So you’ve got a great idea, and even put it to paper? But where to go from there? Is my book ready for publication? Should I find an agent, a publisher, or should I self-publish? And who can help me to get there? In today’s publishing world, there are more options for writers than ever, but who can help navigate them? Europe-based Writing Workshop for LGBT Fiction offers four days packed with presentations, critiques, stress-buster sessions, and one-on-one intensives to get your story to the next level. Story idea or fully formed manuscript – our experienced team will be there to workshop it to the max. Find out more at www.critshop.com.
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Excerpt: Cayce was just about to put the paper aside when another article—and a familiar name in the byline—caught his eye. “Teenager Reported Missing,” by Dave Newton. It wasn’t so much the headline that got his attention but the picture of the young girl beneath it. Pretty. Long blonde hair. And disturbingly familiar. Even though Fawcettville was a small town, the girl’s name, Lucy Plant, didn’t ring any bells. Perhaps Cayce had waited on her at the Elite, the diner where he worked. But still, no specific recollection came back. Cayce couldn’t visualize the girl sitting at the counter, nor at one of the booths. And yet she looked so familiar, as if she were someone Cayce was friends with, or even a relative. Cayce scanned the story. The girl had been reported missing by her mother yesterday afternoon, just before the storm that had caused such a turn in Cayce’s own life. There were no clues. The girl, at least according to her mother, could not possibly have been a runaway. “Lucy’s a good girl,” Amy Plant had told Fawcettville police detective JT Simmons. “She wouldn’t even go down the block to visit a friend without telling us first.” The last time anyone had seen Lucy Plant was when her mother looked outside the living room window. Lucy had been playing with her Barbie dolls on the front lawn. Cayce closed his eyes. He remembered, suddenly, the storm coming, and not knowing where Luke was. He sympathized with the girl’s mother and the panic she must have felt when she couldn’t locate her daughter. A ceiling fan. Beneath his closed lids, Cayce saw a ceiling fan. He didn’t know why. He didn’t own one himself, and the one in his parents’ living room was an entirely different model from this one, which was white, with a plain globe. His parents’ fan had four frosted-glass light fixtures and faux wood blades. Cayce kept his eyes closed, watching the ceiling fan whirl, its blades blurring and becoming singular. There was something wrong with the fan. It didn’t work quite right. Cayce felt nauseated and opened his eyes. His face was glazed with sweat. His stomach churned, and he was afraid he would vomit. Why was seeing a ceiling fan so disturbing? Or was this some sort of aftershock, an effect of his accident? Cayce didn’t think so. He glanced down at the face of Lucy Plant and sucked in some air. “Oh my God,” he whispered, “she’s dead.” Rick R. Reed
Tour Stops: Parker Williams Decadent Delights Full Moon Dreaming BFD Book Blog Andrew Q. Gordon Regular Guys, Hot Romance My Fiction Nook Emotion in Motion Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words Velvet Panic Inked Rainbow Reads Queer Town Abbey Elin Gregory Jade Crystal Love Bytes Amanda C. Stone Fallen Angel Reviews Molly Lolly Wicked Faerie's Tales and Reviews Cate Ashwood Sinfully Sexy MM Good Book Reviews 3 Chicks After Dark Wake Up Your Wild Side Book Reviews and More by Kathy The Novel Approach Michael Mandrake Havan Fellows Iyana Jenna Excerpt: “Jazz, take pictures!” Eric pokes me hard in the side with his bony elbow. I wince and raise the camera, clicking a shot. “Go to the front, like they’re doing.” He points at the photographers running to the front and clicking madly on their cameras. Heaving a sigh, I drag my ass off the chair to walk forward. I rake my hand through my hair before I glance back at the monstrosity on the platform. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be in this position. Suddenly oil paint and new guitar strings don’t seem all that important. I just wanna get out, but Eric needs these pictures for the magazine and I’d rather die than let one of my friends down. My heart thuds when I see Dean looking right back at me as I approach. His brow furrows as if he’s trying to place me. Typical. Of course he wouldn’t remember me. Why would he? My heart hammers a fast beat as my body breaks out in sweat. The inside of my throat thickens, stopping half of the oxygen from reaching my lungs. And still, I’m having the hardest time looking away. Am I nervous under his green-eyed gaze? Or is it just the hate? It’s been years since I last saw him. Not wanting to give the wrong impression of an adoring fan, I narrow my eyes and spew out all the venom I feel for this man into one, hateful glare, just before I raise the camera and snap my shots. Tour Dates/Stops August 11: Because Two Men Are Better Than One August 18: Full Moon Dreaming August 25: MM Good Book Reviews, Hearts on Fire September 1: Velvet Panic, Fallen Angel Reviews, Havan Fellows September 8: Decadent Delights September 15: Up All Night, Read All Day, Love Bytes September 22: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Smoocher’s Voice September 29: Prism Book Alliance October 6: It’s Raining Men, Michael Mandrake October 13: Cate Ashwood October 20: The Novel Approach October 27: The Hat Party October 27: My Fiction Nook November 3: Tara Lain, Dawn’s Reading Nook November 17: Emotion in Motion, Kimi-Chan November 24: Amanda C. Stone Erica Pike Erica lives in Iceland with her adorable little twin boys. She often says that her real name sounds like Klingon to foreigners. Seriously, if “Eyjafjallajökull” looks like a random strings of characters, it’s nothing in comparison to Erica’s name. She’s been writing for several years, or ever since reading became an obsession. Aside from a business degree, Erica has taken English courses at the University of Iceland and gulped down anything that might help her in her career as an author. She takes great interest in English, but will break every single grammar rule for the sake of The Voice. I like sex. There I said it! What I don't like is the shame people attach to sex being portrayed in print, photography and film. I'm not talking about porn-I really just laugh at most porn, it's so cheesy. However, I have no issue with other people watching and promoting porn. I do love erotic photography. However, that's not what I wanted to talk about today. I want to talk about sex. Liking sex is not a crime. Sex with someone who doesn't want it is a crime, but this post is focusing on safe, consensual sex and why it's okay to like it. A year or so ago, someone posted a comment to me, I don't even remember where (and I'm paraphrasing here) asking how I could write such dirty books when I have children? One of my authorly friends suggested I remove the comment, but I didn't. This person, from the name I guessed a woman, had the right to her opinion. The first thought I had when I read this comment was where do you think we call came from lady? If you answered SEX you get the prize. I write books with gay couples as the main characters. Established couples are my favorite, but I dabble in the first blush of romance that leads to established couples as well. To me there is nothing sexier than the couple who still loves and, yes craves one another after many years together. I like reading books that revolve around a mystery of some sort be it scifi, contemporary or urban fantasy. So, I tend to write those sorts of books. Since my main characters are a couple (or in the process of becoming one) their relationship, whether it be a first date or a marriage of a decade, is also part of their story. Now, you'd better sit down for this part: Couples have sex! Shocking, I know. I don't care if the couple is boy/boy, boy/girl, girl/girl or boy/girl/alien, or...you get the idea---they have sex in some form. It's what is part of a healthy loving couple relationship! There is nothing more fun (and sometimes heartbreaking) in the course of reading a novel than seeing your favorite couple at their most intimate really enjoying each other. For me that simply cements the fact they are a WE in every sense of the word. They love one another, they show it, and darn it all I get to read about every other little detail in their lives, I want to read about this part too. Yet, there are many people who say ick, it's wrong, I must cover my eyes and can not look, it shouldn't be there. Um...why? No one seems to balk at a novel with wall-to-wall angst. Let one of the main characters break down in sobs, react strongly out of anger or do something out of character in the course of a story and everyone is cheering the depths of characterization. Let him enjoy a little one on one time with his partner that might involve sex and there is gasping in horror. Frankly, I'm more opposed to gratuitous angst than I am gratuitous sex. Humans use sex as an expression of feelings. The best sex is with a loved one, but sex with strangers can have a place in a story as well. There are still feelings expressed, and characterization being shown and developed. In one of my books there is a scene in which the couple face a life-threatening situation (I know that doesn't really narrow it down to which book). After they find safety there is a small sex