…today’s the last day to sign up for the giveaway to win an eBook copy of reader’s choice from Caitlin Ricci’s backlist!
The giveaway ends at 11:59 pm EST TONIGHT so don’t forget to go to the giveaway post and comment with your email address to be put into the drawing.
Winner will be picked after the giveaway closes and announced tomorrow morning (Friday, February 14, 2014).
So, what are you waiting for? Go sign up!
And good luck!
Heather C: I want to thank the wonderful Libby Drew in advance for offering up a free ebook copy of her newly released M/M Romance, Paradox Lost. I recently read this time-travel adventure and had a lot of fun with it. She even agreed to share an excerpt from one of my favorite scenes! It was my first read by Libby and I’m already looking forward to discovering more of her work. Definitely add this one to your wish list, but first, get your name in for a chance at winning a copy.
Blurb: Time-travel tour guide Reegan McNamara’s job–taking eager tourists to whenever they want to go–is usually a breeze. A trip back to 2020 to watch a world-changing speech seems no different, until a woman runs away from his tour group before the jump home. Now her tycoon husband is demanding her safe return–or Reegan will lose more than just his job.
P.I. Saul Kildare’s business is running on borrowed time. Due to a messy break with the police, he can’t get a referral to save his life. When an enigmatic stranger bangs on his door one night and promises a windfall for a missing-person case, it seems too good to be true. But the two men have an immediate connection, and Saul can’t pass up the chance to spend more time with Reegan, even if he’s clearly hiding something.
Saul knows he shouldn’t trust Reegan, and Reegan knows he can’t get involved with Saul. But as their attraction evolves into feelings neither can deny, will they have the strength to take a leap of faith–together?
Available at: Carina Press
Saul jerked at the loud knock, and the vodka slipped from his grip. He caught it one-handed before it hit the floor. At least his reflexes were still half decent. With a scowl, he set the bottle back on the desk just as the pounding stopped.
Unless it was Cammie checking up on him—and she had a key—someone had the wrong address. He didn’t have any friends. Not anymore.
The silence stretched long enough that Saul sniffed and reached for the vodka again. His hand had barely brushed it when the pounding resumed, and his fingers twitched, sending the bottle crashing to the floor. The sound of shattering glass didn’t disturb him as much as the sight of all that clear oblivion leaking through the wood planks. “Fuck!” He stalked out of his office and across the reception area. On the other side of the frosted glass, a man’s figure stood, tall and broad-shouldered.
Saul jerked the door open to a sandy-haired Indiana Jones impersonator, and the man’s fist, which had been raised to pummel the glass yet again, dropped to his side. Saul took in the khaki pants tucked into scuffed calf-high boots and the long-sleeved button-down shirt. The safari hat resting on the stranger’s head, tilted jauntily to one side, completed the costume.
Saul rested his forehead against the doorframe and sighed. “Can I help you?”
“I’d like to hire you.”
It shouldn’t have hurt, being the butt of the guys’ jokes after all these months, and mostly it didn’t. Saul had opened the door to his share of male strippers this past year. And singing telegrams. And other not-so-harmless things. His punishment for daring to be gay in the old boys’ club.
He didn’t have it in him to play along tonight. “Tell Ron and the rest of them to fuck off. I’ve had enough. One more incident and I’ll file harassment charges.”
The man’s tentative smile slipped. “I feel like we’ve miscommunicated somehow. Let’s start again. My name’s Reegan McNamara, and I’d like to retain your services.”
This Reegan guy was the best actor they’d sent so far. And gorgeous enough to make Saul reckless. “My professional services?” he asked, loading his tone with suggestion. Reegan’s short hesitation doomed him. That and the way he was staring at Saul’s mouth. Saul laughed. “I didn’t think so. So you must want to partake of my other services.” He stepped into Reegan’s space, leaving a slim three inches between them, just enough to see the pupils of Reegan’s eye dilate, and hooked a finger under his belt. “My blowjobs are legendary, you know.”
