Tuesday 30 December 2014

Draven's Gate New Release 5th January



So here's my new book cover. I hate it.

The story's great though,

All Keiron wants is a quiet life. Fat chance with a boyfriend like Bren. But if he thought Bren complicated his life, it was nothing to the complications that begin when he opens the door to a naked boy who claims to be his slave.
Draven is a fairy with his sights set on the handsome human who keeps a wild place in the garden for fairies. When Draven slips though a fairy gate into the city, and Keiron’s world, he sets in motion a series of events that binds him to Keiron forever, and just might be the end of him.

While Draven explores Keiron’s world with wide eyed wonder, Keiron does everything he can to keep Draven’s at bay, until the only way to save Draven and bring him home is to step into a world that exists only in children stories and animated movies – doesn’t it.

Pre Order Link

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cooldudespublishing.com%2Fdravens-gate%2F&h=GAQEcHMXd

Monday 29 December 2014

A Christmas Story




I found this story when looking through some old stuff on http://www.gayauthors.org/ It's been a long time since I wrote such a short, short story, so I thought I's resurrect it.
The fire is cracking and popping and I am sitting in the window seat, drowsily watching the fat flakes of snow falling past outside, and thinking of you. I rub at one of the panes, frosted with my breath, and peer into the swirling whiteness. Did I imagine it, or are there two figures out there, dancing; kissing?
I remember the first time I saw you. It was snowing then, too. It was a Christmas Ball and I was bored, as I often was. I had opened the garden doors, taken a step onto the patio and there you were. You froze me with a glance. I had never seen such beautiful eyes in such a beautiful face. You smiled at me, snowflakes caught in your eyelashes.
It was a long time before I took in the rest of you. Your soft, black hair, tied with a velvet ribbon. Your slender body, enclosed all in black. Your long legs in the high leather boots. Your luscious lips and shy smile. When I did, my knees began to tremble.
You didn’t say a word to me; just took my hand and led me out onto the grass where we danced among the snowflakes, to the music spilling from the house.
That was the first of many times we danced, but the only time we danced in the snow. When the dance ended we kissed and I lost my heart.
The fire hisses and sighs as I remember the day I lost you. A servant came riding with news that you had been thrown by your horse and were desperately ill. I felt my heart break and I knew that we would never again dance as we had danced before.
So many days flashed through my head as I rode as I had never ridden before or since. So many days of dancing and smiling and kissing. You, smiling down from the back of that great black beast you rode, bending for a kiss. You, dancing in the rain, naked as the day you were born, with that glorious hair flinging out in all directions, dusted with diamond drops. You, lying on the rug in front of the fire, the flickering flames bronzing your skin and making your brown eyes  burn amber.
Even now, flames make me think of your eyes; the volcano of passion that hides behind their mildness.
I remember trying to hold on to the memories, the days, the moments slipping through my mind like grains of sand in a timer; a life slipping through my fingers with nothing I could do to stop it… nothing but…
Oh it is still painful, that memory, that moment when I saw you, your face as white as the pillows on which they had lain you. I’m sure, even now, that if you had not been waiting for me you would have been dead before I got there. But you held on; you held on just for me.
When you heard my voice you opened your eyes and smiled at me. It was the most beautiful smile I had ever seen, but it broke my heart because I knew it would be your last. I saw death in your eyes, felt his presence, a cold breath on the back of my neck.
There was no hope in your eyes, but neither was there despair. You were as you had always been, content to accept what was given. Life or death. It was out of your hands and were happy to leave it out of mine. You knew that I wasn’t ready; that there had been no time. Perhaps you were ready to surrender yourself to the arms of death, but I wasn’t. No matter what I had decided; no matter what we had talked about in the soft glow of the dying fire, I was not ready to say goodbye.
Closing my eyes I shiver. I think there is someone out there, in the snow. Didn’t I just hear a laugh? Didn’t I just hear a sigh? Didn’t I just see the glow as they kissed?
I am so weary. The years have weighed heavily on me. How long has it been; since that day I held you in my arms and watched those beautiful eyes close for the last time?
How long?
Today is Christmas Eve. It was the day we met and only four months later you were gone. You brought such lightness into my life, a lightness that could never be duplicated by any other.
“What are you looking so serious about?”
You startled me. You have always had the ability to surprise me, even when I had grown to believe that nothing ever could again. You are soft and sweet and beautiful and, as much as I feared to make it, I have never regretted the decision I made on that day so long ago. Not for one moment over the last three hundred years have I doubted that I did the right thing when I shared my blood with you and took you from your mortal life to share my eternal one.
I think you know. The look in your eyes is soft and understanding.  Slowly, in that way you have that is so like dancing, you walk across the room, your footsteps silent, hips swaying in a way that makes my mouth water. Like a cat, you curl up on my lap, your hair loose around your shoulders, your lips moist and pink. I am as entranced as I was the first day, when I opened the doors into the snow and into my heart.
You have something in your hands; a box.
“Merry Christmas,” you say with a smile.
“It’s not Christmas until tomorrow.”
“I know, but this is not exactly a Christmas present, so open it now.”
What have you been up to now? What secret have you been nursing? What scheme have you planned? I look at the box and it seems to be just a box. From the look in your eyes I don’t think that it is going to explode in my face. Carefully tearing the paper and easing up the lid my smile fades as I stare at the delicate object nestled in its bed of green tissue.
Mesmerised I raise the glass globe, staring at the two figures entwined in a kiss that stills time. Slowly I shake it and watch the snow fall, obscuring them from view, locking them into their own private world where nothing existed outside the kiss.
“Happy anniversary,” you say and I carefully lay the globe on the table where the snow settles and the figures, locked in their endless kiss, ignore us as we fall into ours.

