Elin Gregory

I’m all over the place!

Today, I’m visiting those scrummy folk at Sinfully Reviews with a guest post about historical precedent in cross dressing for spies. And there’s another chance to enter the contest to win a copy of On A Lee Shore and a gift card.

Here’s the link!

On A Lee Shore is about pirates and treasure and features an uptight hero who is completely out of his comfort zone, a love interest who delights in keeping him off balance and a large cast of scapegraces, cut-throats, ne’er-do-wells and ruffians.

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Happy release day to Avylin Winter. This is her first published work, I hope the first of many.

Blurb:

Like a depressed moth drawn to a wild flame, Chris hoped that flame would brighten his life, not burn him alive.

Chris Sinclair fades into a gray world after losing his mother to cancer. When forced to attend a concert, as a last attempt to coax him out of his shell, he discovers that life might not be as bleak as he first thought.

Dante Heron holds the audience between the tips of his fingers and the delicate bow, playing the violin as if every heart is his to command. However, something darker brews behind the façade, and Chris is determined to solve the enigma.

When Chris is offered the job of traveling around Europe with the famous violinist, he surprises himself by accepting. With no idea of what awaits him, he’s thrown into a world where emotions rule and rules are bent.

They’re a perfectly dysfunctional match, but then there’s always calm at the heart of the storm.

Buy Links:

https://www.pride-publishing.com/book/volatile

https://amzn.com/B01IDHHBVC

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/volatile

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/volatile/id1133721030?mt=11

Author bio:

Raised in one of the cold corners of the world, Avylinn spends her days either wrapped up in a blanket or basking in the precious sunlight.

Always the emotional one, she has found her outlet in writing, voicing thoughts, emotions and fears through her characters that feel very much alive to her.

She recharges with the help of coffee, cinnamon buns, popcorn and occasionally a healthier alternative.

This is Avylinn’s website with all her social media links

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I often host blog tours but I don’t often do one myself. But I thought I’d give it a go for Eleventh Hour, because I think Miles and Briers deserve it, and I must say that Signal Boost Promotions have made the job so easy. Thank you Signal Boost!

Over the next couple of weeks my book will be popping up in various places around the web. Today a big thank you to My Fiction Nook for hosting my excited thoughts about plumbing. I promise this is relevant to the book.

So plumbing and relevancy – ah, yes, what’s in it for you? A Rafflecopter thingy – check it out, there’s a gift card. You could buy books if you won!! I believe that the way Rafflecopter works is that you can enter more than once so here’s a list of the sites you could visit. Books, people!! Book shopping is the best.

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My guest today, for the twelfth and final Summer’s Day interview, is Rebecca Cohen, author of fantasy and historical novels, some of which have huge relevance to this anthology. Also she’s fun and I’ll be able to fangirl her a bit at the UK Meet in a couple of weeks!

Welcome Rebecca and thanks for answering my questions.

What led you to pick your source material for your story?

I love Shakespeare, especially the comedies. This is probably not news to anyone who has read my historical novels. For the anthology I wanted to do something a little different so instead of choosing a particular play (and to be honest I would have trouble picking just one!) I decided to set the story amongst the actors of the time, specifically the King’s Men which was Shakespeare’s acting company. This basically gave be an excuse to have lots of Shakespearean-esque bickering and insults.

Shakespeare definitely has a way with words. What is your favourite insult/endearment/inspiring passage/? Which bit do you wish you had written?

I love Much Ado About Nothing and my favourite bits are when Benedict and Beatrice are squabbling – this is one of my favourite exchanges:

BEATRICE
A dear happiness to women: they would else have
been troubled with a pernicious suitor. I thank God
and my cold blood, I am of your humour for that: I
had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man
swear he loves me.
BENEDICK
God keep your ladyship still in that mind! so some
gentleman or other shall ‘scape a predestinate
scratched face.
BEATRICE
Scratching could not make it worse, an ’twere such
a face as yours were.
BENEDICK
Well, you are a rare parrot-teacher.
BEATRICE
A bird of my tongue is better than a beast of yours.
BENEDICK
I would my horse had the speed of your tongue, and
so good a continuer. But keep your way, i’ God’s
name; I have done.

What are you working on now?

I am currently working on the fourth Crofton Chronicle (https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/the-crofton-chronicles-universe-7098-s). Green Eyed and Black Tempered was a book I never intended to write, but when faced with terrible writer’s block I turned to two of my favourite characters to help.

