>Forbidden Desires by Stormy Glenn

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Forbidden Desires
by Stormy Glenn
Siren Publishing
141 Pages
5 Kisses

Blurb:
Ryland has loved Gregory for six years, ever since Gregory rescued him from the brink of death. He has also known since then that Gregory is his mate. He’s been old enough for a couple of years now, he just can’t understand why Gregory won’t claim him.

Gregory knew the moment he saw Ryland six years ago that they were mates. Ryland just wasn’t old enough to be claimed. So, Gregory bided his time, waiting for Ryland to grow up. But as his desire for Ryland builds, he wonders how much longer he can wait.

Gregory finally claims Ryland only to learn that by doing so, he has endangered his life. Ryland is a tri-omega and needs two mates to keep him grounded and safe. But he hasn’t met his other mate yet, which could be a problem. It could mean Ryland’s life if they don’t find him.

Personal Note:
When I start a book in a series I feel compelled to snatch up the rest of the series and read until I run out of words. However, I haven’t figured out yet if I like to read them as they come out or to wait until they are all out so I can read them at one time. To me, the later part seems to make more sense, because this way, all of the characters mentioned will be fresh in my mind. Then there’s this whole thing of being able to go back to re-read the book(s) I’ve read and then continue on to the new so that I have the characters fresh in my mind but…I don’t have the time to do that. So, I think I’ll go with reading a series of books only when they’re all available for me to read. Now that I’ve made my mind up, here’s my review for Forbidden Desires.

At the start of this series, as I said I was apprehensive about reading it mainly because it was Ménage. Now, now I love the idea of the smaller guys being mated with bigger guys. Oh to be the one in the middle.

Review:
When I read the prologue to this my breath got caught up in my throat. I’m going to ruin the prologue for you here but it’s necessary because I want to share it and it’s necessary to move the story where it needs to be.

Jake, the alpha of the small band of wolves, and his friend Gregory are out walking the ranch one night when Gregory tells Jake he heard something, like a car door open then shut and the car taking off. Since he’s a wolf, his nose works better than a mere humans does so he goes to investigate and low and behold he finds what he thinks is a ten or eleven year old boy laying in a ditch almost dead. Sadly we find out that the boy’s pack did this to him. Gregory realizes almost at once that Ryland the boy in the ditch, is his mate and takes him to the ranch where he is raised by the pack. Turns out Ryland was small for his age, he was thirteen the night Gregory found him.

Advance six years and Ryland is now “old” enough to be claimed by his mate, he just knows he is however Gregory just plain refuses because he thinks Ryland is still way too young but he’s having a hell of a time fighting his attraction to the young boy. Instead of listening to Ryland he goes off on his own to town to sew his oats so to speak.

Ryland, like the others of his kind has the ability to connect with or sense his mate if they are apart and when he manages to connect with Gregory he is crushed. His own family didn’t want him, and now Gregory doesn’t want him. He’s sure he knows why no one wants him, he was sure he wasn’t attractive, he wasn’t strong and he wasn’t smart. Worse of all, he couldn’t shift into a wolf like the other members of his pack. He was sure he really had no redeeming qualities.

Well, he does and Gregory manages to drill that into his little mate’s head. While off on a honeymoon of sorts they meet with the third mate, Viktor and now Gregory and Viktor must come to terms on how to share their love times three.

Forbidden Desires, like the rest of Stormy Glenn’s books is very character driven. Gregory feels as if he’s waited forever for his little mate to grow up and you feel his pain and anguish. Ryland feels as if he’s talking to a wall at times and all I wanted to do was hug him and Viktor must come to terms that his mate, Ryland has established a relationship with Gregory and it’s one he feels he can’t compete with.

Once again, Stormy Glenn has worked her magic. She made me fall in love with all of her characters, she made me want to cry and laugh and look for a fan. The sex scenes are anything but average. I love aggressive and this book has it.

This powerful tale held me through all 141 pages and it left me very eager to grab the next in the series. Hope you do too!!

Review by Michele

>Ryan Field Interview

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Ryan Field

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, Ryan.

Thank you for doing the interview. From what I’ve seen and read so far about this new blog, I’m looking forward to reading the posts.

Can you tell us a little bit about your background?
I went the Fairleigh Dickinson University, Florham Madison Campus, and graduated with a degree in English with a concentration in Journalism. My first job in publishing was working for Conde Nast in NY, as an associate editor. But I found that while I loved to edit, there wasn’t enough time (or energy) to write fiction. So I left Conde Nast, opened my own art gallery, and started writing fiction part time. My gallery was open seven days a week for over ten years, and I was a hands-on business owner. I repped hundreds of artists, built a client list from all over the world, and during the down time I wrote fiction. Most of what I wrote back then was short stories for lgbt publishers like Alyson Books, Cleis Press, and STARbooks Press. But I also did at least two stories a year for magazines.

What was your first book and how long did it take to get it published?
My first book still hasn’t been pubbed. It’s mainstream fiction and I stopped shopping it to focus strictly on lgbt fiction for a while. My first m/m romance novel was AN OFFICER AND HIS GENTLEMAN, which is loosely based on the storyline from the film, but markedly different because it was written with male characters.

When did you start writing m/m romance? What about this genre interested you the most?
I started writing m/m romance over fifteen years ago. But back then there wasn’t as much of a market for m/m romance as there is nowadays. So I wrote a great deal of erotica, and jumped at every opportunity I saw when a call for m/m romance came along. A few of my short stories are in older “Best Romance” anthologies by Cleis Press and Alyson Books.

What interested me most about the genre is that it keeps expanding. I would have loved to have had the opportunity to read more m/m romances when I was growing up. The m/m genre didn’t even exist. Everything for the lgbt community was lumped into one genre, “Gay-Lesbian,” and the choices weren’t there.

How long did it take you to get published? How many books have you written thus far?
I started getting pubbed right out of college, with lgbt publishers, including magazines and reviews. They were always short stories, often written with different pen names. Unfortunately, I’ve lost track of a few of the earlier stories I wrote. Everything was done in hard copy and there are many stories I don’t have in electronic files. And when I sold one story, I’d just forget about it and move right on to the next without thinking twice. But I’ve started keeping better records. Right now, not including the anthologies and collections I’ve been in, I’ve had twenty-five novels published. Most of them are with my name, Ryan Field, and a few are pg rated hetero romances written with different pen names.

Do you write full time?
I do right now. But this is just in the past few years. I’ve always been a business owner, writing part time whenever I got the chance. When I sold my business, I decided to write full time.

Looking back was there something in particular that helped you to decide to become a writer? Did you choose it or did the profession choose you?
It chose me. At first, in school, it came very easily and I loved it. And I was always inspired by reading a great deal of fiction.

On a typical writing day, how would you spend your time?
I’m very strict when it comes to routines, to the point where I always begin a new novel or story on a Friday. I’m usually up very early and I go for a forty-five minute run every day of the week. I begin writing at nine in the morning and don’t stop until four or five in the afternoon. I take a break for a few hours, and then go back to my office and edit everything I wrote earlier that day for about four hours. I like to produce about two to four thousand words a day, depending on how fast it comes to me. Sometimes I take weekends off, and sometimes I don’t.

Do you write right through or do you revise as you go along?
It’s always different for me. If I think something needs to be revised, I’ll either make a note or just go right back and take care of it.

When it comes to plotting, do you write freely or plan everything in advance?
Many times plots change while I’m writing. But I always know the basic plot of the next book I’ll be writing while I’m still working on the present book. I just completed a novel yesterday, and I’ve been writing down notes for the next novel for the past two weeks. When the ideas come to me, I like to write them down so I don’t forget them.

What kind of research do you do before and during a new book?
I usually do the research while I’m writing. It’s important to get the facts right all the time. In “Valley of the Dudes,” the copyeditor, Jen Safrey, caught something and I had to go back and research it. I had to know whether or not an attorney from Connecticut would be able to practice law in New York, because one of the characters was a young lawyer who wanted to move from Connecticut to New York and practice law. This one took a while to research, and it was only two or three lines in the book. The laws are different from state to state and I wanted to get it right. In the book I just finished, the research I did for one simple fact took longer than I thought it would. The novel is set in l978, and I wanted to know when the word “gay” started being used in the mainstream.

