Friskbiskit

Guest Post: Tara Lain Starts a Fire!

It's Valentines Day and I've got a special treat in store. Please join me in welcoming the best-selling, award-winning Tara Lain back to the Biskit! It's always a delight to have Tara visit, she brings such magnificent friends with her. Today she'll be talking about her new bestseller, Fire Balls, and sharing some three-alarm hotties with us while she's at it.

Take it away Tara!

Hi Jessica and all my friends at Friskbiskit. Happy Valentine’s Day! It is so good to be back here.

I gotta tell you I have learned a lot since I saw you last and one thing I know for sure is that women LOVE firefighters. I asked my readers to complete the sentence “I am looking forward to the release of Tara Lain’s new book, Fire Balls, because…”And what were their answers? My grand prose?  Nope. Nine out of ten said hot firefighters!

What is it do you think? The fact that they have to be so physically fit for the job? The idea that they are risking their lives somehow for us (think Last of the Mohicans, “Just stay alive. I will find you!”)? The fact that they all group together in one big homoerotic bundle?

Well, in honor of Valentine’s Day I have supplied some pictures of firefighters for Jessica to scatter through this post as she sees fit. The pictures have no significance beyond sheer yumminess. Enjoy while I tell you about my new release, Fire Balls. 

In Fire Balls, Rodney, a tiny, flamboyant artist who happens to also be a black belt in karate, has a passion for a hunky firefighter. But you know I love the unexpected, so my firefighter, Hunter, is not the stereotype. He loves to read poetry and secretly yearns to be a teacher. But he’s plenty alpha enough for Rod. Problem is, Rod thinks Hunter could never want him so, when his friend Jerry develops an unexpected crush on the fire guy, Rod helps Jerry woo him--while breaking his own heart. None of these pictures are quite as gorgeous as Hunter but still mighty pretty. Enjoy!

Would you like to win a copy of Fire Balls? Enter my contest. I’m having a drawing this coming Friday. Leave a comment here with your email and you’ll be entered in that drawing. Go over to my Contest Blog and leave another comment with your email and you will be entered Again. And there are more chances to Win. Go to my Web Site and look under events. It’s all there.  First leave your comment here. And don’t forget your email.  And thank you to Jessica for hosting me and to you for coming to say hi.  :  )

Excerpt: Fire Balls by Tara Lain  -- MM Contemporary

Available from Etopia Press at: Amazon 

Rodney Mansfield is tiny, flamboyant and, oh yeah, a black belt in karate. He is also one of southern California’s greatest artists. Too bad the work of art he really wants is firefighter, Hunter Fallon. But the gorgeous “straight gay” guy could never want the Runtback of Notre Dame, so when Rodney’s handsome, surfer friend, Jerry, develops an unexpected passion for the beautiful firefighter, Rodney breaks his own heart by helping Jerry land his man. And then Rod makes it worse by embarrassing Hunter when he protects him from a firehouse bully. Hunter hates gay guys like Rodney – doesn’t he? Then why can’t he get the powerful pipsqueak’s face out of his mind… and cock out of his ass? And why does he risk his job and his life to rescue Rod from a burning building? Isn’t it time for him to admit he’s not an alpha male after all and that he is the property of the artist?

 

“So what the hell is a poet doing in the fire department?”

“There’s a lot of poetry in fire.”

“Sure, darling, if you’re staring at a fireplace with a glass of wine!”

Hunter laughed, which seemed to drain a little of the tension. “I became a firefighter for my dad. Kind of living his dream because he wasn’t able to. He’s confined to a wheelchair.”

Interesting. “That’s great for him, but what’s your dream?”

“Making him happy, I guess. Not disappointing him.”

The boy was cracked. Rod put his hands on his hips. “Shit, darling, you can’t live someone else’s dream.”

The words hung in the air. 

“I’ve got to try.” Hunter’s words were barely audible.

Rodney dropped his brush in the turp. Somebody had to get through to the man. He took a step forward. “Tell me what you would do if you didn’t have to think about anyone but yourself.”

Hunter shook his head slowly.

He took another step. “Tell me, dammit.” 

The blue eyes looked startled. “I’d teach. I’d teach literature, maybe in college.”

“There, that wasn’t so hard.”

“Doesn’t change anything.”

“Like hell it doesn’t. Declaration is a big step in the battle. If you can say it out loud, you can manifest it.” He took another step. “Do you know what my father wanted me to be?”

“What?”

“A lawyer. A fucking lawyer, probably so I could keep the bastard out of jail when he cheated his customers. He wanted to pay for me to go to fucking Stanford Law.”

“Wow. You turned him down?”

“Do I look like a lawyer to you?” He struck his favorite pose à la Marilyn Monroe. “I worked my ass off to put myself through art school. I waited tables and painted pictures of people’s pets to make extra money. I even appeared in a drag show one time.” 

“No shit?”

“You should hear me sing 'Let Me Entertain You.' But my point is, it’s your life and you have to live it. You probably don’t get another chance and even if you do, you won’t be conscious of it, so this is it, darling. Get on with it.”

“Yeah, but my dad is different.”

“I’m sure he is, and I’m happy for you.” He moved closer. “And you know what my father mostly wanted me to be?”

“What? I mean you’re a great artist, he must have seen that and wanted that.”

“No, you know what he wanted me to be so much he would have given every dime he had to make it so?”

Hunter shook his head, eyes wide.

“He wanted me to be not gay.”

Hunter stared. “My dad too.”

Shit. Rod was now at the platform’s edge. “So that’s it. You make up to your dad for being gay by putting on this damned hero fireman act when you want to read your books in the sunshine and teach a few kids about immortality. Right?”

Hunter shook his head.

“I said right?” Rod was beside Hunter now. Within reach. “Say I’m right.” He climbed up the platform’s step. “Your dad doesn’t want you to be gay, so you don’t want to be gay. But there’s not one fucking thing you can do about it so you compromise the whole rest of your life trying to make up for the way God made you. Say I’m right.”

Hunter dropped down onto one elbow. “You’re right.”

“Louder. I can’t hear you.”

“You’re right, dammit.” 

His knee hit the daybed and in a fast two count his body pressed down onto Hunter’s, his hands grabbing the other man’s head. Holy shit, what was he doing? Mouth to mouth got a whole new meaning. Jesus, he was starving and Hunter Fallon was the only food. 

Forcing Hunter’s lips open, Rod’s tongue pressed deep, deeper, and he licked the inside of the sweetest mouth he had ever known. Hunter’s tense body gradually relaxed against Rod’s, then began to writhe. Oh shit, Hunter’s hips pressed hard against Rodney, who couldn’t miss the steel of that hot cock. 

 

More About Tara:

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

E-mail:                   tara@taralain.com

Website:              http://www.taralain.com

Author blog:       http://taralain.blogspot.com

Book blog:           http://beautifulboysbooks.blogspot.com

Goodreads:        http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4541791.Tara_Lain

Savvy Authors:  http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/member.php?2398-Tara-Lain

Twitter:               http://twitter.com/taralain

Facebook:           http://www.facebook.com/people/Tara-Lain/100001514105686

FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tara-Lain/205042046209804

 

Guest Post: Jan Irving in Ravenna

I'm a big Jan Irving fan, so it's a particular pleasure to welcome her back to Friskbiskit for a guest post. Jan's going to take to us today about her new release, and the travel she did to research it. Take it away Jan!

