WIP Wednesday: Blood Oath

Hello friends! How's your April going? Mine has been busy, busy, busy! I've been taking my daughter to twice-weekly swimming lessons, which has been an absolute blast (although terrible on my hair), my and Amelia C. Gormley's new short story "Giving an Inch" was released (stay tuned for blog tour details!), I've been finishing off edits on Rear Entrance Video 1: Apple Polisher, writing a freebie short solo, and (drumroll please!) a dark, dark, dark post-apocalyptic story set in Ireland with Lisa Henry, who write one of my fave M/M books of 2012.

I thought I'd share a little snippet with you here, just to whet your appetites. I love these two heroes, and  the story's villain, the mad King of Dublin. Meet all three after the jump.

Freebies and contracts and sales, oh my!

Just a quick little news post to keep you up to date on this snowy Monday.

Item 1:

The contracts are signed and it's official! My first M/F novel, written as Heloise Belleau with co-writer Solace Ames, will be coming out from Carina Press in late December. It's a bisexual BDSM rom-com with no millionaires and an intelligent, self-sufficient heroine, not to mention a serious shoe fetish, a trove of vintage pornography, and a snarky blog. And it's friends-to-lovers, too. It's called The Dom Project (working title, not sure if it'll still be known as such come release day), and you can read all about it on my Coming Soon page.

Item 2:

Abigail Roux won the DABWAHA tournament! It's awesome to see an M/M romance beat out mainstream bestsellers to win the title, purely thanks to fan enthusiasm and love. Awesome!

To celebrate, my publisher Riptide are having a sale: 30% off all backlist titles, and 50% off select "Editor's Picks", including a couple of mine! Both episode 1 of Flesh Cartel and Mark of the Gladiator are now half off, but only until the 15th of April, so get 'em quick!

And congratulations to Abigail Roux and to M/M romance in general! Yay!

Item 3:

It's that time of year again! The M/M Romance group on Goodreads is having their yearly free story event. I'm participating, of course, and snapped up a great, sweet contemporary prompt and picture, which I'm now in the midst of writing. The title is a secret, but here's the working blurb. I'm also posting weekly teaser snippets, but you'll have to join the group to read those!

Jonah Gilchrist lives a double life. On the internet, he’s a tumblr celebrity with thousands of dedicated followers. Readers from all over the world come for his fashion advice and designer menswear Outfit of the Day pictures, but stay for Jonah’s adorkable commentary. In the real world, things aren’t quite so rosy. Here, being an awkward gay virgin isn’t cute and endearing, it’s a target on his back; which was why five years ago Jonah dropped out of junior high in order to be homeschooled instead. Now that he’s starting university, though, he’s determined to redefine himself and start fresh. One problem: it’s hard to start fresh when you’re sharing classes with your ill-fated junior high crush. 

Sebastian Rose, with his easy-going manner and great sense of humor, was one of the most likeable and popular guys in school. He was also one of the only people who didn’t join in on torturing Jonah. Is it any wonder Jonah wound up with a huge crush on the guy? Too bad Sebastian’s kindness toward Jonah was only ever pity, not because he ever returned Jonah’s hapless feelings.

Bumping into each other again after all these years makes it seem like the universe itself wants to give Jonah a second chance at his first love. But if his out of town university and his tumblr persona are all about reinventing himself—a new glamorous popular self to replace the bullied boy he once was—then how can he ever hope to move forward when Sebastian’s presence just pulls him further into his past? Of course, sometimes just when we think we’re moving forward is when we’re not really going anywhere new at all.

New Cover Art! Giving an Inch

Check it out, readers! Here's the gorgeous new cover art by L.C. Chase for my and Amelia C. Gormley's new kinky erotic comedy short, Giving an Inch.

Releases April 15th. Pre-order it now, or add it on Goodreads!

Get away to Ireland this St. Paddy's day

It's that time of year again! Saint Paddy's day. Here in Northern BC it's wicked cold and snowy, hardly parade and cold (green) beer weather, so I thought I'd leave a few helpful suggestions on how to warm up, Irish style.

First up, you'll want to get my father-in-law's Guinness and beef stew on a nice simmer.

Next, load up your e-reader with a few sexy Irish M/M erotic romances by yours truly!

Salting the Earth
Looking for something edgier, with sexy but deadly sidhe kings? Closeted young Irishman Ronan returns from a disastrous year abroad work program to discover his twin sister has been spending every night with the fairies of Knockma mound. Sidhe king Finnbheara agrees to return her . . . but at a terrible price.

