NEW RELEASE Full Moon Fever by Elizabeth Black

Thank you very much for hosting me here today. My name is Elizabeth Black, and I'd like to introduce you to my GLBT paranormal shifter romance, Full Moon Fever. Enjoy!

FULL MOON FEVER – BUY LINKS

Full Moon Fever – Amazon

                            – Barnes and Noble

                            – eXtasy Books

                            – Kobo

                            – Google Play

BLURB:

William Shakespeare said All the world’s a stage, but he hadn’t counted on shifters under a theater’s hot lights. Lovers Sam Hightower and Grant Newsome live for the stage. Although they have enjoyed the wanderlust of traveling theater for many years, each has grown tired of the road and wants to settle down. They also have a secret. As shifters and no part of any pack, they are lone wolves in every sense of the word. The full moon brings out the beast in them.

Even though their work as gaffers—lighting techs—puts them in contact with a large variety of willing, sexy men and women to share their love, they prefer men. They find a dancer, Luke Pearce, who makes their blood run hot, but Luke has a secret of his own to test them. Add scenic artists and lovers Charlotte and Lina to the mix, and you have a wild and sexy fivesome.

To spoil their fun and to their surprise, Sam and Grant discover another shifter in their midst, but this young person is so inexperienced and terrified she could expose them to the human hunters and get them killed. How can Sam and Grant protect themselves as well as the people they love?

EXCERPT

Sam Hightower tightened a Fresnel on a light tree as he watched the dancers warm up. He stood somewhat hidden in the wings, a position where he could observe the stage without being noticed. He preferred his life that way—out of sight, out of mind. He liked to blend into the shadows, keeping a safe distance, since his stay in the theater company was so fleeting.

At a height of six-feet-one inch and as lean as a whippet, Sam struck a powerful first impression. His thick blond hair fell to slightly below his shoulder blades. While he worked the lights, he wore it tied back and out of his way. Muscular and slim with an angular face and blue eyes, his Nordic features turned the heads of both men and women alike. 

Although he played both sides of the field, he preferred men. With each show, he and his partner, Grant Newsome, grew closer together, bonding with intensity only two men with deep secrets could. 

Sam feared their secrets could become their undoing on each leg of their tour, especially during the full moon. So far, they’d lucked out. No one had caught on to what they really were.

As was the nature of the traveling stage shows, his time in Portland, Oregon would not last long, even though they were in the same city as their home base. He and Grant had been among the few stagehands who traveled with the company for its North American tour. The remainder for each show was filled with local crews.

Sam could see the entire country and not make a commitment to stay in any one location. Jumping from city to city was also safer, since there was little to no danger of the locals finding out that they sought the moon each month.

He and Grant had jumped at the chance to tour the Pacific Northwest and immediately joined the tour to stay close to home. In all tours, relationships between crew, actors, and dancers grew quickly with great intensity, but once the curtain fell for good, some of the cast and crew would part ways, sometimes to never to see each other again. While the split at the end was always painful, Sam willingly chose that way. He thought it best he never became too close to anyone except Grant. Grant had been his bright island oasis, a refuge from day-to-day troubles. However, such solitude begot loneliness, so they liked to share their love with a third or even fourth partner on occasion, and Sam was on the lookout for one at that very moment.

The man who flowed across the stage with such little effort looked so much like Grant that Sam blinked his eyes to make sure his vision wasn’t playing tricks on him. His pulse raced at the sight of the dancer’s ripped abs, shock of dark hair, and tight thighs.

Who’s the god who has the rapt attention of every man and woman in this room?

Grant’s twin wore his hair shoulder length, thick and full, with tendrils falling in his shining green eyes.

Those eyes are emerald green, so green they glow like an aurora in winter.

His face bore a smoldering look of extreme concentration. Sam suspected this man would snap at him, turning on him in an instant if he interrupted his train of thought, much the same way Grant grumbled if Sam interrupted him. His grace could not hide the raw masculinity that moved with each muscle. Broad shoulders and muscular arms tapered to a narrow waist and an ass that threatened to slip out of the leotard he wore. Sam enjoyed gazing at that ass as the dancer soared across the stage. He preferred taut gluts to any other part of a man’s body.

