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Leta Blake

author. human. working hard to become stellar at life.

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        • Training Season
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leta blake

“I don’t think any fans of Training Season will be disappointed!” Training Complex (Training Season #2) by Leta Blake | 3 Chicks After Dark #amreading #mmromance

June 1, 2015 by Leta

“Matty and Rob prove their love and devotion to each other in so many way in this sequel. I don’t think any fans of Training Season will be disappointed in their continued journey. What a treat to get so much more from them. Leta Blake is a story goddess!”

via Training Complex (Training Season #2) by Leta Blake | 3 Chicks After Dark.

Available at:

ARe|Amazon|Smashwords|Barnes & Noble|iTunes.

Filed Under: books, ebook, ebooks, erotica Tagged With: bdsm, best selling bdsm, gay, gay bdsm, gay romance, leta blake, m/m, matty, mmromance, rob, romance, sequel, training season

Paperback Cover Reveal! Training Complex by Leta Blake #paperback #mmromance

May 1, 2015 by Leta

trainingcomplexprintcover

 

trainingcomplexprintcover

training-complex-web-copy

 

I’m absolutely thrilled with the wrap cover for the paperback of Training Complex. It will be available soon after the ebook is released. Thanks to Dar Albert at Wicked Smart Designs for her amazing cover skills! The new book is coming soon, but in the meantime feel free to add it at Goodreads.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: books, covers, ebook, gay, gay romance, leta blake, paperback, training season

Cover Reveal! Training Complex (Training Season #2) by Leta Blake! Coming Soon! #gay #mmromance

April 27, 2015 by Leta

COMING SOON! KEEP AN EYE ON THIS SPACE FOR MORE DETAILS!

 Buckle up – Matty’s back! Figure skater Matty Marcus didn't capture Olympic gold, but he won rancher Rob Lovely's heart.  After Rob sold his ranch and Matty hung up his skates, they started a new life together in New York City. Now Matty has taken on a fresh challenge as a figure skating coach and Rob's second career as a physical therapist should be everything he's dreamed of. But in the brutal heat of their third summer in the city, Rob yearns for the wide-open country, and the intensity of city life awakens Matty’s most vicious demons.  When Matty asks for increasingly intense BDSM scenes, and his disordered eating and erratic behavior ramp up the stakes, Rob struggles to stay in command. After a well-intentioned anniversary gift from Matty goes awry, Rob still thinks he can handle the fallout. But the concrete jungle is closing in, and his coping skills are unraveling. Can Rob admit the truth before they both tumble into chaos?

Buckle up – Matty’s back!

Figure skater Matty Marcus didn’t capture Olympic gold, but he won rancher Rob Lovely’s heart.

After Rob sold his ranch and Matty hung up his skates, they started a new life together in New York City. Now Matty has taken on a fresh challenge as a figure skating coach, and Rob’s second career as a physical therapist should be everything he’s dreamed of. But in the brutal heat of their third summer in the city, Rob yearns for the wide-open country, and the intensity of city life awakens Matty’s demons.

Matty asks for increasingly intense BDSM scenes, and his disordered eating and erratic behavior ramp up the stakes. Rob struggles to stay in control, and after a well-intentioned anniversary gift goes awry, he still thinks he can handle the fallout. But the concrete jungle is closing in and his coping skills are unraveling.

Their love is deep, but Rob will have to admit the truth about what he really wants before they both tumble into chaos.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: gay, gay romance, leta blake, m/m, m/m romance, matty, rob, romance, sequel, training complex, training season

“This was my second book by Leta Blake and it was just as good as the first!!” 5 stars!| Review of The River Leith #mmromance #gay

July 12, 2014 by Leta

“I have no words for all the emotions I feel after reading this book! Simple and to the point it was heartbreaking yet beautiful! This was my second book by Leta Blake and it was just as good as the first!!”

via Goodreads | Amanda Barnes’s review of The River Leith.

