The Big Gay Love Story: Ring My Bells by Ryan Field

The Big Gay Love Story: Ring My Bells by Ryan Field

I have a new release out today titled, Ring My Bells. The Big Gay Love Story part is something I may continue with all future stories as a subtitle. And this is a story. It's not a full length novel. I'm hoping all the product descriptions are clear on retail web sites where e-books are sold so no one gets confused. It's also priced at .99, which I'm trying to continue for as long as I can.

Here the link for allromanceebooks.com. And I'll post more links as I get them.

Smashwords.com 

Here's the blurb:

When the phone goes dead and a handsome young gay man with serious needs can't figure out how to fix it, he calls a repairman to get the job done. But the young man soon discovers the broken phone isn't the only thing the big strong repairman is eager to work on, and he's glad he answered the door without his shirt. It may not be true love at first sight, or the kind of story that will make a person weep with those unyielding, proverbial floods of emotion. But it is the kind of sexy, cheeky, happily-ever-after gay ending that might make a few people smile on a cold winter's night.

I think I made it clear in the blurb this isn't a romance in the traditional m/m sense. But I also want to make it clear there is a happy ending and it's one of my lighter stories that run more along the lines of traditional gay erotic fiction, with respect to gay culture. In other words, it's a sexy little story about real gay guys.

Here's an excerpt, and please remember this part of the post is fiction (smile):

About a year ago the telephone wasn't working. I keep a landline because cell phones still don't get great signals around here. There was no dial tone at all that morning; just a soft beep sound when I pressed the talk button, and the small screen lighting up pale green for a couple of seconds.
There had been severe thunderstorms the night before, but the electricity hadn't gone out and there didn't seem to be any lines down on the property. Maybe it just had to be re-set, I thought. Unplug the cord and plug it back in a half hour later. I remembered that had happened once before, after I'd left the phone off the hook for a while.

After leaving it unplugged for a half hour, it still wasn't working when I re-set it. So with the telephone in my hand, I went down to the basement to see if everything was connected correctly. Attached to wooden beams, I found red, blue, white and black wires all screwed tightly to where they should be screwed. Everything seemed fine. And then I noticed a phone line going to the burglar alarm system, with phone jack at the base of a one square foot, locked metal box. I hesitantly unplugged the phone cord from the alarm box (I hate to touch things I don't understand), pushed the talk button on the phone and I immediately had a dial tone. The problem, evidently, was with the alarm system; not the telephone.

It only took one phone call to the alarm company for them to tell me they knew the problem well and they'd send someone out to fix it that day. A surge protector, so they said, had burned out during the severe thunderstorms. Not a big deal was how they'd put it, and as long as I didn't plug the phone back into the alarm it would work perfectly normal. The same thing had happened to several other homes in my area, so they'd said.

This all happened very early in the morning, before I'd had time for my ritual workout routine. Though I work at home for the most part, I'm usually up at five thirty or six every day so I can cram an hour workout into the day with weights and cardio. I'm usually dressed, showered and shaved by eight and seated in front of the computer no later than eight-thirty. I'd assumed the alarm guy wouldn't show up until sometime that afternoon; they usually make you wait all day. So I ran a half hour on the treadmill and then did another half hour with free weights. This routine was strenuous, and often dull, but the workouts kept my waist at size thirty, my chest popping at forty-two inches, and my ass hard and firm. The small of my back, which is deeply curved (more so when I arch my back on purpose), is what guys always said they liked most about my body. At twenty-five years old, I like to think that what I do now as exercise will benefit me in the future when things begin change with age.

That's also the ironic part about me: I don't have issues with age. I'm usually more attracted to men with silver in their hair, a few lines on their faces, and mature looks. I've been known to go down on my knees for men who have slight middle age paunches. I think men reach their sexiest point around age forty and it keeps getting better as they approach their late fifties. Why I once jumped in between a couple of men in their sixties just to see what it would be like for both of them to fuck me. And those two horse hung daddies fucked me so long and so hard they left bruises on the backs of my legs and I walked with a slight limp for the next twenty-four hours.

I'm not sure why, but if there is a good looking guy in his twenties or thirties in the room, and a good looking guy in his forties or fifties in the same room, I go out of my way to make eye contact with the older instead of the younger. And it's always been that way, ever since I was three years old and I used to sit on Uncle Joe's lap. He was a neighbor, and not related to me, so there was nothing pervy going on there. He would bounce me up and down, innocently, thinking nothing of it. And I would get a thrill deep in my body I couldn't explain at the time. When I kissed him hello or good-bye, I made sure I rubbed my cheek against his rough beard on purpose.

Release Day: Too Hard to Handle; Gay Prison Sex; Philly Gay Bashing Suspects; Most Evil Women in History;

Release Day: Too Hard to Handle

Another book in the Glendora Hill series, Too Hard to Handle, is coming out tomorrow (I hope) and I'll post the links as I get them. I know I've explained before how the launch of e-books can get tricky sometimes and it's not like the release day of a print book where they unpack the boxes and set the books up on shelves. I've had release days with digital books where servers have done down, web sites have crashed, and sometimes larger places like Amazon just take their time. On the rare occasion, everyday life can hinder a launch if someone gets sick. It happens and I've learned to expect anything. But I will update with all the info as I get it, and you can always e-mail me with questions. My e-mail is on the sidebar in the about section.

This particular book in the series was interesting to write because the entire book is told from Sebastian's son's POV. This is a stand alone and it can be read alone, but in conjunction with the series it picks up after Kick's rough trade boyfriend has a motorcycle accident. I can't say anymore without spoilers.

Publisher Purchase Link $4.99 (always cheaper at the publisher)

Purchase Link to Allromanceebooks.com


Gay Prison Sex

This article is fascinating because it debunks the age old concept that gay prison sex almost always involves forced rape. Frankly, I could live without the left wing commentary, but the topic in general is on target with regard to the dynamics about how gay prison sex actually works.

It's complicated in the sense that there is rape culture involved in some cases, at least a certain kind of rape culture with respect to men this time. It comes through intimidation, victimization, and in the simplest form, bullying. But there are a few different dynamics that a lot of people don't know about. I've actually heard this discussed before and everything adds up.

Here's an excerpt from the article, from a book titled, A Gentleman's Guide to Sex in Prison.

Openly gay men are not as oppressed as one might fear. The feminine ones are often desired, and there is quite a bit of prostitution going on. I once saw oral sex performed in exchange for two cigarettes and a honey bun, a bargain offered by Dirty Tommy, who told people he had “the AIDS” as soon as they met him. There are many transsexuals (still called “shemales” in the system), especially in the maxes, for some reason. Some truly look like women, and as a consequence they are well taken care of by their admirers. Others just look like men with breast implants. There was one called Grandma who was quite a fright, but apparently had customers anyway, because his dentures came out. The old-timers call these guys “lizards” and have nothing to do with them, but the younger guys who grew up with Will and Grace and so forth are more easygoing about it.

