Title: The Articles of Release Author: B.A. Tortuga Series: The Release #2 Heroes: Eric Tremaine/Troy Daniels Genre: MM Contemporary Length: 220 Pages Publisher:Dreamspinner Press Release Date: September 4, 2015 Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble Add it to your shelf:Goodreads
Blurb: Just released from the military, wounded warrior Eric Tremaine is trying to put his life back together like the doctors reassembled his shattered leg. He’s a man with no home, since his Louisiana family rejected him, so Eric winds up in Texas with his old Army buddy, Adam Winchester, and his lover, Sage.
When Eric decides to stop sitting on his ass feeling sorry for himself, he is introduced to trainer Troy Daniels, who lost both his legs in a teenage accident. Troy knows what it’s like to feel as if your body is your enemy. While Eric and Troy have a bumpy start, they soon find enough common ground to make a friendship, if not more. But taking it to the next level means finding out what they have to offer each other, and the world, before they can trust that the love they find together won’t cause more pain than pleasure. Continue reading →
TBG: Max, welcome back to the Blogger Girls. As always, it’s a pleasure to have you.
Max: Of course, always my pleasure.
***
TBG:My Hero is your first audio book, how amazing is that, huh? You have many books published so what made you choose this book for audio?
Max: It was the first book I wrote and it was the one that had been the most requested.
***
TBG: Jared Bradford is a new narrator, how did you two connect and what made you decide to use him as your narrator?
Max: We connected through a mutual friend, Monique Thompson. She sent me some of his music where he was singing. He had an amazing voice with a great range.
I’d been looking for a narrator for this book since last October. I knew what I wanted and when he sent me an audition recording, I knew I’d found the perfect guy.
***
TBG: Are there any plans for future collaborations?
Max: Yes. I just sent Jared a manuscript to look over. Can’t wait to see what he thinks of it. It will be a real challenge, I think. And no, I’m not telling anyone what it is until he’s done with it. 🙂
***
TBG: Many have been asking, so I must too, will there be a sequel?
Max:A sequel to My Hero? Yes, it is already in the works. I’m a little more than three-quarters done with it. As soon as it is finished and published, I want to give it to Jared. He did a fantastic job with the first one and I loved the way he brought it to life.
***
TBG: What are you working on now?
Max:My Hero: The Olympian. It continues right where the first book left off.
***
TBG: Are your books, characters, and locations based on actual people, experiences and places?
Max: I love this question. In My Hero, most of the characters are based on real people, or a combination of people that I’ve known. The character Anita, in My Hero, Johnny’s cousin, is my favorite character in the audiobook. Jared nailed her. It’s perfect.
***
TBG: What type of scene is the easiest to write, the hardest to write, and your favorite to write?
Max: Ahh, that’s a hard one. It really depends on the book and the characters. Sometimes sex scenes are really easy for me and then there are times, like in The V Unit, where they are difficult. It’s much easier I think when it is a male and female. You can use he and she, whereas in M/M they are both guys, so you have to be creative in the descriptions.
***
TBG: What is your biggest fear? As a writer and in life.
Max: My biggest fear in real life is snakes. They terrify me. In writing… The sequel to My Hero has terrified me. I think it is the readers expectations and then my own. I don’t want to disappoint the readers.
***
TBG: What do you want your tombstone to say?
Max: That is one ugly corpse. He must have done it right.
***
TBG: Final question: Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?
Max: There are several. The will never do’s: Children, animals, scat and het sex scenes (I wouldn’t even know where to begin with that.).
TBG: Jared, welcome to the Blogger Girls. We know this is your first narration, which is extremely exciting, and we are thrilled to host this interview session with you and Max Vos.
Jared: Thanks! The pleasure is mine.
***
TBG: First off, how did you become an audio book narrator?
Jared: That’s a great question. It actually all started when I met Susan and the blogger girls! Before that, I had no idea the GRL world existed. Because of that friendship, I met Max’s and my mutual friend Monique Thompson, who introduced me to Max. She knew that I was in the habit of recording music at home and releasing it periodically on my Soundcloud (www.soundcloud.com/Jared-Bradford). She sent my information to Max who then approached me about the possibility of narrating “My Hero.” I also have a background and interest in acting so the project seemed like something I would enjoy and after discussing it with him, I agreed to create the audiobook version of his story! The feedback has been great so far and I’m looking forward to the next one.
***
TBG: Describe your experience while recording My Hero.
