Hard to Believe.

It's been over a year, and yet, hard to believe it's only been about a year. But there it is. My first release with Freya's Bower came out October 1, 2008. Just over a year ago. I'm going to guess I didn't spend nearly enough time in the interval sleeping. And yet. I'm not really a prolific writer, as these things go. There are writers who put out a far sight more work than I do. Lots of them even have day jobs and families, as I do. So how do they do it? How do they find the time to write so many words and do so much promotion?




I can't answer the question for them, I only know, in my life, there has to be a balance. I have two extremely competent young children. A nine year old who can, in a pinch, or just when she feels like it, cook supper for the entire family. And we aren't talking about bowls of cereal, either. I mean slicing, dicing, and cooking up a mess of Sheppard's Pie. We're talking full course meal. Then there is the six year old who knows, if he's going to eat, he's going to have to fend for himself during the day. And he's recently graduated from Rice Crispies to toasting himself a bagel.



I know. I'm lucky. All I have to do is sit at the kitchen table and supervise, and things get done around me. Because I taught them to be self sufficient. I want my job with them to be over. Much as I love them, I am just the mother. Not the life support system, and they are coming to realize that.



So I sit at the kitchen table and write while they learn stuff around me. Now, the trick becomes finding meaningful time alone with my other children. The made up ones. The ones who really cannot exist without my input. The characters who wander in and out of my life and onto the pages of my stories are as much a drain on my resources as the children of my loins. I don't know how it is for other writers. I just know how it is for me. When I get into the throes of a writing binge, the rest of the world falls away, and heaven help anyone who comes tapping on my shoulder looking for a missing sock or a snack or spouting any problem short of oozing blood.



The trick, I've been told, is balance. I've never been much of one for balance. All or nothing. Multi-tasking ends when writing starts. The more quiet and distraction free my environment, the happier I am. But to write prolifically means shutting out more of the world more often. Hard to do when there is the constant "Mommy, Mom, Ma!!!" going on in the background, just under the skin of concentration. And really, they are young, still, they do need attention after a sort, and so cannot be shut out. Not really.



So how do you find the balance between one set of children and the other? How do you do it? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

WindBlown Reviewed

The first review (that I know of) for WindBlown, at Paranormal Romance Reviews: Windblown is unlike any other book I have ever read...


Check out the rest here: http://www.paranormalromance.org/reviews/review.php?id=32011

Thanks, Melissa. You might be happy to know you'll get your wish. I've got more in store for these three.

Copper Age Magic - September 12

What is this, you ask? It's my friend Bryn's new venture. Along with her partner in comicdom, Tom Brown, she's launching a new world full of wonder and tenticles, and they'll be talking and blogging and all about it all weekend. Click on the poster to the left and go see what it's all about.

Copper Age is a creative enterprise focused on comics but also producing art, stories, music, video, and pretty much anything else that seems like a good idea at the time. The Copper Age, historically speaking, came before the Iron Age we now live in. Copper is not as good a metal for killing people as iron, but you can make nice body decorations out of it. So that’s Copper Age - Awen touched, tree hugging, in love with folklore and mythology, and far too fond of tentacles to be healthy.

http://www.itisacircle.com/ launches with The Blind Fisherman – a tale which started life as a series of pictures and later had words attached to it. It’s a small story arc, and not quite traditional comic form. There are sea monsters, demented occultists, and other strangeness. After this comes Personal Demons – which is more like a conventional comic and begins with the witch Annamarie Nightshade visiting a gothic house, and finding something entirely unexpected.

Click on the banner below to Subscribe to their news letter and keep up with their progress

Dark Divas Wicked Wednesdays

Over at Dark Diva Reviews, today is our first ever Wicked Wednesday. Each week, Amanda will introduce us to a new author. Then she provides you with questions. Answer those questions and email them to her. Come back each week to meet new authors and earn more entries. At the end of the month, she will draw a winner for a $10 Amazon gift certificate.

http://ddrreviews.blogspot.com/2009/08/wicked-wednesdays.html

Good luck!