You can read the rest here. Considering the highly controversial gay prison sex fantasy in adult entertainment, it's a topic that is not without controversy...as you will see from the comment thread.

Philly Gay Bashing Suspects

Here's more about the suspects that turned themselves in with regard to the gay bashing incident in Philadelphia last week that went viral nationwide. So far, three have turned themselves in and I'm not sure whether or not there will be more. One of them is the daughter of a police chief in Chalfont, PA...only about six miles away from where we live in New Hope. I know Chalfont is gay friendly because I have gay friends who live there. It's not as progressive or artistic as New Hope, but the suspect is not a reflection on her community.

Here's something about the woman charged, Kathryn Knott, who is the one from Chalfont, PA.

A Twitter account listed as belonging to Kathryn Knott, 24, who surrendered to authorities Wednesday along with Phillip Williams, 24, and Kevin Harrigan, 26, not only shows confidential photos of patients' X-rays while working in an emergency room but tweets about getting drunk and "ew" gays.

"the ppl we were just dancing with just turned and [made] out with [each] other #gay #ew," Knott tweeted in March, 2012.

She additionally appears to have used homophobic hashtags like #dyke and described a taxi cab driver as "shouting some jihad s--t," according to a collection of tweets posted on website,

Neighbors were questioned and refused to comment, other than saying they weren't surprised to hear she's part of this.

You can read more here, where there are photos of the two young men charged. I would like to think this will set an example to the rest of the bullies out there who have something against gays. Be afraid. That's right. We deserve to walk down the street anywhere in America without having to worry about getting beaten, bashed, or called names.

Most Evil Women in History

Men always seem to get the most attention when it comes to crime and the most vicious acts in society. In an ironic sense, women criminals are often discriminated against. I think that should be balanced out. In an attempt to disabuse people of this sexist stereotype, this next link will lead you to photos of some of the most evil women in history. These women are more along the lines of Mary Ann Cotton, the old fashioned killers who went after people with their own names. I thought it was interesting.

When Mary Ann found out that she would receive payments for the death of a family member, she wasted no time. She murdered 21 people via arsenic poisoning, 12 of which were her own children. She also killed several husbands and even her own mother just to make a quick buck.

You can see the rest here.

Release Day: Cage James by Ryan Field

Release Day: Cage James by Ryan Field

I don't normally do an individual post for a book release, but I've had a lot going on this summer and I wanted to make sure this post about Cage James gets out before I forget and start posting about something else.

Cage James is a m/m novella that's not exactly a romance, but it's not exactly a thriller either. It's a little different from what I normally do and it has a few of the quirky aspects that I used to add all the time to short stories I wrote for LGBT presses. For one thing, I think there is a happy ending depending on how you look at it. For another, I think there are a few topics in this story that haven't been mentioned in other m/m novels. I also get into gay marriage in a very different way this time. It's not the typical happy courtship promoting assimilation, but it is a reality in real gay life that happens with many men, especially where one is very wealthy and one has nothing at all.

Though I'm not trying to make any political or social statements with this book, I do think the topic of gay hustlers marrying for money is relevant and common in some circles. I also wanted to break the stereotype that this sort of thing only happens with older gay men and younger gay men. The two characters in this story are both around the same age.

In any event, here's the cover, and the blurb is below. I'll continue to post links as I get them. It take a while for Amazon to upload.

Blurb:

Hot San Francisco male stripper, Cage James, needs money to pay back loan sharks or he's in big trouble. He knows he'll be able to get the money, plus enough to never have to work again in his life, but he has to stall them for a while. His plan is flawless and all he has to do is marry a kinky young gay billionaire legally and find out where he keeps all his cash hidden. But Cage winds up falling in love with one of the big, strong-fisted loan sharks, losing control, and then dealing with a situation he never saw coming.

Sidenote: If anyone's interested in a complimentary review copy, please contact me here rfieldj@aol.com. I'm going to start giving out ten copies of new releases to people who are willing to review in exchange for a free book. It's strictly for review and how you review the book is up to you. Of course I hope you love it, but that's not a requirement in order to get an ARC. The only requirement is that you leave an authentic review somewhere. I'm not picking and choosing either. The ARCs go out to the first ten people who e-mail me about it. Please put "Review Copy: Cage James" in the subject line of the e-mail.

Allromanceebooks link

Smashwords link

Release Day: The Preacher's Husband; Chapman Jock Comes Out; Gone With the Wind Prequel

Release Day: The Preacher's Husband

Update: Here's the purchase link for Allromanceebooks.com

This is the second book in the Glendora Hill series, The Preacher's Husband.

Right now it's up on Smashwords, and I'll keep posting with updates as it becomes available on other web sites where e-books are sold. Sometimes it takes a while to upload these books.

This is a stand alone and you don't have to read the first book to understand this one. It's priced at .99 for the time being and it has 60,000 words.

Here's the back cover copy description:


In this next full length novel from the Glendora Hill series, The Preacher's Husband, cowboy Kelly Barrett takes off on a road trip to join his husband in Texas to begin a new adventure. Kelly has a new job as ranch manager and his gay minister husband just took over a new church on the outskirts of town.

But after a brief stop at the Grand Canyon, Kelly runs into an unusual man on a motorcycle, both literally and figuratively, and they wind up finishing the road trip together where at one point they are forced to spend the night at a remote gay resort in the middle of nowhere. There are even more surprises in store for them, and Kelly's uneventful life as the preacher's husband turns into something far more complicated.

With the help of Sebastian Holt and other recurring characters from the series, Kelly winds up questioning everything about his life. And while he's going through his dilemma, Sebastian's son, Kick, comes out of the closet in a show of rebellion that sends whispers all over town...with a devastating scene at the very end that could ruin all their lives.

Will Kelly figure out how to be the perfect preacher's husband? Will Kick finally see the dangerous game he's playing could kill him? Or will life as everyone knows it in perfect Glendora Hill, Texas change forever?

Chapman Jock Comes Out

Mitch Eby, a football player at Chapman U, recently came out of the closet and found a great deal of support.

He made a speech to his teammates:

He said in part: 'It has taken me years to accept myself for who I truly am, so it's irrational to expect everybody to unconditionally accept me right away. However, the one thing that I hope that I can count on from each of you, my teammates, is your respect. Your respect as a friend, your respect as a teammate, and your respect as a man.'

The team applauded when he finished speaking, some gave him a hug and one even called Eby his hero.

More here. There's a photo of him in football gear, too.

After watching the violent coming out scene last night on the TV show Shameless, this is nice to hear.

 


Gone With the Wind Prequel

There's a new Gone With the Wind Prequel coming out that was authorized by the Mitchell estate. Its focus is on the Mammy character from GWtW, and it's supposedly going to give life to the Mammy character. Mitchell has been criticized for not making the Mammy character more three dimensional in Gone With the Wind.

