Battle of Will

Drive-by-posting, wheee. So, due to reasons, Battle of Will has been bumped up from its February debut to uh, yesterday. I really like this story, NEGL. It's an enemies-to-lovers mixup, which is something I haven't done before, and I really, really like my two mains. Ackley is a mage from Skirfall, which is at war with Morcia. Ackley tries to stop a curse cast by one of his (sort of) comrades from hitting the Morcian Crown Prince, Beorn, and uh, manages to instead get himself magically bound to Beorn. As in, can't leave Beorn's side, magically bound. They are both THRILLED with this, and also that pesky little side effect where if one of them is injured, it affects the other in full and equal measure (so no shanking each other, much to their displeasure).

You can read the first chapter for free here. I hope ya'll like! <3

THE BOOK OF JUDGMENT

My angel story is up on LT3's Something Happened on the Way to Heaven serial (also, note that this will be the longest anthology title ever or else whomever comes up with longer is getting voted off the island, my tweeting can't take it).

Uh, but The Book of Judgment! It's a nasty little spell book that could destroy the world! Recently found by a professor/mage (Reza), it needs to cross the country to be archived in the sanctuary of the goddess, where it will be safe from those who would use it in their attempts to take over the world. Reza gets to go with it, 'cause he's a very strong mage, trustworthy enough he won't sell the book off to the highest bidder, and the book needs protections that only a mage can provide.

Of course, he can't make the journey alone! That's way too dangerous. Enter the mercenary: Edmé. A former battle priest (called angels for the terrible destruction they wreak), he's to escort Reza to the sanctuary and protect him and the book. Granted, not the best job, since Edmé is preeettty sure Reza is a n00b in all of the things except puttering around in his professorial duties.

Obvs, they're both in for some surprises with each other (and the goddamn book has its own surprises to throw at them), and shenanigans and shit go down.

/ramble

In any case, if you are interested, definitely drop by the serial site! $3.25 a month for biweekly updates of five stories!

That's all I got for now. ^__^ Oh, except also managed to clean up the website a bit over the past weekend. Published works is now up to date for the first time in like, six years (or six months; time, it is not my friend). THAT'S all I got. :3

December interview/giveaway

I've been interviewed! ^__^ K-lee at Chaos in the Moonlight is running a series of author interviews and giveaways on her blog throughout the month of December. You can check out my silly, off-the-cuff interview here, and leave a comment for the chance to get a free copy of any of the titles in my backlist for free. ^__^

New serial for next year

I got to write today! It's been a few weeks (maybe a month!) b/c of the crazy amount of prep that's going into The Bestiary and KMAM stories. But I caught a lull and will be writing all weekend, I'm so excited. ^__^ I'm working on my next serial offering, which is an enemies to lovers sort of thing. I'm really enjoying writing it, so uh, have a snippet?

Repeat: Auctions end in less than 24hrs!

This is totally copy-pasta'd from the last post, but I figured I'd give the auctions a last signal boost before they close. ^__^ Bidding ends tomorrow at 7:00 Central Time, so get your bids in by then!


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The bidding posts are up! There are 20 authors, including many LT3 favorites, who are auctioning away short stories for a donation to the Red Cross! Minimum is $5 and bidding runs until next Friday. Click here for more detailed info.

My bid listing is here, so check it out if you are inclined. You can also bid on stories from:

Piper Vaughn
Xara X. Xanakas
Megan Derr
Zach Sweets
Cari Z
Terry Milien
K-Lee Klein
Julian Griffith
Lor Rose
MJ Willow
Vicktor Alexander
Laylah Hunter
Blaine D. Arden
Evie Kiels
Cherie Noel
Julia Alaric
S.L. Armstrong & K. Piet
Emily Moreton

Good luck, and happy bidding! ^__^

Buy a story for Sandy relief!

The bidding posts are up! There are 20 authors, including many LT3 favorites, who are auctioning away short stories for a donation to the Red Cross! Minimum is $5 and bidding runs until next Friday. Click here for more detailed info.

My bid listing is here, so check it out if you are inclined. You can also bid on stories from:

Piper Vaughn
Xara X. Xanakas
Megan Derr
Zach Sweets
Cari Z
Terry Milien
K-Lee Klein
Julian Griffith
Lor Rose
MJ Willow
Vicktor Alexander
Laylah Hunter
Blaine D. Arden
Evie Kiels
Cherie Noel
Julia Alaric
S.L. Armstrong & K. Piet
Emily Moreton

Good luck, and happy bidding! ^__^

Buy my brain!

Just a head's up, I'll be participating in a story auction for Sandy relief, wherein peeps bid, the winning bidder donates to the Red Cross, and I write a story based on their prompt. A bunch of other authors are participating; you can see the full list here. Many thanks to Piper for organizing/hosting the bidding. ^__^

I'll post up here again with a link to my bidding post when it's live, so keep an eye out if you're interested.