A sound escaped Reegan’s throat, and he yanked Saul’s hand away. Muttering something indecipherable, he pushed into the room, gaze passing over the cheap, sparse furnishings. “Listen, not that I don’t find your offer appealing, but I’m in a hurry. I’ve lost someone, and I need to find her as soon as possible.
Saul grasped for a verbal handhold. “Are you trying to tell me you’re actually a client?”
“I’m trying to be, so can you stop it with the fuck-me eyes? They’re very distracting.”
Only the doorframe kept Saul on his feet. Clearly, he’d killed that vodka bottle the conventional way and was now experiencing alcohol-induced hallucinations. “I’m sorry. I didn’t— I’m Saul Kildare.”
Reegan’s face was pinched and drawn tight over his cheekbones, but he cracked a grin at Saul’s wobbly greeting. “I know. I recognize you from your picture.” He stuck a tanned, calloused hand in Saul’s face and looked him over, taking in the wet splatters on his jeans. “You look like you’ve had a bad night, but frankly, so have I.”
Saul took the offered hand, finding it warm and firm against his own. When Reegan’s thumb curled, stroking over the back of Saul’s knuckles, heat unfurled in his abdomen. He swallowed past a dry throat. “All right, Mr. McNamara. Where exactly did you see a picture of me? And what are you doing pounding on my door at midnight?”
“Maybe I heard you were offering free blowjobs, so I hustled right over.” Reegan flashed a brilliant white smile.
Clients who ignored direct questions were usually more trouble than they were worth. Clients who flirted and ignored direct questions were downright dangerous. “How about the truth?”
“Oh, believe me.” Reegan’s gaze ran appreciatively over Saul. “I was being truthful.”
Libby glimpsed her true calling when her first story, an A.A. Milne /Shakespeare crossover, won the grand prize in her elementary school’s fiction contest. Her parents explained that writers were quirky, poor, and often talked to themselves in supermarket checkout lines. They implored her to be practical, a request she took to heart for twenty years, earning two degrees, a white-collar job, and an ulcer, before realizing that practical was absolutely no fun.
Today she lives with her husband and four children in an old, impractical house and writes stories about redemption, the supernatural, and love at first sight, all of which do exist. She happens to know from experience.
Libby’s State of Mind received rave reviews for being fast, clever, and relentless and was nominated for a Bookie Award for Best M/M Novel of 2011. 40 Souls to Keep, Libby’s third novel, has been described as intense and heart-poundingly good and was praised by Publishers Weekly for maintaining a high level of suspense.
An avid supporter of gay rights, Libby donates her time to the Trevor Project and organizations that work to support marriage equality.
Everyone give a big thank you to Libby Drew for kindly offering up an ebook copy of Paradox Lost, her newest release from Carina Press!
The giveaway starts now and will end next Friday, February 14th, 2014, at 11:59 pm EST. After which the lucky winner will be randomly picked.
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below with your email address and you’re in!
Make sure to follow the blog for the winners’ announcement post or check back next Saturday, February 15th, 2014, to see if you’ve won.
Don’t forget, Paradox Lost is now available from Carina Press and be sure to check out Heather C’s review to see what she thought of it.
Good luck!
The Blogger Girls: Hear yee, hear yee! Today we are happy to have Caitlin Ricci on TBG who’d like to share a little of her inspiration with our lovely viewers. Everyone give her a warm welcome and don’t forget to check out the giveaway at the bottom! Take it away, Caitlin!
Hello! Thank you for stopping by and wanting to spend a little time with me, Caitlin Ricci. Today I wanted to talk about where my inspiration comes from when I’m writing a book.
I love music even though I can’t play anything, barely passed when we had to play the recorder in class, and can’t sing a single note correctly. Music gets me into the right mindset for the story and I’m one of those people that can listen to a single song for a month straight while I write in order to finish a novel. I just did it with another story where I listened to nothing by Counting Stars by OneRepublic.