The completed book, “Ruth’s Journey,” is the fictional telling of the life of one of the novel’s central characters, a house servant called Mammy who otherwise remains nameless. The story begins in 1804, when Ruth is brought from her birthplace, the French colony of Saint-Domingue that is now known as Haiti, to Savannah, Ga. The Mitchell estate has authorized the prequel, which was written by Donald McCaig, the author of one of two authorized “Gone With the Wind” sequels, “Rhett Butler’s People,” from 2007. (The other was “Scarlett” by Alexandra Ripley, released in 1991.) “Gone With the Wind” won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1937 and has sold hundreds of millions of copies.

I've never been a huge GWtW fanboy. I know I'm in the minority but I've always thought GWtW has more corn than Iowa, and more camp than a drag show.

But I do find these prequels interesting from a writer's POV. I think it shows that anything can be done. But more important, fanfic is okay and you can make millions of dollars with it as long as it's authorized.

I wish some wonderful fanfic author would write a prequel to my book, An Officer and His Gentleman, and talk about Chance's life before he started working for the creepy old man who made him walk around naked all the time. I won't get mad at you. I'll support you all the way. I have no issues with fanfic.

You can read more here.

FREE Excerpts Women Who Love to Love Gay Romance; Miss Richfield in Philly

Women Who Love to Love GR Release Day

Update: Link to Smashwords  and here's one for Allromanceebooks.com Link

 

Today is the release day of my recent anthology, The Women Who Love to Love Gay Romance. When I began this project last January and put out the call for submissions I knew it wouldn't be a fast book to release. In other words, I wanted to take my time, gather the right stories and authors, and put together a book that will hopefully be entertaining and interesting for everyone. Each story has a strong plot, and each one is markedly different from the other. I've already written several posts about the book as things have cropped up since January, and here's a link to most of them.

 

In celebration of the release day for The Women Who Love to Love Gay Romance, I'd like to post a few excerpts from some of the stories. I still don't have a link yet to Amazon because it takes a while for the book to go live. But I will update when I get one very soon.

 

From Changing Curses by Li Blaine

By the time she turned sixteen, new carts buckled and broke the instant she placed her hand on them. By eighteen, each and every horse she mounted stumbled and became lame. At twenty-three, the weather found her and dried the fields. Crops withered during the harvest and streams flooded during the winter. The village was near starvation when Ilya finally set off alone. The sandy mountains of the outland became her home. Food was scarce and weight fell from her bones but still she lived. For years, she watched from the dusty hillside as life returned to the community, knowing she'd been to blame for what they had suffered.

 

 

From The Facilitator by Tilly Hunter 

 

I work from home, drawing up designs for fancy dress costumes for a movie merchandising company. Jake is staying at my apartment temporarily while he looks for a new place. But the way things are going, he'll be moving in with his fella Will before long. I'll miss the company, but I'll be glad to stop hiding my romance books. I don't know why I hide them, really. I'm sure I wouldn't if they were straight-up erotica, but they're not. Generally they're kinky man-on-man smut; sometimes with fangs.

 

 

From The Courage to Jump by Oleander Plume

 

Lucy Larson was the pen name of one Brenda Suggins, age thirty, graduate of Merck County Community College, with a certificate in interior design. Which wasn't even worth the paper it was printed on since the closest thing she ever came to an interior design job was working in the drapery department at Sears. Instead, Brenda was a bank clerk by day and the secret writer of gay erotica by night. Her latest series, Brothers of the Crescent Moon, was very popular among young gay men, but lately, even more of her readers were heterosexual females. Reading about the exploits of two hot, long haired, muscular werewolves really got some women hot. The latest book in the series was highly anticipated and had already sold two thousand copies in pre-sales.

Lucy started writing erotica for fun, then at the urging of an old boyfriend (who later turned out to be gay) she sent one of her short stories to a publisher and her career took off from there. Of course only Lucy's publisher and her old boyfriend knew about her secret life. She kept it well hidden from friends and relatives. She couldn't even imagine the reaction she would get from her mother if she knew she was writing about gay sex. No, she could imagine and it was pretty ugly.

 

 

Miss Richfield in Philly

When I saw this on my local Philadelphia news channel last night I figured I would share with links. For those who don't know who Miss Richfield is, he's a well known female impersonator I first saw about twelve or thirteen years ago in Provincetown at the Crown and Anchor, and I've been following his act ever since. I don't typically follow that sort of thing unless it's something I think is really good. And for me that sort of entertainment is only good when it's done with camp, satire, and is so over the top you know you're not supposed to take it seriously. All you're supposed to do is have fun watching it. It really is an art.

In any event, there's a new TV commercial out where Miss Richfield is marketing toward the LGBT community to visit Philadelphia. The first time Miss Richfield did this was in 2004.

"Ten years ago, Philadelphia was proud to officially 'come out' as a gay-friendly destination when we invited LGBT travelers to visit," said Meryl Levitz, president and CEO of GPTMC. "With our new commercial, we're going beyond our history roots and reiterating our invitation, celebrating both the city's evolution into a premier destination and the LGBT community's progress over the last decade."

In the new 30-second spot, titled "Miss Richfield's Selfie Tour of Philadelphia," the flamboyant Miss Richfield 1981 embarks on a Philadelphia tour, visiting landmarks all over the city while snapping photos of herself-and some new buff friends-along the way. While wearing her red-white-and-blue, she starts at Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell; runs the Rocky steps yelling "Yo, Adrian!" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; admires the views along the Schuylkill River; dines alfresco over food and wine; dances at a crowded nightclub; and finally, collapses onto a hotel room bed.

You can read more here. And this is a web site for Miss Richfield on Word Press. We live between New York and Philly and know both cities fairly well. There's really a lot to do in Philly, and it's always been gay friendly for those who are single, those who are couples, and those who would like to be a couple.  

Release Day: Silicon Valley Sex Scandal; Thierry Pepin Full Frontal Nudity

Release Day: Silicon Valley Sex Scandal

This book release took a little longer than we'd predicted, but it's finally been released and here's the link to the publisher's web site. I'll post more links as they become available (amazon link)...but the book will be sold in all/most places where people shop for e-books by the end of the weekend.

I was talking with a friend the other day about guiding readers to publisher web sites, and I've stopped doing this because of what I've seen with the reading habits of friends and family. In other words, most of the people I know shop for e-books on Amazon, Kobo, or places like allromanceebooks.com, and I think the reason they do that is because it's the most convenient way for them to shop...especially my mom who is in her seventies and likes things simple. So if you do buy this book and read it, or any of my other books, I hope the place where you did buy them was the best possible place, and most convenient place, for you to shop.