Update update update

I'm sure it's no surprise that I suck at updates by this point. :3

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CONS

Yaoi-con was fantastic, and I have a lovely, lovely tattoo to show for that trip to CA.



It hurt, of course, both more and less than I thought it would. IDK why I assumed every stab of the needle would hurt the same, duh of course not. Things I did not know: it itches like a mother fucker and it loses a layer of inked skin. Seriously, why does no one talk about the itching? Because holy mother of god, did it itch. (Did I mention it was a tiny bit itchy? :3) Also, you're supposed to not wear constricting/rough stuff over it (a.k.a., jeans) and I totally planned ahead and packed mostly ... jeans. >_>

GRL was next, which was cool in some ways and utterly frustrating in others. The peeps we met were the highlight, ffs. Putting faces to names and just hanging out with peeps was totally awesome. ^__^ Hopefully the frustrating parts will smooth out in future years as the con is around longer.

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BOOKS

Private Dicks: Undercovers is out! ^__^ I love this anthology, no lie. There are some super awesome stories in here, and you should definitely check them out when you get a chance. Everything from contemp to paranormal to knights (::coughMegancough::) to sci-fi (me? WTF?).




With a Touch is my contribution to the Halloween Rentboys collection that comes out tomorrow. It's fantasy, as per usual, and is a cute little short about a man who's trying to find a missing person of magical means, and finds much more than that.



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I think that's it? IDK, I thought I had more. We'll go with it.

Halloween rentboy

This one is fighting me ATM, but I'm hoping I can kick its ass shortly. Had a nap, will distract myself further with Teen Wolf if that doesn't end up helping. But for now, here is the start of my possible Halloween rentboy story.

Oooh, and I have edits for Burning Bonds to do too. IDK if that's a good or bad distraction, though. :3

Updates!

So, first up, a warning. Alas, my day job is going HYPER OH MY GOD CONFERENCE IN THREE WEEKS OH MY GOD PANIC mode. By which I mean, that's me, while my boss and everyone else goes, 'it's cool, no worries, it'll work out.' I don't have my test environment! My person hasn't even done a practice because we don't have a test environment!!!!

Um.

What this means is that I'm working the day job a lot the next two point five weeks and therefore will be even more absent and scatterbrained and weird. (That's the warning. :3) Feel free to pester me into submission if I manage to accidentally ignore you.

Writing things!

LT3 released Bad Moon Rising yesterday. Today. Recently. What's today? Um, but I have a short story in this anthology, called The Were Curse, and I may have mentioned it. ^__^ It's werewolves with a magical spell origin! Also, Megan has totally promised to write Dominic's story, so you should all pester her for that. /going to get dead



I'm pretty sure I mentioned Bestiary recently, but here is the link to the product page for reference.

I have also finished my Kiss Me at Midnight story. It's ridiculous and awesome.

Megan totes roped me into writing a Halloween rentboy story, too, by which I mean she came up with the idea and didn't even hint I should do it b/c she didn't want me to stress b/c she's nice like that. I had so much goddamn trouble coming up with an idea that stuck, that I almost gave up. Seriously, started like SIX stories, all of them boring and cliche and boring and one that was a repeat (almost identical) to the KMAM story. It was tragic. Then I thought of a vague idea on Monday and managed to write 4k on it and IDK what's going on, but it's working so I'm going with it. ^__^

Elsewise, on my list is a rockstar story for Rocking Hard, a fantasy story for If You're Reading This ..., Stolen Hearts Part Two (tentatively titled "Heart Repair"), a silly superhero story, the sequel and prequel to Playing with Shadows, and a fairy tale remake of Snow White. Because I'm not enough of a headless chicken as is. ^__~

Post subjects always stump me

So, way, way, way back in LT3's very first anthology (That Famous Happy End), I wrote a story about an IT geek and his vampire QA tech. Said vampire QA tech had a snarky, assholish older brother. Said snarky, assholish older brother was promptly claimed by Megan (or uh, shoved at her when she said he should have a story). She wrote his story for our the Bad Moon Rising anthology.

She also wrote a drabble for him that she can now post 'cause her Bad Moon Rising story is done its serial run. ^__^ It is here, and you should check it out.


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If you like super heroes, check out Katey Hawthorne's birthday post, where she's giving away a copy of the paperback that contains two of her super hero short stories.


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Bestiary! It's coming soon! I have a lovely little short story that's totally over the top adorable in it. This is a link to the Goodreads page, because I'm still working on getting them up on the LT3 site. There's 19 of them! Which is equal parts \o/ and /o\

The charms and elixirs crafted by the fae are highly prized and notoriously difficult to obtain. The fae charms Fihr sells at his stall are lucrative business, but he would happily throw it all away to have a chance with Satu, the beautiful faerie who makes the charms. When he catches Satu trying to run away, terrified of his betrothed, Fihr throws all caution aside, determined to help Satu no matter what it takes.

