author. human. working hard to become stellar at life.
Leta is turning 40! In celebration, she’s offering 40% off her books The River Leith and Training Season over at Smashwords! Find the coupon codes below.
OFFER ENDS SEPTEMBER 30, 2014!!!
The coupon code for THE RIVER LEITH at Smashwords is SG45C (not case-sensitive).
The coupon code for TRAINING SEASON at Smashwords is WR24Y (not case-sensitive).
Aw, thanks, Beth for loving Matty in Training Season so much! 😀 Loved the entire interview! Go check it out!
(a word from Zachariah Stevens, a character in The River Leith)
I’ve always thought that some people are fighters and some people are runners. Leith’s always been a fighter. He fought for his addict dad, he fought in the ring, and he fought hard when it came to figuring out his sexuality. But, see, being a fighter isn’t always good. Sometimes people get hurt that way. Leith knows that all too well.
The way I see it, the main difference between a fighter and a runner is in their instincts. A fighter attacks the problem, clings to it, rolls around and wrestles it into submission. This is one way Leith hasn’t changed since the injury: he’s still going to wrestle with his demons—and my demons—until he’s beaten the fight out of them, until he has them in his grip.
I admire that about him. But I’m not the same.
See, I’ve always been a runner. I remember the summer I was nine. My friend Jeremy’s mother caught us with our pants down and our hands on each other’s little dicks. I barely got my shorts up before I was running out the door, running, running, running down the sidewalk, running into my house, running up to my bedroom, running back out again with a bag of clothes, running down the street toward the park, running until I realized I had nowhere to run to because I was too little to escape the consequences of what I’d done. So I walked back home, terrified. I had to fight the urge to run again when I faced the belt my grandmother wielded with a fierceness my mother could never muster.
My first instinct is always to run.
When I was older, I ran the circumference of the earth more than once. The cruise ship I worked on was nothing but me in constant running mode. No place to call home, no relationship to call permanent, and no commitments or mistakes stayed with me for more than a few weeks’ time.
It was during my cruise ship years I started my vlog. It was perfect for a runner like me: a place to dump my emotions and record my experiences, and then just leave them there to run away into the ever-changing world. It was like a cyber-anchor of sorts, a place I could tell myself I’d dropped meaning, off-loaded a piece of me, and yet the consequences of that deposit were, once again, something that didn’t stick around and impact my daily life.
My cruise ship years were exciting and emotionally superficial, but ultimately unsatisfying. My sister called it growing up. I called it loneliness settling in. Even runners need someone to love.
In New York, I found that someone. His name was Leith and he identified as straight. It wasn’t easy. He’s a fighter and I’m a runner after all. When he realized his attraction for me, he fought it hard, and I desperately wanted to run away from him. But I’d put myself in a situation where I was committed to a job and to running a bar, so I couldn’t leave.
Even though Leith fought his affection and attraction, it was only a matter of time until he wrestled the meaning of his feelings for me into a heated and intense conversation that ended up with us naked on the floor of his bedroom. After that, he stopped fighting his feelings and started fighting for me. And I stopped wanting to run away, and instead ran to him.
Then the accident happened and he lost his memory. I admit, I did some stupid things. I struggled with my urge to run as far away from the pain as I possibly could. But even though it took me awhile, I’ve learned that you can’t run away from pain. It finds you and you’ll feel it. It’ll take you down and wrestle you until you submit to it. Pain’s a fighter. Like Leith. Pain will get its grip on you.
But I’ve also learned that pain isn’t merciless. It lets joy have its way, as well. And that’s what this book, The River Leith, is about. It’s about me, Zachariah Stevens, learning not to run. It’s about Leith and his beautiful, merciless desire to fight for what he can no longer understand or remember feeling. It’s about how a runner and a fighter wrestled their way to a beautiful new life after losing the one they’d already fought to win together. It’s about love and how it never forgets.
***
“I’m pleased to share the first story in the Ganymede Quartet, a gay coming-of-age historical fantasy. The fantasy aspect involves a version of Gilded Age New York City that is quite recognizable except that slavery exists in a form that differs in significant ways from historical slavery.
