantasies, contemporaries, bodice rippers—my muse Diva Faboo refused to let this old lesbian write a F/F romance. Go figure. Someday!

I’m glad I kept the writing faith. I never thought anyone would published my novels. Imagine, my comedy An Elf for All Centuries (formerly from Silver Publishing; now in talks for a new home) was in the running for a few awards. What a thrill!

My life has turned into a fun quandary of too many stories hindered by my slow, two-fingered typing skills. I blunder onward into more trauma, drama, and humor. I just hope I can keep up with sexy men who insist on running off with the plots!

Along with Canes and Scales: the Novel, Dreamspinner is also home to my novellas, assorted short stories, short stand-alones and the M/M romdramedys (romance/ drama comedy) Cupid Knows Best and The Gospel According to Cher.

Love in the Shadows, my first attempt at mixing an M/M historical and contemporary with a touch of the supernatural, is at MLR Press.

You can find out more about me at my blog and website.

Facebook: S.A. Garcia

Twitter: SAGarcia_Writer

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New Release – Project Fierce Chicago

Posted in Excerpt, New Release, tagged , , , on July 16, 2014| 2 Comments »

I’m very excited by the release of Project Fierce Chicago from Less Than Three Press and absolutely deighted that Dianne Hartock has agreed to answer some questions about it and about her writing process.

Welcome, Dianne, thanks for being here today.

Project Fierce is an excellent title, who came up with the idea for the anthology?

Isn’t this just an amazing title? Really catches one’s attention. It’s the name of the charity organization hoping to build a safe home for LGBTQ youth living on the streets of Chicago. Less Than Three Press has decided to raise money for this effort by putting out an anthology of stories donated by various authors. All proceeds from the sale of this book will go to Project Fierce Chicago.
Less Than Three Press is a strong rising presence in the LGBTQ romance community, a labor of love between three women who wanted to write and publish books, but wanted to do it their way—with other people who love what they do, for people who love to read great romance, with high-quality, well-edited stories that are also affordable, engaging, and always come with that famous happy end.

Can you tell me a bit about the project it is supporting?

Project Fierce Chicago will provide transitional housing for LGBTQ young people ages 18-25, for an initial term of one year. In addition to living space, food and hygiene products, residents will have access to services aimed at a successful transition to independence, including case management, professional and living skills training and educational support. These services will primarily be provided by dedicated volunteers.

PFC’s aim is to become a largely self-sustaining community through the maintenance of a community garden and an in-house workshop in which staff, volunteers and residents create daily living items such as soap, lotion and household cleaning products with natural ingredients. The house will also have a space in which to showcase the art and creative projects of residents and community members.

I understand your story is about a young man who is homeless, could you please tell me a little more about him?

Sammy is a darling, and one of the countless homeless GLBT youth surviving on the streets in Portland, Oregon. At fifteen he inadvertently came out to his parents, and instead of the support he’d hoped for, they sent him to live with his uncle. Unfortunately, the man was even less tolerant of his penchant for wearing women’s dresses. Rather than change to please his family, feeling unwanted and misunderstood, he ran away to find a better life.

He spent three months living under bridges, hungry and lonely, until he meets Tad, a young man who gives him a spot on his floor to sleep when he needs one and shows him that by flashing a bit of thigh and his pretty smile at the local businessmen, he could make enough money to keep his stomach full and maybe hide away a little for his own apartment. He doesn’t dare dream of attending college one day.

When this story opens, Sam has been on the streets for several years when one of his ‘regulars’ begins to take more than a business interest in him. For the first time Sammy dreams of more than a bleak lonely future, but does he dare hope that someone like him could find their happily ever after?

I know that you are working all the time. How is this story different from your other recent releases?

While all my stories are fiction, with SAMMY I paid extra attention to my facts. Homelessness is one of the sadder aspects of society and I wanted to make sure I portrayed Sam’s life as realistically as possible.

That’s not to say I don’t research my other stories. For my recently released novel THE SHED, the sequel to my psychological thriller ALEX, I had police procedure and Colorado state law and the schooling my hero Scott Reid needed as a certified counselor and mental health specialist. But from there I wandered into fiction. You see, Alex is a psychic who sometimes works with the police on murder investigations. Scott is his therapist. In this story I could I could tweak the facts a bit where in SAMMY I stuck with the reality of life on the streets.

In THE SHED, Alex is surrounded by a group of friends and professionals who believe in him, where that’s not always the case in real life and certainly not in Sam’s. But there is one thing all my stories have in common, a happy ending. Again, something that doesn’t always happen in reality but is a must with my stories.

I’m currently having problems balancing my work/life and writing commitments. Have you any advice?