Just Stay by Aria Grace



















Author Bio: 

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Aria enjoys the year round sunshine and laid back environment of the west coast. She lives with her husband and two children on a quiet hill that gives her lots of time to read and write. Her first series was a semi-traditional look at sexy gigs found online. She has now ventured into the exciting M/M world of gay erotica. She loves to hear from readers so please feel free to drop her a note or visit her at www.ariagracebooks.com.

Where to find the author:

Twitter: @ariagracebooks

Publisher: Surrendered Press

Cover Artist: Sexy Men Pix

 Blurb(s):

When Spencer agreed to help take down the leader of a Portland crime family, he didn't realize he'd end the night with the bloodied body of an unknowing accomplice in his arms. His initial interest in Dylan was purely physical but when Dylan stepped in front of Topher's gun and saved Spencer, the lust quickly turned into something more. Something he wasn't sure he'd ever find in the fast-paced dot com world he was from. 

For mature readers.

Categories: M/M Romance

Excerpt:
He looks over his shoulder at his back, straining to see the smeared blood. “This should be fun.”
I turn around and step back to him. “Oh, right. Well, um, I can, you know, help with your back…if you want.”
Dylan’s eyes drop to my crotch and slowly trail up to my face. “Sure, if you don’t mind.”
I silently follow him into the bathroom. He turns on the bath faucet and sets the temperature. Looking down at his boxers then back at me, he steps over the side of the tub and lowers himself into the rising water, careful to keep his bandages dry. “Ahh, that fucking hurts but it feels good.”
I reach for the bar of soap and unwrap the delicate paper surrounding it. Dipping it in the water with a hand towel, I lather it up. “Lean forward a little.”
Dylan looks deeply into my eyes before scooting forward and resting his cheek on the side of the tub. With gentle strokes, I wash away the smears of blood on his back and side. When there isn’t anything left on his back, I hold my breath and move the towel to the outside of his bronze bicep.
One eye peeks open and Dylan smiles faintly without stopping me. “I could just fall asleep.”
“Well, I probably can’t lift you out without hurting your shoulder so try to stay awake for another minute.” With much more force, I run the sudsy towel over the front of his torso, stopping about an inch from the waist band of his wet boxers.

Pages or Words: 240 pages

Tour Dates: December 29th, 2014




Sales Links:






a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday 26 December 2014

Launch of New Publishing Company. Cool Dudes And Draven's Gate


BLOG RELEASE

The Island by Kristopher Quentin
Stars Fall by Louis J Harris
Draven’s Gate by Cheryl Headford (Mock up Cover below)
An Anthology to support our social outreach program.





And

A submission call from writers all over the world.

This is what can be expected from CoolDudes Publishing in the next three to four months.  We have chosen to launch our  CoolDudes Imprint with Cheryl Headford’s beautiful YA M/M Fairytale for the simple reason that Cheryl writes the most endearing, angsty gay stories the whole world should know about. 

With this launch we intend to give a $25.00 Amazon coupon to a lucky subscriber to our site and Newspaper, plus free e-book copies of Draven’s Gate, Stars Fall and The Island when it is released. To top that, all our participating bloggers will have a giveaway prize of all three e-books to one of their lucky subscribers.


OUR PUBLISHING PROGRAM
We want to tap into the M/M market and expand it using our affiliate editors, beta readers, reviewers and promotional staff. We don’t ask for a penny upfront, however, we do offer contracts and deduct a small percentage of 40% from royalties for the services we offer.

We aim to publish e-books with a strong M/M element but are NOT genre romance  and not specific to Happy Ever After (HEA). The work may be darker in nature and reflective of the world gay men face. These are more along the lines of how things really happen with all of the horrors gay men and women have to face through their lives.

But, the romances will be heartfelt and not a guaranteed HEA although we would prefer HEA.

Literary works are welcome. 

These are novels that minimize on dialogue and maximize on narrative, but the language must be of a high standard. There are many authors writing literary books as opposed to light romance.

We also publish YA and NA, and we will attempt to control who sees what age wise. We want to open people’s eyes to the fact there is a whole culture of extremes out there in writing Gay Fiction.

We include all types of works about gay men, whether it be relationships written by gay men/women or straight, it doesn’t matter.