I really had fun writing this book. I love where it's set, in and around Cupertino, CA, a place where I think I could actually live if I didn't live here in New Hope. In fact, I think that entire area of CA is one of my most favorite places in the world. I even love all the vintage Joseph Eichler homes that are now selling for way more than anyone ever expected. I also mention Eichler homes in the book.

Here's the blurb, and I'll post an excerpt over the weekend that hasn't been published anywhere.

 Shannon Winn is known as the world’s most capricious gay billionaire and the owner of the world’s safest, coolest social media web site, lovemetender.com. When Shannon meets a guy named Terry on his own web site, he considers it fun and games, not looking for a relationship.

 

And that’s because Shannon already has an open relationship with his personal assistant, Justin. Although they aren’t committed to each other, Shannon’s not looking to meet anyone else for love. This bad boy just wants to fool around with Terry and forget all about him the next day.

It’s unfortunate for Shannon that Terry doesn’t realize this, because after their first and only time together Terry not only falls in love with Shannon, he begins to stalk him and imagine them as a couple. In the course of one week, Terry follows Shannon’s every move, showing up unexpectedly and seducing Shannon with great success.

When bad boy Shannon finally realizes the fatal mistakes he’s made with Terry, and he knows for certain he’s really in love with Justin, it just might be too late for them. Will Terry’s crazed infatuation with Shannon ruin Shannon’s chances of true love with Justin? And will delusional Terry finally snap and kill them all?

 

Thierry Pepin Ful Frontal Nudity

After I posted about the multi-talented male model, Thierry Pepin, last week I did some digging and I found that he's broken the double standard for male full frontal nudity, too. Personally, I think this is a good thing because there is this double standard all the time where we think nothing of full frontal female nudity but always shy away from male full frontal nudity.

I won't post the photos here for copyright reasons, but you can check them out here at this web site, and here's a link to a photo shoot Pepin did that I think is more artistic where he's modeling a line of high end underwear for Undergear. I know most people will think this sounds silly, but when I see models like Thierry Pepin modeling sexy clothing or underwear I always find it more erotic than when I see them completely nude.

Here's what I posted about Pepin earlier this week. I think he would be the perfect cover model for a book, but he's probably way out of my price range. And if I ever saw him in person it would probably be one of the few times in my life I was rendered speechless.

 

New Release: Fangsters...Kevin Bacon Full Frontal Nudity

They decided to push up the release date of my new gay romance, "Fangsters," to this week, and I'm posting links to it as the links start coming to me. Right now, you can find out more about it here at allromanceebooks.com. Here's the Amazon link. And here is a link to the publisher's web site.

This book was published by Riverdaleave.com, and it's going to be the first in a series of erotic romance novels featuring vampires. I've already posted a good deal about this book, and you can read more about it here. I published an excerpt that's not one of the excerpts at any of the places where the book's being sold. And I'll probably post another one soon.

I'd also like to state that aside from the vampire theme, this book has a new adult feel to it and I did that on purpose. I wanted the main characters to be new adults in their vampire clan in Northern New Jersey, where they are just beginning to take over the family mob business and they are just beginning their lives as vampires. A good deal of the storyline revolves around them going out on assignments that involve a certain amount of danger...even dangerous to vampires. Another aspect of the storyline deals with them beginning new relationships and moving into homes of their own.

And, unlike other series I've done in the past, at the end of this book you'll find the first chapter of the next book in the series. I also think the cover artist nailed this cover. The two main characters, Anton and Digger, do look like this.

Here's the book description as it would read on the back cover of a print book:

At a glance, Anton Pagano looks and sounds just like any other twenty-something. He lives in a mansion in northern New Jersey with his mom and dad, and he's never had to worry about anything other than his wardrobe, his latest new car, and the secret love affair he's been having for years. However, Anton has more than just the love affair to hide: he belongs to a Sicilian vampire mobster clan that migrated to New Jersey in the late 1800s.

When Anton's dad, the head of their clan, decides it's time for Anton and his vampire cousin Digger to get into the “family business,” Anton's not all that excited about it. Until he meets a sweet, young human named Leo on his first night at work. They wind up spending the rest of the night together, but things get even more complicated when they bring Anton's secret vampire lover into the picture a few weeks later.

After a bloody battle with werewolves, and the beginning of what Anton predicts will be an all-out war between two vampire mob clans in New Jersey, Anton and his secret vampire lover decide it's time to consider turning Leo into a vampire so all three of them can be together for eternity. But thanks to fate, nothing is as simple as it looks, and they wind up doing the one thing they ever wanted to do to Leo as a last resort.

Kevin Bacon Full Frontal Nudity

I've actually been finding more examples of male full frontal nudity than I'd imagined I would when I first started posting about the double standards in films with regard to full frontal.

There is a link below to a few images of Kevin Bacon in the film, Wild Thing, which I didn't see. The web site to which I'm linking mentions that the blogger isn't a fan of Kevin Bacon but that the photos are hot. Well, you can imagine my impression of the photos, because I'm a HUGE fan of Kevin Bacon with or without clothes.

It's also an interesting shot, from a film POV. It's not a direct full frontal image. It's been shot through a shower door in a less obtrusive way. But it's clear enough to see everything, and it's more than apparent Kevin Bacon is NOT one of those actors who has anything to worry about when it comes to full frontal. He owns that scene, so to speak.

You can get there from here.

Release Day: "With This Cowboy I Love So Freely"

Tomorrow is the release day for "With This Cowboy I Love So Freely" and I wanted to post something about it tonight because I know tomorrow is going to be a busy day and I might not have time to get to it until later in the afternoon. Or, I might forget all about it until two o'clock Saturday morning, which usually happens.

As I posted earlier this month, this is a collection of all the gay western love stories I've written for Loveyoudivine.com so far.

Here's a link. Here's another. I will update and check links tomorrow evening to be sure they work. And as usual, the book will be sold at most outlets where e-books are sold, from B&N to TLA Gay.

Thanks again to cover artist, Dawne Dominique, because I really love what she did with this one.

In this collection of Ryan Field stories that is focused on erotic cowboy love, the gay romance and emotion isn’t overlooked either. In “A Life Filled with Awesome Love” set in 1959, young Travis finds the cowboy of his dreams through an ad in the back of a rodeo magazine. In “Something for Saint Jude,” the main character finds his passion, but he had to take a cruise to discover it was in his backyard all along. And then there’s poor Noah in “Cowboy Mike and Buddy Boy” who falls in love with a married Cowboy and he doesn’t know where to run when the wife finds out. One story is slightly quirky, and the love and emotion is focused more on positive self-discovery than finding a man. And then there’s a New Adult story in “Cowboy Howdy,” where two young guys from different parts of the country meet and fall in love their first semester in college. This is a book of true love in its finest form, and the ability with which to love freely and openly. In a world where love is the only thing that promises a happy ending.

Here is a list of stories in the book. The book is about 50,000 words in length, and the stories range from 5,000 words to 12,000.