scene. Some readers and reviewers didn't like that and thought it was inappropriate and should have been removed. The editors of the book liked it and the larger majority of readers/reviewers who commented on it liked it as well. I'm glad most people took this scene for what it was supposed to be: affirmation of this couples's love and their relief to be alive and still together. Instead of lines of dialog discussing their predicament they used their bodies and showed readers (and each other) how and what they were feeling. Showing that they had a sexual encounter isn't wrong or dirty. It's life. I don't know how or why sexual expression became such a controversy in literature and visual art. What I do know is to accurately portray the lives of people in a marriage or budding romance it is important to show all aspects of their lives and interactions together. That means not stopping at the bedroom door, but following right along with them. Reading about the sexual encounters of our characters or looking at photographs and film depicting erotica isn't wrong. Sharing our finds with others who enjoy them isn't wrong. Sex is simply one more part of a story being told. Read it, see it, and enjoy it for what it is: a complete look into the lives of your favorite characters. Now for a little bitty look into the lives of Todd and Nick Ruger: Nick shoved the door shut behind him with his foot. “You know, maybe I like old ladies grabbing my ass. I hear they have a lot of—” Nick shrugged. “—experience.” “Um-hum.” Todd untied his tie and pulled it off. “So you’re into women now?” Nick went to the bedroom door. “Wow, this is nice. That bed is huge. Couch is small.” Todd snorted and slipped passed Nick, grabbing his ass on the way by and laughing when Nick squawked. He seized Nick around the waist, took a few steps sideways, and spun him around. “You’re learning to dance.” Nick hooked one foot around Todd’s shin and pulled back, dumping Todd on the bed, then pounced on top of him. “Maybe old ladies know stuff we don’t.” “Ha, I bet not.” Todd flipped Nick off of him, reversing their positions. “I bet she can’t make you beg.” “You’re jealous.” “You’re my Lucky.” Todd grabbed both of Nick’s wrists, pinning his hands over his head. He leaned down and kissed Nick, tongue sliding in his mouth. When Nick arched up against him, Todd pulled back and sat Nick up. “Clothes off. Now.” Todd was already tugging Nick’s dark green shirt open. His hands pressed against Nick’s heated flesh, rubbing over his nipples, up to his shoulders, and over and down his back, easing his shirt off as he moved. When Nick shimmied off the bed and stood to shed his pants, Todd turned and watched, a slow, wicked smile spreading over his face. Heat shot through Nick, starting at the tip of his hard, moist cock. “Maybe I want to find out if Heidi can make me beg.” He stretched his arms, then flexed his biceps and pecs. A second later he shoved against Todd’s shoulders. “And do it faster than you could.” Todd reached forward, taking hold of Nick’s hips. “Let’s see,” he said and jerked Nick to him with enough power that Nick was thrown off-balance and landed on Todd’s lap, straddling his legs. Leaning forward, Todd scraped his teeth along Nick’s neck and collarbone. One of Todd’s hands went to the middle of Nick’s back, pulling him in close. He licked the fingers of his other hand before moving it down and massaging over Nick’s left buttock. As soon as Nick arched against Todd, his mate nipped a path along Nick’s chest to one nipple, sucking it between his teeth. At the same time, Todd’s finger slipped between his ass cheeks and circled his entrance until Nick was squirming and gasping. The instant Todd’s fingers pushed inside Nick’s body, he ground down on them, moaning out, “Oh yeah, more, please!” “You’re so easy,” Todd chuckled, the vibration reverberating through Nick’s body. He bent his finger and hit Nick’s sweet spot at just the perfect angle, rubbing so lightly it was barely felt. Nick held Todd’s shoulders, fingers digging into the thick muscles while he ground his cock against the material of Todd’s trousers, thrilled with the sensation of pleasure/pain that shot straight through him. Todd bit, then licked Nick’s nipple. Nick gulped down a protest and whined when Todd pulled his fingers from Nick’s ass, both of his hands again on the juts of Nick’s hips. He pushed Nick back, ordering, “Stand up.” “I can’t.” Nick closed his eyes slowly and panted out the words. The air surrounding him felt as if it were on fire. Todd snickered and pressed his thumbs on either side of Nick’s cock. “You want my pants off so I can do more to that fine ass, you’ll figure it out.” ____________________________________________________________ Their story