De-blog

Well, I wanted to post a New Year’s Eve snippet, but the only part of Reunions I’ve written for NYE is about Shaunna and Andy, and they’re not LGBTQ. But! I do have a scene from Christmas Day that links to the NYE scene by one degree of separation. ;) Brief explanation: Shaunna and Andy are a couple. Ade (in the snippet) is with Kris, who was married to Shaunna. Barbara (in the scene) is Andy’s mum. They’re all at Barbara’s rather grand house for Christmas dinner, and there’s some (huge) awkwardness going on between Kris and his stepdaughter (Shaunna’s daughter). Barbara is worried it will ruin the day for everyone. Here's the snippet: “It won’t,” Ade assured her. “Kris respects you. I’d even go as far as to say he loves you. You’re his second mum.” “I’m very fond of him, too, and it’s lovely to see him happy at last. Well, I imagine he was happy with Shaunna…” Barbara pursed her lips before she said something she ought not. Ade made a point of looking around the room...

How exciting! This is my first cover reveal for another author, and I feel like I've been holding this precious secret for ages. At last, I get to share it with everyone else. What a privilege! :) Before that, though, here's what you need to know about the book: Title: Regeneration Author: Louise Lyons Release date: January 15, 2017 Genre: Gay fiction, science fiction, MM romance Length: 75,000 words Cover design: Simon Searle Blurb In the 23rd Century in the galaxy of Sigma Kappa, Kim Fortune was the first surviving experimental enhanced human—a regenerate. Aged fifteen, he escaped the lab and years later, his failings as a regenerate and the suspicion of regular humans, leave him lonely and lacking in self-worth. Stranded on an abandoned planet, the arrival of a stricken ship and its crew give him hope that he may finally find what he always longed for—love. Christian Novak is a successful regenerate with all the intended attributes—including lack of h...

I made the decision this year, to take a couple of weeks off for Christmas. You may well be reading this and thinking 'that didn't go very well, did it?' which would be fair comment, although my intention was to take time off from Beaten Track , and I've stuck to it with one exception, which was a Boxing Day discount event on All Romance eBooks . Obviously, that couldn't wait, but the twelve emails I've set aside can . The break from publishing was mostly so I didn't miss Christmas again (that's what's happened the past couple of years), and it's been lovely to spend time at home, mostly with Nige + dogs and cat. Jasmine comes and goes - more so than Beth, which is amusing, as Beth's left home and Jasmine hasn't (she says she's never leaving). It's also been a chance to do some writing-related stuff that needed my attention long before now, and I'm really going to try to properly set aside time for my own writing in 201...

I've extended the giveaway to the end of Hanukkah. Here are the links and coupon codes: Smashwords: https://is.gd/bfjmQG (coupon: KV22Z) Beaten Track: https://is.gd/3XBEKT (coupon: KV22Z) All Romance eBooks: https://is.gd/nGRgDO Blurb: Freelance engineer Sol Brooks doesn't do the festive season. He thinks it's boring and overly sentimental. With the rest of the household laid up with 'the flu', Sol's planned on using the time to crack on with some work. His mother, however, has other ideas. And so does Sol's husband, Adam. A stand-alone holiday special featuring Sol and Adam from Checking Him Out. * * * * * WARNING: this story contains sex acts between consenting male adults. * * * * * In this series: Checking Him Out (book 1) Checking Him Out For The Holidays Hiding Out Taking Him On (book 2 - Noah and Matty) Checking In (book 3)

WIPpet numbers for 21st December, 2016: 21 for the date and 7 Davenports = 217 words :D * * * * * This week, I’m following on from my last WIPpet post, when Pete made a saucy remark and (mostly) got away with it. In context, Eleanor is one of ‘The Circle’—the nine friends at the centre of the Hiding Behind The Couch series. Now aged 40, she’s the eldest of the Davenport ‘children’. Charlotte—aged 35—is third eldest and still lives with their parents, as does Pete—the youngest at 23. This scene takes place on the last Sunday before Christmas; the Davenports are getting ready to go to church before heading down to Ben’s (second eldest) for the Davenport family Christmas. “We’ll wait in the car,” Eleanor said curtly. She thought she’d got the gist of Pete and Charlotte’s conversation, and she wasn’t impressed. With a firm grip on Toby’s hand, she ushered her mother out of the house. Charlotte stood to zip her jacket. Pete’s mischief amused her, but she didn’t dare show ...