 

Memory is everything. After an injury in the ring, amateur boxer Leith Wenz wakes to discover his most recent memories are three years out of date. Unmoored and struggling to face his new reality, Leith must cope anew with painful revelations about his family. His brother is there to support him, but it’s the unfamiliar face of Zach, a man introduced as his best friend, that provides the calm he craves. Until Zach’s presence begins to stir up feelings Leith can’t explain. For Zach, being forgotten by his lover is excruciating. He carefully hides the truth from Leith to protect them both from additional pain. His bottled-up turmoil finds release through vlogging, where he confesses his fears and grief to the faceless Internet. But after Leith begins to open up to him, Zach's choices may come back to haunt him. Ultimately, Leith must ask his heart the questions memory can no longer answer.
Memory is everything.
After an injury in the ring, amateur boxer Leith Wenz wakes to discover his most recent memories are three years out of date. Unmoored and struggling to face his new reality, Leith must cope anew with painful revelations about his family. His brother is there to support him, but it’s the unfamiliar face of Zach, a man introduced as his best friend, that provides the calm he craves. Until Zach’s presence begins to stir up feelings Leith can’t explain.
For Zach, being forgotten by his lover is excruciating. He carefully hides the truth from Leith to protect them both from additional pain. His bottled-up turmoil finds release through vlogging, where he confesses his fears and grief to the faceless Internet. But after Leith begins to open up to him, Zach’s choices may come back to haunt him.
Ultimately, Leith must ask his heart the questions memory can no longer answer.

Filed Under: books, ebook, ebooks, Gay, LGBT, Reviews, Sex Tagged With: amnesia, gay, gay love, just as good as the first, leith, leta blake, lethe, love, romance, second book, the river leith, the river of forgetting, vlog, vlog posts, vlogger, vlogging, zach

9/10 pots of gold to The River Leith | Rainbow Gold Reviews #gay #mmromance

June 17, 2014 by Leta

“I love Leta Blake’s writing. It’s so smooth and flowing. The River Leith is told from Leith’s POV, but the reader is able to take an agonising peak in Zach’s mind when he makes these vlog entries. Let me tell you – those are heartbreaking!

The River Leith is a very real book. Don’t expect any magical solutions or convenient plot turns. This is the story of two people who manage to find their way back to each other despite all odds being stacked against them.

I highly recommend this book! Give it a try, and check Leta’s other amazing stand-alone Training Season. You will not be disappointed!”

via Teodora gives 9/10 pots of gold to The River Leith by Leta Blake | Rainbow Gold Reviews.

 

Memory is everything. After an injury in the ring, amateur boxer Leith Wenz wakes to discover his most recent memories are three years out of date. Unmoored and struggling to face his new reality, Leith must cope anew with painful revelations about his family. His brother is there to support him, but it’s the unfamiliar face of Zach, a man introduced as his best friend, that provides the calm he craves. Until Zach’s presence begins to stir up feelings Leith can’t explain. For Zach, being forgotten by his lover is excruciating. He carefully hides the truth from Leith to protect them both from additional pain. His bottled-up turmoil finds release through vlogging, where he confesses his fears and grief to the faceless Internet. But after Leith begins to open up to him, Zach's choices may come back to haunt him. Ultimately, Leith must ask his heart the questions memory can no longer answer.
Memory is everything.
After an injury in the ring, amateur boxer Leith Wenz wakes to discover his most recent memories are three years out of date. Unmoored and struggling to face his new reality, Leith must cope anew with painful revelations about his family. His brother is there to support him, but it’s the unfamiliar face of Zach, a man introduced as his best friend, that provides the calm he craves. Until Zach’s presence begins to stir up feelings Leith can’t explain.
For Zach, being forgotten by his lover is excruciating. He carefully hides the truth from Leith to protect them both from additional pain. His bottled-up turmoil finds release through vlogging, where he confesses his fears and grief to the faceless Internet. But after Leith begins to open up to him, Zach’s choices may come back to haunt him.
Ultimately, Leith must ask his heart the questions memory can no longer answer.