I have plenty of ideas and the characters are always talking and I haven’t always been this way but once I find that song that clicks with me and with the story its hard to listen to anything else. This is because nothing else quite makes the story work the same. For Rescuing Jack that song was Elements by Lindsey Stirling. I enjoy a lot of her work and many of my short stories have been inspired by her songs but for this novel Elements clicked the most. Generally the songs I listen to are instrumental but they aren’t usually classical because the flow often isn’t the same. Apocalyptica is a decent example of this idea too and they are my go to band to listen to when I’m fleshing out ideas.
Instrumental music works for me more than songs with words in them because sometimes I start writing out what the people are saying. It’s also why I can’t have the TV on while I write. I doubt anyone wants to read an episode of Judge Judy in the middle of one of my books but it will probably happen if the TV is on and I’m trying to do anything creative.
Editing is completely opposite. I need the words because if I don’t have it I can’t be objective and analytical about my story and just start reading for pleasure instead of doing what I’m supposed to be doing. Counting Stars doesn’t fit into that idea but for some reason it worked last month while I was writing a book.
Thank you for hanging out with me today. My new novel, Rescuing Jack, comes out from Dreamspinner Press today, February 7th. I’m excited because this is my first novel with them but also because these characters are ones that really stood up and grabbed my attention right away. I knew I had to write about them and in a short amount of time this novel came to be.
I’d love to know what you thought of it. Feel free to email me at authorcaitlinricci@gmail.com or visit me online at www.caitlinricci.com.
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Werewolves are real. Marius enjoys the irony that everyone calls him a dog whisperer, not just because he’s a werewolf, but for his work at the local animal shelter. He has a unique talent for pairing families with their perfect pets upon first meeting them. But he’s still looking for acceptance and a forever family of his own. Then Jack comes into the rescue looking for a big, mean dog. To prevent Jack from making the wrong choice, Marius convinces him to adopt a needy spaniel mix instead. But when Marius learns Jack is tormented by horrible memories while at his apartment, he opens his home to the sweet, scared man. As their relationship grows, Jack feels comfortable telling Marius about the horrors he suffered. Marius hopes his steady presence, protection, and love can help Jack reclaim the pieces of himself broken on that terrible night.
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In honor of Caitlin Ricci’s newest release, Rescuing Jack, she’s graciously offered to give away an ebook copy of a reader’s choice from her backlist to one lucky winner!
The giveaway starts now and will end next Thursday, February 13th, 2014, at 11:59 pm EST. After which the lucky winner will be randomly picked.
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below with your email address and you’re in!
Make sure to follow the blog for the winners’ announcement post or check back next Friday, February 14th, 2014, to see if you’ve won.
Rescuing Jack is now available for purchase at Dreamspinner Press. Check out JustJen’s review to see what she thought of it.
Good luck!
And the winner of an eBook copy of Heidi Cullinan’s newest release, Special Delivery, is… Continue reading
…today’s the last day to sign up for the giveaway to win an eBook copy of Heidi Cullinan’s upcoming re-release, Special Delivery!
The giveaway ends at 11:59 pm EST TONIGHT so don’t forget to go to the giveaway post and comment with your email address to be put into the drawing.
Winner will be picked after the giveaway closes and announced tomorrow morning (Tuesday, February 4, 2014).
So, what are you waiting for? Go sign up!
And good luck!
And the winner of an eBook copy of Mary Calmes’ recent release, Old Loyalty, New Love, is….. Continue reading
Heather C: Since the first year Gay Rom Lit was created, Nikyta and I have managed to attend the retreat every year and meet a ton of amazing people. One of those people is Heidi Cullinan, who is not only a great writer but a lovely and entertaining person as well…
Q&A with Heidi Cullinan
TBG: There’s a scene in Special Delivery where the characters visit a sex shop. What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you in a similar situation?
