No, I’m not lost…just…misplaced. Also a fic rec.

Yeah, I know, I say it every time. Too long between blogs but honestly, my life is just not that interesting and finding things to write about that won’t get me into trouble can be difficult. I could find lots to say that would get me in trouble, lol.

I’m still working on getting Love Aggression published. I’m sorry it’s taking so long, but life gets in the way sometimes. I’m hoping for a cover reveal this month and to have a publishing date not long after that. Between books I forget how much hard work it is to go from manuscript to sale-worthy. I have faith in my publisher though. And just so you all know, I think you’ll love the cover. I know I do.

We are definitely heading into fall in Alberta. Warm days and cool crisp evenings are my absolute favorite. I also tend to write more in the fall, because it’s when I’m the most comfortable I think.

And I really do need to get back to writing. I’ve been letting it slip because I’ve been stressed over getting Love Aggression ready to go but I think it’s making me lazy, lol.

As for everything else, I’ve been so busy working that I missed Edmonton Pride this year and I’m also missing the AIDs Walk. Both make me very sad but I’m going to plan better next year. I miss getting to connect in a more literal way with the community my daughter belongs to (at Pride) and doing my best to help out HIV Edmonton just makes my life a little brighter. But, I will be making a donation none the less, and I encourage you to do the same in your community.

The one thing I don’t stop doing ever is reading. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I couldn’t read. It’s my escape from the stresses of life when I can’t actually get away. Today, I’m going to rec one of my favorite all-time series. It’s one of those that I can read over and over again and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do. I know I’ve recced it here years ago, but I’m doing it again because I can’t help myself. I know when I’ve finished it (the whole series, every damn time) I’ll be smiling.

The Sinner’s Series by Rhys Ford is about the Morgan family and their friends and the men who love them. Every story will leave you wishing you were a part of this amazing group of individuals. Kane Morgan and Miki St. John introduce you to the series in Sinner’s Gin. I warn you though…be prepared to get swept into a tidal wave of angst and love and Irish mother’s who you will wish was your own. You will be lost to the world until you devour every single story include the one from the dog’s POV.

You can find it on Amazon and at Dreamspinner Press and if you haven’t read it, I suggest you run to get them. DSP always has one sale or another going on, so take advantage if you can.

As for my stories, you can find me on Amazon as well as Dreamspinner so far. Soon you will be able to find me on the Purple Horn Press website so check them out as well. My dear friend Ashavan Doyon has his wonderful stories going up there and I promise you, if you are looking for stories that break your heart before putting it back together, then Ash is the writer for you.

And because Sinner’s Gin takes place in San Francisco, here’s a beautiful photo from Anthony Aceto to get you in the mood.

Exciting news and a little rambling…and a fic rec

Hello friends…long time no blog, huh? Life’s been busy as hell and my inspiration has been leaving me high and dry. It’s very frustrating to say the least.

But now I have some exciting news to share! Wrapped up In Chains, my best-selling novel published in 2014 is coming out in audio book form in a few weeks. It will be available at Audible.com and shortly after, at Amazon and iTunes. I’ve been waiting for this for what seems like forever and so stoked that it’s finally happened.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the book, here’s the blurb:

Devon West is a professional Dom who runs his own club, doesn’t believe in romance, and has never been in a long-term relationship. All this changes when he rescues Chase Mackenzie.

Chase is a runaway who has been kept as a slave since he was sixteen. Now twenty-three, he’s still innocent and sweet despite being severely abused and left behind by his Dom.

When Devon finds out that the man who held Chase hostage is the same man who hurt him terribly when he started learning about the sub/Dom lifestyle, he knows he has to keep Chase safe.

Spoiled rich boy and sociopath James Kingston is obsessed with Devon. He’s convinced Devon would be his perfect sub and Devon only thinks he’s a Dom because he needs proper discipline. Losing Chase to Devon is like rubbing salt in the wound, and he’s determined to get them both under his thumb. This time, Chase may need to rescue Devon.

I am still so proud of this story and the messages of love and appreciation I’ve received because of it still overwhelm me a little.

If audio books are your thing, I hope that you will take a listen to this one. I’ll post the links as soon as I have them but until the, you can get the ebook or paperback version here at Dreamspinner Press or if you prefer, you can pick it up at Amazon.