Jared: Since this was my first foray into home narration and audiobook production, there were definitely some things to learn and pitfalls along the way. I really enjoyed the first phase of reading the book and giving voices to the different characters. Max’s writing is very entertaining and he writes some lively characters with rich emotional lives. The Greek accent of Johnny’s mother was particularly difficult. Her chapters definitely had the most outtakes of any lol. I did notice as I continued that I became more and more comfortable switching between characters though.
Setting up a good, quiet space to record was also a big challenge. The mic picks up EVERYTHING. So I learned a lot of new skills in how to reduce outside noise as well as mastering the audio for final production.
Oh! And I had a serious hard drive failure during the production of the book. Luckily, I had done a recent back up but I still lost about 10 hours of editing work that had to be redone! So that was a bit stressful.
Overall, it was a great experience and project to work on. Max was very helpful and supportive! When I did my final listen of the entire book to check for quality, I actually made myself laugh and tear up. It’s not often that I enjoy my own performances since I’m usually too busy being my biggest critic, so that experience was very nice to have.
I hope everyone enjoys listening to the audiobook of “My Hero” as much as I did creating it!
***
TBG: Did you have any past experiences that you could pull from to make the jump in to audio book narration? What secret talents do you have?
Jared: Yep! I’ve been using computer software to record and edit music for a while. And I’ve done a lot of acting in plays and musicals that definitely helped me give life to the characters.
No secret talent. Just a good ear, attention to detail, and a willingness to sit at the computer until the quality is where it should be! 😉
***
TBG: How long did it take, from beginning to completion? Was this what you expected?
Jared: It took two months. Yes, I planned originally for it to take 6 weeks, working on it around Seth’s and my busy travel schedule, but I definitely ended up working on it down to the last seconds of our deadline. The computer crash didn’t help lol.
***
TBG: What happens when you make a mistake? Were there any particular scenes that gave you trouble, and took multiple takes to get it “just right”?
Jared: I frequently redo paragraphs or lines. I simply make a clap or loud noise that is visible on the waveform and redo it. Most chapters are at least twice as long before they are edited to remove all the outtakes.
Johnny’s mother was definitely the most difficult. The scenes with 4-5 guys all chiming in took a while too, since I had to be careful with who was talking and how they sounded. There are also several scenes where Johnny is talking with food in his mouth that I took a lot of takes to figure out the best way to do those while still being understandable.
***
TBG: How difficult was it to narrate multiple characters? Did you ever get the “voices” confused in your head?
Jared: Definitely! Lol. Sometimes I’d have to go back and listen to remember how a character sounded, especially if they hadn’t been around for several chapters. But it was also a lot of fun. I really enjoyed acting out all the parts. I had the most fun with the character Virgil. The voice I used for him reminded me of my grandmother. She always told me I spoke too fast for my southern grandma.
***
TBG: Sex scenes are hot for all of us to read, what affect, if any, did they have in bringing them to life? Was it difficult to get into the groove?
Jared: Max asked me about this during production haha. It’s very different to read or listen versus acting and producing. If I did my job right, you should get the same effect listening to the book as you do reading it 🙂
It was a little difficult at first. But the actual dialogue during sex is less important than the description of it, in my view. So I actually focused more on giving the descriptions in a manner fitting to the scene.
***
TBG: Now that you’ve got that first audio book in the vault, what are your future narration plans?
Jared: Max and I have been discussing starting production on another of his books. I’m actually looking over the manuscript and the calendar now! And I plan on auditioning for other titles in other genres as well.
***
TBG: What do you want written on your tombstone?
Jared: I don’t plan on having a tombstone lol. So nothing. I hope everyone has a huge party celebrating my life and I want to be put in a biopod and planted where I can grow into a beautiful tree.
***
TBG: Final question: What do you consider to be your best accomplishment in life?
Jared: I’m actually proud of a lot of things that I’ve done but I think my best accomplishments have been those times when I’ve helped someone to better understand the world around them or themselves. I’m an educator at heart and love learning about science, philosophy and psychology. Passing on knowledge is a legacy that never stops giving and creates a better world for us all.
About My Hero
When he was sixteen years old, Rich Miller saved a young man from drowning at his local pool. Little did he know that years later, as a senior in college and Olympic diving hopeful, Rich would meet up once again with Johnny Milloway, now a big football player – and when Rich says big, he really means ‘bear’. The shy jock remembers his saviour, and the two men become friends.