The focus is romance, crime, mystery, paranormal, fantasy with a gay theme (because after all, it’s perfectly normal right; it shouldn’t be set apart because its about two men together, or a fairy and a human) rather than gay romance, gay mystery, gay thriller etc…. It means someone buys it for the story it offers.

Above all, we strive to have this kind of reaction: ‘Oh my God! That’s such a great thriller, and you know what, it’s got two guys in it, but wow! it’s a fab book!’ That way we get the best of both – the hard-core readers who only buy gay romance and perhaps some others who buy it despite the fact it has two gay guys.

Our Submissions Call
General Call
We want plot driven stories featuring at least one gay male main character. While we do wish to see a romance element within the stories, we do not require the story to have romance as its primary focus. We prefer a happily ever after, but realize that love is often bittersweet, so a happy for now ending is also welcome. We prefer submissions to be at least 30,000 words and will happily consider longer works upwards of 150,000. Stand alone titles are welcome as are series and we welcome both first time and established authors. If a title has previously been self published, it must be removed from distribution before we will consider it.
You, Me, and the Stars
Space ships, alien worlds, galactic conquests… CoolDudes is looking for quality science fiction with well realized worlds, exciting plots, good character development, and while there should be some romance, it doesn’t have to be the primary focus. Submissions should be at least 30,000 words in length and we are happy to accept longer works. Have an epic over 150,000 words? We’re happy to take a look and see if its a good fit.
Down in the City
Skyscrapers. Wharf fronts. Shopping malls. We’re looking for some gritty urban fantasy worth sinking teeth into. Vampires, dragon shifters, wizards, fae, and more are all welcome. Submissions should be a minimum of 30,000 words and we are happy to consider works over 100,000 words. Whatever the story, it should contain an element of a romance, though it doesn’t have to be the primary focus.
Contemporary Romance
Any setting, as long as the world is our own and it’s set in this era. We are looking for tales featuring two men in love. New couples, established couples, friends to lovers, Love comes in all shapes and sizes and we want their stories! HEA or HFN stories preferred and the stories may contain dark themes or be as sweet as candy as no two love stories are alike. Submissions should be at least 30,000 words.
Young Adult
Here at CoolDudes we firmly believe that youth are our future. We’re looking for positive stories featuring LGBT youth main characters, aimed at readers 12 and up and 16 and up. Please include an  intended age range with your submission. Stories can be set within any genre, and romance can be secondary. So whether it’s a young person running for his junior high student council while realizing his first real crush is another boy, or a college student finding the love of his life, we want to hear about it. Stories should be a minimum of 25,000 words.

We're excited about this venture because,well, it is exciting. It's a huge challenge for us, after all, every one of the team is a writer, or a beta reader, or an editor in his/her own right. We are excited because our imprint is a baby and we want to nurture it and see it grow. We are excited because we want our writers and readers to feel at home with us.

We are not an answering machine
We are not form letters
We are not a call centre

Every step of the process goes through a human being, some are parents with families, some are lovers who live together, some are happily married in a mutual gay relationship. In all this we are supporters of LGBT and this is our way of giving back to our amazing society.

Twitter : @lgbtpublisher
Google+ : CooldudesPublishing MM Romance
Our Newspaper: Paper Li : Cooldudes Publishing



Sunday 21 December 2014

Swordplay. A Jeff Woods Mystery by Chris T. Kat


Buy links:
Dreamspinner Press:

Blurb:
After leaving his dream job as an Atlantic City detective, Jeff Woods has moved to Washington DC with his life partner Alex Fisher and Alex's disabled little brother Sean. Parker Trenkins, Jeff’s ex-partner on the force, has made the move as well, along with his significant other David. Jeff and Parker partner up once again, but in a new way, as owners of their own detective agency.
Life is difficult at the best of times. Sean loses sight in one of his eyes, a direct result of being pushed into the Atlantic by a homicidal maniac a year ago. In his struggle to deal with everything, a restless Alex enrolls in Tai Chi classes at a nearby school.
As it happens, a murder case Jeff and Parker take involves the head of that very Tai Chi School, Charles Cooper. Cooper is a suspect in the murder of a financial corporation official. He appears to have motive. Jeff and Parker's investigation arouses the real killer’s interest, and if they don't uncover his identity soon, it may be too late for them.


