De-blog

In 2018, I wrote 214,592 words. :) That's not a bad total word count for the year, but it's my lowest since 2012, and the six years since are in almost perfect negative correlation with the output of Beaten Track Publishing. That's an achievement, of course. I love my job. However, with that realisation comes the closest I'm getting to a New Year's resolution: in 2019, I'll spend less time on publishing and more on writing. That brings my writing career total to 3,214,424 words (!) , consisting of: 25 novels 12 novellas 12 short stories several works in progress In case you missed any…with links… Deb's books published in 2018 Print/eBooks: Oh No She Didn't! (Slice of Life/Women's Fiction - in Upstaged ) What a Scorcher!  (Slice of Life/Women's Fiction - HBTC Free Flash Fiction) Tabula Rasa   (Crime/Romance/Slice of Life - Gray Fisher 2) The Great Village Bun Fight  (Slice of Life/Humour Novella) Goth of Christmas P...

BATTLE FATIGUE ©2005 Debbie McGowan God loves a trier, But I tire of healing cerebral hamstrings Torn by leaping without training over hurdles That simply were not there yesterday. Of backs chewed through to fronts, Remains spat in the sawdust with disgust And downtrodden through the years Into a pithy pile of organisational waste. Of promises that never saw the light of day… Of honoured guests who outstayed their welcome upon their invited arrival… Of great oak trees that were grafted on the graft of Another lowly acorn’s shoot… Of spine-blunted daggers drooling with the blood of comrades While they feast on the sinewy shavings Of lost ambitions, Spanish moss draped in avenues leading to nowhere… Of paper and pens and boxes to fill, Of statistical accusations, Of schemes. Of pretty girls, words, rooms, hours to kill, Of breeding germs feeding on failing thoughts, Of careers perused on the crest of a doubt, Of axes unground and festering dreams, Of wishi...

It's not really going to be a moan, but I liked the alliteration, and I am starting off with a grumble. Seriously, who gets bitten by a spider in England? Me, apparently, so said the nurse at the Minor Injuries unit in our local hospital. I'm on the mend, with the help of antihistamines and, subsequently, more sleep than I've had in months. I didn't see what got me, but there are only a few bitey spiders in the UK, one of which is a tiny thing we call the money spider, also called the sheet weaver spider (the photo shows why). There's an old wives' tale in the UK that if a money spider runs across your palm, you'll come into money, but the little buggers stick with you. They'll abseil on a strand of web, which you think you've successfully attached to something else only to find you're still carrying a miniature passenger. * Image credit:   Sheet Weaver (Money) Spider's Web :  Watchduck  (aka Tilman Piesk) For the above reasons (bi...

Just a quick post this week, in the interests of giving readers as many opportunities to find me online as possible. My Blog: deb248211.blogspot.co.uk   My Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/b8emHL You can find my books here: Beaten Track Publishing: beatentrackpublishing.com/debbiemcgowan Amazon: amazon.com/author/debbiemcgowan Smashwords: smashwords.com/profile/view/debbiemcgowan Barnes and Noble: barnesandnoble.com/s/debbie mcgowan   My Websites:   debbiemcgowan.co.uk hidingbehindthecouch.com   Social Networks:   Facebook Profile: facebook.com/beatentrackpublishing Facebook Page: facebook.com/DebbiemcGowanAuthor Twitter: @writerdebmcg YouTube: youtube.com/deb248211 Tumblr: writerdebmcg.tumblr.com LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/writerdebmcg Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writerdebmcg/ Google+: plus.google.com/+DebbieMcGowan Goodreads: goodreads.com/DebbieMcGowan

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)

This coming Thursday (22nd September, 2016) is release day for my novel, The WAG and The Scoundrel . It's a nerve-racking time. Will readers like it? Will they love it? Or will they hate it? Worse still, will they give it a big fat indifferent 'meh'? I've been writing novels for nearly twenty years, and that old chestnut 'you can't please everyone' is one I (mostly) accept. My books aren't for everyone, but it doesn't make negative reviews sting any less. But anyway, that's not what this post is about. Or it is, a little bit. What I'm going to attempt to do here is provide content warnings (for potential triggers), spoiler warnings and a general note about inclusivity in LGBTQ fiction so that readers do not go into The WAG and The Scoundrel entirely unknowing of what lies ahead. However, this will be sketchy information at best, because if I spell it out, it'll spoil the story! Content Warnings These are some of the key themes...

Today is release day for And The Walls Came Tumbling Down - second edition! For those of you who read the first edition (thank you), the story is the same, but it's a much, much better read. It's a funny thing, going back to an 'old' story. I wrote And The Walls Came Tumbling Down in 2009, so it's not that old. However, when technology or science is involved, a year (or less) is all it takes to date a story. So, there are no flip phones in the second edition, but the Tamagotchi got to stay. Why did I release a second edition at all? Well, in part it's because - I think - I'm a more accomplished author now. I have more of an idea of what I'm doing, at least. I re-read my own stories, and I tweak and refine, but only if I'm not happy with them / I feel I've done a disservice to my readers. Of course, the best I can ever achieve is to be happy with the story at a specific moment in time, and my next revisit will undoubtedly include at leas...