Buy it from Storm Moon Press.

The Druid Stone
Epic urban fantasy more your flavour? Cursed Irish-Cuban-American Sean O'Hara travels to Ireland in order to seek out the help the last of the ancient druids. At first, Cormac Kelly thinks it's all a prank or a plastic paddy fantasy, but then Sean's presence in Ireland awakens the mad old sidhe lords, including those thought long dead . . .

Buy it from Carina Press.
Or how about having it read aloud to you in Ian Ruane's sexy Irish accent? Get the Audible version.

Galway Bound
Want an Irish hunk without the supernatural trappings? Sean O'Hara and Cormac Kelly are suffering from a slump in their relationship, but luckily a trip to Galway--with bags packed full of bondage toys--may be just what they need to rekindle the sexier side of their romance.

Buy it (for just 99 cents!) from ARe.

Out of the Tombs, Exceedingly Fierce
Looking for something free? Canadian photography student Maxwell Lewis travels to Scotland to take some photos of creepy old castles and get over his clingy ex, but nighttime on the moors is no place for a hapless tourist.

Download it from Smashwords.

That's it for me! How about you? Got any Irish-themed recommendations to go with my Guinness?

Announcement: A Surprise Release!

I've been wanting to do some lighter shortform erotica for awhile now, and a few weeks back, Rachel Haimowitz at Riptide told me they had a gap in their spring schedule so of course I jumped on it. But not before hooking along a new co-writer, Amelia C Gormley, for a ride. I knew we were basically soulmates after hearing tell of an upcoming release of hers (an M/M highlander romance, be still my beating heart!), and co-writing this short with her basically sealed the deal.

It's the first story in what we hope to be a series, all about a romantically dysfunctional and somewhat out of control--but totally consensual--professor/student relationship. The series is called The Professor's Rule, and book one, "Giving an Inch", comes out from Riptide on April 15th. (Pre-orders--and the preceding link--should be going live soon!)

Here's the blurb:

History grad James Sheridan thinks his biggest problem in life is trying to find a suitable outfit for his upcoming Ph.D. candidacy exam. That is, until he accidentally texts a changing room selfie meant for his fashionable sister to his ex, the domineering Professor Carson. 

James and Carson haven't seen each other since James fled their power games two years ago. Back in his undergrad days, Carson was his Professor, and not just in the academic sense: a man of unusual tastes and extreme sexual demands, James had been happy to sate Carson's savage appetites. Too happy, in fact. He never could trust himself not to let Carson push too far. 

Now James is older and wiser, and sharing some seriously flirtatious vibes with a cute menswear rep. When Carson replies to James's errant text, ready to pick up where they left off, James can't help being drawn back into Carson's control. It's only when Carson suggests involving the salesman that James has to ask himself how far is too far, and whether he's willing to go there with Carson again.

It's a funny, light, but simultaneously twisty and complex story about domination and submission and boundaries. And there's a cute Indian salesman in a nice suit. ;)

So, now you know. Cover art and all the rest forthcoming.

Five Favourite Females (in M/M)

Dear Author reviewer Sunita made a post (itself inspired by a post on JesseWave) about why she was no longer reading as much M/M as she once had. Her discussion of declining quality of course resonated with me and reminded me to always make sure my own books are the very best I can write, submit, and edit.

But it's point 4 of her post that really spoke to my concerns as a reader, and inspired this one:

I’m tired of the woman-bashing. Women are evil plot devices, BFFs of the narrator/main character who exist to be sounding boards or comic relief. Generally they can’t get a date or you don’t want them to. It’s lazy, stereotypical writing and no mature genre with standards would put up with it. And that’s if there are women in the books at all. I just finished a short novel in which there are no on-page women. Granted, that may be because the entire word count was taken up by sex scenes, but having no women in a contemporary romance is quite a feat.

Both male and female authors (of a variety of QUILTBAG orientations) engage in woman-bashing. But while women writers are criticized for it, male writers are called out much less frequently. All too often, gay male authors are valorized as something special whether their work is good or not, whether they insult their readership (which is majority female) or not.

I think this is an important criticism to make, and I never get tired of reading it or discussing it (and if you're the same, the discussion going on in the comments of Sunita's post is an incredibly fascinating and worthwhile read). I hope that my own books prove my commitment to doing better. So in the spirit of rewarding authors who do well, here's a list of my favourite M/M female characters.