Cowboy in Ravenna: Foreman Trinity March has always taken care of the boss's son, impulsive, passionate Chace Davidson. He knew Chace was his mate the moment he taught him to ride but he figures he's not good enough for Chace.

Chace aches for Trin but when he runs off to Italy to lose his embarrassing virginity Trin follows, just like always, under orders from Chace's father to 'straighten' Chace out. Good luck, since now that Shadow shifter Trin knows how much Chace aches for a lover, he just might take what he has always wanted.  

Cowboy in Ravenna is available here: http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=1538

 

My second choice of career if I hadn't been a writer would have been archeologist. When I arrived in Ravenna, Italy still dazed from the long travel time, I felt like I woke up only as I knelt and studied the mosaic flooring in a villa from the first century called the House of Carpets. 

Months after my experience in Italy, I wanted to write it into one of my stories. It came alive for me in a whole new way when I travelled back with artistic Chace Davidson and ranch foreman Trinity March, who feels out of his element as a hick American. Chace sits in the same place where I sat in the House of Carpets and sketches the flooring…until Trinity March takes Chace's face in his palms, looks into his eyes and gives him his first kiss.

Trinity and Chace may stay in the same room where I stayed, but the strange and erotic encounter they have there is definitely their own. When they visit Italy, it's the Italy of shapeshifters, the Italy of being devoted to someone.

I read recently that to travel is to experience something slightly dangerous, because you are off your common ground. You don't know the places, the people, the routine. In this way, everything is enhanced. I tried to put those moments of intensity into my latest Uncommon Cowboys story.

 

Excerpt from A Cowboy in Ravenna:

Ravenna reminded Trin of a university town with its long avenues of campus-like buildings, some constructed out of dusty, mud-coloured brick. “That’s an early Roman church.” Chace pointed as they walked. “See the dome?”

It wasn’t very impressive from the outside, kind of lumpy with a single squat tower but it did look old, Trin guessed. “We’re going carpet shopping?” he asked, rubbing his stiff neck. 

“Carpet shopping?” Chace grinned. “Like I’d take you shopping. You hate that. If you’d use your BlackBerry properly, you could read my email with all the travel stuff.”

“Yeah.”

“You still don’t know how.” Chace sighed. “You and technology, I swear.”

“I don’t like new stuff.”

“Then you should like what we’re going to see now.” They hopped over slick tiles that led to the massive door of the church Chace had pointed out. Trin thought there were a lot of churches in Italy. In White Deer, Montana, there were only two.

“The carpets are in here?” When they entered, he automatically removed his cowboy hat, wishing he hadn’t brought it since it probably made him look even more like an American hick, but it was a part of him, soft and broken in, and Chace thought it might be good when the weather got hot. Not that that was a problem today. It was still raining.

He looked around, seeing a typical sanctuary with flickering candles and shadowy spaces. 

“Follow me,” Chace said softly.

He still didn’t see any carpets, but followed Chace through the church and then down some stairs. He smelt earth and old burials, his wolf senses not liking this place. 

“Oh my God,” Chace whispered.

Trin’s eyes widened as he saw what had transfixed Chace—the undulating geometric carpets of mosaics, knots and chevrons in tiny blue-grey, sand, yellow and brown squares. He realised it was a floor plan for a large building as he walked behind Chace, just as fascinated by his young human’s reaction as he was by the musky remains of a villa.

“I can’t believe I was on that plane trying to get some sleep and now I’m here,” Chace said. He knelt on the wooden walkway. “Trin, it’s like this is who I really am. Not what my father wants me to be. Not how I’m lacking.”

“Just a damned minute,” Trin growled, kneeling beside Chace so he could see Trin was deadly serious. “You’re not lacking anything because law school isn’t for you and you don’t want to run the ranch. Hell, you can just hire a good foreman.”

“I have a good foreman.” Chace held his gaze. “I think Dad’s still pissed off since Mom left me the land. When I’m twenty-one it all goes to me and there is no way I can make that up to him, unless I sign it over like he wants.”

“No, Chace. It’s your father who needs to find his own life.”

Chace looked startled. “I never thought of it that way before.”

Trin pulled out a drawing pad and a pencil from his bag, handing them to Chace.

Chace raised a brow. “You brought that for me?”

“I can only draw stick cowboys and cattle, remember? I bet you want to capture this floor. I have to admit, it’s pretty impressive. Thanks for showing it to me, Chace.”

Chace might have looked a little washed out from all the travel, but his eyes were happier than Trin had ever seen them as he opened the pad and began to sketch. 

Despite wanting Chace’s happiness more than anything, seeing him like this wrenched something in Trin’s chest. Would Chace be content to return to White Deer after coming to Italy? 

“It’s hard not to break the rules here,” Chace said, pencil making soft shushing sounds across paper, abstracted smile tugging his lips. 

Trin wanted Chace so much when he was so fully himself, so into what he was doing. Trin translated that into wondering if Chace would make love with the same kind of focus. Trin had to escape this small space, get some air, or he might do something he’d regret. 

“What rules?” he asked.

“This one.” Chace’s warm lips brushed his. 

Life shot through Trin. His chest heaved as he stared at Chace.

Chace was breathing hard too. “I’m sorry! I needed to do that, just once.” He covered his face. “God, I’m sorry.”

Trin noticed that the only other couple touring the site were just leaving, so they’d probably missed Chace kissing him. He opened his mouth to tell Chace he was impulsive, but instead he took in Chace’s slumped posture.

He didn’t like it.

“If you’re going to kiss a man, kiss him right,” he said.

“Trin,” Chace whispered. “I don’t know how. I’ve never…” 

“I know you haven’t.” And his dick loved the idea of Chace’s virgin state. 

He cupped Chace’s cheeks in his big hands and leaned his forehead against the younger man’s, breathing in his scent, taking the time to appreciate how Chace’s skin felt smooth under work-worn finger tips. 

“I can’t be your boyfriend,” Trin told Chace, told himself.

Chace’s gaze dropped. “I know.”

Trin swallowed. His hands were shaking. “But I can give you a few pointers, I guess. Lesson one is you don’t need to sneak a kiss from a man you like. If he’s got any backbone and he likes you back, he’ll want you to kiss him.”

Chace’s skin heated, and a blush spread down his neck and upper chest. Trin wanted to rip off Chace’s T-shirt and kiss that tell of his arousal.

“Start off slow. Take the time to appreciate who you’re holding in your arms.” Trin nuzzled Chace’s neck, whiskers rasping against Chace’s softer skin. Chace had always bemoaned the fact he barely had to shave, but Trin thought it was sexy. Hell, everything about Chace was sexy.

“Trin…” Trembling in Trin’s arms, Chace’s breath was a hot tattoo. However slow and gentle Trin wanted to take it, Chace was wild.

“Easy.” He kissed Chace’s forehead and the corner of his mouth. Trin opened Chace’s mouth with a firm hand on his jaw, sliding his tongue in confidently. Chace curled his fists in Trin’s T-shirt as he rubbed himself against him. He sucked Trin’s tongue as if desperate for penetration.

 

Wow. That is so tender, and hot!

