Posts Tagged With: Forbidden Fiction

Author Q&A: Jack L. Pyke + Excerpt & Giveaway!

Huge thanks to Jen and the guys for hosting my fourth day of my seventh-day tour with Shaded Chains. Yesterday I was at Sinfully Gay Book Reviews, looking at if I could write to order from one reader, and tomorrow I’m with Attention is Arbitrary going full kink in kilt, following the Scottish theme in Shaded Chains! So please check me out there too!

Today it’s a quick Q&A session. I asked readers to go as serious or as tongue-in-cheek as they’d like with questions, and, well, they never fail to knock me off my feet and tickle a few ribs….

Are you my Dom, because you sure love torturing me!

I’d need rope, sticky tape, and a whip or two to answer that, that’s after I’ve figured out how to get into the packaging, lol.   

What do you want your tombstone to say?

Run – you’re next.

With everything you put your characters through, what is your biggest fear?

Tornadoes. Every time I dream of tornadoes, something bad happens in my life. So I hate tornadoes, that and water and spiders. So water spiders carried by tornadoes would just about kill me.

Would you ever kill off an MC?

Oh yes. In fact, in Don’t 6…. Just kidding. (I like keeping my head!)

Would Gray ever allow Jack to have a scene where he dominates him – and not as Martin?

In fact, in Don’t 6 — spoilers!

What sparks your creative story lines?

To start off with? Usually just a word, like Don’t…. I see the look in my eldest lad’s eyes when I say don’t around him; there’s always that compulsion to… do!

Which character most resembles you?

I’m gonna blush heavily here and say Jan Richards, from the Don’t… series. He’s an accountant, and falls into dark psychological games with Jack and Gray, not to mention the BDSM and counter-terrorism plot lines etc. He feels just so out of his depth and left hiding or blushing at how normal his life is. Not to mention how he feels like a third wheel at times who’s lost in the background. I’m there most times, wishing I could say I was dark as Gray, as sexy and loveable as Jack Harrison, with his darker personality, but… nah. They’d both probably bypass me on the street, and I’m kind of happy with that! I like normal and bland.

As an author who writes dark reads, what do you want to accomplish with your writing?

In all honesty? Nothing. There’s no hidden message regard my politics to get any type of message out there; I don’t want to use M/M writing to break through into the mainstream market. I’m just happy writing.

Seeing as you write dark books… is there any books you can’t read cos they’re too dark?

My trigger zones are actually non-fiction, in particular reads that deal with real-life accounts of abuse and rape. I can’t read them. My non-fiction shelves consist of English Language/linguistic text books, nothing more.

Lastly, I really would really enjoy you answering the question you addressed. Is there anything you wouldn’t write about? What are YOUR triggers?

I’ll always look at portraying the harder side to life because that’s life in general: it gets no censorship and little allowance for trigger zones. But I do have hard and fast restrictions to the amount of on-page content I’ll consider. I won’t ever write a scene portraying narrative real-time paedophilia, not like I did with getting into Jan’s head when he witnessed the horrendous twist on the rape-to-straight scenes in Antidote. So, yes, the one thing that’s sure to make me stop writing and toss a novel across the room is anything on paedophilia.

*****

Thanks to all the readers for these awesome questions, and also to the Blogger Girls for hosting me! If you’d like a little darker read, please click on the giveaway link below. Leaving a comment on my publisher’s site will also get you extra entries, so please say hi!blogger_bee_trans

About Shaded Chains

Alex Gardner is a psychiatric nurse, Ross McKendrik a tattoo artist: both know the fears and strains of caring for an old man with dementia: Ross’s father. When lines between father and son are crossed and trust is broken between Alex and Ross—between a sub and Dom—Ross is in a fight for his life to earn the right to hear his sub say his name again. Only having grown up in the Scottish Highlands, Ross’s methods are a little… dangerous, his methods are a little… dark. Love is about to get very, very tough.