How much of yourself and the people you know manifest into your characters? How do you approach development of your characters? Where do you draw the line?
I rarely ever use anything directly from my own life in my fiction. It would be too dull  I do, however, develop characters based on many of my own experiences as a gay man, and this includes the erotic scenes. There are only a few things in the books I’ve written that I haven’t personally experienced when it comes to erotica and romance. There are places I don’t go, because I haven’t experienced certain things. But it’s not because I draw a line. It’s because I don’t want to write about something I can’t be sure about.

How long does it take for you to complete a book you would allow someone to read? Do you write straight through, or do you revise as you go along?
I usually finish a book, go right to edits, and then send it off to the editor. The only people who ever read what I’ve written before it goes to publication are the editor, and then copy editor. I like to keep things simple. And rather than writing” straight through,” I like to think of it as going “gaily” forward.

Writers often go on about writer’s block. Do you ever suffer from it, and what measures do you take to get past it?
I’ve never had that problem. There’s always something to write about. Plus, I had good teachers in college. One actually taught me how to write a short story on the color blue as an exercise.

When someone reads one of your books for the first time, what do you hope they gain, feel or experience?
I hope it touches them in some kind of a personal way, and I hope they remember the characters long after they’ve finished the book. I get fan mail from men and women of all ages, and the fan mail I love the most comes from people who tell me they love to read the happy endings. Life is hard for everyone, and escaping from reality with a romance that has a happy ending helps people forget how hard it is…for a little while anyway.

Can you share three things you’ve learned about the business of writing since your first publication?

1. Publishing, in general, is a nice business. People are honest, friendly, and supportive.
2. You have to have web presence these days, even at the expense of losing a certain amount of privacy.
3. Never take a bad review too personally, unless you think there’s something you can learn from it (sometimes there is).

Does the title of a book you’re writing come to you as you’re writing it, or does it come before you even begin the first sentence?

A lot of my recent titles are take-offs of pop culture films. But with those that aren’t, especially when it comes to short story stand alones, I usually don’t know the title until I’m finished. I’ll have several titles in mind while I’m writing, but I’m never really sure until I’m finished writing.

The title for “The Pumpkin Ravioli Boy” came to me immediately, though. I’d read an article in Time Magazine by staff writer, John Cloud, about gay relationships that absolutely infuriated me. It was one of those “research says,” and “studies suggest,” articles, with no solid facts. And Mr. Cloud made gay relationships sound just as frivolous and silly as pumpkin ravioli, and I wanted to fix that with a short story for younger gay men, or anyone else out there, who doesn’t know much about gay relationships.

How would you describe your sense of humor? Who and what makes you laugh?
Quirky. I love humor that applies to real life situations. Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” would be a good example.

What is the most frequently asked Ryan question?
It usually has to do with the erotica I’ve written. And how much of the erotica is based on my own personal experiences. As I said earlier in the interview, almost all the erotic scene’s I’ve written are based on personal experience. And the few that weren’t, were the most difficult to write.

What are you working on now?
I just finished a m/m romance novel for http://www.ravenousromance.com that revolves around one of my all time favourite films, “Dirty Dancing.” I loved that movie in the eighties. I’ve seen it hundreds of times, but I always felt slightly cheated that I couldn’t totally identify with the characters as a gay man.

What was the best piece of advice you’ve received with respect to the art of writing? How did you implement it into your work?
Don’t let your work ever define you as a person. And, if you’re going to genre hop, use a pen name.

When it comes to promotion, what lengths have you gone to in order to increase reader-awareness of your work?
I basically do the same things other authors do. And I’m always looking for a new social network to join.

Writing is obviously not just how you make your living, but your life-style as well. What do you do to keep the creative “spark” alive – both in your work and out of it?
I always try to have fun doing what I do. And when I start getting too obsessed, which happens, I pull back and take a break. I’ve learned how to do this through years of experience. There are times when things get crazy, and you have to know when to take a break and step back from what you’re doing.

What pros and cons surround the e-publishing industry, and how do you envision the future of e-publishing?
I started submitting stories to loveyoudivine.com a few years ago. Coming from a background in traditional publishing, I was curious about e-publishing. Then I spoke with Lori Perkins about ravenous romance, and became very interested in them. Though I have no complaints about traditional publishing, I have found that in e-publishing authors are treated very well and the process is very detailed and thorough. Right now, it would be difficult for me to find any cons about e-publishers, because working with lyd and ravenous have been very positive experiences for me.

I do see e-publishing growing fast. The changes in publishing, in general, I’ve seen in the past five years astound me. Every day there seems to be something new happening that you couldn’t have predicted the day before. And where it’s all going should be interesting.

What kind of books do you like to read?
I read romance, contemporary/mainstream fiction, and biographies. I just finished Anne Tyler’s new book, and I love John Irving. And the best novel I read last year was by Jamie Ford, “Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.” I’m still in love with that one.

If you weren’t a writer what would you be?
I’ve always wanted to own a restaurant. In my books, I write a lot about food. In “An Officer and His Gentleman,” the main character is a young chef.

I recently read your novel An Officer and His Gentleman. Where did you get the idea for that story?
The initial concept was suggested by Lori Perkins, from http://www.ravenousromance/. When she first approached me about doing a book like this, and about ravenous romance, the ideas for the book started to flow. The book is set in a small town where I grew up in the summers, Lake Hopatcong, NJ. And the storyline is based upon, “what if?” In other words, what if a good looking young gay guy with limited options in life because of his circumstances met up with a lonely good looking male officer and fell in love?

When it comes to the covers of your books, what do you like or dislike about them?
As a former art gallery owner, I look at all e-book covers as works of art. They shout pop culture, and I think they are going to be very collectible fifty years from now. I also think they will help define the times we are living in right now, in the same way a coke advertisement defined the l930’s pop art. I’ve been lucky with my own covers. I love them all. I’m also a huge fan of two cover artists, Dawne Dominique, who has done my covers for the books at loveyoudivine, and Paul Richmond, who hasn’t done any covers for me. But I love Paul’s work so much I framed a Christmas card of his that I received from m/m book reviewer, Elisa Rolle.

Aside from writing, what else do you enjoy doing?
Researching the erotic love scenes for future books (big grin).

Any special projects coming out soon we should watch for?
“The Way We Almost Were,” was just released by ravenousromance.com. And, I have a new stand alone coming out soon from loveyoudivine.com. It’s titled, “A Regular Bud.” It was originally pubbed in a short story collection by a print publisher, and I never liked the way it was edited. So I re-wrote it, changed things to read the way I originally wanted them to read, and it will be released sometime in early March. Note: this is what I love most about e-publishing. It’s given me the freedom to concentrate on the love and romance and story as much as on the erotica. And I think readers prefer this. The erotica should be there to promote the love and romance, or at least support the storyline in a realistic way.

New writers are always trying to glean advice from those with more experience. What suggestions do you have for new writers?
Keep writing. Writing improves the more you do it. And balance dialogue with narrative. I’ve seen so many books recently where there’s either all dialogue or all narrative. As a reader, I like a balance. And, like erotic scenes, dialogue should mainly be used to help move the story forward.

What future projects do you have in the works?
I’ll be submitting a new book sometime next week, but haven’t decided on the title yet. And in the next year, I’m working on releasing at least one stand alone every six weeks.

Can you please tell us where we can find you and your books on the Internet?
The most recent e- releases can be found at the publishers web sites. http://www.loveyoudivine.com/ and http://www.ravenousromance.com/. They can also be found at all e-book retail sites like http://www.fictionwise.com/, http://www.allromanceebooks.com/, http://www.1romanceebooks.com/, and http://www.amazon.com/. But I always tell readers to check out the publisher web sites first to get the best deals on books.