Finally, finally, finally... I'm posting my first RainbowSnippet! :) I've been in the Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook for a few months, and it's a fab idea (thank you, Charley). We get to share snippets from our LGBTQ+ stories, make recommendations of stories we've read etc. and readers of our posts can follow the trail back to other #RainbowSnippets. So, without further ado, this is a six-line snippet from Cherry Pop Valentine, which is a short story (11k words) I wrote last year for a Valentine's Day challenge. This month (July), it's available for free in the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale (use SFREE at checkout). Here's the snippet: In the final clip of our band on stage, Sven brings a single rose across to me at the piano and kneels. I take the rose from him, and we fade to black. Ten years together, and even though he’d said yes to us one day getting married, we’d decided not to bother with a civil partnership and instead wait out the cha...

A little teaser trailer for Reunions - Season Seven of the Hiding Behind The Couch series.

A video blog in which I talk about Love Unlocked, Chain of Secrets and The Love Hearts Game! GIVEAWAY! To win an ebook of Love Unlocked, post a comment with your answer to the following question: How old were Josh and George when they first met? a) seven b) eight c) ten d) eleven Available February 14th, 2016...

Blood, sweat and tears really don't matter Just the things that you do in this garden. (Levellers - 'This Garden' ) I was thinking. I like to do that occasionally, but I rarely give myself the time. I take my Kindle to the loo with me, I proofread in bed, I listen to music while I drive. The rest of the time I'm working, sleeping, or I am in the company of others (I'm working really hard on that last one). Today, I took a few minutes to think and reflect, which is not the same as wallowing. I'm quite adept at living in the moment, but sometimes being mindful is about engaging with thoughts. Indeed, creative thinking requires it. Prompted by a reader's question, my thoughts zoned in on a story I have partly written, which I shouldn't really think about until I've finished what I'm writing now. I did come up with a few ideas, which I safely stowed for later reference, and then I came here to write this post (another thing I'm...

It's New Year's Eve, so it is! Not my favourite time of year, I must admit. I don't make resolutions, and I have a psychological aversion to fireworks and 'Auld Lang Syne'. But never mind all that. On Christmas Day, Raine O'Tierney and I released a Christmas story - Christmas Craic and Mistletoe - which is, in fact, two Christmas stories rolled into one. The second story - Tom and Michael - has a rather lovely chapter entitled 'What are you doing...' The inspiration for that chapter (aside from the characters themselves, of course) was the song 'What are you doing New Year's Eve', as recorded by Harry Connick Jr. So I thought I'd post a little teaser from the chapter, along with a link to the song, to help get you in a smoooth romantic mood! Whatever you're doing this New Year's Eve, have a good one! :) Deb x  * * * * * Excerpt from Christmas Craic and Mistletoe - 'What are you doing...' Tom rubb...

It's a terrible state of affairs that it's taken me TWO DAYS to post about the newest story co-authored by the wonderful award-winning Raine O'Tierney and little ole me. The reason? It's inexplicable, unfathomable and my own bloody fault. I decided we should put out this story on Christmas Day, and near-killed the pair of us doing it. So, two days of collapsy-coma-sleep and the mother of all headaches later, here I am, telling you about our latest story. It's a Christmas story (really, Deb? Yeah) and it's part of our amazing Seeds of Tyrone series . And yes, I do get to call it amazing, because...did I mention award-winning authors? Also, if we don't like our own stories, there's no hope for anyone else liking them. The best bit of collaboration is that we get to read and write at the same time, so my praise, really, isn't arrogance. It's praise for my co-author. Do you like Two-for-Ones? Because that's what you get with Christmas Cr...

Rainbow Book Award Runner Up: When Skies Have Fallen When Skies Have Fallen - my historic romance - was fourth runner-up in the Rainbow Book Awards, which is a wonderful thing. It made me take stock and reflect on why I wrote the story. There is a history hidden behind the glamour and excitement of the swashbuckling heroes and flying aces whose exploits litter fictional accounts of the Second World War. To reach it took hour upon hour of research, reading first-person accounts of what it was like on the home front. This was the story I set out to tell. For many in war-torn 1944, love blossoms in the dance hall, and airman Arty Clarke is no exception. He's a thinker and a dreamer; however, it's not the beautiful, talented dancer in his arms - his best friend Jean - who inspires his dreams. For when his gaze meets that of Technical Sergeant Jim Johnson, Arty dares to imagine a different dance. Their love is forbidden, by both the armed forces and the law, but w...