The second book, because Ben's so sexy ;)

1. Various Characters in Under the Hill by Alex Beecroft

The two Under the Hill books are truly remarkable for their wonderful characterization, both of the main couple and the supporting cast. The female characters are no exception to this rule. They're agents in the plot with diverse personalities and goals and motivations, and they exist to do more than help or hinder the main relationship (which is the base measurement of a good female character in an M/M, in my eyes). They're also women of colour, which makes them unique on this list. Queens and goddesses and priestesses from British, Irish, and Indian mythology. Each unique and compelling and well-rounded with virtues and flaws. Seriously, if you haven't read these books you truly are missing out on a pair of gems.

2. Donata in Dark Soul V by Aleksandr Voinov

Donata is a dark horse. Reading about women being cheated on isn't a topic I enjoy, and in the first few volumes of Dark Soul, we're told that Stefano is in love with her and doesn't want to let her go, despite how compelling he finds Silvio. It's a great, genuine conflict with no obvious resolution, but Donata herself isn't all that compelling: she's beautiful and poised and, well, arm candy. A very pretty doll on a shelf. In the fifth book, however, she really comes into her own. How she responds to Stefano's admissions, how she chooses to resolve the series' romantic conflict, is a breath of fresh air. Donata easily could have just been an object, a woman acted upon, even if her arc came to the same end, but instead she has more agency than you ever expect. She determines her fate, she drives the story's resolution, romantic and sexual. All of it combines to make me think that maybe that was the plan all along: to have her first appear somewhat shallow and flat, but then surprise you in a very good way.

3. Angelica in Shattered Glass by Dani Alexander

Shattered Glass isn't a perfect book by any means, and the concept behind Angelica seems dangerous on the first pass: the gay main character's fiancee, the latest in a line of seemingly disposable women he can't commit to. Latest and last, because of course by the end of the book he realizes he's actually been gay all along. Angelica could easily be a shrew, an over the top example of why all women are just totally wrong for the main character, but she's not. She's a human being, and the book doesn't automatically forgive the main character for his behaviour toward her just because he's gay and figuring himself out. Part of his arc includes acknowledging Angelica's feelings, talking things over with her, making up like adults. If only all exes and beards in M/M could be given those same (very basic) dignities.

4. Tate in The Usual Apocalypse by Christine Price

Tate's one of my favourite character types: the sidekick/assistant who's frighteningly competent at their job (think Ianto Jones of Torchwood). But Tate is more than someone to move the plot forward by keeping the hero from having to do all that boring research and paperwork. She's smart and funny, full of memorable snark and some of the novel's best lines, a character with wit and drive who totally "clicks" with the hero and who you as a reader just really like spending time with. Sometimes that's all you need.

5. Natalie in Shivaree by Cara McKenna

Okay, this is a bit of a cheat because Natalie is an actual POV character in this hot series filled with M/M/F sex. However, I'm including her because this isn't a typical romance (M/M, M/M/F, or otherwise), and Natalie represents an intrusion on an established gay relationship. In your typical M/M book, you can only imagine how badly Natalie would be written and treated, and in an M/F/M, she'd be some kind of irresistible goddess that is just too perfect and lovely and sexy for only one man. Here, she's an actual woman, someone I found it easy to relate to. She's attracted to a pair of hot guys, has no concept of the substantial issues in their relationship, and stumbles right on in, shamelessly chasing her desires while also helping both men to work out their issues. I won't spoil the ending, but I will say it's unpredictable and massively satisfying, and what's more, Natalie is never once cast off as a homewrecking whore, nor a kindly saviour, here to selflessly magic away a gay couple's troubles. And the sex is pure wish-fulfillment. ;)

So there's my list of favourite portrayals. Have your own? Disagree with mine? I'd love to hear from you. :)

And if there's any M/M authors reading, take this as a challenge! Include a positive, well-rounded female character with a life and motivation of her own in your next work. Go on, do it!

Five Goodreads Do's and Don'ts

So earlier this morning I got linked to a blog post series for authors on how to use Goodreads that quickly devolved into some 100% Bad Advice, namely that you should PM all the readers in the groups you're a member of with a sloppily disguised form message telling them about your books (but saying you're not going to pressure them into buying them or anything, so that makes it all okay, right? WRONG!!!)