Johnny isn’t put off by the fact that Rich is gay. In fact, the more time he spends with Rich, the more curious he becomes. Johnny wants to know all kinds of things – what it’s like to kiss a guy, for instance. Only it doesn’t stop there…
Rich finds it difficult to believe that this relationship can go anywhere. Johnny is straight, and Rich isn’t prepared to deal with the heartache he knows will come his way in the future. He has enough on his plate as it is – the Worlds are just around the corner, his father would rather watch a football game than spend time watching his son dive…. What he doesn’t count on is Johnny, who can be very determined. And having Johnny in his life proves to be a catalyst for some pretty earth-shattering changes. . For readers who purchased the original edition, this second edition is not substantially different.
Max Vos is a classically trained chef with over 30 years of food service experience. After retiring in 2011, Max found himself with time on his hands and was urged to turn his talents to writing. ‘Cooking English’, a short story, was his first published work, and has four other short stories currently in publication with Ravenous Romance. His first novel, My Hero was a number one best seller on Amazon. He continues to challenge himself with varying topics, from Marine Vampires to taboo subjects. The one thing you will always be guaranteed to find in his writing is hard, gritty, man-on-man sex.
Max loves hearing from readers. You can keep up with him by reading his weekly blog posts on his own blog page: Max Vos | Facebook | email
About Jared Bradford
Jared Bradford has been a nation-wide gay nightlife icon, actor, go-go dancer, singer, model,
classically-trained pianist, yogi, and educator in physics and mathematics. He is originally from
Louisiana, but now lives very happily in New York City with his partner of three and half years,
Seth Fornea, and adorable Chihuahua, Miley. As a debut narrator and producer, Jared is proud to present his performance of My Hero as his first introduction to the audiobook world.
Jared has always had a strong interest in music and the theater and has starred in several
productions of plays and musicals including Hay Fever, Old Wicked Songs, The Exonerated, Godspell, and A Grand Night for Singing. He also recently portrayed Chandler in the daytime
web series La Fleur de Mai. Now, he is delighted to be able to bring his interests in music
recording and acting together to produce quality audiobooks.
Like most, Jared loves to enjoy life, and always tries to find the FUN in everything. If you have
the chance to see him twerking it on a box somewhere around the world, don’t be shy and come say hi!
Max has graciously offered up two audio and two ebook copies of My Hero, as well as two copies of a book from Max’s backlist The giveaway starts now and ends September 27, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. To enter, just click the link below.
Please be aware that the only way to enter the giveaway is to click the Rafflecopter link above. Any comments on this post will not count towards entering the giveaway, except to verify your Rafflecopter entry.
Title: My Hero Author: Max Vos Narrator: Jared Bradford Heroes: Rich Miller/Johnny Milloway Genre: MM Contemporary Length: 6 hours, 3 minutes Publisher:Max Vos Release Date: August 13, 2015 Available at:Amazon and Audible Add it to your shelf:Goodreads
Blurb: When he was sixteen years old, Rich Miller saved a young man from drowning at his local pool. Little did he know that years later, as a senior in college and Olympic diving hopeful, Rich would meet up once again with Johnny Milloway, now a big football player – and when Rich says big, he really means ‘bear’. The shy jock remembers his saviour, and the two men become friends.
Johnny isn’t put off by the fact that Rich is gay. In fact, the more time he spends with Rich, the more curious he becomes. Johnny wants to know all kinds of things – what it’s like to kiss a guy, for instance. Only it doesn’t stop there…
Rich finds it difficult to believe that this relationship can go anywhere. Johnny is straight, and Rich isn’t prepared to deal with the heartache he knows will come his way in the future. He has enough on his plate as it is – the Worlds are just around the corner, his father would rather watch a football game than spend time watching his son dive…. What he doesn’t count on is Johnny, who can be very determined. And having Johnny in his life proves to be a catalyst for some pretty earth-shattering changes. Continue reading →
Title: Fame and Fortune Author: T.M. Smith Series: All Cocks Stories #2 Heroes: Victor/Andrew/Matthew Genre: MMM Contemporary Length: 175 Pages Publisher: TTC Publishing Release Date: August 29, 2015 Available at: Amazon Add it to your shelf:Goodreads
Blurb: Victor Dimir moved to America with his traditional Romanian parents when he was just a child. His Romani parents taught him their traditions and how to be a shrewd business man. But it was the attention of a classmate at school that taught a teenage Victor about his sexuality. When he came out to his parents he knew it would be difficult for them to understand, but he never expected them to disown him.
Andrew Jones grew up with a single mom and his grandmother teaching him about life, he had an absentee father at best. The only thing the man ever did for Andy that stuck was buy him a camera for his thirteenth birthday. When Andrew went off to college on a scholarship to study photo journalism, he wound up falling in love with his Romanian roommate.
