Category Archives: Guest blogger

Who Are Your Peeps? A guest post by Tali Spencer

Posted on by
2

Thank you, Josephine, for hosting me today. I appreciate the opportunity to talk about a recent wake-call and what it taught me about the writing community and how we, as writers, fit in it.

Just two weeks ago, I found out—only two days after my novel The Prince of Winds was released—that the book had been stolen while available for a short while as a free read. Some other person changed the title and a few names, then published the book and claimed it as her own. Heck, she even published my 40,000 word novella as two books so she could make more money off it. This was a terrible shock and plunged me into a nightmare while my publisher and I worked to resolve the issue. Within hours, I proved my authorship by providing a copyright registration dated a year before the thief published the stolen books. That proof allowed my publisher to put my book back up for sale. But what a headache!

I’ve talked about that nightmare—and the valuable lessons learned—elsewhere, so check out my blog [HERE] if you want that story. Today I’m going to talk about how this ordeal showed me the extent and strength of our writing community.

When the theft was discovered, my publishers and editors were great. Writers don’t always know what their publishers truly think of them. We hope they like and believe in us. Well, I can tell you mine believe in me. They let me know this in several ways, but especially through personal communication that ranged from the completely professional to the heartwarming and intimate. One of my editors even called me up to tell me to think of myself as Sally Field, and that “We like you. We really like you.” I’m a new writer, and they were concerned this setback would affect my confidence and they wanted me to know it shouldn’t, that I was safe with them.

Who were the first people I told? Fellow writers. My two closest writing friends, both published authors with whom I’ve built up enormous trust and rapport. Only after I told them did I tell my husband. My friends did what I wasn’t yet able to do. I was devastated; they were outraged. Through emails and phone calls, they talked me through it and got me emotionally back on track. My book was good, it would be fine. They also both suggested I blog about my experience. Like many writers, we had tested our first efforts on free sites or fanfic, and we knew lots of other writers were exposed to having their early works snatched away.

Helping other writers is something writers do. Just let a fellow writer know you need help and most will offer you information, tips, or contacts. My fellow writers have served as models for my blog, given me cover art tips, taught me to write a tag line and blurb, introduced me to artists and promotional sites, and passed along writing and interpersonal communication tricks. We bring new writers on board and we connect with new readers.

So I blogged about The Prince of Winds and got the word out about the possibility of any work posted on the internet being ripped off. I also personally contacted writers whose free work I read and enjoyed. It warmed my heart to see other writers immediately begin to retweet and repost my blog. Several contacted me to ask about copyright registration (pros and cons) for their own work. Getting people thinking and talking was a good thing.

The most heart-warming response, however, came from readers. Readers of my books, some of whom had been waiting for me to publish The Prince of Winds because they wanted to read it again, sent amazing letters of support. Readers love stories and they don’t want to see writers ripped off and abused. They are fierce and loyal. That’s why I believe readers who enjoy following writers closely should get perks in the form of free reads, WIP chapters, or short stories. I plan to continue posting free stories, not for thieves to pluck, but for my readers to enjoy.

Why? Because knowing those readers love my work and want to read my books is what it’s all about. And they don’t read just my books. They read dozens, maybe hundreds, of authors. They even read the thief.

The other day, a reader left a message on one of the reposted blogs. She had thought she’d stumbled across a “too familiar” blurb, but when she looked deeper she discovered a book she’d bought and enjoyed and had been looking for sequels to… was my stolen book. And guess what? She’s now part of my community. Heck, I may dedicate the sequel to her!

Communities grow organically, often in unexpected ways. Much of the time, they can be kind of invisible. They may only exist in the background. But they’re there for us when we need them—and the more we contribute, the more we participate, the bigger and stronger that community becomes.

So, who do you turn to when the writing (or reading) life gets a little ragged around the edges?

Links to me and my books:

My Blog: http://talismania-brilliantdisguise.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @tali_spencer

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tali.spencer

Dreamspinner Author Page: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=55_661

Resplendence Author Page: http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/m8/490-201-103-501-1–captive-heart-pride-of-uttor-series-book-one-by-tali-spencer.html

How far can you go? Kink, Crying and Happily Ever After(s) – a guest post by CB Conwy

Posted on by
4

Hi, CB Conwy here; so nice to meet you! Uh, sorry for sounding so excited, but I’ve been buried in editing for the last month or so; I crave human contact :)

I have a new book out! Two, in fact, but today I’m (mostly) going to talk about Happily Ever After (the sequel to A Russian Bear). Oh, and I’d love to hear your opinion: Can kink get too kinky?