Anyway, I thought I'd add my own two cents into the discussion by giving you some guidelines about how I personally, as an author and a reader, use Goodreads: both the things I encourage, and the things that I avoid at all costs. Oh and just by the by, I've written this list hoping you already know the basics like "don't 5 star your own books" and "don't argue with reviewers" and all that.

Five Don'ts:

1. Don't spam people with event invites.

Just because someone has trusted you/liked you enough to add you as a friend doesn't mean they want invitations for your release days, every blog post on your fourteen stop tour, your cover reveals, your live facebook chats. . . Honestly, I don't like this function at all. I almost never say "yes" to invites, and sending me one is pretty much a guarantee that I'll defriend you immediately. The only exception I can see if if you know I live in, say, Atlanta, and you're doing a book signing there next week and you're a big name author whose books I actually read and love. I also give leeway to publishers who use the invite feature in the same way as using a newsletter. One message a week, AFTER I've signed up for the publisher group knowing that weekly invites/emails would be a part and parcel. Use invites the same way you'd use an email list: have them be "opt-in." On that note, don't use the PM system to spam people, either. In my entire time as a Goodreads user, I've PMed people out of the blue exactly twice. Every other message I've sent has been in response to something they've messaged me first.

2. Don't recommend books if you have ulterior motives.

Goodreads has a neat recommendation feature that allows you to recommend books to users, either out of the blue, or based on requests from them. By all means, use this! If you know so-and-so loves the hell out of love triangles and you just read "Shivaree" by Cara McKenna (one my faves), then do send them a recommendation. If someone else is requesting recommendations for stories with fire fighters and they read M/M, then yeah, let them know about "Hot Head" by Damon Suede. But don't recommend books indiscriminately (here, person who reads literary fiction, try this ten book high fantasy series!), and definitely don't recommend your own (or your author buddys') books. Share books you love, not books you just love to see people buying.

3. Don't friend people willy-nilly.

This ain't facebook, and nothing looks more disingenuous than an author (or blogger, etc.) with two thousand friends and four books. Yikes! Coming up hot in second place is someone with a bunch of books, but all of them are generic classics, with no sign of thought or individual personality. Or someone adding me as a friend when I write (and read) M/M and they're exclusively a fan of paranormal YA. Only add people as friends 1. if you've actually interacted (MEANINGFULLY), 2. if you actually have reading habits in common. If you're an author, I'd even extend that to don't friend people unless they've reached out to you in some way first. If they add you first, if they follow you on twitter, if you've spent thread after thread joking with them and trading commentary on your shared reading tastes, etc. Sometimes a person might even be a huge fan of your books, giving you piles of five star reviews, and still not want to be your Goodreads friend. Just because someone likes their books doesn't mean they want to like YOU. Books are a product, you are a person. Don't push it. And especially don't friend people after they've already ignored or rejected your request. Friending them over and over again won't endear you to anyone.

4. Don't be "subtle".

Every Goodreads and social media behaviour list warns you against drive-by spamming people with BUY MY BOOK, but many then go on to suggest "join groups related to your book, join conversations, and then SUBTLY insert references to your book." I'm sorry, but do these authors and social media experts think people are idiots? I want you to think back to the last big budget movie you saw with visible advertising. Oh, the characters JUST HAPPEN to be drinking Coke every scene. Oh, they JUST HAPPEN to drive BMWs. I don't know about you, but it didn't take me long to catch on to the fact that if you see a brand name in a movie, it's because somebody somewhere has paid for that visibility.

Advertising is more than just full on commercials and sales pitches, and people key onto that. If you're joining a thread on alpha heroes only to say "Yes, I love alpha heroes too, that's why I wrote one in my hit series THIS AUTHOR IS A BUTT published by JESUS CHRIST JUST STOP press", well, guess what, Goodreads users know exactly what you're doing and they don't like it. Not after one sentence of joining the discussion. Not after three. Not even after ten. If you're only commenting on a thread to somehow work a namedrop for your book in there, just stop. Don't. Write a funny blog post or post a cute picture on your twitter instead. Personally, after a year of being on Goodreads, I've entirely stopped using groups to advertise my work, even in the threads/subforums set aside for that purpose, because I just don't think it works. Posting outside of those spaces annoys people, and posting within them is pointless because who goes to a forum just to be advertised at? When it comes to the readers groups on Goodreads, my philosophy is simple: Join groups for books you like to read. Discuss books you like to read. If you really, really can't participate as a reader and not as an author, stay out of readers' groups entirely.