Megan commissioned awesome awesome internal images and done up some lovely covers as well. ^__^ Seriously, this collection is going to be awesome.

KMAM

So, aside from plague (viral bronchitis, yay! they gave me hydrocodone to kill it o_O;;), I have been working on my story for LT3's Kiss Me at Midnight anthology, for which the deadline is the end of the month. It's a cute little story about a mage and a thief who is trying to steal from said mage, but neither of them has the motivation the other suspects. ^__^

Porn!

Click here for my Day of Porn contribution! Characters are from To Get to You, but it is definitely not necessary to have read said story to understand what is going on here (spoiler: porn).

Day of Porn

July 16 is Day of Porn. It's basically what the name says, just a day for writers/readers to put aside their more serious fic and indulge in shameless porn. <-- I stole that mostly from Sam's LJ post b/c I'm feeling spectacularly lazy tonight. Sam is doing the hosting of the event on her LJ. Check out the organizing post for the very short list of details. Another post will go up on July 16 for everyone to post links/stories so they're in one place and easily accessible. ^__^

Which leads me to the second bout of my laziness. :3 Suggestions*?

*Disclaimers: Original only, past or new characters okay, no guarantee your prompt will be chosen, porn is guaranteed (maybe).

Free Read! Playing with Shadows

My Love is Always Write story is now up at the M/M romance group on Goodreads! ^__^


Corin is nearly done with his term amongst the priests. In a matter of months, he'll be able to return home and leave his miserably days in the temple behind him. He's tired of lazy priests, and tired of stories of demon shadows that move of their volition.

Then Corin starts to see things, and the priests begin to act strangle, and he begins to wonder … is he losing his mind, or are the shadows more than they seem?

This story was written for the Love is Always Write event at the M/M Romance Group on GoodReads. It was written for Tori, inspired by the author letter she wrote.

You can either join the group to read this story (click the cover image to get there), as well as over a hundred other free M/M stories, or download a copy of the ebook using the following links:


PDF | ePub | Mobi

Lucky 7 Meme

I blame Megan. Everything can be blamed on Megan.

RULES -
Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript
Go to line 7
Post on your blog or Facebook page the next 7 lines, or sentences, as they are – no cheating
Tag 7 other authors to do the same.

WIP - Untitled demon hunting magic fantasy story (this is a working title. :3) This might be 8 lines. I'm counting the dialogue as sentence, however, b/c I can't count. :3

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It had definitely been the source of the blast. The door had been blown off its hinges, and it lay crookedly across the hallway. The door was smoking, but not on fire, though judging from the smoke billowing from the room, something was.

The guard Noah has left to keep people out was standing outside the room, on the far side of the fallen door. "I'm sorry. He said—"

Noah didn't bother to listen to the man's excuses, ducking into the room instead. The cot was … disintegrated, nothing but the support beams and a few frayed, smoldering bits of rope littering the floor where it had stood.

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Uh... tagging. I'm going to cop out on that and say, consider yourselves tagged if you like. But no more than 7 of you! You'll probably have to coordinate that somehow. Good luck. :3

Bards vs. Minstrels

When I was younger, I read a lot of Mercedes Lackey, particularly the Valdemar series. I was a huge sucker for those, though I was never a fan of the way the Last Herald Mage series turned out. I was a sucker for happily-ever-afters by then. :3

One thing always stuck with me, from the third of the Last Herald Mage books, I believe. In the series, there are Bards (capital B) and minstrels. Capital B Bards are epic story tellers, who tell stories that, through magic, pull the listeners in, so that they're part of the world and are living the stories. It's epic, it's fantastic, and it's draining, for both the Bards and their listeners. Minstrels don't have that magic. When they play their ballads and songs, it's just music, nothing magical about it.

The line that I remember most (not verbatim, alas, I fail at verbatim), but a minstrel character was bemoaning that he wasn't a Bard, so what was the use of bothering to learn music at all? The reply was this: always enjoying the big, powerful, always moving, magical performances is wearing. It takes an emotional toll, and people can't handle always experiencing the wrenching, moving, and emotional performances. Minstrels were important too -- not just as a break, but to remind people that not everything has to be over the top and driving.

I've always related with that, with regards to my writing. I'm not a Bard, capital B. I'm a minstrel, writing stories that are decent, but don't move people to great lengths. People enjoy my stories, but don't go crazy over them, and that's okay. I enjoy writing, and I like that people enjoy reading my work, even if it's not the sort of writing that leaves lasting impressions and inspires people to fan art and fanfiction and the like.