Jan Irving has worked in all kinds of creative fields, from painting silk to making porcelain ceramics, to interior design, but writing was always her passion. She feels you can’t fully understand characters until you follow their journey through a story world. Many kinds of worlds interest her, fantasy, historical, science fiction and suspense—but all have one thing in common, people finding a way to live together—in the most emotional and erotic fashion possible, of course!  Find out more about Jan's work here: www.janirvingwrites.com

Guest Post: Heidi Belleau and Violetta Vane

It's my pleasure to welcome authors Heidi Belleau and Violetta Vane to the blog today. They're here to share with us some of the prison slang they learned while researching The Saturnalia Effect, their new release from Storm Moon Press. It's an M/M seasonal contemporary with fantasy elements.

Heidi and Violetta are giving away a free ebook copy of The Saturnalia Effect to one lucky Friskbiskit commenter. Just leave a comment here with your email and your favourite slang word (prison or otherwise) to be entered! They’ll pick a winner on boxing day as a belated Christmas present!

Here's a blurb and a buy link:

Troy Khoury is serving a life sentence in Westgate prison for a robbery gone wrong. He just wants to keep his head down and do his time, but he runs afoul of an old-timer named Franchetti. Franchetti offers Troy a simple choice: kill fellow inmate Daniel Amato by Christmas in exchange for protection, or be tortured and raped to death by Franchetti's heavy, Pliers. Troy's no killer, though, and Daniel is as gentle and calm as can be. But a prison is a small place, and time is running out. Troy must decide how much he's willing to sacrifice before the choice is taken from him.

Buy link: http://stormmoonpress.com/books/The-Saturnalia-Effect.aspx.

Violetta and Heidi want you to know that purchasing directly from Storm Moon Press gets you the free erotic bonus short “Pretty Things,” starring Troy and Daniel, that you won’t find anywhere else. I'll add that buying direct from the publisher also means more of your money goes to the authors.

Oh, and don't miss the excerpt from The Saturnalia Effect at the bottom of the post.

So, Heidi and Violetta, what did you learn while researching prison life and how did you incorporate it into the book?

One of the most important aspects of capturing an individual character’s essence is giving them an authentic, distinct voice. Now I’m not referring to painstakingly writing out a person’s accent phonetically (although if your name’s Diana Gabaldon, you can get away with that sort of thing), but to issues of dialect and word usage. So many things influence the language we use: who raised us and where, our ethnicity, our country of origin, the people we spend time with, our level of education, whether we’re rural or urban, what time period or generation we come from, etc. A college-educated middle-aged WASP living in upstate New York is going to have a completely different voice compared to an immigrant from Hong Kong freshly arrived in Toronto, or a working class Londoner trying to make his way in the 1940s. If you don’t have distinct character voices, your writing can feel flat to your general audience and alienating or even insulting to the people you’re trying to represent. 

There is a rich wealth of dialects and vocabularies a writer can draw on to make their dialogue dynamic. And since we love to represent multicultural relationships in our stories, we’re constantly finding new ways to bring character voices to life, and learning new corners of language in the process. For The Saturnalia Effect, set in New York’s fictional Westgate Correctional Facility, we got to try our hands at prison slang. Here are a few words you might find useful to know as you’re following the story of Troy’s first maximum security Christmas:

Fish/New Fish: This one’s basic, but vital. A “fish” refers to an inmate who’s new to the prison system. It’s a term that doesn’t just mean newly arrived, but implies that the person in question doesn’t even understand the basics of prison life or culture. He or she doesn’t know the lingo, the unwritten rules, the hierarchies, where to sit, who to avoid, etc. Not surprisingly, a lack of knowledge makes for an easy target. Troy Khoury, the main character of “The Saturnalia Effect”, is a fish. Although he makes an earnest effort at staying out of trouble, his naivete means that trouble often finds him.

CO: Short for “Correctional Officer”, AKA a prison guard. Not surprisingly, more seasoned prisoners have a whole slew of unflattering terms: “screw” is one such commonly heard but out-of-fashion term. In “The Saturnalia Effect”, different COs are known by their reputations. Kowalsky seems to be the nicest of the bunch, for a guard at least, while Johnson is a well-known asshole who abuses his power. Winters is neither nice nor cruel, but he’s got a reputation for paying favors, so inmates try to stay on his good side.

Segregation/Solitary/The Hole: Segregation is a form of punishment where prisoners who’ve broken rules have further privileges removed to the point that they are put in “solitary confinement”: complete isolation without entertainment or human company for days on end. These cells are sometimes referred to by convicts as “the hole”. The hole can be used to penalize prisoners, but can also be used to protect the person segregated from other prisoners or themselves (in the case of suicide watches). In Federal prison, these cells are referred to as “Special Housing Units”. Troy and the man he’s supposed to kill, Daniel Amato, both do time in solitary. 

Lockdown: A term for when all prisoners are confined to their cells; all visits are cancelled and all communication is cut off. Prison officials will often declare a lockdown when gang violence seems about to explode, or if a riot looks imminent. It’s a major hardship for most prisoners, although some, like Troy, welcome being isolated and cut off from other, more violent inmates.

Cellie: A cellmate. One of the most important prison relationships, for obvious reasons. Most cells in US prisons are small and overcrowded, and sometimes cells designed for only one inmate end up housing two or even three. Daniel, who’s serving a life sentence and has a fair amount of prison clout, has a cell of his own, although he still has to share it with a cellie. Troy has no such luck. He sleeps in a dormitory. Prison overcrowding is often bad enough that even maximum-security inmates can be housed in dormitories.

Punk: In prison, as in the real-world, rape isn’t just about sex, but about power (to support a great organization dedicated to stopping prison rape in both male and female prisons, please visit Just Detention International; its initiatives are also transgender-inclusive). Especially in male prisons, rape serves to reinforce hierarchies among prisoners. In this context, the “punk” is at the bottom of the food chain: a physically weaker inmate, often but not always a fish, who is the victim of prison rape. The punk can end up belonging to a single man or to a whole gang. For a pretty-boy like Troy, with few resources, in a prison full of criminals much more violent than he is, becoming a punk is almost inevitable. 

Daddy: A stronger male inmate who becomes the dominant partner in a prison relationship, protecting the more submissive partner. But the word “protection” can mean a lot of things, including out and out abuse. There are a wide variety of relationships in prison, including totally consensual agreements typical of minimum-security prisons, but exploitative relationships are common among men who are used to violence. Troy is looking for protection; Daniel can provide protection. Can what they have together transcend that simple, brutal fact? 

And there you have it! Just a small taste of prison language and culture. Thanks for reading, and thanks to Jessica Freely for hosting us!

You're so welcome you two. That was fascinating.

Follow Heidi and Violetta on Twitter for more news and goodies: @HeidiBelleau and @ViolettaVane. 

And here's a steamy (literally) excerpt from The Saturnalia Effect: 

So maybe Daniel had a hunch about what he was up to. But if Troy pushed him hard enough, pushed him just right, it might not matter. Make him think with his dick instead of his head. Yeah. The time for slow, coy seduction had passed.

He looked down at the neat little pile he'd made of his boxers and jumpsuit, sneakers on top. Smoothed his hands down his thighs. He could hear the water from the showers hitting the tiles, and if he closed his eyes, he could pretend it was rain.