The man’s resemblance to Grant intrigued Sam. Was he a tiger between the sheets the way Grant was? How could he approach him to find out? Considering the higher percentage of gays and lesbians in theater, there was a good chance the dancer would be amenable to a little male flirtation and maybe more. He wore the same dark and somewhat angry expression of intensity Grant wore when he concentrated on focusing lights. He smoldered like lightning in a crackling sky.

Each twist of the dancer’s hips enhanced the sensuality his meager leotard couldn’t contain. He strutted amid his shorter and less stellar-looking partners and brought a flush to Sam’s cheeks. He moved with grace befitting a dancer, and animal magnetism oozed from his every pore. Grant’s arms were fuller and stronger than the dancer’s from his years of experience hauling lights, but the resemblance between the two men could not be missed. Strong and majestic, the power of this man’s sexuality seeped from every pore, his potent form so beautiful it took Sam’s breath away.

A sultry and husky feminine voice jarred Sam from his daydream. 

“Sorry, luv, you’re a day late and a dollar short. We’ve already had him.” Charlotte stood before him with her arms akimbo and a hip thrust out, giving him a cheeky grin. Covered with splatters of paint befitting her job as a scenic artist, she brandished a brush in one hand.

Charlotte was tall for a woman. At five feet and ten inches and build like Wonder Woman on steroids, Charlotte could probably throttle Sam with those strong hands, but her slender body was not overwhelmed with bulk the way bodybuilders were. She was a nice combination of brawn and sleekness. Dressed in tight black jeans and a tighter black tank top that squeezed together her huge breasts, she twisted her bee-stung lips in an amused grin that told him she had once again bested him in the fucking department. “His name’s Leuker Pearce, and he’s a stallion in bed.”

“I’d love to pierce him,” Sam said.

“You might be able to,” Lina said.

Like Sam and Grant, Lina and Charlotte were lovers. The quieter of the two scenic artists stood behind Charlotte, her arms wrapped around the gutsier one’s waist. Although Lina was about two inches shorter than Charlotte, the two women could have been identical twins. What was it with the doppelgänger twins in this company? They wore their coffee-colored hair tied back, and their ponytails fell to the middle of their backs. Skin the color of espresso with a heavy dollop of cream, they stood out amid all the blondes, ordinary looking brunettes, and oddball blue and pink-haired in the crew. Their personalities offset each other’s, Lina’s air to Charlotte’s fire. Slow to excite, Lina often corralled Charlotte’s exuberance. She kept her fiery twin calm and somewhat sensible.

Quite the virago, Charlotte had thrilled Sam with her lusty nature on the few occasions they’d found themselves in bed together. Or in the back seat of his car. Or those two times in the catwalks when their groans had echoed throughout the theater. Charlotte preferred women to men, but Sam had enjoyed her touch and smell too many times to count.

He often teased her by sneaking up on her and grabbing her boobs. She retaliated by bursting unexpectedly from behind road boxes and squeezing his cock. Despite the sex play, they were buddies more than lovers.

Sam could never get away with such behavior with Lina. Quieter than Charlotte, she bordered on being shy, which made Charlotte’s vibrancy seem even more pronounced. She preferred to keep to herself while Charlotte played the social butterfly. Despite her standoffishness, her intensity of concentration and conversation often surprised those who didn’t know her well. It was a mistake to think of her as a shrinking violet.

Her physique was slimmer than Charlotte’s and made her seem shorter than she actually was. Both women had hourglass figures with an emphasis on their large breasts and rounded asses. Once again, Sam found himself attracted to their bottoms. These two women were perfectly proportioned, something he had not seen very often. They were nearly geometrically perfect.

Still amazed at how much the two women looked alike, Sam admired their sleek arms and hands, strong from years of painting sets. Charlotte and Lina had been traveling with the troupe since its inception. They had moved from the Calvert Beach apartments in Delaware to a suburb of Washington, D.C. to get in on the stage action and made no secret about looking for greener pastures in the northwest areas once the tour was finished.