And here's the caveat. Most of the time, I'm okay with this. I'm always working harder, trying harder, more complicated storylines. I like writing, and I try not to let the negatives outweigh the positives. Lately, however, it seems more and more like I'm writing into a vacuum. As though, if I stopped writing, only a handful of people would mourn the loss. I think it's a combination of a handful of critical reviews and a lack of hearing anything otherwise. (Apparently, my writing style sucks ass? IDK. I need to stop using 'though,' though. :3)

I want to clarify at this point that (1) I'm not going to stop writing and (2) I'm not begging for people to placate my ego. I'm going to keep writing. I'm really enjoying the series I'm working on at the moment, and readers never should feel obligated to pet or coax the authors they read into writing more.

My reason for posting this is mostly a reminder to myself. I don't have to be great. I don't have to be perfect. As long as I enjoy what I'm writing, that's good enough. I'm not a writer who draws people in, who gives them over the top, epic, fantastical experiences, and that's OK. People still read me, look forward to reading me, and not everything has to be epic and heart-rending. I'm a minstrel, not a Capital B Bard, and that fills its own role and has its own rewards and pleasures.

Writing. BAM.

I think I mentioned last post that I'm working on the prequel (sort of) to my LiAW story. Transcribing the first few scenes now b/c my head is all "you want to do real work? Fffft have all of the headache" and so transcribing it is. :3 Have a story bit! (Note that Rue likes to shoot things. :3)

 

 

It was raining, a slow, steady drizzle that seeped through Rue's lightweight, ragged cloak. The clouds above seemed closer than ever, as though they were closing in on him, making Rue itch to move, to launch his attack and end the waiting. He hated feeling boxed in, but he forced himself to stay still.

The church was brightly lit, the torches under the overhang warding off the gloom of the bad weather. The overhang—and torches—spanned the front of the church, and the door was open, inviting anyone to enter. If it weren't for the sickly green glow that emanated from the stones of the church walls, it would be the picture of inviting.

Rue stood in the shadow of an abandoned shed, out of sight across the well-worn path that led through the small town. The villagers were making their way to the church, slowly trickling in for the weekly service. Rue watched them closely, wishing he could put his finger on the lingering anxiety and unease that crawled down his spine as he watched them enter the church.

Perhaps the demon here was stronger than the ones he'd faced in the past? Rue frowned, giving the glowing stones another look. The demon magic didn't seem any stronger. Rue had been watching the church for a few days, and while the demon wards were at their lowest to allow in the parishioners for the service, they hadn't been much stronger the last few days.

Still, Rue didn't doubt the priests that were colluding with demons were learning. He'd taken out nearly a dozen of them—it would be the epitome of stupid to pretend they wouldn't try different tactics to stop him.

A last few villagers disappeared into the church, leaving Rue completely alone outside. Rue tensed, but didn't move. A moment later, the priest appeared at the door. He glowed a brighter green than the building, standing out even in the light of the torches. Rue stayed motionless as the priest scanned the area. He didn't see Rue—or at least, gave no sign of seeing Rue.

The priest stepped back, into the church, and shut the door. Rue took a deep breath, ignoring the ache in his side that indicated the drugs were wearing off. He sought out his pistols beneath the cloak, trailing his fingers against the smooth handles.

Rue waited a few minutes more, until he was certain the opening ceremony was finished and the priest had stepped to the front of the dais to give his sermon. Removing his cloak, Rue draped it over the battered pack propped against the shed behind him. It wasn't doing him any good, and it would only be a hindrance inside.

Moving quickly, rue strode across the path, paying no mind to the mud and muck as it stuck to his boots or to the rain as it fell faster from the dark clouds above. Reaching the church, rue took the three steps to the door in one jump, all anxiety and unease disappearing beneath the terrible calm that washed over him each time he removed a demon from the world.

Rue pushed open the front door, letting it crash heavily against the wall behind him. The church had the standard layout—one large room, full of pews facing the dais on the far side. There was a small lofted area above the dais, where the priest's chambers would be, as well as storage for the church props that would be pulled out on special occasions.

The priest was exactly where Rue had anticipated, front and center on the dais. He cut off mid-word, and Rue drew one of his pistols, throwing his magic into the spell circle inscribed on the bullet as he fired. The priest glowed searingly bright, the sickly green color washing over the first few pews of villagers even as those closest to Rue began screaming.

Rue's bullet reached the priest—and immediately dropped to the floor at the priest's feet. He was stronger than usual, but not strong enough. Rue fired twice more, not bothering to waste any more of his magic as he fired. The villagers nearest him were scrambling to get away, some heading for the door. A few men tried to approach him, but were easily deflected with a surge of magic.

"Today is your last day on this earth, demon," Rue said, sliding his pistol back into its holster at his waist. With his left hand, he pulled out the second. It was dark, almost black, the metal corrupted by the strong magic Rue had forced through it. He leveled it at the priest, his palm burning where he touched it.

"By command of the High Priest, you are ordered to stand down and surrender yourself to my custody." A strong, steady voice cut through the chaos, and Rue paused, a few feed from the dais and the demon-infested priest.