Could we please have an excerpt?

“Wouldn’t it be glorious to play Lady Macbeth?” Jacob reached out, holding his hand aloft, as if to beseech his audience. “But screw your courage to the sticking place. And we’ll not fail.”
“You’d be better as one of the old crones,” David sneered. “You’ve already got newt eyes.”
Jacob scowled. “What do you mean by that?”
“Beady little eyes, reptilian in nature.” It wasn’t true, Jacob had quite lovely, pale blue eyes, but David wasn’t about to miss the opportunity to twist the dagger.
“You foul, miscreant lout-mouth,” Jacob snarled, sounding far more hurt than David had expected. “I am not surprised you would spew such false words, for you would not dare hope to own a mirror lest you crack the glass with your turnip-shaped head.”
“Turnip-shaped head!” Really, Jacob was too much. Flying off the handle at a little not-so-friendly banter. “Thou art a tiresome, beef-witted barnacle. Better suited to the stews than the stage.”
Jacob sprang to his feet. “No man in their sound mind would pay for your performance, be it on the stage or the stews. You are loathsome and even those who could not see would turn their heads from you.”
David almost knocked his chair over in his haste to stand. “You have gone too far, I will not stand for such a slight against me. I will teach you more with my clenched fist than you are capable of learning with your deafened ears.”
Gwilliam grabbed him before his could throw a punch, and Carl pulled Jacob away. In a foul mood, David threw off his so-called friend, and slunk out of the tavern.

Bio:

REBECCA COHEN is a Brit abroad. Having swapped the Thames for the Rhine, she has left London behind and now lives with her husband and young son in Basel, Switzerland. She can often be found with a pen in one hand and a cup of Darjeeling in the other.
Blog: http://rebeccacohenwrites.wordpress.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rebecca.cohen.710
Twitter: http://twitter.com/R_Cohen_writes

 

Release Date: 12th of August

Cover Art: Jay Aheer Simply Defined Art

Genre: MM Mixed*

We have modern retelling of some plays, interpretations of others and one of the sonnets, and delightful referencing of anything Shakespeare.

There is gentle YA romance next to very hot 18+ stories and all kinds of relationships – first love, May/December, interracial, second chances, happy endings and even a tragic one.

We’re travelling from Ancient Rome through Renaissance England to modern day UK, Venice Beach and other places in USA, Vancouver and Havana.

There’s fun, drama, tears, angst, joy and, above all, lots of true love.

Note: All proceeds of this collection go to the It Gets Better Project™.

Buy Links:
amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.co.uk:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.de: https://www.amazon.de/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-English-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.com.au: https://www.amazon.com.au/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.ca: https://www.amazon.ca/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/655310

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My guest today is M Leanne Phoenix, and author I know primarily through the Rainbow Snippets project [check it out, it’s good fun] but I’m looking forward to getting to know her better.

Welcome, M Leanne, and thanks for answering my questions.

What led you to pick your source material for your story?

Macbeth has always been one of my favorite plays by The Bard, and to have the chance to use it in a story… it’s a dream come true. I knew that Romeo and Juliet would likely be taken, and since I’d somewhat used R&J before, the witchy and Scottish side of me jumped on Macbeth. The only hard part was choosing a story. I also immediately knew which story beginning I wanted to use, being Winter had already mentioned loving the Bard.

Shakespeare definitely has a way with words. What is your favourite insult/endearment/inspiring passage? Which bit do you wish you had written?

Favorite insult? Hmmm… that could take some time. There are many of Mercutio’s in Romeo and Juliet, but I also love Kate’s biting wit in Taming of the Shrew; I almost think it’s an impossible choice for me. Favorite endearment– I use it plenty in Sun of Tomorrow! Koray refers to Winter as “bright angel,” from the end of Romeo’s opening lines as he’s marveling over Juliet on the balcony at the begining of Act Two, Scene Two. The banter I wish I’d have written? That’s easy. When Romeo arrives after Mercutio and Benvolio had been talking about him in Act Two, Scene 4. The plays on words are countless and the dance between Mercutio and Romeo is quick and sharp! I love it!

What are you working on now?