Cowboy Howdy
Missing Jackson's Hole
Kevin Loves Cowboys
Something for St. Jude
That Cowboy in the Window
Cowboy Mike and Buddy Boy
A Life Filled with Awesome Love

Release Day: A Life Filled with Awesome Love; The Importance of Cars in Fiction

Today is the release of "A Life Filled with Awesome Love." You can find it here at the publisher, or here on allromanceebooks.com. It's going to be in most places where e-books are sold, but I know it's already up on these two already. The other photo below of the 1959 Lincoln is here for a reason. I wanted to show how I think it's important sometimes to get into descriptions of cars in more detail in fiction.

In the early 90's there was a novel published by author Mona Simpson...half sister of Steve Jobs whom he didn't meet until later in his life...titled, "Anywhere But Here." They also made the book into a popular film. I loved both book and film. But the thing that drew me to the novel at the time was that there was a photo of a big Lincoln Continental on the book cover. That might sound silly to some, but this was a new novel by a debut author and that cover caught my eye and I bought the book for that reason. At the time, I knew nothing about the author. Since then, they've redesigned the cover and the Lincoln is gone....a shame and pure cover fail. In the film they used an older Mercedes instead of a Lincoln and that spoiled the story a little for me.

In a recent book I read by Debbie Macomber, there was a long cross country road trip. And even though I liked the book, in spite of the fact that I wanted to push one character off a cliff, I was disappointed that Macomber didn't get into any detail at all about the car they would be driving across country. Basically, it was described as a rental car. But no actual details, and I have a feeling I know the reason why. With the exception of Mona Simpson, because the Lincoln was so important to the storyline, I find most women authors (and maybe readers) don't care all that much about cars. A car is a car. It's something that provides transportation. And unless there's something vital about that car to the storyline (Anne Tyler does this well) most never mention much about cars at all. There's nothing wrong with that on the surface.

But the thing is, men love cars, especially gay men. I know one gay publisher who blogs and writes about his vintage car collection all the time. I have so many gay friends in antique car clubs I can't even count them. And every year around September there's a huge parade of gay men driving their vintage cars up and down Commercial Street in Provincetown. And Tony and I are no exception. In the past twenty years we've had two Jeeps, four Mercedes, Two Jags, and we're thinking about a Mini Cooper right now. I'm always on the hunt for the prefect vintage Lincoln. I've never had a BMW, and I want one. I could go on, but you get my point. Men love cars.  In fact, because a lot of gay men don't have kids and all the expenses that go along with kids they can afford to indulge in things like cars. And they do.

And I'm always left so disappointed when I'm reading a novel that doesn't at least give out the smallest details about a car. Men do think of cars as more than just transportation. In some ways cars define us to a certain degree. Not completely. I'm not that shallow. But there is something to it. The personality of someone who drives a Prius is most likely going to be very different from the personality of someone who drives a big Cadillac Escalade. And I think that's important in fiction, too.

I'm not saying a car in a novel has to be described down to the last fiber. But at least name the make, year, and model. As I stated earlier, Anne Tyler did this well in one of her books where she gave the MC a vintage Stingray (with the divided rear windshield), and that small detail made the character, and it helped move him forward in the plot of the story, too, at the end of the book.

I'm not saying only women authors ignore cars in fiction (obviously Tyler and Simpson didn't, so don't get the wrong idea). I've seen male authors do it, too. But in most cases, like with Macomber's book, it would have added another layer to the story for men...and women...who happen to think little details about cars are important. As a side note, I love the cover for "A Life Filled with Awesome Love." But if I had self-published this one, and I had been designing the cover on my own with full control, I would have focused more on the 1959 Lincoln that's mentioned in the story. I don't know if readers notice this, but the covers I've designed for my self-published books are vastly different from the ones designed by the publishers. "A Sign From Heaven Above"is a good example. I designed that, without a cover artist. And I made that pick up truck stand out for a reason. I made that guy look like he was praying for a reason.

In this story, "A Life Filled with Awesome Love," a 1959 Lincoln is featured. I don't get into much about the car. But I did think it was important enough to the storyline to add that small detail and to ask the cover artist to work the Lincoln into the cover. I'm sure she did her best, and if you look closely you'll see the word "Continental" there (under his arm :). You might have to strain a little, though. The one MC is meeting the guy he's going to live with for the first time and he's not sure about him. But when he sees the guy drive up in a l959 Lincoln, it eases a lot of his fears. As it turns out, the car does not completely represent this character, but it does give the other character something to hold on to in the beginning of the story.

In any event, I don't think it was life or death for Macomber to go into more detail about the car in her book. I liked the book anyway...even though that one thing disappointed me. But I do think that when writing about men, and gay men, it is important to take cars into consideration. And if the gay male character is one of those earthy vegan simple boy types who doesn't care about cars, that's important to mention, too. It explains something important about the character's personality. And it's a detail I often find left out of most novels. Think Jonathan Franzen. He usually mentions a car or two and with that one little detail we get a better image of the character.

Here's the blurb for ALFWAL. It is a vintage story and it is a cowboy/western. I'll post more excerpts in the future. This one is longer than most of my short stories. It runs about 12,000 words, which I think is a little too long for a short story. But this time it called for it.

It’s 1959 and young Travis Swanson discovers that living in the same small Montana town where he grew up is suffocating. So he devises a long term plan to get out of his situation and change his circumstances, but there aren’t that many options for men like him and he has to settle for the best thing that comes along. In his case, this comes in the form of an advertisement at the back of a rodeo magazine. He answers an unusual ad for a ranch hand job in Western Montana and finds himself communicating with a cowboy named O’Dell Johnston. After a series of letters pass between them Travis decides to take the job and move into O’Dell’s house. But he soon learns that although some things are better than he expected and O’Dell is an articulate lover, some things just don’t make sense. And Travis is not sure he can live with a man who has so many secrets, won’t install central heat, and rarely ever discusses his past…a past that includes the mysterious deaths of the two young ranch hands before Travis.

New Release: The Ivy League Rake...Bad Boys of Harvard Yard

Update #3: I feel like Barry Eisler with all these updates, but here's one for Amazon now where The Ivy League Rake can be found in digital or in print.

Update #2: Here's the link I promised. This is to the ravenous romance web site where the book is priced at 4.99. I think that's discounted from other retail web sites. But I will post Amazon links, too.

Update: Still don't have a link because of web site issues. I will post something as soon as I get it.

"The Ivy League Rake" is the first book in the Bad Boy Billionaire series I've been working on for Ravenous Romance. As a series, the concept is focused on full length stand alone books with different characters. The book after this is "The Wall Street Shark," and I'm working on "The Vegas Shark" right now. It's been a challenge to take the traditional romantic concept of "rakehell" and apply it to a modern gay romance. Those who have known or dated these bad boy rakes will know what I'm talking about.