Available at: Forbidden FictionAmazonblogger_bee_trans

About Jack L. Pyke

Jack L. Pyke blames her dark writing influences on living close to one of England’s finest forests. Having grown up hearing a history of kidnappings, murders, strange sightings, and sexual exploits her neck of the woods is renowned for, Jack takes that into her writing, having also learned that human coping strategies for intense situations can sometimes make the best of people have disastrously bad moments. Redeeming those flaws is Jack’s drive, and if that drive just happens to lead to sexual tension between two or more guys, Jack’s the first to let nature take its course.

Find out more about Jack on his Website, Facebook and Goodreads.

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As part of this blog tour, Jack is giving away an eBook copy of Shaded Chains!! To enter, just click the link below!

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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 unless otherwise stated but are still welcome anyway.

Don’t forget to check out JustJen’s review of Shaded Chains to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!

Categories: Author Q&A, Book Promo, Giveaways, LGBT, Published in 2017 | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Character Interview with Ev and Adam from Bare by Lynn Kelling + Giveaway!

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Interview with Ev and Adam from Bare

Lynn: Evelyn. Adam. Thank you both for speaking with us today. How has all of the recent publicity been affecting you?

Ev: You can just call me Ev.

Adam: Evelyn is fine, Lynn. Trust me. I don’t think the publicity has affected us much, other than giving us reasons to focus on other things, like work.

Lynn: Ev, do you agree with that?

Ev: Yeah, I do. I haven’t really been paying much attention to the press, or even my own email or social media accounts, especially after everything happened. After I said my part, I felt like the fallout wasn’t really about me anyway, but other people’s reactions. Sometimes it’s best to step back and let things play out without interfering. It’s been all about school for me. Granted, it is kind of difficult to ignore the attention when you’re actually appearing on Good Morning America, so there are some odd days.

Lynn: Let’s take this back a little. Pretend our readers today don’t know all of the juicy details of your story, haven’t seen Adam’s gorgeous paintings—they really were breathtaking—

Adam: Thanks Lynn, I try.

Lynn: Pretend they don’t even know your relationship to each other. Describe each other for me, and what you see in the other.

Ev: Oh no…

Adam: (laughs) Should I answer honestly?

Ev: No! Sorry. But no. Please God, no.

Adam: Should I answer as if I were a Senator’s son, filtering my every thought and feeling for mass consumption and dulling all of the rough, hard edges so no one is shocked or offended?

Ev: Yeah, that’d be much better.

Adam: Even though we’ve agreed truth is our friend?

Ev: See, Lynn, he does this thing where he answers questions with other questions, and it leads down some pretty fucked-up rabbit holes. Don’t fall for it. (clears his throat) So, I’ll start then. Adam Buchanan is… well, he’s colorful. I mean that both literally and figuratively. The fire-engine-red hair and the bright blue eyes. The paint splatters that are always covering his clothes and skin. But it’s in his personality too. He pushes people. Challenges them to think and face things they might never have without coaxing. He doesn’t play things safe and he’s not afraid to offend. I mean, he’s got the whole lawyer side to him too, so he does things in a really intelligent way. It’s always totally thought out. Almost disturbingly so. Anyway, it’s one of the things I liked about him right away, because I appreciated how unapologetic those qualities were. He was visually loud, and messy, and crossed lines I’ve always lived between.

Adam: So, I’m colorful? What does that make you?

Ev: Nope, not falling for it.

Adam: Lynn, I think my work describes Evelyn better than my words ever could.

Lynn: Well, then describe your work for us.

Ev: Oh, he can totally do that. He talks about his work constantly.

Adam: And what are you implying when you say that?

Ev: Are you just doing it on purpose now? I can’t tell. But I’ll answer that one to say that I meant you do self-promotion, which is a necessary part of your job, and something you’re rightfully passionate about.

Adam: And I’m not rightfully passionate about you?

Ev: (groans) Lynn, do you see what I’m dealing with here? It’s impossible not to fall for this crap. Should I answer Lynn’s question for you?

