De-blog

I haven’t posted to  Rainbow Snippets  in such a long time—busy life, in short—but I decided to join in today to celebrate Trans Awareness Week. I’ll be honest: there are very few trans characters in my stories, and for no good reason, but I’ve become aware of it over the past couple of years, and I’m working on changing that. :) Anyway, here’s a snippet from The Making of Us featuring Jazz—one of the officers of (MC) Jesse’s university’s LGBT+ society. * * * * * Most of the members identified as gay or lesbian; there were a couple of trans students—Jazz being the only one I knew well, because we’d been at Weight Watchers together the previous year. I’d lost six kilos, and I was pretty sure I’d put them all back on again in a matter of weeks. Jazz had lost around twenty kilos and kept the weight off, and she looked amazing. Well, she’d looked amazing before, but now, she was more confident and less self-conscious, and she got to wear clothes that accentuated her cur...

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...

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. ...

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

Brief explanation: The Making Of Us  is available to preorder! It’s currently with my editor. :) Preorder Links: Beaten Track [Paperback] • Beaten Track [eBook] • Amazon [Kindle Edition] • Smashwords [eBook] • Barnes and Noble [eBook] • Kobo [eBook] You can read previous snippets others here . The Making Of Us  is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I. The main characters are Jesse and Leigh, who first appeared in Taking Him On (Book Two), which is Noah and Matty’s story. The Making Of Us  is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. Here’s the snippet: I wasn’t in the least surprised—if they hadn’t moved first, I would have—when Leigh cupped the back of my neck and pulled me down into a long, deep kiss that rapidly reached fever heat. The soft stretchy fabric of their top bunched beneath my palms as I smoothed their...

Four days: that's how long I've spent trying to write this blog post. I had it half written and my computer didn't save it (thanks, Outlook, and well done me for my impressive use of technology—thought I'd get clever with speech-to-text on my phone). Anyway, the long and short of it is this: The Making Of Us is available for preorder! Beaten Track [Paperback] • Beaten Track [eBook] • Amazon [Kindle Edition] • Smashwords [eBook] • Barnes and Noble [eBook] • Kobo [eBook] I finished writing it over the weekend, and it occurred to me, somewhere around the 95k mark (it's 97k words in all), three of the last four books I've written feature non-binary main characters (the other two being Of The Bauble and The WAG and The Scoundrel ). This wasn't intentional, in the sense that all my characters, by default, are non-binary (because I am), so you can assume that's true unless I tell you otherwise. First, for those unsure of what non-binary ...

Brief explanation: Another snippet from The Making Of Us . You can read the others here . The Making Of Us is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I. The main characters are Jesse and Leigh, who first appeared in Taking Him On (Book Two), which is Noah and Matty’s story. The Making Of Us is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. I haven’t posted for a few weeks—been busy writing! :) I’m a couple of chapters and an epilogue from finished! Woot! But I’m a bit sad about that, too. I’m going to miss Jesse and Leigh when I’m done. Here’s the snippet: I stopped outside Leigh’s bedroom door and felt my stomach flutter at the sight. They hadn’t seen me, busy loosening off the laces in their Doc Martens. “Hey,” I said. Leigh paused and acknowledged me with a smile. “Hey.” Kicking off their boots, they beckoned for me to come in. “How are you tod...

WIPpet numbers for 26th April, 2017: 268 (26 and 1+7) words from The Making Of Us ( Checking Him Out Book Four) WIPpet Context: Another snippet from The Making Of Us . You can read the others here . The Making Of Us is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I. The main characters are Jesse and Leigh, who first appeared in Taking Him On (Book Two), which is Noah and Matty’s story. The Making Of Us is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. This snippet comes a short while after last week’s: Jesse has taken Leigh to meet his mum for the first time. * * * * * “Are you ready?” Leigh nodded and tilted their head towards the door in encouragement, but the door whooshed away from me before I had a chance to open it. “Hello, oh!” My mum blinked at us and looked to see what I was staring at—my keys still dangling from the lock. She tutted and p...

WIPpet numbers for 19th April, 2017: (even though it’s now the 20th—I was a bit tied up with Reunions launch stuff yesterday and didn’t get around to posting) 19+4=23 sentences from The Making Of Us ( Checking Him Out Book Four) WIPpet Context: Another snippet from The Making Of Us . You can read the others here . The Making Of Us is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I. The main characters are Jesse and Leigh, who first appeared in Taking Him On (Book Two), which is Noah and Matty’s story. The Making Of Us is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. In this snippet, Jesse is taking Leigh to meet his mum for the first time. * * * * * “Anyway, she knows you’re queer and that you use they/them pronouns. Hopefully, she’ll get it right, but it’s my fault if she doesn’t.” “You always do.” “But I told her about you the first time I saw ...

Brief explanation: Another snippet from The Making Of Us . You can read the others here . The Making Of Us is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I. The main characters are Jesse and Leigh, who first appeared in Taking Him On (Book Two), which is Noah and Matty’s story. The Making Of Us is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. I wasn’t going to post this week, but I just reached 50k, so here are the six lines that took me across the threshold! Here’s the snippet: “If you don’t want to, that’s OK,” Leigh assured me doubtfully. “We could leave it for a bit, until we’re—” “I do.” I looked up and held Leigh’s gaze—until they broke it with an eye roll. “I wasn’t proposing!” they said. What could I do but kiss that cheeky grin? * * * * * Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share ...

WIPpet numbers for 12th April, 2017: 12 paragraphs from The Making Of Us ( Checking Him Out Book Four) WIPpet Context: Another snippet from The Making Of Us . You can read the others here . The Making Of Us is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I. The main characters are Jesse and Leigh, who first appeared in Taking Him On (Book Two), which is Noah and Matty’s story. The Making Of Us is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. Jesse and Noah are English literature undergraduates; they have a presentation to do… * * * * * The day of the presentation came. I’d put forward all my best arguments for why Noah should do the talking, but he was having none of it. “Who’s up first?” our Discourse Analysis lecturer asked. A hand shot up somewhere in front of us, and the lecturer beckoned the brave volunteers to the front of the theatre. It was ...

Brief explanation: Another snippet from The Making Of Us . You can read the others here . The Making Of Us is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I. The main characters are Jesse and Leigh, who first appeared in Taking Him On (Book Two), which is Noah and Matty’s story. The Making Of Us is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. I was a bit stumped for a snippet today, and in the end I went with 12 short paragraphs (rather than 6 sentences—a double rainbow? ;) ). Jesse and Leigh are at the ‘tell our friends’ stage. Here’s the snippet: We were still holding hands when Matty arrived twenty minutes later and stopped a few feet away, his mouth and eyes wide open in a ‘Matty shock-horror’ face. He pointed at our joined hands. “Wh-whe-when did this happen?” I turned to Leigh. “I thought you’d told him.” “Nope. I was waiting for you.” “Really?” ...

WIPpet numbers for 5th April, 2017: It's my ‘baby’ sister’s 40th birthday today! :) 247 words (7-2=5, and 4) from The Making Of Us ( Checking Him Out Book Four) WIPpet Context: Another snippet from The Making Of Us . You can read the others here . The Making Of Us is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I. The main characters are Jesse and Leigh, who first appeared in Taking Him On (Book Two), which is Noah and Matty’s story. The Making Of Us is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective. This snippet starts with a private message from Leigh to Jesse. * * * * * Hey Jesse. Hope your day’s going OK and you’re getting loads done. x If I’d had my phone with me, I’d have got the message while I was in the waiting room. Then, 11:30: That was a mad lecture. Advanced maths? Call that advanced? Haha. x Only I could fall for a number buff...