They became inseparable and wound up starting their own business together; a gay porn website where people could go and watch romantic gay porn instead of the rough and tough, or wham bam thank you man crap that was flooding the internet at that time. After ten years together they were still perfectly happy, they didn’t even realize something was missing, until they met a broken young man that needed a family.
Matthew Carlson was homeless, jobless and broken. He’d been on his own since he was sixteen when he ran away from home after being brutally assaulted by several other young men that he thought were his friends, and then being told he brought it on himself for being gay by his parents. Matthew has done a lot of things these last few years just to get by. When he finds the flyer for All Cocks, he decides to call and see where it leads. What has he got to lose?
Matthew has deep rooted scars that aren’t usually visible on the outside. But when he walks into All Cocks, both Victor and Andrew see them, they also see him. Can three men that didn’t even realize they needed each other get past the stigma of society to find a place of happiness, together? Continue reading →
Title: FRET Author: Sandrine Gasq-Dion Series: The Rock #1 Heroes: Axel Blaze/Gareth Wolf Genre: MM Contemporary Length: 232 Pages Publisher: Sandrine Gasq-Dion Release Date: September 1, 2015 Available at: Amazon Add it to your shelf:Goodreads
Blurb: Former Navy SEAL Axel Blaze lives a solitary life. He doesn’t do emotions, and he doesn’t do babysitting. Used to being on his own, his job consists of Wetwork (a charming term coined by the KGB) for his former Master Chief, Mac. When an out-of-the-ordinary job lands on his doorstep, Axel heads down a path that includes a famous heavy metal rock band and one quiet, vulnerable, guitar-shredding virtuoso named Gareth Wolf.
Gareth Wolf’s life changed in an instant when a car he was a passenger in crashed, hurting his brother’s best friend and the band’s lead guitarist. They created the band, Skull Blasters, as kids. Gareth had always been happy in the background, playing roadie. With the lead guitarist’s injury, Gareth is suddenly thrust into the limelight and into a frenzied life he never imagined for himself. Finally fed up with living a lie, Gareth comes out as gay in a newspaper interview and finds himself in the bulls-eye of a crazed stalker. Somebody wants Gareth hurt – or worse – and Mac has been hired to be sure that doesn’t happen. Babysitting duty is NOT Axel’s strong suit, but Mac won’t be budged.
Enter Axel Blaze. Against his better judgment, the big man takes the job to protect the shy musician. The more time he spends with Gareth Wolf, the more he admires the man. Where’s a simple assassination when you need one? The situation becomes more volatile for each man as the attempts on Gareth escalate just as Axel finds himself falling for the quiet lead guitarist.
Strong, funny, smart-ass — and kinda sweet Axel is everything Gareth has ever wanted in a man. Too bad he’s off limits. As the stalker grows bolder, Gareth and Axel move closer emotionally – but is it too late? All Axel knows is that they don’t stand a chance if he can’t find the maniac trying to kill the man he’s come to care about. A lot.
Everyone knows that relationships that begin in pressured or volatile situations eventually fizzle out. Or do they? Continue reading →
Title: Sloe Ride Author: Rhys Ford Series: The Sinners #4 Heroes: Quinn Morgan/Rafe Andrade Genre: MM Contemporary Length: 246 Pages Publisher:Dreamspinner Press Release Date: September 4, 2015 Available at: Amazon Add it to your shelf:Goodreads
Blurb: It isn’t easy being a Morgan. Especially when dead bodies start piling up and there’s not a damned thing you can do about it.
Quinn Morgan never quite fit into the family mold. He dreamed of a life with books instead of badges and knowledge instead of law—and a life with Rafe Andrade, his older brothers’ bad boy friend and the man who broke his very young heart.
Rafe Andrade returned home to lick his wounds following his ejection from the band he helped form. A recovering drug addict, Rafe spends his time wallowing in guilt, until he finds himself faced with his original addiction, Quinn Morgan—the reason he fled the city in the first place.
When Rafe hears the Sinners are looking for a bassist, it’s a chance to redeem himself, but as a crazed murderer draws closer to Quinn, Rafe’s willing to sacrifice everything—including himself—to keep his quixotic Morgan safe and sound. Continue reading →
Title: One of These Nights Author: Kendra Leigh Castle Series: Harvest Cove #3 Heroine/Hero: Zoe Watson/Jason Evans Genre: MF Contemporary Romance Length: 352 Pages Publisher: September 1, 2015 Release Date:Penguin/Signet Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble Add it to your shelf:Goodreads
Blurb: Moving to Harvest Cove has been like a dream come true for Zoe Watson, providing her with a job she loves and close friends she considers practically family. The only problem: a certain prickly—albeit handsome—park ranger who can’t seem to help tracking mud into her art gallery…or showing up in her dreams.