The part of the "rakehell" concept I find most interesting is how we always want to change them and turn them into the perfect men. In reality most of us know that's never going to happen, and yet we still try time and again. But in fiction, where anything can happen, sometimes there are happy endings.

Here's the plot description:

Elroy Donahue, the spoiled heir to a billion dollar ice cream fortune, must get a degree from Harvard in order to gain control of the family fortune. Thankfully, what he lacks in academic skills he makes up for in looks, personality, and a deep seated desire to get what he wants no matter how he has to do it.

Then humble Kyle Sparrow comes along and changes everything. Kyle’s an excellent student, he’s grateful to be at Harvard on an academic scholarship, and he’s never been promiscuous. When Elroy discovers Kyle is his new roommate, he immediately begins to figure out ways to seduce him.

But Kyle isn’t like the other guys Elroy has known in the past. He wants love; he craves emotion. For the first time in his life, Elroy is not only rejected, he’s forced to examine his careless lifestyle and take responsibility for his actions. The harder he tries to do the right thing the more he fails.

Will Elroy’s thoughtless attitude discourage Kyle? Or will Kyle turn out to be the only man on the planet who can transform this billionaire bad boy into the man he knew he could always be?

The book will be released today sometime, but I'm not sure exactly when. And when I get links I'll update this post. But "The Ivy League Rake" will be on Amazon and all other retail web sites where e-books are sold as soon as possible. As a sidenote, after publishing four e-books on my own, I now understand why it's sometimes difficult to get a set time for an e-book launch. Some web sites take longer than others, and you're never really sure.

Here's a short excerpt that won't be published anywhere for free other than here. It shows how they develop a mutual sense of humor as they build their sometimes tumultuous relationship.

Kyle agreed to go shopping as long as they went to discount department stores where clothes didn’t cost a fortune. This passed Elroy by. If someone had offered to buy him new clothes he would have gone to the most expensive designer boutiques in Boston. When they walked into the discount store Kyle had chosen, Elroy looked around and rubbed his jaw. He’d never even been to a place like this. The people all seemed so downtrodden and dreary it depressed him. The lights were harsh, the floors scuffed, and the people who worked there wore name tags. For Elroy, these were stores people passed on their way to the good stores.

It turned out to be an education for Elroy. When he saw that most of the clothing wasn’t all that different from what he usually shopped for in more trendy shops, he went to work selecting simple classic things for Kyle. And when he glanced at the price tag for a pair of beige chinos and saw they were only twenty-five dollars, he scratched his head and said, “I just paid two hundred bucks for a pair of pants just like this in Boston.”

He wound up getting Kyle a few basic outfits he could wear anyplace without looking unusual, including a warm black pea coat and a few mock turtleneck sweaters. He would have bought him a few suits and ties and some formal wear but Kyle refused. He said he had no intention of going anywhere formal in the immediate future and when he did need something formal he would buy it himself. “I’m here to study and learn, not to run around trying to keep up with the most important social circles in Harvard,” was how he’d put it. So Elroy found solid colored polo shirts, faded jeans, and chinos without pleats. He didn’t mention this to Kyle, but he liked the way the chinos hugged his ass. They made Elroy want to bang him even more. Along with the outfits he bought for Kyle, he wound up buying six pairs of pants for himself because he couldn’t resist the prices.

While they were in the fitting room trying pants on, he offered to share a fitting booth with Kyle and help him change his pants. Kyle smiled and declined. But Elroy did have a little fun to Kyle’s chagrin. He couldn’t resist the temptation. Kyle had finished trying on pants and he was waiting for Elroy outside the fitting room. While he waited, in a store filled with other people browsing through racks, Elroy walked out of the dressing room wearing nothing but a pair of tight red boxer briefs in front of everyone. The underpants were so tight his junk resembled a sack of walnuts. Kyle’s back faced the fitting room entrance. Elroy walked up behind him in nothing but the red underwear, tapped him on the shoulder, and asked, “How do these look? Are they too tight?”

A woman pushing a baby stroller took one look at Elroy’s junk, turned around fast, and walked in the other direction.

Two young guys in hoodies stopped and gaped for a moment.

One woman in her sixties giggled.  

An older man with gray hair took one look at Elroy in the red underwear and licked his lips.

Another older guy carrying a man-purse tripped over his own feet and knocked over a necktie display.

Kyle turned and stared at him for a moment. With a deadpan expression, he looked Elroy up and down and said, “They make your penis look small.”

Elroy sent him a smile and said, “I knew there was hope for you.”

Release Day: Fifty Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey by Lori Perkins

 

 

Today is the release day of FIFTY WRITERS ON FIFTY SHADES OF GREY. It's a book of essays, edited by Lori Perkins, on how 50 writers interpreted the bestselling novel Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James. Here's some basic information about the book, and a few facts. I have an essay of my own in the book titled, "The Delicate Balance," that is focused on the differences between how the novel was received by both reviewers who were familiar with BDSM and ordinary readers in the mainstream who weren't.

Here's the Amazon link for the Kindle version. It's already hit #51 on the Gothic and Romantic bestselling list. And here are three reviews:

"Fascinating examination of E.L. James’s Fifty Shades trilogy … Love Fifty Shades or hate it, this engaging and eclectic read has a little bit of something for everyone."
—Publishers Weekly starred review

"Food for thought for readers eager to learn more about the series and the lifestyle it depicts."
—Kirkus Reviews

"Written by some of my heroes in the industry, including Judith Regan, M.J. Rose, Heather Graham, Sylvia Day and forty-six others, it offers a way to understand [Fifty Shades'] popularity and appreciate its impact."
—ForeWord Reviews staff pick

And... Here's some info from the Smart Pop Books web site by Benbella Books, publisher of FWoFSoG.

Available November 20, 2012

 

E. L. James’ Fifty Shades trilogy has fascinated and seduced millions of readers. In bedrooms, in book clubs, and in the media, people can’t stop talking about it!

In Fifty Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey, 50 writers—from romance and erotica authors, to real-world BDSM practitioners, to adult entertainment industry professionals—continue the conversation.

Fifty Shades as Erotic Fiction

Erotic romance writer Sylvia Day speaks to the new opportunities the Fifty Shades trilogy has opened up for writers (and readers!) of erotica

Fifty Shades as Sexual Empowerment

Romance novelist Heather Graham praises the way the books encourage women to celebrate their own sexual shades of grey

Fifty Shades as Fanfiction

Editor Tish Beaty relates the process behind turning Twilight fanfic Master of the Universe into Fifty Shades of Grey

Fifty Shades as Pop Culture

Fifty Shames of Earl Grey author Andrew Shaffer compares Fifty Shades to sister-in-literary-scandal Peyton Place

Plus

• Matrimonial lawyer Sherri Donovan examines the legalities of Christian’s contract
• Master R of BDSM training chateau La Domaine Esemar evaluates Christian Grey’s skill as a Dominant (and offers some professional advice)
• And a whole lot more!