A Very Important Message

So, I was updating my GLBT wiki page (finally!) when I realized...I had no idea what I was doing. I realized this about five seconds into the procedure, and so I decided the best place to start would be to go and see what other authors' pages looked like. I chose a few at random, and a few people I know know how to do this shit...er...stuff, and who have nice webpages, and I came across something wholly unexpected and totally worth sharing.

Now, I know many people on my flist will have already seen this. Internet Piracy is a very hot button topic these days, but I I just wanted to share this link, because my friend Zath has said what so many of us believe, and said it so very eloquently.

Linkage: http://bookworld.editme.com/ZathynPriest Scroll on down to the bottom of his page and watch that little video.

Well, it's been a while, but here's the good news: June 28, 2009, release date for Black Roses. This little story started an avalanche, I tell you! In trying to find it a new home after the mag where it was first published for all of about three weeks, closed, I pitched an idea to a friend, who pitched it to her friend, who told her boss, and there it is: Immortal Fire.

An anthology of love stories between immortal men. You'll find vamps and ghosts, spirits, sprites (well, dryads, but sprites was better alliteration) and lucky men who find immortality in magic. The stories are written by a host of wonderful authors from across the glbt writing community;



Clare London
Adrianne Brennan
Nix Winter
M. King
Bryn Colvin
and of course, myself.

On the 28th, M. King and I will release the first two titles in ebook format, and host a chat to celebrate the launch of a series of releases that will culminate in a print book of all the stories compiled into one fantastic package.

Join us Sunday the 28th for the Immortal Fire Anthology Launch Chat at His and His Kisses from loveyoudivine. The sexiest gods in the celestial skies are on fire. Jamie Samms and M. King are your hostesses and will announce their releases - Black Roses and Almost Human, as well as introduce you to their fellow antho authors and launch the Hunt For Immortal Fire - to win free ebooks or a copy of the print volume. Join His and His Kisses by sending a blank email to hisandhiskisses_subscribe@yahoogroups.com

See you Sunday at 12:00 Noon EDT!!!

Clare London podcasts

Lots of you know Clare, so if you haven't already heard about this, you should go listen to her interview at Packing Heat with Jordon Castillo. She's got a lot of good advice about gettin' it done, and it's a nice insight into the wonderful lady behind the writing. Even if you don't know Clare, I think you'll enjoy the interview, because if you're an established author, you can commiserate...we're all up to our eyeballs in too much to do, and if you're just starting out, you'll get a bit of insight into what lies ahead.

Here's the link: http://packingheat.net/2009/04/22/packing-heat-050-clare-london-interview.aspx

Grab a coffee and have a listen.

What's Love Got to Do With It?

This morning, some friends and I were discussing the merits (or lack thereof) of the Twilight series, by Stephanie Myers. I'm not really going to go into the discussion now. I will save that post for another day. I just wanted to invite my friend, Nix Winter, over to share a thought she had in relation to teh discussion, becasue I thought it was such a wonderful, inspiring idea.

So, here she is, Nix, and her thoughts on what love has to do with us, our lives, how we live. IWith her permissipn, I've pulled this long quote from the loop on which it was first posted: Castlesintheskyflightsoffantasy)

I don't know.. but Bella must be something... when I think of a character
that's over a hundred years old, probably able to come into decent amounts of
money.. all the art and lovely exciting things in the world and .. what that
character wants most is to... go to high school and date this person who
probably hasn't finished forming her own opinions yet, let alone done anything
with her life. Yeah, cuz he missed out on high school when he was young.
Now, granted, I haven't read the things, nor seen the movie, but I think it
totally plays into the fantasy that people who may not be as confident in
themselves as they might be... about being loved for some magical something or
other hocum rather than being loved for who we are... because when we think
we're nothing, magical hocum is our best hope.

