Cranberry Pi Book Blast
Author Bio:
Somewhere in a small town in up-state New York are a librarian and a second grade teacher to whom I owe my life. That might be a touch dramatic, but it’s nevertheless one hundred percent true.
Because they taught me the joy of reading, of escaping into worlds crafted of words.
Have you ever been nine years old and sure of nothing so much as that you don’t belong? Looked at the world from behind glasses, and wondered why you don’t fit?
Someone hands you a book, and then you turn the page and see… There you are, running from Injun Joe in a dark graveyard; there you are fencing with Athos; there you are…beneath the deep blue sea- marveling at exotic creatures with Captain Nemo.
I found myself between the pages of books, and that is why I write now. It’s why I taught English and literature for so many years, and it’s why my house contains more pounds of books than furniture.
If I’d had my way, I’d have been a fencer…or a starship captain, or a lawyer, or a detective solving crimes. But instead, I am a writer, and I’ve come to realize that’s the best thing in the world to be, because as a writer, I can be all those things and more.
If I hadn’t learned to value the stories between the pages, who knows what would have happened? Certainly not college…teaching…or writing.
Author Contact:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lee.brazil
Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/leebrazilauthor
Twitter: @leebrazil
Publisher: Lime Time Press
Cover Artist: Laura Harner
Blurb(s):
As if starting a new job, picking up the reins of a disorganized former colleague, and moving back in with his parents while he saves for a down payment on a house of his own isn’t enough, Cecil Trace has just discovered that part of the Art Director’s job at the exclusive Linwood Academy is putting on a series of holiday pageants…with the first one celebrating Thanksgiving just three short weeks away.
He’s got enough on his hands getting reluctant students ready to wow their parents and the community with their brilliance, and preparing a holiday showing of his own artwork at a local gallery, he doesn’t need recalcitrant but brilliant math instructor Reese Cavelli arguing about every little detail.
While Reese understands the new Art Director’s urgency, he can’t allow Cecil to undermine his authority with the students. Reese can’t help being an ass to the new art director, and he knows in part his behavior is due to his own insecurities, but it’s also got a lot to do with the fact that the vibrant young artist is so damned sexy in his jeans and bohemian shirts. Every time he comes into contact with Cecil Trace, he finds himself
Categories: Contemporary, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance
Excerpt:
The store doors whooshed open and a wave of cold air enticed him inside. The silver gum wrapper nagged at the back of his mind, but he was determined. No more picking up after other people. Not after coming in early and staying late and spending all his planning periods cleaning up Torey Crowe’s disaster of a classroom over the last week.
Pulling out his smartphone, he called up a list of items he needed and swung a cart out of the corral. He knew the store like the back of his hand, but it seemed unusually crowded this Sunday. Ducking into an aisle to detour around a woman who appeared to have at least six two-year-olds in her charge, he nearly collided with another cart. Cursing, he veered to the left quickly. Too quickly as he wound up hitting a hanging display of sandwich containers in gaudy plastic colors.
“Fuck!” Instantly, he backed up a little and bent to retrieve the objects that had fallen from the display. Something rammed into his backside and sent him sprawling forward onto the dirty linoleum. “Fuck!” he snarled, catching himself with his hands and pushing upright.
“Oh, excuse me.”
The pleasant baritone irritated him even more, because it seemed familiar. Spinning about, he found himself face-to-face with the devil himself. Or temptation. The man who’d hit him with the shopping cart was stooping to pick up the sandwich containers, and Reese didn’t have a very clear view of him, but what he saw was enough to make his cheeks burn even brighter and his heart falter just a bit before racing.
Golden hair, in a long, straight sheet fell forward over his face, long…too long for a man, really. Reese tried to sneer, but his fingers twitched again, and he wanted to reach out and push that hair back behind the man’s ear to see what sort of face it hid. He had an impression of slenderness, caught a glimpse of faded denim, and a shirt that looked a hell of a lot like his sister’s baby doll pajamas before his cock swelled. Embarrassed, he jerked his own cart and trotted down the aisle. “Watch where you’re going!” he choked out, racing for the produce department.