Heidi: Oh, lord. Well, a million years ago when we were first married, my husband and I would go to a local sex shop in Iowa City—rent movies, buy toys, try out the arcades. It was a very openly gay friendly shop, though not exclusive, and we really liked it. One day a friend of ours was curious, and he went with us. He took in the full experience, including the arcade.
Well, Dan and I went in one booth, he in one next door. He dropped his keys and then was all, “This floor is sticky.” Which…yes. Worse, though, his booth had a glory hole, and while he is not gay he gives off a heavy gay vibe, always has. Someone apparently wanted to get something going, because the next thing we heard after sticky keys was, “There’s a hole in the wall. There’s something coming through the hole. Oh my God, there’s a…”
We left shortly thereafter, and we just don’t speak of that night very often.
TBG: You have been known to dress in drag at some of the big writing conventions, how long does it take for you to get into character? Is it true that you use your own characters for inspiration?
Well, this is kind of a recent phenomenon, though most recently now I’m getting in drag as a favor to friends/fans. It started last year at RT, where I was supposed to dress up as “something” for an event, and at a loss I took Damon Suede’s partner’s suggestion I go as a trucker, because that’s one of my books, and it’s easy. He meant put on flannel and a cap, but I’m a Virgo and I like details, so I thought, well maybe I can do a beard with eye shadow. It turns out I can—the effect was so strong my daughter freaked out because she didn’t recognize me and thought a stranger was in the house.
At that RT event, most people didn’t know who I was—which kind of lost the promotional angle, I have to say. That one hour was supposed to be it, but then someone had a bad day and had missed the event, and as a favor I put it back on. This led to Damon Suede staging urinal poses, all kinds of wicked dancing with pretty much everyone, and a promise I would wear it at GRL.
In Atlanta I went as a trucker and a cowboy, so people called one look Mitch and one Travis. I’ve gone to the Blazing Saddle in Des Moines in drag and have been told I need to do it again. It’s fun, and I don’t mind, so I imagine this is not the end of the shenanigans.
I call my drag persona Calvin Fine—getting into character happens with the clothes and makeup, which take about an hour to get fully into. As soon as the beard starts going on I feel like I’m getting there. Once it’s on, everyone views you differently. A lot of people never quite believe it’s me. It’s really interesting to see how drag affects people. I will say I confuse a hell of a lot of gay men, though most seem to regard it with delight.
Gyn, Heidi & Heather
TBG: In Dirty Laundry, Adam was a really broken character with a serious condition. How did you tap into that kind of psyche and what kind of research did you do on his condition?
Heidi: My husband and my daughter both have clinical anxiety, so this is not something I’m unaware of. I have a good friend who has OCD, and I grilled her extensively before I wrote too much of Adam, as well as read a lot of books, articles, case studies. The one thing I was adamant about was he was not going to be cured, and in no way was BSDM his medicine. In my experience mental illness, in addition to being simply another bodily condition to be managed like diabetes or allergies, is about finding tools and levers and crutches to get around problems. Anxiety doesn’t go away with medicine or will. It must be managed and respected as a present force in one’s life, and it’s not shameful, no more than is my gluten allergy.
TBG: Does your husband read your books? If so, what is his favorite?
Heidi: He reads everything first, and if I were to not give him a book he would be hurt and think I was upset with him. He feels very proprietary about Special Delivery, which he should because it was his nagging that got me to finish it. He likes The Pirate’s Game because it’s dedicated to him and because there’s a lot of messaging between us in there. But his favorite is Love Lessons. He’s reading Fever Pitch right now and he says all he wants to do is go reread Love Lessons after.
TBG: You’ve written BDSM, historical, sweet contemporary, bears and twinks! Is there any type of story you haven’t written that you want to try?
Heidi: I’d like to get into the full LGBT alphabet soup, and I’d like to weave some heterosexual romances in eventually as part of the worlds, especially the Love Lessons series, but right now I’m barely keeping up with myself, so we’ll see.
TBG: You are heavily involved in RWA and have recently been interviewed by a major news outlet, how do you see yourself topping this in 2014 as an author? As a voice for the M/M genre?