and a few other couples' are all available from Dreamspinner Press. A head's up...all those stories include sex. Excerpt: Jake's hand was rough, his skin dry. Zak loved how his fingers gripped tightly, but not so much that it hurt. Jake said nothing as they walked along the streets of the campus. There were few people around, but Zak did not care if everyone was watching them. He was confused as to his attraction to Jake, but it was something he could not deny. The soft jazz music poured from the door of the pub when Jake pulled it open. Jake's hand on his lower back urged him inside. Zak sniffed appreciatively at the scent of Cajun spices, no doubt from the blackened catfish special. His stomach protested, and he heard Jake snicker, but he could not seem to raise the ire he should. Jake escorted him to a booth and allowed Zak to sit back against the brushed leather. “Two dinner specials coming up,” Jake said brightly. Zak gazed at Jake's hulking form as it moved away, marveling at the sinewy grace as he dodged patrons and servers. It was odd. He had never met anyone like Jake. He doubted there was anyone like Jake. He felt comfortable in his presence. Jake’s size did not intimidate him. In fact, that made him all the sexier. But his eyes were what made Zak melt into a puddle of goo. The way they twinkled in the dimmest of light. When Jake so much as glanced at him, Zak felt he was the sole thing Jake saw. Jake turned from the bar, and Zak watched as the bright smile turn into a sneer. He dropped the tray, the catfish crashing to the floor, before he stalked to where Zak sat. Jake grabbed a man, probably about forty, by his throat and pushed him against the wall. “You don't so much as breathe near him,” Jake snarled. The man looked cool as he smiled and croaked out. “You are everything I had heard you would be, and more, my lord.” Parker Williams Parker Williams believes that true love exists, but it always comes with a price. No happily ever after can ever be had without work, sweat, and tears that comes with melding lives together. Living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Parker held his job for nearly 28 years before he decided to retire and try new things. He enjoys his new life as a stay-at-home author and also working on Pride-Promotions, an LGBT author promotion service. Tour Stops: Parker Williams My Fiction Nook The Hat Party BFD Book Blog Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents 3 Chicks After Dark Prism Book Alliance Lee Brazil Tara Lain Fallen Angel Reviews Cathy Brockman Romances Amanda C. Stone Molly Lolly Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words Hearts on Fire Decadent Delights Wake Up Your Wild Side Inked Rainbow Reads Wicked Faerie's Tales and Reviews Andrew Q. Gordon Love Bytes Multitasking Mommas Mrs. Condit & Friends Iyana Jenna MM Good Book Reviews Guilty Indulgence Book Club Emotion in Motion Havan Fellows Tara Lain Nephylim The Blogger Girls Up All Night, Read All Day Dawn’s Reading Nook Velvet Panic The Fuzzy, Fluffy World of Chris T. Kat Full Moon Dreaming Cate Ashwood Jade Crystal Because Two Men Are Better Than One Wed, Nov 5 at 7pm EST US Dreamspinner Press will give Run for the Roses book #1 of Circles away in their tweetaway.https://twitter.com/dreamspinners?lang=en
http://elizabeth-noble-circles.weebly.com/run-for-the-roses… Blurb: Dion Bellamy is twenty-seven and studying social work at the University of Chicago. He has lived with Kenji Okamura, a construction worker, for a year and a half. Dion loves Kenji and passionately hopes Kenji feels the same, but he has never said the three big words. Then Grayson Sinclair, Dion’s schoolmate and a vivacious, oversexed playboy, comes between them. One step at a time, barely aware where his steps are leading, Dion descends the slippery slope into a life of depravity. First, Grayson ensures Kenji is out of the way. Then he entices Dion to go clubbing with him, gets Dion drunk and high, and then takes him to a sex club, where he films Dion giving blow jobs to multiple men. He threatens to put the video online unless Dion signs a contract to work as a prostitute. Though he hardly understands how he reached this point, Dion must now figure out how to escape his fate and save himself. Excerpt: “God,” Dion screamed, throwing his hands in the air in disgust. He and Kenji glared like dogs circling each other before attacking. Finally Dion broke the tension. “I need some air,” he said, then spun on a heel and strode to the bedroom. Kenji sat still as stone, listening to Dion slamming drawers as he found clothes suitable for going out. How did this happen? I wanted to come clean. I thought if we talked about it-- After quickly dressing, Dion stormed to the front door. “Where are