Category: Uncategorized

As you may or may not have heard, Amber Quill has decided to close it’s doors.  As of midnight on March 31, 2016, they will no longer be in business.

I’m sad to hear the news.  They have been a staple in this genre for a long time.  More than that, I’ve truly enjoyed working with them for the last eight months or so.  It’s been a great experience, and I was looking forward to working with them in the future.  It’s a blow, but I respect that they’ve gone about this in a considerate and professional manner.  We’ve all seen publishers stop paying royalties to their authors, and then make false promises, before disappearing and/or declaring bankruptcy.  Amber Quill is being proactive and professional, doing this responsibly and with respect to everyone involved.

Amber Allure is the publisher of my Something Like series.  As an author who has worked with them, it means that my books will no longer be available after March 30th.   The books will, however, continue to be available for sale throughout the next three months.  After that time, the rights will revert to me and I can rerelease them in any manner of ways.  As I’m still reeling from the announcement, I’ve made no decisions about what I’m personally going to do with my work.  I have a lot of options to wade through, and time to make those choices and decisions.

What does this mean for you as a reader?  Well, if you have an account with Amber Quill, make sure you hop over and download anything on your bookshelf.  Use any credits or promos you have.  On March 31st, the website will no longer be accessible.  Any books they have up through third party sellers will continue to be there for purchase until that date, if you prefer Amazon or ARe or similar. However, anything by Amber Quill and it’s house lines will be removed on that date as well.

It’s sad news, and I’m certain we will feel their loss greatly.  But also I can do nothing more than wish them all well and thank them for an amazing experience.

I can’t believe 2015 is already coming to a close.

Honestly.

It’s surreal really.  This whole year has been.  It’s been a big year for me.  A lot has happened.  Both in my personal life and as an author.  Which are not always one and the same, but rather contiguous parts of me.

Writing-wise a lot happened.  I released 5 novellas.  3 of which I wrote this year.  I’m really proud of them, and I get the happy feels whenever I think of them.  From Joshua and Will starting out the year in Pumpkin Rolls and Porn Sounds to Dan and Vincent bringing the year to a close with Something Like Peace just two weeks ago, I couldn’t be happier with these stories.  I hope you enjoyed them, too.

Dan and Vincent will make their first appearance on Friday, so if you haven’t read their story yet, you’ve still got some time.

In the personal life, the biggest thing that happened was some massive upheaval at the day job.  It happened twice, with two different things, all the in the last six months.  It’s caused a lot of anxiety, weird dreams, and sleepless nights.  It’s definitely taken it’s toll on yours truly, and it’s a wonder I didn’t go back to smoking (8 months smoke free and counting!).  But I have persevered and I have to believe that someway, somehow, it has made me stronger.

So it’s been a big year.  Some good, some bad.  And that’s how I know I’m alive and kicking.  It’s also given me some goals to shoot for in 2016.  I know a little more what I’m capable of if I push myself (or get pushed, lol) and I’m looking forward to accomplishing much more in the year ahead.

I’m working on a new story now, though at the moment I’m doing it very slowly.  And I’ve got plans for the next two after that.  This upcoming year might not be as big as last year, but it certainly going to have it’s own shining moments.

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you’ve had a banner year.  And I wish you nothing but goodness and beautiful things for 2016!

Yay!

Okay, I just needed to say that again.  Something Like Peace is out, and you can get it directly from Amber Allure (where there’s a release week discount!) or jump over to ARe and pick it up there if you prefer.  Amazon hasn’t happened quite yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as that happens.

You can also head over to Joyfully Jay, where there’s a guest post, excerpt, and a giveaway!  (it’s a pretty good one too, if I say so myself.)  So make sure you check that out and enter the giveaway if you’re so inclined.

It’s been a crazy awesome year, and I’m so glad that Dan and Vincent get their story out before it closes.  Remember we’ll see more from them starting in January.  This Friday Garrett and Andrew will be doing double duty with the next installment of their saga…with an extra bonus.  And then we’ll see them again on Christmas to wrap their story up.

Happy reading!