Jason Evans swore off relationships the day his ex-wife walked out the door, and the local gallery owner is no exception. But when an accident forces him to accept the one thing he hates most in the world—help—he discovers that with Zoe in his life, there are more highs than lows. Despite their long-simmering attraction, neither Jason nor Zoe thinks that two people with so little in common could possibly have a future together. But one of these nights, they may just discover how alike they are.… Continue reading →
Title: Feat of Clay Author: Susan Mac Nicol Series: Men of London #4 Heroes: Tate Williams/Clay Mortimer Genre: MM Contemporary Length: 153 Pages Publisher:Boroughs Publishing Release Date: August 25, 2015 Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble Add it to your shelf:Goodreads
Blurb: Imprisoned and tortured, undercover cop Tate Williams will find redemption in the arms of his boyhood friend, now lover, former SAS soldier Clay Mortimer.
TWO MEN.
TORN. TORTURED. LOVED.
Though they went their separate ways, Tate Williams and Clay Mortimer have been crazy about each other since their school days. Clay went into the SAS. Tate became a cop. Neither mentioned their attraction to the other. Both sought out danger. Both found it.
Imprisoned and shot in an undercover assignment gone wrong, Tate somehow survived…and found his way back into Clay’s arms. His old friend is now the owner of an elite investigation agency and everything any man could want: patient, handsome, commanding. And Clay knows what it takes to survive. But Tate can’t bring himself to share all his secrets, nightmares that force him to rebel against everything. He finds solace from his past as a graffiti artist, a childhood passion, but his demons drive away all who might care for him. Only when he faces that past—and learns that everyone has tasted despair—can the two men truly be brothers-in-arms…and more. Continue reading →
Title: The Fence and Then the Trees Author: J.F. Smith Heroes: Jack/Adder Genre: MM Contemporary Length: 313 Pages Publisher:J.F. Smith Release Date: March 14, 2014 Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble Add it to your shelf:Goodreads Blurb: What would you do?
Jack Carber was in a bad spot. Betrayed and thrown in prison, he had to figure out fast how to survive, and with no idea who to trust and who not to trust. To make matters worse, he had already gotten on the bad side of The Kennel on day one. But his biggest threat was the vacant psychopath named Adder, whose cell he found himself sharing. And with this one, his best tools for survival, his skills as a con man, had no effect at all.
How would you survive?
Jack faced dangerous enemies, an indifferent prison administration, and an inmate advocate with his own twisted agenda. He was determined to keep himself alive and sane, even as he began to slowly give up on himself.
As long as he kept his head down and didn’t fall prey to the fatal mistake of trusting anyone ever again, he’d eventually get out alive… in body if not in spirit. And that seemed like the most he could expect.
What would keep you going?
A sudden revelation and the resulting puzzle, though, throws his world into a wildly different light. He’s unexpectedly clutching at a glimmer of hope, something more than mere survival, and yet fighting to not repeat the mistakes of his past again. But something deep inside him begs him to take that risk one more time.
Because, exactly how far would you be willing to go to protect the best thing that ever happened to you, especially when it hadn’t even happened?
Title: Double Heat Author: Lynn Kelling Series: Twin Ties #3 Heroes: Evan/Brennan/Alek/Luka Genre: MM Contemporary Length: 299 Pages Publisher:Forbidden Fiction Release Date: August 25, 2015 Available at: Amazon Add it to your shelf:Goodreads
Blurb: When Evan and Brennan moved in with their boyfriends, Alek and Luka, they knew things would be complicated, but as their privacy gets eroded, and people around them begin to notice the tangled nature of the four-way relationship, coping becomes a struggle. After Brennan leaves on a brief trip home, and Evan remains behind to enjoy the full attention of both Alek and Luka, the careful balance of things gets thrown off.
Ex-boyfriends surface, haunting Evan and Brennan in similar ways as regret for poor choices threatens their happiness, and the sexual freedom displayed earlier in their lives draws predators willing to use violence, coercion, mind-games and force to take what they want. Though Luka and Alek struggle to protect those they love, it soon becomes clear that the dangers surrounding them will find ways to rush in, trying to take what belongs to them. Continue reading →
Title: The Articles of Release
The Blogger Girls 