Filed Under: books, ebooks, erotica, Gay, LGBT, Reading, Reviews, romance Tagged With: amnesia, blogging, boxer, leith, leta blake, pots of gold, rainbow gold reviews, river, smooth, teodora, the river leith, vlogging, writing, zach

Joyfully Jay says, “So you guys really need to read this book.” 5 Stars! — The River Leith #mmromance #gay

June 6, 2014 by Leta

FIVE STARS from Joyfully Jay for The River Leith!

“So you guys really need to read this book. I truly loved everything about it. I couldn’t put it down and was so sad for it to end.  Blake’s writing is beautiful and so eloquent.  I could feel the tension between the past and the present, of figuring out where to draw the line between remembering their experiences together and building new ones.  The men are sweet, romantic, and incredibly sexy together.  This story is just so fabulous and well done, I highly recommend it.”

read the rest of Joyfully Jay’s lovely review via Review: The River Leith by Leta Blake — Joyfully Jay.

 

Memory is everything. After an injury in the ring, amateur boxer Leith Wenz wakes to discover his most recent memories are three years out of date. Unmoored and struggling to face his new reality, Leith must cope anew with painful revelations about his family. His brother is there to support him, but it’s the unfamiliar face of Zach, a man introduced as his best friend, that provides the calm he craves. Until Zach’s presence begins to stir up feelings Leith can’t explain. For Zach, being forgotten by his lover is excruciating. He carefully hides the truth from Leith to protect them both from additional pain. His bottled-up turmoil finds release through vlogging, where he confesses his fears and grief to the faceless Internet. But after Leith begins to open up to him, Zach's choices may come back to haunt him. Ultimately, Leith must ask his heart the questions memory can no longer answer.
Memory is everything.
After an injury in the ring, amateur boxer Leith Wenz wakes to discover his most recent memories are three years out of date. Unmoored and struggling to face his new reality, Leith must cope anew with painful revelations about his family. His brother is there to support him, but it’s the unfamiliar face of Zach, a man introduced as his best friend, that provides the calm he craves. Until Zach’s presence begins to stir up feelings Leith can’t explain.
For Zach, being forgotten by his lover is excruciating. He carefully hides the truth from Leith to protect them both from additional pain. His bottled-up turmoil finds release through vlogging, where he confesses his fears and grief to the faceless Internet. But after Leith begins to open up to him, Zach’s choices may come back to haunt him.
Ultimately, Leith must ask his heart the questions memory can no longer answer.

Filed Under: books, boxing, ebook, ebooks, Gay, LGBT, Reading, Reviews Tagged With: 5 stars, amnesia, boxer, five stars, gay, gay romance, joyfully jay, leith, leta blake, romance, the river lethe, vlogger, you need to read this book, zach

A Breath of Fresh Air In The Genre? Holy crap! Hand Me The Tissues! #reviews #ebook #mmromance

May 31, 2014 by Leta

I still can’t get over this tweet! Truly made me so dang happy! <3

 

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My books on Amazon!
My books on Barnes & Noble!
My books on iTunes!

Filed Under: books, Gay, Reading, Reviews, romance Tagged With: bombshell books, breath of fresh air, characters, flawed, gay romance genre, layered, leta blake, mm genre, unique

Lethe, Leith, Same Difference…Only NOT! #edinburgh #dunedin #underworld

May 7, 2014 by Leta

The River Lethe (pronounced Lee-thee) was a river in the Greek Underworld which the souls of the soon-to-be-reincarnated dead drank from in order to have their memories of their prior lives wiped so that they could go forward into their new lives unburdened by the information from their old ones. When looking for a name for my amnesiac character, I liked the idea of playing with the Greek’s river of forgetfulness, and so I chose a man’s name that was similar: Leith.

As it turns out, there are actually several Rivers Leith. Check it out:
1)

The Water of Leith, aka the River Leith, in Edinburgh, Scotland, complete with a naked man sculpture by a famous artist named Antony Gormley (any relation to Amelia?). This river does not appear at all in the book. Not even a little.

