Blog Tour - Sweet Giordan, Please Remember by Raine O'Tierney

Raine O'Tierney is here today as a part of her blog tour for her new release Sweet Giordan, Please Remember. Giordan comes out today from Dreamspinner Press and you're going to want to head over there right now and buy it. Trust me on this one. In fact, here is the link so you can go order right now. It's such a beautiful story that pulls you in right from the very beginning, wraps you in loveliness, and keeps you there until the very end. I wish this story had been longer, but I have it on very good authority that there are going to be more stories in this series and I'm doing a happy dance right now just thinking about it.

She has stopped by to share with us, a letter to her brother, an excerpt and some pretty amazing prizes:

An Open Letter to My Brother, on This, My Release Day!

Dearest Andy,

How are you? I hope well. (This is for show, I speak to you almost every day and so I know how you are...nerdlinger. Also, you smell vaguely of farts. I love you.)

Today is my release day! Sweet Giordan, Please Remember is available for download. I already bullied you into pre-ordering it, so I’m just letting you know you can go and download it now. And read it. And call me. And talk with me about it. If you want, no pressure! (Pressure.)

I wish that was all this letter was about. Love, farts, and my release. Unfortunately, it is not.

Andy, there’s been this problem, this issue, this grumble, hanging between us for almost twenty-eight years and I think it’s time that you and I settle it. I’ve run to the refuge of Cate Ashwood’s blog to address this. Why?

Because she may very well be the only one who can stop your reign of terror.

Today this ends, Andrew.

Today you admit…you are not the only redhead.

I get it, I do! Your hair is beautiful. It glows so brightly red that one could light a candle off the flame-hue. I have never seen a red so beautiful.

But the tyranny has to stop, Andrew! You can’t go around declaring other people’s reds LESS red because your red is so magnificent! Cate Ashwood is proof positive other redheads exist. And this includes me, sir. I. AM. A. REDHEAD. Admit it, Andrew! I beg of you, before our relationship is torn apart by jealousy and lies. Is it as beautiful as yours? No! Have I been envious since I was a child? Yes! Am I blonde? NO sir, I am not!

And all I ask is that you admit that you can be the King of the Gingers, while still allowing the rest of us our brief moment in the sun.

Please.

I beg of you.

Love always,

Your sister

P.S. Download my book, dork!

(Thank you, Cate, for hosting me as my brother and I publicly tackle our darkest issues!)

Blurb

Sweet Giordan, Please Remember by Raine O'Tierney

Giordan Stone is lucky, all things considered. Sure, he spent five years in a coma only to wake with a right leg that’s practically useless and no memories other than his name. But now he’s under the care of sassy southern surrogate mother, Chloe Devereaux, spending his days painting and healing. Giordan wants for nothing at all… until he looks out the window one morning and sees Chloe's gorgeous son, Shane, standing there. Something very familiar stirs in Giordan.

When he sketches, Giordan is able to go into an “art trance” where pieces of disjointed memory come back to him without time or place. More and more of these flashes are of Shane Devereaux and the intense, intimate experiences they shared together. Even though Shane keeps his distance now, Giordan is convinced his flashes are real. But he doesn’t have the whole story. Giordan is determined to fill in his memory blanks and convince Shane his feelings are genuine.

Excerpt

Outside, the light of the morning was a gentle white. He was ready to go with Chloe to the orchard and paint anything and everything. Maybe she’d take him all the way down to the end of the lane so he could sit near the creek that separated the Devereaux’s property from county land.

Giordan was daydreaming about smearing blues across fresh canvas when something down below caught his eye. He looked closer.

His cane slipped through loose fingers, but he didn’t hear it clatter to the wood floor. He didn’t hear anything. Suddenly, his whole attention was intensely focused on a man standing down on the walk. He was talking seriously with Chloe’s husband, Mr. Devereaux.

Giordan couldn’t have torn his eyes away if they’d been burning, because something about the man he saw there was familiar and that familiarity strained against the mental veil. A hot feeling spread over him, and he flushed, at once both embarrassed and curious. He wanted to throw open the window and call out to this stranger, but of course, he didn’t know his name. What in the world was happening to him? Did he know the man standing below?

Giordan opened his mouth and raised his fists to the pane to call attention to himself when Chloe caught his arm and placed the cane back into his hand.

He’d never seen the look on her face before, and it startled him into obedient silence. She placed a finger to her lips and motioned him back to his bedroom. Giordan snuck one final look at the man standing outside before Chloe hurried him on, faster than his aching side wanted to go. That deep, familiar feeling lingered inside him, and Giordan felt achingly disappointed at his missed opportunity.

“Maman, who is that?” Giordan asked once she’d shut his door.

Her look softened and she placed a gentle hand against his cheek. “That’s my son, Shane.”

“Shane,” Giordan repeated. He was hoping once he had a name to go along with the handsome face that memories would flood in and everything would become clear. “But I know him, right?” he begged, certain she would confirm it. Seeing Shane’s face was like the trances Giordan went into when he drew: too familiar not to be real.

Chloe took one long, slow breath and replied, “Ah, not anymore, honey. It’s been a long time.”

“Well, then I’d like to meet him. I-I should reintroduce myself!”

“Giordan, I….” Chloe’s hesitation, much like the expression she’d had on her face, quieted him. She didn’t want them to meet. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

Buy links

DSP: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=55_1024

Bio

Raine O’Tierney is an always-writing, boundlessly enthusiastic, exclamation point addict! (!!!) She is known for declaring every day “the best day EVER!” and every thing her “all-time FAVORITE!” Despite this (obnoxious?) exuberance, she still somehow manages to have a wonderfully encouraging husband and writing partner, Siôn, and an amazing group of friends and colleagues who continue to support (read: put up with) her. Raine spends her days working as a library lady, fighting the good fight for intellectual freedom.

Website and social media links

Website: http://raineotierney.com/

E-mail: Raineotierney@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RaineOTierneyAuthor

The Hat Party (LGBT Author Interviews) http://raineotierneyhatparty.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @RaineOTierney

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/RaineOTierney

Blog Tour and Prizes!