Words: 45,000
Tour Dates: November 21, 2014
Tour Stops:
Havan Fellows, Parker Williams, Hearts on Fire, Amanda C. Stone, Molly Lolly, Multitasking Mommas, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, The Hat Party, Cathy Brockman Romances, MM Good Book Reviews, Regular Guys, Hot Romance, My Fiction Nook,
Because Two Men Are Better Than One, Fallen Angel Reviews, Cate Ashwood, Jade Crystal, Queer Town Abbey, LeAnn’s Book Reviews
Sales Links:
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-cranberrypi-1667655-149.html
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PSMRBRA
Chestnuts Roasting Anthology
Author Bio:
Mischief Corner Books is an organization of superheroes… no, it’s a platinum-album techno-fusion group…no, hold on a sec here…
Ah, yes. Mischief Corner is a diverse group of authors who met on a mountain in Tennessee and decided since we probably were too easily distracted to rule the world that we’d settle for causing a bit of mayhem instead.
In addition to making mayhem, we publish books with a diverse range of genres and topics… we live to break molds.
MCB. Giving voice to LGBTQ fiction.
Author Contact:
Mischief Corner Books Website and Store: https://mischiefcornerbooks.weebly.com MCB Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MischiefCornerBooks
Publisher: Mischief Corner Books, LLC
Cover Artist: Catherine Dair
Blurb(s):
Christmas means different things to everyone, but most often it’s all about pulling loved ones close and brightening the gloom. The fire’s crackling. The snow is piling up outside, even if it’s only in your dreams. Time to snuggle up with some cocoa and some stories carefully crafted by the Mischief Corner Crew to warm hearts and cockles.
Wreath of Fire: Smokey Mountains Bears 2 – Toni Griffin
Michael’s trying to start a new life away from his abusive father, but he’s drifting and not sure what he wants. When he accidentally starts a kitchen fire, the hot new fireman who comes to the rescue is not only another bear shifter. He’s Michael’s mate. Michael desperately needs to get his act together and figure out what he wants if he has any hope of claiming the bear fated to be his.
A Christmas Cactus for the General – Angel Martinez
Exiled to Earth for perhaps the worst failure in Irasolan history, General Teer must assimilate or die. Earth is too warm, too wet, too foreign, but he does the best he can even though human males are loud, childish louts whom he can’t imitate successfully. When a grieving seaplane pilot strikes up a strange and uneasy friendship with him, he finds he may have been too quick to judge human males. They are strange to look at, but perhaps not as unbearable as he thought.
Holly Jolly – Silvia Violet
I’m not gay. I just notice men sometimes. Everybody does, right? I notice Dane a lot, like every time I’m near him, but just because I think he’s an attractive man that doesn’t mean I like him, does it?
I’m also not a fan of Christmas. Too many years “celebrating” with my Bible-thumping family ruined the holiday for me. So what if I envy all these cheerful souls dashing about with smiles on their faces? I don’t have to like Christmas, do I? If anyone could get me in the Christmas spirit, it would be Dane with his easy, relaxed manner and his gorgeous smile. If that were going to happen, though, I’d have to find the courage to talk to him and to admit that maybe I don’t know myself all that well after all.
Snow on Spirit Bridge – Freddy MacKay
Alone in Japan, Finni is struggling against the constant distrust, avoidance, and xenophobia he experiences every day. He misses home. He misses his family. Nightmares come all too frequently because of the stress, and well, Christmas is just not Christmas in Japan. Not how he understands it.
Distressed by how miserable Finni is, his roommate, Mamoru, offers to be Finni’s family for Christmas. Little does he know how much one agreement would change everything between them, because both of them kept secrets neither ever dreamed were true.
Categories: Contemporary, Fantasy, Humor, M/M Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy (Please note: Not all tags refer to the collection of stories.)
Excerpt:
From “A Christmas Cactus for the General” by Angel Martinez
Teer kept still, watching the man drive off. The men on this world amazed him, such clumsy, uncontrolled louts, like overgrown children. If that had been one of his own men back home, Mr. Bruce would have been on the floor with a boot against his windpipe. But Teer couldn’t do such things here. It was, from what he understood, illegal.
“A pansy seems an honorable flower. Such strong colors,” he said as Molly returned to him. “But I’m fairly certain that wasn’t a compliment.”
“No, it wasn’t.” Molly pursed her lips, an expression Teer knew by now meant she was unhappy. “I’m sorry about that. I think he goes to visit someone in the cemetery every Friday. But it’s no excuse to act like a son of a bitch.”
Sometimes it still struck Teer as odd, working for a female, but Molly was a sensible, practical person, more like a male Irasolan than most of the men on this strange, wet planet.
“When you say he visits someone at the cemetery, is this a way of saying he goes to honor someone who has died?”
Molly gave him an odd look, then shook her head. “I’m sorry. Your English is so good, I forget you get tripped up by expressions sometimes. Yeah. I’m pretty sure he lost someone close to him.”