Sam and Grant had met them after their third show. The women had joined the stagehand’s union at the same time Sam and Grant did, and they soon found themselves on many of the same tours together, which was unusual for traveling stage shows

While Sam could hoist a light and even design some lighting for sets, Charlotte and Lina were true artists. Their talent never ceased to impress him. Sam had seen them render flats into three-dimensional paintings. He had seen Charlotte turn an ordinary chair into a masterpiece of paint designed to look like wood with beautiful fabric seats for a show set in the late 1800s. She also painted portraits in her private time and sold them for a tidy sum. 

Lina sculpted from clay and bronze, mostly the human body, especially women with strong physiques. Rich people from around the country often commissioned her sculptures for their own private collections, and she brought in a mint with her impressive talent.

Sam knew he could never compete in the talent department with those two. He didn’t have an artistic bone in his body. Neither did Grant. Sam could barely draw stick figures. Watching Charlotte and Lina create beautiful paintings and sculptures from what seemed like thin air impressed Sam so much he constantly reminded them how talented they were when they were hard on themselves, which was often. Such was the life of an artist. Constant self-criticism.

Sam looked to where his lover’s twin writhed before him, making love to the stage as he twirled and leaped.

Imagine the threesome we could have. It would be like something out of a Penthouse letter.

“He swings both ways,” Charlotte said. “I can see a hot little threesome there—you, Luke, and Luke’s ravishing twin. You need to be adventurous. You know how much I love adventure.”

Should he expound on that fantasy ménage? No, not just yet. 

“So you noticed the resemblance, too?” 

Lust tingled the hairs on the back of Sam’s neck. That beautiful creature moved like a majestic buck in the Alaskan high country. “What kind of name is Leuker?”

“It’s Dutch. It’s also his middle name. Says his first name is horrible.”

“Leuker isn’t?”

Her deep, throaty laugh reverberated among the flats. “He goes by Luke. He told me Leuker is his mother’s maiden name. Says it means good-looking.”

Sam gawked at the tight ass and strong legs that sashayed across the stage. “Can’t deny that.”

AUTHOR BIO

Elizabeth Black writes erotica, erotic romance, speculative fiction, fantasy, dark fiction, and horror. Her erotic fiction has been published by Xcite Books (U. K.), House Of Erotica (U. K.), Circlet Press, eXtasy Books, Ravenous Romance, Riverdale Avenue Books, Scarlet Magazine (U. K.), and other publishers. 

She also enjoys writing retellings of classic fairy tales, including her two self-published fairy tales "Trouble In Thigh High Boots" (Puss In Boots) and "Climbing Her Tower" (Rapunzel). 

An accomplished essayist, she was the sex columnist for the pop culture e-zine nuts4chic (U. K.). Her articles about sex, erotica, and relationships have appeared in Good Vibrations Magazine, Alternet, CarnalNation, the Ms. Magazine Blog, Novelspot, The Erotic Readers and Writers Association Blog, Sexis Magazine, On The Issues, Sexy Mama Magazine, and Circlet blog.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Web site: http://elizabethablack.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elizabethablack

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ElizabethABlack

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/elizabethblack

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/b76GWD

Recommendations

I've been reading some good books recently so I thought I'd get them together and give you some ideas. If you want to see a review on any of the books head over to 

Link

Angel End Road

Sales Link 

AUTHOR: D. J. Manley

PUBLISHER: eXtasy Books

LENGTH: 139 Pages

RELEASE DATE:  3rd April 2020

Freelance journalist Colton West can’t wait to finally end it with the rich and shallow Martin. Their relationship had been a mistake from the beginning. But just when Colton feels that he’s made it clear to Martin it’s over and he can move on with his life and career, he gets a phone call that will change his world forever.

Whitfield, Vermont, is the sleepy little town where Colton grew up, a town he couldn’t wait to leave. It’s also the place where his best high school friend was found murdered years before, left on a road outside town that goes nowhere. The killer was never caught, although a stoic old man named George Hill, who lived with his young grandson in the only house on that road, was considered by many to be the prime suspect and passed away several years later.