There are four books in the main series thus Quartet and there will be several side stories in addition to this one. While this is not required reading to enjoy the series, it’s FREE, and it offers an in-depth introduction to one of the main characters.”
via free ebook: A Superior Slave Ganymede Quartet Book 0.5 | Darrah Glass.
I beta read the books in the series and absolutely loved them! The entire series is one of my all-time favorite reading experiences. I adore Darrah’s writing style and her characters! The depth of emotion that I felt in just reading this short, the loss, the excitement and anticipation, the anxiety for the outcome were overwhelming. It was intense and delightful. In this free short book, you get to meet Martin, the slave who goes forward into the rest of the four main books. It’s available for FREE on Smashwords and for .99 on Amazon. (Hopefully it will be free on Amazon before long too, too. But unfortunately Amazon hasn’t price-matched yet.) Coming soon to Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and more.
BUY LINKS:
PRE-ORDER THE FIRST FULL-LENGTH BOOK OF THE SERIES! A MOST PERSONAL PROPERTY! ON AMAZON!
So, basically, Darrah Glass has written an amazing book series, and recently, after some discussion, decided to write a short, free story to introduce the world of the series. This short book is called A Superior Slave and should be available very soon, definitely by the end of the month at the very latest. And, again, it will be FREE. But, in the meantime, Darrah has posted a small snippet that should give you some idea of what to expect. Gah, I love this series so much. You will too!
***
This is from A SUPERIOR SLAVE, a prequel I wrote as an introduction to the universe of the GANYMEDE QUARTET. The prequel and the first book are to be released imminently. Anyway, this is 6 lines from page 24:
Martin thought the things his friends hoped for were very reasonable, very modest. He did not want to share his hopes because they were not reasonable at all. He wanted a handsome master, kind and affectionate, who’d touch him like a lover and treat him like a friend, and these wishes were desperately, unrealistically romantic. He’d been taught as much at Ganymede and it had been made very clear: his master would be an ordinary boy with an extraordinary bank account, and he would be under no obligation to think of his slave as a person.
SOURCE: Darrah’s Facebook
***
I tried to find some nice, old, Victorian photos to go with this post, since Darrah’s books reflect a fantasy, sexy, slave-y alternate history at the dawn of the Gilded Age. These all came from mydaguerrotypeboyfriend.
Truly one of the best m/m romances of 2014!
Writing M/M gay romances are not easy as new author, Jamie Lake is the first to admit but when I connected with him, he told me his secret to the success of his book series ‘Bad Boy’ and what his writing process was in creating it.
For those who aren’t familiar with the Bad Boy series, tell us about it. It’s the story of a really hot teacher who becomes desperate for money when his hours are cut and the only choice he has is to moonlight as an erotic masseuse for men. The problem is, he has to keep is profession a secret from the school and it’s right when he meets the guy of his dreams, who happens to be not only one of his student’s dads but also a cop.
If you could be any of your characters in Bad Boy for a day, who would you choose and why? I’d say Chip cause he’s so hot. I’d touch myself all day. Haha. And also cause he’s a parent and I’d love to be a dad one day soon. I think I’d love a daughter but I’m open to whatever God blesses me with.
How long did it take you to write Bad Boy? The first Bad Boy book, I think might have taken me a few weeks. I can write a book in a week or less but by the time it goes through editing and copyediting, it can take a few weeks, sometimes longer.
How do you plan your writing day? Well, I get up first thing in the morning and after taking a leak and walking the dogs and procrastinating, I’ll try to write in 20 minute sessions. I usually, that early in the morning, manage to do a couple of sessions before I take my morning nap and then I wake up and try write at least until 3pm with those 20 minute sessions. If I have any drive left after that, I try to write more. I go to bed between 7:30pm-10pm every night but I always get up at 4am either way. Sometimes I’ll watch a TV show on Amazon Prime before I go to bed.
Writing so many different series from The Trainer, Boyfriend for Rent, Marked for Love, Stay Always and Bad Boy, do you ever get the characters mixed up? No, because I focus on just one book series at a time. I could juggle two probably, like write one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, but I prefer not.