The single hyacinth every week seemed extravagant tribute, but Teer had to tamp down hard on his instincts every time he filled a customer’s order. Flowers to these people were disposable, things of temporary beauty that could be callously cut from their parent plants. A single plant given to the honored dead back home would have been a sign of such overarching grief that the survivor’s family would have feared an imminent suicide attempt.
But for this man, the tribute paid is every week. His wounds are deep, but not fatal. Not that I have any reason to be curious or even vaguely interested. Rude, uncouth…what is the word? Jerk.
“Ah. Never fear, Molly. It’s difficult to be offended by words that don’t mean much to me.” He offered her a smile, since smiles were often meant as reassurance here. “You said you had lights to put up today? For the upcoming holidays?”
“Right! The Christmas lights!” Molly scurried to the back and returned with two boxes, full of small glass bulbs attached to wires. “I guess you don’t do Christmas either, huh?”
“My…family never celebrated Christmas, no.”
“Oh, right. Buddhist or something I bet.”
“Something of that sort,” Teer murmured as he began to pull one of the hopelessly tangled strands from the first box. Apparently, Christmas had something to do with testing spatial acuity and patience. Odd holiday.
‘A Christmas Cactus for the General’ – Angel Martinez
Interview
Sometimes it takes a tribe…
About this time last year, the Mischief Corner crew said wistfully, “We really should do a holiday anthology next year.” The astounding part in this is that we remembered. Or Silvia kept reminding us, depending on which month it was.
But last summer, we put it on the calendar, marshaled the troops, and set a due date for submissions. Hooray! We were doing an anthology for the Christmas season! But what should we call it? Oh, whatever, we’ll figure it out. Plenty of time for that.
What to write…what to write…
Someone suggested that Toni really should get her second Smokey Mountain Bears story written. Toni thought this was a fabulous idea, and there would be firemen. Even better. Silvia had something in mind, a fun contemporary with a sort of bah humbug protagonist. Angel…well, you know what happened to Angel’s brain. She had to look at Christmas through an alien’s eyes, so she went about creating a new universe and a new culture to meet that need. Freddy wanted to do a nekomata. “For Christmas?” certain people asked in disbelief. “You know this really should have a happy ending…?” Trust me, Freddy said. There may have been some maniacal laughter involved. That’s classified.
Writing happened sporadically over the summer between other author commitments, but it happened. This thing was taking shape. Autumn rolled around and then October and GRL, (Gay Romance Literature in Chicago) and the crew realized with a certain amount of horror that the anthology still had no name. The crew had thrown names around, taken votes, circled back a couple of times and…nothing stuck. It took a high top bar table, drinks all ‘round, and the input of Hank Edwards and Tim Brehme (FoMCB – friends of Mischief Corner Books) to cement a title. To be fair, Chestnuts Roasting was entirely Hank’s idea after Tim egged him on with more and more outrageous suggestions. Yes! There was much rejoicing. And more drinking.
GRL was also the place to tackle, er, connect in person with two other people enormously important to the process: our ever patient, long-suffering editor, Erika Orrick and our favorite artist for commissioned work, Catherine Dair. Erika had our edits in hand, and managed to pull through with her usual fabulousness even though she’s currently working on moving. (We love you, Erika!)
Catherine…oh, Freddy had plans for Catherine. Freds wanted something different, illustration more reminiscent of a watercolor style, something warm and cozy. Catherine worked her magic, deliberately, precisely, step by step, as the requests came fast and furious. There were to be feet. And a fireplace. With a mantel. And Christmas-y stuff. And so on. The crew watched in awe as our cover took shape. (Freddy did the pretty typography – and it’s everything we could have wanted .)
So here we are, heading into the holiday season and we have an anthology for you, with the help of an extended crew, some patient professionals, and the authors who persevered and got those stories in. And that nekomata story? Yep, Freddy wrote a happy. We promise. Really.
Tour Dates/Stops:
20-Nov
Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
21-Nov
24-Nov
Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews
25-Nov
26-Nov
27-Nov
28-Nov
1-Dec
Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings
2-Dec
Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves
3-Dec
4-Dec
Sales Links:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PL2UESA
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-chestnutsroastinganthology-1674411-166.html
http://mischiefcornerbooks.weebly.com/chestnuts-roasting-anthology.html
The Superstar Book Tour
Author Bio:
Patricia Logan resides in Los Angeles, California along with her husband, four children, her grandchild and ever increasing number of cats. When not being stage mom, baking cookies, or scooping kitty litter, she writes steamy, award winning, gay erotic romance and tries to lead her readers on a journey of discovery with more than a little angst.