I had this friend once...

who wrote a story about a vampire falling in love with the books written by this
middle aged, physically fraile author... At the time I was kinda.. ewwww.. but
that was because I was younger and couldn't see anything other than m/m as being
attractive to me. Now, I see that if we write the main character/love interest
as someone we might actually be .. it says a lot about us.

If we really want to be Bella.. how long does that last in our lives? A year? Two? If those were the very best years of our lives, and I'm not going back to sodding high
school for nothing, then what does that say about how we see the world, what we
hope for in the word?

Maybe it's just me, growing closer to menopause than homeroom, raining on the parade of the magic mating ritual... I sound bitter and grumpy, but you know....
rather than this splendid idea of seeing someone and KNOWING they're your mate...
I rather like getting to know someone, being flawed on both sides, finding that person's company enthralling and validating, spending time with them without any commitments or promises, and sitting here at my computer, taking a deep breath and realizing how beautiful the world seems when I think of them. Love can seem so very fragile and I can understand the value of wanting this "YOU are my MATE!" kind of magic.. but really Isn't a crystal goblet more lovely than a concrete one? Love is precious because it is so beautiful, so fragile, so unrushable - it happens in
it's time, from full flush in a moment, to taking months or years to build
itself up - and because our lives are so dependent on that tender glow of
acceptance and need.

And you know... Twilight outsells the crap out of my books. So what do I know.
Nix

I think, dear Nix, you know a lot about how to follow your heart,
and that is an inspiration to me, every day. Thank you for letting me share
this little bit of what makes you so special to me with my friends.

Blogging News

Blogging News So, in the interst of expanding my horizons, I've taken an opportunity to blog at Sensual 'n Secret, the blog belonging to Jade Twilight and Tess McKall. And now, also the home of a few more of us ready to share a few secrets and offer up a bit of insight from our own experiences. Hope you'll drop by and have a read once in a while. There's never a dull post, I'll tell you that right now.

Here's my introductory post. First comes Lust

Interviewed!

Check out my interview with Jener over at her blog.

She really knows how to ask the insightful questions. leave a comment, or ask afew questions of your own. I'll answer them as best I can.

So, I've been busy lately, what with all the new goings on in the Dark Diva den, and trying to keep up with my writing and starting a full time job, but I still managed to get a book out there, and here's the info on it. Down at the bottom, you'll find a buy link. Thanks for your time
Jaime

Info
Title: Moving Day
Genre: m/m romance
Length: 30,000

Blurb
Mike Paloso has lost count of the number of times he's helped childhood friend Jay Charles move. Jay's never had much of a home to call his own, content to follow his boyfriends around, but each breakup means a new pad, until the next guy comes along. This time, it's different. There's been no breakup, and no new pad. Instead, there's one hell of a fixer-upper, and not just the house Jay's inherited from his latest, late, beau. This time, Mike has to find a way to repair Jay's broken dreams and mangled heart.
With every reno, there comes some demo, but Mike's not sure he's ready to dismantle his life to rebuild Jay's.

Excerpt
The room at the top of the stairs on the right was the largest of three bedrooms. The light fixture was missing, though, so I had taken up the trouble light and found a few candles. I had our sleeping bags spread out and pillows on the floor facing the television. There was no cable, so only three channels. Jay stood in the doorway with the plate of burgers in his hand.

“Cozy.”

I took the food from him and pointed down the hall to the bathroom. “Go get into dry clothes. I’ll get these ready.” I set the plate on top of some boxes and started dressing them as he went to change. I didn’t realize he had come back until he spoke.

“You can stay.”

I couldn’t quite hide my start. “I liked Darren you know, Jay.”

“Funny.” Jay came in and sat down beside me. “He didn’t much like you.”

“Why?”

Jay shrugged. “You were almost the only thing we ever fought about.” He took the plate I handed him and lifted the bun to see what I’d put on his burger, but he didn’t pick it up. “Then, at the end, he told me to keep you close. To be patient.”