Oh and here’s the beautiful cover because it makes me smile. Paul Richmond did a beautiful job didn’t he?

So, I have a few other things to say.

I probably shouldn’t get started on the US election because I know that it’s not my country, but I do have to say that the outcome affects so much more of the world than just the United States.

Maybe I would feel better if I could find one person who can give me some logical, sensible reasons as to why they support Donald Trump, but so far, I can’t. All I here is “he’s gonna fix this country.” When you ask how, people have no idea. They just know he’s spewing the hateful rhetoric that appeals to their bigoted, homophobic, misogynistic hearts. There doesn’t seem to be anything not attached to him that isn’t about anger and fear and I just don’t understand why anyone would want fall into that.

Do I think that Hilary Clinton is perfect? No, but then again I don’t have the highest opinion of politicians in general. I think many people start out in public service with good intentions but by the time they get to the point where they can truly make a difference they are so corrupted by the system that their original intentions are mostly likely lost.

But I hope that Ms. Clinton gets the chance to try because the alternative is so abhorrent that I can’t even begin to imagine how terrible it could be.

Donald Trump is a man completely obsessed with himself and this run for the presidency is nothing but a huge ego trip. He cares nothing for the average person because he has nothing in common with them. He’s never had to struggle for anything in his life and he sees himself above everyone. He holds no compassion or empathy for anyone and that is not a man who needs to have control over a country so powerful. In truth, I’m terrified of what could happen if he becomes president and I hope that all those people who have even a lick of common sense get out there and vote to keep America out of his hands.

Okay, I’m done with that now. On to more pleasant things.

I’m very excited for Rhys Ford’s new novel Mad Lizard Mambo come out in September so I am reccing the first book in the series Black Dog Blues.

Rhys Ford writes amazing characters that capture my heart and her Sinner’s Gin series stands at the top of my list of favorites. Miki and Kane and all their friends and family feel like friends that I visit often.

But Kai Gracen has his own charms and a kick ass attitude. This story is the best kind of fantasy and incorporates everything that I love about the genre. Here’s the blurb for Black Dog Blues:

Ever since being part of the pot in a high-stakes poker game, elfin outcast Kai Gracen figures he used up his good karma when Dempsey, a human Stalker, won the hand and took him in. Following the violent merge of Earth and Underhill, the human and elfin races are left with a messy, monster-ridden world, and Stalkers are the only cavalry willing to ride to someone’s rescue when something shadowy appears.

It’s a hard life but one Kai likes—filled with bounty, a few friends, and most importantly, no other elfin around to remind him of his past. And killing monsters is easy. Especially since he’s one himself.

But when a sidhe lord named Ryder arrives in San Diego, Kai is conscripted to do a job for Ryder’s fledgling Dawn Court. It’s supposed to be a simple run up the coast during dragon-mating season to retrieve a pregnant human woman seeking sanctuary. Easy, quick, and best of all, profitable. But Kai ends up in the middle of a deadly bloodline feud he has no hope of escaping.

No one ever got rich being a Stalker. But then few of them got old either and it doesn’t look like Kai will be the exception.

This story completely swept me away and it feels like I’ve been waiting forever to see what happened to Kai and Ryder after the story closed and I’m sure I will be raving about Mad Lizard Mambo as soon as I can get my greedy little hands on it.

You can find all her books here at Dreamspinner Press or here at Amazon if that’s more your thing. Take a chance and try something new, trust me you’ll like it.

 

Heading off to Pride…and a book rec.

So, here we are again. It’s June (almost) and that means Pride celebrations will be happening all over the place, including Edmonton, where I will be heading on Saturday with my daughter and some young friends from work who’ve never been to a Pride celebration but always wanted to.

First of all, for those people who’ve been asking Pride is celebrated in June as a tribute to the Stonewall Riots that took place on June 28, 1969 and started at the Stonewall Pub in New York. I could write a lot of things about Stonewall and the brave people there who took a stand, but I’m just going to leave you the link and let you all read it for yourself.

Ever since there, people have come together to celebrate and support the LGTBQ community in June. And that’s where I’m taking my daughter.

She’s been before, a couple of years ago.. I went the year before myself and even though I was alone, I enjoyed myself so much and couldn’t wait to take her the next year.