He hadn't had a single shower since coming to Westgate. He'd been washing himself at a laundry room sink instead, with a sliver of soap and a scratchy handtowel, braving the bitterly cold water just enough to keep from getting ripe. The reputation prison showers had on the outside was well earned—except that in the real world, you didn't actually need to drop the soap to end up... well. Doubly so for guys like him. He'd put a lot of effort into not getting himself into that situation.

Now he was going in with the exact opposite intention.

A smothering wall of steam hit him face-on. He pushed ahead, heading straight for the back of the room, far past the comfort of an easy escape route. He had to fight every instinct and habit he'd carefully built up since coming here. If he could have worn shoes in here, he would have. 

"Work it, girl!" came the first catcall. He barely flinched; he'd known that was coming. He'd seen the looks they all gave him in the TV room, the cafeteria, every shared space he dared to enter. It had always only been a matter of time.

Whoa. What a cliff hanger. I'm dying to know what happens next.

Guest Post: Allie Ritch

 

I'm so pleased to welcome the awesome Allie Ritch to Friskbiskit. Allie writes erotic paranormal and science fiction romance, which we just happen to have a soft spot for around here. Her most recent release, Love & Torment, came out from Cobblestone Press on Dec. 7 and has a hot premise:

In a dangerous world of secrets and corruption, Kira has a unique method for getting information from prisoners. She uses her psychic ability to torture them with sexual desire. But when she interrogates Dixon Hazard, she finds herself fighting her own arousal as he captures her heart.

Tortured with sexual desire! Yay!

Allie's got a great post for us about labels and their limits. Take it away, Allie!

Hi, everybody. I really enjoyed writing Love & Torment. This novella-length work is fully character driven and works much like a drama set in just one room. Or in this case, just one bed. 

When Jessica invited me to do this blog, I started thinking about what I have to say as a writer. Literary people love to throw around the word “theme.” I can’t say that I ever set out to give my stories any deep, serious themes. I’m more concerned with having a good time and making sure I entertain my readers, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some common themes running through my work.  

  

Without getting too serious, I thought I’d talk about one of those themes. It’s this: labels don’t define people. No, I don’t mean those itchy tags in the back of your shirt. I’m talking about social labels.

 

Interestingly enough, the labels we use for people (real or fictional) tend to tell you what the person is not. For example, think about the label “gay male.” Okay, that doesn’t tell you who this guy is. Is he funny or serious, kind or cruel? We don’t know. Since it doesn’t mean he’s attracted to every man on the planet, it doesn’t even tell us what he is. But it does tell us what he is not. He’s not sexually attracted to women. That’s not much of a descriptor and certainly not something that should be used to pigeonhole a whole person or character.

 

Obviously labels for race, religion, and sexual orientation are the biggies. I would also add gender to that list—something I played with in my female-dominated society in Switching Positions. Other labels are subtler.

 

In Love & Torment, my characters defy labels at every turn. Dixon Hazard is labeled a prisoner, yet he’s not powerless. He uses his wits and the attraction between him and Kira to connect with her and turn the tables. Although he’s the one bound and naked, she’s the one who is vulnerable because he sees through her dominant, jaded façade. Kira is psychic, equipped with the ability to control arousal and orgasm, but that’s just a talent she has. Her personality is really revealed by how she uses that talent.

 

No label can tell us who we are. Only our actions and choices can do that. Why should fictional characters be any different?

 

Thanks, Jessica, for inviting me over to Friskbiskit. I’m delighted to be a part of your diverse and entertaining site.

Thank you, Allie!

 

Tomorrow: Allie Ritch Guest Blogs

In other news, author Allie Ritch will be a guest here tomorrow. I'm very excited! Allie hosted a cool promo a few weeks ago where we gave her some of our favorite lines from our books. Kind of a group Word Candy Wednesday. You should check it out, and you should come back here tomorrow to read what she has to say about labelling. It's a great post.

The Clockwork Author: An Interview with Steven Harper

Steven and I go way back to when we were both in the Untitled Writer's Group together. He's a great writer and a wonderful friend and it's a particular pleasure to welcome him to the blog today. Steven has a new book out and it sounds terrific, so, Steven, without further ado, tell us about THE DOOMSDAY VAULT. We're in London, 1867.  Alice Michaels is the daughter of a down-and-out baron.  She and her father are social outcasts because the rest of her family died of the clockwork plague.  It was years ago and she doesn't have the disease, but polite society won't touch her now anyway.  In desperation, Alice's father wrangles her an invitation to one last high-society ball in the hope she can break back into the right crowd.  She does meet a rather nice young man, but on the way home, she's attacked by zombies, and-- Wait--clockwork plague?  Zombies? Yeah.  About a hundred years ago, a new plague tore through the world.  It eats the brain and the body, causing oozing sores and dementia.  Out of that, you get zombies.  Everyone calls it the clockwork plague because for maybe one victim in a hundred thousand, the plague makes the brain come together instead of fly apart, and the victim becomes absolutely brilliant--but only for a short time.  For a few months they invent like crazy--automatons, coal-driven computers, clockwork animals--then go completely insane and die. Mad scientists. We call them clockworkers, to be polite.  Clockwork plague.  At any rate, Alice runs into an underground police force called the Third Ward.  They . . . harvest clockworkers and their inventions for the good of the British Empire.  And they want Alice to work for them. Meanwhile, a young man named Gavin Ennock, who is seventeen, works as a cabin boy on an American airship.  En route to England, the ship is captured by pirates.  Gavin eventually escapes into the mean streets of London, but his only other skill is playing the fiddle, and he's in dire straits.  No money, no shelter, no job, and winter is coming.  He has undeveloped talents, though, and he eventually comes to the Third Ward's attention.  Trouble is, the Third Ward has a number of secrets, ones that can topple empires.  Alice and Gavin are in more trouble than they know. How did you get started writing steampunk? I'd read quite a lot of steampunk, and then was invited to submit to a steampunk anthology called THE SHADOW CONSPIRACY at Book View Café.  I wrote a novella called "The Soul Jar," and it was so much fun, I had to do more.  At first I thought about writing more in the same universe as "The Soul Jar," but that was fraught with legal complications--SHADOW is a shared-universe anthology--so I created my own world.  I was glad I did.  THE SHADOW CONSPIRACY is still available, incidentally, at http://www.bookviewcafe.com Where did THE DOOMSDAY VAULT come from? That annoying DHX noise.  You know, that electronic sound they used to play at the beginning of movies?  My son is autistic and that noise causes him active pain--autists process sensory information differently than neuro-typical people.  I started researching sound as a result and learned that the DHX noise is based on something called a Shepard tone.  It's the auditory equivalent of a barber's pole, which has no beginning and no end.  More reading turned up the relationship between the Shepard tone, the square root of two, and a tritone, which is sometimes called the Devil's Interval because it's so ugly.  The tritone is a paradox--its vibration rate is based on the square root of two, an irrational number.  Irrational numbers can't quite exist, but they do.  I wondered if that paradox caused the pain for my son.  His autism gives him perfect pitch, you see, and he's hyper-aware of the impossibility in a Shepard tone. And then the book started to come together.  I created Gavin, a young man with perfect pitch (but who isn't autistic) and a group of mad scientists who can't bear the sound of a tritone.  I created Alice, a woman who wants back into a society she dislikes--another paradox.  The story went from there. You often explore non-traditional relationships in your fiction. Your Silent Empire series, for example, revolves around a gay male couple.  Is that true for THE DOOMSDAY VAULT, too? I can't seem to work with traditional relationships.  (laughs)  It's true, yes.  Alice is in her twenties, and she meets Gavin when he's only seventeen.  They fall for each other pretty hard. A younger man with an older woman. Yep.  It's another paradox, actually.  I ran into controversy with this even before the book was published.  My editor said she wanted to buy the book but felt Gavin was too young for Alice.  My writers group criticized this aspect of the book for the same reason, claiming it was too squicky for a twenty-something woman to get into a relationship with a seventeen-year-old guy.  I pointed out that in the Victorian era, no one would have said a word if Gavin were in his twenties and Alice were seventeen.  Why should there be a problem for modern readers with the reverse?  Aren't we all for equality?  This inequality, of course, causes conflict in Alice and Gavin's relationship, since the Victorians would have objected to the relationship, too.   In order to placate my editor, I did have Gavin turn eighteen soon after he and Alice meet, and a year passes in the book, so he's actually nineteen some time into their relationship, but some of my beta readers still protested.  Interesting, isn't it? What do you do when you aren't writing? My day job is teaching high school English.  And I've recently become a single dad.  Between the day job and three sons, I'm pretty busy.  I ride my bike and play City of Heroes, the on-line video game, when I have a little free time. What's up next? I just turned in the final version of THE IMPOSSIBLE CUBE, the second Clockwork Empire book.  It's due out in May, 2012.  Now I'm working on THE DRAGON MEN, the third book.  Watch for them! Thank you, Steven Harper. Steven Harper usually lives at http://www.theclockworkempire.com and http://spiziks.livejournal.com .  His steampunk novel THE DOOMSDAY VAULT, first in the Clockwork Empire series, hit the stores in print and electronic format November 1.