Sweet Giordan, Please Remember Blog Tour

March 17th--March 29th

Prizes:

*** Set of Sweet Giordan, Please Remember and Under the Table and Into His Heart ebooks

*** I Believe in the Sweetness Notebook

*** I Believe in the Sweetness Tote

*** 2x I Believe in the Sweetness Bumper Stickers

*** 2x Sweetness! Bumper Stickers

Please visit Home of the Sweetness to enter:

http://raineotierney.blogspot.com/2014/03/sweet-giordan-please-remember-blog-tour.html

Holding on to Hope Blog Tour

Sid Love is here today for an interview! His new novella, Holding on to Hope hit the shelves on February 14th. I've had the pleasure of reading it, and I have to tell you, it's a fantastic debut novella! The world building is perfect, and you can't help but love the secondary characters as much as Brad and Ronan. A little birdy told me that there is going to be more books featuring these characters and I can't wait to read them.

Here's the official Blurb:

Bradley Parker has waited twenty years for Mr. Right, and on Valentine’s Day, he finally finds him. It’s love at first sight, and Brad even loses his virginity to the man of his dreams. But when he wakes up the next morning unable to remember anything—even what the man looked like—his best friend, Leslie, is convinced he imagined the whole thing. Brad knows he didn’t make up the best night of his life, but he has no idea of the danger he’s putting himself in as he struggles to recall the details of his perfect man. His search may lead him to parts of New York City he never dreamed existed and a war being waged in the shadows.

You can buy Holding on to Hope at Dreamspinner Press, Amazon and All Romance Ebooks

And without further ado, here is the interview!

Congratulations on your first release! Can you tell us a little bit about the story and how you came up with the idea?

This story is about Brad’s search for his one true love who he meets on the beautiful day of Valentine’s and loses him as quickly. He has no memory of where this guy is or what he looks like. His love and his hopes are the motivation that keeps him believing that he’d find his man no matter what!

This story came to me when I was brainstorming over plots for an anthology challenge on GayAuthors site where all kinds of free fictions are posted. The theme was a Night to Remember and this was the second idea that popped up in my head. I loved it, so I continued with it. J

This is your first book, but you are very well known in the m/m community. What made you make the transition from reviewer to writer?

I am not THAT well-known lol… I guess we have a decent number of blog followers for which I am humbled! It’s a team effort really what we have achieved so far J

Anywho, to answer your question, I have always been a writer. My transition was from a writer to a reviewer an year ago and not the other way round J But I wasn’t published author back then. It was a passion I followed dedicatedly. I never stopped writing even after I got into blogging about the books in M/M genre.

How did you celebrate when you received the email letting you know you were going to be published?

Ha! It was like 1 AM here in India when I received that email from Elizabeth and I literally screamed in joy in the middle of the night! I bet that must have woken up our neighbors, but I didn’t care lol I was so excited, I could hardly sleep that night.

What made you drew you to paranormal romance for your first book? Will you stick to this subgenre or are there other subgenres you want to explore for your next projects?

Holding on to Hope was my first attempt at writing Paranormal actually. I am the kind of author who loves to try his hand in every genre. So no, I won’t be limited one sub-genre at all. You will see a lot of Contemporary, Mystery, Romance books from me while I will also make an attempt in writing Sci-fi, YA and some more of Paranormal, Fantasy and Urban Fantasy ;)

When you are creating characters, are they based on people you know, or are they completely fictional?

I have met some very interesting people in my life – both online and offline- whose personalities actually intrigued me. So my characters aren’t completely fictional, I have given them a touch of every interesting personality I have met to give them a refreshing feel. Also, my characters take a lot from me too. My main character in Holding on to Hope has some traits that are inspired from me.

Are there any parts of this story that are particularly special to you or parts that you wrote from personal experience?

What’s more special than a guy finding his true love on the Valentine’s Day? I personally believe in the power of love and hope for finding Mr. Right J

What made you choose to publish with Dreamspinner Press and what have you learned from publishing your first story?

Dreamspinner Press has a reputation among the writers and the readers. For a lot of them, DSP books are an auto-buy (and that includes me!) because they promise quality. I knew that they’d only make the best out of my book and present it to the whole world. And I was proved right. I have had a great experience with the DSP staff.

What is next for you?

Well, I am aiming to finish the second book I have started in the series. And I am also simultaneously working on a novel-length story. So you will be sure to see a few books coming out soon under my name.

Can you share a little bit of your story with us?

Here’s an excerpt to the story that gives you a good enough glimpse of my characters ;)

“Okay, remember how I said it is huge?” Brad finally spoke, and Leslie nodded her head to let him know she was all ears. “Well, it is. Last night, something happened, something unimaginable… beyond any of my wildest dreams. I never thought….”

“Brad.” Leslie yawned. “To the point, please. I don’t have all day.”

“Okay, all right! What happened is….” He paused, plastering a big grin on his face. She tried very hard not to roll her eyes, letting him tell her at his own pace. “Last night, my dear, I finally got laid!”

When he broke the news to her, Leslie’s subsequent yawn was cut short by the initial shock she went through. Her body jerked forward, now fully awakened. There wasn’t any amount of caffeine that would have made her feel as lively as she felt at that moment.

This was definitely huge, and not just for Brad. Over the years, Leslie had constantly tried and consequently failed in hooking him up with several guys. Bradley Joseph Parker had the arrogance of a drag queen, she thought. He was too picky when it came to dating and relationships; never wishing to settle for anything less. He dreamt of a guy whose mere presence would take his breath away, who would be so handsome that every girl and every gay guy in the world would yearn to have him in their lives. “Such a guy would only belong to me, holding my hand in a roomful of envious people,” he would say with a smirk. “I would look around and say to them ‘Suck it up, bitches! He is mine!’”

Brad had wasted years with these stupid fantasies, and he had remained a virgin. So Leslie never thought the day would come when Brad’s whining would ever end.

But it had. And Leslie thought she would faint, even with the adrenaline rushing through her veins.