Why did I go? Because I wanted to show my support for a community that is often discriminated against for no good reason. Loving someone is not something that should even be used against you to cause you pain or suffering and for these people it so often is.

I also went to show support for the people I write about. I have met some of the most amazing and wonderful people since I started writing m/m novels and I want to express my love and adoration for those people who have been so kind to me. Plus, it was a lot of fun being around people who are so happy to be able to be themselves. That kind of joy is contagious and something that everyone should be able to feel.

Why did I take my daughter? Because I want her to live in a better world and it’s children like her who will make it better. I want to live in a world where my grandchildren will say “Really Nan? There was really a time when gay people couldn’t get married? That’s so weird!”

It’s already different for you. When I took her, I wrote a blog post about how it felt to watch her experience Pride for the first time. I kept waiting for that “aha” moment, when she looked around and realized that this was how things SHOULD be all the time. I was disappointed for a while when she just took it all in stride and then I had a little epiphany of my own. To her, this was how it was and there was no surprise for her, because this how I raised her.

To Meg, the parade was fun, because you know, they always are, and it was awesome walking around, exploring the booths and meeting new people, but for her. there was nothing out of the ordinary because I raised her to  live in the world I wanted it to be, not in world that still is in so many places.

She thinks discrimination of any kind is just stupid and she doesn’t understand why anyone would look down on anyone else because of race, religion or sexual orientation. She’s always saying “there’s so many real things in the world to worry about. Why do people care who other people love?”

I’m pretty damn proud of her.

So this year, I’m taking more people with me. A girl I work with has always wanted to go but was reluctant to go alone. I get that. For a lot of people, roaming around a bunch of strangers is a scary experience and when I told her she could go with us, she was thrilled to get the chance. Then her boyfriend asked to come and I said why not? The more the merrier, right?

I can’t wait. I think we are going to have a lot of fun. Hopefully we will meet new friends and run into some old ones. My kid will come home decked out in rainbows, tired and happy with lots of stories to tell and hopefully so will our friends.

And you never know what kind of interesting things can happen when you set out on an adventure. The parade has been moved to one of my favorite parts of town so there will be lots to explore, we will spend some time walking around the University of Alberta as well, and it’s a pretty cool place too.

I’ll let you all know if something interesting happens.

Ok, so for all you asking, I’m still working on Love Aggression. I have some edits in the works and then I will decide what to do with it, whether it means submitting to another publisher or self-publishing, I still love this book, so I’m determined that it will see the light of day.

I’ve also got a couple WIP’s on the go, so I’m keeping busy.

Now for my fic rec. I have two actually. The first one is Floodgates by Mary Calmes. It’s from Dreamspinner Press and I have to say, this author never lets me down. I always go into a Mary Calmes story knowing I’m going to finish it with a smile on my face.

Tracy is an amazing man who made me smile on the first page of the story. Smart, sexy and stubborn he stole my heart from the get-go. He loves fiercely, whether the person is  a friend, family or a lover and there’s nothing he won’t do for someone he cares about.

And Cord stole Tracy’s heart. He’s a big, gruff man who has love Tracy for a long time, but never gives in to his heart until Tracy lets him know that it’s all right to do it.

Check it out here at DSP. You won’t be sorry.

My second book is Otter Chaos by P. D. Singer. Lon and Corey are two of the most adorable characters I’ve ever read and ottershifter Lon is to cute for words. When the author gets inside Lon’s head when he’s an otter, I was absolutely entranced.

If you’re looking for a book that’s has a little sad, but then a whole lot of happy, this is the story for you. Find it here at Amazon.

Also, Dreamspinner has given their site an amazing update so go and check it out as well. You can find me here and I hope you like what you find.

Of course, I’m also on Amazon so look me up.

Where in the hell have I been???? And yes, I have a book rec!

So, life has been a little busy. To say the very least.

I quit my dayhome after 12 years and took a job as a cashier at a local grocery store and after 6 months, some foolish person made me the Front End Manager (sorry boss, you’re awesome) and it feels like I’ve been running in circles ever since.

However, today I sat down and wrote 2000 words for the first time in forever and it felt damn good. My shifter WIP is finally going again and I can’t wait to get it done. I’m so proud of it and I hope you guys are all gonna like it.