I’ve been finishing up little bits lately, a few short stories just made it through my two editors. One I have had ill luck getting into anthologies, timing and an early close on submissions for the first two attempts. I am thinking to just put it up as a free read on my website if I cannot find a home for it soon. Another was supposed to be added as an epilogue of sorts to a short story released on my blog at the end of the book tour I did for Covenant in January. Right now, it’s in my editor’s hands. It’s called Bescreen’d in Night, and it’s from the universe I’ve finally made a return to, The Covenant. I hit a roadblock in January about mid-book two, but thankfully, my boys started speaking again, so I’m hard at work on book two, titled AETERNUM.

Could we please have an excerpt?

From THE SUN OF TOMORROW:

He squeezed his eyes shut as he hugged his arms, finally processing what had almost happened in Marchand’s office… and what had actually transpired. Cold realization swept over him, flood waters high over his head, taking his feet out from under him, and just when his lungs burned for much needed oxygen, a hand shot out to wrap around his own, bringing him up to the surface to breathe.
Their eyes caught, Winter’s pale grey held captive by his companion’s jade green, and the taller man slid his arm under Winter’s shoulders to tug him up against his chest, one hand curving over the back of Winter’s tousled gold head as the man whispered, “I’ve got you. I didn’t rescue you to just leave you stranded, by the way. I came back to the East Coast to help my sister, who loves this city, but you came along, my first week back in Boston.”
Leaning his forehead to the man’s shoulder, Winter unfolded his arms to light his hands on slender sides, causing his savior to wrap his own around Winter’s slight form in a tight and reassuring hug. Winter pushed closer to the man, giving in to the embrace and holding on to his savior tightly as he shuddered with the force of emotions he couldn’t name but that crashed over him in waves. Before he could fully comprehend it, Winter’s face and the man’s leather jacket were wet with tears.
“I’m sorry. Please—” Winter sniffled as he attempted to dry off the collar with the sleeve of his grey fleece sweatshirt.
The man wrapped both his slender hands around Winter’s one as he shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. If I wanted to, I could be selfish, but I don’t want to. I don’t want you to feel indebted to me.”

As requested, the author bio and contact links:

Author Bio

M. LeAnne Phoenix would tell you that the worst time of her life was the two years that she attempted to take off from writing. If you asked her to explain exactly why she did such a thing, you would most likely get the mad attempt to arch an eyebrow like her dad and then a shake of the head as she told you it was unlucky to speak of such things. Suffice it to say, it will never happen again!

Born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas in the mid-1970’s, Ms. Phoenix was young and wild (and even free!) during the crazy wondrous decade known as the 1980’s and the even crazier but now grungy decade of the 1990’s. Music is second only to the muses that live and breathe to fill her mind with beautiful men, and music always helps them to tell their stories. She is never without her iPod or her computer no matter where she goes, although, she does like to hike and take pictures of the sky and the moon, and even the occasional shot of the sun through the branches of a tree.

An avid cat lover, Ms. Phoenix has been owned by many throughout her life, though her current owner is one Lily-Rose, who really would like for her to step away from the keyboard and pay her some attention! After all, hasn’t she earned it?

Contact Information:

Email                  Facebook         Twitter              Website

 

 

Release Date: 12th of August

Cover Art: Jay Aheer Simply Defined Art

Genre: MM Mixed*

We have modern retelling of some plays, interpretations of others and one of the sonnets, and delightful referencing of anything Shakespeare.

There is gentle YA romance next to very hot 18+ stories and all kinds of relationships – first love, May/December, interracial, second chances, happy endings and even a tragic one.

We’re travelling from Ancient Rome through Renaissance England to modern day UK, Venice Beach and other places in USA, Vancouver and Havana.

There’s fun, drama, tears, angst, joy and, above all, lots of true love.

Note: All proceeds of this collection go to the It Gets Better Project™.

Buy Links:
amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.co.uk:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.de: https://www.amazon.de/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-English-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.com.au: https://www.amazon.com.au/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.ca: https://www.amazon.ca/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/655310

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My guest today is Phetra H Novak, another author from my side of the pond though not from the UK, who is best known for her books combining the legends of Scandinavia with those of the Caddo people of North America.

Welcome, Phetra, and thanks for answering my questions.

What led you to pick your source material for your story?

I love the play and the movie ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, it is a comedy and has all these amazing characters like Benedict the slightly flighty groom but who also has a very strong sense of loyalty. You have the awful and yet very well written villain in Don John and Borachio who is just bitter and angry period no need for any explanation or why he just is. Then of course you have the couple of love (Shakespeare always had to have one of those) Hero and Claudio.