 

Guest Post: Tara Lain

Today the wonderful Tara Lain is with us to celbrate the release of her new book, Golden Dancer. Always a delight to have you here, Tara. 

Tara's giving a book away to a lucky commenter so please leave a message. And don't miss the tantalyzing excerpt from Golden Dancer below.

It’s my delight to be back visiting Jessica at Friskbiskit. As you may know, I write the Beautiful Boys of Romance, and since I was last here, my beautiful guys have increased.

Who are the beautiful boys? You’ll recognize them when you see them. They are larger-than-life, often too beautiful to be believed, sometimes alpha but generally a bit more on the beta male side. I thought I might introduce you to a few of them both old and new. 

 

 

•    Every girl remembers her first love and that’s how I feel about Roan Black, one of the heroes of Genetic Attraction, The Scientist and the Supermodel, and a featured player in Deceptive Attraction coming November 1. Roan is extraordinarily gorgeous, gentle, wise, and has a special tattoo. Many of my readers are in love with him. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

•    David Underwood may be beautiful and a bit flamboyant but he knows what he wants and what he doesn’t want. David stars in Volley Balls where he poses in the nude as, who else, Michelangelo’s David.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

•    Golden Dancer, my new release, has three fantastic  men but the “beautiful boy” is definitely Trelain Medveyev, my ballet dancer. Half Russian and half British, Trelain is all fire and ice, passion and reserve. Half man and half boy, he is cool and loving by turns.

 

 

 

 

 

•    The sequel to Genetic Attraction, Deceptive Attraction stars the brother of my scientist, Jake Martin, young Caleb Martin, the soccer star. But the Tara Lain beautiful boy in the book is really Elijah Dante, so pretty he looks like a girl -- from the neck up. Complicated, haunted,  and flawed, Eli still captures a lot of hearts.

 

 

 

 

Now let me tell you how to win a copy of Golden Dancer or Volley Balls and meet the beautiful boys inside. Just leave a comment here. You’ll be entered in the drawing on October 8. If you’d like to be entered in 2 drawings, go over to Beautiful Boys Books and leave a comment. There are a lot more ways to earn entries, so check out the blog and read all the details.

And here's an enticing excerpt from Golden Dancer!

Excerpt R: Golden Dancer by Tara Lain, M/M/M Romantic Suspense

Available from Loose Id

A reporter and the thief he’s investigating fall for a golden dancer forging a ménage of love and lies that could send one to prison and one to the morgue. Uncovering secrets requires baring more than just the soul.

The big man led him through the crowd with a strong hand. Trelain glanced back to see Allison’s face looking both confused and concerned. She clearly didn’t want to lose control of her donor-bait, but lose control she had. Daniel seemed to be quite certain where he was leading them.

When they reached the other end of the big open space, Trelain pulled back. The guy was much bigger, but Trelain was strong. “Hold up. Where do you think we’re going?”

The man turned and gave Trelain that wolfish grin again. Close up, he really was lovely with those deep, dark eyes, and dark curving brows contrasted with the shock of silver hair. “I thought I’d rescue you.”

Trelain smiled. “And I thought I was getting champagne.”

The man stared at him for a moment then looked up and waggled a finger seemingly into space. Moments later, a waiter appeared out of the crowd carrying a tray packed with bubbly. The man grinned. “Would you like it all?”

Trelain smiled back. Daniel seemed a man who got what he wanted. But then, so was Trelain. He selected a full glass from the tray. “One should be sufficient.”

The man took another one, though he didn’t seem to drink it. “But more is better.”

The waiter left, and Trelain took a sip. “Your philosophy of life, I presume?”

“Totally.”

“So who are you, Daniel?” Trelain noticed that people milled all around them, but no one interfered.

“A child of the universe. A lover of art in its myriad forms. A surfer and diver. Oh, yes, and I dabble in computer software sometimes.”

Trelain glanced at him sideways. “Dabble? Like Bill Gates?”

The guy gave a huge smile. “Yes, precisely like that.”

No doubt richer than Croesus, based on the deference everyone seemed to show him. “So, what exactly does ‘rescuing me’ look like?”

“If you’ll let me, I’ll take you to my home in Laguna Beach. Sun, surf, relaxation.”

“Mr. uh…”

“Terrebone. Daniel.”

“Are you propositioning me?”

The man leaned down so his lips were close to Trelain’s ear. His breath smelled like peppermint. “I am propositioning you at every level, cavalier. You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen on two feet, and I want you near me. Preferably under me for hours at a time.”

Bloody hell. Trelain smoothed a hand down his arm to try and control the goose bumps.

The man chuckled. “I think that sounds good to you.”

A little distance was required. Trelain stepped back. “You are more than persuasive, uh, Daniel, but you also impress me as a man who is used to getting what he wants. Perhaps I don’t enjoy being one of a multitude.” Yes, he was being flirtatious, but it was also true. Maybe part of the appeal of the reporter had been that he wasn’t usually attracted to men. Trelain liked being special. Hell, who didn’t?

Daniel very discreetly ran his fingers up Trelain’s arm. Good. He wasn’t trying to make a show of possession. “It’s true, my friend, that I have had many brief encounters in my past. I don’t think you know anything about me; why would you? But others will delight in telling you of my peccadilloes, so I might as well come clean. That was the past, however. I have not been in a relationship of any kind for many months. I am weary of the game. I want someone special in my life, and you, my friend, are very special.”