Looking up towards the voice, rue met the gaze of a church Inquisitor. He wore the badge clearly on the front of his shirt, shining in the light from the dais below him. He'd been hidden in the loft, and Rue supposed he should have expected an Inquisitor at some point. He was leveling a pistol at Rue, and he glowed a pale, pale blue without even the slightest hint of demon-tainted green.

Ignoring the Inquisitor's command, Rue leveled his pistol at the smirking priest. Inquisitor or no, the demon had to be banished. A gunshot not his own made Rue jerk back, and the sting of fresh, untainted magic sparking along his side made him duck to the side, into the row of pews to his left. Most of the villagers had fled, minus a handful of burly men who were lurking ominously at the back of the room.

And a little girl, Rue realized, kicking himself for going left instead of right. She was hidden under the pew behind him, eyes wide and wet with tears. With the angle of the pews, the Inquisitor and the demon-tainted priest wouldn't be able to see her.

"That was a warning, sir," the Inquisitor called down to him, the pistol trained unerringly on Rue. "Stand down, or the next won't miss."

It would have stronger magic, no doubt. Rue could block it, but then he wouldn't have the power to kill the priest. If he dodged, the Inquisitor would hit the little girl.

Rue looked up at the Inquisitor, deliberately meeting the man's eyes, then raised his pistol and shot the priest. Rue's magic exploded out of him, traveling with the bullet. It tore through the priest's shield, and the bullet buried itself in the priest's chest.

The Inquisitor's bullet slammed into Rue's shoulder, knocking him back into the pews. Magic not his own washed through him, paralyzing him to the point he could barely draw a breath. His shoulder screamed in agony—no, that was the priest. His aim hadn't been thrown off by the Inquisitor, then. Rue smiled, then stopped fighting the pain and exhaustion, letting darkness wash over him.

Hop winner, What Matters Most, LiAW and/or all of the things

Warning, this post contains a fuckton of babbling. And some language unsuitable for small children.

The winner of the Hop drawing was the lovely Katey Hawthorne. I didn't realize until I drew her name and followed her link that she's the author of a book I loved to pieces, Nobody's Hero. It's a contemp superhero book, about a man who doesn't want to be the superhero and doesn't want to follow the chosen path. He and his love interest are very different people, and the way she pulls them together and fleshes out their families and makes it *work* is just wonderful and well done. ^__^ Ya'll should definitely check it out. I'm going to stop fangirling now, I swear. :3

I was holding off on posting this b/c I didn't want to take away from the Hop (and I managed to space on it right before because I'm wonderfully organized like that), but a short story of mine, What Matters Most came out at LT3 last week. ^__^ It was originally meant to be a holiday story, and then the plot got away from me and it was all "holiday? what holiday? fffft." So it was less holiday and more generic fantasy, so we skipped rushing it out in December and slated it for May instead. ^__^ I really like the way it turned out. There's a melancholy feel to it that I can't often pull off. Standing up for what is right, Kyros has found, is a lonely endeavor. It's also a dangerous one, as the people he's fighting have already killed his friend, threatened others, and are now going after Kryos' mother to finally force him to stand down. Knowing full well his mother won't listen to the men he's sent to take her to safety, Kyros reluctantly returns home to the village he has not seen in years. But returning home means encountering the man he never forgot, and Kyros find himself forced to choose between doing what is right and what matters most…

The Love is Always Write stories have begun posting on the M/M Goodreads group! Megan's has already posted (and is awesome! Linguist, kings, misunderstandings and kidnappings and rescues, oh my!), and she's made absolutely gorgeous covers for both hers and my story. ^__^ I'll be creating downloadable versions (epub, mobi, and pdf), so if you're not a member of the group, you'll still be able to get your hands on a copy. (Mine won't be available until the story is posted, obvs, but I will drop a note when it is.) Playing with Shadows is another story where I'm really, really pleased with the vibe I managed to pull off. It's all OH GOD RUN AWAY or whatnot, I don't know. Sort of horror, but not. Definitely "scared for your life" sort of vibe. ^__^ I'm also, uh, working on a prequel. And a sequel is going to be in the works. IDEFK how that happened. Prequel is awesome so far. Lots of violence. :3 I'm blowing shit the fuck up, it's awesome. Uh. Babbling. Anyway! Check this shit out. Or don't, if that is your preference. ^__^

And now I'm going to shut up and go away for another five million years. /o\

Hop Against Homophobia

I grew up in a very small town in the middle of nowhere. When I was younger, it always seemed like there were only a couple hundred people who lived there (it was really 7k or so). We were a 45 minute drive from the nearest interstate and mall. There was no movie theater, and half the time we didn't have a clothing store (they went in and out of business like going bankrupt was in style).