Those of you already familiar with Tom and Mischa from A Russian Bear will know that my guys are kinky. Very, very kinky. As a matter of fact, if Mischa had gotten his way in A Russian Bear, the story would have been pure smut. Then Tom arrived, and the book ended up as romance disguised as porn (I had to keep Mischa happy somehow).

With A Russian Bear, I went all in. I love reading BDSM, so my first book was basically a chance to create every kind of kink I could dream up. Sometimes I was blushing furiously while writing and telling myself that I simply couldn’t write this; it was just too perverted. What would people think??

Well, judged by the feedback (and the sales), people thought it was just fine. It seemed that I wasn’t the only one who thought the power play between Mischa and Tom was hot. And, uh, all of the other stuff they do; apart from all the naughty toys, Tom is a pain pig, and Mischa’s very happy to give him what he needs.

Crying

But to me, the physical aspect of BDSM is closely tied to the emotional part of it. The floggers and the toys are hot – and the scenes in Happily Ever After actually go even further than those in A Russian Bear (and yeah, I was still blushing writing them!). But I think playing has the potential to break down mental and emotional blocks as well as satisfying a physical need. I like the psychological aspect of a scene, and that includes the cathartic element of pain and submission.

In Happily Ever After (finally she’s getting to the point!), my heroes are a little fucked up. More than a little, in fact; Tom has been through a traumatizing assault, and now they have to regain the connection and the confidence they had before the assault.

It’s a hard journey, but Tom and Mischa use their scenes to reconnect and to overcome their insecurities. It’s sometimes rough, and it’s often emotional – and yes, Tom cries. Sometimes from pain, but mostly from the combination of pain and emotional release that BDSM can give you. Crying can be beautiful in my opinion.

I know that some readers disagree and even disagree strongly on this point. To me as a reader, it’s really important to feel the connection between the Dom and the sub and empathize with their actions in order to accept and like hard scenes.

As a writer, I’ve tried to make it clear that whether Tom and Mischa are playing with pain or excitement, it’s something that both of my characters crave. Tom not only wants a flogging; he needs it. And Mischa needs to give it to him. Tom and Mischa use BDSM as a means of expressing their love to each other, and it works for them. And being the kinky bastards that they are, they get a kinky happily ever after. That’s the least I could do for my guys!

I’d love to hear your opinion!

But what about you: What’s a no-go for you in terms of kink? Is crying out of the picture?

And what would you like to see that nobody’s written yet? There’s a new line of stories coming up at Torquere; leave a comment, and I might even write your secret kink for you!

And now for something completely different…

It’s Torquere’s anniversary! Which means lots of hot short stories, among them my story Leather and Newfound Land. It’s a fun, cheeky piece of fluff about a Newfoundland puppy and kinky secrets. All of the proceeds go to NOH8, so it’s all for a good cause!

To celebrate Torquere’s anniversary, you can also win a Kindle Fire, gift cards, and goodie bags. Containing among other things this, uh, charming-looking plushie from me!

Buy link Happily Ever After
Buy link A Russian Bear
Buy link Leather and Newfound Land
Contest link

Please come visit me at www.cbconwy.com – I have several free stories from the kinky Slake universe and another one coming up this Sunday.

Blurb, Happily Ever After:

Mischa isn’t stupid; he knows that happily ever afters only happen in fairytales. Still, he had thought that as soon as Tom got over the horrible assault that almost tore them apart, everything would be better. Perhaps not fairytale happy right away, but better. Instead, they seem to be falling apart, and quite spectacularly so.

What Mischa hadn’t taken into account was the fact that violence has longtime consequences – consequences that are threatening to shake the very foundation of Tom and Mischa’s relationship. Because Mischa can handle Tom’s weakness, but he can’t face his own. He doesn’t have a choice, though. Not if they’re going to make it.

As Mischa and Tom struggle to rebuild their relationship, it turns out that happily ever after is damn hard work. It’s also wildly kinky, because Tom and Mischa have to build a new trust in the playroom as well. One scene at a time, Mischa and Tom explore their new limits, and that’s the kind of work that Mischa likes. After all, that’s what badass Doms do.