And, An Officer and His Gentleman has been released by Alyson Books, in partnership with Ravenous Romance, as a print book and can be found either at http://www.alysonbooks.com/, http://www.amazon.com/, or in lgbt bookstores

>An Officer and His Gentleman by Ryan Field

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An Officer and His Gentleman
by Ryan Field
Ravenous Romance
191 pages
4 Kisses

Blurb:
Chance Martin, who dreams of becoming a chef on the Food Network, works at a grocery store for a quirky old man who gives him free room and board as long as he walks around naked when the store is closed. But Chance is only interested in cooking, until an attractive stranger walks into the market one morning. Brody Johnston, bad boy naval officer on extended leave from his post in Europe, can’t take his eyes off innocent Chance’s round buttocks and smooth legs, and is determined to get to know him better. So when the old man goes to bed, Chance sneaks out to meet Brody and discovers his talents in the bedroom rival his talents in the kitchen. Though they are complete opposites, Chance is ready to submit to all of Brody’s sexual kinks and desires, but it never occurs to him they might actually fall in love with each other. As Chance fights to live his dream as a chef, and Brody wrestles with the opportunities and limitations imposed by the military, will they be able to find happiness in each other’s arms

Review:
An Officer and His Gentleman by Ryan Field is a classic literary romance. The central character is the damsel in distress, though in this case it is a male protagonist. Chance Martin is being held prisoner by an evil tyrant, his boss and landlord Dan Pratta. Dan, of course, is the villain. The knight in shining armor is Brody Johnston, a naval officer on leave. The central character has a sympathetic comrade named Sarah who injects comedy and dramatic flare into the story.

In order to truly appreciate this story, the reader has to be willing to suspend realism and accept the tale for what it is. All of the elements of the romance are crystal clear, and all are significantly exaggerated. The villainous ogre who controls young Chance’s life is evil and disgusting. He’s described as being physically repulsive, possessing virtually no redeeming qualities whatsoever. He’s mean, selfish, demanding, and unsympathetic. He basically uses the boy as his personal slave and objectifies him sexually.

Chance Martin is sweet and caring and kind-hearted. Everybody loves him, and he works his tail off to please not only his boss but also his customers. Chance has secret dreams of becoming a world-famous chef. Cooking is his passion. Sexually speaking, Chance is of course a bottom boy.

Brody Johnston is just too-good-to-be-true. He’s a buff, masculine naval officer home on extended leave. Brody is instantly smitten by the demure and sexy Chance, who services him at the market. Brody is a bit of a bad boy with a rather troubled past. He is the opposite of Chance in almost every measurable way. Sexually Brody is of course 100% Top, and he is of course extremely well endowed.

I probably do not need to include any spoilers, because from what I’ve stated thus far, you already know how the story will end. As with all fairy tales, the central characters ultimately live happily ever after.

When it comes to modern literature there is a perception which is prevalent that in order for a story to be good it must be original. This, in my opinion, is a load of crap. Stories do not need to have original themes nor do they need to be unpredictable in order to be entertaining, exciting, erotic, or emotionally-gripping. In fact, I would argue the case that most storylines are not original at all, and most are extremely predictable. There are others who insist that a story must be presented realistically. The thing I find so ironic about this argument is that often those who make it are the same people who devour vampire stories, science fiction, and fantasy.

I accept the exaggerations within this story as being essential elements, for without them, the story would be utterly flat. I accept the nine-plus inch endowment of our erotic hero because who wouldn’t want a man like that to come sweep them off their feet? I accept that the villain is smelly and old and unworthy of love and affection, because it makes it so damned easy for me to hate him. In my view, none of these elements are accidental. There is no failure on the part of this author. I see this story as an erotic fairy tale, and it was executed in a near-flawless manner.

The only criticism I have is that, in my opinion, the story was strong enough of its own right that it did not need to be laced with so much sex. Certainly the sex was hot, but there were some scenes which simply were not necessary. I didn’t feel it needed three or four oral sex scenes which essentially described the exact same thing in precisely the same way.

There are some things which I do want to say about the erotica, though. First of all, I loved it. This author is one of the few in this genre who writes gay sex which may actually appeal to gay males (no offense to the female readers, please). He describes smells and tastes and includes dirty sex talk, all of which really turn me on. I like that the Top is always the Top, and the bottom is always the bottom. This is real. And it’s real hot! He also includes some really unusual kink. I was taken aback by it at first due to the fact it involved the feminization of one of its participants, but it was so tastefully presented that it actually was rather titillating.

I would caution readers that the verbal aspect of the love scenes may at times be offensive to some people. While I personally find it extremely hot when a Top calls his bottom boy a “little bitch”, some may consider it degrading. There is also a scene in which the sub is used by a group of guys which kind of came from out of nowhere. I sort of wish the author had left that scene out completely.

Overall, I consider An Officer and His Gentleman to be an exceptionally-well written erotic fairy tale, and I highly recommend it. I love Ryan Field’s writing, and I certainly look forward to all of his future publications.

Review by Jeff

>Excerpt from The Way We Almost Were by Ryan Field

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Excerpt: THE WAY WE ALMOST WERE

On his way home from work that night, Allan took a shortcut through the park. It was a large, wooded park, on the edge of town, not far from the college campus. He’d been jogging there since he’d been a freshman and he knew every twist and turn of every single trail. Normally, he would not have walked through the park that late at night. It was dark and it was a known cruise spot for older gay men. Allan had heard they came from miles away just to see if any horny young college guys would be out cruising the park to get fast, anonymous blow jobs. The older guys were called trolls, and from what Allan had heard and read on the Internet, the old trolls could be extremely aggressive when they were on the hunt for young college guys.

Allan didn’t judge the older guys or the college guys who liked getting off this way in a dark, secluded public park. But he had never been with a man, and he didn’t want his first experience to be with a troll, in the bushes of a public place where anything could happen to him. Even the safest sex wasn’t safe there.

So when he entered the park, he pulled up his collar, shoved his hands into his coat pockets and walked faster. He’d read that if you didn’t make eye contact with trolls they left you alone. He remained on the main path, lined with park benches, which led directly to the college campus. But when he reached the middle of the park, he saw someone sitting on one of the park benches. He couldn’t see details; just the figure of a man. It was below twenty degrees outside that night; the park was empty and the only light came from a half moon. The person sitting on the bench was bundled up in a heavy black ski jacket. His head was low and the collar of the ski jacket practically covered his face. Allan took a deep breath and crossed to the other side of the path. He shoved his hands deeper in his pockets and stared down at his shoes while he walked.

When he crossed by the person on the bench, a deep voice said, “How come you never smile?”

Allan’s eyes opened wide. He stopped walking and turned his head. The man on the bench was Jacob Steinman. He’d recognize his voice anywhere.

“And you’re always in a hurry,” Jacob said. “I see you running around campus all the time, never stopping to smile or say hello to anyone. You walked right by me this afternoon, and before I even had a chance to say hello, you were gone.”

Allan’s head went back. He remembered this well. He’d been crossing from one building to the other, on his way to an elected art class, and he’d passed Jacob on the promenade. But he hadn’t snubbed him on purpose. He just didn’t think that Jacob was interested in talking to him.

“That’s because I’m always busy,” Allan said. “I don’t have time to waste on idle conversation. And, just so you know, I figured you wouldn’t be interested in talking to me, is all. I know how you football stars have reputations to protect.” This all came out sounding defensive. He didn’t mean to sound that way, but it did.

Jacob pulled his hands out of his pockets and laughed. Then he patted the bench and said, “Come over here and sit down next to me.”

Allan hesitated for a moment, and then he crossed to the bench and sat down on the other end. He crossed his legs; his hands were still in his pockets and he was freezing. He turned his head in Jacob’s direction and asked, “What are you doing here, sitting on a park bench this late at night?” Did he have any idea where he was?

Jacob laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “Just thinking,” he said.

“Ah well,” Allan said. It sounded innocent, so he decided to inform Jacob. “In case you don’t know, this park is a known cruise spot at night for gay men. Someone might get the wrong idea if they see you here.” Then he cleared his throat and added, “I only know this from what I’ve heard. I never come here alone at night unless I’m on my way home from work and I want to take a short cut back to campus.”

Jacob laughed again. He rubbed his jaw and said, “Actually, I know exactly what goes on here at night. And this isn’t the first time I’ve been here either. I’ve been coming here at night since I was a freshman.”

Allan’s eyes became headlights. He didn’t believe what he was hearing. Jacob Steinman, star football player and best looking guy on campus, was telling him that he cruised public parks for sex with men. But he wasn’t sure how to respond, so he said, “Are you telling me what I think you’re telling me?”

Jacob squared his shoulders and looked directly into his eyes. He nodded, smiled, and said, “You seem surprised. Is it that shocking?”

Allan didn’t want to play games. He was cold and he was tired. He gave Jacob a look and asked, “Surprised that you’re gay, or surprised that you cruise the park for vapid, anonymous sex with total strangers?”