Trelain smiled. His thoughts had been answered. He opened his mouth to speak, but Terrebone put up a hand. “One more thing. I won’t rush you or crowd you. I would love to have you come to my home as a guest with no strings attached.”

Trelain cleared his throat. “I am dancing three nights this week, and I believe Laguna Beach is some distance from here.”

“About an hour. But you are free on Thursday, I believe?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you pack your bathing suit” -- he gave that charming, lecherous grin -- “or not, and I’ll send a car for you after your performance. I’ll have a massage therapist standing by, my chef will prepare all your favorite foods, and you can have a quiet vacation for a few days.”

Suddenly, Trelain was too tired for banter. A vacation sounded like heaven, and if it was with this beautiful man, all the better. He might have a thing for that silly reporter, but it was a stupid, fruitless crush. This man was handsome, rich, and seemed sincere. And he knew he was gay. A huge improvement. “I would love to come.”

Daniel looked surprised, then delighted. “You are a world of surprises, cavalier. I like that in a man.”

Trelain sipped the last of his champagne and glanced at the still-milling crowd of patrons. He sighed. “And now I must continue my role as money-grubber-in-chief.” He bowed slightly. “If you’ll excuse me.”

“Oh, one more thing. Please give this to Allison.” Terrebone handed him a scrap of paper. It said IOU $1,000,000.

“Fucking hell.”

“Not enough? I just wanted Allison to know I hadn’t been wasting your precious time.”

Trelain carefully folded the paper. He laughed all the way back to the group of donors surrounding the anxious program director.

---------------------------------------------------

Thanks again to Jessica and to all of you for coming by to say hello. :)

You're welcome Tara, great to see you!

Find out more about Tara and all her friends on her blog, or follow her on Twitter or Facebook!

Guest Post: Out the Window and into the Woods with Kay Berrisford

Please welcome Kay Berrsford, whose first book, Bound for the Forest, just came out this month. Kay has some great words of writing wisdom for us, which I think will be familiar to any of you who have been students of mine. She and I definitely share the same philosophy.

CONTEST! Leave a comment with your email addy and you'll be entered to win a free copy of Bound for the Forest.

I’m a real newbie to this game.  My first novel, ‘Bound for the Forest,’ an m/m fantasy romance, was released by Loose Id this month.  ‘Bound’ was the second manuscript I ever the sent to a publisher.  The first, an m/f Regency romance, offered to a major print publisher, was received back with a polite ‘thanks but no thanks’ at the end of last year.

I was disheartened, but my friends told me to stop trying to write what I believed publishers wanted and write instead what I wanted to read. So I did, throwing all notions of ever getting published out of my window. (They were pretty small notions. As I live in a ground floor flat, I scarcely heard the ‘bump’ when they landed.)

The result was ‘Bound,’ and it’s definitely my book.   I tossed in all my favorite ingredients – m/m romance, sexy ex-soldiers, forest realms with faerie magic, al fresco sex, and a liberal dose of BDSM.  The tree-shifters and orgiastic Wild Men took me by surprise, but writing is always most fun when the story takes on a life of its own. So I let everything unleash. Even the bondage with magic ivy.

With ‘Bound for the Forest,’ I did my publisher research after I’d completed, seeking places where my book might fit rather than molding my writing to spec.  And, at least for me, it worked! I’m very grateful that Loose Id gave my story a home, and now my job is to persuade you all to share in my strange and sexy imaginings. Oh, and yell at all you great and aspiring writers out there exactly what my friends told me: write your book.

Thank you so much to Jessica Freely for letting me blog here today.  It’s a real honor!

You are so welcome, Kay. It's been a pleasure. And thank you for sharing an excerpt from Bound with us!

Bound for the Forest is available now from Loose Id.

Blurb: Ex-soldier Brien forces Scarlet, a sexy young thief, to lead him into a forest realm of magic, sex, bondage and blood. Can they discover their true feelings for each other before the forest spirits enslave them both?

Excerpt:

Scarlet slammed his fist onto the counter, knuckles clenched white. The jars clinked out a warning, and the captain closed in at Scarlet’s side. Brien touched Scarlet’s shoulder; despite himself, Scarlet felt his anger wane a little. He screwed his eyes tight. Brien’s heavy breath rustled the hair on his brow.
 
“Listen, Scarlet. I’ll tell you what you are. I’ve known it for some time now.”
 
He shuddered only slightly as Brien’s thumb traced the line of his cheekbone. “When…when you first saw me, you told me I was a pixie. But you meant that…as something dirty.”
 
“Maybe I did back then, but I don’t think so anymore. You’re a beautiful man, and you’re strong too.”
 
Brien’s hand slipped down to cup his face, and Scarlet’s eyes flew wide. He closed his fingers on top of Brien’s, but he could not bring himself to push him away. It had to be that natural draw between them that Arya had told him about, and damn it, Brien’s touch sent a flash of fire through his veins. “I’m not strong,” he stuttered. “I’m not like you.”

“I never said you were like me,” whispered Brien. “But you are strong. You fight hard, you’re as stubborn as steel, and it’s not magic that makes you so damned irresistible.”
 
“Irresistible? But…but I thought you wanted Urhelda?”
 
“No. You know as well as I that there is nothing between me and that girl that can ever compare to this.”
 
With that, if nothing else, Scarlet could not bring himself to argue. Brien’s breath scorched against his lips, his large frame cocooning tighter about Scarlet’s by the heartbeat. He could feel his body surrendering—and, so much worse, his mind. He wanted this so badly.
 
“The spirits…are real.” Scarlet’s voice sounded strained. “How can you even question it? It is everything in this forest—and this thing between us. It’s…it’s the reason it’s so hard for me to fight this.”
 
“This is called attraction, Scarlet. This is about the pleasure of another person’s company, and about simply wanting to be together. This…is what’s real.”
 
Brien grasped him by the shoulders and shook him gently. Scarlet’s lips were already parted in a silent gasp when Brien plunged forward to claim them. The touch of his mouth was even more exhilarating than Scarlet recalled, his overpowering flavor spiced by the gin. Scarlet felt his senses lurch as he raised himself onto his toes, parting his lips wider and inviting Brien to intensify the kiss. Coarse stubble scraped his chin, and he dug his fingers into those broad, flexing shoulders. Yes, this is what they came here for.

For more info on Kay and her writing, visit her website or follow her on Twitter!

Guest Post: Tara Lain, Goddess of...

  Tara Lain never met a beautiful boy she didn’t love – at least on paper. A writer of erotic romance, mostly ménage and male/male, Tara loves all her characters, but especially her handsome heroes. A lifelong writer of serious non-fiction, Tara only fell in love with EROM in 2009 and, through perseverance and lots of workshops, had the first novel she ever wrote accepted for publication in 2010. She’s now on book six. After an exotic life of travel all over the world and work in television, education and advertising, Tara settled in Southern California with her soul-mate husband and opened her own small marketing business. She paints, collages, and started practicing yoga “way before it was fashionable”. Passionate about diversity, justice, inclusion and new ideas she says on her tombstone it will read, “Yes”.

Fascinating bio Tara. You live a rockstar life! So awesome! Welcome!

And I understand you're going to address a subject near and dear to all of our hearts. A topic that is only more relevant with every passing moment -- quite possibly, in fact, the only thing that can save the world from utter annihilation:

Boys Kissing Boys!

Take it away Tara!