I've been tagged by the gloriously talented author Jonathan Hill to write a blog post on writer's pet peeves. If you haven't read any of Jonathan's stories, go and do it right now! My blog post will still be here when you're done. OK, so, pet peeves, hmmm... I'm not sure I have any. Ha. Who am I kidding? (No-one, I imagine). I have loads, although they're either so ginormous they're less 'pet' and more 'keep in a safari park in an enclosure marked PLEASE KEEP YOUR VEHICLE WINDOWS SHUT AND LOCK ALL THE DOORS!', or they're so tiny and fleeting they're gone and forgotten before I can get too peeved. I love writing. There is not one story I've written that I don't at least like, and of the 'works in progress' on my computer, there are only a couple I'm not fond of...right now. It's more a case of how daunting the task is of turning them into stories I'd be happy to put out there for others to read. ...

It’s the first day of my Christmas holiday. Hurray! I’m cracking on with Reunions …soon. I haven’t written any more of it yet. But I have marzipanned (yes, it is a verb, for sure) the cake (that I definitely didn’t buy pre-made). We’ve got a tree and lights and everything, so it’s all going according to plan. Mostly. Sort of. OK, there is no plan. Anyway… Rainbow Snippet time. Snippet context: It’s Christmas morning. That’s all you need to know. :)   Here’s the snippet: “Good morning, Mr. Johansson,” Ade sang—actually sang—holding the ‘-son’ for a count of four as the curtains swished open on a still-dark world. The bedside lamps came on, first one, then the other, and Ade clambered back into bed. “Good morning, Mr. Simmons.” Kris fought a smile, endeavouring to hide his amusement and surprise. Ade was not a morning person. “It’s—” Kris lifted his head and squinted at the clock “—five-thirty? That’s early even for me.” “All the more day to do Christmas with,” Ade sa...

WIPpet numbers for 14th December, 2016: ((14x12)/16)x(2+0)=21 paragraphs * * * * * I’ve missed a chunk out to keep this as short as possible, but this week, I’m following on from my last WIPpet post, when readers wanted to know: “Who’s staying in Pete’s bed?” Read on! In context, Eleanor is one of ‘The Circle’—the nine friends at the centre of the Hiding Behind The Couch series. Now aged 40, she’s the eldest of the Davenport ‘children’. Charlotte—aged 35—is third eldest and still lives with their parents, as does Pete—the youngest at 23. This scene takes place on the last Sunday before Christmas; the Davenports are getting ready to go to church before heading down to Ben’s (second eldest) for the Davenport family Christmas. Toby (in the snippet) is Eleanor’s son. Note: this is ‘hot off the keyboard’. “Who’s Pete got staying?” Eleanor timed the question badly, as her mum was on her way back down and heard her. “It best be nobody,” she grumbled on her way to the toast...

Yesterday, we finally got around to putting up our Christmas tree...which means we first had to buy one. A few years back, in an attempt to persuade the rest of my family, I compared the ecological impact of having a real tree every year vs manufacture and disposal of an artificial tree, thinking I'd win with logic and statistics. I lost. Unless we were to keep an artificial tree for more than five years, it's greener to stick with the real deal, especially if it's recycled after Christmas, which ours always is. However, finding a real tree this year was a bit of a trial. The place we used to buy from was only a mile down the road from us, but they stopped selling Christmas trees a couple of years ago, so we've had to go further afield. I also insisted on a Scots pine, which - according to the seller we got our tree from this time - is rarely being grown for the Christmas tree market because they're less reliable and not as uniform as the spruces. So now yo...

Well, I knew I hadn't taken part in Rainbow Snippets for a while, but I was horrified when I discovered the last time was August! :o I'll leave the explanation at it's been a helluva year for all of us and move on. This week, I'm gearing up to the 15th December release of my Christmas novella - Of The Bauble . It's a young adult humorous fantasy romance, which hopefully readers of all ages (13+) will enjoy. Here's the blurb: When nineteen-year-old Kieran O’Sullivan takes a trip to the attic for the Christmas decorations, it proves to be an illuminating experience. Box includes: - a hapless but not altogether helpless student - a pedantic supernatural being (or two, or…well, quite a few) - a funky older sister - the coolest mum in the world - a naughty rescue bunny and her easily led feline sidekick - an insightful ex-girlfriend - twinkle lights - tinsel - baubles * Warning - may contain traces of magic and a smidgeon of social commentar...