Excerpt from Chapter One:
“Earth to Jeff. Someone in there?” Parker was standing next to me, waving his hand in front of my face.
“Fuck off, Parker.”
“Wow. Remind me not to talk to you before you’ve had decent caffeine input. Now, come on, why are you so tired? I’m your new shrink, remember?” Parker blinked his blue eyes at me in mock-offense, flipping a lock of black hair back.
I snorted. Coffee aroma filled the air, and the water bubbled enticingly. After rubbing my hands over my eyes, I leaned back in the chair and looked up at him. The man drove me crazy on a daily basis, but he was my best friend—right after Alex, my lover, of course.
“Oh boy, this is going to be a long story, isn’t it? Hang on, I need to sit down.” With a theatrical flourish, he heeled a chair closer and fell onto it with gleeful expectation written all over his face.
“Sean’s going to lose sight in his left eye.”
Parker’s mouth dropped open, and for a long time neither of us said anything. I stared at him, wondering whether I should’ve cushioned my words a bit. His jaw muscles tightened, and he worked hard to get words out of his mouth. I’d probably worn a similar expression yesterday when Alex broke the news to me after the visit with the eye specialist. Sean was only seven years old—only seven. Didn’t he’d already suffer enough with his cerebral palsy?
“You can’t just drop a bomb like that without giving me fair warning,” Parker protested.
I shrugged. “Sorry.”
“Are you sure?”
I gave a curt nod. My eyes stung stupidly. Alex had tried so hard to keep it together, but in the end he’d wept for hours, cuddled up against me. He’d cried endlessly for his little brother and what he had to go through. I’d feared he’d make himself sick—which he had, but only once—and when he’d finally fallen asleep, I’d lain awake in our bed, helpless and hurting.
“What about another opinion? Maybe—”
“Parker, that was the third opinion. We noticed he was getting clumsier and he was losing focus on his left side. His sight in that eye has gone down to ten percent, and it won’t take long for the rest to vanish too. We’ll cope.”
Whether I wanted to reassure myself or Parker didn’t really matter, did it? At least I’d had enough presence of mind not to throw that platitude around when I talked to Alex. He never bought into any of them. Parker, however, did from time to time.
“Does Sean know?”
Pain closed like a vise around my throat, and I coughed in a deliberate attempt to get rid of it. “Yes. We explained it to him.”
“How did he react?”
I grimaced. “He was worried about his other eye, but the doc said it was okay. Sean’s main concerns were if he was still allowed to go to school and if we’d still love him.”
I bolted from the chair, choking on my last words, and stalked over to the coffeemaker. I poured milk into Parker’s mug, added two spoonfuls of sugar, then attempted to grab the glass carafe. My hands shook.
Parker materialized next to me, nudged me aside, and filled our mugs. I was still blinking against the wetness in my eyes. Maybe it was a good thing I’d had no time for breakfast earlier. I wasn’t sure if it would’ve stayed down anyway. Alex hadn’t even tried to eat this morning. He’d been white as a sheet when I left. I hadn’t wanted to come to work, but the money had to come in from somewhere and—

Chris T. Kat
Chris T. Kat lives in the middle of Europe, where she shares a house with her husband of many years and their two children. She stumbled upon the M/M genre by luck and was swiftly drawn into it. She divides her time between work, her family—which includes chasing after escaping horses and lugging around huge instruments such as a harp—and writing. She enjoys a variety of genres, such as mystery/suspense, paranormal, and romance. If there's any spare time, she happily reads for hours, listens to audiobooks or does cross stitch.


Links:

Memories of Forgotten Love by Cheryl Headford Character Interview with Noah and Luke


After waking from a coma, Noah discovers that memories are tricky, and sometimes blissful ignorance isn’t such a bad thing.




Noah wakes from a coma with no memory of who he is. As his memories return they become stranger and more sinister at every turn. He begins to suspect the accident in which he was injured wasn’t an accident at all, and refuses to accept what everyone is saying – that he threw himself off his balcony in a suicide attempt. It just doesn’t feel like something he would do. Struggling to come to terms with the shocking story he gradually uncovers, he’s helped by his friends. Yet, his best friend, Luke is acting strangely, leaving Noah to wonder just what exactly he isn’t telling him.


Today, I have a guest interviewer, the lovely Zeoanne, who is going to talk to Noah and Luke from Memories of Forgotten Love. I hope you all enjoy.

Zeoanne: Welcome, Noah and Luke. Make yourselves at home. I've made you carrot cake and tea.

Noah: (taking a large slice) Mmm. Thank you.

Luke: I thought you didn’t like carrot cake.

Noah: I didn’t. It’s weird. Since the accident, I like loads of things I didn’t before, and there are things I liked before I can bear even to smell now. Like sushi. I used to love sushi.

Luke: (grumbling) And pizza. You used to love pizza. I love pizza.

Noah: I still like pizza, just not the pizza you have. (Looks at Zeoanne) I mean, can you blame me? He likes pepperoni and tuna. Would you like that?

Luke: Well, you like pineapple and apple, like that’s not weird. It’s a fruit salad, not a pizza.

Zeoanne: You could have one of each.

Noah: (Noah shoots Luke a ‘look’ and Luke scowls) For Luke no pizza under 12” counts as a pizza.

Zeoanne: Think about a sectional, boys. Moving swiftly on –  It's been over a year since last we saw you. I understand you still haven't had any contact with your father, Noah. Is this how it will be from here on and will you ever consider to at least tell your mum and sister what happened to you both?