What m/m books other than your own do you recommend people to read? I’m a big fan of what Kindle Alexander and River James are doing. And I love Sara York. They’re all awesome people.
What are some of the biggest misconceptions that you think people who don’t read m/m have about the genre? Many people assume the books are all about sex and that seems to be the consensus of what a lot of people think about gay relationships. They are so focused on the sex part, they don’t stop to think about the relationship. Many of my straight male friends talk about the exact same relationship problems with their girlfriends that I’ve experienced with my boyfriends.
Where can we get a copy of Bad Boy? You can get it exclusively on Amazon or email me at JamieLakeNovels AT gmail.
“I heard so many praises over The River Leith! I had it on my TBR list and was going to buy it when I WON IT! A signed copy from Leta Blake. I got it in the mail and devoured it! I couldn’t put it down. It was heartbreaking and glorious! All I kept think as I read this was, Love is felt more than it’s remembered. I don’t know what I’d do if I was Leith or Zach! But they figured it out. One knowing and remembering the other going strictly on his gut and his heart. Beautiful book! ”
via StraightNotNarrow: We all have an opinion, here’s mine…: September Top Reads.
“When I finished this book I was actually sad that it was over. I loved this couple and their journey and will miss them.”
via Amazon.com: A. Adams’ review of The River Leith.
What has Amelia Gormley been up to this summer? Apparently being part of this military men box set!
“My story is titled The Houseboy: Initiation, and is nothing short of pure, unadulterated erotica. Seriously. There are a lot of stories where I go for “smut with substance” and there is a lot happening behind the sexytiems. This…is not one of those times. It’s Daddy kink. It’s BDSM. It’s age difference, virginity kink, gangbang, objectification, semi-public sex, exhibitionism, and God only knows what else. In many ways, it’s what Strain would have been without the angst and the fuck-or-die element driving the plot. If that sounds like your cuppa, I’ll be sharing an excerpt in my next post.”
via The summer in review or: “where the heck have you been, Amelia?” | The fiction of Amelia C. Gormley.
Click on through to read more of Amelia’s upcoming books, or click the photo above to go purchase this massive box set! Only 99 cents!
“It seems that if you write a romance featuring Amish characters, it is automatically classified as “sweet” i.e. no sex and “inspirational” i.e. Christian. During the pre-order period on Amazon, A Forbidden Rumspringa has simultaneously ranked on these bestseller lists:
Books > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Erotica
Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Literature & Fiction > Romance > Amish
Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance >Inspirational > Amish
Er, that’s quite a combination, Amazon! For the record, A Forbidden Rumsprina is not sweet or inspirational. There is explicit sex, and while religion plays a major role in Isaac and David’s lives, this isn’t a Christian romance. I suppose I might be reaching a whole new audience thanks to Amazon’s algorithms, but I hope it won’t end in backlash from unsuspecting readers. I did add a note in the blurb that there’s copious butt fucking and no authorial bible thumping I might not have used those exact words, so we shall see. I’ve been fiddling with the keywords as well.”
read more about Keira Andrew’s new book and pre-order via This is not an inspirational #Amish romance.
“M/M romance fans won’t want to miss out on this one. Leith and Zach are two lovable heroes and their love story is one that I won’t forget any time soon.”
via The Reading Room Blog: *Review* The River Leith by Leta Blake.
Buy at ARe. Buy at Amazon. Buy at Smashwords. Buy at Kobo. Buy at Barnes & Noble. Buy at iTunes.
Book recommendations, por favor! What I’m looking for specifically includes any of the following:
1) Your absolute go-to m/m book.
2) Good effeminate character in a m/m book.
3) Favorite nerd/jock trope, yay!
4) Favorite comfort read.
5) Best m-preg because I’m a contrarian and when people hate something, I gotta have some of it.
Anything else you think I need to check out! I’ve got a ton of books on my e-reader right now, but for some reason none of them are really speaking to me. I need to spend some money. 😛
Pretty great write up of Ajax’s recent reading experience. Definitely sold me on the book!