Jacob blinked, as if he hadn’t expected Allan to be so blunt. “Are you surprised that I’m gay? I don’t care what you think about me cruising the park. That’s none of your damn business. I have needs and I’m not ashamed to admit them.”

Allan’s eyes softened; he understood better than anyone about unfulfilled needs. There had been many times he’d been so sexually frustrated he’d almost gone to the park looking for sex. The only thing that had kept him from doing this was his inherent need for affection and tenderness. Without those elements of romance, sex wasn’t the same for Allan.

He looked into Jacob’s eyes and said, “Yes. I honestly didn’t know you were gay. I thought you were just another straight jock.”

Jacob rubbed his strong jaw and laughed. “Just another dumb jock, in fact.”

“Absolutely not,” Allan said, with a strong, solid voice. He moved closer and said, “Well, maybe at first I did. But not after I heard the story you wrote for creative writing class. It really was the best story in the class, and the best one I’ve ever heard. You’re very, very good. You are a talented writer, and far from being a dumb jock.”

Jacob looked down at his shoes and adjusted his legs. He pressed his lips together and thought for a moment. He seemed to be at a loss for words, embarrassed by his own talent. “I sold a story this week, to a small literary review,” he said. “I never expected them to like it, but they bought it. I’m still in shock. You’re the only person I’ve told about it. And I’m not even sure why I’m telling you. I was going to keep it a secret.”

Allan smiled. Jacob’s humility was something he hadn’t expected either. Jacob couldn’t even look him in the eye when he spoke about his success. If Allan had sold a story to a literary review, he would have been shouting it all over campus and broadcasting excerpts on the radio.

“I’d like to read it,” Allan said. “And I’m glad you told me. If it’s anything like the story you wrote for class, I can’t wait to read it.”

Jacob lifted his arm and rested his hand on Allan’s thigh. He squeezed it gently and said, “You can come back to my room tonight and read it. My roommate is gone until after Christmas vacation and I have the whole place to myself.” Then he looked into Allan’s eyes and smiled.

When he touched Allan’s thigh, Allan’s heart skipped and then pounded. And when he looked into Allan’s eyes and invited him back to his room to read his story, Allan had trouble finding his voice. He wasn’t sure what was happening. Was Jacob Steinman, the best looking man he’d ever met, asking him back to his room to read a story, or was he asking him back there to have sex? Allan had never acted on his sexuality before; he knew nothing about intimate relationships with other men. No one had ever produced a TV show with two gay men in love. Like many other gay men in their early twenties, Allan had missed having a normal puberty and he had no idea how to respond to Jacob’s candid offer.

>Stormy Glenn

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Stormy Glenn

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, Stormy. Can you tell us a little bit about your background? I’d like to think that I’ve led an interesting life. My parents were diehard hippies. For the first twelve years of my life we lived in a revamped school bus in the mountains. We had goats and chickens and horses, and grew most of our own food. We had no indoor plumbing, running water, or electricity. I was even homeschooled. The rest of my life, even though we had modern conveniences, was just as interesting for me. I went to college at 15, met and fell in love with my husband at 16 (married years later), and raised six children. I feel that it’s been a full life and I’m just getting to the good part. I have so much more to do and see.

What was your first book and how long did it take to get it published? The first book I submitted is different than the first book published. My first book contract was for A Promise Kept. I signed the contract in August 2008. The next day I signed the contract for Secret Desires and The Katzman’s Mate. Secret Desires was published in October 2008. So, it didn’t take long for my first book to come out. I was kind of thrown into the process. Secret Desires wasn’t due out until April 2009 then I received an email saying it would come out in the next week. Talk about panic mode. I had no idea what I was doing. Luckily, several authors took me in hand and helped me out, giving me interviews and guest blog spots, generally helping me learn the ropes.

When did you start writing M/M Romance? I started writing M/M romances in January 2008. I’d written a lot of stuff before then (nothing published) but didn’t try my hand at M/M romances until I met Carol Lynn.

What about this genre interested you the most? I like the dynamics of the relationships. Men in general are taught to be men while women are taught to be women. It creates interesting drama when those lines are blurred. I fully believe that people need to express the love and caring that they have for each other versus hiding it behind masculine demeanor. The world would be a much better place.

How long did it take you to get published? I started writing seriously in January 2008. I signed my first book contract in August 2008. The first book, Secret Desires, came out in October 2008. I’ve been on a roll ever since.

How many books have you written thus far? I’ve completed 35 books. Thirty have been released and 5 are waiting for release. Add to that about 30 WIPs. I’m always writing. I love it. This is the best job in the world.

Do you write full time? LOL, yes, pretty much every waking moment. For me, this is not a job, it’s an adventure. I get to sit at home on my bed dressed in my pj’s and create worlds and characters and romances all day long. Who wouldn’t want to do this?

Looking back was there something in particular that helped you to decide to become a writer? My love of writing mostly. I’m not sure there is a way to describe what it’s like to be able to create worlds and characters, and get paid to do it. This is what I’ve always wanted to do.

Did you choose it or did the profession choose you? I’m really not sure. I knew I always wanted to be a writer. Well, since I was about 15 or so. Before that I was going to be a world famous singer…then I learned I couldn’t sing. Writing was next. I just never thought anyone would be interested in the crazy stuff going on in my head. Imagine my surprise.

On a typical writing day, how would you spend your time? I work when the story strikes me so a regular work day doesn’t work for me. However, coffee is a must, iced vanilla mocha to be precise…and first thing too. Have to get the brain working again. Once I get up I do my updates, check my email, then get to writing. I stop around 3:00pm when the kids get home then start right back up again. Dinner is at 7:00pm, then it’s back to writing until I fall asleep. This schedule deviates when I have to run errands or need a nap, but then its right back to writing.

Do you write right through or do you revise as you go along? A little of both, actually. Usually I just write right through but sometimes I backtrack and make sure the story is meshing right for me. Before I submit, I always go back through and make sure the entire story sounds right in my head.

When it comes to plotting, do you write freely or plan everything in advance? I don’t even know what I’m writing from paragraph to paragraph, sometimes sentence to sentence. I may have a general idea of where the story is going but no set outline. I tried that once. By the time I was in the third chapter, the whole tone of the story changed and I ended rewriting 30 pages of the story. No more outlines for me.

What kind of research do you do before and during a new book? I have an entire shelf full of research books and I’m always looking for more but it really depends on the story. Most of my stories are completely out of my imagination but there is often something I want to be accurate about and I’ll research that. For example, in A Promise Given, I needed a drug that would make the victims forget what happened to them. I did some research and found Flunitrazepam.

How much of yourself and the people you know manifest into your characters? I don’t think it’s possible for a writer not to put at least some of themselves into their characters. How do you approach development of your characters? Character development…well, it just kind of happens. It’s not something I really plan. I see this character in my head when I start a story. I know the issues, concerns, and mental/emotional state they are in. I just go from there.

How long does it take for you to complete a book you would allow someone to read? Do you write straight through, or do you revise as you go? That doesn’t have a concrete answer. Some books take me a week to write, others take months. I don’t really like anyone to read it until I’m all done. I write straight through, usually.

Writers often go on about writer’s block. Do you ever suffer from it, and what measures do you take to get past it? Sure it happens. I open a story to work on and just sit there and stare at the last sentence wondering where to go from here. I usually don’t try to let it get me too down. I move on to another story and work on that until I can come back to the first story.

When someone reads one of your books for the first time, what do you hope they gain, feel or experience? I hope they feel the characters and what they are going through. From my own experiences, I know that true love does exist. You may have to search for it or wait for it, but it’s out there. I want my readers to come away from my books feeling good and knowing that true love is out there for everyone.

Can you share three things you’ve learned about the business of writing since your first publication?

1. Promotion is 50% of the job.
2. My readers, besides being wonderful, have a lot to do with my success. Interact with them. Get to know them and what they want.
3. It’s a constant learning experience. I learn something new with every book whether in editing, promoting, or just writing the story.

Does the title of a book you’re writing come to you as you’re writing it, or does it come before you even begin the first sentence? Oh no, the title to any story comes as I’m writing it. I usually give the story some dumb name just so I can find it in my file system (I have a lot of WIP so need to do this), and then rename it during the story. Some books don’t even get named until toward the end of the book.