Adam: (pauses to look at Ev, then begins to speak) I’m a painter. I’m also an adjunct professor at Lehigh University, which is where Evelyn and I met. Lately, the focus of my work has been in exploring vulnerability in male sexuality in order to expose the ways our society attempts to force men into rigid gender roles that limit our opportunity to safely and comfortably express broader truths.

Ev: It’s a mouthful, isn’t it?

Adam: That’s what he said.

Lynn: And Ev, how do you factor into Adam’s work?

Ev: He paints me.

Adam: Among other things. Evelyn does inspire me in a wide variety of ways.

Lynn: Ev, does Adam inspire you too?

Ev: (smiles, falls quiet, bows his head)

Adam: (rests a hand on Ev’s knee and whispers) It’s okay, sweetheart. You don’t need to—

Ev: No, I do. It’s an important question. I just—

Adam: You’ve been through a lot. You don’t have to push yourself.

Ev: (struggles to speak and holds Adam’s hand) You have… no idea… how much Adam inspires me. He’s changed my whole life. And I know how corny that sounds, but to know how clearly he sees me, and everything he’s done in such a short time for someone he didn’t even know? The things that inspire Adam are really important. They are. They matter on a huge scale, but the ways Adam inspires me? That’s everything.

Lynn: I think we can see what you mean—both of you. Thank you for joining us today.

Adam: You’re welcome. (kisses Ev)

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About Bare

32129904Ev Myers was looking for trouble when he signed up to do nude art modeling, but he wasn’t expecting this much trouble. All he’d wanted to do was rebel against the moral limits of his strict religious family and the PR requirements of his father’s senate seat. He saw how much bigger his world could be when Professor Adam Buchanan opened Ev to new passions and new experiences but when Ev’s family learned how far he had gone, they decided to resort to kidnapping and brainwashing to save their son from sin and scandal—even if it kills him.

Available at: Forbidden Fiction, Amazon, All Romance eBooks and Smashwords.

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An Excerpt from Bare

“So does that mean you’ll do it?” Hope lingered in the question. Led by instinct, Ev found his answer.

“I think so. Yeah. I will. But…” How to say it? “What are you going to expect here? I’m guessing it’s not just posing.”

“It can just be posing, if that’s where your comfort level is.”

Thinking of his family and church, when he wished he wasn’t and was focused only on his own preferences instead, Ev fought not to get sidetracked by conditioning. What they thought about Ev posing for this man didn’t matter, or so he tried to tell himself.

“I’m not a prude or anything,” Ev clarified. “I was just… wondering. Like, would touching be involved?” The painting Adam had set out indicated one of his last models had been touched.

“Not without your permission.”

He imagined it without wanting to—being touched like the subject of that painting had been, by another man. It made a shiver race up Ev’s back. Folding his arms tighter, he squirmed.

“Would I need to be…” Ev exhaled, tripping on the next word, feeling mortified for even thinking it.

“Hard?” Adam guessed, maybe by reading into Ev’s body language, his arms wrapped around himself, his fingers rubbing his lips.

“Yeah.”

“You wouldn’t need to be, no. But, total honesty, I would be able to work with it if you were.”

Ev blew out a breath. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-five. You?”

“Almost twenty.”

“Okay. No pressure, Ev. If this doesn’t work for you, you can bail at any time. It’s okay. You won’t hurt my feelings.”

“You’re not gonna, like, put my name on these are you? Or tell people?”

“I’ll totally honor your privacy in whatever ways you request. I swear it. My work hinges on honesty. What happens here only leaves this space through the artwork. I do take reference photos, but I keep those locked up when I’m not using them.”

Ev hesitated, mostly because he really wanted to do it, and the realization scared him. It made him question his ability to make rational decisions. There were so many dangers here; he’d be crazy to stay.

Adam just waited, watching.

“I know what they pay at the school for the models,” Adam said, interrupting Ev’s indecision. “Twenty bucks an hour, right? Double that for your hourly rate when you sit for me, and that’s just to start. If this works out, I’ll increase the amount as we go.”