It's WIPpet Wednesday! Hurray! So...I chose this particular scene from Reunions (which at this rate won't be finished until 2018!) because it's the 7th and there are seven ‘children’ in the Davenport family. In context, Eleanor is one of ‘The Circle’—the nine friends at the centre of the Hiding Behind The Couch series. Now aged 40, she’s the eldest of the Davenport ‘children’. Charlotte—aged 35—is third eldest and still lives with their parents, as does Pete—the youngest at 23. This scene takes place on the last Sunday before Christmas; the Davenports are getting ready to go to church before heading down to Ben’s (second eldest) for the Davenport family Christmas. Toby (in the snippet) is Eleanor’s son. As it was every Sunday, the most difficult part was getting Toby washed and dressed in time for Mass, but for once, it wasn’t Eleanor tearing her hair out whilst her terrible toddler screamed blue murder. She hid behind her mug of tea and tried to keep her face ...

I haven't posted in almost a month, which is madness, but then, my work schedule has been full to busting. Between teaching for the Open University (three assignments to grade within a month) and preparing ten separate publications (one of them an anthology) for November/December releases, I've stopped only to sleep...and to win NaNoWriMo by the skin of my teeth. And I wrote a Christmas novella, which is out next week (15th December) - more on that next time. For now, you can find out more and/or (preferably and) preorder it via the links on this page: Of The Bauble (Beaten Track)   So...all of that means I've missed the Wednesday WIPpets and the Rainbow Snippets for ages . It's about sharing, and I didn't have time to fulfil my part in that, but I'm hoping to get back on track over the next few weeks. Well, I'm hoping to finish writing Reunions and do some reading for pleasure, actually. I also have a few editor reviews to catch up on (as i...

Title: Walking by Faith Author: A.M. Leibowitz Publisher: Supposed Crimes, LLC Publication Date: November 1, 2016 Length: 261 pages Goodreads Categories/tags: LGBT literature, Christian fiction, bisexual, genderqueer, romance, contemporary, disability Purchase Links: Amazon | Amazon UK | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iTunes | Publisher Synopsis: For Becket “Cat” Rowland, falling in love has never been easy. The summer he meets Micah Forbes, the intensity of his feelings brings back all the memories of eight years earlier. Following a brutal attack that left him nearly dead, Cat is a mess inside and out. To cope with the trauma and with his view of himself that he’s nothing but an empty shell, he’s taken three vows: simplicity, chastity, and silence. His once colorful, trendy, and often feminine wardrobe has been replaced with jeans and t-shirts, and he’s sworn off men. He locks himself away from the world, using the memorized prayers of his childhood ...

I posted my author 'review' for Those Jeffries Boys on Goodreads yesterday. The book came out back in May this year, but it was only when I posted the review that I discovered a couple of readers of HBTC had missed it. Sorry about that! So, I thought I'd write a quick update on the Hiding Behind The Couch series – as a whole, and where I'm up to with writing. All of the titles (except Reunions ) are links to the Beaten Track listings, where you will find the links to order from your favoured vendor. Most recent additions: The Wag and The Scoundrel – 22/09/16 Those Jeffries Boys – 26/05/16 Chain of Secrets – 14/02/16 Upcoming releases: Class-A – 01/12/16 Reunions – TBC That's where I'm up to with writing. Reunions is about half written, maybe. It's currently around 106,000 words (I have no end goal on word count – when it's done, it's done), but it's a bit all over the place. This year has been a tough one for finding bloc...

What is WIPpet Wednesday? WIPpet Wednesday is a blog hop where authors share from their current works in progress - expertly organised/hosted by Emily Witt - and the excerpt has to relate to the date in some way. For links to other fabulous authors' WIPpets, visit: http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=355404 * * * * * It's a long one, but I wanted to post the full scene. I wrote this part of Reunions a while back, but I've missed Josh and Shaunna, so I thought I'd post something about them. Plus, the maths works: (2016+10)/27=75 sentences In this scene, it's Christmas Eve, and Shaunna is on Josh-sitting duty whilst George (his husband) is attending a neurology appointment. Here's the WIPpet: It was a prime viewing spot; from his location, at one end of Shaunna and Andy’s kitchen table, Josh could see all the way to the bottom of the garden, although his focal point was far closer than that. “Didn’t you put up the fences at your old place?” h...