“Wha—?” She became aware of the fact that she had left her mouth hanging open for too long and shut it immediately. A smile crept across her lips, getting bigger by the second, and it turned into a cheek-hurting grin. “Oh my God! Shut up. Seriously?” She quickly sat up, hopping on the bed to cross her legs.

“Very seriously, Les.” Brad’s cute face beamed with wonder and excitement. Leslie couldn’t blame him. She remembered the day she had had sex for the first time, and even though it was a while back, she couldn’t forget the bliss she’d felt after finally losing her virginity or the hunger she felt for getting some more. Leslie was ready to bet that Brad was experiencing similar whirls of emotions in him.

“Last night, on Valentine’s Day…?” she asked.

Brad gave a nod. “On Valentine’s Day.”

“That’s so funny.” Leslie laughed out loud. Even though Valentine’s Day never meant anything to her, something this huge happening to her best friend did force her to consider it a special day. “Okay, you have to tell me everything, dude! Don’t leave out a single detail. I don’t care if it’s too much information. I just have to know. How long has this been going on between you two?”

Brad laughed. “Not too long. I just met him yesterday.”

“And you slept with him already?” Leslie’s mind was drawing up the picture of the perfect guy in her imagination, a guy who had managed to entice someone like Brad in such a short time. She was sure he would be down-to-earth, with an impeccably charming personality. “Way to go! I won’t deny it; I like the spontaneous Brad. Who is this guy, by the way? Do I know him?”

“No, you don’t.” His smile wavered a bit.

“Well, what’s his name?”

Leslie watched him hesitate for a moment. “I… don’t know.”

It took her by surprise.

“I think my devilish side just had a mind-blowing orgasm. You not only have sex with a guy for the first time, but you are also telling me it was simply a one-night stand?” She put her hand over her heart and mockingly said, “Mama Les is so proud of her boy!”

“But Les,” he knitted his eyebrows together as he stood up and came over to sit by her side. He took hold of Leslie’s hand, and she felt his grip tightening when he said, “It wasn’t a one-night stand. Definitely not, uh-uh.” He shook his head, and she immediately wondered if he was trying to convince her or himself. “It was special to me, and I could tell it was special for him too. Why else would he go to extremes to make that night an unforgettable memory? He lit up hundreds of scented candles in the room for me, and there were rose petals all over the bed where we did it.” Leslie didn’t miss the blush forming on his face again as he spoke. “There was champagne, sweet music, and he was a perfect gentleman. He kept asking me if I was sure about this.”

“WOW! Sounds utterly cheesy to me….” Leslie said, although she was quite impressed by all of it and maybe a bit jealous too.

Brad let go of her hand and sighed. “It was damn romantic.”

Leslie moved her gaze around the dorm room, scrutinizing it. “I am guessing it wasn’t here you did it then?” She inquired, turning to face him and watched him slowly crossing his legs like she had.

“No, he took me to his place.” Brad had his mouth open to probably add something more, but he stopped abruptly, scrunched his nose up, and glanced at her with some doubt. “I think it was his place… I don’t know. Where else would he take me?”

Leslie noticed uncertainty, even when he shrugged. What Brad was saying didn’t make any sense to her. “The champagne! Did you have too much of it?”

He frowned. “God, no! Why would I want to give him the impression I’m an idiotic drunkard on our first meeting?”

Of course she didn’t believe him. “Right, says the one who’d put Britney Spears to shame with his underage drinking. Seriously, dude, I’ve had to pick you up in a drunken state from God knows how many parties by now. So don’t shit me by saying you didn’t have any amount of alcohol in you last night.”

Brad reddened and carefully said, “I may have had a little bit of alcohol.”

Typical. Leslie rolled her eyes. “Weren’t you at Ian’s party last night?” She tried to keep her face straight as she asked. The party he had gone to was for all the single men and ladies from their college. Leslie knew exactly how that turned out every year by the end of the night.

He gave a nod in reply.

“Well, maybe you did it at his place?”

“No, it can’t be because we were partying at a nightclub last night.”

“Since when do nightclubs allow in a bunch of twenty year-olds?” she asked, certain they must have been stopped at the door for IDs. She couldn’t say about the others, but Brad’s cute baby face did give away his age.

“They don’t, but Ian somehow knew a few guys working at this nightclub that we went to, so we were able to sneak in.” He grinned.

Leslie suddenly wished she could have joined them. “Lucky you!” Now she couldn’t wait for May to arrive; that was when she turned twenty-one. She had been planning it in her mind forever. “So you met this mysterious guy in that club?”

“Yes, I think so.” Brad chewed on his lower lip.

“Well, what did he say to you? What did he look like?”

Brad turned sorrowful. “If I only knew….” He hung his head down and began to pull on his hair. “Fuck, Les!” He yelled, then looked up, scowling at her. “I can’t seem to remember any of it. The only thing that has managed to stay stuck in my memory is the mind-blowing sex that I had with him. I even remember all the positions we did it in, and God, that guy has the stamina of a wild lion, I tell you.”

Author Bio: 
Sid Love grew up in one of busiest cities in the world, Mumbai, listening to the excerpts of Indian epics from his father every night. While it served as an inspiration back in time, he has always had an ambitious mind. In 2007, when he had just turned sixteen, he decided that he would make his lifelong dream come true—to become a well-known, respected author some day.
Ask him and he would refuse to accept that he is obsessed with books. Or movies. Or TV shows. Addicted may even be the right word. He is a die-hard fan of Jane Austen’s romance novels and loves to reread them time and again.

You can find him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sid.love.16?ref=tn_tnmn or tweet him anytime: https://twitter.com/FatefulMercy, or simply e-mail him at sidlovethewriter@live.in.

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for your chance to win one of 5 copies of Holding on to Hope, or a $25 gift certificate to Amazon!
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Cover Reveal: Holding on to Hope by Sid Love

Sid Love is here today for the cover reveal on his new novella, Holding on to Hope. The immensely talented Paul Richmond is the artist behind it, and what a beautiful job he did. The cover draws you right in. Too bad we have to wait another three weeks for the story to become available. 

