De-blog

WIPpet numbers for 28th June, 2017: 28 + 6 - 17 = 17 paragraphs from To Be Sure WIPpet Context: Another snippet from To Be Sure , which continues directly from previous snippets . This is from the first chapter of my story for ‘SAGA’ (title TBC): an anthology of stories featuring older LGBT+ characters (out later this year, from Beaten Track Publishing). The main character of  To Be Sure  is Saorla (seer-la) Tierney, a seventy-one-year-old woman from Derry in the North of Ireland. For readers of the Hiding Behind The Couch series, she’s Sean’s mum. Finn is Sean’s older brother. In last week’s snippet , Saorla had just got off the phone with Sean, and was preparing a meal while waiting for Finn to arrive home. * * * * * It was only when the front door opened that Saorla remembered the potatoes, which didn’t even have a lid on them, and they were all but boiled dry. “That you, Finn?” she called and grabbed a fork. The click of Finn’s crutch prec...

I've just finished re-reading The WAG and The Scoundrel (Gray Fisher #1) in preparation for writing Tabula Rasa (Gray Fisher #2) - or, at least, making a good start on it - during July's CampNaNoWriMo . It led to a startling discovery (which I mentioned in my RainbowSnippets post on Saturday ): I'd accidentally situated characters from two different stories in different series in the same place at exactly the same time! Eek! On one level, that's rather fun, particularly as the location in question is a close approximation to Watergate Bay in Cornwall (pictured, with Newquay in the distance), which is quite possibly my favourite place to be. I say 'possibly' because I'm no longer sure if it's the real version or my fictional one that I love most - a point I'll come back to shortly. So, my first response was 'how cool!' and it gave me lots to ponder. Would the characters have noticed each other? What would have happened if they had?...

Snippet #2 from No Filter - another Checking Him Out / Hiding Behind The Couch crossover (the first being Hiding Out ), featuring Matty (CHO) and Libby (HBTC). I should say deliberate  cross-over, as today, I realised I’d accidentally (or maybe not?) put characters from both series in exactly the same place at the same time—even though they live 250 miles apart—although they don’t interact. I wonder if they even noticed each other? Hmm. (For those who are curious, it was in  The WAG and The Scoundrel and The Making Of Us ) Brief background: Libby and Matty first met in  Hiding Out , when Libby was fifteen and Matty was an undergrad dance student. No Filter   is a year later; it’s a very early work in progress, and it’s a friendship story, not a romance. Now I’ve figured out where it fits in the timeline of both series, I sort of know what I’m doing. Possibly. This snippet is from Matty’s point of view. Noah is Matty’s SO. “Did you want me?” A ba...

WIPpet numbers for 21st June, 2017: It's my wedding anniversary! 18 years! :o 20 x 6 + 21 + 17 = 158 words from To Be Sure Sorry for any other WIPpet posts I missed last week. I was very late visiting and had to go a-hunting. WIPpet Context: Another snippet from To Be Sure , which continues directly from previous snippets . This is from the first chapter of my story for ‘SAGA’ (title TBC): an anthology of stories featuring older LGBT+ characters (out later this year, from Beaten Track Publishing). And I also have a cover! The main character of  To Be Sure  is Saorla (seer-la) Tierney, a seventy-one-year-old (I miscounted, as usual) woman from Derry in the North of Ireland. For readers of the Hiding Behind The Couch series, she’s Sean’s mum. Finn is Sean’s older brother. In last week’s snippet , Saorla had just got off the phone with Sean, and she’s waiting for Finn to arrive home. * * * * * To be fair, Finn was trying, and Sean was being the diffi...

It's here! Release day is finally here! I bet you're all really pleased about that. :D That's the trouble with social media; no matter how many times we share our news, there will be some people who miss it entirely whilst others are thinking enough of the constant bombardment already! So, yeah - sorry if you fall in the bombardment camp. The Making Of Us is a story I didn't foresee, but in truth, I realise now that - like When Skies Have Fallen - it's a story I needed to tell. Back in 2014, when I wrote the first instalment of the Checking Him Out series , it was my first foray into writing M/M Romance, and it was intended to be a tongue-in-cheek, quirky story - and a one-off! It's my most-read story, helped in no small part by being free - I'd have made a 'real' bestsellers' list had it not been free. Checking Him Out is about Sol and Adam - two British guys (competitive, annoying, alpha-male types) who meet in the US, fall in...

June is Pride month. As a somewhat introverted and asocial author/academic, I find big social occasions (like Pride parades) a bit wearing (to say the least), but I can celebrate and fight in other, albeit quieter ways. To this end, I've written this post to answer some of the questions I've been asked, mostly by those outside of the LGBT+ community (apologies if it comes across as 'splaining). This is my understanding. It's only one perspective, and I welcome respectful discussion. I've also included a list of the LGBT+ characters in my stories, as this is another way in which I try to contribute to visibility and acceptance - as both an ally and member of the community. What is Pride? Wikipedia's definition is quite good (I don't usually quote from there): Gay pride or LGBT pride is the positive stance against discrimination and violence toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people [sic] to promote their self-affirmation, dig...