“Adam, that’s insane. I can’t take that much money from you for this.”

“I insist. I’m a professional, hiring you as a professional model. I’ll be photographing you, as I said, in addition to simply using you as a reference for my paintings. The rate I’m paying is not astronomical.”

“Really? Wow, maybe I should’ve just done this instead of go to school.”

Adam just raised an eyebrow at him, looking profoundly patient and equally as determined. “Well, you are suited for it, in my humble opinion, but an education is invaluable. I say do both.”

There was another pause, filled with tense anticipation.

Ev pulled off his jacket. Folding it over his arm, he said, “Okay.”

The idea of getting forty bucks an hour was ridiculously amazing, but that wasn’t what convinced him. It was the temptation—something he’d successfully resisted his whole life, and he was just plain exhausted by the effort. Maybe it was time to take a calculated risk.

“Okay,” Adam agreed. “If you’d feel more comfortable changing into a robe first…”

Steeling himself, Ev took a deep breath, then pulled his shirt over his head. Bare-chested, feeling his nipples stiffen, he said, “Kind of cold.”

“Right. Sorry,” Adam apologized. He pulled out his phone, tapped at it a few times and said, “There. The heat’ll take a moment to warm things up. I’ve got space heaters too.” Walking away, he emerged only a second later, wheeling a small heater up to a bed. Adam shifted the bed slightly under the lights overhead, then turned on a few professional looking large soft box boom lights, shifting them closer and angled to cast light on the bed. The heater was shifted even closer. The set-up was similar to various television and photography studio sets he’d visited as the Senator’s son—though without the bed and nudity—and the familiarity was comforting.

While Adam fussed with the arrangements, Ev unbuckled his jeans. It took a flare of courage before he was able to push them down, toeing off his sneakers and socks along with the pants. That left him only in snug, black, low-rise boxer briefs, the thin cotton straining to contain him even though he was completely flaccid. Needing warmth more than anything, Ev walked into the path of the space heater, rubbing his hands together, then rubbing his arms. Right away, he felt more comfortable and less tempted to run for cover.

Once Adam had things arranged to his liking, he finally turned around. His gaze swept down Ev’s body, then upward to his face. Ev tried to read into the look, or the thoughts behind it, but couldn’t.

“I’d like to do some sketches, maybe take some photos, just to see what’s working. It’ll probably take a while for me to narrow it down to one pose. Who knows, maybe I’ll start a few pieces at once. Are you sure you don’t want a glass of water or anything before we start?”


“Nah, I’m good. Um,” he reached for his briefs, stopped himself, then went ahead and hooked his thumbs under the waistband. He felt Adam watching as Ev slid the underwear off. By the time he’d stepped out of them, briefs wadded up in his hand, he was breathing harder. His balls drew up, his skin both hot and cold in places. It felt wrong on many levels, in ways it hadn’t in the classroom earlier that day.

But Adam wasn’t reacting in a negative way, or telling him to cover back up; he just kept scrutinizing the view of Ev’s body. “Would you rather lie down or sit to start?”

“Whatever you want.”

“Okay, then come lie down here,” he said, pointing to the bed. Ev shuffled over, fighting the urge to cover himself with his hands. “Are you okay with me using my hands to help position you? Be honest.”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Okay. If you change your mind, just tell me.”

Ev sat on the edge of the bed, then lay back.

“Shift up the bed a little more.”

He slid upward. Adam’s hand touched Ev’s knee. “Relax your legs. Let them fall open.” Gentle pressure urged Ev’s legs apart. Ev thought his breathing sounded too loud in the quiet of the room. The light touch of Adam’s fingertips on the inside of Ev’s left knee sent a thrill to Ev’s cock. Inwardly, he groaned with dread, his tension reflecting in his expression.