Watch for it from Dreamspinner Press on February 14th -- the perfect Valentine's Day read!

TITLE: Holding on to Hope

AUTHOR: Sid Love

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 68 Pages

COVER ARTIST: Paul Richmond

BLURB: Bradley Parker has waited twenty years for Mr. Right, and on Valentine’s Day, he finally finds him. It’s love at first sight, and Brad even loses his virginity to the man of his dreams. But when he wakes up the next morning unable to remember anything—even what the man looked like—his best friend, Leslie, is convinced he imagined the whole thing. Brad knows he didn’t make up the best night of his life, but he has no idea of the danger he’s putting himself in as he struggles to recall the details of his perfect man. His search may lead him to parts of New York City he never dreamed existed and a war being waged in the shadows.

PRE ORDER LINK: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4724

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sid Love grew up in one of busiest cities in the world, Mumbai, listening to the excerpts of Indian epics from his father every night. While it served as an inspiration back in time, he has always had an ambitious mind. In 2007, when he had just turned sixteen, he decided that he would make his lifelong dream come true—to become a well-known, respected author some day.
Ask him and he would refuse to accept that he is obsessed with books. Or movies. Or TV shows. Addicted may even be the right word. He is a die-hard fan of Jane Austen's romance novels and loves to reread them time and again.

You can find him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sid.love.16?ref=tn_tnmn or tweet him anytime: https://twitter.com/FatefulMercy, or simply e-mail him atsidlovethewriter@live.in.

Someone to Keep Me Blog Tour

I am so very pleased that the first post of the new year is going to be for a book (and a writing team) who are very special to me.

Someone to Keep Me is one of my all-time favourites. I had the pleasure of reading this one before it hit the shelves and I fell in love with Scott and Ben right away. There is something so innocent and naïve about Scott, and Ben is so stoic. Both men are flawed, but the flaws are what make them so perfect for one another and so endearing to readers. They draw strength from one another, albeit in very different ways. Both men will burrow their way into your heart and you won’t want them out.

Parker and KC write so seamlessly together. They are a wonderful team and they have created a wonderful book that I will be rereading over and over again.

And the cover. Let me just say, the cover! So beautiful and it fits the story perfectly.

In addition to the fantastic blog post they've got for us today, they're also running a giveaway. Actually, I don't know if it can just be called a giveaway. There should be a bigger, more fantastic name for what KC and Parker are doing. They are giving away a Kindle Fire loaded with over 100 books to one lucky winner. 

You can enter to win this amazing prize here: Rafflecopter giveaway

BLURB:
Eighteen-year-old Scott Keating knows a whole world exists beyond his parents’ strict control, but until he gains access to the World Wide Web, he really has no idea what’s out there. In a chat room, Scott meets “JeffUK.” Jeff loves and understands him, and when he offers to bring Scott to the UK, Scott seizes his chance to escape his humdrum life and see the world. But when his plane touches down and Jeff isn’t there, panic sets in.
Collars & Cuffs favorite barman and Dom-in-training, Ben Winters, drops his sister off at the airport and finds a lost, anxious Scott. Hearing Scott’s story sets off alarm bells, along with his protective instincts. Taking pity on the naïve boy, Ben offers him a place to crash and invites him to Collars & Cuffs, hoping his bosses will know how to help. Scott dreams of belonging to someone, heart and soul. Ben longs for a sub of his own. And neither man sees what’s right under his nose.

Buy Someone To Keep Me Here

And now, Parker and KC have written something very special for you to give you a little taste of the men from Someone to Keep Me!

Scott

He’d been drinking. Again. The shouting began earlier than normal, which meant he’d stopped off on the way home for a few beers with his friends. It also meant that he’d read the report from my teacher. Being homeschooled wasn’t a picnic. Having one person who knew everything about what I learned or, in this case, was disinterested in, really sucked.

“Scott!” I winced at the tone of the voice because I knew what was going to come next. Heavy footsteps on the stairs ceased outside my door. It flew open, hitting hard against the wall, the divot in wood a little deeper each time.

“What the hell is this?” he shouted, flapping a paper in front of me. Before I could answer he stepped closer. It hadn’t been beer tonight. He’d been hitting the hard stuff. Great.

“We’re paying damn good money for you to get an educashun,” he slurred. “This kind of work is un-unacceptable. An architect needs to know this shtuff.”

And there it was. I wasn’t asked what I wanted. I was told. He and my mother had been telling me since I could remember what I was going to be doing with my life, and I accepted it.

“Your mother and I are having dinner,” he snapped. “You’re going to be spending the night studying.” He grabbed the Nook off my desk and threw it at me, the corner catching on my arm. I picked it up, opened it, and began reading one of the books he’d given me on buildings in the US. He grunted and slammed the door closed behind him. I could feel tears pricking at the corners of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. The warmth on my face told me I wasn’t succeeding.

Outside my window I could hear the people from the coffee shop. I looked out and saw them sitting close together, having a good time. I wished I could be there with them. I wanted nothing more than for someone to look at me the way some of those people stared at one another. Like they were the only thing in the world at that moment. I heaved a weighty sigh and lay back down on the bed. I fiddled with some of the settings on the e-reader when I noticed a setting for internet connectivity. I switched it on and found that I had bars from the coffee shop! My reading abandoned, I started playing around online. I wished I could lock my door, but my parents saw no reason I should need privacy. Still, the Nook made it easy to switch to something else if necessary.

I spent every spare moment of the next several weeks looking for a life online. I searched for gay youth and found a website called Top and Bottom Boys that had a chat room. It was a lively place with kids from all over the world talking about themselves. It wasn’t really sexy chat, though discussions about things like condom use did get heated at times. Anything sex related was usually taken to a private room. I’d had invitations, but never accepted. Still, I longed to talk about sex with someone. My parents kept me locked up most days. I wasn’t allowed to go out, not that I had anywhere to go. But I made some acquaintances in the chat room and they were a good sounding board for me. I promised myself that one day, I’d accept when someone asked me to chat. Three days later, a message popped up.

JeffUK: Hi.

HomeboyS: Hello.