Brief explanation: I’ve switched back to snipping from The Making Of Us for a couple of weeks, as the book is out on Tuesday June 20th. :) Preorder Links: Beaten Track [Paperback] • Beaten Track [eBook] • Amazon [Kindle Edition] • Smashwords [eBook] • Barnes and Noble [eBook] • Kobo [eBook] You can read previous snippets  here . The Making Of Us  is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. ‘Sarah’ (referred to in this snippet) is the uni LGBT+ society president. I’ve edited to keep it free of major spoilers. Here’s the snippet: “That’s what I meant before,” Leigh said. “You’re not what Sarah thinks queer looks like.” “That’s ridiculous.” I meant Sarah’s attitude, not what Leigh was saying, because now they’d spelled it out for me, I could see for myself. “I’m too introverted for this,” I joked. Kind of joked. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life sharing personal information with strangers who didn’t need to know. “Yep.” Leigh turned...

WIPpet numbers for 14th June, 2017: 14 - 6 = 8 paragraphs (+/-10%, rounded to whole numbers… ;) Yes, OK, there are 9 paragraphs) from To Be Sure WIPpet Context: Another snippet from To Be Sure , which continues directly from previous snippet . This is from the first chapter of my story for ‘SAGA’ (title TBC): an anthology of stories featuring older LGBT+ characters (out later this year, from Beaten Track Publishing). The whippet is Al Stewart’s fault—he and co-author Claire Davis also have a story in the anthology. :) The main character of  To Be Sure  is Saorla (seer-la) Tierney, a seventy-year-old woman from Derry in the North of Ireland. For readers of the Hiding Behind The Couch series, she’s Sean’s mum. Finn is Sean’s older brother. In last week’s snippet , Sean was surprised to discover Finn had accepted his christening invitation. * * * * * “Are he and Erin back together?” “Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe you could ask him yourself w...

Content Warning: fat-shaming, profanity Today is a Fat Rage day. Not a Fat Shame day. Or a Fat Pride day. I have a book out next week*, about Jesse, who's a big guy, and much more polite about all of this than I'm feeling today. Here's a few 'come to mind' examples that might go some way towards explaining why. Actually, forget the examples. I've been sitting on this post for half a day, and the examples included incidents of fat-shaming of friends and their family members. The count DOUBLED in the few hours since I wrote this and then decided I wouldn't post, because my rage simmered down. Let me tell you, it's ready to blow the lid off now. Before I go any further, I'm NOT suicidal. I'm actually feeling quite positive today. But that is today, and that is me. There are people in this world right now who ARE suicidal because of this. Because of fat-shaming. Because of mindless hatred and judgements people have no right to ma...

The Making Of Us (Checking Him Out #4) June 20, 2017 Available to preorder - http://www.beatentrackpublishing.com/themakingofus Beaten Track [Paperback] Beaten Track [eBook - various formats] Amazon [Kindle Edition] Smashwords [eBook - various formats] Barnes and Noble [eBook] Kobo

Brief explanation: I’m switching back to snipping from The Making Of Us for a couple of weeks, as the book is out on June 20th. :) Preorder Links: Beaten Track [Paperback] • Beaten Track [eBook] • Amazon [Kindle Edition] • Smashwords [eBook] • Barnes and Noble [eBook] • Kobo [eBook] You can read previous snippets  here . The cover’s also changed slightly since I last snipped. The Making Of Us  is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. In this scene, Jesse is sitting with Leigh on Leigh’s bed, and they’re having a deep conversation about Leigh’s family. Jesse’s ‘dream come true’ is in this snippet, which I posted a while back . Here’s the snippet: “My feet probably stink. Sorry.” I leaned down and sniffed the one closest to me. “They don’t,” I assured them, as what I’d dreamed of—was it only three weeks ago?—became reality without me really thinking about what I was doing. “That feels nice.” Leigh sighed and smiled, looking a bit dopey. ...

WIPpet numbers for 7th June, 2017: (6+7) x 20 + (1+7) = 268 words from To Be Sure WIPpet Context: Another snippet from To Be Sure , which continues directly from last week’s snippet . This is from the first chapter of my story for SAGA: an anthology of stories featuring older LGBT+ characters (out later this year, from Beaten Track Publishing). The main character is Saorla (seer-la) Tierney, a seventy-year-old woman from Derry in the North of Ireland. For readers of the Hiding Behind The Couch series, she’s Sean’s mum. Finn is Sean’s older brother. In last week’s snippet, Sean asked—and then double-checked—to see if his mum wanted to share a twin or a double hotel room with her friend Aileen on their upcoming trip. * * * * * “Yes, Sean, I’m quite sure.” “Or you can have my place for the weekend and I’ll stay in the hotel. How about that?” “Don’t be daft. I’ll be needing to keep an eye on your brother, anyway. So, I’ll let you get on. When—” Sean ...

The Making Of Us (Checking Him Out #4) June 20, 2017 Available to preorder - http://www.beatentrackpublishing.com/themakingofus Beaten Track [Paperback] Beaten Track [eBook - various formats] Amazon [Kindle Edition] Smashwords [eBook - various formats] Barnes and Noble [eBook] Kobo

The Making Of Us (Checking Him Out #4) June 20, 2017 Available to preorder - http://www.beatentrackpublishing.com/themakingofus Beaten Track [Paperback] Beaten Track [eBook - various formats] Amazon [Kindle Edition] Smashwords [eBook - various formats] Barnes and Noble [eBook] Kobo

The Making Of Us (Checking Him Out #4) June 20, 2017 Available to preorder - http://www.beatentrackpublishing.com/themakingofus Beaten Track [Paperback] Beaten Track [eBook - various formats] Amazon [Kindle Edition] Smashwords [eBook - various formats] Barnes and Noble [eBook] Kobo