And so much has happened in the world of equality.

In the United States, everyone is entitled to get married to the person they love. And isn’t that just the grandest thing?

The law says so, no matter what small-minded county clerks in Kentucky think and by the way, Kim Davis you should be ashamed of yourself. You are not someone who should be trying to represent “marital purity”  with your background and it’s sad that they didn’t just fire you for not doing your damn job. This circus you’ve created to grab your 15 minutes of fame is shameful and unnecessary and I’m betting that there are a lot of Christians out there who are ashamed of your bigotry.

Okay, there’s my rant for the day. I refuse to give this woman one more minute of attention.

So, what else is new? My girl is starting grade 9 this week and I keep looking at her and wondering how in the hell that happened. She’s so smart and funny and sarcastic and beautiful and every single time I look at her, I’m so proud to be her mother. I mean, she’s 14 years old and is taking World History as one of her optional classes! She could be taking foods, or woodworking or something but no, she’s basically taking Social Studies on purpose! God I love her!

My sister got married to the man of her dreams and it was a beautiful wedding. It was about as country as you can get and everyone had a blast and I’m so happy for her and her kids and the new family she’s building with this amazing man who makes her smile.

On the writing side of things, I’m waiting for the release of my first audiobook. That’s right, Wrapped Up in Chains is coming soon as an audiobook and I admit that I might have squealed a little when I heard about it.

I also have an idea for a sequel to Wrapped but I refuse to start anything until Love Aggression is finished. I am done being distracted away from this story.

So yeah, that’s a pretty boring update I guess. I’ve been working so damn much that there really hasn’t been time for much of anything else, but I promise that I’m going to try to do better with these blog updates, okay Aunty LeAnn?

I do have a rec for you as well. The College Rose Romances by Ashavan Doyon are a perfect set of stories for those of you who like their stories to feel a little more real. Loving Aidan, Steven’s Heart and Andrew’s Prayer are not fluffy. There is pain and angst and so much heart in this wonderful series and I encourage you all to check them out. You can find Ashavan on Amazon here.

And of course, you can find me on Amazon as well here.

And for your viewing pleasure, a gorgeous photograph by Anthony Aceto. He’s amazing with a camera.

A change is as good as a rest….and an author rec

So. I’ve made a big decision and I’m changing jobs. I’ve run a dayhome in my small town for the last 12 years and while I’ve loved the kids and had a lot of fun, I think it’s time for something different. I love that it made it possible for me to stay home and care for my daughter, even if she didn’t always appreciate it (Mom, I wanna go to the cool dayhome Mercedes goes to) but I think I need to get out and remember how to interact with people older than 6.

There’s also the whole issue with kids coming and going and never knowing how much my paycheck is going to be at the end of the month, plus the fact that I’m considered to be self-employed and the pains that causes me. When people can just pull their kids and leave a serious 650 dollar hole in your paycheck, it leaves your feeling scared and unsettled.

So, I’ve given my noticed and started training at my new job and while I know that it will hold its own challenges, I’m hoping it will rejuvenate me and help other areas of my life as well.

Like my writing. It is so affected by the rest of my life. When I’m worried and unsettled, focusing on my story is difficult at best and some days, it’s downright impossible. When you can’t figure out if you can pay your bills, it’s hard to concentrate on romance between two hot and growly shifters and I really, really want to get this book finished.

My daughter is old enough now, that spending some time alone at home isn’t too much of a hardship for her. In fact, she will probably enjoy the freedom that comes with it (of course, living in a small town populated with so many family members sort of limits that freedom a little naturally). But, it was gratifying to have her tell me that it would be weird not having me around and that it would take some getting used to. I think it helps that I will be working at a store that’s a 10 minute walk from our house and she always knows where to find me.

On the writing front, well it’s much the same. The French Translation of my second novel “All the Things I Didn’t See” is out today from my publisher and I’m finding that very exciting.  It’s the fourth language for that book and it makes me smile to think that people in other parts of the world are enjoying it.

The shifter story is coming along, slowly but surely and I’d like to say I’ll have it done by the end of March but I’m too chicken to make that kind of commitment. Anything could happen and I would feel even worse if I failed. But I have a lot of great supporters behind me, that are rooting me on and poking me in the back with a pencil when I let myself get too lost. They know who they are and thanks guys.