Author Contact:
https://www.facebook.com/ploganauthor
https://www.facebook.com/authorpatricialogan
https://twitter.com/PatriciaLogan1
Publisher:
Cover Artist: Jeff Adkins: www.jpadkinsdesigns.com
Blurb(s):
Storm Ellison is the sexiest man on two legs. The gorgeous young star of “Trapped on an Island”, the hottest reality show on television, is instantly recognizable the moment he leaves his palatial mansion. Paparazzi follow him everywhere, leaving him no peace or privacy, selling his pictures to the tabloids, and cementing his reputation in the press as a slutty gay playboy. As Storm prepares to sign his first major movie deal, his manager decides he needs protection. What he doesn’t expect, is to be attracted to the cold bastard who’s now running his life.
Balthazar Grant, freelance bodyguard, is a huge, handsome, rough and ready former Marine, trained by the best, and willing to step between Storm and anyone stupid enough to come at him. Always stoic and serious, Taz lends a deadly presence to Storm’s entourage whenever he ventures out in public. Storm doesn’t want a bodyguard, much less one who won’t let him live his fast and loose lifestyle with impunity and he’s certainly not one to be dictated to by an overconfident Marine who has opinions about everything including who he should hook-up with.
When a deadly threat hits Storm’s world, he’s suddenly living his own reality show, only this one has an outcome which doesn’t involve being voted off an island. Will Storm wake up before it’s too late and will Taz be able to fight his attraction to the handsome young superstar while trying to convince him he’s in very real danger? The pair will soon learn that reality is stranger than fiction.
Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, M/M Romance
Excerpt:
Jules grinned again. “You like Storm, Taz. You LIKE like him!” she raised her voice and Taz looked around to see who else could have overheard her.
“I like him fine, Jules; I work for the guy,” he replied, intentionally misunderstanding her.
“No, Taz, you are ‘in like’ with Storm,” she reiterated. She reached up and took hold of his sunglasses, dragging them off his face. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t like Storm like that, big guy. Whoa, those are some dreamy eyes,” she sighed.
Taz felt embarrassed and exposed without his shades and hated the fact that she could see the very real truth in his eyes when all he wanted to do was deny it. He averted his gaze, staring out onto the dance floor only to regret it immediately when he noted Storm’s arms wrapped around the twink, his lips being plied by the smaller man’s as their lower bodies ground against each other to the beat of the music. The moment he saw them, he frowned.
“See? That’s what I’m talkin’ about, Taz. You can’t stand the way that other man touches Storm. You want him for yourself,” she said emphatically.
Words: 82,000
Interview
1 – How difficult is it to get into the mindset of different genres? I think I have to be in the mood to read or write in a particular genre. I have done both historical and contemporary MM but I especially like contemporary because I can relate to it. I like using current events in my stories (gay marriage, political messages, intolerance, etc).
2 – What do you find the most difficult moving out of your ‘safe haven’ of storytelling and trying something brand new? Perhaps the research associated with tackling a new topic. I find it difficult, challenging, and fun. I was always a good student when I was in school because I was very curious, so research… learning something new, is thrilling to me.
3 – If you were given the choice between writing a book that made you world famous (think Harry Potter), and writing a book that would change someone’s life forever (in a positive way), which would you go for? I don’t think I want to be world famous (too much attention) but if I became world famous for a book I wrote, I think that may touch more than one life in a positive way and that would be very rewarding. My books are filled with hope and happy endings and if I can give that to a reader, I think that in and of itself is life changing when someone is down in the dumps (how’s that for dodging the question? Lol)
4 – How does your family feel about what you write? They sigh deeply. Lol. Seriously, my husband is happy on royalty day, my kids roll their eyes, and my youngest (15) just wants me to write something she can read. I told her no… she has to just grow up. And… my gay son just asked me for a book so his boyfriend could read it, which made my day.
5 – Congratulations to you on your son coming out. You must be so proud. I am thrilled Arman finally had the courage to tell me what I already knew. From the day he was born, he was the most sensitive and sweet of all my kids. He had a hard time in school, struggling with a learning disability and he didn’t learn to read until the fourth grade. He’s always been the comedian of our family and at every family gathering, people flock around him to be entertained. Though he couldn’t read for years, he memorized entire movies and became an incredible mimic. He could have had a great career as a standup comedian. He’s grown into an incredible man and is one of the kindest, gentlest people I have the privilege to know. Yeah, I guess you can say I’m proud. Lol.