Heidi: Happily I’m not even past president this year of RRW, though I’m standing by ready to help the board with whatever they feel would best serve the organization. Mostly what I focus on is getting gay romance and LGBT romance into the mainstream, to not have us be a separate category but a full, present player in the romance genre. I’m always trying to network with broader romance communities, and above all I’m doing my best to write quality gay romances in all subgenres of romance which represent the LGBT community and promote equality and acceptance and open minds.
TBG: What most interests me about Special Delivery, and I believe we’ve briefly discussed this before, is Sam’s relationship with his mother and how her death is a bit of the catalyst that allows him to take the trip with Mitch. Can you tell me a little on that and about how, in your opinion, Sam grows throughout the “road trip” experience?
Heidi: When I first started writing Special Delivery, Sharyle was alive and well, Sam’s sounding board when he came home from adventures with Mitch. I had a hard time making the plot work that way though, and eventually I realized for Sam to grow he had to leave home. The going away from what he knew was a vital part of him realizing his full self, the leaving behind the roles he’d accepted, the false-truths he’d internalized.
However, he was never going to leave his mother, not for anything, even if she told him he had to. He would never, ever have left her to take care of herself even for a little while, especially not to have a sex adventure with a trucker. And so I had to write it that Sharyle passed away before the book started, that her loss was part of what pushed him to leave Middleton and take a leap into a new way to look at life.
I do feel like she’s with him all the time, though, on his trip and in his life, period. He is her in so many ways, which of course is the best tribute. In many ways he was always the man he is at the end of the book, but he’d shut so many options for himself off, resigning himself to a future Middleton would accept. Yes, he has a lot of crazy sex on the way to Las Vegas, but more than anything those encounters are part of the chrysalis he eventually bursts out of to claim his full self. It’s the difference between someone who knows they could finish that novel or song or climb that mountain or learn that dance step and someone who actually does go get their brass ring. It wasn’t so much about what he went and claimed as the fact that he did it.
TBG: What does your workplace where you write look like? Are there any weird or interesting things you surround yourself with? Any quirks you have that gets the inspiration flowing?
Heidi: I write in this little room off my daughter’s room—I’m not sure what it was meant to be, because it’s not exactly a nursery, but it has these shuttered windows between my space and hers. It’s about six by twelve, with a closet where I keep all my promo stuff and notes. I have a big white board beside my desk where I keep to do lists and map out stories and try to hatch plots. I have a glider rocker in the corner which is mostly inhabited by cats, and there’s other cat furniture in here as well. There are three big windows behind me, but the glare really gets my monitor, so I keep the curtains shut.
My office is a kind of terra cotta with peach trim, colors I chose when we first moved in and which I would never change. I love those colors when I work. So warm and inviting, like a soft fire. I have some knickknacks, but not many, and I have to keep everything dusted and clean because I have a dust mite allergy, and it’s a toss-up as to which space I use more, this or my bedroom. I use a 27” iMac to write everything on, and while that screen is huge, sometimes I wish it were even bigger. I like to spread all my applications and notes around.
I don’t have much in the way of books in here, because they collect dust like crazy, but I have a small bookshelf beside me that has my books, my Tarot cards and reference books, and all the tax documents I do my best to keep up with all year. I also have my two favorite stuffed animals from when I was a kid as my mascots.
Thanks for having me by!
Heidi’s Writing Corner
Heidi Cullinan has always loved a good love story, provided it has a happy ending. She enjoys writing across many genres but loves above all to write happy, romantic endings for LGBT characters because there just aren’t enough of those stories out there. When Heidi isn’t writing, she enjoys cooking, reading, knitting, listening to music, and watching television with her husband and ten-year-old daughter. Heidi is a vocal advocate for LGBT rights and is proud to be from the first Midwestern state with full marriage equality. Find out more about Heidi, including her social networks, at www.heidicullinan.com.