2)

The River Leith in Dunedin, New Zealand. This river is part of some bike course and they ride their bikes through part of it and then carry the bikes over other parts. This river does not appear in the book at all, either. Not a mention!

3)

This River Leith is in Cumbria which is part of England and I don’t think it has to do with the other River Leith in Scotland, but I might be wrong. Sometimes I am. It happens. And, yep, this one isn’t mentioned in the book either.

The only rivers mentioned in the book are monsoon-swollen rivers in India and the River Lethe. So, folks out there looking for books about any of these gorgeous rivers? This probably isn’t the book for you, unless you like boxers with amnesia and enjoy a bit of the gay romance from time to time. And if you do enjoy that, really, who can blame you?

The-River-Leith-web-copy
Hey, readers, I’ll be out May 18th. In the meantime, I’ll be right here, looking like this, and you can visit anytime.

Filed Under: books Tagged With: amnesia, antony gormley, dunedin, edinburgh, england, forgetting, hades, leta blake, lethe, memory, new zealand, river leith, river lethe, scotland, the river leith, underworld, waters of leith

Coming Soon! The River Leith by Leta Blake

April 8, 2014 by Leta

The-River-Leith-web-copy

Yes, that’s right! A new book coming soon-ish! Probably in May, if all goes according to plan. And, yep, Dar Albert has made another amazing cover for me! Thanks, Dar!

More information about the book will be coming before too long! I’m super excited, y’all!

Filed Under: Gay Tagged With: books, cover, cover reveal, dar albert, leith, leta blake, the river leith, writing

Curious About My Other Books? 30% Off Our Gay Fairy Tales Through End of January! #ARe #sale #ebook #gay #mmromance

January 27, 2014 by Leta

This was a wonderful fairy tale, witty and whimsical, sexy and silly, surprisingly touching at times, laugh-out-loud funny at others, and when the plot really got rolling, a complete page-turner. — Amelia Gormley’s review

Earthly Desires Cover
30% off at ARe through the end of January! Click through to buy!
Cursed as an infant with a lack of physical and emotional gravity, Prince Efrosin can’t keep his feet on the ground or his head out of the clouds. Laughing his way through life, he’s never been weighed down by love and lust.
Then one fateful day, his tenuous tie to the earth is severed and he blows away on the wind. He’s rescued by Dmitri, a handsome young woodsman who suffers from a mysterious curse of his own, and the two strangers are irresistibly drawn together. Experiencing sex and love for the first time, they dive into a delightfully sensual and passionate affair.
But the evil witch who cursed them is planning her ultimate revenge. Efrosin and Dmitri must fight to find their fairy tale ending and live happily ever after.

Beautifully told with heartwarming and likeable characters that really live and breathe off of the written page, Ascending Hearts is a story not to be missed! If you are a fan of fantasy/fairytale romances then this book is definitely one to be considered. — Gabbi’s review

Get 30% off at ARe through the end of January! Rumors of treasure have long sent fortune hunters clambering up a magic beanstalk to a mysterious castle in the clouds. Survivors told of an evil giant who guards the gold with savage strength. No sane man would dare risk the climb—but Jack has nothing left to lose. Shunned for his evil red hair and abandoned by his cruel lover, he’s desperate to escape his life. Rion isn’t a giant, only a man bearing the burden of protecting his family’s legacy. It’s a lonely existence, but he’s duty bound. Then Jack appears, and Rion’s world changes. After a blazing confrontation, undeniable lust sparks. Isolated in the clouds, Jack and Rion give in to their desire and growing connection. Soon they must protect the treasure—and each other—from a new threat. And they have everything to lose.
Get 30% off at ARe through the end of January! Click through to buy!
Rumors of treasure have long sent fortune hunters clambering up a magic beanstalk to a mysterious castle in the clouds. Survivors told of an evil giant who guards the gold with savage strength. No sane man would dare risk the climb—but Jack has nothing left to lose. Shunned for his evil red hair and abandoned by his cruel lover, he’s desperate to escape his life.
Rion isn’t a giant, only a man bearing the burden of protecting his family’s legacy. It’s a lonely existence, but he’s duty bound. Then Jack appears, and Rion’s world changes. After a blazing confrontation, undeniable lust sparks. Isolated in the clouds, Jack and Rion give in to their desire and growing connection. Soon they must protect the treasure—and each other—from a new threat. And they have everything to lose.
A Romantica® erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

