Let’s Talk About Sex – A Roundtable Discussion (With Giveaway)

I was asked by my friend and fellow author, Larry Benjamin, to participate in a discussion about sex in MM Fiction. The other authors taking part are WS Long and Hans Hirschi. Debbie McGowan, author, editor and publisher of Beaten Track Publishing agree to act as a moderator. Below is a snippet from the conversation, but be sure to click on the link to Larry’s site and enter the giveaway at the bottom of the post. We’re giving away 5 ebooks and a $30.00 Amazon gift card.

DM: In your books, do you have on/off page sex? Why?

WSL: In my book, Love and Murder, and, in another work in progress, the sex is on the page. I don’t think gay men should be ashamed to have sex explored on page as long as, in my opinion, the sex adds to the story and sex depicted involves consenting men. If the book is coming of age, or coming out, then it’s probably more age appropriate not to depict sex on the page. It really depends on the target audience your book or story is designed. Continue reading Let’s Talk About Sex – A Roundtable Discussion (With Giveaway)

Guest Author: Elyzabeth M. Valey – Naughty Fairy Tales.

Today’s guest is another of my flasher friends. . . err. . . I mean another friend I met through the Wednesday Briefs Flash Fiction Group. Elyzabeth is stopping by to talk about Naughty Fairy tales and what inspires her to write them After that she shares an excerpt from her latest naughty fairy tale – Blind Beauty.

Blind Beauty (Witches’ Mischief Series 2) Promo Packet 1

Thank you for having me!

I’ve been asked several times to explain my inspiration for Blind Beauty. How does a fairy tale become something naughty? How did Blind Beauty become the second book in a series? Well, there were several factors involved.

Continue reading Guest Author: Elyzabeth M. Valey – Naughty Fairy Tales.

Family Vacation – II

I think I read that if you do some thing three times it becomes a habit. Using that as a yardstick, I guess if you go some where on vacation three years in a row it’s a tradition? Last year we rented a house at the beach so we could all – even Emma our dog – could go. This year we rented the same place. So that make us two-thirds of the way to a tradition I suppose. Continue reading Family Vacation – II

Nineteen And Counting

Last week Mike and I celebrated 19 years together. I didn’t announce or post it before now, because we went away for a few days to celebrate. We rented a beach house – couldn’t beat the 60+ degree sunny weather for a ‘winter’ weekend at the beach – and all of us – Mike, me, ‘lil q and Emma (the dog) – had a weekend away.

I said 19 years together because now that we’re married, we’re not exactly sure how to talk about it. We’ve not been married five months yet, so do we tell people we’re newlyweds? I mean really? Newlyweds? Not sure that works. But on the other hand 19 years since our first dates isn’t quite the same as 19 years married. For the first two plus years we lived in different cities and spent a fortune taking the train between Philadelphia and Washington. Were we together, yes, were we married? Not so much.

I’m good saying we’ve been together 19 years, but I’d say if we were picking the point where we’d have gotten ‘married’ if they allowed it, I’d go with May of 1997. That’s when I quit my job and moved down to DC so we could be together. At that point we sold both our cars, bought a new one together, opened joint everything accounts, savings, checking, brokerage. We were as married as we could be at the time.

Since there are several dates we could use, we just say it’s been 19 years this month and leave it at that. Besides, you can’t beat February at the beach.

Swimming and Snow Day(s) (And some V-day pics too)

In an effort to give ‘lil q some exposure to things, we’ve been taking her to swimming lesson – which sadly means I have to get in the pool too. Sunday started the new classes and when we were getting her dressed in his sweat suit we realized just how much she’s grown – I mean we see her every day so sometimes it takes something to remind us how much she’s changed. When I looked at her, I was shocked at how much like a little girl she looked. Here take a look:

When we got home we sent grandma a message: Continue reading Swimming and Snow Day(s) (And some V-day pics too)

Guest Author Jana Denardo

Today’s guest is Jana Denardo – who’s newest book – Kept Tears – is in a genre I don’t get to read much – Urban Fantasy. I was particularly interested in her answers so I could learn more about her, her book and the genre.

Guest Author – Jana Denardo:

Welcome why don’t you start by telling everyone a bit about yourself.

Hi all, thanks for stopping by to spend a little time with me. Since I was asked, I will say I’ve lived all over America and traveled even further. I love learning about new places, and a lot of those experiences works its way into my stories. I have a deeper connection to this novel than other stories I’ve told, as I was a VA doctor during my medical residency, and, like Aaron, I had my career plans shattered. After an accident left my hand nerve-damaged, I moved into teaching. I have a huge fondness for comic books, anime, SF/fantasy and all things geeky, which is also reflected in Kept Tears. Continue reading Guest Author Jana Denardo

Guest Author – Kim Fielding

Thanks so much, Andy, for letting me visit here today! This is the fourth stop on my blog tour to discuss my new novel, Pilgrimage. And since my characters, Mike and Goran, spend the book on a pilgrimage, I thought it would be fun for us to follow along.

Having been zapped to an alternate universe, Mike must visit a series of shrines to a death god. The second shrine he visits is at a cemetery outside the small village of Ugolin:

Just past the village, a narrow pathway twisted through a flower-speckled meadow and skirted a small hillock before passing under an elaborate iron archway. Mike thought this was strange, because there was no wall or fence, just the arch. Once he was through the archway, he saw hundreds of small metal bowls with lids. They were laid out in careful rows, and the vegetation between each row had been flattened by trampling feet. Continue reading Guest Author – Kim Fielding

Guest Author: Anne Barwell – Time To Write

Time to Write

Thanks, Andrew, for hosting me here today

I’m often asked how I find time to write, considering I work full time, play in an orchestra, and still manage to read, and watch movies and TV shows. Every time I have a new book coming out, it’s a question that is asked again along with ‘and how many books is this now?’

Shades of Sepia is my sixth title with Dreamspinner Press. To answer the easy part of that first.

The other not quite so easy question has a two-fold answer. Firstly I make time, and secondly if I don’t write I get twitchy and not nice to live with which leads back to making time. Continue reading Guest Author: Anne Barwell – Time To Write

Upcoming Blog Schedule & Brief Update

My goal has always been to publish a schedule of upcoming posts, but that hasn’t always gone off so well. But just because it doesn’t always happen, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t do it – so here goes:

Continue reading Upcoming Blog Schedule & Brief Update

New Visuals

As I grow as an author, I feel I’m learning more about how to be ‘marketer’ (not that I’m not learning more every day about how to be a better author, but my ‘marketing skills’ were/are so woeful that I have sooo much to learn). But thanks to the web and some very smart – and generous -people, I’ve learned a few important things.

Perhaps one of the most important is that visuals are really helpful. It’s easier to catch someone’s eye with a picture, video, drawing, graphic, etc, than it is with just text. I’d kinda known that – hence the pictures everywhere, – but then someone took it a step further and said, I – not me per se, but people in general – needed an avatar that I could/would use on all platforms that would be recognizable as mine. I think I found such an image.

Lily Velden helped me come up with it and the graphic artist is Laird Geoffrey Mead. Pretty cool, no?

In addition, since I started a new Wednesday Brief Story, I asked my friend Alicia Nordwell to create a cover and banner for the posts. Here’s what she came up with:

Again, I rather like it and it does fit the story. So thank you to Cia – who by the way, does freelance covers and banners. If you’re in the market for some, her prices are reasonable and she is super easy to work with.