JeffUK: I like your name. What does it mean?

HomeboyS: Nothing really. I’m at home, I’m a boy, and my name is Scott.

I rolled my eyes. Thinking of it that way made me roll my eyes.

JeffUK: Great. My name is Jeff and I live in Manchester, England. You feel up for a chat?

I took a deep breath and slowly typed my reply.

HomeboyS: Yeah. I think I’d like that.

Ben

I wiped down the top of the bar again. I hated the weekends. Yeah, I made good tips, but Saturday nights I saw all of the usual people stroll through the door. Leo and Alex, Miles and Pietro. Even Thomas, whose sub Peter wouldn’t come to the club, was constantly on the phone with his boy. I wanted that. A sub of my own. Oh, I didn’t begrudge Thomas his happiness with Peter. Far from it. Though it did put a crimp in my training. Thomas had offered to find me someone else to train with, but it felt awkward to me.

My phone rang, pulling me from my reveries. I smiled when I saw Annie’s name pop up on the display.

“Annie! Nice to hear from you. I haven’t seen you all week.”

She sniffled and I could hear her gasping.

“Annie? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“I-I was made redundant today,” she sobbed.

It wasn’t unexpected. Annie’s company had been having money problems, just like most other places around the world. Still, she brought in some money to the household we shared and this was definitely going to hurt.

“It’s okay, we’ll figure something out.”

I ran some mental calculations and figured I had enough money to support us both for three, maybe four months, if I really tightened things up. Maybe I could pick up a few extra shifts. Felix seemed to be in another world lately, so I might be able to work a few more days.

“I’m sorry, Benjy,” she whispered.

She hadn’t called me that in years. She sounded so sad and defeated. I wanted to hug her and let her know that we’d be okay. I wasn’t expecting the next words, though.

“Pablo asked me to go with him back to Spain. He’s going back home next month. Their job is almost finished here and the next one will be near where he lives. Would you hate me if I said yes?”

I ran my thumb and forefinger over the bridge of my nose. It would be a relief that she had somewhere to go. Pablo worshipped the ground she walked on and I’d never seen her happier. Still, I’d miss her.

“Of course I wouldn’t hate you. If that’s what you want to do, you need to go for it.”

“But the money—“

“Isn’t your concern. I’ll find a way to make it work. How long will you be gone?”

She was quiet for a moment. “A month, maybe.”

I forced a smile so she wouldn’t hear the desperation in my voice. “I’m happy for you, hon. Pablo is a great guy.”

“But what about—“

“Annie,” I said sternly, “stop worrying.” I looked at the clock. “My shift is almost done. I’ll grab something for dinner on the way home. What do you feel like?”

“I’ll make us something. Hurry home.”

With that she disconnected. I looked at the happy couples watching the men on stage and I felt my heart break a small bit. Even though I very much wanted what they had, I realized it was something I was never going to get.

I sighed and went back to wiping the top of the bar till it shone. Maybe one day.

Bios:

Born and raised in the north-west of England, K.C.Wells always loved writing. Words were important. Full stop. However, when childhood gave way to adulthood, the writing ceased, as life got in the way.
K.C. discovered erotic fiction in 2009, where the purchase of a ménage storyline led to the startling discovery that reading about men in love was damn hot. In 2012, arriving at a really low point in life led to the desperate need to do something creative. An even bigger discovery waited in the wings – writing about men in love was even hotter...
K.C. now writes full-time and is loving every minute of her new career.
The laptop still has no idea of what hit it... it only knows that it wants a rest, please. And it now has to get used to the idea that where K.C goes, it goes.
K.C. can be reached via email (k.c.wells@btinternet.com), on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/KCWellsWorld) or through comments at the K.C.Wells website (www.kcwellsworld.com ) K.C. loves to hear from readers.

PARKER WILLIAMS began to write as a teen, but never showed his work to anyone. As he grew older, he drifted away from writing, but his love of the written word moved him to reading. A chance encounter with an author changed the course of his life as she encouraged him to never give up on a dream. With the help of some amazing friends, he rediscovered the joy of writing, thanks to a community of writers who have become his family.
Parker firmly believes in love, but is also of the opinion that anything worth having requires work and sacrifice (plus a little hurt and angst, too). The course of love is never a smooth one, and Happily Ever After always has a price tag.
Website: http://www.parkerwilliamsauthor.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParkerWAuthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parker.williams.75641 

E-mail: parker@parkerwilliamsauthor.com




Excerpt

I was trying to make shopping a fun experience, but Scott wasn’t making it easy. I figured he’d had a heavy morning emotionally, and I thought taking him around Debenhams department store would provide him with a little light relief. I kept holding up these really loud shirts and telling him he’d look good in them. His reaction confused the hell out of me. It was almost as if the boy didn’t know how to have fun. And when I held up some really skimpy underwear, I thought he was going to faint from embarrassment. I kept looking at the clothes he’d picked out. Two pairs of jeans, no problem there, but the shirts were bland, boring even. Scott was eighteen, for God’s sake. In desperation, I picked up a blue shirt I thought would really suit him. The color was a perfect match for his eyes. I held it out to him.
“Would you wear this for me?”
He gazed at me for a moment, and I thought he was going to refuse. Then he nodded shyly. Thank God. I put it in the basket along with his other choices, and we headed for the till. I handed over Leo’s letter of authorization confirming his phone call, and we were done. As we left the store, loaded up with bags, Scott asked for the receipts, to keep them safe to give to Leo.
I snickered. “You do know Leo won’t do anything with those receipts, don’t you?” I knew my boss better than he did.
Scott stopped dead in the middle of the pavement, his mouth open. “What?” I shrugged. He held out his bags. “I’m sorry, I can’t accept these.” God, he could be stubborn.
I rolled my eyes. “Fine, be like that. I’m sure the people at the launderette won’t mind seeing you standing there in your underwear washing your one suit.” I started walking again, laughing inwardly as he caught up to me in a hurry.
Scott tilted his head. “Launderette?”
I searched for the American equivalent. “Laundromat.” A horrified expression crept over his face. Yeah, I’d thought that would make him stop and think. “Can you afford to be proud right now?” His face fell, and I instantly regretted my words. The boy had to see things clearly, though.
Scott looked at his bags of clothing, his expression grudging, to say the least. “Okay, but I still want the receipts.” Out came that chin again. The lad had some backbone to him.
This time I stopped. “You’re going to be stubborn about this, aren’t you?”
The color rose in his cheeks. “It’s not being stubborn, it’s being responsible.” His lips narrowed. “I don’t need someone to take care of me.”
“Fine. Whatever,” I muttered and started walking again. I glanced at the boy surreptitiously as we went along. Regardless of what came out of his mouth, everything about Scott said something entirely different. Alex was right: the lad needed a keeper. I turned off Piccadilly onto London Road, back to the hotel where I’d left the car.
“Where are we going?” Scott looked at me in confusion as he caught sight of the hotel.
“We’re going to my place. I have a flat.”
An eager expression crossed his face. “Do you need help with that?”
I frowned. “Help with what?”
“Your flat. Have you got a jack?”
I struggled for a moment to understand. Then it dawned on me. I laughed. “Okay, for future reference? A flat is an apartment.” I shook my head, still chuckling. “How do you expect to write if you don’t even know English?” His cheeks flamed.