Excerpt, Happily Ever After:

They were going to be okay. Tom sighed and pushed his head closer, resting it in the crook of Mischa’s neck. Mischa had been about to get up, but now Tom’s lover sat down next to him on the spanking bench in the quiet playroom, putting both arms around Tom and hugging him securely.

Tom took a deep breath, and then another, the air feeling as if it was somehow cleansing him. He could feel Mischa’s hand caress his shoulder, and he relished the touch, relished the simple fact that touching felt good again. It had been so fucking long.

He had tried telling himself over and over these last months that it had only been an assault. An unfortunate meeting, only a few minutes of close contact with some homophobic asshole who didn’t like the look of Tom’s face or something like that.

It was just that the consequences had stretched far beyond those few minutes. Tom had been messed up when the man had left him in that alley, bleeding and unconscious. It had taken weeks, months even, before his broken bones had mended and the bruises had paled and taken that horrible deep pain with them. The pain that kept him from what he needed most: being touched and comforted by Mischa.

Unfortunately, those hadn’t been the only aftereffects. Somewhere along the way, Tom had completely lost faith in himself, in his ability to be touched. To be loved. He shuddered and pushed closer.

“Shh, you’re okay.” Mischa cuddled him, gently stroking his hair.

The knowledge that Mischa was right, that he was finally going to be all right, almost took his breath away for a moment. The relief made his throat tighten up, and he chuckled ruefully.

“What?” Mischa pulled back far enough to look questioningly at Tom’s face. The dark eyes were soft.

“Nothing,” Tom shook his head. His voice came out slightly strangled. “I’m just…” He cleared his throat. “I’m just happy.”

Mischa smiled. “That’s okay.”

Mischa took one hand away from Tom’s shoulder, jostling him slightly, and the movement made a twinge go through Tom’s ass. He gasped.

Mischa quickly looked at Tom, worry on his face. “Anything wrong?”

Tom snorted. “Well, that depends if you ask me or my asshole. You just fucked me pretty thoroughly.” Pretty fucking amazingly, as well.

Mischa huffed. “I don’t talk to assholes. Come on, let’s get up. You need to get dressed.”

“In what? You fucking shredded my clothes.” Tom still couldn’t believe that Mischa had actually tied him up, cut off his clothes, and fucked him. It had been completely out of character from the way Mischa had been acting the last couple of months; it had been the old, badass Mischa. Exactly what Tom had needed.

“You have other clothes. You should be happy I won’t have you clean up the kitchen naked.”

Oh, God. The kitchen.

A Step to the Write – a guest blog by Anne Barwell

Posted on by
10

Firstly, an apology of sorts, for the title of this blog post. It’s in part a bad joke, as I love time travel stories and in part, rather apt considering the topic I’ve chosen to blog about.

I’ve had a few people ask about my writing process, and a huge part of that is juggling the day job as one of the things I find challenging about writing is not the lack of ideas, but finding the time to sit down and actually write. I often think, at the risk of jinxing myself, I have more plot bunnies than sense, but I blame that in part in being born in the year of the rabbit.

I also like to write in series, and I usually have plots and ideas for several books that-a-way running around in my head as well as the one I’m currently working on.

So, how to manage all of that and actually produce a novel?

In my day job, which is in a library, I work what might be considered ‘weird’ hours. I start at 12.15 and finish at 8.45 at night three days a week, and I work weekends.  This means, in order to write, I need to be disciplined. Some days it’s very tempting to stay in bed, or fluff around and have some downtime before work. If I did that my writing would fall by the wayside, so instead I set an alarm and make sure I’m sitting down by a certain time so I get at least an hour’s writing time before work.

Some days of course, this works better than others, and I’m also often left feeling very scheduled out, especially during the week. The upside is, though, that I see my current manuscript growing steadily, even if it’s just 500 words a day, and by the end of the week that adds up to several thousand words. I try to do a bit more on weekends, depending on what else is going on, but that doesn’t always work. Like today when I have to take my cat to the vet, and she’s the hysterical type who will vanish as soon as she gets a whiff of a cage being anywhere near the house.

Once the first draft is done, and the story is ‘down” and inflicted upon my beta readers (who are a very important part of the writing process) one chapter at a time, it’s time to tighten up and move into draft #2. This is when I weigh up all the beta reader comments, which is often a mix of ‘what the hell were you thinking?’ and ‘oh I loved this’, hopefully more of the latter than the former. :P   Beta reading is far more than comma sprinkling and catching typos, and I’d never submit a manuscript without one. As a writer, I’m too close to the characters and story, and often it’s not easy to take that step back I need to see what is working or not. Draft #2 done, and it’s off to the betas again, often one chapter at a time for more comments – hopefully less than the time before.