It was easy for me to choose this play because I wanted something fun and this play gave me that and a fantastic story to re-create.

Shakespeare definitely has a way with words. What is your favourite insult/endearment/inspiring passage/? Which bit do you wish you had written?

I haven’t read the actual play in years but I remember loving the part where Benedict goes a little bit bananas about getting married. Maybe not exactly as bananas as he goes in my version but still that is the part that I remember laughing mostly at and humor is my thing. That is what makes me love books, dirty humor, dark humor, sarcastic humor anything goes.

What are you working on now?

Right now I am working on 4 different projects, the first, is a Christmas story, about a transgender muslim woman, Ayla Aylin, and how she deals with coming out to her parents and even though her parents are third generation Swedes, the manners and practices are still very rooted from where their family comes from, which is Iran, and it play a big part in what type of values they and shows in what they expect from their children. The book takes place over the first 24 days of Christmas and how she finds friend in the investigating officer, Per Andreasson, and that is also the name of the book. For this book I am waiting to get edits back.

Then I have my second book of my Caddo Norse Novels that I am almost done with, I just a couple more chapters to write and the first draft will be done. Good things and bad things will happen, love is in the air for two other people other than Haven and Alexander. Then of course the war between the Asa Gods and the Fenrir Ulv/shifters is culminating, Colonel Gustav is taking a stand and Anthony well he sure show’s what side of things he is on. Haven, of course, is as charming as ever and we will see plenty of him and Alexander both! My short story Fated Future is free and you can find it here for download: http://www.phetranovak.com/fated-future.html

My third book, is the first book of my political series: Silent Terrorism, and this one with the subtitle Saudi Arabia. This book is about how a correspondent team, Ebbe Skoog and Mattis Andersson, who works mostly out of the Middle East. They are in Saudi Arabia to do a political piece about the county itself when things don’t go quite as planned. We get to follow Ebbe and Mattis, together with a bunch of other people (mostly politicians) in a political dirty game where human life isn’t always a first priority. We get to learn how LGBT people are treated in countries in Saudi Arabia and what happens if you find yourself in the position of helping a gay man from being stoned to death.

And finally my fourth and last story, for now anyway, is an alternate lifestyle/ ice hockey book called Love of the Game. It is about a, not yet out, hockey player going to the NHL and just as his career takes off so does his love life. The man he meets, Charlie Morin, isn’t the easiest man on earth and comes with his own set of values and baggage. Charlie, is also a man who comes from a lifestyle which has always intrigued the young hockey playing Johannes but that he just started exploring and Charlie as since years back left because of a manipulative and psychotic ex-lover. It is about two in two very different periods in their life who somehow can’t stay away from each other, and who together will have to learn what trust really means, what it means to listen, what needing another person means and how you can only live life to please yourself and those you care for.

I just recently gave out a short story through one of my author friends website called the Train Station, you can find it here: http://carterseagrove.weebly.com/the-envelope-collection.html/ , there you can meet Johannes Alm, an ice hockey player with the SHL (Swedish Hockey League) one year prior to when Love of the Game takes place.

Could we please have an excerpt?

A Hero’s Last Battle:

“Hello,” a large hand was held out in front of him, “I’m Claudio, best man to the groom, and I don’t’ think I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you before?” He smiled.
Hero slipped his hand into his, heart thundering in his chest, his eyes lowering to watch as he curled his fingers around the large palm.
“Oh,” he gasped as electricity shot through him, making his hand twitch in Claudio’s who only gripped it tighter, not letting go. Instinctively, his wide eyes flashed up to meet Claudio’s who simply beamed.
“I’m…” he cleared his throat “I’m Hero, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Claudio. Benedict speaks so highly of you. I heard you just got deployed and that you are a hero…” Oh god, he was babbling. He snapped his mouth shut but it was too late, those amazing eyes were already zoomed in on him. Laughing. Laughing at him. That damn mouth of his; embarrassed, Hero lowered his face, once again letting his long hair shield his face.
“Please, don’t be embarrassed, ask anything you like.” He started pulling out a chair but stopped, “May I please sit with you, Hero?” His name on Claudio’s lips made his stomach flutter with butterflies, it felt like a caress. Nodding instantly, before he could change his mind, his eyes followed Claudio as he sat down next to him, pulling his chair a little closer than was considered normal. In any other situation Hero would have been intimidated but the kindness in Claudio’s eyes was mesmerizing and for some reason he wasn’t scared. Nervous, but not intimidated like he normally would be.
“I’ve never met you before, how is that? I know I would have remembered you.” Claudio asked, letting his arm rest on the back of his chair. It was nice, rather than intruding, because it was natural with the way they were sitting. Heat poured off his body and so did his scent; he smelled good, of warmth, cologne, and man.
He couldn’t help it: he had to turn his head some to get his nose closer to him, only so he could breathe in his scent some more.
“I… I don’t come to these things often. I’m too much of a loner and don’t like large crowds. But Beatrice is my cousin and… so, here I am.” The smile Claudio gave him made his heart flutter, and the way all his attention was focused solely on him was somewhat dizzying.
“Well, I’m glad you found your way here today. I would love to be your company for the time you’re here, if you don’t mind me being forward to ask for it.” A humorous laughter sounded, making them both turn in the direction it came from. Benedict was watching them with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Author Links:

Webpage: http://www.phetranovak.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phetra.novak

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhetraNovak

 

Release Date: 12th of August

Cover Art: Jay Aheer Simply Defined Art

Genre: MM Mixed*

We have modern retelling of some plays, interpretations of others and one of the sonnets, and delightful referencing of anything Shakespeare.

There is gentle YA romance next to very hot 18+ stories and all kinds of relationships – first love, May/December, interracial, second chances, happy endings and even a tragic one.

We’re travelling from Ancient Rome through Renaissance England to modern day UK, Venice Beach and other places in USA, Vancouver and Havana.

There’s fun, drama, tears, angst, joy and, above all, lots of true love.

Note: All proceeds of this collection go to the It Gets Better Project™.

Buy Links:
amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.co.uk:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.de: https://www.amazon.de/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-English-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.com.au: https://www.amazon.com.au/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.ca: https://www.amazon.ca/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/655310

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My guest today is old friend, colleague on the UK Meet committee and fantastic mystery writer, Charlie Cochrane.

Welcome Charlie, and thanks so much for answering my questions!

What led you to pick your source material for your story?

I love Twelfth Night. Blooming love it. We’ve seen it live twice, once in the wonderful surroundings of Netley Abbey and once at Chichester where my beloved Patrick Stewart was one of the funniest Malvolios I’ve ever seen. That production really brought out the peculiar fluidity of the sexual politics within the play – and it contains one of the two plainly gay characters in the Bard’s works (both called Antonio, interestingly enough).
Of course, it’s easy to read things into the text which aren’t there (and vice versa) because naturally old Will had boy and men actors playing girls and women, “some squeaking Cleopatra boying my greatness” as the queen of Egypt almost said. We need to remember that when we see the plays because otherwise we miss the jokes – the epilogue to As You Like It simply isn’t funny unless a bloke plays Rosalind – and also misinterpret what’s really going on.

Shakespeare definitely has a way with words. What is your favourite insult/endearment/inspiring passage/? Which bit do you wish you had written?

“If I could write the beauty of your eyes,
And in fresh numbers number all your graces,
The age to come would say ‘This poet lies;
Such heavenly touches ne’er touched earthly faces.”

Wonderful lines from Sonnet 17 (to a bloke, to boot!) I couldn’t compose a sonnet to save my life – I even had to get my pal Alex Broughton to create Jonty’s poems for All Lessons Learned – so I guess I wish I could have written some of them.

What are you working on now?

The third of the Lindenshaw Mysteries, which has been on hold since we’ve been on holiday. I’m itching to get the document open and see what my characters have been up to in my absence.
I’m also awaiting (with trepidation) the edits for my two Porthkennack stories. Riptide always give a robust edit – hence the trepidation – but the process always gets the silk purse from the sow’s ear.

Could we please have an excerpt?

