Accomplished in 2013

After taking much of 2012 off, I started back in on writing in 2013 to try and get up to steam. It was a slow process, but I think I'm back in a groove somewhat, finding my rhythm as I concentrate on writing the stories and characters that are important to me. All but one of them came out with Amber Allure as well as all being m/m, but that's going to change up in the year to come. I ended up having seven solo titles and one collaboration with Rick R. Reed.

My lone non-AQP title came from Liquid Silver. A Simple Charm is a sweet historical romance about a carny who shows up in a small Indiana town and falls for a local boy who has real magic. It's one of the most gentle stories I wrote all year, with some of my best prose, I think. It makes me a little sad that this didn't get the bigger audience I think it deserves, but I always knew a sweet historical with paranormal overtones would be a hard sell for most m/m readers.

One of my first titles this year at Amber Allure was The Low Between, a 50s noir story about an ex-cop and the young actor who get caught up in murders that have nothing to do with them. I have a real soft spot for this time period, and there just isn't enough out there, especially in the m/m world. It was tough getting back into plotting, but I was happy with how this turned out.

After reading so much steampunk that focused too much on the tech and not enough on the characters, I decided to try my hand at my own version. The result was Iron Eyes. While one of my leads was a brilliant engineer from 20s Hollywood, I deliberately focused on the story they had to tell, the journey of finding a new solution to help a little blind girl see. I'm really proud of this one, plus Cap and Hector's chemistry went off the charts for me.

After noir and steampunk, I decided to dip my toes in sci-fi. Thus, Aria of the Eclipse was born. I've never created an alien species all on my own before (I've done it as part of the Jamie Craig team), so coming up with Dek was my real challenge in this. He needed to be otherworldly enough to warrant the genre, and yet relatable enough for the readers to connect with. I think, hands down, this is the most romantic story I published all year.


I collaborated with the talented Rick R. Reed on an epistolic short about two men separated by life choices, in a time when being gay wasn't nearly as accepted. Family Obligations still makes me cry when I re-read it, for everything they had to endure as well as for the lives they actually lead.

I stayed in the contemporary zone with my sweet romance, The Hearts of Yesteryear. While it's very comedic in tone, the subject matter is not. It's about a man in his seventies who ran away from his small town after his best friend and the boy he loved chose the military over him. John has to go back to that town and confront his past. To this day, I still want to see this as a sitcom. I think John and Frank would be terrifically funny as a gay senior citizen couple, with Corrine, John's personal assistant, there for back-up. Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

Things sobered up for me with my next contemporary. The Unbeaten Track is about an insomniac who is still haunted by the loss of his high school sweetheart, a victim of homophobic violence. I chose to do this one in first person, mostly because it's so much about being in Sean's head. The reader needed to be there with him as he made his choices, and hopefully come out the other side better for the knowing.

Last but not least, came Threshold. This took me back to my vampire roots, about a hurt vampire on the run who holes up in an out of the way motel. Falling for him was Max, an ex-soldier who is desperately looking for meaning in his life. The connection between these two sizzled from the start. Of all the titles I released this year, this one, for me, is by far the hottest.

2014 is going to see me branching out some. For instance, I have an m/m/f menage called Enthralled in Silver coming out with Ellora's Cave, and I'm hoping to have more. There are two stories in the final stages to come out at Amber Allure, Boundless and What the Heart Thinks, and more I'm scheduled to do there. All good things!

Last chance to win

Over at the Amber Pax Collections blog, today's the last day to have a chance to win all five stories in the No Tell Motel pax that just came out. All you have to do is leave a comment on any of the posts made this week. Tomorrow, one winner gets drawn at random.

What've you got to lose?

New release - Threshold

It's here! Threshold, my m/m vampire erotic romance, is now available at Amber Allure:

It's part of the No Tell Motel pax, but you can buy it separately. However, the other authors involved are phenomenal - Rick R. Reed, Heidi Champa, L.A. Witt, Adrianna Dane - so you can get up to five different stories all related to the motel theme.

Even better, the entire pax is discounted this week. You can get all five stories for only $15.60!

Blurb and excerpt of Threshold

My upcoming story, Threshold, is featured over at the Amber Pax blog today. Pop on over to read the blurb and an excerpt!

I will always love vampires

I love vampires. I'm not ashamed to admit it.

Sure, I read a lot of different kinds of paranormal, but ask me to pick one type, and vampire stories are it. I've loved them since I was young, when they were horror stories first and Salem's Lot scared the bejeezus out of me. Then into high school when things got romanticized with Interview with a Vampire. The very first produced play I wrote in college was about vampires. So when people say they're tired of them? I just kind of shrug and hold my tongue, because I will almost always respond to a well-written or original vampire story.