Yay!!!   So, the long awaited next installment in the Something Like Series is out!  Something Like Peace hits the shelves today.  Woo!

Okay, so maybe it’s only be long awaited by me.  But this is Dan’s story, and guys, if you knew just how long its been living in my head, how many ways it’s changed…well, you’d understand why it’s so long awaited. I’ve talked about it some, but there’s only been one other person who has been privy to everything, and he had to deal with it as I nearly had a mental break down.  But that was just all in the process of finding the right story, telling the story that was really meant to be told, and this is the story that I have written for you.

So if you’ve been following along in the series, run out and pick up Something Like Peace. And if you haven’t been, well, you shouldn’t have any trouble knowing what’s going on if you decide to start here.

I love these guys.  I love them an insane amount.  And they just might by my favorite couple to date.

So run off to Amber Allure and pick up your copy (and you can get it at a discount).  ARe and Amazon links will be coming soon.

For actor Daniel Jacobs, accepting he’s gay is easier than he expected.  But actually acting on the attraction he’s just begun to acknowledge proves more difficult. Fortunately the very sexy Vincent Stevens is willing to introduce him to all he’s been missing, but Dan’s not sure a fling with his TV show’s sometime director is wise.

 Throwing caution to the wind, Dan seeks out what Vincent has to offer and before he knows it, he’s in over his head. When Vincent experiences a health scare, he’s not sure how to take Dan’s fussing.  As the men start finding their way toward more, Dan realizes it will only work if they both recognize the peace they bring one another.

From the moment the series expanded from one book into three, I knew there was the potential for more.  I can’t remember at what point I decided Vincent was going to get his own story.  I knew when I went past the original trilogy, that Vincent’s story would be Peace.  Always.  From that first conception.  It’s funny how little the Vincent side of the story changed, and how drastically Dan’s did.  And because so little of Vincent’s story changed, Peace still fit. And because Dan’s changed so much, Peace fit even better for him than what I was originally envisioning.

Funny how these imaginary guys were meant to be together.  I was too blind to see it, too focused on what I thought should happen, the plots I had, to see what was a much better story. (Thank God for my subconscious and the Admiral!)

So even though the story came out of my brain, and I worked at it to make it what it is, I really think that it was the story that was supposed to happen all along.  All those other incarnations were just so very wrong, and once I let go of what should be, the real story emerged.  Dan and Vincent are entitled to their Peace, and I’m so glad that they got it.

On Sunday, you can see how they got there.

Fun Fact: the reason the series is set in Seattle is because of a major plot point in the original plot for Dan’s story.  It no longer matters, because that plot is so long gone, but if not for that, Hope and the subsequent stories would have taken place in my version of Vancouver.  

The very first time I put Vincent on the page, he wasn’t much of anything.  He just kind of jumped on there as a no-nonsense guy, whom everybody wanted to please, and who got shit done efficiently.  That first time, when I wrote him, I thought maybe we’d see him again in the book, coming in to direct another episode.  And then the book turned into a series, and when he showed up again, I knew we’d been seeing a lot more of him.  I knew, one day, Vincent would have his own story.  I never thought he’d fall in love with Dan.

Here’s the thing, and I know I’ve at least mentioned it before, Vincent looks like someone in my life.  And once I put that face on the character, I couldn’t shake it.  Which is not a bad thing. Trust me, Vincent is hot.  But I had plans for him that didn’t include Dan.  He had a different love.  Until that dream, where Vincent was with Dan, and a discussion with the Admiral made it all crystal clear.

And then I had to convey Vincent solely through Dan’s perception.  We only see Vincent how Dan does (which is pretty much how I see him, I’ll admit) and I had to attempt to show all the sides of him.  I tapped into a few of his real life counterparts personality traits as well, but made them solely Vincent’s so he is a wholly a construct of my mind.  And with the dash of reality mixed in, I think I have a pretty great character.  I hope I did him justice on the page.  I want you all to love him as much as I do.  As much as Dan does.

And you can watch Dan fall in love with Vincent on December 13th!