This is the best rendition of the 12 dancing princesses fairy tale I’ve read. It’s very suspenseful and the storytelling is beautiful. [I’ts a] great romance with interesting characters. This is a must read for fairy tale lovers and those that like a hero struggling to get his love returned. — Cynthia’s review

30% off at ARe through the end of January! Click through to buy!  There’s no greater mystery in the kingdom than how Prince Mateo’s sisters wear out their shoes each night while locked away in their chambers. Using old magic, Mateo discovers their secret and follows them through a portal to an enchanted world of fairies and lusty delights. Ópalo has waited years for his male human, and he knows Mateo is his destiny. Mateo soon succumbs to the pleasures of the flesh, but as their worlds collide, Ópalo has to risk everything to win his man forever.
30% off at ARe through the end of January! Click through to buy!
There’s no greater mystery in the kingdom than how Prince Mateo’s sisters wear out their shoes each night while locked away in their chambers. Using old magic, Mateo discovers their secret and follows them through a portal to an enchanted world of fairies and lusty delights. Ópalo has waited years for his male human, and he knows Mateo is his destiny. Mateo soon succumbs to the pleasures of the flesh, but as their worlds collide, Ópalo has to risk everything to win his man forever.

Filed Under: books, Gay, Reading, Reviews Tagged With: 12 dancing princesses, all romance ebooks, ARe, erotic fantasy, erotica, faires, fairy tales, fantasy, gay, gay fairies, gay fairy tale, jack and the beanstalk, keira andrews, leta blake, love's nest, sale, sex with fairies, sexy fairy tales, tempting tales, The Light Princess

Cloud On My Tongue and Decimate: Training Season Extras! #music #davidford #toriamos

January 11, 2014 by Leta

As I mentioned in a previous post, I always write to music. The following songs definitely influenced or inspired aspects of Training Season. This first song? Absolutely inspired the meet-cute in the book.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/Tf8oNq9uTPU]

For some reason, “Decimate” by David Ford has always been Rob’s song in my mind. I’m not sure why, but I think this represents how he feels about Matty. I’d listen to this one when I was trying to figure him out. If anyone can figure out what makes this a Rob song, let me know. 😉

[youtube=http://youtu.be/Xe7d7141m4Y]

Filed Under: books, Music, writing Tagged With: cloud on my tongue, david ford, decimate, extras, gay romance, leta blake, meet-cute, mmromance, music, romance, tori amos, training season

Rafflecopter Giveaway of Buzzing Book! Lady McNeill Reviews Training Season at Ms Condit and Friends! #mmromance #gay #free

January 10, 2014 by Leta

Lady McNeill Reviews Training Season by Leta Blake Plus Goat Farming Post and Giveaway |. <– Click on the link here to enter a rafflecopter giveaway for Training Season! Don’t feel obligated to read, just scroll down to the bottom and enter! But, if you do want to read the lovely review that Lady McNeill gave Training Season, feel free! I’m so delighted by it!

“Wow can I say I’m emotionally drained after finishing Training Season by Leta Blake! Nothing better than a story that keeps you thinking of the characters when you aren’t reading. It was one of those books that I wanted to stay up all night to finish and when I couldn’t, I just kept thinking all night of where the book was going to go. I woke up this morning with the need to finish it because I couldn’t keep holding on waiting for the HEA to happen. And now that I’ve finished, I want to go back and reread it.”

cover-web-copy
Training Season can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, ARe, and Smashwords. Coming soon to iBooks.