“Bring your arms up so your hands are on either side of your head. Just relax them.” Adam arranged Ev’s hands, letting the fingers curl, and the back of his hand resting by his face. “Good. Keep your head turned to the side.” The curled fingers were by his eyes. His chest rose and fell, with each breath seeming to come quicker than the last.

Watching from the corner of his eye, he saw Adam draw a sheet over, letting the corner of it cover Ev’s stomach, keeping his chest and genitals exposed.

“Nice,” Adam murmured, his eyes everywhere, all over Ev. Ev got the sense that Adam had gone into his head, concentrating on his ideas and plans instead of judging Ev’s body in any way, which helped Ev stay calm. Adam went back to the supply cabinets along the wall and brought out a large camera with a long lens. He moved close again, bringing the camera up to his eye and adjusting the focus. The soft whir of the machinery was a pleasurable little sound, acting like a tickle over Ev’s cock.

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About Lynn Kelling

Lynn Kelling began writing in order to tell stories that aren’t afraid of the dark, don’t hold anything back and always strive to be memorable, forging lasting attachments between character and reader. Her inspiration comes from taking a closer look at behaviors and ideas lurking at the fringes of life—basically anything that people may hesitate to speak of in mixed company, but everyone wonders about anyway. Her work is driven by the taboo in order to expose the humanity within it. Lynn is an artist, designer and lover of any form of creative self-expression that comes from a place of honesty and emotion, whether it’s body art or opera. She has had multiple novels published, has written over seventy works of erotic fiction of varying lengths, and always has several novels in progress.

Find out more about Lynn on her Website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or email her at lynn@lynnkelling.com.

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As part of this blog tour, Lynn is giving away an eBook copy of Bare! To enter, just click the link below!

Rafflecopter Giveaway

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 unless otherwise stated but are still welcome anyway.

Don’t forget to check out Just Jen’s review of Bare to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!

Categories: Book Promo, Character Interviews, Excerpts, Giveaways, LGBT, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: Bare by Lynn Kelling

Reviewed by JustJen

32129904Title: Bare
Author: Lynn Kelling
Heroes: Ev Myers/Adam Buchanan
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 363 Pages
Publisher: Fantastic Fiction
Release Date: November 15, 2016
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Ev Myers is a former high school football star and Republican State Senator’s son, raised in a strict Southern Baptist household where his only option was to be silent, behave and, no matter how he might be feeling, to put on a happy smile. Desperate to escape the pressure to be the man his family insists he become, Ev has fled Kansas to attend college and is working to find out who he really is beneath the lies and carefully composed public image. But when he applies for a job as a nude model for a life drawing class out of a desire to be seen in a way that shatters all of his family’s taboos, it’s just the first step on a path that leads him away from everything he’s ever known. Handsome and headstrong adjunct arts professor, Adam Buchanan, is the first person to recognize Ev’s potential, and his determination to have Ev realize the importance of truth and stark honesty, as well as the beauty of flawed vulnerability provides the hope Ev needs to escape a world rife with kidnapping, brainwashing and deadly determination cure homosexuality, using whatever means necessary.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Cover Reveal: Bare by Lynn Kelling + Exclusive Excerpt & Give Away!

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Bare

by Lynn Kelling

Blurb: Ev Myers is a former high school football star and Republican State Senator’s son, raised in a strict Southern Baptist household where his only option was to be silent, behave and, no matter how he might be feeling, to put on a happy smile. Desperate to escape the pressure to be the man his family insists he become, Ev has fled Kansas to attend college and is working to find out who he really is beneath the lies and carefully composed public image. But when he applies for a job as a nude model for a life drawing class out of a desire to be seen in a way that shatters all of his family’s taboos, it’s just the first step on a path that leads him away from everything he’s ever known. Handsome and headstrong adjunct arts professor, Adam Buchanan, is the first person to recognize Ev’s potential, and his determination to have Ev realize the importance of truth and stark honesty, as well as the beauty of flawed vulnerability provides the hope Ev needs to escape a world rife with kidnapping, brainwashing and deadly determination cure homosexuality, using whatever means necessary.