Draft #3 is quickly followed by #4 and then sent off to another set of betas for a ‘cold read’.

Then it’s submission time and time to dig out the outline for the next story and start all over.  I’ve found with my more recent stories, it’s easier to have an outline/character guide in front of me for the story, as well as the screeds of handwritten scribbles in my hardcopy notebooks.  It helps to exorcise the future WIPS while I’m working on my current ones. That’s what I tell myself anyway even if the characters still go off on tangents and do their own thing, and vampires are pushy as.  I like my illusions.

Oh and that second to last sentence wasn’t a typo. That’s what we say here in New Zealand.  Sweet as, cold as, or whatnot. One day I need to put that into one of my locally set stories – and yes there is a fair few of those on the To Be Written pile too.

To finish I’m going to share an excerpt from my latest release Magic’s Muse, a story which does tie in with this post as one of the characters, Tomas, is a writer. His writing process is a little different from mine, but then he has someone more than happy to help him role play to get certain scenes just right ;)

I’d love to hear about others’ writing process, from ideas to submission.

 Magic’s Muse, sequel to Cat’s Quill.

Tomas and Cathal have escaped from Naearu, Cathal’s mystical homeworld, but happily ever after is never as straightforward in real life as it is in books. Then again, most people don’t deal with the complication of a lover who’s magically bound to a tree or have an interfering cat for a cousin.

With Naearu’s police force, the Falcons, still after Cathal, he can’t go home. Now that he and Tomas have consummated their relationship, Cathal’s abilities are evolving and changing to the point that Tomas can sense them. And until the oak portal closes, Cathal—and his new life with Tomas—are in limbo as Cathal can’t expect Tomas to stay with someone who can never venture past the property line. Will he and Tomas ever get to follow through on their engagement?

Excerpt:

Cathal smiled. He removed the pencil from behind Tomas’s ear and placed it on the desk. He’d chewed the end of it again. “What I’ve read of it so far is very good, and I’m not just saying that because I love you.”

“That’s good to know.” Tomas threaded his fingers through Cathal’s hair, playing with it. Cathal had suggested shortening the length, as it was longer than what he’d observed to be the norm in this world, but Tomas would have none of it. He liked it the way it was, so unless it was something Cathal really wanted to do, there was no need for it to be cut. Apparently there was a wider variety now in what was considered fashionable than there was the previous time he’d visited. He’d worn it longer then too, and no one had commented, although he’d noticed the sideways looks he and Christian had received because of their dress and manner of speech.

“Can I read what you’ve written today?” Cathal was keen to see how the story was progressing. It was very different being able to read something as it was written, rather than having to wait until it was finished. It reminded him of when he was a child and his mother would tell them a story by the fire each night, careful to leave it in such a place so they’d want more.

“Of course.” Tomas leaned over and tapped several keys on his laptop. A whirring sound filled the room, and the printer began to spit out pieces of paper covered in writing. He’d shown Cathal how the machine worked earlier that morning. With every visit to this world, it seemed as though the devices they used became smaller and could do so much more. There were still so many new things to learn about and discover. Even the technology with which he thought he was familiar had changed, although he hadn’t had the opportunity to ask as many questions as he’d like. Taking things apart to find out more had gotten him into trouble ninety years ago, and he wasn’t about to test the theory that it might again.

Cathal got up from Tomas’s lap and retrieved the papers once the machine had done its work. He flopped down on the bed, already beginning to read what was written on them and losing himself in the words. “Oh, you’ve written the kiss!” This was what he and Tomas had role played, and the last time he’d seen it had been as handwritten notes in Tomas’s journal. Now Tomas was “taking dictation again”, he’d reverted to using his laptop instead of writing longhand, as he said it was faster and easier to edit later.

“And more.” Tomas didn’t move from his chair but instead watched Cathal read, chuckling at the way in which he devoured the new material.

“Deimos isn’t as good at keeping secrets as he thinks, is he?” It was very apparent, the more Cathal read, that Deimos was not of this world. His speech slipped into more of an old-fashioned pattern on several occasions. He also seemed unaware of some of the things of which Mark spoke, but that was understandable, as Cathal hadn’t heard of some of them either. What was 3D, and who was Harry Potter? How could so much have happened in this world in such a short time?

