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Leta Blake

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

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series

What to expect from the ‘90s Coming of Age series by Leta Blake? Is this series for me? #comingsoon #gay

September 8, 2016 by Leta

The Sunsphere! Icon of Knoxville!
The Sunsphere! Icon of Knoxville!

 

What to expect from the ‘90s Coming of Age series by Leta Blake? Is this series for me?

Hello, readers! I’m thrilled to announce a new four book series to be released beginning in September 2016 and ending in April 2017.

Set in Knoxville, TN, during 1990-1992 and focusing on the life and loves of one character, Peter Mandel, this series has lived in my heart and mind for the last fourteen years. It’s finally ready to be released into the world and, let me tell you, this character is near and dear to me. I’ve long called him the character of my heart and so he will be forever.

I wanted to provide some clarity, though, on what you as a reader can expect from this group of books. There are a few things these books are not and many things that they are.

First, these books are NOT ROMANCE GENRE BOOKS. While I adore romance books and plan to write many more in my life, and while there is quite a lot of sex and romance within the storyline of the ‘90s Coming of Age series, it does not qualify for the romance label for several reasons.

Most importantly, it doesn’t hit the anticipated romance storytelling beats. In any given romance book, an individual reader can be relatively sure of a few certainties in terms of the story. While I guarantee no main character death, many other ‘rules’ of romance are not held to and therefore I can’t guarantee a reader a romance genre reading experience.

So what kind of book series is it then, Leta?

It most fits a Coming of Age description, hence the series title. Peter is young, only eighteen when we meet him, and on a journey of self-discovery. He wants to love and be loved, he wants to be true to himself, and he doesn’t always make good choices. In fact, if a bad choice can be made? Peter’s right there making it. But usually with the best of intentions, even if sometimes those intentions are selfish ones.

What can I expect from this series, then?

You can expect to find:

  1. a cast of characters advance readers have called achingly real
  2. new adult levels of sexual interactions
  3. teenage angst and twisted love
  4. a portrayal of the Knoxville, TN I remember from my late teens and early twenties
  5. music references from the time period
  6. an exploration of how the best intentions can lead to painful situations
  7. so much more

I’m so excited (and slightly lightheaded) to finally be able to introduce you all to Peter. I’m hoping that this blog post will allow you to determine if these are books for you. I understand if they aren’t and I’m so grateful if they are.

It’s a journey. And Peter’s worth following on it (in my humble opinion) and I hope you come with us.

Thanks for your readership past, present, and into the future! You make this career possible and I can’t thank you enough.

 

pictures-of-you-high-res-3

 

Growing up gay isn’t easy. Growing up gay in Knoxville, Tennessee is even harder. 

Eighteen-year-old Peter Mandel, a private school senior—class of 1990—is passionate about photography. Peter doesn’t have many friends, preferring to shoot pictures from behind the scenes to keep his homosexuality secret.

Enter Adam Algedi, a charming, worldly new guy who doesn’t do labels, but does want to do Peter. Hardly able to believe gorgeous Adam would want geeky, skinny him of all people, Peter’s swept away on a journey of first love and sexual discovery. But as their mutual web of lies spins tighter and tighter, can Peter find the confidence he needs to make the right choices? And will his crush on Daniel, a college acquaintance, open a new path?

Join Peter in the first of this four-part coming of age series as he struggles to love and be loved, and grow into a gay man worthy of his own respect.

This new series by Leta Blake is gay fiction with romantic elements.

Book 1 of 4. 

Warning! These books contain aspects of: New Adult fiction, ‘90s gay life, small city homosexual experiences, Southern biases, sexual exploration, romance, homophobia, bisexuality, and twisted-up young love. Oh, and a guaranteed happy ending for the main character by the end of Book 4.

 

 

Filed Under: books, ebook, ebooks, Gay, How to be a better person, LGBT Tagged With: '90s coming of age, adam, coming-of-age, daniel, knoxville, peter, pictures of you, reading, series, sunsphere, tn, what to expect, writing

“I can’t remember feeling this happy after reading a book.” Review of Training Complex by Leta Blake

May 19, 2015 by Leta

“A must read for anyone who enjoyed “Training Season”. Leta took us on an emotional journey that was at times heart breaking. In my opinion, doing a wonderful job of dealing with some pretty heavy issues.

Rob and Matty are one of my favorite book couples. These men aren’t perfect. They both make mistakes. My heart broke for them both throughout parts of this book. I love Matty very much but at times I just wanted to knock some sense into him. But their love for each other is undeniable and absolutely breathtaking!

It was wonderful to see Matty getting healthy and both of them getting happy, both individually and as a couple. The battle is always worth it in the end!

Their ending couldn’t of been more perfect! I honestly can’t remember feeling this happy and content after reading a book. It was just PERFECT!

I am a huge fan of Leta Blake. If you haven’t read any of her books, you really should give her a try!”

read more via Amazon.com: Leda Helgeson’s review of Training Complex 

training-complex-web-copy
Click for reviews and praise for Training Complex!
ARe|Amazon|Smashwords|Barnes & Noble|iTunes.

Filed Under: bdsm, books, Gay, Reading, Reviews Tagged With: matty, reviews, rob, romance, series, training complex, training season

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

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