So there I was, in the midst of responding to Q&As for our* Where the Grass is Greener ** blog tour when my co-author just chucks in an answer that leads to this blog post. * 'our' being the delectable and awesomely talented Raine O'Tierney and my adequate self **  Out today! 28th September, 2015 - Where the Grass is Greener The short version of a very long (two months) journey... I wanted a cover for my novel, When Skies Have Fallen , which was appropriate to the era in which the story is based. The story begins in 1944, when RAF corporal Arty Clarke meets USAAF technical sergeant Jim Johnson at a local dance hall. The novel follows their romance from 1944 through to 1967, against the social backdrop of war, post-war, persecution of homosexuals and decriminalisation of homosexuals in 1967 (in England). Now, there are a lot of old black and white photos of men being affectionate with each other—some of whom are definitely men who love men—around the internet,...

Sooooo... I posted an excerpt of Taking Him On , and people asked for more, haha. Who am I to refuse? Excerpt #2 is below. You can read excerpt #1 here: www.debbiemcgowan.co.uk (Some preordering up and running now - visit www.beatentrackpublishing.com/takinghimon ). * * * * * "Bloody hell, that boy can talk," my dad said. "Have you asked him to marry you or something?" I nearly choked on my fries. "Don't be mean, love," Mum beseeched on my behalf. "They're only kids." Dad picked up his burger and tore a huge chunk out of it, and then continued with his mouth full. "What are you gonna do when he goes to London, son? Go with him?" I closed one eye so I couldn't see the food sloshing around. "I can't, Dad. I don't finish uni for another year." "Go to a different one then." "You can't just change university like you can school." "I don't see why not....

I am UNBELIEVABLY EXCITED that my novel, Crying in the Rain , is a finalist in the 2015 Bisexual Book Awards . So excited, in fact, that as I type I have a TENS machine on my lower back and I'm daring to hope for the impossible instant miracle cure to my eighteen-month muscle spasm so I can go to NYC for the ceremony. Am I wondering if I could win this? I suppose I am, but even getting this far...wow! * * * For many years, Ade Simmons has been an outsider, trapped in an abusive relationship, seeking sanctuary in his job as a radio producer, and in the checklists he makes in an attempt to regain control of his sorry excuse of a life. Actor Kris Johansson is patient, gentle and passionate - everything that Ade's ex-boyfriend is not. When Kris takes a role in one of Ade's plays, the attraction is mutual and instant. It is the turning point for Ade. He can either stay on the same path, with Fergus - the bully who has repressed, used and isolated him from his f...

Seventeen-year-old Josh Sandison has been waiting his whole life to go to university. Gifted - and bullied for being different - he hopes moving away to study will mean a change for the better. Instead he encounters the unexpected, when strange things start happening in his room - the blinds falling down by themselves and notes from an illiterate prankster. Add to this the myth of the haunted third floor, and cynical Josh has had just about enough, when Sean Tierney arrives at university, three days late and with not a penny to his name. The two strike up an unlikely friendship, bonded by their passion for learning and compassion for others. But will their intellectual prowess be enough to solve once and for all the mystery of the third floor? A stand-alone novel from the world of Hiding Behind The Couch Click here for purchase links: beatentrackpublishing.com/ruminations

This week, our final Pride roundtable discussion is led by Rick Bettencourt and Lane Hayes. You can read what they had to say by following the links below: Rick Bettencourt's Post: http://rickbettencourt.wordpress.com/2014/06/23/lgbt-roundtable-discussion/ Lane Hayes' Post: http://lanehayes.wordpress.com/2014/06/23/lgbt-pride-month-roundtable-discussion-what-does-gay-pride-mean-to-you/ Our panelists are a diverse group of readers, writers, and supporters of gay fiction, including Larry Benjamin , Rick Bettencourt , Brandilyn Carpenter , Rob Colton , Andrew Q Gordon , Lane Hayes , and  Debbie McGowan . Each week, two people will answer two questions related LGBT pride, rights, and related topics. We will also be giving away free copies of our eBooks and an Amazon gift card. (Enter on the RC on any of the blog posts.) There are special entries for each week of June, so don’t miss out on those. Please join in the discussion in the comments. You can g...

This week, our roundtable discussion is led by Brandilyn Carpenter and Rob Colton. You can read what they had to say by following the links below: Brandilyn Carpenter's Post: http://www.prismbookalliance.com/2014/06/lgbt-pride-roundtable-discussion-with-giveaway/ Rob Colton's Post: http://robcolton.com/post/88924899130/lgbt-pride-a-roundtable-discussion-week-3 Our panelists are a diverse group of readers, writers, and supporters of gay fiction, including Larry Benjamin , Rick Bettencourt , Brandilyn Carpenter , Rob Colton , Andrew Q Gordon , Lane Hayes , and  Debbie McGowan . Each week, two people will answer two questions related LGBT pride, rights, and related topics. We will also be giving away free copies of our eBooks and an Amazon gift card. (Enter on the RC on any of the blog posts.) There are special entries for each week of June, so don’t miss out on those. Please join in the discussion in the comments. You can gain entries into the giv...