So, yeah, that’s it for the catching up portion of this post so now on to the part that I enjoy the most, the fic rec. Only, it’s not just a fic, it’s an author.

Rhys Ford is one of those authors that just lets me get lost in a story, so when I emerge from it, blinking in the light, I feel like I’ve been on a journey of epic proportions.

Her Sinners Gin series is my favorite. Big Irish men with huge families who inevitably find men who are a little bent, but definitely not broken. With a memorable dog as my favorite side character. These stories have made me laugh….and cry and want to throw things and I’ve never regretted letting myself get invested in the lives of the people she’s bringing to life.

I haven’t read her Cole McGinnis series yet, it’s next on my list, but her Hellsinger series is amazing.

My new favorite is Black Dog Blues. The first book in her new Kai Gracen series, it’s a roller coaster of a fantasy novel that twists and turns its way through the pages and I am dying for book two to come out.

Check her out at Amazon as well as at Dreamspinner Press and other places.

And of course, you can find me at Amazon as well.

And just because I love his work, here’s another gorgeous photograph from my friend Anthony Aceto

It’s a new year (almost) and here’s some observations…and a fic rec!

So, it’s December 29th and the new year is almost upon us. This isn’t where I was hoping to be at this time last year.

I was hoping to have at least one more novel submitted (and hopefully accepted) and maybe a couple of short stories for anthologies but I’m still plugging away at the same WIP although I seem to have broken the dam (knock on wood) and it’s coming along and growing into something I think I’ll be proud of.

I found out this morning that my novel Wrapped Up in Chains is going to be made into an audio book and man, I thought going through edits of my work felt strange, but listening to someone read my words out loud is really amazing and really freaky at the same time. It’s a little overwhelming actually but I’m so happy to have this opportunity. I think audio books are really important and not just to the blind.

My dad is a truck driver and he spends a lot of long, boring, lonely nights on the road, a lot of times in places with no radio access and the goes through a ton of audio books. They’ve probably saved his sanity on more than one occasion. But don’t listen to mine dad…just…don’t, lol.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I spend a lot of time thinking way too damn much and this time of year has me reflecting on what has happened over the past year…the good and the bad.

I had a book that went to number one in its genre and categories on Amazon. I never, ever expected that and I am so grateful to everyone who supported me through the craziness that came with getting that book published and promoted.

Thank you especially to my friends on twitter who passed the word along. I asked and you answered with enthusiastic yeses and I know that if it wasn’t for your support, I wouldn’t have gotten that far.

I took my daughter to her first Pride and had an epiphany. The reactions I was waiting for that never happened because she’s being raised in a different world than I grew up in and no one could have been prouder of their child. She’s smart, good-hearted and doesn’t put up with intolerance or bigotry of any kind. She doesn’t understand the fight for equality because for her, there should be no fight. She’s still young enough to believe that what’s right is what should be and as she gets older, I look forward to seeing the kind of woman she’s going to become. I just know she’s gonna be fierce.

I’ve met people who amaze the hell out of me. People who make me smile on a daily basis and even though I’ve never laid eyes on them (and probably never will) they’ve become the kind of friends I’ve always dreamed of having.

It’s not all been great. My sister moved away to make her life better and while I understood it, I still missed her terribly and no one is happier than me that she’s moving back in a few weeks, with her fiancé in tow. I can’t wait to just hang out with her again

My husband and I got to take Meghan to the Calgary Zoo on what I’m pretty sure was the hottest day of the year but it was still awe-inspiring. We also got to take her to Banff and show her what is probably my most favorite place in the world.

So, what am I looking forward to this year?

Getting this damned book done, and maybe another one I have started but put to the side concentrate on the shifter story. Other than that? I have no idea where I’m going or how I’m going to get there. I only know that I keep chugging along, trying to never give up and hope for the brightest possible future for my beautiful daughter.

So Happy New Year folks. I hope it brings you lots of love, happiness and success!

And now for the fic rec.