I looked at him. Damp hair clung to the back of his neck and flopped down over his eyes. He had on a tank top and loose pyjama bottoms, and the warmth of the room after the cool rain flushed his cheeks. There had to be a mourning period my libido was completely ignoring. I took my plate and shuffled back to lean against the wall.

“Patient?” Close to him was something I definitely should not be when he looked like that and I had Brian’s voice in my head telling me I was full of shit. He was wrong. I could admit when I wanted something this badly. I wasn’t full of shit. I was just a shitty friend because me with my mind in his pants was definitely not what he needed right now.

“You alright, Mike?”

“Yeah. I’m…hungry.” I tore into my burger and concentrated on it, hoping it would help.



coming February 14 to Freya's Bower Click on the link to buy it!

Do you read M/M romance? Do you write it? Join me and fellow authors at the Latte Lounge tomorrow and talk the day away, or just drop in on your lunch and say hi.

Join Nix Winters, MJ King, and I and many other gay romance writers, like Clare London, Stevie Woods, Ava Marsh, and Josh Lanyon (and more, but I forget all the names).
We'll be talking about our work, how and why we write what we do. There will be contests and excerpts, and an all-round good time. Please come on over and join the fun.

Reviewers needed at the Diva Den

We're busier than ever over at the Diva Den, and we're looking for more reviewers. We want people who love to read, and who love to share. We look for people who can give honest, balanced and thoughtful reviews, and who can turn in one review a month. You can check out our website in the links below, and drop us a line if you think you might fir the bill. (And I'm sure AJ would love some company, guys!)

Do you like to read... a lot?

Dark Diva Reviews is looking for a few people who love to read to join our team.We're about giving frank and honest opinions of books. As well as helping authors get their names out there.We’re here to tell readers like it is.

Right now we only review erotic and romance e-books, but we'll take any genre within those. For example romantic suspense or erotic fantasy.We're a relaxed review company, who wants to give the best and most honest reviews we can.

Authors this is a great opportunity for promos. If you join you can use our yahoo group to promo your books and you'll get a small spot on our about the divas web page.

If you're interested in becoming a member of the Dark Diva team please send an email to darkdivareviews@gmail.com with "reviewer" or "would like to join" in the subject line.
Links-Website- http://www.darkdivareviews.webs.comMyspace- http://www.myspace.com/darkdivareviewsBlog- http://www.darkdivareviews.blogspot.comDDR Public Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DarkDivaReviews

-- The Dark DivasWe Make Reading Sexy

The Slayer's Apprentice by Zathyn Priest: Review

Okay, This was a tough one. It was difficult to get past the unremitting squee and give a coherent review. Lots of times, I read books I like, but the writer in me notices things, plot inconsistencies, character problems, technical difficulties, (this last one, most of all), Rarely, these days, do I get so lost in a book that the inner editor completely shuts down and I get to just read without interruption. This was one of those rare times, so thanks, Zath.

On to the review: The Slayer's Apprentice by Zathyn Priest

Giving the Dragon Form

So, a while ago, I was stumped on actually writing the tale of the dragon and his human familiar. I decided to go visual instead, and the results are on my live journal. Check out the link and the little dragon who saves the world. Or, at least, that's the plan so far. He also falls in love, and I think commits dragon patricide, too, but not because he wants to. That detail is kind of up in the air, still.

Pictures of Peerce

I also read some good books recently. Here's the link to the review. Be warned that the books are a wild ride of sex, bikes and dance mania, and not for those looking for sweet and cuddly.

Book Review: Dance Wars Books 1&2 by Sophia Titheniel

Guest Blog Apperance

Morning. I just thought I would share my first ever guest blog experience with you all. Hop on over to Clare London''s live journal and check it out. Leave a comment, if you like. I'm interested in what everyone has to say.

New Book Cover

So, If I haven't mentioned it, I have a new release coming out, sometime in February, with Freya's Bower. It's called Moving Day.