“Neither were you, my love.” Tomas stretched his arms out and took another sip of coffee. “I didn’t realize just how much at the time, but as they say, hindsight is twenty-twenty.”

Bio:

Anne Barwell lives in Wellington, New Zealand, sharing her home with her twin daughters, at least during the holidays, when one of them isn’t away at university. Her son has left home and started his own family, although she claims she is too young to be a grandmother already. Her three cats are convinced that the house is run to suit them; this is an ongoing “discussion,” and to date it appears as though the cats may be winning.

In 2008 she completed her conjoint BA in English Literature and Music/Bachelor of Teaching and has worked as a music teacher, a primary school teacher, and a librarian. She is a member of the Upper Hutt Science Fiction club and plays piano for her local church and violin for a local orchestra.

She is an avid reader across a wide range of genres and a watcher of far too many TV series and movies, although it can be argued that there is no such thing as “too many.” These, of course, are best enjoyed with a decent cup of tea and further the continuing argument that the concept of “spare time” is really just a myth.

http://anne-barwell.livejournal.com/
http://annebarwell.wordpress.com/
http://coffeeunicorns.wordpress.com/
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=55_426

When Stories Link Up – a guest blog by Berengaria Brown

Posted on by
7

One night I had a dream. I got out of bed, and wrote it down, but I had no idea what it meant, or where it was going. I showed it to author Anny Cook, and asked, “What do I do now?” She told me to keep writing. She said that sort of thing happened to her a lot. Either it turned into a book, or it would just stop. Well, I took her advice, kept writing, and it turned into three books. And finally, with the third book, I realized what the connection was. It is actually what happens more than fifty years after the “Raw Claiming” series I wrote.

“Forbidden Future” was the first book, which begins with my dream. As I kept writing, three characters took over, demanding their story be told. Continue reading →

STEAM POWERED – a guest post by Rae Gee (NSFW!)

Posted on by
3

Great machines belching out clouds of steam and smoke. Sky pirates and clockwork automatons. Secret government organisations and an Empire which spans the globe. All of it washed down with lashings of tea, gin and cake.

So why is Steampunk so popular? Why is it resonating on such a level?

Some would say that it’s another turn of the key, that all genres come around time and again. We only have to look at the popularity of the vampire genre. We had it in the early 1990′s with Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Interview With The Vampire. Now we have it again with Twilight and the Sookie Stackhouse series. Again, we had it with apocalyptic films. In the late 90′s it was alien invasions, closely followed by asteroids heading for earth. Now it’s zombies and aliens. Of course, you can keep going back and looking at the cycles of different genres.

Continue reading →

Priceless – a guest blog by M.A. Church

Posted on by
4

Money may be able to buy a lot of things… except true love. And true love is…

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3095

Hey everyone! My name is M.A. Church, and I’ve stopped by to talk about my latest book to be released on July 25th.

Priceless is the first of three completed novellas (Priceless, Perfect and Pure) of gay male romance in which mortals, immortals and the Greco-Roman god, Cupid himself, find hot sex, overwhelming passion, and, of course, love.

So, instead of me talking about the book, I thought I’d ask the main characters Garrett and Randy—and I’m sure Cupid will chime in lol—some questions, and let them share their thoughts. :) Continue reading →

Let’s Hear it for Androgyny – a guest post and giveaway by Tara Lain

Posted on by
12

I’m delighted to be here with Josephine today to celebrate the release of my new novel, Genetic Celebrity. The book is a MMF ménage romance about the love between a brilliant young business assistant and amateur chef who has a mad passion for a powerhouse modeling agent who is 10 years his senior, and a beautiful, androgynous street kid who the modeling agent turns into a male supermodel. It’s a relationship between three very unlikely lovers who manage to make it work — in fact, they discover their lives don’t work any other way.

As you may know, I am fascinated by androgyny. Many of my charactes have androgynous qualities like the supermodel, Roan Black, in The Scientist and the Supermodel who also plays a major role in Genetic Celebrity, or Trelain Medveyev in Golden Dancer. While I can appreciate a good alpha-male as much as the next girl, these gender-benders seem to embody the power of both sexes and, like the characters in yaoi, appeal to everyone.