In other words, I grew up under a rock. :3 Half the rock was my own making; I was an introvert and much more interested in reading than in the same 200 boring people that inhabited my town. (None of them had magic! How could they compete?) Homophobia didn't seem real to me; it was an abstract concept that I'd never experienced or recognized in anything around me. (This is not to say it wasn't there, but to say that I was an oblivious, self-absorbed young person, a.k.a., a typical teenager.)

High school really cemented this. I can remember three gay classmates off the top of my head. Two had been out for as long as I could remember (the girl actually asked me out once; I declined on the grounds she was too short (seriously, I was a strange, strange teenager)). The third was a little older, a year or two before me in high school; he was the stereotypical jock, on the football and basketball teams. I remember he came out when I was in high school, and I couldn't figure out why it was gossip. I don't know if anyone gave him a hard time about it, but nothing seemed to change. He was still friends with the same people and did the same things.

It wasn't until I got to college and had my own computer and a connection to the world (the great and wonderful internet!) that I realized that things like homophobia, racism, etc., weren't just theoretical concepts. I had never experienced or witnessed any overt homophobic actions, but the internet brought me to people who had. I was connected to wonderful, creative, lovely people who had experienced homophobic discrimination, who had suffered and looked down upon because other people thought less of them because of who they loved.

So, while it may seem like common sense that gay people are first and foremost people, and deserve all the respect that entails, it's always worth repeating. It's never, ever right to ridicule or discriminate against someone because of who they are and who they love.

 

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In support of the Hop, I'm offering a giveaway prize of one copy of any paperback in my backlist.* To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this post on my website or LJ (tumblr will not be counted because I don't actually understand tumblr). Please include your email address in the comment so I can get in touch with you. ^__^

Givewaway technically ends on May 20 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, but I probably won't draw until the morning of the 21st because I like my sleep. Winner will be selected using random.org and will have 48 hours to get back to me after being notified, after which point a new winner will be selected.

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See more Hop posts!

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*Backlist includes That Famous Happy End, Fairytales Slashed: Volume 2, Stolen Hearts, Living Words, Seeing is Believing, or the upcoming Saving Liam**

** If Saving Liam is chosen, it will ship as soon as it is in my grubby little hands (very, very soon).***

*** I promise no grubbiness will be transferred to the book. ^__~

Saving Liam!

Saving Liam comes out tomorrow! (late tomorrow, technically "Wednesday," but I don't think anyone doesn't know that we do updates the night before at this point. :3)

God, this story was a monster to write. It took me over a year (with other projects in between), and it's one of the longest I've written, if not THE longest. It's definitely one of the best, IMHO, and I am really, really fucking happy with the way it turned out. I haven't heard much from peeps about it, but what I have heard is positive (which makes me really happy). ^__^

Oh, if you're interested, there are two giveaways going on: one at Goodreads, which closes at 10:00 p.m. EDT Tuesday, and one at Babes in Boyland, which closes at 9 p.m. CDT on Wednesday. (Oh, god, those are different time zones. /resists urge to convert them)

Saving Liam

Leyton lived a quiet, simple life as a prosperous, thriving merchant alongside his twin brother Liam. But that life is shattered when Liam goes missing, and Leyton is told that the only way to save his brother's life is to seduce a king. The task proves to be even more difficult than Leyton feared, and soon he is swept up in a tide of political machinations, betrayal, and a looming threat of execution once the men who blackmailed him are caught.

But the threat of his pending death is nothing alongside the constant fear for his missing brother's safety—and the tangle of intrigue in which he is caught is nothing like the tangle he put himself in after breaking the heart of a king...

Excerpt | LT3 Link





Also, if for any reason you do not follow M or didn't catch this on the LT3 site, we're kicking off our moving-three-states-east shenanigans within a few days. That means less communication (b/c, y'know, I'm so chatty now. :3), and much slower response times. Do not burn down the internet while I'm not there to help, plzkthks.

Also, oh my god the books and sneak peeks are so out of date. /o\ ::adds updating the website to the to-do list::

Love is Always Write

Like I mentioned a few months back, I signed up for the Love is Always Write event that the M/M Romance group on Goodreads hosts. ^__^ My story ended up at a little more than 20k and I really like the way it turned out. The stories are going to be posted over the course of 10 weeks, beginning in about a month, so if you're interested, check it out. You have to be a member of the group, but it's as easy as signing up for a Goodreads account and clicking join. The group is here. I'll also be posting the story here, eventually, so if you don't want to join (or are very, very patient), you'll see it here too. :3

Prompt:
He was told that everything happened for a reason, that there were things out there that watched your every move. He just never thought that the people telling him this were telling the truth. Until he happened to glimpse something out of the corner of his eye, something that he couldn't explain.

And now there are things in the shadows, things that want him. And he's not sure if he can hold out any longer. If only he hadn't picked up that apple on that fateful day, then the ones in the shadows would not have noticed his presence.