I read the most amazing series last month. It’s called the Free Men Series by Kate Aaron and consists of three stories called The Slave, The Soldier and The Master. They are about three men who find their way together and each book is told from a different point of view. The three stories run consecutively and are really just one tale broken into three parts. I highly recommend these novels that I can only describe as a sort of historical fantasy mashup. Tam, Kai and Lysander will draw you in and keep you intrigued. They will steal your heart and make you cry before making everything better with a hopeful ending.

You can find this series and all her books here on Amazon.

And of course you can find me here on Amazon

Or here at Dreamspinner.

And because I love his photographs, here’s another one from my photographer friend Anthony Aceto

What’s a writer to do….and a fic rec….

So, I’ve been missing in action lately, mostly due to the fact that my writing mojo sort of deserted me but now I’m back!!

I’ve spent the summer running around like crazy and wondering how we ever managed to get anything done when I was working 7 days a week and my daughter was playing sports every weekend. There’s certainly not enough hours in our weekends to get everything done that we want to and it used to be crazier?

But now that summers over, and of course here in the Canadian prairie, winter can strike at anytime, so I’m hoping for some more relaxation time. I’m not a winter sport kind of girl, but more of a “sit in front of the fire drinking spiked hot chocolate” kind of girl.

I have been keeping up on the news but I’m not sure I should be. Ebola terrifies the hell out of me and that ISIS terrorist group makes me scared and angry in equal portions. And knowing there’s not a damn thing I can do about either one makes me think that maybe I should just avoid the news all together.

It was my birthday yesterday. I turned 45. I’m not one of those women who care about how old they are. My life isn’t really how I thought it would be when I think back to being 20, and while there are some things I would change (still working on that lotto win) all in all it’s not too bad. Back then I never would have even thought I could be a published writer, and pretty much anyone who knew me back then would have thought that I’d end up with about 6 kids instead of the one near-perfect girl I have. (Don’t let it go to your head Meg) I guess the herd of other people’s kids that goes through my house on a regular basis sort of makes up for it.

Anyway, I have two stories on the go these days. My shifter story that’s taking forever, but I am getting somewhere and MC #1 has just gotten furry for the first time! I also have this whole bodyguard and scientist story that popped into my head that is good for distracting me when I’m thinking too hard about the other story. I have high hopes for both of them. My pre-reader is bugging me for more of both so I think it’s a good sign.

GayRomLit is coming up in a week or so and I’m really disappointed that I don’t get to go. I think it would be awesome to meet all the wonderful writer I love and the few I’ve gotten to know a little. I think it would totally enhance my “author experience” don’t you? (Working on my sales pitch for next year) I hope all my fellow writers have an amazing time and I can’t wait for the reports to start pouring in from various social media sites.

Oh and to my Canadian readers, Happy Thanksgiving for this weekend. I can’t wait for turkey dinner and I’m looking forward to my sister and her fiancé and his kids coming to stay with me. Good food, great family, it should be a great weekend.

Well, that’s about it for right now. Oh yeah, the fic rec. Let me see….

Racing for the Sun by Amy Lane is a different kind of love story. It’s not all sweetness and light. Horrible things happen to good people and it’s not always easy to like the main characters. But by the time I was done, I love both Sonny and Ace and was rooting for their happy ending. This story put me through so many emotions I felt like I’d been put through the ringer, but there was never a dull moment and in a different (better) world, this could be turned into an excellent movie.

You can get it here at Dreamspinner Press: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3782
and it’s available on Amazon as well.

And of course, as always, you can find me here at Dreamspinner: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=55_454 and on Amazon.

PSA: Remember folks, when you buy from the publisher, the author gets to keep more of their royalties!

Here is a beautiful pic from a photographer friend of mine. Anthony, you’re amazing!

Life runs away with me…and a fic rec

So, long time no blog, huh? Summer life is just too damn busy! I often wonder how I ever got anything accomplished when I was working seven days a week..

Had a little vacation last week. First one in five years. Took an extra long weekend, packed up the kid, her cousin, the dog and the hubby and drove to my sisters to hang out. It was still crazy, but it was fun.

Went to the Calgary Zoo on Sunday (bad idea on the August long weekend, btw) and spent the day NOT looking at animals that I paid a crap-load of money to see because they were smarter than me. While I spent hours walking around in 30C heat, frying on the pavement, most of the critters were hunkered down in somewhere much cooler and probably laughing their asses off at us.