Noah: We’ve talked about it a lot. (He glances at Luke, who leans over and takes his hand. For a moment the boys are lost in each other’s eyes, until Zeaonne coughs). Sorry. Luke knows how difficult this is for me, and he’s very protective. My father’s in prison now. He was sent down a couple of months after I got Luke back. (Again, the boys gaze at each other, but Luke nudges Noah, so Zeoanne doesn’t have to intervene again.)

There’s no way I could live with him again, and Luke really wasn’t keen about letting him get us a place, so I stayed with him for a while until we got our own place. Father put some money in the bank, and I persuaded Luke to use some of it, but most of it’s lying there still.

Luke: You know as well as I do he probably gave you that much money because he wanted to hide it from the Tax people, not because he really wanted you to have it.

Noah: (Shrugs) I really don’t care. As far as I’m concerned it’s blood money, but that’s okay by me. He owes us and no money in the world is going to pay that debt. We both paid for that money in blood, and if it helps make life a little easier for us, then great. I know you don’t want us to use it, but it’s ours, so why not?

Luke: Maybe. One day. At the moment I just feel everything he touched is dirty.

Noah: He’s my father. He touched me – not in that way, so don’t look at me like that.

Luke: (Smirks) I wasn’t. I was just thinking….

Noah: About what?

Luke: You, being dirty.

(A huge grin spreads over Luke’s face, and Noah hits him with a cushion.)

Noah: I’m sorry. He really isn’t usually like this. He’s the serious and introvert one. I’m the exhibitionist. I can only put it down to the sudden onset of insanity. The men in white coats will be here soon.

Luke: Don’t even joke about that.

Noah: See? This is how he is. I can’t even joke. (Noah’s face and voice changes as he looks at Luke and squeezes his hand.) I wasn’t mentally ill, honey, and I wasn’t in the psychiatric hospital for long. They just wanted to help…and they did. Kind of. And it’s not like it’s ever going to happen again.

Luke: (fiercely) No, never again.

Zeoanne: What is the relationship you have with your mother and sister now? I supposed that after a year they know you are together, right?

Noah: They knew straight away. I think my mother, at least, knew before. Possibly before I did. She’s spooky like that. The only reason she didn’t say anything was because she knows what my father’s like.

I can’t say our relationship went back to the way it was before, because I don’t think it ever can, not after something like that, but it’s pretty good. Ailee practically had a nervous breakdown, when they came back from their trip and I wasn’t there. She thought she was going to lose me again, and it was horrible. I had to stay at my house for a few days because she wouldn’t leave my side, although I couldn’t stand it for long, not knowing HE was in the same house. (I'd say “Knowing he was under the same roof”)

She comes over all the time. She has her own room.

Luke: Your mother isn’t doing so well though. It was a huge shock when your father went down.

Noah: And that’s exactly why we didn’t tell her about what happened to me. At least this way it wasn’t my fault.

Luke: It was never your fault.

Noah: You know what I mean. People can be funny about things like that. Bitterness and regret are dangerous things.

Luke: True. But it’s over now.

Noah: Yes. Over.

Zeoanne: I see you still have your natural color hair. Although I liked what you looked like in the pictures I've seen of you, I rather like the natural color and besides, two blondes together? Phew! *Fans herself* Good gracious, boys! You must turn quite a few heads walking on the streets.

Noah: Luke turns more heads than I do, and can you wonder? He’s beautiful. (Luke blushes, and hits Noah with the cushion) You can hardly really call my hair blonde anyway. His is like gold, well pale gold. When the sun shines, sometimes it’s almost silver. It’s so unusual, people can’t help but stare at it. Even before I knew we were in love, I was fascinated by his hair. (Noah reaches out and touches Luke’s hair. Luke turns his face away, blushing even more) That and his eyes. It’s the first thing I remember about seeing him for the first time, again.

Luke You’re the one with hair like gold. It’s not washed out and wishy washy like mine. It’s so thick and looks like honey spilled on a big…gold…something. Gah. I’m not good with words.

Noah: You’re good with the words that matter.

(Luke smiles, shyly)

Zeoanne: When you wake up in the morning what’s the first thing you do? Oh, someone is seriously blushing! Ha! (Luke is blushing giving a clue as what they do first thing in the morning)

Noah: Luke blushes at just about everything. The first think Luke does in the morning is put on the coffee pot and the first think I do is drink the coffee. Luke doesn’t like coffee. He has some disgusting fancy tea stuff.

Luke: Tchai

Noah: Whatever. The important thing is, he makes coffee for me. I’m often very stiff in the morning. I still have problems with weakness in my arm and leg, and sometimes they really hurt, especially if I’m lying on that side. I get migraines too, if I get up too quickly. Let’s say I’m a slow starter.

Luke: Not in everything. What? She started it. (Explanation as to why he said 'What?' ie, Noah stared at Luke wide eyed)

Zeoanne: Noah, tell me about Luke. What do you like most about him? What are your deepest feelings for him? Where did you meet and what did you think of him at first sight? (The same question for Luke)

Noah: What do I like most about Luke? Everything. He’s fearless, beautiful, sweet, thoughtful…. Perfect. Okay, perfect for me. He takes care of me. I have a lot of ongoing needs and he’s great. Just the right balance between sympathy and kicking my arse.

