Feeling like a writer again

First of all, my sincerest hope that everyone is safe and well in the aftermath of the worst of the hurricane.

Secondly, I have more writing news. I have a release date for A Simple Charm. It'll be out with Liquid Silver on January 14, 2013. I'm in edits on it right now, and they're going well. I've also been assigned a cover artist, so as soon as that's done, you'll be the first to see.

I also sent in a new submission today. There was a call I've been meaning to write for, and I spent the 16-hour drive back from Albuquerque last week getting it all plotted and done in my head. That's what I've been working on since I got back. I won't jinx it with specifics, but it's a 15k m/m/f story that, if it gets contracted, will end up being the prequel for the full-length novel I want to write to explore this relationship. This short is essentially how these three hook up. I love these characters.

It's kind of nice being back on the wagon. I'm feeling like a writer again.

2013 Epic E-book Award Finalists go live

The complete list of the Epic E-book Award finalists is now up. So exciting to see some of the people there, including the fabulous Rick Reed and the talented L.A. Witt.

Go check it out! They've linked to where you can buy the books, too, so you just might find something new to read.

Six Sentence Sunday

Welcome to my SSS! I'm currently at GayRomLit in Albuquerque, and driving back to San Francisco today and tomorrow, so my apologies about being slow to comment this week. If I could find a way to do it from the road, you can bet I would. It would make the long drive more bearable, lol.

For the next two months, I'm featuring my RT Award Nominee, the het paranormal/time travel-ish erotic romance, Two Lives in Waltz Time. Maddy and Cash have been sucked into a 1940s private club milieu where Maddy's a dancer, Cash is the bouncer, and the whole world thinks they're engaged. Cash got a drunk Maddy back to their home in this other world, where she woke up with a terrible hangover. He gave her a brief explanation about magic being the cause, a story she has to buy because nothing else comes close to explaining what is going on, and then Cash offered to teach her how to dance so she doesn't have to play barfly at the club all night.

She stood there silently, long enough for the first song to end and the second to begin. Cash never made a move, waiting patiently by the record player, dancing eyes watching her with growing amusement.

“You know this only works if you're actually within touching distance, don't you?” he asked when the second song ended as well.

“I'm still thinking about it.”

“Think a little bit closer then.” With long steps, he marched forward and took her hand, leading her back to the open space in the middle of the room.

To check out all the other six sentence contributions, head over to the official website.

Epic Award finalists

After a truly horrific day yesterday, I got some great news in my email last night.

Two titles I entered in the Epic Awards this year are finalists!

One is the Jamie Craig title, A Line in the Ice, a romance set in Antarctica. It's a finalist in the Science Fiction Romance category.

The other is one of my own, my Christmas short from MLR last year, 'Tis the Season. It's a finalist in the Short Story category.

Needless to say, it brightened a truly dismal day.

List of hacked B&N stores

Did you hear about the recent PIN hacks that happened at some Barnes & Noble stores? I did, mostly because several of the stores that were affected are near me.

Just in case you haven't, the list of stores have been made public.

I shop a lot at B&N, but luckily, the one I go to wasn't hit. Hopefully, yours wasn't either.

New contract

So while I was away at GRL, I got some fab news. Remember that historical m/m I submitted a couple weeks ago? Well, it got accepted! Liquid Silver Books is going to publish "A Simple Charm," probably some time in early 2013.

Here's the blurb, for those who might be interested...

In 1934, life in Brookburn, Indiana is quiet, simple, and peaceful, but young dreamer Levi Beckerman yearns for more. When the carnival shows up for the Fourth of July, he’s entranced by its many temptations. None is more seductive than the charismatic barker, Sebastian Gustineau.

Seb’s been a part of the carnival for almost a decade. Once, it provided him the escape he needed from a life he thought he didn’t want, but now, he craves things it can never offer. Flitting from dusty town to dusty town, he loses himself in pretty dalliances. Levi seems like the perfect distraction, until a single conversation convinces him that preserving Levi’s innocence and way of life is more important than his momentary satisfaction.

However, his plan to discourage Levi goes horribly wrong. When Levi’s family is threatened, Levi fights to protect them, doing what he can to hide the secrets he’s sheltered his entire life. The only person he trusts is Seb. He’s just not sure if the growing bond between them is enough to save them all.

I love this story to pieces. What's better, it's going to have a sequel, a project I've slated for next year.

But yay! I'm so glad it's going to see the light of day now. :)

GRL - Saturday

I meant to get this up yesterday, but I was pretty wasted. See, I did the insane on Sunday. I drove the whole way home from GRL instead of breaking it up over two days. That means a 17-hour drive in 15 hours. I got in at 2am. Yesterday is kind of a blur.

Saturday started out with the french toast breakfast where we got to eat with our wonderful reader friends we'd been hanging out with. I then headed to the Amber Allure spotlight, where I sat on the panel with writer friends and told everybody how great AQP is. They really are, you know. The one thing that was driven home by being around the other AQP writers is just how much freedom we have to write the stories we want, that stories that might not see a home at other houses can find one at AQP. Like Lynn Lorenz's story about 70 y/o gay gentlemen. It's a wonderful story, but because they're not young and pretty, they would be a hard sell anyplace else. AQP trusts us to tell good stories.

After that, I stuck around to support Carolyn as she did the Loose Id spotlight. I had to sneak away at the end to start getting ready for the signing, and skipped lunch for the most part to do that. I was pretty panicked about the whole thing, I'll admit. I get overwhelmed by so many people and having to speak to strangers on the spot, but in the end, it worked out great. Everybody who stopped at my table was so gracious and wonderful. I had a blast getting to talk to so many different people.

Carolyn, Elyan, and I skipped out of the hotel for dinner, but got back in time for the final cocktail party. Though it was crowded, we got to decompress some by hanging out with our four new friends, one of which won one of the giveaways!

I'll admit, though, I was done after that. I just kind of wanted to decompress and relax. That was one reason why I drove straight through on Sunday. I missed my family and my life. GRL was fantastic, but I had so many creative juices flowing that not getting to write as much as I wanted was really bugging me.

Next year it's in Atlanta. Carolyn and Elyan are talking about finding a way to go again. I might, too. It's hard not to get excited about it when we had so much fun.