Bare is scheduled to release November 15, 2016!

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And the moment you’ve been waiting for! Bare cover reveal… Continue reading

Categories: Book Promo, Cover Reveals, Excerpts, Giveaways, LGBT, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Lost in the Echo by Jack L. Pyke

Reviewed by JustJen

31225142Title: Lost in the Echo
Author: Jack Pyke
Heroes: Will/Elliot
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 99 Pages
Publisher: Fantastic Fiction Publishing
Release Date: August 23, 2014
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Three days. Three questions. Three answers.

Kidnapped, blindfolded, and bound to a bed, running away isn’t an option any more for Will Chambers. Despite being a linguistic tutor and having every conversational tool at his disposal, all Will wanted to do was fade into the background, become lost in the echo of wild heath and harbour. But now someone wants to put his body and mind on full display, force Will to find his voice—answer three questions, over three days. All Will has to do is provide three… simple… answers.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Inherent Cost by Alicia Cameron

Reviewed by JustJen

25305885Title: Inherent Cost
Author: Alicia Cameron
Series: Hojer – Inherent Gifts #3
Heroes: Jere/Wren
Genre: MM Dystopian
Length: 319 Pages
Publisher: Fantastic Fiction Publishing
Release Date: August 9, 2016
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  A train wreck outside Hojer injures Jere and Wren, destroying their anniversary bliss, and thrusting them back into the dangers of their home, where slaves like Wren are treated as animals. While Jere struggles for consciousness, Wren is seized with the other slaves. When Jere comes to the rescue he is furious to find Wren kenneled, neglected, and abused.

For the last two years, Jere has been using his status as a healer to protect Wren and his second slave, Isis. Wren’s controversial fire talent is getting harder and harder to hide, Isis is desperate to escape to her family in a free state, and Jere’s compassion is making enemies of powerful slave owners. Meanwhile, upcoming elections are stirring political unrest. Jere supports a reformation that could improve the lives of Arona’s slaves by treating them in human clinics like Jere’s, instead of sending them to animal healers. But the slavers are only motivated by the threat of an untreatable infectious disease spreading inexorably towards Hojer.

The more Jere becomes involved in politics, the more his clinic and his household come under scrutiny, prompting the Arona slave regulation board to harass Jere, questioning his ability to manage his clinic, and threatening to take away Wren and Isis. The two slaves are preparing to be evaluated, when Jere stumbles upon information that could separate the three of them forever.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Honorary Blogger Lynn Kelling: Bringing FCI Sheridan to Life + Giveaway!

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Bringing FCI Sheridan to Life

by Lynn Kelling

By far, the toughest part of writing Caged Jaye wasn’t capturing the emotionally charged moments Jaye had to live through, but the place he was forced to live in.

Writing a story almost entirely set in prison is a daunting, challenging task. I haven’t personally been to prison, though I have family members and friends who have. The particular place I needed to capture was beyond the experience of those in my circles.

Jaye is arrested in Anchorage, Alaska. The Alaskan penitentiary system is different compared to the rest of the United States. Many of their inmates are transferred down to the lower 48 because they simply don’t have the facilities in Alaska to hold them all for the full length of their terms, especially if the sentence is a long one.

One of the facilities they do actually transfer these inmates to is called FCI Sheridan. Small disclaimer: my version of FCI Sheridan is not in any way intended to be an accurate depiction of the actual place. I used its name and created its form within Caged Jaye for my own purposes. But first, I did one hell of a lot of research about it.

I combed through the websites of some of these facilities used by the Alaskan penitentiary system in order to understand their procedures, systems, laws, buildings, staff, etc. I downloaded copies of their orientation documents and read them cover to cover, taking all sorts of weird notes about the specific programs offered to the inmates, the hierarchy of the administration and staff, the organization of the facilities, the contents of the cells, what specific inmates are permitted to possess… the list goes on and on. It was wildly fascinating stuff and I highly recommend digging in yourself if you find it to be of any interest.