Teaser snippet:

A semi-circle of tall candelabras stood behind the podium. They'd be lit during the ceremony that opened the sermon, and the candles left to burn afterwards. The wall behind the dais was decorated with tapestries that depicted famous scenes from the priests' teachings: lightning striking out against dark clouds, a man standing tall against a shadowy monster, light wreathing a man dressed in priests' robes.

Sliding his bucket along the dais towards the nearest candelabra, Corin started washing that. He glanced back over the hall, unsurprised to see the rest of his group working as slowly as he was. They were chatting though, and Corin stifled another wave of homesickness. He wanted someone to talk to, but no one here would give him the time of day. He deserved that, he supposed, for being so dismissive of Karli.

Eight months. That wasn't too long, right? So why did it feel like he was never going to leave? Corin rolled his eyes at himself—that was about as dramatic as Karli and her shadows. Corin turned to focus his attention on the candelabra again, only to have his eye caught by a flash of red. An apple, bright and ripe, sat on the edge of one of the cubbies of the podium.

Corin swore it hadn't been there before. He'd looked in the podium—it had been all dust and nothing else. Corin glanced back out into the sermon hall, but no one was close enough to have snuck up and put it there without him noticing. He wasn't concentrating that much on cleaning. Looking back at the podium, Corin frowned pensively at the apple. His stomach flipped uneasily, and he turned back to the candelabra, focusing on running his rag through the grooves and designs decorating it.

There was something wrong, Corin decided, but he didn't know what and he didn't know what to do about it. He wasn't touching that apple, though. Nothing good could come of that. Corin turned and glanced at the podium again. The apple was still there, sitting innocuously at the edge of the shelf. He'd leave the podium to last, Corin decided, and then wash around the apple if he had to.

Maybe it had been there before? How much attention had he really been paying to the podium earlier? Maybe he'd looked at the bottom shelf and decided the top shelf was empty as well? Corin glanced at the podium again—the apple wasn't on the edge of the shelf like he'd thought, but six inches back, shadowed by the sides of the podium.

He was being as bad as Karli's dramatics again, Corin thought, rising to his knees to reach higher on the candelabra he was cleaning. The apple wasn't probably some priest's breakfast snack. Apples weren't in season, Corin's traitorous mind told him. How would a perfectly ripe apple exist, this far away from fall? Corin's stomach flipped again, and a chill raced down his spine. He stared resolutely at the candelabra, refusing to give into the urge to check if the apple was still there.

The sound of footsteps on the dais brought Corin's head around, and he stared at Rafferty for a moment, before turning to check the podium. The cubbies were completely empty again, and Corin's stomach settled, the uneasiness disappearing as suddenly as it had come. What in the world was going on?

"Come with me, please," Rafferty said, breaking into Corin's thoughts. He looked grim, and Corin wondered if he'd done something wrong. He'd been doing what he was told, cleaning the dais. Scrambling to his feet, Corin dropped his rag into his bucket and obediently headed after Rafferty, his mind racing.

On writing

I'm really tired of seeing posts about "tips for M/M writers" and "things M/M writers need to be doing" and "WTF are you doing M/M writers, this is terrible!!!" (OK, maybe not that last one.)

These posts seem to be preoccupied with the One True Way to become a popular, successful M/M writer. This One True Way seems to involve

(1) reading all of your reviews to determine how you can improve
(2) running all your writing by "a gay friend" to make sure it works
(3) networking
(4) networking
(5) spamming the hell
(6) dissecting the works of successful authors in order to emulate it
(7) read your dialogue out loud! (I hate hate hate this one)
(8) don't be a jerk

Some of this is common sense. Honestly, I'm of the opinion that if you're stupid enough to go and call out readers who leave bad reviews, participate in name calling and trolling, well... survival of the fittest. You're an idiot and it's probably for the best you're bounced out early. Harsh? Maybe, but uh, why the hell would you think that's a good idea?

I hate the "read your dialogue out loud" line. I'm a terrible conversationalist. I stumble and fumble and combine phrases all the time. I often skip and stumble over words when I'm reading aloud. Reading my dialogue out loud would not help me. Here's the thing -- no two writers are the same. No two writers have the same process or use the same tricks and techniques. Maybe it's important for some writers to read their dialogue out loud, but it's not a technique that helps me.

This plays into the "dissect others' works." Again, not something that helps me. NGL, reading a lot? That helps. Sitting down and tearing a book apart paragraph by paragraph, word by word? That makes me second guess every word I write, which doesn't help me write.

Also, I value that my readers leave reviews on my books. Occasionally, I go check them out, to see what people think. Do I take it to heart when someone dislikes my book? Yeah, a little. I like my stories, and it makes me sad when someone is disappointed by or doesn't like something I've written. Do I immediately think, "well, how could I have done better?"

No. No, I don't.