But now, another boy has been found dead at the end of that same lonely road, with his body eerily laid out in the same disturbing manner as Colton’s best friend. And this time, the victim is Colton’s fifteen-year-old nephew.

With the original murder suspect deceased, Colton knows the killer of both teenagers is still on the loose, perhaps preparing to strike again, and Colton won’t rest in his investigation until he unearths the whole, ugly truth.

Seeker of Truth

(This is the latest in a long series and you should read the whole series. It is seriously awesome!!! For this one to make sense you should at least read the previous two books in Series Three)

Sales Link

AUTHOR: Jordan L. Hawk

PUBLISHER: Self

RELEASE DATE:  April 17 2020

Federal agent John Starkweather’s parents are dead. Or at least—the people he remembered as his parents. With his very identity in question, John must look elsewhere for answers.

The now-defunct Center for Loving Redemption may provide the clues he needs. But as John’s true memories begin to resurface, the answers prove worse than he ever imagined.

The Edge of The World

Sales Link

AUTHOR: Garett Leigh

PUBLISHER: Fox Love Press

LENGTH: 223 pages

RELEASE DATE:  16 Jan 2020

Shay Maloney is living his dream—on tour with his pirate/folk-rock band. But you can’t know where you’re going until you know where you’re from, and that’s where moody filmmaker and researcher Ollie Pietruska comes in.

The band’s management persuades Shay to let a television company film a documentary about his roots beyond his adoptive Irish family, and Ollie comes into his life knowing more about Shay than Shay’s ever known about himself.

But while Ollie holds the key to Shay’s past, he’s also hiding deep scars. Even as the hardships of the tour bring them closer, Ollie’s demons threaten the blossoming romance. They might both reach the breaking point before Ollie realises he’s been standing on the edge of the world for too long, and it’s Shay who holds the key to his future.

A friends-to-lovers, rock star, road-tripping romance, with a guaranteed happily-ever-after.

What Happens After

Sales Link

AUTHOR: Dennis Abrams

PUBLISHER: Harmony Ink Press

LENGTH: 181 pages

RELEASE DATE:  31 Mar 2020

Collin and his best friend, Nate, are high school juniors living in a suburb of Houston, where the politically and culturally conservative attitude makes coming out beyond difficult. One night they decide it would be a bit of harmless fun to sneak into a gay club in the city—a chance to dance, check out guys, and meet others like themselves.

They couldn’t be more wrong.

In minutes everything Collin took for granted is destroyed when a shooter’s bullets tear through the club. Collin survives, but that’s only the start of his ordeal. In the aftermath he has to face the loss of his friend, survivor’s guilt, the pain of his wounds, and judgment when he’s outed on a national level. Making it through his last year of school feels impossible when life as he knew it will never be the same.

For What It's Worth

Sales Link

AUTHOR: S M James                        

LENGTH: 380 pages

RELEASE DATE:  02 27 2020

Rory García is terrible at making choices.

Dating Micah has been the best decision Rory’s ever made. Micah calms his wild side by bringing Rory back down to earth. They’re perfect for each other.

But when Rory’s Australian crush randomly shows up to stay with him, Rory’s torn between the boyfriend he maybe loves, and the guy he thought he was over.

Micah Holtz is the most loyal boyfriend in history.

Since the day Micah first saw Rory, he fell hard. There’s never been a moment where Micah’s doubted his feelings and when they finally start to date, Micah plans to hold on with both hands.

But then Justin arrives from Australia and Micah finds his single-minded attention starting to slip…

Justin Anderson has a plan for everything.

Showing up on Rory’s doorstep is the most adventurous thing Justin’s ever done. He’s lowkey sick with nerves, but knowing Rory’s there makes it all worth it. Until he finds out Rory has a boyfriend. Which was never part of the plan.

Suddenly Justin’s back to his usual game of second guessing everything, including Rory’s flirting and Micah’s lingering looks.