A long time ago when the movie Philadelphia was being filmed someone asked Tom Hanks what it was like to kiss Antonio Banderas. The charming Hanks replied that now he knew what it felt like to be the envy of all the women and half the men in the world. Sigh. Watching two men kiss is a huge treat for more women than will probably admit it. And to celebrate the release of my new M/M novel The Scientist and the Supermodel which has some pretty yummy kisses in it, I want to share the pleasure of boys kissing boys.

 
Let's plunge right in. I adore androgynous men - not everyone's taste I know -but that makes me a big fan of the adorable Adam Lambert who has single-handedly upped the male/male kissing quotient of the world by a big percentage. This picture is from his world tour where every night he kissed his lead guitarist Tommy, reported to be straight but obviously unprotesting, much to the delight of his audiences. 

The popular television series Torchwood features some beautiful and touching love scenes involving the hero played by John Barrowman. I don't know the storyline but I sure do love these scenes. 

I've always been a big fan of the brilliant actor, Daniel Day Lewis. Have you ever seen the film he made early in his career called My Beautiful Laundrette? Even today, the scenes of Day Lewis as a gay street punk in love with a Pakistani boy hold up as models of truly steamy gay sex on film - and some lovely kissing.

And now to offer something for everyone. Do you like your boys young and pretty?

Athletically imaginative?

Or very, very wet?

Now, aren't you glad you came by the blog today? 

You know we all are, Tara. But listen, don't forget to tell us about your new book and the contest you're running in conjunction with your blazing summer blog tour.

  The Scientist and the Supermodel: Jake has a mad hidden passion for his older boss, Emmaline Silvay, so why is he getting all hot and bothered when he sees this gorgeous man in a bar? Though Jake thinks of himself as straight, he's been having a lot of trouble getting excited about any of the girls he's dated. He doesn't have any such trouble with the supermodel, which throws his whole world into confusion. Roan Black knows better than to fall for some straight guy, especially a PhD scientist who couldn't possibly be interested in a high school dropout, could he? Well, maybe they can just have sex ....

S&S Buy Link:  http://www.loose-id.com/The-Scientist-and-the-Supermodel.aspx

S and S Book Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0glXEW3_fM

Tara's sharing an excerpt with us today. Thank you Tara! I read it and it is smoking hot! Great dynamics between the men. And Tara really knows her way around a... uh... towel! That's it. TOWEL!

See, it pays to hang around with the right people. But don't just go scrolling down to the link immediately. Show a little self-restraint and find out how you can win a free copy first.

THE CONTEST!!! 8 BOOKS THIS MONTH! 4 Books Next Month.

Here's the first simple step:

Comment on this blog and leave your email address. I will copy it and enter it in the drawing for the 2 books being given away during this week.  One copy of The Scientist and the Supermodel and One copy of Genetic Attraction.  You'll be notified by email if you win. Comment and email, simple.

Here's MORE CHANCES TO WIN! (more complicated so read closely LOL)

Go to my Book blog http://beautifulboysbooks.blogspot.com. Leave a comment and follow the blog (if you already do follow, it counts). You will be entered in EVERY drawing until the end of the month. Two books will be given away every week and you'll be entered in all those drawings.

Go to every blog on my blog tour and leave a comment on the day of the post (or at least in the same week) and you will be entered again during the week in which the post is made.

The entire blog tour is listed on my website http://www.taralain.com/blog_tour_schedule.html and updates will be posted regularly so check it out. There will also be Yahoo Group chats where I will be giving away other books so watch for those!  

Whew!! Remember, you can take each one of these steps and have a bunch of chances to WIN! (You just have to enter, the logistics are my nightmare!  LOL) Got it? Leave a comment, and I hope you enjoy an excerpt from The Scientist and the Supermodel.

And now finally, Tara's smoking hot excerpt from The Scientist and the Supermodel: 

Warning: This excert is smoking hot.  You must be eighteen or older to view it. By clicking the link below you certify that you are eighteen and that it is legal for you to view this material.

Story Orgy!

Please welcome Hank Edwards, whose posting today about orgy stories Story Orgy, the Story Orgy anthology, and the Trevor Project.

Sometime in the chilly throes of January, five writers banded together to post stories on their blogs. This in itself is not unusual, but these writers who work together as a group call themselves The Story Orgy. Along with a sixth member, their “photographer,” Jade Baiser, who captures the theme or emotion of the week’s stories in images grabbed from the web, the Story Orgy -  JR Boyd, Lee Brazil, Hank Edwards, Havan Fellows, and Em Woods - deliver humorous, romantic, spooky, sexy stories every Monday morning….

*ahem* Yeah, that’s how this whole thing got going, folks…but how do
we do it? Ahh…that is the question….

We start with three prompt items selected from a batch of people, places,
and things. All three things must appear in some form or another in the
story. On Monday morning, as the birds are starting to wake, we post our
stories to each of our blogs and then share the links on Facebook and
Twitter. Each of us provides the links to the other blogs at the end of our
story, setting up a circle of creative energy for our readers.

Feedback is always encouraged, by comments either on Facebook or our
blogs, but the Story Orgy really wanted to involve our faithful readers. So
we came up with the idea for a contest: readers could submit prompt item
suggestions via email. The Story Orgy writers then reviewed the groups of
items with no names attached and each of us chose the items that … ah,
excited us, so to speak.

“And the Prompt Is … Volume One” is the result of this synergy
between us writers and you readers. The stories are all m/m with a splash

of sex thrown on for spice, and the result are these tales of humorous,
spooky, and yearning romance. Each winner whose prompt was chosen
received a free copy of the anthology complete with a personalized
dedication from his or her author.

As a special note, all profits from the first ninety days of sales for “And
the Prompt Is … Volume One” will be donated to the Trevor Project,
the leading national organization providing crisis and suicide prevention
services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ)
youth. The book can be found on Amazon at this time, but will expand to
other sites soon.

To become a Story Orgy enthusiast, Like our Facebook page at http:/
/www.facebook.com/SOGroup. We look forward to seeing you at our
Monday morning Story Orgies!

Story Blurbs:
“Picking Up Quinn,” by Em Woods
Liam watched from the corner of his eye as Quinn slid into sleep. His
knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel so tightly, but it
took everything in him to keep all the words and feelings from rushing
out. It never did any good, even when he couldn’t control himself.
Quinn always disappeared anyway.

“Finding Pleasure,” by JR Boyd
Sterling smiled as he watched the gentleman exit with his bag of chips.
He replied without thinking. “Please, sir. I’m long overdue to do the
Dew…and you too.”
Just about the time Sterling completed his statement, a clean-cut
businessman clothed in a complete Cavaricci suit walked in clearing his
throat. “Excuse me gentlemen. I hope I’m not interrupting.”

“Farewell,” by Havan Fellows
The tears flowed down his cheeks and he started the gibberish talk that
always happened when someone poured out their hearts, like in all those
movies that Riley and he stayed up late at night watching. “I can’t Riley…
I can’t do this without you. It’s too hard; living is too hard. Every breath I
take hurts me."

“The Old Soda Shop,” by Lee Brazil
Hardening his heart, Sam continued. “That’s just it, Matt. I don’t want to
be loved. I don’t want to love anyone. I just wanted to get laid a little. I
need freedom to pursue my dreams, and taking care of you, it’s a burden
I don’t want. I thought it was all just fun. You’re taking things way too
seriously. So, please, do us both a favor and leave before I get back
Monday afternoon?”