My deepest feelings? Before I remembered Luke as my boyfriend, I knew him as my best friend, and that hasn’t changed. He’s everything to me. My best friend, my lover, my savior, my hero. I don’t know where I’d be now if it wasn’t for him.

Luke: You’d be wherever you wanted to be. You think I’m fearless? I’ve never known anyone like you in my life. You’ve faced some serious shit, I mean enough to put most people on their arse, but you always fight back, you always get there. I don’t have your words, and you know that.

My deepest feelings? I thought I’d lost you once, and it broke me. You’re everything to me.

Zeoanne: If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do? Which places would you like to visit?

Luke: Amusement arcades. I’d love to go to Vegas. All that energy. I like cars too. I did a bit of racing when I was…. Well, after Noah was…. I kind of…. And I….

Noah: What Luke is trying to say, is that when I was in hospital, in a coma, and he had the ridiculous idea it was his fault, he went off the rails a bit and did some stupid, dangerous things. He still hasn’t told me everything, but I know he did some stupid stuff with cars. Idiot. He could have been killed.

Luke: That was kind of the idea at the time.

Noah: Idiot. (He gives Luke the softest look)

Zeoanne: What about you, Noah?

Noah: I like being outside. I can’t go on quite as long hikes as I did before, but I like to walk. My favourites are coastal walks. There’s nothing nicer than walking a cliff path, or on the beach at sunrise or sunset, watching the colours in the sea, and sky. All the purples and golds.

Luke: See? He’s the one with all the pretty words.

Zeoanne: You've been together for so long now, are there any plans in the future for a wedding? *Grins suggestively for an invitation*

Luke: (blushes) Umm.

(They look a little uncomfortable)

Noah: Well…. Luke’s asked me about four times.

Luke: Five.

Noah: Sorry, five. It’s not that I don’t want to get married. It’s just…

Luke: Having a big, fancy wedding is more important to him than actually marrying me.

Noah: It’s not like that, and you know it. This is why we end up arguing every time and putting the whole thing back on the shelf. There’s nothing in the world I’d like more than to marry you but you don’t understand. I spent a year on my back in a hospital, not having a clue where I was; who I was. I’m still trying to find myself. My mother and sister have gone through hell – with me, and my father, and….

Luke: And you want to put on a show for them; to play happy families.

Noah: No. That’s not it. (Sighs an turns to Zeoanne) It all comes back to my father’s money again. Luke doesn’t want to use it and that’s the only way we can afford a big wedding. I can’t explain why it’s so important to me. It’s more than just putting on a show. There are a whole bundle of things all mixed up.

I almost died. I came so close, Luke though I’d gone, which is why he ran away and did those stupid things. I’ve been told, by some…less thoughtful people, that it’s okay for me because I didn’t know what was going on, and I didn’t, not at the time. That doesn’t mean it was easy. I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew it wasn’t right. I knew I wasn’t right. I was scared. There was a big black hole in my head that was sucking the life out of me and no matter what I did, I just couldn’t fill it. I still have blanks in my memory. It’s still losing things.

Sometimes….sometimes I…I get scared. Sometimes I…I…won…der if it will all go away ag…ain. See? Wh…when I get emo….tional my speech goes…goes to…to hell, and what if…what if it all falls down around me again. Th….there are so many memories that have just….gone. I don’t remember my sister being born. I don’t rem…remember how Luke and I met, what I thought the very first time I look…looked into his…his eyes. I don rem…ember our first kiss, or…or…I d…don’t...

(Noah pauses, takes and takes a deep breath. Luke puts a hand on his arm but he shakes it off)

It’s just…. I’ve lost so many im…portant memories. I want to make new ones. Big ones. I know… I know we’re making memories every day and…and…and some of them are big ones, but….but….

Luke: Why didn’t you ever say all this before?

Noah: (lowers his head) Because we we…were al…ways in an ar…argu…ment and I can’t….I can’t….

Luke: Okay. It’s okay. I didn’t understand. I thought you were just being a spoiled rich kid.

Noah: When have I ever been…?

Luke: I know. It’s just…. I was brought up in a poor family. My mother had to fight for every penny. She has to take two jobs to keep food on the table, and you….

Noah: I’ve had everything I wanted. I guess.

Luke: If you’d told me it was this important and why…. (Luke takes a breath) Okay. We’ll do it your way. I want to do it your way. If I ask you again; if we have the big wedding you want….will you marry me?

Noah. I don’t know what…. I don’t…. Um…. Yeah. Yes, I’ll marry you.

Luke: At last! And of course it would have to be when I don’t have your bloody ring in my pocket.

Noah: You have a ring?

Luke: My mother gave me my father’s wedding ring.

Noah: Your fa…father’s. Why didn’t you tell me?

Luke: We were always in a row, and you’d get…like you do, and I’d get scared and…. It never came up.