When Micah’s childhood haunt is set to be torn down, the three of them join forces to try to save the historic building. But will the teamwork add cracks to an already unstable friendship, or bring them closer than they ever imagined?

A Dark Fairytale

My fairytale trilogy is a very new project. The first book is currently being edited, and I have no date, as yet, for release. I'm three-quarters of the way through the third book and the fourth is brewing. I thought I might share a few snippets here and there to whet your appetite for an entirely new and experimental fairytale.

As a brief background...
Tay is a sixteen-year-old boy who had his life turned upside down when a fairy called Willow turned up and told him he was a fairy prince and had to go back with him to save the fae world from demons. Cale is Tay's best friend who was possessed by a demon, and buzzers are...well, to everyone else in Faerie buzzers are annoyances, like clouds of flies who live only to annoy. They are brushed aside and barely tolerated. They are not considered to be people at all.

Tay’s voice rose until, in the end he was shouting in Cale’s face. 

Cale looked shocked. He opened his mouth to say something, then 

gasped. A little group of buzzers were hovering around his face. He tried to wave them away, but Tay stopped him.

“Wait. See what they’re going to do.”

Closing his eyes, Cale scrunched up his face as the buzzers cautiously approached, then hovered close.

“What are they doing?” Tay asked.

“I don’t know. They seem to be patting me.”

More and more buzzers swarmed toward Cale landing on his head and shoulders. Cale squirmed. “Some of them are kissing me. I’m sure. On the cheek.”

“Oh my God. They’re comforting you. They know you’re hurting and they’re trying to comfort you.”

“Do you think?” Cale sounded curious now.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Some of them are singing in my ear now.” Cale smiled and closed his eyes.

“Singing? What are they singing?”

“Don’t know,” Cale said in a dreamy voice, “but it feels good.”

Tay leaned on the parapet with one elbow while he watched Cale with the buzzers. He was smiling softly, his eyes closed and his lips parted. He seemed a lot more relaxed than Tay had seen him since it all kicked off.

One of the buzzers landed on Tay’s hand, where it rested on the bridge. Startled, he jumped and the buzzer flew up, but settled again straight away. Tay leaned down to bring his face close to the buzzer. It was a woman, less than two inches high, with beautiful, pale blue iridescent wings, more like butterfly wings than dragonfly wings. Long golden hair fell loose over a flowing blue dress and there was a tiny garland of flowers around her head like a crown.

“You’re beautiful. I don’t believe you’re nothing more than a pest 

and I don’t understand why everyone treats you like you are. 

You’re really trying to help my friend, aren’t you?”

The buzzer nodded enthusiastically and it startled Tay. He hadn’t been an expecting an answer.

“Do you understand me? What I’m saying?”

Again the little creature nodded and Tay was delighted.

“Your friends are really trying to help Cale?” Enthusiastic nodding. 

“Aren’t you afraid of the demon?” The buzzer tossed her head in a silent snort, then shook her head. “Thank you. He’s feeling very alone.” Tay looked up to find Cale absorbed in watching the buzzers, with a bright smile on his face. The buzzers seemed to be playing with him, teasing, pulling his hair and flying away, or rubbing themselves against his cheek in a comforting manner.

The buzzer flew up and hovered in front of Tay’s eyes, almost standing on the tip of his nose. He drew back his head when his eyes crossed, but the buzzer followed, so he stopped and let it flutter in front of his face. He didn’t know what he was expecting but it certainly wasn’t to be blasted between the eyes by what felt like a bolt of lightning. With a cry, he stumbled backwards and landed on his bottom.

A flash of white appeared in the corner of his fizzing vision and the buzzers rose in an angry cloud as Willow appeared, waving his arms and threatening dire vengeance.

“Are you alright?” Tay blinked and found Willow crouching beside him.

“I…um…yeah. I think so.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. I was talking to a buzzer and she… I don’t know. I 

think she hit me.”

“You were talking to a buzzer?”

“Kind of.”

A groan drew Tay’s attention to Cale, who was flat on his back. He pushed Willow aside to crawl to his friend.

“Cale, are you okay?”