Wish I had a secret recipe to share with you, but the answer is that I work hard at it. I’m up an hour early for work every day to get some writing time in, then try for two hours in the evening to write, promote, and the millions of tiny details involved with having a published story.

Sundays are for family and friends, and though I might get a little writing in, it’s mostly spent doing things with them. Oh, and every evening I spend with the family before I get to my writing.

Thursdays, my other day off, is strictly for writing. I need that day to just immerse myself in a story or I’d never get anything done! What it comes down to is that I love writing and so make time for it, wherever I can.

What next from the pen/typewriter/wordprocessor of Dianne Hartsock? Do you have WIP you can talk about?

I am currently and STILL working on my contemporary Christmas story. I say still because, though I’ve only been working on it since April, it seems to be taking me forever to make any progress. Lots of interruptions with other stories/editing/promoting/writing guest blogs, etc. But I’m almost caught up with my obligations and can really sink my teeth into it.

I’m really excited about this one. I’ve been rolling it around in my head for about a year now, waiting for the change to get started on it. I have it all plotted out, who my heroes are, are they naughty or nice? Who my wicked but lovely villain is and the terrible things he puts my men through. At the moment I have only one more big scene to write then my thrilling conclusion. Then I get to my favorite part, going back through it and fleshing out all the scenes. Looking forward to getting back into it.

Could we please have a short excerpt of your story SAMMY in Project Fierce?

A soft sob floated on the night air and plunged straight into John’s heart. He hurried over to Sam, then stood biting his lips, not sure what to say.

“What do you want?” Sammy’s voice sounded tired, rough with tears.

“Do you need help? Can I do anything?”

Sam raised his head, blue eyes shimmering at him through wet lashes. Recognition sparked in the beautiful depths, then they widened. “You.” Sam struggled to his feet, hugging his bare arms across his chest against the chill creeping up from the river. “Sorry, I have to cancel on you. I’m closed for the night. Try again tomorrow.”

He brushed past John and started down the bike path. John’s heart thumped painfully. “Sam?”

The young man stopped and swiveled abruptly. The lamplight caught his expression, a hint of fear, anger; the light clearly showing a cut lip and the dark swelling of a bruise on his ivory cheek. John clamped his lips shut on a murmur of pity, noting he held his left arm as if it hurt.

Helplessness swept through John. “Let me help you. I can make you a cup of coffee at least. And dinner, if you’re interested. I make a great spaghetti.”

Doubt crossed Sam’s pretty face and the end of his pink tongue nudged the cut on his lip, twisting John’s heart.

Impulsively, he touched Sam’s arm. “Did someone hurt you?”

Sam stared at his hand, not answering. John was grateful he didn’t yank his arm away. Finally Sam nodded.


Project Fierce

Nobody deserves to be without a home

In collaboration with several authors, Less Than Three Press offers up an anthology of stories about young people who find that home and family are not always where you expect to find them.

All proceeds from this charity anthology will be donated to Project Fierce Chicago.

Project Fierce Chicago’s mission is to reduce LGBTQ youth homelessness in Chicago by providing affirming, no-cost transitional housing and comprehensive support services to homeless LGBTQ young adults. PFC also aims to encourage community-building and civic engagement through cooperative living and youth leadership development.

LT3’s Project Fierce Chicago charity anthology includes 20 short stories from Aeris, Vicktor Alexander, Talya Andor, C.J. Anthony, Blaine D. Arden, Kayla Bain-Vrba, Sophie Bonaste, Kenzie Cade, Jana Denardo, Alessandra Ebulu, Dianne Hartsock, Leta Hutchins, Caitlin Ricci, Lor Rose, B. Snow, Rin Sparrow, Andrea Speed, Piper Vaughn, Layla M. Wier, and Xara X. Xanakas.

Pairings: M/M, F/F, genderqueer
Content: Contains no explicit content.

Buy link: Less Than Three Press: http://www.lessthanthreepress.com/books/index.php?main_page=product_bookx_info&cPath=78&products_id=632

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New Release – Winter’s Risk by Penny Hudson

Posted in New Release, tagged on June 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Winter’s Risk by Penny Hudson

Blurb:

Veteran park ranger Alexander Doyle is tracking a nuisance bear when he runs across obnoxious environmentalist Martin Ramirez. He and Martin have clashed before, when Martin and the protestors under his leadership ended a plan to expand the network of paved trails and improve accessibility. Given a choice, Alex would rather face the bear.

When the dangerous grizzly attacks them and Martin is gravely wounded, his only chance of survival is Alex’s determination to keep him alive through the night. But they’re stranded miles from any hope of rescue with the year’s first snowstorm coming in fast.

Buy it here!

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