I’m a freak for Adam Lambert who, while actually rather masculine looking, styles himself with an androgynous twist. We all know he’s gay and yet many women think he’s sexy as hell. Bill Kaulitz is so androgynous it’s almost impossible to tell he’s male in many photos — although they say he’s straight. Probably the ultimate in androgyny is the model Andrej Pejic. This 6’2” young man walks in both male and female fashion shows. In the women’s show, he doesn’t pad himself at all, walking with his hard, flat chest showing beneath the low necklines of the dresses. In an interview, he suggested that maybe the designers were so crazy for him because he saved them money by walking in both shows. I think, looking at his androgynous beauty, you’ll agree it’s way more than that. While I don’t often use real people as inspirations for my characters, I did in fact use Andrej as a role model for the character of Shay Shaleen in Genetic Celebrity. While Shay is not transgender, he is as beautiful and very nearly as androgynous as Andrej. I hope you enjoy him.

Would you like a chance to win a $10 GC?  Leave a comment here WITH YOUR EMAIL. And, if you go over to Beautiful Boys Books and leave a comment with your email you can also win some fun SWAG. All the instructions for how to do that are at Beautiful Boys Books. But first, leave a comment here with your email. And thank you again to Josephine for hosting me. Winners will be announced on August 4th by email. I had a blast.

Excerpt R: Genetic Celebrity by Tara Lain; MMF Menage with Food!

Available at Loose Id | Amazon

Tommy Riley loves cooking and the simple life. But his passion for Angie “Booky” Edelson is anything but simple. Beautiful, ambitious, hard-driving and 10 years older than Tommy, Booky represents all the things Tommy has tried to leave behind. Besides, she only seems to love him for his food! Then Tommy’s boss brings home Shay Shaleen, a pierced, tattooed, androgynous street kid for Booky to turn into a top male model. Tommy sizzles for the beautiful guy but Shay gets caught up in the flattery of a famous fashion designer. Why does Tommy have to fall for two people who can’t love him back? Is there a recipe for blending with these genetic celebrities?

Warm. Mmmmm. Shay snuggled into the heat. Wait. Heat? Why? He opened his eyes. Very carefully he moved his butt. Crap. He knew a fully spronged dick when he felt it. A nude dick! Where was he? California. Supposedly a-fucking-lone.

“Ah, mon cher, are you finally awake?”

“What the fuck!” He leaped to the side of the mattress and off the bed to full standing before his brain even registered he was moving. He groped for the light, knocked over something like the radio, and finally found the switch. He blinked against the flare of light and the sight of Louis de Chauvigny propped on his elbow in the center of the bed, bare-assed naked and fully erect. His smile looked like one of those crazy clowns that scare kids.

Shay looked for a weapon, saw his discarded tennis shoe, grabbed it, and brandished it toward Louis. “What the fuck are you doing here?” He waved the shoe. “No, I don’t want to know why you’re here. I just want you to get out of here before I do something that will get me arrested…again.”

Louis looked about as concerned as a whore at a political convention. “Ah, my dear, control the drama. I am here because I paid for the room, the plane flight, and in fact, for you. I knew if I could just get you to a comfortable place away from negative influences, you would see all that I am offering.” He reached down and stroked his cock that was maintaining its stiffness against all odds. The bastard probably got off on a little violence.

“I was hired by DeMarco.”

He smiled. “Oh yes. I also own DeMarco. We keep it very quiet because our brands are so very different and I don’t want to compromise de Chauvigny with such a rock-and-roll aesthetic.”

Shit. Why did he keep getting bought? “I don’t care. Get the fuck out of my room.” His hand tightened on the shoe.

Louis sighed. “Oh, come on, Shaleen. This isn’t your room. It’s mine. You’re a beginning model. I have done a lot for you, and you have much more to gain. You’ve been a prostitute, for God’s sake. What possible difference can it make to you? And I want you. I would not have gone to all this trouble for many men.” He patted the bed. “Come on, let’s fuck.”

For a split second what the man said made sense.

Then Shay shook his head. Fuck. Not in this life. Not anymore. He angled toward the door so he could get the most force with the fewest obstacles. His arm came back. He heard a sound from the door. Louis’s mouth opened to yell. He threw the shoe straight at the fucking designer’s head as Booky’s voice rang through the room. “What the fuck is going on here?”

Louis ducked, and the shoe missed him by an eyelash. Tommy caught it. “Good throw.”

Crap. Crap. Shay looked at the naked Louis and up at the two people on earth he wanted to like him. No, he wanted them to love him. What did they think?

He knew what they had to think. This looked so fucking bad.