Cale seemed totally dazed as he blinked up at Tay. “Aw,” he said in a small, trembling voice. “What did they do to me?”

“Pretty much the same as they did to me, I think,” Tay said, allowing Willow to help him up, then holding out his hand to Cale.

“I don’t understand,” Willow said. “As far as I’m aware, buzzers have never done anything like that before.”

“I don’t think she meant to hurt me.”

“They what do you think she meant? To telepathically converse?” 

Tay opened his mouth to answer before he realized Willow was being sarcastic.

“We’re sorry.” Tay jumped and looked over his shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” Willow asked.

“That voice. It startled me. Where did it come from?”

“What voice.”

“The one that said ‘sorry’,” Cale said. “Where do you think it came from?” He pointed to a spot above Tay’s head. When Tay looked up he saw the tiny woman he’d been talking to.

“Did you speak?”

“Yes, Lord.”

Chapter Fifteen

“Did you hear that?” Tay asked.

“I did,” Cale said.

“I heard nothing,” Willow said.

“That must be what they did to us, blasted the ability to understand their language into our heads. Can you do it to Willow, too?” Tay asked the little fairy.

“He is not our Lord. He is not kind to us like you are.”

“Well, Cale isn’t your Lord either and he’s not been particularly nice. Not that he’s been nasty either,” he added hastily at Cale’s indignant glare.

“He is Lord’s friend and he is hurting bad. We want to help him; help Lord.”

“That makes sense, I guess, but Willow is my friend, too. He’s my protector.”

“Is he worthy? Does he have a gentle heart?”

“I don’t know that his heart is very gentle; he’s a deadly killer. Can 

killers have gentle hearts? But he is lonely. People are afraid of him so he doesn’t have many friends. It would be nice for him to be 

friends with you.”

“Oh no. Spare me. Please.” Willow rolled his eyes, but a tiny smile tugged the corners of his mouth and he stood still as the buzzers swarmed. They patted his face and pulled his hair and then, when he didn’t slap at them, they zapped him. Willow didn’t fall as Tay and Cale had, but he did reel against the parapet and shook his head to clear it, looking as dazed as they had been at first. The buzzers flew up in a cloud, giggling.

“He is sworn to protect you?”

“Until we return to…um….” Tay struggled to remember the name Willow had used, “the Queen.”

“Heart’s Home,” Willow supplied.

“Yes, that’s it. He’ll protect us until we’re safely…um…home.” He had a lot of difficulty saying that word. As if anywhere he’d never even been could be home. Still, he’d probably better start getting used to it. It’s not as if he had much choice and it wasn’t going to do anyone any good if he pissed of his…the Queen and princesses. 

He guessed they could make his life a misery.

“You are going on another journey. You seek help for your friend.”

“Yes. His name is Cale.”

“Are we permitted to use it?”

“Of course you are,” Cale said. “In fact, it will be a relief that someone does. Most people seem to want to call me ‘demon kin’, as if that’s all I am.”

“We don’t fear demons. They cannot hurt us.”

“That’s true,” Willow said, in a thoughtful voice. “I’ve never heard of a buzzer being possessed.”

“Do you know how to protect yourself from demon possession? Do you know how I can protect myself?”

“Yes, Lord.”

Waves of relief washed over Tay. At least that would be one huge thing to cross off his list of worries.

“Can you teach me?”

“No, Lord,” the buzzer said, looking sad.

“But you said….”

“We know how, but we cannot teach you how.”

“I don’t understand. Why can’t you teach me?”

“It is not something that can be taught. It is something that has to 

be found.”

“Okay, where do I find it then?”

“Inside you.”

Tay ground his teeth. He forced himself not to show his irritation. 

“How do I find it?”

“We cannot tell you. You must find it for yourself. You must find where your power is bound and release it.”

Tay deflated. “I can’t do that yet, can I?” he asked Willow who shook his head.

“Not until you’re eighteen.”

“You told me that already, didn’t you? That I’ll be immune from 

possession when I’m eighteen and can use my powers.”

“Yes.”

“Well, thank you anyway. Oh, I don’t know your name.”