Tour Dates/Stops:
19-Nov
20-Nov
21-Nov
Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
24-Nov
25-Nov
26-Nov
Sales Links:
Third Eye Book Blast
Author Bio & Contact:
Rick R. Reed is all about exploring the romantic entanglements of gay men in contemporary, realistic settings. While his stories often contain elements of suspense, mystery and the paranormal, his focus ultimately returns to the power of love. He is the author of dozens of published novels, novellas, and short stories. He is a three-time EPIC eBook Award winner (for Caregiver, Orientation and The Blue Moon Cafe). Raining Men and Caregiver have both won the Rainbow Award for gay fiction. Lambda Literary Review has called him, “a writer that doesn’t disappoint.” Rick lives in Seattle with his husband and a very spoiled Boston terrier. He is forever “at work on another novel.”
Web: http://www.rickrreed.com
Blog: http://rickrreedreality.blogspot.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/rickrreedbooks
Twitter: www.twitter.com/rickrreed.
E-mail: jimmyfels@gmail.com
Publisher: DSP Publications
Cover Artist: Aaron Anderson
Blurb(s):
Who knew that a summer thunderstorm and his lost little boy would conspire to change single dad Cayce D’Amico’s life in an instant? With Luke missing, Cayce ventures into the woods near their house to find his son, only to have lightning strike a tree near him, sending a branch down on his head. When he awakens the next day in the hospital, he discovers he has been blessed or cursed—he isn’t sure which—with psychic ability. Along with unfathomable glimpses into the lives of those around him, he’s getting visions of a missing teenage girl.
When a second girl disappears soon after the first, Cayce realizes his visions are leading him to their grisly fates. Cayce wants to help, but no one believes him. The police are suspicious. The press wants to exploit him. And the girls’ parents have mixed feelings about the young man with the “third eye.”
Cayce turns to local reporter Dave Newton and, while searching for clues to the string of disappearances and possible murders, a spark ignites between the two. Little do they know that nearby, another couple—dark and murderous—are plotting more crimes and wondering how to silence the man who knows too much about them.
Categories: Crime Fiction, Gay Fiction, Horror, M/M Romance, Mystery, Thriller
Excerpt:
Cayce was just about to put the paper aside when another article—and a familiar name in the byline—caught his eye. “Teenager Reported Missing,” by Dave Newton. It wasn’t so much the headline that got his attention but the picture of the young girl beneath it. Pretty. Long blonde hair. And disturbingly familiar.
Even though Fawcettville was a small town, the girl’s name, Lucy Plant, didn’t ring any bells. Perhaps Cayce had waited on her at the Elite, the diner where he worked. But still, no specific recollection came back. Cayce couldn’t visualize the girl sitting at the counter, nor at one of the booths.
And yet she looked so familiar, as if she were someone Cayce was friends with, or even a relative.
Cayce scanned the story. The girl had been reported missing by her mother yesterday afternoon, just before the storm that had caused such a turn in Cayce’s own life.
There were no clues. The girl, at least according to her mother, could not possibly have been a runaway. “Lucy’s a good girl,” Amy Plant had told Fawcettville police detective JT Simmons. “She wouldn’t even go down the block to visit a friend without telling us first.”
The last time anyone had seen Lucy Plant was when her mother looked outside the living room window. Lucy had been playing with her Barbie dolls on the front lawn.
Cayce closed his eyes. He remembered, suddenly, the storm coming, and not knowing where Luke was. He sympathized with the girl’s mother and the panic she must have felt when she couldn’t locate her daughter.
A ceiling fan. Beneath his closed lids, Cayce saw a ceiling fan. He didn’t know why. He didn’t own one himself, and the one in his parents’ living room was an entirely different model from this one, which was white, with a plain globe. His parents’ fan had four frosted-glass light fixtures and faux wood blades.
Cayce kept his eyes closed, watching the ceiling fan whirl, its blades blurring and becoming singular. There was something wrong with the fan. It didn’t work quite right.
Cayce felt nauseated and opened his eyes. His face was glazed with sweat. His stomach churned, and he was afraid he would vomit. Why was seeing a ceiling fan so disturbing? Or was this some sort of aftershock, an effect of his accident?
Cayce didn’t think so.
He glanced down at the face of Lucy Plant and sucked in some air. “Oh my God,” he whispered, “she’s dead.”
Pages:
Tour Dates: November 18, 2014
Tour Stops:
Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents
Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews
Book Reviews and More by Kathy
Sales Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Third-Eye-Rick-R-Reed-ebook/dp/B00OWMY0CG/