Filed Under: books, Gay, Reading, Reviews Tagged With: best, free, gay, gay romance, giveaway, lady mcneill, leta blake, mmromance, ms condit and friends read books, rafflecopter, reviews, training season

Nights Like These and Maybe: Training Season Extras! #music #lucero #ingridmichaelson

January 10, 2014 by Leta

In my little series of music posts about my soundtrack while writing Training Season, here are two more of Rob’s songs. Both of them are very much how he thinks about Matty, the situation, and all of his hopes, dreams and fears. “Nights Like These” is the most despairing of the two and the reference to the only boy who ever broke your heart is a Figure Skating reference, but of course. “Maybe” by Ingrid Michaelson is a bit more upbeat, though I think hopeful resignation is the name of the game with that song.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/_r4Ymyeuw_E]

[youtube=http://youtu.be/FKU3UuJhIxU]

Filed Under: books, Music, writing Tagged With: extras, gay romance, Ingrid Michaelson, leta blake, lucero, matty marcus, maybe, mmromance, music, nights like these, rob lovely, romance, training season

Does Training Season by Leta Blake live up to all it’s crazy hype? Boy Meets Boy Reviews Tells You #mmromance #gay #amreading

January 8, 2014 by Leta

“Does Training Season by Leta Blake live up to all it’s crazy hype? IT SO DOES!”

— Breann, at Boy Meets Boy Reviews

Read more of her glowing review at:  Boy Meets Boy Reviews: Review: Training Season by Leta Blake.

cover-web-copy
Training Season can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, ARe, and Smashwords. Coming soon to iBooks.

Filed Under: bdsm, books, Figure Skating, Gay, LGBT, Reading, Reblog, Reviews Tagged With: boy meets boy reviews, breann, corn maze, cowboy, figure skating, gay romance, leta blake, m/m romance, matty marcus, mmromance, rancher, ranching, reviews, rob lovely, romance, training season

Whips or Shopping? Who Can Choose? Oh My! #MFRWhooks #mmromance #bdsm

January 1, 2014 by Leta

MFRW Authors Blog

“I have leather horse whips, actually,” Rob said.

“You do?” Matty sat up, nearly smacking his forehead against Rob’s chin.

“Of course. Have you seen my ranch?”

“Oh my God, go get them!”

Rob laughed and stood up slowly, stretching. “Actually, I was thinking we should head into Missoula to do some shopping.”

“You’re passing up whips for shopping?”

“You’re bitching about shopping?”

“I feel so torn!” Matty pulled at his hair. “Oh my God. You suck.”

cover-web-copy
Whips or shopping? Read to find out!

Click for reviews and praise for Training Season!
Buy at ARe. Buy at Amazon. Buy at Smashwords. Buy at Kobo. Buy at Barnes & Noble. Buy at Sony.

Training Season is an ARe Bestseller!
Training Season is an ARe Bestseller!

Click here to hop along to other authors’ pages to read their Book Hook!

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Filed Under: books Tagged With: bdsm, blog hop, book hook, erotica, gay romance, leta blake, matty marcus, meme, mm bdsm, mm erotica, mmromance, rob lovely, romance, shopping, training season, whips

Cup o’ Porn – Friday Free For All – Love’s Nest Raffle! #free #ebook

July 19, 2013 by Leta

At Cup o’ Porn today, Keira and I are offering up a free copy of our latest sexy fairy tale, Love’s Nest, in a random raffle! To participate click HERE!

For more information about Love’s Nest, and to determine if it’s a book you’d be interested in winning, please check out these blog posts:

1. Love’s Nest Release Day! It has a blurb and additional information about this sexy fairy tale. Gotta love hot gay fairies! 🙂
2. Love’s Nest 7/7/7 which has a small excerpt from the book.
3. The Next Big Thing which talks about the inspiration for Love’s Nest!

And I’ll include some of that imagery below, too.

So, head on over to Cup o’ Porn and sign in for the raffle to win Love’s Nest!