“It is Aria. I am leader of the ethen of the forest.”

“Ethen? Is that what you call yourselves? Not buzzers?”

“No, Lord, not buzzers. We are ethen.”

Writing Fantasy

Whether it's a fairy rising in a cloud of fairy dust from a flower, or a water elemental dancing on a fountain. Whether a gnarled gnome gazing out of a window in the bark of a tree, or an alluring naiad beckoning from a forest glade. Fantasy sets the mind free and allows it to create the most wonderful creatures in mind-bending environments.

I have rarely tried my hand at fantasy, and what I have written was purely experimental. The one book I have published that is fantasy in any form, even though grounded in the real world (a fairy who crosses into our world with comic and tragic results) is Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden which is currently on sale with NineStar Press.

I had never written a full-on fantasy and thought I never would. Then Willow hit me between the eyes, and I agreed to try a fairytale (a dark fairytale of course). It was supposed to have been one book, just to see if I could get into that mindset. That one book turned into two. Now I'm on the third with a possible fourth coming along.

So what is the appeal of fantasy? For me, it's the ability to let loose and throw off the conventions and limits I usually impose on myself. Want people to fly? Easy? Want a castle to be built on the back of a sleeping dragon? Of course - although there are consequences when the dragon awakens. Want all fire to be alive? Why wouldn't you?

I can create and destroy entire races, with their own characteristics, voices and stories. I can have people possessed by demons, meeting skink wizards and double-ended snakes, or read by flying winged panthers. And the character options are endless. I have an ordinary seventeen-year-old boy, in love with an air elemental, who had a fling with the High King of the fae, who is almost a hundred-thousand years old (due to an accident of time), looks like he's twenty and wears outlandish clothes that mix various centuries with modern. His favourite apparel is brocade frock coats in various pastel shades, paired with tight leather trousers. He's an arrogant son-of-a-bitch but he's going to save the world - possibly.

I am having so much fun writing this, but I have to keep a tight set of notes, to remember what creatures go where and where all the fairy villages are, not to mention what powers are being awakened and how they can be applied.

What's the point of this post? Okay, a little bit is to promote my own works (watch out for the Dark Fairytale series coming very soon from eXtasy) but also to encourage you all to dream of fairies and dragons and to bring your dreams to life on the page. I look forward to reading them.

New Release. Pirates of Romance by Asta Idonea.

Pirates of Romance

Asta Idonea

7 April 2020

10,500 words

MM/Contemporary/Short Story

Cover Art & Formatting by Alina Popescu

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/piratesofromance

Audio Excerpt: https://soundcloud.com/nickijmarkus/pirates-of-romance-by-asta-idonea-audio-excerpt

YouTube Excerpt: https://youtu.be/7AKfp-9sU38

Lost in the Wilderness Of Marketing and Promotion. Are Publishers Helping?

Over the past few years, many small presses have got into severe difficulties or even closed, and I've been wondering why. I don't think it can be blamed on a shrinking market, because from what I've seen the market is not shrinking. In fact, I see new authors every day.

I also see many posts, articles etc that suggest many authors, new and existing, are struggling with marketing and promotion. It is a problem that spans genre and is prevalent in all shades of the rainbow. New authors, in particular, struggle. Those, like me, with added difficulties, are entirely lost.

As an autistic author, I cannot possibly navigate social media, let alone excel in such things as blogs, websites and promotional campaigns.

This brings me back to publishers. What are they doing to help their struggling authors? With some exceptions, from what I can see, very little. Sure, we get editing and book covers - which vary vastly in quality and some promotion around a book release, but by and large, it appears they focus most of their marketing expertise and resources on established and/or successful authors. What assistance can be found, is impersonal, often handing out information-heavy, non-personal leaflets or handbooks, instead of being individual to the abilities and needs of each particular author - individualized marketing plans, for example.

The marketing model of focussing resources at the top of the pyramid, ultimately don't work. By throwing almost everything you have on the top of the food chain, the highly successful authors, who often have little interest in, no time for, and even derision for their lowly brethren, they are setting themselves up to fail.