you going?” “Out,” Dion said without looking at Kenji. “Does that meet with your approval?” “Dion, don’t be—” The sound of the door slamming rang in Kenji’s ears. Footsteps fell hard and fast down the stairs. When they stopped, he looked away from the door. He closed his eyes at the muffled sound of another door slamming hard two floors below. When he opened his eyes a few minutes later, he looked down, surprised to see dots of blood on the seat of the recliner. He opened his hands and saw that his fingernails had broken the skin of his palms. You Know the Type When does flirting turn to abuse? One Thing Leads by Jude Dunn You’ve seen him: handsome, well off, confident, and sexy as hell. He’s got it together, and everything always goes his way—or seems like it does. Just a look from him, and your day is made. Who wouldn’t want to bask in his presence? Who wouldn’t be flattered by his attention? That’s Grayson Sinclair, the bad boy in One Thing Leads. Grayson is beautiful, yes, but he’s flawed. He learned at the hands of his father what it’s like to be dominated, and he knows he’ll never let that happen to him again. As a result, Grayson is driven to become the man he hated. So what? He has everything. He’s set for life. But there’s one thing he doesn’t have: Dion Belamy, the main character of One Thing Leads. Grayson goes to work on Dion, flirting, seducing, and eventually separating him from his lover, Kenji. Once Grayson has Kenji out of the way, he goes to work on Dion, leading him down a dark path until Dion is all but trapped, faced with the possibility of blackmail if he doesn’t submit to Grayson’s dark desires. That’s the plot of One Thing Leads. Below the surface of this lascivious tale is the love story of two men separated by Grayson. Kenji fights hard to work his way back to Dion, and he does whatever he must to find and save him. Want to experience the thrill of seduction and the salvation of a man on the edge of a life of disaster? Then One Thing Leads is a must-read. Tour Dates/Tour Stops: October 20: Parker Williams October 21: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words October 22: Sinfully Sexy October 23: Cate Ashwood October 24: Jade Crystal October 27: Inked Rainbow Reads October 28: Velvet Panic October 29: Amanda C. Stone October 30: Kimi-Chan October 31: Fallen Angel Reviews November 3: Emotion in Motion November 4: Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves November 5: EE Montgomery, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents November 6: Love Bytes November 7: Iyana Jenna November 10: Prism Book Alliance, My Fiction Nook November 11: Multitasking Mommas, Wake Up Your Wild Side November 12: BFD Book Blog November 13: Cathy Brockman Romances November 14: MM Good Book Reviews Jude Dunn I’m a southern boy. Well, “boy” may be a stretch. I'm sixty-one this year, but I still feel like I’m twenty-two and act like I’m nine-and-a-half. Grew up in north Alabama, smack-dab in the middle of the Bible belt. I discovered I was attracted to boys at age fourteen. Twenty minutes after that, I found out that being gay was the unforgivable sin, not blaspheming the Holy Spirit, as my little Baptist church had taught me. So, as so many like me have always done, I hid from everyone, including and especially myself. At age forty-nine I came out to myself, my wife, and my three wonderful children. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and the best thing that ever happened to me. I started writing shortly after discovering anime. There’s this thing called “fandoms,” you see—well, I know you probably know about that. I grew my skills slowly, feeding on the dribbles of praise and criticism my mailing lists provided. In 2011 I decided to try my hand at original fiction and found I have a talent for telling stories that touch people’s hearts and make them laugh. For me there’s no greater high in all the world. The next year I somehow screwed up the courage to submit to a publisher and was given a thumbs up. Now I’m happily sharing my tales with those who care to read them. My day job is editing and engraving sacred music for a mainline publisher in Chicago, where I live with an antisocial cat who refuses to be named. I enjoy fine wines, jazz, and the darkest chocolate I can get my hands on. I write in a variety of genres, from gay romance and erotica to science fiction and mainstream thrillers, each category under a different pseudonym. Jude Dunn is the one I use for gay romance. My work is sometimes subtle, sometimes fiery, but always brimming with characters who tackle their challenges with an unwavering love of life. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy your time here. |
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