Dinner at Nando’s that night was pretty damned good. For those of you who don’t know, it’s a Portuguese restaurant that specializes in fire-grilled chicken. Everything was damned tasty and the little custard filled tarts for dessert are now on my favorites list. We ended up there because my daughter, who is obsessed by 1D and 5SOS (Google if you’re confused), was dying to go because her favorite bands love the place. And of course it’s only in Calgary. It was well worth the driving through the crazy to get there.

Monday was the part I’d been dying for. We drove to Banff and spent the day walking the streets, checking out the shops and visiting the Banff Springs Hotel. The hotel is a gorgeous place to sight-see but I wouldn’t stay there for anything. Haunted venues are not for overnight stays.

I love the mountains. I could spend days there, just walking around and exploring. It was a wonderful time with my family and with all the jewelry stores my sister and her boyfriend visited in Banff, I wasn’t surprised that he became her fiance by the end of last week. I’m so happy for them!

So, that’s all that’s been up on the home front. Now, for the writing…it’s going slow. I managed to finish a fandom story for a challenge and I was pretty happy with it. I’m still slogging along on my wolfshifter story. I’m so proud of it and I want it done but it’s really hard this time and I’m not sure why.

But I’m pretty sure that when it’s done…and it will be done…that it will be the best thing I’ve ever written. I probably just jinxed myself but whatever.

So, I have been getting some reading done and I recently read BAMF by SJD Peterson and I loved it. Nothing like strong men trying so hard to take care of each other and discovering something new about themselves. I highly recommend it! You can get it here from Dreamspinner as well as from Amazon and ARE.

And of course you can get all my stuff from Dreamspinner here.

And here’s a couple of beautiful pictures by a friend of mine who’s on a journey to become a photographer. Thanks Anthony Aceto!

Pride history, NHTD and all the news that is the news and a fic rec.

So, I’m trying to get better at blogging more so here I go.

First things first. South of me, in the US it’s National HIV Testing Day. It’s one of many ideas put into place to encourage everyone to know their status. I would like to point out that this is something that everyone should be aware of, not just the members of the gay community.

I know too many straight men and women who still think after 30 years of horror and education that they can’t get infected because they aren’t gay. It’s a stupid and arrogant way of thinking and it terrifies me that my daughter is growing up in a world where this kind of thinking still exists.

If you’re sexually active, it’s your responsibility to make sure you know your status and seriously people, it takes so little time to find out. There is a wealth of information out there on the internet about where to get checked and where to find help if the worst outcome is revealed. Show yourself and the people you care about some respect.

A couple more things while I’m on my soapbox. 45 years ago, on June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Riots broke out in NYC. People pushed too far finally pushed back and it was the very violent beginning of a whole community of people finally standing up for themselves. Today Pride is a time for celebrating how far we’ve come with equal rights, remembering those people who have fought for the rights of the LGTBQ community in the past and thinking about how far there still is to go. This weekend there are huge Pride events going on in NYC as well as many other cities across the country. In Toronto they are celebrating with World Pride and I wish I was there! If you’ve never been to Pride, go and check it out for yourself. It’s an amazing journey and if you let yourself see all the joy and love there, it will make you a different person. You can check out more on the Stonewall Riots here: http://www.thestonewallinnnyc.com/StonewallInnNYC/HISTORY.html

And if you’re still wondering why the issue of equality is important to me, I’d like to draw your attention to another, darker anniversary this week. On June 24th 1973, 32 members of the gay community lost their lives in the Upstairs Lounge in New Orleans. While the best suspect was a patron who’d been thrown out earlier in the night, no one was ever charged and authorities made it perfectly clear that no one was really interested in solving the case. After all, no one important died. Yes, that was the attitude. It’s horrific and I’d like to think that it would be so different today but there is places where it wouldn’t be. Check out this article here for more information: http://www.back2stonewall.com/2014/06/june-24th-1973-orleans-upstairs-lounge-arson-attack-kills-32-people.html

So,I’m done with my soapbox now. If you’re still reading then here’s some more news that’s just all about me!