Noah: (Noah gets up and throws his arms around Luke) We’ve both been idiots. I’m so sorry. I love you, Luke. I’d marry you right here and now if I could.

Zeoanne: So there’s going to be a wedding? (I'm sitting here with moisture in my eyes and a huge grin. I mean, Wow! How lucky of me to be witness to this proposal, here, in my own home!)

Noah: Yeah, there’s going to be a wedding, and of course you’re getting an invite. So will Nephy.

Zeoanne: Aww, you two look so damn gorgeous together. I love the way Luke blushes when he's on the spot. Are you always this shy?

Noah: He so is. It’s uber adorable. I love it.

Luke: Shut up.

Zeoanne: I adore the way you look at each other. There is so much love expressed in your eyes. I bet your friends envy the sort of relationship you two have.

Noah: Not all of them. Some of them don’t like that we’re together at all. Well…to be fair, they’re former friends now. Most of them are great.

Luke: We get teased all the time, but Beth and Aiden are pretty soppy, too.

Zeoanne: Noah, how did you manage school after been absent for a year? Was it difficult to get back and did you graduate?

Noah: I haven’t gone back to school. It’s something I’ve thought about, but we both need to work at the moment.

Luke: We don’t really. I told you. I can get another job. We’ll manage. You should go to school.

Noah: It’s too soon, Luke. I can’t…. I can’t study right now. My head’s not back together enough.

Luke: That’s an excuse. If I give in and use your father’s money for the wedding, you can get over your fear and get back to school. You know you’ll get into college easy enough. You should be going to university. You’ve got the brain for it. And don’t give me any crap about your brain being faulty because it’s not.

Noah: You just don’t want to believe that. You know I’m still having problems with my memory. I can’t remember what happened last week, let alone school work.

Luke: I think you’re wrong, but you have to do what you want. This isn’t something I can make you do.

Zeoanne: Were you out at school and were you accepted without any repercussion?

Noah: No, we weren’t out at school. We were keeping it secret, mainly because of my father. We’re completely out now, though, and no chance of us ever going back in the closet.

Zeoanne: I don't know how long your father's sentence is but are you afraid of anything happening to either of you once he's out?

Noah: Not at all. He never really meant to hurt either of us in the first place. He’s a weak man, and he just didn’t have the courage to stand up for what he’d done. He’s been punished now. He’ll be in prison for another four years, and he keeps asking to see me, to say sorry. I won’t be going anywhere near him, and if I never see him again it won’t be a moment too soon. I think the biggest danger I’ll be in is of being nagged to death by mother to try to repair our relationship, which is never going to happen.

Zeoanne: How do you feel about your life right now? What, if anything, would you like to change?

Noah: Absolutely nothing.

Luke: Apart from that I’d like Noah to go to school, I wouldn’t want to change anything either.

Zeoanne: What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Noah: Being with Luke…especially in bed.

(Luke blushes)

Zeoanne: What is your greatest fear?

Luke: That I’ll lose Noah. I thought I had once, and I fell apart completely. I don’t think I could survive it again.

Noah: I think you’re wrong. There’s nothing you can’t survive. I keep telling you, you’re the strong one. What’s my fear? Apart from the obvious, I…. Sometimes I wake in the night, and for a moment I don’t know where I am, and I panic. I remember that feeling and I’m really scared that one day I’ll wake up with that feeling and it won’t go away. The thought of getting Alzheimer’s or Dementia terrifies me.

Luke: I think you’ve got a while to go before you have to worry about that.

Noah: I hope so

Zeoanne: It was great having you share your thoughts with us. I know you have a large audience who adore you and would love to get to know you better. I think this interview will help with that. I hope you'll have many, many years of happiness together and I also hope you will visit us again someday.

Noah: Wait. What? There’s an audience? What audience?

Luke: The people who read the book, dingbat.

Noah: Stop calling me that. It makes you sound like a complete dork.

Luke: And saying dork doesn’t?

Noah: (rolls eyes) Whatever. So, this audience. Do you mean, like, fans? Of us? Wow. Why? Why would anyone want to be a fan of me?

Luke: Oh no reason, just the little fact you went through what you did and survived. It’s one heck of a story, Noah.

Noah: I guess.

Luke: You guess?

Noah: Yes, alright. It’s a good story. Exciting, interesting, touching…whatever. A great story if you’re not living it.

Luke: True, but Nephy’s a great writer. She’ll have everyone living it with you.

Noah: God help them. I hope they enjoy it. Hey you out there, reading this. I went through hell for you to have a good story, you’d better bloody enjoy it.

Luke: You didn’t go through hell for the story. Stop being over dramatic.

Noah: Stop being so sensible.

Luke: You’re impossible. Just read the bloody book, will you? Go get it while I take this drama queen home.

Thank you Zeoanne, and thank you boys. You're so sweet.