"With This Ring," by Hank Edwards
Dylan hesitated, watching the door slowly swing shut as Carl strode down
the entrance hall of the suite. What was Carl expecting from Dylan if he
followed him? And what if the guest who was staying in it came back? If
they were caught, he would lose his job, and the Ritz Carlton was where
he had always dreamed of working. Just before the door clicked shut,
Dylan reached out and stopped it.

And the Prompt is... Story Orgy Anthology on Amazon:
ebook/dp/B004ZZSVTS/ref=sr_1_6?
ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-
text&qid=1305083261&sr=1-6

Guest Post: Tara Lain on Digital Publising

Please join me in welcoming Tara Lain to Friskbiskit. Tara is a new author whose first book, Genetic Attraction, just came out from Loose Id last week. It's a steamy m/m/f about Dr. Emmaline Silvay, her much younger research partner Jake, and his boyfriend, the notorious male supermodel Roan Black. Oooh.

For more about Genetic Attraction, please visit the book page on Loose Id.

Digital Publishing: The Birthplace of New Writers

Jessica asked me to comment on some of the topics you all have been discussing here on the blog. When she mentioned technology and its impact on publishing, my first thought was that I was so new to fiction writing that I didn’t have an opinion yet. Then I realized that was dead wrong, because digital publishing is what has made it possible for me to be a published fiction writer.

You see, I write nonfiction for a living, and have published hundreds of magazine articles under other people’s names, as well as brochures, websites, white papers and such. When you write all day, it takes a real passion to get you to write some more in your spare time. My passion is passion! I love writing erotic romance, mostly m/m and ménage (m/m/f and m/m/m). While today’s supermarket romances are pretty darned steamy, they don’t really fall into the category of erotic romance, and none of them are male/male or female/female. If people like me want to write these subgenres, we’re not going to find a home in mainstream publishing. So, digital publishing by independent publishing houses has opened the world to a whole new group of writers, writers who wouldn’t have the time or the passion, perhaps, to write mainstream fiction. That would be me.

Digital publishing enables me to submit manuscripts directly to the publisher without having to have an agent.  It allows a publisher to take a chance on a new writer without the enormous investment required to develop a mainstream author.  It allows me to meet other authors, polish my craft, and get feedback, all online. And that’s not even mentioning the fact that we can research our books from an armchair with nary a plane ticket in sight.

And then there’s promotion. In today’s tight market, even mainstream authors have to promote their own books. For genre writers who can’t expect huge returns on their writing time, an investment in tons of travel isn’t feasible. So instead, we have online promotion. We have Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Yahoo groups, online reviewers, blog tours, author communities and workshops. Authors now have this huge wealth of promotional and educational opportunities to call on without ever leaving home.

I have a dear friend who is a very successful mainstream author. She has retired from writing, partly due to the pressures of the new digital world and the decline of mainstream publishing. So I know technology has had a negative impact on publishing for many people. But for us writers of very naughty books, it’s a huge boon.

How do you feel about digital publishing? Love it? Hate it? Share. 

 

Amaranth & Ash Blog Tour 2010: Victoria Janssen

Hey! The Amaranth & Ash Blog Tour 2010 is wrapping up. Today I'm at my pal, Harlequin Spice author Victoria Janssen's blog, talking about pronouns and intersex characters.  Stop over and share your views.

This Sunday, I'm hosting a chat on Kayelle Allen's Yahoo! Group, RomanceLivesForever from 10 am to noon. I'll be posting excerpts, running contests and generally acting up, so come on by.

Amaranth & Ash Blog Tour 2010: Day Three

I'm blogging on the matter of souls at Fiction with Friction today. Comment and enter a contest to win Amaranth & Ash cover art.

Amaranth & Ash Blog Tour 2010: Day Two

Today I'm blogging on Romance Writer's Behaving Badly. There's a contest, plus I reveal my secret obsession: http://bit.ly/97i7WV

http://bit.ly/97i7WV

Guest Blogger: Nica Berry

My pal Nica Berry has had a couple of new books out since the last time she visited, and today she's joining us to tell us about them, as well as to share her thoughts on writing m/m.  Welcome Nica!

(Note: In consideration for #Amazonfail, Loose Id, Nica's publisher, is offering 10% off all lgbt titles through the end of today.)

Thank you to all for stopping by today, and thank you to my good friend Jessica for inviting me back to celebrate the release of my newest novel from Loose Id, NORTHERN LOVE.

And, perhaps, to prove an exception to a prevalent belief—that M/M is written largely by straight women for straight women.  True, the majority is; it seems a lot of ladies enjoy the idea of two hot guys doing it.  Me, I admire guys from a more artistic point of view.  I like to look at the pretty ones because, well, they’re pretty.  But beyond that?  I’d rather take home a cute girl.

So why does a queer girl read and write M/M?  For several of the same reasons straight ones do.  I like to read to escape my world; I’d rather visit someone, somewhere else when I write, too.  And writing M/M gets rid of those pesky power dynamics and all of the gender stereotypes when both sexes interact.  I’m not interested in girl issues; or, at least, I haven’t read about or found a way to write women in a way that satisfies me.  So I write guys, and I like them vulnerable, cracked, and hiding deep, dark secrets.

I confess to being a psychology junkie.  I’ve checked out piles of books on multiple personalities, autism, PTSD, personality disorders, and whatever else I can find in the psychology aisle at the library.  I like to know what makes people act the way they do, and a lot of it shows up in my books.  My two most recent releases play with several sexual and psychological dynamics not limited to domination and submission, grief, regret and anger, and learning to accept and return love while being true to oneself.

Loose Id calls NORTHERN LOVE a shape-shifter fantasy paranormal.  I call it M/M/M steampunk—that is, fantasy in a steam-powered Victorian-era setting—which moves to the frozen north as Jerek, reeling from his lover Emmanuel’s betrayal, sets off in search of the fabled Ice Citadel.  He finds it along with mute, shape-shifting Piaktok, who teaches him more about love than he could have imagined.  But when snow-blind Emmanuel tracks him down and earns Piaktok’s sympathy and intimate attentions, Jerek’s jealousy risks both his new homeland and the lives of the men he loves.

I was lucky, in that I had so much fun writing this one that it came out fairly easily.   CONSORT, in contrast, took several months and three beta readers to help me iron out the plot problems I knew I had but couldn’t see.  Persistence proved fruitful.  CONSORT is set in mythical ancient Greece and tells the tale of Tenthus, a shepherd seduced by a muse--a male one, of course--and then cursed by Zeus to live as a cicada does, on sex and song, until he can find a suitable human lover.  Phaedrus might be the perfect consort for Tenthus, except that he’s been ordered to kill Tenthus, not fall in love with him.

I couldn’t have asked for better covers than the fantastic ones done by Anne Cain, who managed to capture the characters and feel of the books exactly.  Feel free to visit me online at www.orossy.com/nicaberry.  And as an added treat, here’s an excerpt from NORTHERN LOVE, out now!

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The scent of fish sizzling in a pan brought Jerek out of a strange, twisted dream in which he’d been chained again and Emmanuel had laughed and laughed. Dreaming of him brought back