Whether you loved Fifty Shades of Grey, or just want to know why everyone else does, Fifty Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey is the book for you.

 

 

Release Day: Something for Saint Jude

Almost forgot I have a new release out today. It's a short story titled, "Something for Saint Jude," and it's been published by Loveyoudivine.com. I already posted about it here.

And here's a purchase link at the publisher's web site, on Amazon, and at ARe.

Release Day: Jonah Sweet of Delancey Street

"Jonah Sweet of Delancey Street" was released late last night...it takes more than twelve hours to upload e-books to Amazon for publication so I'm never really certain the exact time it will be for sale.

This book is different from anything I've done before because it gets into light BDSM...nothing too strong...and it's more serious on many levels. It's not a parody of anything and the two main characters who meet and fall in love share not only a strong bond but something else they didn't know about until after they first make love.

Here's the link. It's a .99 e-book, and below is all the information from the Amazon product page. For those who don't "get" file size info with regard to book length (I honestly don't get "305 KB" and I wish Amazon would speak in English sometimes) the book is a full length novel and contains 58,000 words.

I always like to buy the book myself when it's released to see what customers are going to get. So far I've downloaded it to my iPhone and Nextbook tablet and I'm happy with the results. I will download to Kobo later today, but that's a more involved process. The photo above was taken with my iPhone of my computer kindle app. For those who don't know, you don't need an e-reader to read e-books. Just go to Amazon and download the *free* Kindle app for pc and you can read kindle books on your computer. It's probably one of the simplest things I've ever done, and I'm no tech genius.

Book Description:

In this 60,000 word full length novel, Jonah Sweet has a secret need to be dominated and punished, with whips and chains and leather cuffs. He also has a degree in puppetry from a good university, but can’t find a job and is still with his mom and dad in Queens. So he signs up for cooking school, hoping to learn a trade. But it’s nothing like he thought it would be and he winds up flunking everything from cutlery to hard-boiled eggs. The only other skill Jonah has is the ability to read other people's thoughts, which he knows isn’t going to get him very far.

On the day of an important cooking exam, Jonah meets David Abernathy, the owner of the cooking school and a billionaire who owns restaurant chains, casinos, and real estate. The harder Jonah tries to impress David the worse it gets. But handsome David Abernathy sees something in Jonah. With no explanation at all, David sets Jonah up in an office, buys him a brand new wardrobe, and brings him into his unusual home on Delancey Street.

Though Jonah is stunned by all this, he’s even more stunned by the fact that he can’t read David Abernathy’s thoughts. But Jonah is in no position to turn any offers down. He takes the job in spite of David’s rude, nasty disposition and his erratic rants. From there they enter into an unusual relationship filled with light bondage and discipline and more love than either one of them could ever have imagined.

When David introduces Jonah to a little boy in a wheel chair and explains his past, Jonah only falls deeper in love with David. He discovers a gentle side of David no one knows about. But will intense love and exotic sex be enough to compensate for David’s complicated personality and his vicious need to control everything? And will Jonah be able to put up with David’s public outbursts and his violent moods?

Product Details
File Size: 305 KB
Publisher: Ryan Field Press (June 13, 2012)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B008BMBDU0
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray: Not Enabled
Lending: Enabled

Release Day: .99 Kindle Self-Published "Chase of a Lifetime"

"Chase of a Lifetime" was actually put up on Amazon late yesterday, but it takes a while for it to show up...and you don't really know when it's going to show up. So I didn't want to announce anything until I knew it was up for sale and I could download it to my android first. Evidently, someone found out because I noticed a few sales already.

Obviously, from the photo above I did download it to my android, sometime around one in the morning. (I really needed to do this to see how it would look if I were to download it as a reader on a tablet.) And, I had to figure out how to get the kindle app for my NextBook Premium 8 before I could do it, which took me a while to figure out. I've been meaning to do this for a long time so I can read other kindle books from other authors on Amazon on my NextBook so I was long overdue. Up until now, I've only downloaded books from small web sites where e-books are sold and from the Kobo store. I have purchased other e-books from Amazon, but not on the android.

When you self-publish with Amazon, from what Tony has been telling me, you get choices. I decided to go with the lender program and that locks me into ninety days exclusively with Amazon. I don't have a problem with that. I comfortable with it in more ways than one, mainly because this is my first venture in self-publishing. It's a humbling experience and I'm still not sure what to expect. Amazon is my safety zone right now. But I do eventually want to distribute to other places where e-books are sold, especially on Kobo. I've heard that up in Canada, which isn't that far away from here, a lot of people read Kobo. I don't know if this is fact, but I've posted before about how much I love all Kobo products. I doubt Amazon will mind.

If any readers have any questions about COAL, please feel free to comment or e-mail me. I find one of the biggest issues is book size. People still don't know whether or not a book is a short story, novella, or a full length novel. COAL is a 60,000 word full length novel. I know I'm repeating this but I also know from working with the public in my own retail business for many years it's important to get these things out as much as possible.

Here's the link to Amazon, and below is the short blurb. Once again, I'd like to thank Dawne Dominique for doing the cover...and reading my mind.

When Jim Darling graduates from Princeton and goes back home to Texas, he dreads everything ahead of him. He’s almost twenty-one years old, still in the closet, and has never been with a man. Though his father wants him to go to law school so he can join him in his law firm, it’s the last thing Jim wants to do.

On Jim’s first night home, during his college graduation party at his mom and dad’s ranch, he runs into his best friend’s dad, Len Mayfield, a rugged, handsome investment banker in his late thirties who rides horses and wears a cowboy hat when he’s not working as an investment banker. Len’s life isn’t much different from Jim’s. He’s been in the closet forever, he’s trapped in a marriage of convenience with a wife who cheats, and he’s resigned to his circumstances.

That is until Len runs into the grown up version of Jim Darling at the graduation party. What happens after that blossoms into something neither of them ever expected. A long seduction leads to fantastic love-making. There’s enough passion, heartache, and frustration to challenge their fragile relationship in more ways than one.

Will Jim Darling find a way to come clean with his mom and dad so he can find the happiness he’s always wanted? And will Len Mayfield find the courage to finally come out of the closet and walk away from a life that has never made him happy?

Release Day: Cowboy Howdy

Cowboy Howdy is the newest release from loveyoudivine.com. It's a short story, and can be purchased on most web sites where e-books are sold. Here's a link to ARe and to Loveyoudivine. I'm a little surprised, because it already got a silver star on ARe and that doesn't usually happen often. Huge thanks to those who've bought it already!!

Here's the blurb, and I'll post more over the weekend with excerpts. If anyone has any questions about the product description, please feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment.