Filed Under: books, Reading, writing Tagged With: cup o' porn, ebook, ellora's cave, fairy nest, feather hair, free, free ebook, free stuff, gay fairies, gay romance, keira andrews, kindle, leta blake, love's nest, m/m romance, nest, romance, sex with fairies

90’s Coming of Age Novel? You’re It, Baby.

June 19, 2013 by Leta

So, here’s the thing. I’m not a monogamous writer. I’ve always got between eight and twelve works going at any particular time. Eventually, a time comes when I choose one to focus on and make it happen for real, for better or worse. The others drift along during that time, and I come back to them when I get the current favorite in the can. Sometimes that focus shifts back and forth for awhile, but eventually I do focus on one book until it is finished.

One book has been the book of my heart but also the book “least-likely-to” for quite a long time. Almost ten years in fact. At first, it was because there was simply no place to even begin to imagine submitting it to for publication. It’s a m/m coming of age novel featuring a lot of graphic sex. When I first started writing it, I was told time and again, “This would be a great Young Adult book if you took out most of the sex.” I was told, “This isn’t really publishable because it’s not a typical romance formula and people don’t want that.” I was told, “This is too long, no one wants to read a book this long.” I’ve been told many things over the years about this book by many, many, many people. Some of those people had incredibly helpful comments and the book is so much better for their input. Some other people’s comments mainly just stymied the book’s development because they led me to believe the book would never have a place in the world.

I still sometimes think this book won’t ever have a place in the world.

This brings us to my situation currently. Every year for the last three years I’ve gone to NYC to sit on my friend’s sofa in Brooklyn to work on 90s Coming of Age Novel for a week. Every year for the last three years, I’ve thought, “This is it! The final push! I can do this thing!” And every year the edits needed on the first half of the first draft have been extensive enough to preclude me ever getting to the second half of the first draft. (Yes, I have a completed first draft, but it needs work.) I’m finally incredibly and immensely satisified with the the first half of the book and am ready to focus on the second half.

Cue the Goodreads Love Has No Boundaries Event. I chose a prompt about a young man who has a history of being stalked by a stranger. I’d intended to write a short story for the event, but, holy smokes, it took off like wildfire and before I knew it, I had half a novel written. A novel I knew I’d have no way of finishing before the event deadline. So, I went back and wrote a short story set in the universe of the novel. It doesn’t fit the prompt exactly and that disappointed some people, but I knew I couldn’t get the book done in time. I didn’t want to return the prompt unfulfilled just because I knew there was no way I could get the novel done, so I compromised the best that I could. I’m happy to say that the prompter was satisfied, I believe.

All in all, I was very happy with how that story was received and people expressed a great deal of interest in the novel based on the prompt. That thrills me! The idea that there are a few people out there who are eagerly awaiting River’s full story really gets my heart going and makes me feel a bit verklempt! In the wake of this, I looked at 90s Coming of Age Novel and I said to it, “Baby, maybe you’ve got to wait a little longer. I think I need to write this book instead. It’s got an audience, you see, and we all know that the biggest problem with you is that…you don’t.”

So, I resigned myself to the fact that it still wasn’t 90s Coming of Age Novel’s time. It was apparently Stalker Universe’s time, and I told myself that I was okay with that. It was the smart move. It was the wise choice. It made the most sense. Why keep readers waiting? This was obviously the right decision to make. It still seems like the right decision to make.

But here’s the thing.

I can’t do it. I was driving back to the office after my lunch break and I felt like my heart was going to break. 90s Coming of Age Novel, Peter, Adam, Leslie, Daniel, Minty, Renee, and Barry were all just there looking at me with this betrayal on their face. They’ve been so patient, you see. They’ve let me take a really long time with them. They’ve waited while I had a baby and wrote nothing for three years. They’ve waited while I wrote fanfiction and they’ve waited while I wrote fairy tales and they’ve waited while I wrote half a post-apocalyptic novel, and while I wrote half of six other books, and four short stories, and, damn it, now I wanted them to wait again.

BUT YOU PROMISED!