If you want to do as commanded by Luke and 'buy the bloody book' you can find it here

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Featherweight Press



If you would like to find out a bit more about Nephylim and her craziness, a good friend, Frostina, has a marvelous interview posted Here

Friday 19 December 2014

A Paranormal Chipmunk Christmas by Jackie Nacht



Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23688954-a-paranormal-chipmunk-christmas

Author Bio: 

Short, sexy and sweet— where a little love goes a long way.

That’s the best way to describe Jackie Nacht’s stories. She was introduced to M/M Romance through her sister, Stephani, and read it for years. Then, she thought it was time to put her own stories on paper. Jackie began writing short and sweet stories that ended with a happily ever after.

Thinking back to her own book addiction, where there were many nights Jackie stayed up way too late so she could read just one more chapter— yeah, right— Jackie decided to write short romances for young adults as well as adults. Hopefully, they will give high school and college students, or working men and women something they can read during their lunch hour, in between classes or just when they want to briefly get away from the daily stresses of everyday life.

Where to find the author:

Website: www.jackienacht.com
Blog: www.jackienacht.com/blog
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jackie.nacht?ref=tn_tnmn
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackieNacht

Publisher: MLR Press

Cover Artist: Zathyn Priest

Blurb(s): 

It's time for the chipmunk brothers to take their bear and wolf home to meet the family for the holidays.

A vicious horde of chipmunks? Dallas and Gunner knew that meeting their mate's family wasn't going to be a walk in the park. How could it be when they had eighteen brothers and sisters? This bear and wolf are about to be put to the test, surviving this family holiday. Will they be able to escape just the four of them or will they be taking some of the siblings back to White Pine...involuntarily?


Excerpt: 

Chapter One

Gunner gripped the armrest, stale air brushing over his face from the tiny fan above. He fucking hated to fly, he really did, but the destination was well worth it in the end. His mate, Phillip, sat next to him, smiling out the window as they flew toward Atlanta. Phillip and Nikko had grown up there and their mother had invited him and Dallas to spend the holidays with them. Gunner was all too excited to meet the family of his mate. Phillip talked about them often and Skyped with them frequently.

Gunner had talked to a few of them, but he had a feeling that he was ill prepared for meeting eighteen of Phillip’s brothers and sisters.

The plane tilted, and Gunner blew out a breath, feeling his stomach churn, his eyes frantically searching for the tiny bag in the pouch in front of him but coming up empty. The seats had seen better days, and he focused on the tear in the corner of the seat in front of him until the plane leveled off, praying he didn’t throw up in his mate’s lap.

A hand touched Gunner’s sweaty one, and he glanced over at Phillip, who eyed him with concern.

“Didn’t you take the Dramamine?”

Gunner swallowed thickly. “I took three.”

“Three!” Phillip shouted in alarm, turning toward him. “You’re supposed to take one, no more than two.”

“I thought…” I was going to crash and die. “Being a bigger guy, it wouldn’t work, and it hasn’t.”

“When did you take it?” Phillip placed his soft hands to his forehead. Silly chipmunk, Gunner wasn’t running a fever, just feeling the effects of motion sickness and fear take hold of him. He might be a bit clammy, but hot he was not.

“Right before we took off, and I’m a big guy. It goes by weight.” Gunner blew out a quivering breath.
Phillip was staring at him, shaking his head as if he’d lost his damn mind. “You’re a doctor…”

“Dentist,” Gunner interrupted.

“You know better. This is going to knock you on your ass,” Phillip hissed at him. Gunner wasn’t sure what Phillip was worried about. His mate should be reading the damn emergency brochure because
they were starting to have turbulence.

Oh shit! We’re gonna die!

Nikko stared at them from across the aisle. “What the hell is your problem? It’s not that bad.”

Not that bad.

He was going launch himself out of the seat and choke his brother-in-law. That is if he could unglue his hands from the armrest. Like the pieces of plastic would save him if they plummeted to their death, but the grips were a damn security blanket for him right now, so screw it.

Dallas shook his head from next to Nikko. “He hates to fly.”

“Well, it’s all fun and games until we’re dragging his ass all over Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. You know how big that airport is. Did you hear how much motion sickness medicine he took?” Nikko tattled on him to Dallas.

“They have a train,” Phillip defended him.

Nikko gave his brother an incredulous stare. “Then you carry him to the train yourself. By the time you’re through, you’ll look like fucking road kill.”

Tour Dates: December 19th, 2014


Tour Stops

Parker Williams, Gaylist Book Reviews, Cate Ashwood, Molly Lolly, Bayou Book  Junkie, Tara Lain, My Fiction Nook, Christy Loves To Read, MM Good Book Reviews, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Velvet Panic, The Hat PartyRainbow Gold Reviews, Love Bytes, Queer Town Abbey, Fallen Angel Reviews, The Fuzzy, Fluffy World of Chris T. Kat, Havan Fellows, Nephylim, Up All Night, Read All Day, Dawn’s Reading Nook, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents

Sales Links: http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowAuthorBooks.php?list=_ABKLIST191&author=Jackie!Nacht

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