Payne is a typical gay guy from New York City, with the right haircut, clothes, and attitude. He spends a great deal of time keeping his slim body smooth and well-toned for strong, dominant men. Although he’s not looking forward to his new roommate at first, he soon discovers things could have been much worse. The minute Payne meets Howdy he can’t take his eyes off his huge shoulders, long legs, and the bulge in his jeans. Howdy’s thick Texas accent and his authentic cowboy hat make Payne cover his crotch with a sweatshirt. When he finds out Howdy is there to play football, Payne wants to bury his face in Howdy’s jock strap. In fact, Howdy is the full grown man of Payne’s dreams and he considers seducing him the first day they meet. This leads to an interesting experience that may wind up changing the rest of their lives. Will these two full grown consenting adults fall in love and will Howdy accept Payne’s romantic, subtle advances? Or will he find them repulsive and move out that night?

Release Day...Unmentionable: The Men Who Loved on the Titanic

It's finally being released today. UNMENTIONABLE: THE MEN WHO LOVED ON THE TITANIC, is a love story about something that might have happened on the Titanic. In almost everything I've ever read about The Titanic I've never once heard about gay men. Of course the word gay meant something totally different back then. If you were attracted to the same sex you were considered mentally challenged. But I know there were gay men on that boat somewhere. There had to be. And I wanted to write something as a tribute to them on the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

I'm going to be posting a lot more about Titanic history in the coming weeks. I've been reading periodicals with first hand accounts of what happened, and one very interesting article about people who were supposed to be on the ship and didn't make it in time. But today I'd like to focus more on the product details so readers know what they are getting.

This is a m/m erotic romance. There are sex scenes between two consenting adults, both are men. If the sex scenes were removed or altered, there would still be a love story that arcs. Even though one character dresses up as a young woman and pretends to be the other character's cousin, this is fake and they are not related to each other at all. It's a long short story, about 13,500 words. I could have called it a novella but I don't consider anything under 20,000 words a novella. As far as the ending goes, I'm not giving any spoilers. But it's the Titanic. It went down before anyone even realized what was happening. Anything even remotely resembling a happy ending (sorry RWA), for those who perished and those who survived, would be nothing more than bittersweet at best.

Most of all, it's a love story that could have happened. I once read a wonderful civil war novel written by Rita Mae Brown who wrote the classic LGBT novel, Rubyfruit Jungle, and the main character was a young woman who pretended to be a man during the civil war. Though I read that over 20 years ago, this inspired me to do the same thing with "Unmentionable," only with a male pretending to be a female. And I did add the storied character, Molly Brown, but I referred to her as Maggie Brown in the story because that's the way people always referred to her in real life. From Wiki:

She became known after her death as The Unsinkable Molly Brown, although she was not called Molly during her life. Her friends called her Maggie.




If anyone has any questions about product info or content, please feel free to comment or e-mail me in private. I'll be more than happy to answer any questions. Here's the cover copy:

The kind of love no one spoke about 100 years ago.

One hundred years ago on April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg on its way to New York. Though it had been considered unsinkable by all standards, it went down in the cold waters of the Atlantic, taking with it stories of love and romance that weren’t discussed openly in those days. This was especially true with stories of love between two men. One of those hidden stories of the Titanic dealt with the unyielding love and strong romance between a young man named Liam and his older lover, Oliver. Because Oliver was a wealthy business man in America with a great deal of notoriety, the only safe way to bring Liam aboard the Titanic was to dress him in fine women’s clothing and claim he was Oliver’s shy, distant cousin returning to America for the first time in many years. They finally begin to relax when they realize that everyone on the ship believes Liam is a woman, until that fateful night on April 14th when destiny intervened and changed their lives forever.

New Release: The Virgin Billionaire's Reversal of Fortune

The ninth book in the Virgin Billionaire series has been released today. I've already posted about it here. And I'll post more very soon.

You can check it out here. And I'm sure that if it's not on most web sites where e-books are sold now, it will be by the end of the week.

High Concept: Four Feet Under...

As I posted earlier this week, I remember watching an episode of Sex in the City that handled the subject of foot fetish and it stuck with me for a long time. I wanted to write something about it but nothing ever came to me so I kept putting it off.

Those who know my fiction, know that I don't always remain in the same venue all the time. Because I sometimes switch gears, so to speak, I feel obligated to let readers know what I'm doing in more detail so they don't think they are buying one thing and getting another.

Sometimes I do write books I think are far more romance oriented than others I've written. TAKE ME ALWAYS is a good example of this. As you can see from this review/comment on allromanceebooks, a reader thought so, too.

OH MY GOD!!! I CRIED MY EYES OUT!. This was a very touching love story with alot of steamy sex. Make sure you have plenty of time to read the entire book in one sitting and a box of kleenex by your side. It was a very close adaptation of The Notebook except the character that was writing the story used a computer. Maybe we should call the book "The Laptop" (tee-hee). Seriously though, it is a great read.

There are times I like to have fun and take a Debbie Macomber trope and add a lot more spice and heat to it. I love Debbie's books; don't get me wrong. But just because there's a basket of puppies in a book doesn't mean there can't be good sex, too. And there are just as many readers out there who want to read the sex scenes as there aren't. There's room for everyone.

In some cases, I'm often amazed at the double standards sometimes. I read about a popular book reviewer editing an erotic BDSM anthology and then I see on her blog she uses the word "heck" instead of "hell." I know this is small, maybe even petty. But if you're bold enough to edit BDSM, which is territory where even I've never gone in fiction (seriously,) give me a break with the "heck" bullshit. You're clearly no saint; you're allowed to use the word "hell" (smile).

I'm explaining FOUR FEET UNDER WITH MY BUDDIES because it's not the most romance oriented book I've ever written. It's more new adult, high concept erotica if anything. I'm certain fictionwise will classify this in "fetish." There is a happy ending, character development, a storyline that would stand alone without the sex, and there could be room for a possible relationship in the future with the characters. But you're not going to find a basket of puppies in this one.

The gist of the story is focused on one thing: foot fetish. And I tried to keep it lighter, without laughing at it like they did in Sex in the City. It's one of those awkward topics late night comedians love to joke around about. I can just hear Chelsea Handler now. But the truth is there are obviously a lot of people, gay and straight, out there with foot fetishes and it's one of those taboo topics no one will ever admit to aloud. And, we tend to laugh at things that hit too close to home and make us a little too nervous.

Here's the blurb, and if anyone has any questions, please e-mail me.

Young Max is living at home and going to community college to save money. But his social life is nonexistent; he hasn’t been with a man in months. Then one Friday night he decides to go to the school gym and work out because there’s usually no one else around. That’s when he finds two of the hottest guys on campus shooting hoops in the empty gym. He pretends to be disinterested and they eventually follow him into the locker room. When he finds out they are a gay couple looking for a third, he’s stunned. And when they tell him what they want him to do to their feet, he can’t wait for them to take off their shoes.