SPECIAL DELIVERYBook One of the Special Delivery Series
When your deepest, darkest fantasy shows up, get on board.
Sam Keller knows he’ll never find the excitement he craves in Middleton, Iowa—not while he’s busting his ass in nursing school and paying rent by slaving away in a pharmacy stockroom. Then Sam meets Mitch Tedsoe, an independent, long-haul trucker who makes a delivery to a shop across the alley. Innocent flirting quickly leads to a fling, and when Mitch offers to take him on a road trip west, Sam jumps at the chance for adventure. Mitch is sexy, funny and friendly, but once they embark on their journey, something changes. One minute he’s the star of Sam’s every x-rated fantasy, the next he’s almost too much a perfect gentleman. And when they hit the Las Vegas city limit, Sam has a name to pin on Mitch’s malady: Randy.
For better or for worse, Sam grapples with the meaning of friendship, letting go, growing up—even the meaning of love—because no matter how far he travels, eventually all roads lead home.
Warning: This story contains trucker fantasies, threesomes and kinky consensual sex.
Available February 4, 2014 from Samhain Publishing and wherever books are sold. This book has been previously published and has been revised from its original release.
Buy links: Samhain, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads
Heidi has offered to give away one eBook copy of Special Delivery. The giveaway starts now and will end next Monday, February 3rd, 2014, at 11:59 pm EST. After which the lucky winner will be randomly picked.
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below with your email address and you’re in!
Make sure to follow the blog for the winner’s announcement post or check back next Tuesday, February 4, 2014, to see if you’ve won!
Check out Susan65’s review of Special Delivery to see what she thought of Sam and Mitch!
Good luck!
In honor of our first Author Week, Mary Calmes has graciously offered up an eBook copy of one of her recent releases, Old Loyalty, New Love!
About Old Loyalty, New Love:
When jackal shifter Quade Danas was banished from his pack for being gay, he spent years in the military escaping his father’s prejudice before returning to civilian life as a bodyguard for Roman Howell, the teenage son of a very rich man. After Roman is in an accident that leaves him physically scarred and emotionally distant, Quade is the only one who can get through to him. As Roman becomes a man, he realizes what he wants—his bodyguard by his side and in his bed. Unfortunately, Quade can’t seem to see past the kid Roman once was to the man he has become, certain Roman’s feelings are merely misplaced gratitude. But Roman knows a lot more than Quade realizes, and he’s used to persevering, no matter how many impediments life throws his way. He wants the chance to prove to Quade that he’s strong enough for a jackal alpha to call mate.
Despite the decades Quade has been away, and the heartache of his father’s rejection, his inborn loyalty to the pack remains, and his abrupt departure left the jackal shifters without an alpha heir. As a psychopath shifter staking claim as alpha draws Quade back home, and Quade feels compelled to heed the call, he may be forced to make a choice he never anticipated. But doing so means he must leave Roman behind… unless somehow they find a way to make loyalty and love work together.
The giveaway starts now and will end next Saturday, February 1, 2014, at 11:59 pm EST. After which the lucky winner will be randomly picked.
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below with your email address and you’re in! Please note, the winner will need to have an account at Dreamspinner Press to be able to claim their prize.
Make sure to follow the blog for the winner’s announcement post or check back next Sunday, February 2, 2014, to see if you’ve won!
And if you can’t wait a week to read it, Old Loyalty, New Love is available now at Dreamspinner Press!
Have a great Sunday!
Woohoo! It’s time to pick the two winners who won their choice of an ebook from SE Jakes’ backlist!
And they are….
…today’s the last day to sign up for the giveaway to win an eBook copy of reader’s choice from SE Jakes backlist!
The giveaway ends at 11:59 pm EST TONIGHT so don’t forget to go to the giveaway post and comment with your email address to be put into the drawing.
Winner will be picked after the giveaway closes and announced tomorrow morning (Thursday, January 16, 2014).
So, what are you waiting for? Go sign up!
And good luck!
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