Iyana Jenna's Guest Post, Excerpt and Giveaway

I'm so excited that Iyana Jenna is here today to talk a little bit about her new book, A Single Black Rose. Please welcome her and make sure you enter the giveaway at the end of the post!

My new novella was released on November 17, 2013, from JMS Books. My story, A Single Black Rose, is the longest release from me so far and I’m very excited about it!

Please don’t forget that your readers can win some prizes. Just enter the Rafflecopter below.

Like I said before, this story is the longest being published so far. There will be a slightly longer story to be released in February 2014 but it’s also a novella. Sometimes I wonder why I don’t write longer pieces like other writers that I admire that seem to have no problem whatsoever producing one full novel after another. I think I know the answers. Let me see.

1.      Developing plots

I tend to write snippets of stories. Even if it’s a longer story, it’s just still a more elaborate fragment of the lives of the characters I write. I blame it on my ability to develop a plot and things I want to write. Perhaps I have to loosen my mind and let it wander freely anywhere it wants to go. I shouldn’t have restricted it. Plots have sub-plots, and sub-plots have sub-sub-plots.

2.      Patience

One of the things that keep me from having longer pieces is my patience. I seem to always want to finish my stories as fast as I can. I paid the price by having publishers and reviewers tell me that my stories could have been fleshed out more. This has something to do with my endurance to write longer stories, too. Writing a 30K story, although I managed to do it in the past, is hard work for me. I really had to be very determined about it.

3.      Slow writing

It’s going to sound as if I were looking for excuses but I promise it’s true. My RL work, teaching, and my language barrier keep me from writing faster. This is probably the hardest problem I have. I need to focus more and make use of every spare minute I have to write. The Internet is certainly not helping! LOL.

I know it’s not easy to follow my own advice as elaborated above. Let’s say those are my resolutions for next year. I will promise I will try my best.

A Single Black Rose

Blurb:

When actor Sean O’Reilly receives a flower bouquet containing a single black rose on set, he assumes they’re from his boyfriend Nate. But they aren’t. Flowers keep arriving for him after that, each with a black rose in the arrangement. Soon other things arrive as well, such as photos and a recording of Sean’s voice. As the number of flowers dwindle with each bouquet, Sean begins to worry they’re supposed to be some kind of a countdown ... but to what?

Fan Gene Scott worships Sean. He maintains a blog dedicated to the actor and writes out all his fantasies there. He wants Sean to belong to him, and only him, and he’ll do anything to make the actor his own. He can’t accept the fact that Sean has a boyfriend. To Gene, Nate might as well not exist.

Despite increased security and all efforts to keep him safe, Sean vanishes, and Nate feels as if his world has come tumbling down. When the police response is too slow for him, Nate enlists the help of his producer and bodyguard to find Sean. Will he manage to find his lover before Sean disappears forever? Or will Gene finally get what he’s always dreamed of, and make Sean the love of his life, instead?

Excerpt:

Note: may contain sexually explicit scenes of a homoerotic nature.

Gritting his teeth, Nate hisses under his breath. He is standing in front of a cop, giving his statement on what has just happened. Not that there's much to say. His mind keeps replaying that scene when Sean turned to him, his face ashen, and Nate wishes with all his heart that he was the one who had opened the door, the one who found the flowers instead of Sean, sparing him the shock of seeing the seemingly innocuous pink bouquet with its single black rose.

Nate is angry with himself, feeling like a failure even though he knows what happened wasn't his fault. There was no way he could have predicted that the pervert was going to put the flowers inside their SUV. He runs his fingers through his hair, ends his statement, and turns to go to Sean who is sitting slumped on the pavement with Osborn by his side. Sean is staring ahead of him, his face expressionless, his hands clenched tightly into fists. Osborn is talking to him but Sean seems to not be aware of him, or of anyone else around him for that matter.

“Excuse me, Mr. Matthews.”

A man stops in front of Nate, a reporter, judging by the tape recorder he holds in his hand, and Nate feels his temper rising. This is so not the time for an interview and how in the world did the media get to hear of this so quickly anyway? Fucking reporters.

“Yeah?” Nate asks impatiently.

“Scott, Eugene Scott from The Vancouver Daily." The man is tall, almost as tall as him, and Nate rarely meets someone who is the same height as him here in Vancouver. "Are these the first flowers Sean got from the stalker?"

“We don’t know if he’s stalking Sean or not.”

“But it’s obvious that he is, right?”

Nate frowns, looking at the reporter more closely, "No, it is not obvious that he, or she, is stalking Sean."

“Oh, it’s just -- but back to my question --”

“No, they’re not,” Nate cuts him short. He really wants to get this over with without being downright rude.

“Huh?”

“These are not the first flowers.”

Scott nods. “Any weird thing?” he asks.

“What do you mean?”

