Soap Up and Get Down!

This week’s episode of Boxer Falls, our free soap opera-style serial drama is up! The last episode of each month one of the head writers takes a turn at the wheel, either Damon Suede, Poppy Dennison, or myself. This week was my turn, and I decided to bring everyone’s favorite “it” couple back together. Here’s an excerpt:

…Quinn found his fingertips digging into the arm of his chair at the wistful tone in Oz’s voice when he talked about Yoshi, not to mention the reminder that the guy could have been killed not too long ago. Fuck it all to hell. He sank lower in his hair and rubbed a hand over his forehead. “Look, Oz, I—“ I’m sorry I was a dick that morning you wanted to hang out in bed. I’m glad you weren’t hurt worse in that wreck. I’m being a tool right now because the thing is I keep thinking an awful lot that maybe I was wrong when I said no second dates. Only, it’d be nice if I actually thought you’d be willing to be seen with me in public and stuff. Looking around this huge-assed office and your dad’s massive fucking mansion, I don’t see how I’ve got the first thing to offer that would possibly make you wanna do that. Sure as hell I ain’t gonna magically grow a set of bangin’ D-cups. “I think it’s real manly sounding when you talk about sports equipment like that.”

Oz laughed. A real, deep, rumbly laugh that Quinn liked the sound of more than he should have. He stood and it was like the office had gotten smaller and darker. His clothes rubbed and constricted uncomfortably. He wanted his T-shirt and his kilt and his boots back.

He jerked a thumb toward the door. “I’d better get back out there. Thanks for patching me up, Oz.” He held out a hand, an effort to be well-mannered and civil.

When Oz slid his palm against Quinn’s and blue eyes met green, the spark between them was back again. Undeniable.

“You don’t have to go yet do you?” Oz’s voice was almost a whisper. A dangerously low, guttural, sexy as all fucking hell whisper…

Read the rest and catch up on the other episodes at the M/M Romance Group, on Goodreads.

We have a winner…

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to comment on my Loving Kindness post for the Hop Against Homophobia. The winner, KimberlyFDR, will get a copy of two short stories from me. My Dreamspinner Press contemporary story about a one night stand that becomes much more, Feeling Neighborly, and a vamp/shifter short story entitled Under the Full Moon that’s not yet been released to the public. The latter was written for a short story contest originally, but I may eventually post it to Goodreads as a free read in the near future, just as I have my paranormalish/BDSM-inspired short story, Yes, Sir.

Right now I’m finishing up next week’s episode of Boxer Falls, and a contemporary M/M novel, tentatively entitled David’s Goliath which I hope to find a good home for soon.

Stay tuned…

Loving Kindness…

Thanks for joining me on the Hop Against Homophobia! Leave a comment at the end of this post to be entered to win a copy of my contemporary short story “Feeling Neighborly” as well as a never before released vampire/werewolf short story called “Under the Full Moon”. Contest open to adult readers 18+ only.

I wrote and re-wrote this post several times. I wrote sad posts and angry posts, posts about religion and politics and personal opinions. I erased it all, because I truly believe that at the bottom line is that anger and fear are destructive and I didn’t want to write a destructive post.

I am many things. Mostly these days I’m an author and a mom. I don’t sleep very much, and I frequent the local Starbucks like they’re gonna put my name on a table. I get stressed. Through all of that my life revolves around love. Falling in love is what I write about. As an at-home parent, teaching, guiding, and loving my kids is what I DO. My job as a parent is to make it so that they can go out into the world someday and be good, kind, functional citizens who don’t need me any more.  My fondest wish is for them to grow up healthy and happy–and that they someday fall in love.

Period. If my boys are lucky enough to find someone who loves and respects them half as much as I, their extremely biased mother, thinks they deserve? I’ll be thrilled, regardless of who that person is, so long as they’re good to my kid.

When they look at me over their chocolate chip waffles in the morning and thank me for taking care of them, I can’t imagine wanting anything else.

I used to do a daily yoga and meditation practice. It’s a little more sporadic these days due to business, but I find when I make it back to the mat that the foundations are still with me. One of the things I learned, was a loving-kindness meditation: The gist is, you start out by offering loving-kindness to yourself, and then to someone you respect, someone you love, someone you feel neutral about…then someone you hate (for more info on this, you can go here). The idea, I think, is to help you keep an open heart. In the face of a thing like homophobia, I admit that can be difficult to do.

So that’s what I want to offer here today, on this International Day Against Homophobia. Loving kindness. To myself, to those of you who are friends, and those I don’t know. To those of you whose minds I hope with all my heart will soon be changed for the better. More than anything, to all the innocent babies, children, and young people out there who will someday need help and support in navigating your way through the confusion and questions you may have about your sexual orientation–I pray you will have the support that you need, and that you will always know you’re perfect just the way you are. That you deserve love and respect.

Love is love. It’s something everyone deserves.

(There are over 250 authors and bloggers participating today in the hop against homophobia, lots of really good thoughts on the subject and lots of prizes being given away. You can find the full list, here. Also, for a chance to win my latest vampire novella, Immortal Valentine, or another chance to win the free vampire/shifter short story, check out the HAH post over at Books Make Me Happy.)

The Backlist Strikes Back…and First Impressions

This week I’m over at EM Lynley’s Love Shack having a flashback blog orgy, as we celebrate our backlist titles. Come and join us, while we talk about the books we haven’t pimped in awhile. I’ll be talking about the songs that inspired my Mayan mythology novella, Amor Prohibido.

And if you’ve already that one, of course, be sure to check out my latest. Immortal Valentine is a sexy sweet/dark romance about a one night stand gone wrong between a young man and a vampire.