On July 1st my novel, All the Things I Didn’t See is being released in Italian by Dreamspinner Press. I am so excited about this! It’s already out in Spanish and I love that this is opening up my story to a whole new audience. I’m getting some amazing feedback already and I’m in a little bit of shock over the whole thing. If you’re interested, you can pre-order it here: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5234 I love the translated title Tutto quello che non vedevo. I wanna hear someone say it in Italian….

Other than that, my shifter story is coming along and I’m very happy about it. My inspiration seems to have found me again and I can’t wait to get this finished.

Now, for a fic rec…

This time I’m reccing The Colors of Romance by Ashavan Doyon. It’s a wonderful story about a young man who’s decided that love isn’t for him…only to have his world turned upside down by a secret admirer. I loved the romance of this story and the determination of the secret admirer to make Theo happy. If you’re looking for a story that will keep you guessing and make you smile you need to check this out. It’s available here at Dreamspinner: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4670 I encourage you to buy it there if you can because we authors get the most royalties from our publishers. Of course it’s available at Amazon and ARE as well.

And of course, you can get all my books at Dreamspinner here: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=55_454

They are available at Amazon and ARE as well.

And here’s a photograph taken by a friend of mine. His sunsets are amazing and they always take me to another place….

Where did I go and how do I find me?

It’s been forever it seems since I’ve blogged. I know I say that every time, but it’s more true than usual today. I’ve been trying to find something to write about and I’m still not sure what’s gonna end up coming out.

The release of Wrapped Up in Chains has gone so much better than I ever hoped or dreamed of. I’ve gotten amazing reviews and the sales have been fantastic. Got to number one twice on Amazon.ca in all three of my categories and did almost as well on Amazon.com. I was blown away by it all. Good reviews AND good sales? A writer’s dream come true I think.

The people I’ve heard from who’ve read it have made me laugh and made me cry and hearing from people who have been touched by my story is absolutely the best part of doing this, so thank you to all the people who have taken the time to contact me and let me know how much you liked it.

Now for the hard part…THE NEXT BOOK.

Yeah, that’s how it looks in my brain…like it’s shouting at me to stop being such and idiot and write already.

I know where I want this story (I haven’t got a title for it yet. I suck at titles) to go, I just haven’t figured out yet how I’m going to get it there. And in a story, it really is all about the journey.

I’m feeling a lot of pressure to get this one perfect, but it’s mostly coming from myself. After how well Wrapped has done, it feels like this obligation to do something even more amazing to follow-up on it and you wanna know a secret? I’m never sure that I can.

I love the premise of the story and the reactions of my pre-readers have all been very positive but as usual, I’m my own worst critic. It’s one of those things that only I can fix and I’m not quite sure how to do it.

I’ll get there eventually. I need to stop procrastinating and just sit down and write. It’s as simple as that…and as complicated. It’s kind of like when you can’t sleep and you lay there telling yourself to just close your eyes and the harder you try to sleep, the more you can’t. It’s frustrating and pisses me off like you wouldn’t believe. But like not being able to sleep, at some point, you do just drift off and do what you need to do and this story will get there too.

I think I need to stop and go back to my roots…write something for the fandom I started in and hopefully kick-start my brain back into gear. The thing about writing fanfiction is, you have a whole universe that’s already built for you and a whole group of people who already know the characters you’re writing about and all you have to do is tell another story or another version of their story. It’s sort of like talking to an old friend. Old friends already know everything about you and you don’t have to explain every little detail to them. They just get it.

Anyway, that’s where my brain is at…at least the writer part of it. I’ll try to not go so long without blogging again. I never shut up in real life so you think it wouldn’t be so hard to come up with a subject to talk about!

Okay, I’m gonna rec one of the first m/m novels that I ever read.

Crying for the Moon by Sarah Madison is a wonderful story about a Vampire who moves to a remote town with a group of friends who just happen to be werewolves. The first day he’s there, he meets a man who is everything he ever wanted but is terrified to have. The story made me laugh and made me cry and I was hooked from beginning to end. The supernatural world is my favorite genre and this story didn’t let me down for one second.

You can get it here at Dreamspinner: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2422 and also at Amazon.com.

I’d like to take this opportunity to remind you to buy your ebooks from the publisher if you can as this means more money going to the authors and less going for third-party fees.

As always, you can find all my stuff here at Dreamspinners: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=55_454 as well as at Amazon.