“You know, if there's something strange with the flowers or --”

“They’re just flowers, okay? Look. I’m tired and I really don’t have anything more to say. If you'll excuse me." Nate walks past Scott, going toward Sean who is still sitting at the same spot, alone. Nate glances over at Osborn who is now with the police, presumably giving his statements to them.

"Sean," he says softly as he sits beside Sean on the pavement. He puts his hand on Sean's knee, stilling it.

“Nate --” There's a tremor in Sean's voice.

Nate turns his head toward Sean who is looking even more agitated than before.

"Hey, man.” He puts his arm around Sean's shoulders, pulling him close, kissing him on the temple. He can feel Sean shaking. "I've got you."

“They found a picture,” Sean says abruptly. "Inside the flowers. The police showed it to me."

“What picture?” The police didn't say anything to him about that. Nate's stomach sinks. Sending flowers is one thing but pictures? Of Sean?

"It's one of me. Sleeping. Inside the house." Sean's voice is bordering on the hysterical now. "Whoever it is must have used a long-lens camera or something. How could they get through the gate, Nate?"

"Ssh, baby.” Nate tries to put as much reassurance as he can in his voice. Someone has to remain calm even though Nate is feeling anything but. He puts both his arms around Sean, can feel him trembling, and holds him even tighter. "Breathe with me, c'mon."

Sean stills and takes a deep breath. “Can we go home now? Have the police finished with us?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I think we can go home now." Nate stands up and holds out a hand to pull Sean up. They hold each other tight for a moment longer, both of them unaware of a pair of eyes watching them from a distance.

Buy Link

About the Author:

Iyana lives in Jakarta, a city famous for its traffic jams, a lot of cars and motorcycles, and people selling stuff on the roads. You can spend two hours on the road going to a place you can reach in half an hour in a normal situation. Thanks to the traffic jams, though, Iyana can come up with a lot of stories, mostly shorties, as she prefers to spend the time during her trips writing into her cell phone rather than sleeping.

Another thing Iyana loves is kitties. Right now she has five of them. Their names are Larva, Nyil, Cil, Mermood, and Horus. When she doesn’t write, she plays with them, or they would play with her when she writes.

Author’s Links:

Blog

Website

Amazon

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Facebook

Twitter

And now, please enter the Rafflecopter to win the prizes!

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Tinnean's Rap Sheet Interview

Please help me welcome Tinnean to my blog today to give us a little glimpse into the mind of Mark Vincent as well as an excerpt!

It’s 1996, and Mark Vincent, senior special agent of the Washington Bureau of Intelligence and Security, has been assigned the task of assassinating the head of a terrorist organization in Europe. When the mission goes south and he’s ordered to take a vacation, he goes to Paris, and in a little bar called Le Petit Homme, he sees a man who intrigues him. However, like ships passing in the night, they go their separate ways, only to meet again the following morning, where, over breakfast, the man introduces himself as Louis.
 Is it too much of a coincidence? Perhaps, perhaps not, but Mark is intrigued and, unable to resist, he gives his name as Rick. A comment of Louis’s leads Mark to assume Louis hustles for a living, so Mark decides to “rent” him for the week. Unbeknownst to Mark, Louis has his own reasons for going along with the charade, which leads to… the start of a beautiful friendship.








Excerpt:

On January 7, 1996, it started snowing in New York, and it snowed like a son of a bitch for the next two days. Trust me on this… I was there at the time.
Since I was in a hospital room at Good Sam in West Islip, I had my cell phone in etiquette mode, and when it vibrated in my pocket, I knew it was a message from work. No one else called this number. I took it out and checked the text message.
Yep, it was from the WBIS, the Washington Bureau of Intelligence and Security.
I grinned at the man lying in the bed, determined not to let him see how concerned I was about his condition. He was hooked up to more machines than a body should have to be.
My old lady was a Grade A lush who had a tendency to hit the bars and bring home whoever caught her fancy. The guy would stay with us for a day, a week, a month, maybe, and then she’d boot him out. For some reason those men always treated me well and stayed in touch. One was a scoutmaster who taught me French, as well as how to fence. Another was a Portuguese fisherman who showed me the best way to scale a fish, how to handle myself in a knife fight, and how to crochet. According to Tio Ze, a man didn’t have to be defined by labels.
The man in the bed, an expat Brit, not only introduced me to various methods of self-defense, but he’d seen to it that I had a decent education, even after he left. He got me out of the shithole that had been home from the time I was six and sent me to a military academy on Long Island. His name was Bert Greenley, but I’d always called him Uncle Bert, or UB for short. When I’d learned he had cancer and shit insurance, I’d made sure he had the best doctors and the most up-to-date treatment, even though I knew eventually it would just be palliative.
“I have to take this call, UB.”
“Go ahead, son,” he rasped. Lately, his British accent had become more noticeable, possibly due to his illness. I wondered if his accent had anything to do with my old lady’s attraction to him. Now that I thought of it, most of her men weren’t from the States to begin with.
I rested my hand on his arm gently. My own father had disappeared from my life when I was about five. Four? Time had a tendency to blur.
 “I’ll be right back.” I strode out of the room, took the stairs down to the lobby, and went out to the parking lot, which was how I discovered all the snow. “Fuck.”
This hadn’t been in the forecast when I’d flown up to Long Island a couple of days earlier, so I hadn’t brought along gloves or boots, and the bomber jacket I wore was more suitable for higher temps.
The snow was already halfway to my knees, but this wasn’t a phone call I could make in a public area. I worked for an agency no one outside the intelligence community knew existed, and those inside the intelligence community wished didn’t exist.
I trudged to my rental, got in, and turned on the ignition so I could get the heater going and thaw my toes. Goddamn, it was cold! I rubbed my hands together, blew on my fingers, and hit one on speed dial.
“Mr. Wallace’s office.” I wasn’t surprised both he and his secretary were in on a Sunday. If I hadn’t had to see UB, I’d have been in as well.
“It’s Vincent.”
“One moment. He’s been expecting your call.”
In less than a moment, The Boss—and yeah, that was with caps—came on the line.
“I have a job for you, Vincent.”
“Yes, sir.” This wasn’t an ideal time, but nothing, not even the man in the hospital bed, who I cared about, came before the job. 