Almost always, I write in first person past tense.  There are a lot of reason for this which I won’t go into here (that’s another post).  But what it means is that, sometimes, I have trouble figuring out who the narrator is going to be.  Sometimes, I can see different scenes from both guys’ POVs, and I have to really sort down and decide on who is going to tell us the story, which one is better.

Other times, it’s obvious right from the start to me who is going to narrate.  And that was the case with Dan.  From the very beginning, way back when I was still writing Something Like Hope and he was nothing more than a side character with only the barest hint of possibility of him having his own story, he had an incredibly strong voice.  I knew him and how he would react to any given situation.  Well, I thought he was straight, but other than that… 😀

So it was obvious to me that Dan was going to be the POV character.  This would be his story of falling in love.  And through the many incarnations his story went through, that never changed.  And I tried to write all the bits about his character that I found the most appealing.  His strength and his caring and his compassion.  His sometimes silly and goofy moods.  His sometimes ability to get easily distracted.  His huge capacity to love.  He’s certainly not perfect, but he’s lovable, and I tried very hard to show it.

I hope you’ll give Dan a chance to tell you his story.  Something Like Peace releases December 13th!

I just realized that Daniel Jacobs is Chekhov’s gun.

You know the principle, right?  You show the gun in the first act, give a glimpse of it in the second act to remind the audience, and then use it in the third act.  Dan was introduced in the first book, I purposely put him in some key scenes in the second book so that readers would remember he exists, and then he finally gets his romance in the third book.

Okay, so it’s probably a lose interpretation of the dramatic principle.  But it still applies.  If you read all three books.

Now each book in the series stands alone.  You can read any of them without prior knowledge, and you’ll still get all the information you need.  There was a line I walked when writing the second and third books to give the reader everything they needed to know, without getting too repetitive for any reader who had read previous books.  I think I did okay.

So whether you read all three books, or jump right into the last one, if we’re going with the Chekhov’s Gun analogy, then this is the book where Dan goes off.

And he does it in spectacular fashion.

Something Like Peace released December 13th from Amber Allure.  Watch this space for buy links.

Something Like Peace release in one week!  *throws confetti*

December 13th, you’ll be able to get it from Amber Allure.  I’ll post buy links when they become available.  But in the meantime, how about a cover and a blurb?

Unofficial blurb:

For actor Daniel Jacobs, accepting he’s gay is easier than he expected.  But actually acting on the attraction he’s just begun to acknowledge proves more difficult. Fortunately the very sexy Vincent Stevens is willing to introduce him to all he’s been missing, but Dan’s not sure a fling with his TV show’s sometime director is wise.

Throwing caution to the wind, Dan seeks out what Vincent has to offer and before he knows it, he’s in over his head. When Vincent experiences a health scare, he’s not sure how to take Dan’s fussing.  They are starting to find their way toward more, but it will only work if they can recognize the peace they bring one another.

For holiday Flash Fics!

Okay, so here’s the scoop:

See, normally when I have a release, the following 3 or 4 Fridays have flash fics that feature the new guys so everyone can see a little bit of what happens next.  I love writing those fics, and I love exploring my boys’ continuing lives.

Something Like Peace releases on December 13th.  I’m so super excited to share this story with you, and I hope you love these guys as much as I do.  (I love all my boys, every one of them, but these two really and truly have a special place in my heart)  And usually, the following Friday the 18th would be their first fic.  But it’s not going to happen.  Their continuing saga will begin the first Friday of the new year, January 1st,  and continue on from there.

Why am I putting them off for two weeks?  Well that’s a great question!  And the answer is: we’ve got something else going on this December.

Last week, we met two guys who were having a rough start to their holiday season.  A fight led to hurt feelings, and a tender and heartfelt apology started the healing process.  When I wrote it, I honestly thought it was a one-off.  A standalone flash.  I mean, the guys didn’t even have names!  But there was more to the story, and I want to tell it.  So join me in following along on the rest of Garret and Andrew’s holiday journey.  Tune in tomorrow for Episode 2…and if you missed it, you can read Episode 1 here.