It doesn't even matter what type of story it is any more. Sure, I read a lot of romance, but I also devour mystery, thrillers, and horror. One of my favorite vampire takes is Brian Lumley's Necroscope series which didn't even have a vampire protagonist. Those books are pure horror, too, and I devoured them like candy when they first came out.

Is it a bulletproof kink? Absolutely not. I can think of quite a few popular series that leave me cold, either because I couldn't connect with the characters or the author's voice didn't engage me. But it's a lot easier to sell me a vampire story than it is any other paranormal type.

The book that sucked me in over the weekend was Kiss of Steel by Bec McMaster, a steampunk paranormal romance with a complicated hero and a smart heroine. She took the paranormal world and twisted it into a new version, where "blue bloods," blood drinkers pre-turning into a full-blown vampire, are the ruling class in England. It combines a new take on the vampire mythology with another favorite trope of mine--alternate history--so it was probably guaranteed to be a win for me. The second novel is about a werewolf, so we'll see if I respond to it as strongly, but considering she's sucked me into her world, I have little doubt I'll see the series through regardless.

This weekend, I have a release at Amber Allure as part of the no-tell motel pax that is coming out. Guess what? It has a vampire hero. And I couldn't be happier.

Beginning a busy week

This week is going to be crazy for me. I have deadlines galore and very little time. I'd hoped to get more done this weekend, but then something else showed up in my inbox and, well, I didn't.

My m/m vampire novella, Threshold,comes out next Sunday, so there's that to get ready for, too. And I got sucked into a series this weekend while we were driving that I wish desperately I could just sit and read, but I can't because....well, I mentioned this week was crazy busy with work, right?

But I'm going to talk about the book later this week, maybe more if I can sneak in more reading. ;)

New cover art for Threshold

I got the cover art for my novella coming out in November!

I love how moody it is, and the angularity of the title font since it's a vampire story. That's my vamp on the cover, by the way. His name's Sutter. Pretty, right? No wonder Max falls for him so hard.

Threshold

The other story I just finished is due to come out some time this winter at Amber Allure, though I don't know when for sure yet. Either November or January, one of them. It's for a pax about no-tell motels, and I went back to my paranormal roots for this one. It's called Threshold, an m/m vampire erotic romance.

Sutter is a vampire on the run. After barely escaping the hunter his sire sent after him, he makes it all the way to the middle of nowhere, Oregon, before the approaching sunrise forces him to stop. He only intends to rest, then hit the road again as soon as night falls, but that plan falls apart when the motel’s maintenance man discovers him passed out on the bathroom floor.

Ex-Marine Max Rowell hasn’t had a purpose in life ever since coming home from the Gulf. Though he works at his father’s motel, drifting through days that bleed endlessly into each other, it takes discovering an unconscious guy who looks like an angel but has clearly been through hell to give him new purpose.

Max isn’t letting Sutter go anywhere until he’s healed up, but Sutter needs more than a warm bedside manner to get stronger. Though they strike a deal, the clock is ticking. Sooner or later, Sutter will need to run again, or risk putting Max’s life on the line when Sutter’s past catches up to him…

I've written a lot of sweet stuff this year, so maybe that's colored my opinions a little, but I gotta say, I really do think this is one of the hottest things I've written in a while. It won't be to everyone's tastes--my vampires never forget what they are or how they need to survive--but this worked so well for me. Max is a do-gooder in a killer's body, while Sutter is a killer in an angel's body. I love, love, love that dichotomy.

Plus, there's a threesome scene at an underground club that just about melted my socks off. Guh.

The state of my writing world

I haven't been completely slacking off in the time away I've been away from my blog. My productivity might not be anywhere near where it was when Pepper and I were working together, but I still try to get a little bit done every day.

So what's in the pipeline...

On September 22, The Hearts of Yesteryear, my novella about an aging actor who returns to the home of his youth for the relaunch of the movie palace that changed his life, comes out at Amber Allure. No cover yet, though I'm hoping to see that soon.

I'm in the throes of finishing up a vampire m/m novella called Threshold. It's about a vampire who crashes at a motel for the day after barely surviving an attack and the ex-Marine who finds him and refuses to let him die.

Once that's done (which should be by the end of the week), I have a short story to finish that's due by the end of the month. That one doesn't have a title yet. I had a longer idea I was going to do for that particular collection (stories set on trains), but I don't have time to do it justice.

And finally, I wrote a het paranormal short story called One More Bloom for a charity anthology created by Kallysten. The anthology is called Shades of Pink and will benefit breast cancer research. That comes out in October, and I will definitely be sharing more details about that as the date gets closer.