You can buy The Start of a Beautiful Friendship from Dreamspinner Press: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=55_386

Parker Williams (and KC Wells) Rap Sheet Interview

Please welcome Parker Williams (and by extension, KC Wells) to my blog today. Parker has filled out the interview for their character Jeff, from the to-be-released Someone to Keep Me and Damian's Discipline in the Collars and Cuffs Series.

An Unlocked Heart and Trusting Thomas are available now from Dreamspinner Press:
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=54_907

Since the death of his submissive lover two years ago, Leo hasn’t been living—merely existing. He focuses on making Collars & Cuffs, a BDSM club in Manchester’s gay village, successful. That changes the night he and his business partner have their weekly meeting at Severinos. Leo can’t keep his eyes off the new server. The shy man seems determined to avoid Leo’s gaze, but that’s like a red rag to a bull. Leo loves a challenge.

Alex Daniels works at Severinos to scrape together the money to move out on his own. He struggles with coming out, but he’s drawn to Leo, the gorgeous guy with the icy-blue eyes who’s been eating in his area nearly every night.

Leo won’t let Alex’s hesitance get in the way. He even keeps him away from the club so as not to scare him. And as for telling Alex that Leo is a Dom? Not a good idea. One date becomes two, but date two leads to Leo’s bedroom… and Alex discovers things about himself he never realized—and never wanted anyone to see.

Christmas is a time for goodwill to all, but Collars and Cuffs co-owner Thomas Williams receives an unexpected gift that chills him to the bone. A Dom from another Manchester club asks Thomas for his help rescuing an abused submissive, Peter Nicholson. Thomas takes in the young man as a favor to a friend, offering space and time to heal, but he makes it clear he’s never had a sub and doesn’t want one.

Peter finds Thomas’s home calm and peaceful, but his past has left him unwilling to trust another Dom. When Thomas doesn’t behave as Peter expects, Peter’s nightmares begin to fade, and he decides he’d like to learn more about D/s life. A well-known trainer of submissives, Thomas begins to teach Peter, but as the new submissive opens up to him, Thomas finds he cares more for Peter than he should. Just as he decides it’s time to find a permanent Dom for Peter, they discover Peter’s tormentor is still very much a threat. With their lives in danger, Thomas can’t deny his feelings for Peter any longer. The question now becomes, can Peter make it out of the lions’ den alive, so that Thomas can tell his boy that he loves him?

Lex Chase's Rap Sheet Interview

Lex Chase is here today to give us the inside look into Rook, one of her heroes from her Checkmate Series.

The first time Hogarth Dawson sees superhero Memphis Rook, he comes to Hogarth’s rescue by cracking the heads of two thugs like eggs into a skillet. Hogarth is utterly smitten, but he soon discovers the superhero Power Alliance has ejected Rook for failing to protect a civilian.

Hogarth devises a plan that will reinstate Rook and might even earn Hogarth a place in Power Alliance roster. But what he expects to be a simple few missions rescuing kittens and helping little old ladies cross the street turns into a shocking reality of citywide chases, foiling robberies, and facing his ex. Then Hogarth discovers the beating Rook saved him from wasn’t a chance attack. It’s possible Hogarth is just a pawn in Rook’s game….

Even after eleven months of keeping the mean streets of Axis City safe, superduo Checkmate—Hogarth Dawson—and his boyfriend, Memphis Rook, still receive the cold shoulder from the Power Alliance. Undeterred, Hogarth brings his intense focus to bear on Rook, and after Hogarth makes an accidental marriage proposal, it becomes all too clear Rook isn’t quite at the same place. But before life gets awkward, duty calls.

Booted-off female contestants of the romantic reality show Single and Super are being found in comas, and Checkmate needs to get to the bottom of it. As part of Rook’s plan, he cleans up his bad boy image and goes undercover as a bachelor looking for love among twenty-five frenzied women. Against Rook’s wishes, Hogarth sneaks onto the set as a cameraman to investigate the case on his own. With questions unanswered between them, emotions run high, distracting them and feeding a trap of their own making.

Three years ago, superhero Memphis Rook saved Hogarth Dawson’s life, and now the two can’t imagine being apart. Sort of.

By day, they’re a loving couple. By night, they’re the superhero duo Checkmate.  Since that’s too much time in each other’s personal space, Rook and Garth decide they need friends outside of each other. Garth finds friendship with a D&D group comprised of the social misfits Chad—who has crammed himself so far in the closet he might never find the door again, Jackson—who’s so mysophobic he’s afraid of his own germs, and El Jefe—who has all the social grace of a brick.

With an epic dose of peer pressure, the group urges Garth to go to Tolkicon, the biggest comic convention in Axis City.  When the supervillain league the Coalition of Calamity appears and takes the convention hostage, as the only real superheroes around, it’s up to Garth and Rook to save the day. With Rook as one of the hostages, Garth knows it’s time to nut up or shut up about being a hero.




http://lexchase.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Lex_Chase
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LXChase

Buy link:
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=913

Andrea Speed's Rap Sheet Interview

Andrea Speed is here today to give us a look at one of her most popular characters, Roan, from her Infected Series!


In a world where a werecat virus has changed society, Roan McKichan, a born infected and ex-cop, works as a private detective trying to solve crimes involving other infecteds.

The murder of a former cop draws Roan into an odd case where an unidentifiable species of cat appears to be showing an unusual level of intelligence. He juggles that with trying to find a missing teenage boy, who, unbeknownst to his parents, was “cat” obsessed. And when someone is brutally murdering infecteds, Eli Winters, leader of the Church of the Divine Transformation, hires Roan to find the killer before he closes in on Eli.

Working the crimes will lead Roan through a maze of hate, personal grudges, and mortal danger. With help from his tiger-strain infected partner, Paris Lehane, he does his best to survive in a world that hates and fears their kind… and occasionally worships them.

You can get the whole series through Dreamspinner Press: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=54_367