For one, most of the time, I don't know who my readers are. I don't know their backgrounds, I don't know what they like, and I don't know what made them form the opinion they did about my book. Opinions are by their nature personal and subjective. I write what I write because I like it. For another, I have betas and editors, whose objectivity I trust, to tell me if I've screwed something up. I'm continuously looking for ways to improve my writing, and most of all -- I keep writing. I don't need to check all of the things about a past book before I move forward. I'm always moving forward, and that is the most important thing.

And that's what writing is about. WRITING. It doesn't matter if you read dialogue out loud, dissect others' writing, etc. etc., not if you're spending all of your time trying to figure out how to write so that you have the most and broadest commercial appeal. I know how I could become more popular; I could start writing contemporary and include more sex in my stories. That's not something I plan to do, even if I do have a contemp story I'm percolating on. I like what I write, and it works for me (and for a majority of my readers, I believe :3).


Basically, what I'm trying to say is that there is no "One True Path" to being an M/M Romance writer. Yes, there are things that help (especially with regards to marketing and networking, though I'm a huge slacker on both those fronts), but you don't need to do what everyone else is doing to make it work. You find your own way, you find your own space, and most importantly, you keep writing.

Vixen, Riding the Waves, and Love is Always Write

Three bits of writing news tonight! ^__^ First up, Vixen, LT3's first F/F anthology, is out! It's an awesome collection of stories, and I super enjoyed writing Slaying Dragons. I really want to do more F/F now. :3 I actually have an inkling of an idea for one of the women who shows up in Saving Liam, so uh, that's also on my rather lengthy 'to write' list.

But back to Vixen -- if you are at all interested in F/F, you should definitely check it out. I really love all of the stories in this anthology, though my favorite is The Thicket by Liz Lambdin. It's a Rapunzel remake, and a super awesome one at that. ^__^ I love it. Cavatina, Cabaletta by Rachel White is also really cool (it has an operatic setting, which is awesome). The other stories are no slouches either. You can check it out here. ^__^

***

Next point of business. ^__^ There's an LJ comm called pic for 1000 (linked 'cause LJ tags don't work on my website), that challenges you to write exactly 1000 words, no more, no less, based off a picture prompt. This was my picture, this is my story. Enjoy! ^__^

***

Last up, I signed up for another challenge (b/c I don't have enough to write, apparently. :3) in the M/M Romance community on Goodreads. It's called Love is Always Write, and members of the comm put forth "Dear Author" letters with a photo and prompt. Authors then go and pick one, and write a short story for it. ^__^ This is my prompt, and it should be a lot of fun!

He was told that everything happened for a reason, that there were things out there that watched your every move. He just never thought that the people telling him this were telling the truth. Until he happened to glimpse something out of the corner of his eye, something that he couldn't explain.

And now there are things in the shadows, things that want him. And he's not sure if he can hold out any longer. If only he hadn't picked up that apple on that fateful day, then the ones in the shadows would have noticed his presence.

Smoking is Bad for You

Okay, so I suck at updating. This should come as no grand surprise to anyone. The LT3 Kiss Me Quick stories have been eating a lot of my time this past month, but since tonight's the last of them up, I shouldn't be as tied up as I have been lately. Not that that means I'll post more, but I'll probably be writing more, which is the important thing, right? ^__~

Tangentially related, I've got a second KMQ short being released with the fourth week of stories. ^__^ It's called Smoking is Bad for You and I'm really excited for it. It's contemp, which is weird for me, and police detectives, which is even weirder for me. I really like the characters, though, and I'm hoping to play with them in a full-length story down the road. Check it out, if you are so inclined:

 

With nothing better to do until his contact shows up, Detective Keith Halfen notices a man who looks familiar, but whom he cannot place. Curious, determined to place the man, he strikes up a conversation and finds himself drawn in when he learns why the man is lingering outside a restaurant smoking a cigarette...

Guest blog & Any Day Will Do

For the interested, I did a (very) short guest blog over on Clare London's Livejournal for her birthday blogging bash. It's pretty much me yakking about my favorite bits of fantasy and how I work my stories around it. If you're interested in checking it out, it's here. ^__^

I also have a short story coming in February, part of LT3's Kiss Me Quick collection. ^__^ It's called Any Day Will Do and it's completely, utterly silly and sappy. ^__^ The other Valentines are awesome as well, and we're all really excited about this collection!

Sean is good at forgetting about things, so caught up in his painting that the rest of the world slips away. He's pretty certain he's done it again, because his boyfriend, Dustin, is dressed to the nines and ready to take him out to dinner. Whatever important occasion he's forgotten, Sean hopes it's not going to cost him the best boyfriend he's ever had.

Kiss Me Quick is a collection of short and sweet stories from authors familiar and new, celebrating the season of love. Come and enjoy these tales of misunderstandings, lonely singles, pining lovers, and so much more! Because if there is one thing that is never in doubt, it's that LT3 knows the way to your heart, and these stories are a straight shot.