How would you describe your sense of humor? Unpredictable. I never know what is going to make me laugh. We were all sitting around the table one night for dinner and my daughter said something off the wall. At this point, I don’t remember exactly what it was but it had to do with my age. I dipped my hand in the sour cream and flung a handful of it across the table at her. The stunned silence afterward was so funny, I had tears streaming down my face. My kids did not expect Mom to do something like that.

Who and what makes you laugh? My husband makes me laugh all of the time. It’s one of the main reasons I married him. I love to laugh and he makes me laugh.

What is the most frequently asked Stormy question? Am I going to write about such and such character. Several of the books I’ve written were not planned to be series books. But, my minor characters had such an impact on my readers that they’ve asked for their stories.

What are you working on now? Um…that’s a hard question to answer. I have somewhere around 30 books that I am currently working on. It might be easier to ask what I worked on last night, which was Mating Heat.

What was the best piece of advice you’ve received with respect to the art of writing? Write for myself and try not to take reviewer or reader comments personally. Not everyone will like my stuff. How did you implement it into your work? I do write for myself. I write what I like to read.

When it comes to promotion, what lengths have you gone to in order to increase reader-awareness of your work? I’ve held contests, done interviews, guest blogs, chats, cross promotions with other authors, yahoo groups, website updates, and I tell just about everyone what I do. My Starbucks card even has my author stuff on it. But, I think the most important tool is interacting with my readers. They have questions. They want answers. And I’ve made a lot of good friends by answering those questions.

Writing is obviously not just how you make your living, but your life-style as well. What do you do to keep the creative “spark” alive – both in your work and out of it? I have a wicked vivid imagination. I love to let it just go and play “what if”. Even if I’m driving in the car, taking a nap, whatever…my mind is constantly going. I often wake up after a nap with new story ideas in my head. My husband is also a great help here. He lets me go on and on about my stories and listens to my plot ideas. He encourages me in all of it. And he doesn’t like to read. Gotta love that.

What pros and cons surround the e-publishing industry, and how do you envision the future of e-publishing? eBook piracy is a huge issue. I can’t even count the number of book sales I’ve lost due to eBook piracy. We’re talking thousands of dollars here. It often makes it hard to continue writing. How would you feel if you worked hard on a project for work for weeks maybe even months, got it all done and turned into your boss, only to have your boss say “Gee, I’m sorry, we’re keeping the work but we’re not going to pay you for it.” What these people who pirate the books are doing is no different than walking into a continence store and stealing money out of the register. Stealing is stealing, and they are stealing food off my table. How do you think I pay my bills and put food on my table to feed my kids?

Okay, getting of my soapbox now…the future of e-publishing is huge. Ebook publishing, while relatively new, is a growing industry. More and more mainstream publishing houses are getting into the game where erotica only used to be before. I think that will be beneficial to those of us already here.

What kind of books do you like to read? I pretty much read what I write. I love romances of almost any genre. I like happy endings though.

If you weren’t a writer what would you be? I operated my own daycare for 15 yrs. When my kids were born, I wanted to stay home with them but we were a two income family. So, I started a daycare. I closed the doors about six months before I started writing fulltime.

I recently read the book Secret Desires that is book 1 from your Tri-Omega Series. Where did you get the idea for that story? I like playing the “what if” game with myself. What if this happened or that happened. What if there was this photographer that went on a photo shoot in ranch country? I didn’t know it was going to be a werewolf book until I was already 30 pages into the book. I had to go back and rewrite a bunch of stuff.

How many books are in that series? Unspoken Desires (book 5) is due for release on March 1st. You can learn more about this series, read blurbs and excerpts here: http://www.stormyglenn.com/triomegamates.htm

When it comes to the covers of your books, what do you like or dislike about them? My favorite book cover is My Lupine Lover by Jinger Heaston. She captured what I wanted so well, the wolf eyes, the pierced nipples, the woods in the background. It was perfect. So far, I’ve been pretty happy with my covers. My cover artists are pretty good at getting my ideas onto paper.

Aside from writing, what else do you enjoy doing? I love making one inch dollhouse miniatures. I also cook…a lot. My current interest is learning how to make those huge three tiered wedding cakes, although, I don’t make them for weddings, just for fun. I use fondant and decorations and everything. I’m in the vanilla cake with lemon filling stage right now.

Any special projects coming out soon we should watch for? I’ve tried my hand at co-authoring a book with another writer. The first book, Chameleon Wolf, is done and submitted. Book two is almost done, probably only another few days. This was an new venture for me but one I enjoyed a lot. Joyee Flynn has a creative imagination much like mine and we seem to inspire each other.

New writers are always trying to glean advice from those with more experience. What suggestions do you have for new writers? Never give up! If you want to be a writer, be a writer. You might need to improve your writing (I did) but if you want it bad enough, do it. Read other author’s books, see how they do it. Read writing articles. Ask for help. But NEVER GIVE UP!

What future projects do you have in the works? Um…again, this is hard to say. I have so many books going at this time that it’s hard to put a finger on any one of them. I think it would be easier to just check out my WIP page. I try to keep it updated regularly. http://www.stormyglenn.com/WIP.htm

I have recently started a new series, though. The first book will be released through Noble Romance Publishing. It’s called Dark Side of the Veil. It’s my first dip into fantasy and I’d had a blast with it. The 2nd book in that series is almost completed with more to come.

Can you please tell us where we can find you and your books on the Internet?

My website: http://www.stormyglenn.com/

Siren Publishing: http://www.sirenpublishing.com/stormyglenn/

Torquere Press: http://www.torquerebooks.com/

Noble Romance Publishing: http://www.nobleromance.com/Default.aspx

>Secret Desires by Stormy Glenn

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Secret Desires
by Stormy Glenn
Siren Publishing
111 Pages
4.5 Kisses

Blurb:
Everyone has secret desires, especially werewolf, Leyland Summers. He dreams of two sexy mates to bring all of his fantasies to life. When he encounters a sexy cowboy who wants to take him for a wild ride, what does he say? Hell yes! Coming to ranch country for a picture shoot, Leyland was shocked to find not one, but two mates. Being a tri-omega, he had always known that he would have two mates. He just never expected to find them in the same place. Or to find out that they had been lovers for years. Having two mates is no big deal for Leyland. He grew up with two fathers. But having two mates that were already in love is something all together different. How is he supposed to share Lucas with Jake…or Jake with Lucas? And where does that leave him?

Review:
Things that caught my eye when I read the blurb to Secret Desire:

• Werewolf
• Sexy Cowboy
• Two Mates
• Scorching

When I see words like these grouped– my interest peeks up. What is there not to like about it? I then read M/M/M. Big time ménage story. Generally I don’t care for ménage themed stories and here is why—Someone always seems to get left out, be it a kiss, a hug, or…well you get the picture. It takes a hell of a writer to make these stories work and Stormy Glenn did just that?

At the beginning of this story I met Leyland. Apparently his car broke down somewhere in the middle of nowhere and he decided to stand on top of his car with his beloved camera to take pictures. He’s a photographer who was hired to do a spread on a spread. Well, there he was standing on top of his car, just snapping away and spots a lone cowboy on a horse headed his way. He snapped and snapped and didn’t stop, even when the cowboy damn near rode over the top of him on his car. One of the first thoughts he has is, ‘Oh yeah, this guy was hot with a capital HOT!”

My eyes were glued. Leyland has a personality and a fun one and I picked that up almost from page one. He’s not a big guy, but his personality is HUGE. Perfect combo. Leyland and Jake, the cowboy, met and guess what? They had sex on the horse! I needed a fan by page eleven.

Jake is a werewolf, he’s a HOT one too, and he’s the Alpha to his pack of six unrelated wolves. Each of these wolves were kicked out of their families packs because they were gay, so talk about loyal to one another…They are loyal.

After an amazing encounter on the horse, little Leyland passed out and is taken to Jake’s home to rest…well…okay, not only rest but to live because Jake bit Leyland and claimed him. When a werewolf claims one, it’s a mating for life type thing. Like marriage. Jake refers to Leyland as his little man because he is tiny, like 5’7 or something and Jake is over 6ft. Good enough reason to call him his little man I’d say.

Jake is thrilled he finally found his mate but he’s also miserable because he’s been in love with his beta and had been for ten long years. Once a wolf mates, they do not fool around with anyone else. Personally I wish more people were wolves in today’s society…family honor and all that…This breaks his long time lover’s heart and before I knew it, I was getting all choked up over the precious words and scenes the author provided.