Blurb

Mike Paloso has lost count of the number of times he's helped childhood friend Jay Charles move. Jay's never had much of a home to call his own, content to follow his boyfriends around, but each breakup means a new pad, until the next guy comes along. This time, it's different. There's been no breakup, and no new pad. Instead, there's one hell of a fixer-upper, and not just the house Jay's inherited from his latest, late, beau. This time, Mike has to find a way to repair Jay's broken dreams and mangled heart.

With every reno, there comes some demo, but Mike's not sure he's ready to dismantle his life to rebuild Jay's.

That's the Fabulous cover Emmy made for me. She rocks, ne?

Not Running Aground

Every writer encounters it. There are many different names for it. Writer's block. Blank page panic. An obstinate/missing/depressed/difficult/insert-expletive-here Muse. Down time. I call it my funk. For me, it doesn't happen very often, and when it does, most times, I feel it coming on, I get a kind of kinetic energy that won't let me sit and write.

This is fine. I can do other things. I can draw, weave, make something out beads and string. There are a lot of other things I can do besides write. In the mean time, I think. Eventually, the ideas come, the need for motion fades, and I can sit and write for hours.

Then there are the other times. The rare ones. The ones when I don't want to draw. Weaving seems like too much work, beads are too infinitesimally small to contemplate. This is more than writer's block. This a creative sinkhole. At these times, mountains of laundry look inviting, the bathroom tile grout welcoming. At these times, the thought of opening a file on the computer does unpleasant things to my insides and the fog of my funk is thickest.

During these times, it seems like there is no way I can get through from one end of the day to the next, because eventually, all the laundry will be folded and neatly tucked away. The bathroom will sparkle. The kitchen will shine. Heaven help me (and my family) I will even cook; anything to avoid the elephant sitting on the kitchen table and disguising itself as my laptop.

What to do then? The more you think about it, the worse it gets. Best to just ignore it and hope it goes away, but what if it doesn't? What if it persists? So I sit and open a file. Something safe. Something in edits that has a nice network of comforting red lines telling me what I should do. Some piece where the hardest decision I have to make is what word to substitute for 'pressed'. And while I do this, I wonder if my editor has any idea how much she is helping me keep the engine running, even if I can't really see where I'm going right now.

Another of my favourite tricks is that handy-dandy chat window. That convenient line to others of my kind (because lord knows, there are none in my house!) I pester other writers. "Whatcha doin'?" "How's your day?" and other seemingly innocuous questions. And they respond, almost invariably, with kindness and patience, putting their own projects on temporary hold to keep me company and pat me on the head. Which seems a lot more patronizing than it is, because in this state, head patting is exactly what I need. And a little bit of hand holding. And a chance to talk about things other than writing.

And eventually, the fog begins to lift. The funk dissipates, and the glimmer of an idea, a lost scene, a satisfactory ending, a character development, something to sort out a plot tangle from an old ms surfaces, like a treasure chest floating up from the depths, enticing me to unlock it and see what's inside.

It really is like the sun burning away a mist. It doesn't necessarily mean I'm in for smooth sailing, but at least I'll be able to see the shore. All that's left is to watch for the lighthouse.

How's that for an extended metaphor?

Heh.

Thanks, fellow writers, editor, chatters, (you know who you are!) for patting me on the head, guiding my words and seeing me safely through the funk. Very much appreciated.

Contest to Win Poor Boy and Other Books

Win three new m/m novellas from three great authors.

How? Answer three questions, on each author's blog, and have your named entered in the draw by sending your answers to logophilos(at)gmail(dot)com.

Here's what you have to do: Answer the questions at the end of this post, and follow the links to the other two author's sites to answer their questions. Once you have all nine answers, send them to logophilos(at)gmail(dot)com.

Here's what you can win: My new novella, Poor Boy


All his life, Roy has had things easy; born to money and privilege, he's a grown man before he realizes how his father's money has bought his privilege off the backs and tragedies of too many people. Now he's on his own and making his way in the world might be a lot harder than he thought.
When he meets street hustler, Scooby, he falls, hard and fast, not wanting to believe the possibility Scooby is one of the unfortunates his family has stepped over to get their way. As young and fragile as Scooby seems, he might be the only one strong enough to save Roy from himself.