ALSO…. Congrats to my buddy Christopher Koehler whose novel First Impressions just released a couple of days ago, and has already hit the Dreamspinner Press bestseller list! I haven’t gotten to read this one yet but his writing style is often a mix of sweet and sexy that I quite enjoy, and I have no doubt this gay riff on Pride and Prejudice will be no exception. Check it out, here.

I’m Not Irish, Kiss Me Anyway

Okay, actually, I think I’m a little Irish on my mom’s side. Whatev. I needed a blog title.

I want to take a moment to note the passing of fellow gay romance author William Neale. Sadly, I didn’t know him that well, but I had the pleasure of meeting him last year at GayRomLit in New Orleans. He turned to me in the middle of a crowded bar and told me that I had a beautiful smile, and I fell a little bit in love with him right away. I have gotten the impression these past few days in the wake of his passing that he kind of had that effect on people. We had a lovely chat that night (he also encouraged me to drink a little more even though I’d decided to cut myself off), and I was looking forward to having another one with him in Albuquerque. A lot of people were. Our hearts go out to his family for this tragic and sudden loss. He’ll be missed.

In lighter news, the Amber Heat Readers Loop is hosting a St. Patrick’s Day chat today–lots of prizes will be given away, so come win some stuff.

Geoffry Knight’s epsiode is up for Boxer Falls, our gay serial soap opera drama! It’s phenomenal. All of them have been so far, IMO, but Geoff’s writing style blows me away every time. High adrenaline, hot sex, and plot twists that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Check it out.

I rarely do book reviews these days. Hard to find the time, I’ve never considered myself to be a reviewer anyway, and frankly I refuse to review a book if I thought it was bad. I just do. Author karma, or whatever.

Now and again though, I feel like I have to share a book that knocks my socks off. I’ve always really liked Amy Lane’s stuff. She’s talented, funny, and her books are touching. We had the immense pleasure of working with her on an episode of Boxer Falls, and I was reminded of how much I dig her writing and decided to pick up her latest, Chase in Shadow. Oh, sweet, merciful Christmas. I cried so hard I wound up reading it twice just to get all the parts I missed while I was busy blowing my nose. And let’s be clear here, folks. I’m not a weeper. I’ll cop to it when a book makes me sob, but it doesn’t happen often. All the time people tell me “Read this book, it made me cry like a baby!” Nothing. Chase in Shadow is about a guy who’s closeted and deeply repressed, who finally chooses to set himself free in the world of gay for pay and nearly loses himself in the process. The juxtaposition of intense emotion and intense sex in the story makes for a wild roller coaster ride and I could barely keep hold of myself. You must read it.

Speaking of reading, Amy will be doing a reading from Chase in Shadow at the Rainbow Book Fair on March 24th. I will be there as well, doing a reading from Feeling Neighborly, which is a sweet/spicy short story about a guy who falls for the single dad who lives next door. Many, many fantastic LGBT authors and publishers will be in attendance that day and it promises to be a ton of fun, so if you’re in the Manhattan area I hope you’ll stop on by and visit. My reading’s at 2:30 and I’ll be around all day, manning either the Dreamspinner Press or the Rainbow Romance Writers table at the back of the room.

Also out now is Diversion by Eden Winters. I haven’t had the chance to read it yet but her work is phenomenal. I can’t wait to pick it up. Looking forward to seeing her and so many amazing folks again at GayRomLit in October, too.

I feel like I’m forgetting stuff, but it’s early yet and I need more coffee. More soon, y’all.

Bits and Pieces and Naughtiness, oh, my!

Just a few quick catchup status update thingies: It’s been a busy winter at Chez Carrington, and I’m (still) busily drafting a contemporary novel. It’s quite different, I think, from what I typically write so I’m not sure how it’ll come out yet or where it’ll fit. And, yanno, life keeps happening and slowing me down. I have a good feeling about it though, so fingers crossed.

The latest episode of our free gay soap opera serial Boxer Falls is up, written by MJ O’Shea! It’s naughty, hot and angsty! Two of the young Boxer Falls residents put themselves on the wrong side of the law in the name of helping their friends. Geoffrey Knight is up next, and you are NOT going to want to miss out. We also have a newly updated BoxerFalls.com web site with all sorts of additional info. We hope to be posting back episodes in the near future but for now you can get caught up on the Goodreads M/M Romance Group.

This came out in January, but I missed it before now: My favorite bearish book reviewer, Tom Webb at A Bear on Books, published his list of 25 favorite M/M books of 2011 and I was super psyched to see my Mayan Mythology novella, Amor Prohibido, was #5 on the list! Thanks, Tom.

And for those of you who still prefer good old fashioned books to e-readers, and happen to be looking for a football-themed manlove anthology, The Touchdowns Anthology is now out in paperback and available at Amazon. This Ravenous Romance anthology features my first contemporary short story, After Party.

Today’s Quickie: Gearing up for GayRomLit, Sudsy Studs, and More Free Books!

Aight! I am all signed up for GayRomLit! I hope to see you there. I’ve signed up to do a reading, and I’m already trying to decide what I’ll read. Maybe something filthy, I kinda like having an excuse to say naughty words out loud. If you’re on the fence about attending, they’ve already got about 100 authors signed up last I heard, and the total head count cutoff is 400 people, so act fast. It’s gonna be a BLAST.

If you didn’t go to GRL last year, you may have missed out on the author scavenger hunt, headed up by Damon Suede. 17 authors pitched in beads, and the goal was for readers to unscramble anagrams and clues, and find each author to get a bead for their bracelet. Well if you didn’t get one, I blogged over at Guilty Pleasures about our new homoerotic soapy drama Boxer Falls, and if you stop by and leave a comment you’ll be entered to win one of last year’s bracelets, as well as an ecopy of my latest paranormal novella, Immortal Valentine.