Lucas is the beta of the pack and it’s his job to keep the alpha calm. He is very likeable and he quickly became my favorite. When he knows the love of his life met his mate and claimed him, he lost all hope and a part of him seemed, died. It was a sad moment. He hurt so deeply over the loss but he understood and supported his alpha. You can really feel his pain over this.

Leyland makes another appearance and when he does I couldn’t help but to laugh at almost everything he did or said. He may be small but don’t let his size fool you. Jake fell for his little man hard, as Leyland fell for his cowboy.

What no one counted on was not one mate but three. Enter Lucas, the long time lover to Jake. Though it takes them a while to understand the complex situation they were in, it works. The biggest hurdle they had to meet was the ability to share one another with each other. In this circle there was Jake, Lucas, and Leyland and each of them had a lot to learn about being in a three-way relationship as I did. If that’s not complicated enough, add Leyland, who has a wonderful strong and cocky at times personality and what do Jake and Lucas end up with? Trouble. This trouble almost kills one of them and it’s so sad I had to lay the book down and get away from it for a little while because I was on the verge of crying. I couldn’t see myself explaining to a houseful of men why I was crying. They would NEVER get it!

I came across several spots where I laughed out loud, especially when Jake dreaded telling Leyland what and who he really was. I giggled more when Leyland told Jake what he really was. And laughed out loud when Leyland froze everyone so they’d stop fighting and what he says to them during this time. I have to tell you: He froze them all and sat down and had tea with him mom! Priceless! Oh is he in trouble with his mates!

I loved every character that Stormy introduced in this first book. They are witty, loveable, caring, funny, jealous, and very protective over what is theirs. I enjoyed the story and thanks to Stormy for reintroducing a ménage that holds class. This book is a must read.
Review by Michele

>Anne Brooke Interview

>

Introducing Anne Brooke

Can you tell us a little bit about your background?

I grew up on an apple farm in the heart of rural Essex. After gaining 3 A levels and 1 S Level, in which my specialist subjects were Oscar Wilde and Lord Byron, I read English at Durham University. There I focused on Medieval and Old English, and must be one of the few people who has read the Anglo-Saxon poem, “Beowulf”, in the original language. However, I remember almost nothing about it now.

After University, I spent six months doing voluntary work before taking a series of administrative jobs in insurance, education and legal conferencing. When I could stand it no more, I went back to Durham University to take my MA in Medieval English and Latin. My final dissertation concerned the love poetry written by James I of Scotland and Charles, duc d’Orleans (although not addressed to each other), both of whom were separately held hostage by a foreign power for many years, thus earning the departmental shorthand title of “Anne’s sex and bondage thesis.”

I married my husband in 1993 and moved to Surrey, where I have lived for the last seventeen years. I work part-time for Surrey University in Student Care Services. Interests include playing bad golf, theatre-going, birdwatching, reading books with at least one dead body in them, and of course writing, which – sometimes – keeps me sane.

What was your first book and how long did it take to get it published?

My first book was actually m/m romantic comedy, The Hit List, which has just been published by Amber Allure Press. I self-published it locally, way way before it was ready, in 2004, and then took it out of print in 2008. It really wasn’t very good back then, and had lots of strange content in it! Last year I spent some considerable time rewriting it, and so you could say it’s taken 6 years for me to be fully happy for it and for it to be published. Which, coincidentally, is about the same time it takes Jamie and Robert in The Hit List to work out their relationship.

When did you start writing Mystery & Thrillers, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Gay & Lesbian Fiction? What about these genres interested you the most?

I started writing fiction in 2000, after a period when I had a writer’s block with the poetry I’ve written for years. I naturally fell into the way of writing from the point of view of a gay male, as to be honest that’s the voices that are always in my head. Once I started writing them, they became a lot stronger, and now I’d miss them if they disappeared.

How many books have you written thus far?

I’ve written eight novels, of which six have now been published. My two fantasy novels are the unpublished ones – so far.

Do you write full time?

No, I think writing full-time would drive me insane! I work part-time at the local University and write part-time, and enjoy that sense of balance.

Looking back was there something in particular that helped you to decide to become a writer? Did you choose it or did the profession choose you?

A bad bout of depression in my early twenties drove me to writing poetry, and once I recovered, I kept on writing. So I suppose it was a way of working out the bad things in life, so in some ways it chose me. I do tend to write about the dark side of life, even in the comedies like The Hit List or Pink Champagne and Apple Juice.

On a typical writing day, how would you spend your time?

Doing a fair amount of displacement activity to begin with, and then writing bits and bobs in the morning. I usually find it easier to write in the afternoon when the deadline of the end of the day is approaching. I try to get about 1000 words done in a day – it used to be 2000, but that was way too demanding so I had to ease it down rather.

When it comes to plotting, do you write freely or plan everything in advance?

I’m hopeless at plotting. I start writing and let the characters get into the situations they do because of who they are. It’s odd because every other part of my life is totally planned – it’s only when I’m writing the novels that I feel more liberated. Some reviewers have mentioned the feeling in my work that anything could happen at any given time, and that’s probably because I’m winging it too! Which I hope makes both the writing and the reading process an exciting one.

What kind of research do you do before and during a new book?

When I get an idea or a character, I simply start writing and do the necessary research as I go along – with further research at the end if required. One of the nurses at the University where I work is really helpful with the medical details needed for the gay crime novels, so I’m hugely grateful to that. The Internet is also a good source of information – as is asking people who might know!

How much of yourself and the people you know manifest into your characters? How do you approach development of your characters? Where do you draw the line?

I think all my characters are to a certain extent an amalgamation of myself, and people I know. My mother’s turned up in minor roles in both of my two comic novels, and there are key aspects of my husband in more major roles. I also playact different characters in my head and try out different roles all the time, so that comes into it too. In addition, I’m very keen on jotting down things people might say, so conversations and phrases work colleagues say have found their way into my novels – and they do know that!

How long does it take for you to complete a book you would allow someone to read?

About 18 months to two years.

Do you write straight through, or do you revise as you go along?

I tend to write in a linear fashion on the whole, but I do revise as I go along. That said, I’ll tend to write what I think the ending might be fairly early in the process and then change it to suit when I get there. In one of my gay crime novels, Maloney’s Law, I had to rewrite the ending completely as I realized Paul Maloney would never in a thousand years do what I had him doing initially. Everything changed. But that felt okay as I’d got to know the character extremely well by then.

Writers often go on about writer’s block. Do you ever suffer from it, and what measures do you take to get past it?

As I mentioned earlier, I did get something of a block during a bout of depression, but there writing, in a different format, actually helped. If there are days I can’t think what to write, I either write anything even if it’s rubbish just to get something down that I can play with – or I’ll start a different project, ie if you’re stuck in a novel, have a go with a short story or poem instead. It gets rid of the anxiety and allows you to have fun with writing again. Which is always a good thing.

When someone reads one of your books for the first time, what do you hope they gain, feel or experience?

I’d like a reader to feel that they’ve got to know a character intimately and been involved in the world I’ve tried to create. I’d like for them to feel that they’ve seen how another person (even a fictional person) might live, and I’d like for them to feel more alive and engaged with the world as a result. It’s what my writing does for me, and I hope the same for any reader.

Can you share three things you’ve learned about the business of writing since your first publication?

•  Get your work professionally edited. Twice by different people if you can manage it
• Don’t worry about what the market is doing – write what you want to write, from the heart and from the gut
• Not everyone will like your work – don’t be afraid of that, as it’s natural. After all, not everyone likes us.

Does the title of a book you’re writing come to you as you’re writing it, or does it come before you even begin the first sentence?

Titles tend to come as I’m writing the book. Or even at the end, when it’s done, as for Pink Champagne and Apple Juice.

How would you describe your sense of humor? Who and what makes you laugh?

Quirky! I love TV programmes like Friends and Frasier, and the recent outbreak of UK comedy news programmes is just ideal for me. Bring them on.

What is the most frequently asked Anne question?

Why does a happily married straight middle-aged woman write about traumatized gay young men?

What are you working on now?

I’m working on a gay werewolf story for Amber Allure (I hope), the 3rd novel in my fantasy trilogy, and my online prayer novel. Never say I don’t have variety in my life …

What was the best piece of advice you’ve received with respect to the art of writing? How did you implement it into your work?