5. Don't get sneaky with separate accounts.

I have two Goodreads accounts. I have my author account, and my real name account. My author account is for the books I read in my genre, for interacting with people as my author persona . . . basically, it's my Romancelandia self. I don't use it just to advertise, but I do use it specifically to talk about romance and be a part of this genre. My real name account I've had since college, and use to document my (non romance) bookshelves and keep track of things I read in school, etc. They have two completely separate purposes for me. I don't use my second account to:

• Pretend to be a "reader" and recommend or rate my own books.
• Participate (especially to sockpuppet) in places I know authors aren't welcome, such as review comments for their books.
• Spy on people in author-free spaces.
• Add friends solely for the purpose of eventually advertising my books to them as a "third party".

Making a fake or second account to benefit your author-self while not explicitly presenting as your author self is underhanded, dishonest, and can get you banned if you're particularly stupid about it. Don't do it. If ever you find yourself thinking, "Man if people didn't know it was me [author], I could..." close your computer, walk away, and rethink your life choices. Sockpuppeting is bad form. Period.

Five Do's

1. Actually read

Goodreads is a space for discussing books. Keep a catalogue of your library. Use it as a "to-buy" list of new releases or backlist titles you're excited to read. Review books you've read, with star ratings or not, in your own genre or not. Everyone has their policy on how authors should approach the review system and ultimately what you do is down to your personal ethics. But there should be some evidence on your book page that you actually . . . read books. Because Goodreads is a social network for readers. If you use it like one, you're a million times more likely to enjoy your time there, make friends, and maybe even find people willing to give your books a try.

2. Interact with your fans . . . if they approach you first.

On a lot of my releases, I use the "start a discussion topic about this book" feature on the book page to start a "Chat with the author(s)" thread. Readers sometimes comment on this thread asking if the book is going to have sequels, what I thought of a certain scene, how did I research, etc. etc. All the questions you think while reading a book, now they have a space to ask me. OR NOT. The key here is that they come to me. I don't hop into forum discussions of my books, I don't comment on reviews . . . you get the drift. Make yourself available to readers, but don't force yourself on them.

3. Talk about books

No, not your books, dummy. Everyone else's. Follow peoples' reviews. Comment on them, either to just say "Great analysis!" or "Can't wait to pick this up" or "That's interesting what you thought of [Character], I thought he was more..." Let people know when their reviews have encouraged you to pick up a book or avoid one. Join groups in genres you like to read and hop into the discussions there. Weigh in on your hated tropes, your favourite characters, your underrated genre classics, etc. Be a genuine member of the community, not someone counting down "participation points" until they reach the magical marker where their plugs suddenly stop being irritating.

4. Keep your author page updated

Readers do use author pages to know about you. Keep your bio professional and up to date. Link to your website and social media accounts. Make sure your books are listed correctly in Goodreads' system, including any relevant series info. Goodreads allows you to sync up your author page with your off-site blog, which is a great feature. Not many people follow this blog, but I have lots of friends, followers, and fans on Goodreads who now have a new avenue to read my posts. Let people subscribe to you or find you of their own volition, and make sure you have useful content that makes it worth their while.

5. Stay out of drama

Back when I was in student teaching, my supervisor once told me (on the subject of getting into arguments with teenagers) "Don't wrestle with a pig in mud." Even if you're Totally Just, sometimes you end up coming out just as fucking dirty as the person you're fighting with. As an author, people are watching everything you do, and sometimes the best thing is just to disengage. Internet fights have a way of escalating and getting ugly, the things you type online are forever, and sometimes in the heat of the moment you do things that outside of that moment make you look like a total unreasonable ass. Remember, you're a professional.

Now this isn't to say never ever get involved in an argument. If I said that, I'd be a hypocrite, because God knows I'm the first one to weigh in on the "eww vaginas" chestnut in M/M. The thing is, I get involved in those arguments knowing FULL WELL that somebody somewhere is going to see my participation and think less of me, or (god forbid!) decide not to buy my books anymore. For me, standing up for women is worth that risk. Every author needs to weigh that same risk/reward. Is making a stand on this issue worth losing readers over? If yes, carry on. If no, bow out of the conversation. Just remember that whatever you say does get attached to you, like a resume of sorts. Make sure your online  author resume reflects you in a way you can be proud of.


So that's it! My personal guidelines for using Goodreads as an author. Any other Goodreads users want to weigh in on their likes and dislikes? Their instablock-worthy offences? You know where to comment!