“It’s the newest book in my mom’s Rain City Comedy of Manners series, Artemis in the Desert. Just in time for beach reading, bed reading, park reading, weekend reading, airport reading, or really any kind of reading there is. Like the other books in the series Nine Volt Heart–likeable rock stars, and The Grrrl of Limberlost–punk rock nerd girl coder it features strong female characters, crazy bad guys and such lush backdrop descriptions that you’ll wish you were there inside the book well except maybe camping in the cold rain in the desert, you won’t wish for that but you’ll really feel it. And like all her other books, even though I’ve already read it a couple times in various stages of completion I’m going to read it again now that i can just enjoy it.”
Find out more about Annie Pearson’s books via not far from the tree part one | Ajax Bell.
***Giveaway*** So it’s a reader’s choice so you can choose any Leta Blake ebook to win. Winner will receive an email Friday if they’ve won. I’ll ask you what book, format and what email. I will then let Leta know and she will send it to you. I want to thank Leta Blake, again, for doing this and for letting us play inside her brain for a bit!
I’m over at Meredith King’s blog giving away any of my back catalog! Go have a look and participate to win!
“I began writing big books like the Accidental Heretics series because I like to read big books.Right now, I’m buried in the last 10% of Book 3 in the series. One of my writing friends Leta Blake, who is fantastic commented about what it takes to manage the complexity of big books with many characters. At her prompting, I’m sharing more here about my methods.”
via Getting to the End: Crux Lunata « Heresy and Rain. <–Check out Annie Pearson’s process for keeping up with multiple storylines and characters. Impressive stuff!
From the link below:
“Meet Jack and Kin from my novella Arctic Fire.
Haunted by what he lost in Afghanistan, Captain Jack Turner is at a crossroads. A routine mission to the Arctic gets him out from behind his boring new desk, but he starts off on the wrong foot with the Canadian Ranger guiding him across the forbidding and dangerous land. Jack doesn’t know where he belongs, but he’d rather be anywhere than sharing a tent with Sergeant Kin Carsen.
The Arctic is in Kin’s blood, and he can’t seem to leave the tundra behind. He wishes he could live openly as a gay man, but the north isn’t as accepting as the rest of Canada. Although he’s lonely, he’s proud of his responsibility as a Ranger, patrolling the vast land he knows so well. But he’s on unfamiliar ground with Jack, and when they’re stranded alone by a blizzard, unexpected desire begins to burn. Soon they’re locked in a struggle to survive, and all these strangers have is each other.”
Click the following link to read an excerpt of Keira’s new novella! And, in even better news, there are going to be 16 sizzling gay military men stories for only 99 cents!.
A Forbidden Rumspringa by Keira Andrews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
As a beta reader of this book, I should admit my potential bias up front. But, having said that, I think this is Keira Andrews’ best book to date. The forward momentum, the sexual tension, the sexual fulfillment, and the quandary the characters find themselves in are all wonderfully drawn. Both protagonists are relatable, lovable, and sexy. This one has such an exciting ending that I’m excited to see the rest of the series! Cannot wait for more of these sexy, sweet Amish boys!
As an aside, the research that went into this book is phenomenal and I loved learning about this particular sect of Amish. (Apparently, there are many different groups of Amish who have different rules and regulations.) The religious situation is set up well without dwelling too heavily on God-y concerns or dragging the book down with a lot of religious angst. The angst mainly operates out of sense of identity/family/home and how one moves through that when all of one’s urges and romantic feelings defy what is acceptable.
But, most importantly, the book is about Isaac and David, and their sweet, stumbling need for love and each other. Oh, just delightful stuff! I think Keira gets better and better with each book she writes. Readers will not be disappointed! And, to reiterate, I really, really, really cant wait for book two!
Oh, and just to be clear, this is not an “inspirational romance” kind of book. There is plenty of sexual conent in these pages. Just in case one might imagine this to be a Christian romance. Nope. It is not a Gay Amish Janette Oake. 😉 Not at all.