Don’t use adjectives – make those verbs work! Oh, and edit, edit, edit. Both pieces of advice are invaluable. I make a conscious effort to go easy with the adjectives when I write, and it does produce clarity and strength in a piece of writing if you do that.

When it comes to promotion, what lengths have you gone to in order to increase reader-awareness of your work?

I’m a regular blogger, and I do a lot of networking on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Writing is obviously not just how you make your living, but your life-style as well. What do you do to keep the creative “spark” alive – both in your work and out of it?

Keep observant and take part in what’s going on around you – when you’re engaged in life, you’re also engaged in creativity, and that really makes a difference. Plus take regular “time out” just to enjoy yourself – that keeps the spark alive!

What pros and cons surround the e-publishing industry, and how do you envision the future of e-publishing?

I think the epublishing industry is more open to work that’s not mainstream or is seen as different, and that is a powerful plus point in today’s literary world. On the other hand, it’s currently a small part of the reading market, and many people are not aware of it at all. I think it will become much more accepted in the future and give people a far wider choice of reading matter, and that can only be a good thing.

What kind of books do you like to read?

I enjoy reading m/m novels, crime fiction, dark contemporary fiction, and spiritual non-fiction, as well as modern, off-beat poetry.

If you weren’t a writer what would you be?

I’d love to be on the stage (I come from a long line of actors!) but I’ve never had the courage.

I recently read your novel The Hit List. Where did you get the idea for that story?

It’s a modern, gay retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma, plus I wanted to write a novel about a young man’s relationship with his father, that was set in the country – I’m a country girl myself – so the idea grew from there.

When it comes to the covers of your books, what do you like or dislike about them?

I’ve been lucky as the covers I now have for my books are ones I love. I particularly like the way that they mirror something of the tone of the story inside them, even though I write in very different genres. For instance, the cover for A Dangerous Man was produced by a wonderful artist I know – Penelope Cline – and she’s also done the covers for Pink Champagne and Apple Juice, and Thorn in the Flesh. For Amber Allure, I think the covers have all been fabulous, and they are very open to suggestions writers might make, which is great.

Aside from writing, what else do you enjoy doing?

I love going to the theatre – I’m a real play junkie – as well as bird-watching (obsessive but peaceful) and playing incredibly bad golf. The latter two are great for getting some exercise too which, what with writing and an office job, I definitely need.

Any special projects coming out soon we should watch for?

I’ve got a couple of short stories coming out with Amber Allure Press in March and April – Give and Take is a light bondage m/m story, and The Delaneys and Me is a m/m/m ménage story with a quirky comic touch. I hope people will enjoy both.

New writers are always trying to glean advice from those with more experience. What suggestions do you have for new writers?

Do join writing groups, either in your local area or online, and be prepared to learn from them. Attend writing conferences too – they’re great for learning and also for networking. Also write what you want to (as I’ve said before) and not what people tell you to – after all you need to enjoy the process too.

What future projects do you have in the works?

I’m working on my fantasy series, and am about to get seriously into writing the third one, The Executioner’s Cane. The first of the series, The Gifting, is being considered by a couple of small publishers at the moment, and the second, Hallsfoot’s Battle, is in the editing process. It’s the longest series I’ve ever been committed to and I’m learning a great deal from it.

Can you please tell us where we can find you and your books on the Internet?

You can find my website at: http://www.annebrooke.com/ and my journal at: http://annebrooke.blogspot.com/

>Give and Take by Anne Brooke

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Give and Take
by Anne Brooke
Amber Quill Press
32 Pages
4.5 Kisses

Blurb:
David has spent two years grieving for the loss of his partner to cancer. When he decides to move on, he visits a gay bar for the sole purpose of hooking up with someone—in spite of his concerns that as he’s in his mid-forties, he might be too old. There he meets Jeff, a young barman, and after dancing and making out with other men, he realizes that Jeff is in fact the one he wants to take home most of all.



During his explosive evening with Jeff, David discovers a side of himself that he never knew existed. But, when the morning comes, can he persuade Jeff that their relationship may develop into more than a simple one-night stand?

Review:
Give and Take by Anne Brooke is a concise and powerful short story which touches on two seemingly unrelated themes, and brings them together in a disturbingly thought-provoking manner. Well, I must qualify this statement by stating that this was my particular take on the story. Perhaps the author’s intent was something quite different.

The first of these themes is that of grief and how one copes to reestablish oneself as an individual after a significant loss. David suffers the loss of his partner Patrick, to whom he was deeply devoted. The couple had shared many years together, and Patrick, being five years David’s senior, initially was responsible for much of the decision making. When Patrick fell ill, however, this burden fell solely upon David’s shoulders. Since the onset of Patrick’s cancer, David has felt burdened by these responsibilities, and after his partner’s death, David is both grief-stricken and overwhelmed by the weight of all these decisions.

On what would have been Patrick’s fiftieth birthday, two years after his passing, David makes a decision to have sex. He’s a very fit, young-looking forty-five, and he feels confident (or at least he tries convincing himself of this fact) that he can hook up with someone for a single night of meaningless, no-strings-attached sex.

David goes to a club looking for a partner, and meets a bartender named Jeff. The barkeep is very attractive, although nearly two decades David’s junior. The two leave the bar together, and go to Jeff’s apartment where David is abruptly confronted by memories of Patrick which threaten to dash David’s hopes of getting laid.

Jeff allows David to vent his grief and anxiety, and the two spend some time talking about Patrick and about David’s feelings. Finally they do become intimate, which leads me to the second theme to which I’d previously alluded, this being the discovery and awakening of a Dom/sub dynamic within a relationship. More specifically, the story examines the manner in which the Dominant or submissive character of an individual is revealed and ultimately manifested.

Our lovemaking—no wait…our sex is not something that exists within a vacuum. It is an expression of who we are, not only as personalities, but also as emotional beings who have specific needs at specific times. David had existed for two years in a grief-stricken state. He felt overwhelmed with responsibility. He felt vulnerable. He needed to be guided, to be told what to do. He needed to strive to please someone other than himself and to feel he’d been successful in his attempt.

Although the story is written exclusively in one point-of-view, that of David, it is clear that Jeff experienced an awakening of his own. His character actually arced significantly during the course of these thirty-two pages. I found it interesting that Jeff initially was addressing his older customer as “Sir”. He perhaps was a bit taken by the gentleman’s good looks and charm, and I suspect he was flattered when David finally propositioned him. How deliciously ironic it is that this all changed, and so quickly.

How perceptive it is, in my opinion, that this author would understand so keenly how loss and grief shape an individual within the context of a BDSM relationship. It was the grief which triggered David’s vulnerability. This vulnerability signaled Jeff and awakened his Dominant side. The two halves fit together so perfectly, and it is my sense that the couple will continue to explore their own identities.

I don’t think any short story has ever given me pause the way this one has. It really gave me a lot to reflect upon. Anne Brooke is a marvelous storyteller and an amazing writer, and I bet I’m still going to be digesting this thought-provoking read for days to come.

Review by Jeff

>Incubus by Rick R. Reed

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Incubus
by Rick R. Reed
Amber Quill Press, LLC
37 Pages
5 Kisses

Blurb:
What if…a stranger with a knife ripped away the love of your life?  What if…that love came back to you? What if…that love looked the same, but you knew it couldn’t really be him? Incubus is the haunting–and haunted–tale of Oliver and Ryan, a young couple who have traveled to Montreal from Chicago to get married. It’s late and they’re on their way home from their honeymoon, and their trip on Chicago’s el trains and subways is fraught with strange characters, one a biker-jacket-clad man who urges them to “Get close to Lucifer!” But the oddest stranger they encounter is a man in a zippered leather mask who waits for them in an underground parking garage with a knife. Only one of the men will emerge from this encounter alive. Oliver’s depression overwhelms him, having seen his hope for a new life with his new husband squashed in an instant. He feels so alone. Or is he? When Ryan begins to appear to him again in the dark, and to make love to him, Oliver is happy…and in denial. He ignores this new Ryan’s cold touch, his strange eyes, and the odd burns Ryan’s touch leaves on his skin. Has Oliver’s despair and desire for his lost love opened a door to something dark and terrifying? Is the Ryan who returns to him really the Ryan he loves, or a demonic imposter? And when love is brutally ripped away, will Oliver decide it doesn’t matter? With Incubus, Rick R. Reed merges his talent for horror with a tragic love story and the result is…chilling…

Review:
The blurb pretty much told me what I’d be facing when I picked this one up to read. The story was not going to start out with a happy go lucky first chapter, and knowing what I know of Rick R Reed, something strange was bound to happen some place in the thirty-seven pages.