The call came the next evening.
“Is that Rick?”
“Is that Jonny?” Rick tried to sound cool, even if his insides were suddenly churning and he had no idea why.
“How the devil are you?” Jonny’s voice boomed down the phone, as chipper and confident as ever.
“Not so bad. Even if I think I’m mad getting into am-dram again.”
“I have to say, I was surprised to be given your name. I didn’t let on I already had your number.” Jonny chuckled. “I’m still worked off my feet, and still loving it.” From anybody else that might have sounded false, but Jonny was exactly the sort of bloke to relish a pile of work to do. That had been one of the problems.
“Are you too busy to take on something else?”
“Not for this project. For a start, I bloody love ‘Twelfth Night’. Seem to remember you had a soft spot for it, too. In fact,” Jonny added, with a sly chuckle, “I seem to remember you had lots of soft spots. Really nice ones.”
“Stop it.” It had been enough of a leap getting back on stage. Flirting was a step too far. “We’ll need to get a move on, though.”
“I’ll get on the case.” Jonny’s enthusiasm shone in his voice. Rick had forgotten how evangelical he could become about something he’d taken a fancy to. “You around at the weekend?”
“My diary’s as empty as a nun’s,” Rick confided. “Why?”
“I thought we could do lunch. Easier to talk things over face to face than down the line, and if you e-mail me with an outline of your and Eddie’s ideas, I’ll come up with something we can look at.”
“Sounds good. Let me know where and when.” Trust Jonny to be quick off the mark. One of nature’s movers and shakers, like like Eddie is.
“Okay. I look forward to hearing from you. Ciao.”
Before Rick could say “see you” or even “goodbye” in return, the call ended, leaving him feeling oddly bereft. It would be good to see Jonny again.
“You never knew him,” he told Coldstream. “He could charm the pants off a monk. Don’t look at me like that; I have no idea if monks wear pants.”
Coldstream gave his owner a cool, collected glance before getting back to his usual business of cleaning his already immaculate tail.

Bio:

As Charlie Cochrane couldn’t be trusted to do any of her jobs of choice—like managing a rugby team—she writes. Her favourite genre is gay fiction, sometimes historical (sometimes hysterical) and usually with a mystery thrown into the mix.

She’s a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Mystery People, and International Thriller Writers Inc., with titles published by Carina, Samhain, Bold Strokes Books, Lethe, MLR, and Riptide. She regularly appears with The Deadly Dames and is on the organising team for UK Meet.

To sign up for her newsletter, email her at cochrane.charlie2@googlemail.com, or catch her at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlie.cochrane.18
Twitter: http://twitter.com/charliecochrane
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2727135.Charlie_Cochrane
Blogs: http://charliecochrane.livejournal.com and https://charliecochrane.wordpress.com/
Website: http://www.charliecochrane.co.uk

 

Release Date: 12th of August

Cover Art: Jay Aheer Simply Defined Art

Genre: MM Mixed*

We have modern retelling of some plays, interpretations of others and one of the sonnets, and delightful referencing of anything Shakespeare.

There is gentle YA romance next to very hot 18+ stories and all kinds of relationships – first love, May/December, interracial, second chances, happy endings and even a tragic one.

We’re travelling from Ancient Rome through Renaissance England to modern day UK, Venice Beach and other places in USA, Vancouver and Havana.

There’s fun, drama, tears, angst, joy and, above all, lots of true love.

Note: All proceeds of this collection go to the It Gets Better Project™.

Buy Links:
amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.co.uk:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.de: https://www.amazon.de/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-English-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.com.au: https://www.amazon.com.au/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.ca: https://www.amazon.ca/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/655310

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Just a quick reblog of my post over at Heloise West’s place – thanks Heloise – where I talk a bit about the ‘make it up as you go along’ attitude of the early Secret Service types. Plus bonus recipe for invisible ink!

This post brought to you in celebration of the fact that apparently my paperbacks of Eleventh Hour have been dispatched. I hope the pigeon had plenty of birdseed before they sent him off.

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And today A Summer’s Day, the anthology of Shakespearean tales with a twist is finally available. Buy links are at the bottom of the post.

Author Asta Idonea is here today to help me celebrate. Welcome Asta and thanks for answering my questions.

What led you to pick your source material for your story?

Tom Hiddleston. Just kidding… well, in part. I saw his marvellous Coriolanus during the cinema screenings.

I’d read the play once, but it wasn’t one of my favourites at the time. The Donmar production blew me away, however, and rocketed Coriolanus into my Shakespeare Top Five. (Anyone interested in my Shakespeare Top Ten, visit my Shakespeare 400 Blog Post). The Act IV, scene V episode between Coriolanus and Aufidius provided the spark for my story. I thought if the two men commenced a relationship, it would provide additional reasons for the eventual tragic conclusion of the piece. Therefore my story is set within the play, as if presenting missing scenes between the official onstage action.

Shakespeare definitely has a way with words. What is your favourite insult/endearment/inspiring passage/? Which bit do you wish you had written?