They sat there in my head staring at me, but you promised, and yeah. I can’t do it to them. I can’t go to NYC and work on Stalking Universe when I’ve asked them to wait so many years. I promised them at the beginning of the year that this was their year. I promised them that 2013 was it and they wouldn’t have to wait anymore. No more being patient. No more waiting for just one more thing to come before them.

So, okay, 90s Coming of Age Novel. Okay, baby, this is it. Next week, it’s me, you, and NYC again. Don’t fail me. I’m counting on you to come through for me. If I’m making this choice, you’ve got to play your part, too.

Let’s do this thing.

Filed Under: books, Music Tagged With: 90s coming of age novel, characters talk to me, goodreads, how it works, i am only marginally insane, leta blake, lhnb, love has no boundaries, pictures of you, stalking, stalking dreams, stalking universe, the cure, writing

New Cover! Love’s Nest!

June 11, 2013 by Leta

Cover by Dar Albert.
Cover by Dar Albert.

I’m happy to present the cover for the upcoming fairy tale in Keira’s and my series! It’s a tale based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses and will clock in at over twice the length of the first two tales in the series. We’re hoping it will be out later this summer. We’re awfully excited and hope you love the cover as much as we do!

Filed Under: books, Reading Tagged With: books about fairies, cover, dar albert, ellora's cave, fairy sex, fairyland, keira andrews, leta blake, love's nest, sex with fairies, tempting tales, twelve dancing princesses

Stalking Dreams – by Leta Blake, a FREE Love Has No Boundaries Story

June 7, 2013 by Leta

stalking-dreams-web-copy
Cover by Dar Albert!

I’m excited to announce that my FREE story for the Love Has No Boundaries event is now available! You can read it HERE!

I was so inspired by the prompt at Goodreads for a story about a young man who had dealt with being stalked by a stranger and the resultant issues that might bring up for him that I’ve already written 45k words of a corresponding full length novel and have a plan for a full length sequel, too. I hope to have the first novel done and out by the end of the year, if luck is on my side. And the plan is to have the sequel available in 2014.

I’m very happy with this short story. I feel like it accomplishes a lot and leaves the reader wanting to know more about the situation and these characters. At least, I hope that’s true because see above about the upcoming novels based in this universe!

Thank you to everyone who reads it. I hope you enjoy it! Feel free to spread the word! It will also be available for free download to ereaders very soon and I will post about that when it happens. In the meantime….

STALKING DREAMS BY LETA BLAKE

Filed Under: books, writing Tagged With: free, free books, free read, goodreads, leta blake, lhnb, love had no boundaries, m/m romance, river, series, shane, stalking dreams

Round Up!

January 17, 2013 by Leta

1. Today is the last day for people to comment for a chance to win a free copy of Ascending Hearts at Stumbling Over Chaos! Contest closes at 7pm tonight!

2. Over at Cup o’ Porn, Keira and I talk about Five Fairy Tale Hunks we wouldn’t mind finding at the top of our beanstalks. Our post is pretty SFW, but the Cup o’ Porn site itself might be a wee bit riksy! It’s not called Cup o’ Porn for nothing!

3. Over at Sidney Bristol’s blog, I’m going on about the rabbit hole of writing research and the gift of the internet.

4. I was on Amelia Gormley’s blog discussing the inspiration behind Ascending Hearts, complete with some pictures!

5. Ascending Hearts is now available in the Kobo store and the Barnes & Noble Nook Book store.

In other news, I got mind-jacked by a new novel two days ago. It’s not good timing, but the entire thing showed up–characters, plot, settings, motivations, dialogue–absolutely everything. This never happens and so I feel like I’d be an idiot not to follow through. If I’m diligent and lucky I might be able to have a first draft done within two months and then get back on track with my plan for the year.

Filed Under: books, Reading, writing Tagged With: amelia gormley, ascending hearts, barnes & noble, cup o' porn, fairy tale men, inspiration, keira andrews, kobo, leta blake, rabbit hole of internet research, sidney bristol, stumbling over chaos, the gift of the internet, writing research

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