Sure enough, something strange happened as soon as the story began. In the first paragraph my heart plummeted, as I knew it would from the blurb, I just didn’t expect it would happen so soon. It had to though, as the story is a short and Rick R Reed sure knows how to pack a load of stuff in very few words. From the second the newly married couple passes that odd person chanting ‘Get Closer To Lucifer,’ I cringed. I was just waiting for one of the boys impending death scene.

Rick never fails to take my emotions for a ride, even when I expect this to happen, I don’t expect it. Rick hasn’t let me down once from book one, and that was Penance for me, so I came to this one with wide open eyes and ready for the journey he prepared for me.

Incubus takes place in my favorite city, Chicago and Rick’s details are so amazing, from the EL rides to the people lined up in the tunnels in the underground subway, to the walk near Loyola University. He put me back home for a short amount of time and I saw everything Oliver and Ryan did. I love the accurate detail. Just enough but not too much.

Have you ever read a story and found yourself wanting to yell, “No, don’t do that! Turn around! Stop!” I find myself doing this every time I read one of Rick’s books. Oliver asked himself the same things I asked. I said, “Why didn’t you go around the block?” Because if they had, Ryan would have lived and Oliver wouldn’t have lost his mind. But, if they did go around the block, there would be no death and there would be no story.

Oliver also said, “why hadn’t there been time to think?” I think this sentence should be Rick’s new motto. His books start off full of action, horror, thrill, and suspense and never let up. Rick tells the dark realities of real life no matter how sad, dark or morbid they are. He is not afraid to take you to places you didn’t think you wanted to go. When Oliver’s husband was so violently taken from him in two seconds flat, Oliver later said that people everywhere surrounded them, yet no one helped. How true to life this is.

Four months after the terrible death of Ryan, Oliver finds himself losing his battle with sanity and I will say that it is heart wrenching. I wanted to just hold the poor guy. The ending blew my socks off I still haven’t found them!

I was taken on an incredibly intense journey into the unknown watching helplessly and seeing the horrors of a great mind lost in thirty-four short pages.

BRAVO RICK!!

5 Kisses!!

Review by Michele

>In My Opinion…

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Isn’t It Time You (A Straight Woman) Came Out of the Closet?

You’re not gay yourself, but you love to read m/m erotica. You actually discovered this preference quite by accident. You started by reading the standard m/f romance novels, but eventually you realized that they bored you. You were more focused upon the male love interest than you were upon the female protagonist. You started exploring fiction that included all male central characters. After you read your first gay romance, you were hooked. You wanted more.

Eventually you found yourself consuming several such fictional tales per week. You went out and bought yourself an e-reader. You joined a couple yahoo groups. You friended a host of m/m fiction authors on Facebook. You started visiting all the m/m fiction blogs, and you quickly educated yourself on all the hot m/m publishers. You began to take it a step further, exploring fetish and BDSM. You learned all the terminologies and acronyms. You know about rimming and frigging and even watersports! (ewww!)

But…it’s a secret. You definitely don’t want your coworkers to know. Certainly not your children. In fact, you have made a point of never purchasing a print book, lest one of the little ones lay their curious eyes upon it. You don’t want your extended family to ever find out you read gay smut, and if your church friends ever found out… OMG!

But what do you do when someone else does find out about your hobby? What if it happens to be one of those aforementioned church friends? You could conceal it from them and completely deny your interest in gay romance. You could soft-pedal it, explaining it’s something you looked into at one point out of curiosity. You could just laugh it off and feign ignorance, saying you’re not sure what they’re talking about, or possibly even politely remind them it’s none of their business.

Or you could possibly do something entirely different—something much braver. You could do what hundreds of thousands of gay people and their families have done. You could come out of the closet.

Wow, that’s kind of a leap, I guess. Why would I suggest that a straight person who enjoys gay literature for their own entertainment be so bold as to actually take some sort of gay-rights stand? Why would you ever jeopardize your real-life relationships and the standing you have within your community? Your love of all things homoerotic has been your dirty little secret, and perhaps this is for good reason. Maybe the reason you’re embarrassed to share this passion with others is because it truly is something you should be ashamed of.

Even authors of m/m fiction tend to be less open about their identities than do other writers. Well, this is at least the case when it comes to female authors, and in most cases they are just like you. They started out reading this genre in private, and then finally dared to give writing a shot. Most male writers of m/m romance proudly post their self pictures on their book jackets. They are out and proud gay men. Often the female authors write under a pseudonym and share nothing too personal about themselves in order to protect their privacy. Even some members of their immediate families are not aware that they are published authors.

I’m a gay man, and I’ve been reading gay fiction for about twenty years. For me it started with Armistead Maupin and The Tales of the City. Chris Kenry, Andrew Holleran, Paul Monette, David Leavitt, Edmund White, and numerous other such gay fiction authors were writing gay-themed and even erotic stories long before the existence of what we now refer to as “m/m romance”. Often it was these very writers who were recognized not only in the gay community, but in the literary community at large as being tremendously talented. Even at a time when far fewer gay people were out of the closet, there was no shame in reading a gay-themed novel.

Mysteriously, though, now during an era in which celebrities are coming out of the closet in droves, there is suddenly a stigma associated with gay-themed fiction. We live in a time when gay-themed movies are box office blockbusters, and nearly every actor has at one point or another in their career taken a gay role. Sitcoms have openly gay characters. Talk shows have openly gay hosts. Gay marriage is even now legal in eight states, and in most civilized countries around the world.

So wherein lies the contradiction? How is it possible that in so many ways we have progressed, yet at the same time we’ve taken steps backward? I guess the only thing for me to do at this juncture is to speculate. If you will bear with my pontification, I’ll share my own personal theory.

We have always known that there are those within our society who do not to-this-day believe that homosexuality is a sexual or affectional orientation. They regard it as a behavioral choice, and a sinful one at that. They use passages of scripture to support their viewpoints, but in truth these judgments are rooted in the tradition of their religions. Scripture can be used to support any viewpoint, but religious dogmatism is far more rigid.

In the past, people who were raised within the sheltered environments of these types of religions remained almost completely separated from any and all gay culture. Unless they specifically went out looking for ways to educate themselves, they did not ever have to worry about homosexuality having a direct impact or influence upon their life. With the changes in our society, and specifically in our media, this has been altered dramatically. In addition to this, we now have the Internet, where all things are accessible to all people.

So now the people who used to be completely sheltered from gay-themed or homoerotic literature, have suddenly been exposed, and in a major way. Many of the women who read m/m romance are these very same church ladies who a couple decades earlier would have run screaming into their homes, locking the doors and barricading them behind them at the mere mention of gay sex. Not only have they allowed their curiosity to get the better of them, but they have grown to love the genre. They find it to be an escape for them.

In addition to reading this homosexual romance literature, many have become m/m romance authors themselves.

I think that all the progressive people out there who’ve always read and loved gay literature, still continue to do so. Or at least I would hope this is the case, but I also think that the market has dramatically expanded. People of all different stripes have found enjoyment and entertainment in homoerotica and gay-themed fiction. So now we are going through another whole wave of “outings”.

Consider how significant this could actually be. What if a few of these church ladies who secretly read m/m romance were to start being open about it? What if they had the courage to say that homosexuality was not the thing which was immoral… but rather homophobia was? When their clergy or ultra-conservative in-laws began to question them, wouldn’t it be awesome if they simply admitted that they read (or wrote) gay literature, and that it was really no different than heterosexual material? What if they just stood up and said, “I refuse to be a bigot, and I don’t think you should be one either”?

Oh, wait… now I’m oversimplifying. Right? How could I possibly understand a person in that position? How could I ever expect someone to have the guts to speak up for a principle like this when they’re in a situation where all those around them would not have a snowball’s chance of ever understanding?

Me, a gay man—I could never understand that. I could never really know what it was like to be judged by my peers and ostracized. I could never appreciate how devastating it would be to be expelled from my church and rejected by my family members. I have no idea what it is like to be called names, ridiculed, and labeled an abomination. I just don’t get it.

Or do I?