With her hands on her hips, Booky looked like Wonder Woman. “What exactly are you doing here?” She flicked her fingers. “Like that?”

Louis lay back on the mussed bed. He looked relaxed, but that boner was long gone. “Did Shay not explain he was coming to California to see me? We were just playing a little game before intercourse. I so love a threat with my fucking.”

Shay couldn’t catch his breath. “No. Not true. No.”

“Well, of course it’s true. How else would I be here at this hour”—he waved a hand down his long naked body—“like this, as you say.”

Shay shook his head until it rattled. No. No. This couldn’t happen. How many times had some crappy God given him a particle of hope and pulled it away like a rug under a running dog? Yeah, dog. That was what he was in this world.

He looked at Booky, who glanced back and forth from him to Louis. Shay could see what she saw. A robe on the chair. Who would she believe? Fuck, who would anyone believe?

He leaned his head back and screamed.

About Tara:

Tara Lain never met a beautiful boy she didn’t love – at least on paper. A writer of erotic romance, mostly ménage and male/male, Tara loves all her characters, but especially her handsome heroes. A lifelong writer of serious non-fiction, Tara only fell in love with EROM in 2009 and, through perseverance and lots of workshops, had the first novel she ever wrote published in January of 2011. Then she capped off the year by being voted Best Author of 2011 in the LRC Awards and had her Genetic Attraction Series named runner-up for Best Series of 2011! A very good year. After an exotic life of travel all over the world and work in television, education and advertising, Tara settled in Southern California with her soul-mate husband and opened her own small marketing business. She paints, collages, and started practicing yoga “way before it was fashionable”. Passionate about diversity, justice, inclusion and new ideas, she says on her tombstone it will read, “Yes”.

E-mail: tara@taralain.com
Website: http://www.taralain.com
Author blog: http://taralain.blogspot.com
Book blog: http://beautifulboysbooks.blogspot.com
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4541791.Tara_Lain
Twitter: http://twitter.com/taralain
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Tara-Lain/100001514105686
FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tara-Lain/205042046209804
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Tara-Lain/e/B004U1W5QC/
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/TaraLain?keyword=Tara+Lain&store=book
ARe: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html?searchBy=author&qString=Tara+Lain

Why I write m/m – a guest post and giveaway by Christiane France

Posted on by
21

Jo’s note: details of the giveaway at the end of the post :)

A male author once asked how I, a straight female, could write gay romance. I told him the same way he writes about nymphomaniacs and serial killers and other authors build a parallel universe or write tales of werewolves, shifters and creepy fantasy critters that go bump in the night—you don’t need firsthand experience to write a book all you need is a vivid imagination. Check out a few pics of really buff guys, pick your two faves, add a tiny pinch of real life plus a healthy helping or three of what if?, stir well and who knows where the journey will take you? If you’re lucky, to the moon baby. To the moon and if you’re really adventurous maybe even beyond the moon to something a little darker, a little edgier, something that makes your heart beat faster, until you’re on the edge of your seat, biting your nails and wishing like crazy you were there and he was— I’ll leave you to fill in the blanks here, or not.

So why do I write about men making love to other men? The truth? I adore men. I love that little boy who lives within all of them, the shy pride in a race well run or a fight well fought, and their fierce defense of those they love. And I love a nicely toned male body complete with a tight butt and all the trimmings, it’s a major turn-on. Okay, I know, this type of perfection has more to do with fantasy than reality, but that’s okay, we’re allowed to dream and so I write about that, not real life.


Continue reading →

Character Interview with Holden Krause – a guest blog post by Andrea Speed

Posted on by
11

Today, I thought I’d interview one of my characters. This time it’s Holden Krause, a/k/a Fox, from my Infected series. While a late addition, he seems to have quickly become a favorite of many people, in spite of – or perhaps because of – his somewhat outrageous nature and attitude. Strangely enough, he doesn’t like talking about himself any more than Roan does, so getting him to agree to this was a bit of a challenge. As you will see.

***

Thank you for meeting me, Holden.

Holden: Hey, I’ll show up anywhere with free drinks.

Uh huh. Why don’t you tell people about yourself?

Holden: (Gives brief, cold smile) I’m a Scorpio who likes lemon gin and noisy clubs where I don’t have to hear the stupid shit you’re saying. Turns ons include cash and room service, turn offs include traveller’s checks, Motel 6′s, and guys who want to raw dog it. I’m six foot, one seventy, cut, about s-

Continue reading →