They get very detailed in the A&O Handbooks, one of which Jaye would have received before his arrival. Cells are to be cleaned daily – baseboards dusted, windows washed, walls cleaned of spills, shoes neatly arranged under the bed with the toes pointing outward, floors swept and mopped. Pictures are not to be attached to the walls. No cardboard is allowed in the cells. There’s a distress button located inside each cell. Television hours are from 6 a.m. until work call. Health care Rights and Responsibilities are specified (e.g.: Right #5 is you have the right to be treated with consideration, dignity and respect. Responsibility #5 is you have the responsibility to treat the staff in the same manner.)

The more I knew about the inter-workings of basic, daily things, the more Jaye’s world came alive. I tried to add in realistic detail wherever I possibly could when it added to the story, but not in a way that was overwhelming or unnecessary for the reader.

Some plot points demanded specific research into certain things. One was the utensils provided to inmates, and the carefully controlled way food trays and utensils are distributed as well as manufactured. I found information and discussions between people who have been incarcerated about a special type of brown plastic that’s used for the utensils, which will not break but only bend, so that it’s not used to create weapons.

I researched the ways contraband tattoo machines are created and the parts procured, as well as ways the supplies have been hidden from guards, and the social effects and benefits of being a tattoo artist in prison. I’m a big fan of prison documentaries, so I was fascinated to get to see some actual contraband tattoo machines built piece by piece from parts acquired through illicit barter systems.

It wasn’t just the prison facility I needed to understand. I looked into the way Jaye would have actually been processed at the Anchorage Correctional Complex and the way he would have been transferred down to Oregon.

To help me better understand the human factor of what Jaye was facing during his time served, I read the Fish: A Memoir of a Boy in a Man’s Prison by T.J. Parsell, which is about a seventeen-year-old gay kid who is sentenced to four and a half to fifteen years in prison after attempting to rob a Photomat with a toy gun. The level of T.J.’s terror, the heartlessness of the way he was treated by the people who were supposed to be taking care of him, the danger of every moment when he was locked away with other inmates who only saw his weakness with the ravenous lust of the hopeless and cruel – it all informed my knowledge of what Jaye went through as well. Being incarcerated, especially at such a young age, is a fundamentally transformative experience. Those who come out of prison are not the same people who went in. Their ingrained survival and mistrust of everyone around them, the importance of trade, value and respect, the inability to take care of themselves in practical ways all adds up.

Some moments in our lives are more vivid than others. They stay fresh, sharp and huge in our minds, long after they’ve occurred. To do Jaye justice, and everyone like him, I knew I needed to shape all of those layers so the reader walked away with a good sense of the endurance and strength of character required just to survive with some degree of sanity and physical health in tact. Those of us who are fortunate enough to avoid doing time ourselves still owe the rest of our fellow humans at least a basic understanding of what we’re putting them through by locking them up together for large spans of their lives. I hope that by reading Caged Jaye, you’re left with a greater appreciation for the suffering of these men and women, and a desire to see their circumstances improved. They’ve more than earned it.

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About Caged Jaye

51Yeh6sGLdL._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_It’s Jaye Larson’s nineteenth birthday, and all he wants is to spend time with his boyfriend, Kris, and his mother — the people he loves most, who make life worth living. But faced with his mother’s demons, the imperfections of his relationship with Kris, and dangerous, homophobic strangers, one by one, all of Jaye’s dreams are soon derailed. Plunging into a waking nightmare, shortly after going to bed alone, Jaye wakes in an alley, pinned down by two men with slow, bloody rape and murder in mind. It’s just the start of Jaye’s fight for his life, and his sanity, as time and time again, he’s forced to make impossible choices to survive, no matter what it costs.