Ann Somerville's novella, the second in the Encounters series, Reaching Higher http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/reaching-higher

ee Benoit's Servant of the Season 1
http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1201

And the questions you have to answer from me are:


1. The song 'If I Were a Rich Man' was sung by who in the film of which musical?

2. One of the main characters in my story is called Scooby. Who was Scooby Doo's best human friend, and name another of the Scooby gang.

3. In which song, did which group sing 'It's a rich man's world'?

Now go to Ann's blog and answer her questions, then to Lee's blog, and answer her's.
Send your nine answers to the email address above, and your name will be entered into a random draw to win all three books. Five winners will be drawn when the contest closes
January 13, 2009

New Release

So, the rush is over, we've all had a few moments to breathe, and now it's back to the grind. Well, I have good news for you. If you like angst in your M/M romance, you'll love my new release, Poor Boy, all about a young man who just doesn't know when he's got it good.

Here's the blurb:

All his life, Roy has had things easy; born to money and privilege, he's a grown man before he realizes how his father's money has bought his privilege off the backs and tragedies of too many people. Now he's on his own and making his way in the world might be a lot harder than he thought.

When he meets street hustler, Scooby, he falls, hard and fast, not wanting to believe the possibility Scooby is one of the unfortunates his family has stepped over to get their way. As young and fragile as Scooby seems, he might be the only one strong enough to save Roy from himself.

And here's a small taste:

Driving through the center of the city, the light from neon signs glided over the cars and flashed through the window, accentuating Stryker’s pale features and turning his hollowed out cheeks and bright black eyes ghoulish in their glow. The car slowed, and a teenager on the corner squinted in at us. Stryker liked people seeing him in this great monstrosity of a car. It made him feel rich even though his family kept him on a tight budget in an obviously futile effort to keep him sober. The kid on the corner grinned, nodded, and flipped a cord of blond hair out of his eyes. For a split second, I thought I’d seen a ghost of a kid with dead parents, then his face blended into the blur of people as the light changed and the car sped up again.

“Roy, what did you do to piss him off?”

“Hmm? Nothing. He’s been pissed off since I’ve known him.”

“What are we going to do? My allowance only pays for the condo and the car. How am I going to pay for my shit?”

“Maybe you should just cut down on the shit for a while,” I suggested, more than a little sulkily.
He glared at me, the first focused expression he’d managed since I’d hauled him out of my father’s house. “You know....” He shifted to confront me a little more directly. “I’ve never asked very much from you, Roy. I give you what you want, and all I ask is a few bills and a good time. If you can’t supply one, do you really think you can afford to refuse the other?”

“What?” The conversation slipped out of focus for a second, then snapped back, the new clarity making me sick.

“This guy, I know what he’ll take instead of money, but you have to help. He likes to watch. Maybe join in, maybe not.” He shrugged like sex with a stranger to pay for his drugs was no big deal.

“You’re trying to whore me out.”

Stryker smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile. “You know you like being my bitch. Besides, it’s not like it would be the first time.”

I hated that I couldn’t argue that point.

“Fuck you.” I knocked on the glass again, and the window slid down. “Stop here, please.” The man blinked at me, as though the word please sounded foreign to him. “Stop the car.” He shrugged and pulled up to the curb.

I shoved Stryker off me and opened the door. “Have a nice life, asshole.”

I slammed the door, Stryker gave me the finger, and the black Mercedes slipped away from the curb, back into traffic, and disappeared into the dark. I flipped the collar of my coat up around my neck. It didn’t stop the chill wind sliding down between my shoulder blades or whispering in my ear how much this was going to suck.

And here's where you can buy and read the rest of this gritty, but ultimately, heartwarming story:
Fraeya's Bower buy link.