In my opinion, the highly successful authors require the least effort, resources and energy as they already have momentum and an extensive fan base. The real value for a publisher lies in the small fry. By boosting them, and helping them become successful and well known they are ensuring more revenue (as the top tier will still be generating the same) and evening out, or even reversing the pyramid. At the very least, they will be bringing in more money because they have a greater number of successful authors.

Am I saying this because I am still a little autistic fish swimming in a huge neurotypical pond? Maybe, and maybe I'm looking at it from a different viewpoint as autistic minds tend to take different paths than neurotypicals. Also, I am not a business person, never will be and have no desire to try to be, as the anxiety simply isn't worth it. I simply know that whatever is happening appears to not be working.

Another thought. With so many authors struggling, a publisher offering an individualized, custom marketing package would surely attract a lot of interest, and perhaps become a market leader in promoting a practical, working model for success.

Or maybe I'm just talking out of my ar... discontent.

Re Release: Innocense and Carnality by J Alan Veerkamp

Happy Re-Release! 

It’s official! Innocence & Carnality is back up for sale!

  

It was a difficult decision to self-pub my book. Pulling my rights back after Dreamspinner Press’ lack of payment—I’ve been paid only approximately 10% of everything they owe me—was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. The financial trouble they were having only came to light for me after I & C originally released last year.

I wanted to believe they were making strides to make things right. Pay back past due royalties, rebuild author relationships, and get back to proper business. Dreamspinner was one of the big boys, so of course things were going to right themselves.

Unfortunately, they didn’t. The situation depressed me so badly, I barely wrote last year. Another author had gotten legal advice and shared how if Dreamspinner went bankrupt (which was a definite possibility) the contract language to revert rights wouldn’t supersede bankruptcy law when they seized assets. For a publisher, assets are the books. I wasn’t going to lose my book for however long it took for the courts to unwind the mess we were in, so I asked for my rights back in December.

It didn’t take long, but I was able to re-publish Innocence & Carnality through Amazon as the sole owner of my story, and it’s now available to read through Kindle Unlimited, or you can purchase your own ebook or paperback copy.

Blurb:

Innocence is his only currency.

The gilded cage of propriety where Nathan grew up as a member of the Deilian aristocracy became a true prison when, at fifteen, his homosexuality came to light and created a terrible scandal. His parents see only one way to preserve their reputation amongst the other noble families: fit Nathan with a chastity belt to increase his value to a potential partner and marry him off as soon as possible.

The recipient of that prize is Lord Rother Marsh Delaga III. After a hasty wedding, Rother whisks Nathan away to the strange and seductive land of Marisol, where Nathan will begin a new life, free to explore the pleasures of the marriage bed, though his life is still not his own.

But Rother’s Delaga House is a place of secrets, dangers, and depravity Nathan can scarcely comprehend. Where friends are few and peril waits around every corner, Nathan must employ all the manipulation he learned from high society, along with his talent for clockwork. Most of all, Nathan must adapt, compromise to survive, and cast off the preconceptions of his homeland.

Because only he can orchestrate his freedom, and it’ll come at a cost.

Buy Link:

Available as ebook, paperback, or read for free as part of Kindle Unlimited.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084VDPVJR/

About the Author:

While spending years more focused on visual arts, J. Alan Veerkamp never let go of his innate passion for storytelling, wanting to write and draw comic books when he grew up. Once he discovered M/M fiction, a whole new world opened filled with possibilities. Why couldn’t you have fantastic and dynamic sexy tales with an M/M cast? He started reading the online tales of authors like Night Tempest, Rob Colton, and Alicia Nordwell, which only fueled his need to create. Eventually he found GayAuthors.org, and with a little coercive nudge, started sharing his tales with an unexpected level of positive response. The experience and support gave him the courage to cross his fingers and aim for the world of M/M publishing.

Born and raised in Michigan, J. Alan continues to type away, wishing it was practical to use a noisy old-fashioned keyboard that clacks with each strike, if only to annoy his loving partner and spoiled miniature dachshund.