Well, I naturally wish I’d written all of it! *lol* Picking a favourite line is hard as there are so many. My number one Shakespeare play is Richard II, because of the beauty of the poetry in that piece. I love quoting huge chunks from it randomly around the house (I know, I’m weird), but here’s one to share with you:
One kiss shall stop our mouths, and dumbly part;
Thus give I mine, and thus take I thy heart.

What are you working on now?

Wow, so many things! I’ve had a bumper publishing year so far, with eleven releases including this one (one short story collection, two novellas, and the rest shorts). At present I am preparing promo for an MM contemporary short, Lick, that releases later this month; plus I am finishing edits and galley proofs for three September anthology releases. I recently signed contracts for two more MM novellas, so those will commence edits in the next month or so, and in the meantime I am finalising and submitting three MF/mainstream novellas to different publishers. Once those are done I will be looking ahead to any new open anthology calls and will return to writing short stories for a while before I commence any new longer works. That said, I already have ideas for several MM novellas, including some more Shakespeare-inspired work. As always, you can keep up with all my news on my blog and social media sites.

Could we please have an excerpt:

He had expected death.
Yes, now he thought about it, he realised it was true. Perhaps he had even longed for it. Deep down. A noble demise would obliterate the shame he had of late been forced to endure. What better way to die than by the hand of his greatest enemy? Yet, was that even correct anymore? Were the Volsces his enemy? Surely Rome was now the foe. And Tullus Aufidius, whom once he had longed to hunt, embraced him as a friend.
Or something else.
He brushed the thought aside. If Aufidius’ embrace had been too warm, his manner too passionate, the cause was like to be the wine, for he had interrupted him feasting. What was that to him in any case? All he needed to know was that his life was spared and revenge on those who’d wronged him lay within his grasp.
Caius Martius sank upon the bed and ran his hands over the rich velvet curtains. He wondered whose room he had been given. It seemed strange, such opulence in a bedchamber, and yet he supposed it was no more than inexperience of the finer things that made him think so. For years he had lived the soldier’s life, always on the move. His brief sojourns within the city walls had not been of long enough duration to allow him to dwell upon the comforts of home.
Home. There was no home for him. Not anymore. Mother, wife, and child were all perforce forsaken. And being robbed of them, he must not let his memories turn him from his path. He was a soldier, and servants of mighty Mars must needs set affection aside, or else their swords would bite naught but stale earth.

Author Bio & Links

Asta Idonea (aka Nicki J Markus) was born in England, but now lives in Adelaide, South Australia. She has loved both reading and writing from a young age and is also a keen linguist, having studied several foreign languages.
Asta launched her writing career in 2011 and divides her efforts not only between MM and mainstream works but also between traditional and indie publishing. Her works span the genres, from paranormal to historical and from contemporary to fantasy. It just depends what story and which characters spring into her mind!
As a day job, Asta works as a freelance editor and proofreader, and in her spare time she enjoys music, theatre, cinema, photography, and sketching. She also loves history, folklore and mythology, pen-palling, and travel; all of which have provided plenty of inspiration for her writing.

Blog: http://www.nickijmarkus.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NickiJMarkus
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NickiJMarkus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickijmarkus/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+NickiJMarkusAstaIdonea
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4567057.Nicki_J_Markus
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolamarkus
Amazon Author US: http://www.amazon.com/Asta-Idonea/e/B00RMGGVYO
Amazon Author UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asta-Idonea/e/B00RMGGVYO

 

Release Date: 12th of August

Cover Art: Jay Aheer Simply Defined Art

Genre: MM Mixed*

We have modern retelling of some plays, interpretations of others and one of the sonnets, and delightful referencing of anything Shakespeare.

There is gentle YA romance next to very hot 18+ stories and all kinds of relationships – first love, May/December, interracial, second chances, happy endings and even a tragic one.

We’re travelling from Ancient Rome through Renaissance England to modern day UK, Venice Beach and other places in USA, Vancouver and Havana.

There’s fun, drama, tears, angst, joy and, above all, lots of true love.

Note: All proceeds of this collection go to the It Gets Better Project™.

Buy Links:
amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.co.uk:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.de: https://www.amazon.de/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-English-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.com.au: https://www.amazon.com.au/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
amazon.ca: https://www.amazon.ca/Summers-Day-Shakespearean-Anthology-Twist-ebook/dp/B01JH97LVA
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/655310

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