Available at: Forbidden Fiction & Amazonblogger_bee_trans

About Lynn Kelling

Lynn Kelling began writing in order to tell stories that aren’t afraid of the dark, don’t hold anything back and always strive to be memorable, forging lasting attachments between character and reader. Her inspiration comes from taking a closer look at behaviors and ideas lurking at the fringes of life—basically anything that people may hesitate to speak of in mixed company, but everyone wonders about anyway. Her work is driven by the taboo in order to expose the humanity within it. Lynn is an artist, designer and lover of any form of creative self-expression that comes from a place of honesty and emotion, whether it’s body art or opera. She has had multiple novels published, has written over seventy works of erotic fiction of varying lengths, and always has several novels in progress.

Find out more about Lynn on her WebsiteFacebookTwitterPinterest or email her at lynn@lynnkelling.com.

Blog_Tour_Giveaway

As part of this blog tour, Lynn is giving away an ebook copy of Caged Jaye to one lucky winner!! To enter, just click the link below!

Rafflecopter Giveaway

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 unless otherwise stated but are still welcome anyway.

Don’t forget to check out JustJen’s review of Caged Jaye to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!

Categories: Book Promo, Giveaways, Honorary Blogger Post, LGBT, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , | 4 Comments

Book Review: Backlash by Jack L. Pyke

Reviewed by JustJen

27418455Title: Backlash
Author: Jack L. Pyke
Series: Don’t #4
Heroes: Gray/Jack/Jan
Genre: MMM Contemporary
Length: 357 Pages
Publisher: Fantastic Fiction Publishing
Release Date: January 19, 2016
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  In the aftermath of Jack Harrison’s release from the psychiatric unit, Gray Raoul’s first instinct is to take brutal revenge on the one responsible for financing Jack’s and Jan’s torturous psychological reconditioning. However, that person is a plays the game dangerously well, knows exactly how to manipulate everyone in Gray’s life. To help negotiate this delicate situation, Gray contacts Trace and his ex-Diadem Dom, Gabriel Hunter. But the more Gray seems to regain control, the clearer it becomes that there’s something not quite right about Jan Richards. Jan quickly unravels, taking Jack and Gray with him, and bringing out one particularly deadly player, Gray’s left with one last defence: break Jack down in order to partner up with his alter ego, Martin. But once freed, Martin has plans of his own, and he wants to make it personal with Gray. Complete trust between Master and sub, between Gray and Jack, will be tested to the absolute limit.
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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: Driven by Nicholas Kinsley

Reviewed by JustJen

25305912Title: Driven
Author: Nicholas Kinsley
Heroes: Mitchell Morgan/Trevor Lewis
Genre: MM Sci-Fi/Paranormal
Length: 245 Pages
Publisher: Fantastic Fiction Publishing
Release Date: December 8, 2015
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Mitchell Morgan is a quiet young man with dangerous secrets. One of those secrets is a psychic power over metal that makes him far more than just the handsome, blue-eyed owner of Advanced Auto Repairs. The other traps him in a world of organized crime and intense violence.

Trevor Lewis is a graphic designer with a passion for drawing, drumming, and his incredibly hot auto mechanic. He meets Mitchell over a broken tail light, and despite – or perhaps because of – Trevor’s awkwardness, Mitchell is charmed. Trevor’s curly hair and brilliant smile bring light into Mitchell’s complicated world. Mitchell would do anything to save Trevor from the dangers of his criminal life — but first Trevor has to save Mitchell from his own darkness.
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Categories: 2.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Succession by Alicia Cameron

Reviewed by JustJen

25980689Title: Succession
Author: Alicia Cameron
Series: Demoted #3
Heroes: Cashiel/Sascha
Genre: MM Dystopia
Length: 282 Pages
Publisher: Forbidden Fiction
Release Date: November 3, 2015
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  After the news breaks about Cashiel Michaud’s involvement in research to undermine the Demoted system, he and Sascha find themselves detained as a legal case develops. Separated, they work from both sides to get released, making sacrifices and arrangements along the way. If they do reunite, will they be the same?

Sascha and Cash face a number of threats from the outside world, and some from the people closest to them. When they don’t know who to trust, their plans and their relationship are put to the test. And the results of this test could affect the world.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment