I just received the cover art for Reckless Heart, due out soon at Loose id. It’s pretty fabulous, huh? The guy on the cover is supposed to be Cam, Milo’s love interest in the book. I’m really digging his fuzzy chest. Anne Cain always works wonders.

I’d like to announce the winner of my May contest…

Drum roll please…

Congratulations to countrygirlxxoo (comment #11). You’ve won the Chocolate Clone-A-Willy kit. Please email me at authoramandayoungATgmail.com with your snail mail address to claim your prize.

My heartfelt thanks to everyone who entered the contest.

Please welcome Annabel Joseph to the blog. Annabel is the author of BDSM romance novels Comfort Object, Mercy, Owning Wednesday, Firebird, and Cait and the Devil.  Thank you for agreeing to answer my nosy questions and share them with everyone visiting today.

A: You are very welcome. It’s my pleasure!

Q: To begin, please share which genre(s) you write in…

A: I write BDSM contemporary romance, and most of them contain some aspect of the art world. I love the arts and I love creative people, so I find almost all my stories end up being about dancers, painters, photographers, actor and performers, etc. I also try to write characters that you might know or meet in everyday life, characters struggling with the same relationship ups-and-downs my readers might face.

Q: How long did you write before you received your first contract for publication?

A: Oh wow. I’ve been writing for quite a while, and even worked with some writers in collaborations and screenwriting projects before I took the leap into trying to write and publish a novel. But I was lucky I suppose - or maybe all the previous experience just paid off. The first book I submitted to a publisher, Comfort Object, was picked up.

Q: Out of all the stories you’ve written, which is your favorite?

A: This is kind of weird, but I would have to say my favorite is Cait and the Devil. I say it’s weird because it’s the only non-contemporary story I’ve ever written, and really a strange mixture- BDSM set in Middle Ages Scotland. I just decided I wanted to write about some of my favorite long-time fantasies — the helpless but plucky damsel-in-distress, and a strong, surly Scottish warrior in a kilt. I created this story of Cait and her “devil,” a reclusive much-feared Scottish baron that she is basically forced to marry sight unseen. He turns out to have dominant tastes, and Cait of course, is submissive to the core. I created a wonderful little story for them with humor, love, a great villain, a bit of a “domestic discipline” dynamic between them, a little mysticism, and a highly satisfying resolution. I love it because it’s so romantic and because the heroine’s innocent misconceptions are really hilarious in parts. But I also love it because it’s different from everything I’ve ever written or read.

Out of all my BDSM contemporaries, I would have to say Owning Wednesday is my favorite. People wrote to me and said, Annabel, I cried. I sobbed. I cry too when I read it. It’s not a sad ending, just really poignant. Firebird is a close second for the same reason. It’s just really emotional at the end.

Q: Do you need to be in a specific place or atmosphere before the words flow?

A: I used to be better at writing on the fly. When I first started, before I showed my work to anybody, I could churn out page after page anywhere, anytime, with kids hanging off me, people interrupting me. It didn’t matter, I just wrote and wrote. But now that I write for an audience/editor, I’ve become so much more careful that I usually don’t do good writing unless I have some extended quiet time. Sometimes I wish for those un-self-conscious writing days back!

I will say that I do some of my best writing when I’m comfy and cozy in bed.

Q: What’s the strangest source of inspiration you’ve found for a story?

A: I get my inspiration from so many diverse places, I had to think about this for a while. But I think the strangest, weirdest, most awkward source came about when I was writing Owning Wednesday. I was struggling to flesh out the character of the heroine’s first, more detached dominant. I happened to be working on a screenwriting project at the same time, collaborating with a much older man who was a college professor. I started to think about how hot the professor/co-ed fantasy could be — and believe me, this had nothing to do with this other writer, because I wasn’t physically attracted to him at all. But I decided to make “Vincent,” my character, into a college writing professor and I gave him many of this other guy’s characteristics, including the way he talked. It was pure laziness, and now I regret it because when I read Owning Wednesday, he is there in that book in a highly sexualized version, when he was more like a fatherly mentor type to me. Ick. Even worse, we had a terrible falling out a few months afterward, and now I really despise him. So be careful who you base your characters on, because they’re there forever in the pages of your book. And I certainly hope that writing partner never learns my pen name! He would recognize himself in that character in an instant, and I would never live down the embarrassment. Really, I would just die.

Q: If you could offer one tidbit of information for new writers, what would it be? Read the rest of this entry »

Would you be interested in a fun and exciting weekend with your favorite authors and fellow readers? If so, please participate in a short survey to help us determine interest and financial limitations. Our hope is to host this annual event in different locations around the United States.

Please take a few moments to fill out this survey about your interest by June 1st..

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=U2FDJ926E6E7

I loved this and had to share.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

IS PRINT DEAD?
by J.A. Konrath
Author of Jack Daniels thriller series
HuffingtonPost.com/5-21-2010

Moderator: Welcome to Obsolete Anonymous! I’ve gathered you all here to welcome our latest member, the Print Industry.

Print Industry: Hello, everyone. But there’s been a mistake. I don’t belong here.

(chuckles all around)

Print Industry: I’m serious. I’m not obsolete. I’m relevant. Print books have been around for hundreds of years. They’re never going to be replaced.

VHS Tapes: Yeah, we all thought like that once.

LP Records: It’s called denial. It’s tough to deal with at first.

Print Industry: Look, everyone, I assume you all think that ebooks are going to put me out of business. But that won’t happen.

Phone Company: I remember when you couldn’t walk twenty yards in a city without seeing a pay phone. Then those gosh darn cell phones came along. Do you know some people don’t even have land lines anymore?

(Phone Company begins to cry. Print Phonebooks joins in. So does Dial Up Modems. Encyclopedia Set, wearing an I Hate Wikipedia T-Shirt, pops a few Prozac. A group hug ensues.)

Video Rental Store: What Phone Company is trying to say is that when a technology comes along that’s faster, easier, and cheaper, the old technology–and all the companies that supported it–tends to fade away.

Print Industry: Why are you here, Video Rental Store? There are a lot of you around.

CDs: There were record stores everywhere once.

Cassette Tapes: Hell yeah! They sold cassettes, too! Someone give me a high five!

(no one gives Cassette Tapes a high five)

Video Rental Store: Things looked good for a while. I had a decent run. Then I got hit by all sides. Netflix. On Demand. Tivo. YouTube. But the nail in the coffin came in the past two years. Hulu. Roku–which allows subscribers to stream video instantly. iTunes and Amazon offering movie downloads. Red Box, which rents DVDs for 99 cents and takes up no more space than a candy machine…

Print Industry: But ebooks are just a tiny percentage of the market. People have been reading print since Gutenberg. They won’t adapt to change that easily.

SLR Cameras: You’re correct. It takes a few years for people to fully embrace new technology. Some never do. Instant Cameras never replaced me.

Instant Cameras: Shut up, SLR. We both got our butts kicked by digital. How much film did you sell last year?

TV Antennas: I’m still big in some third world countries!

Typewriter: The bottom line is; when technology improves, it becomes widely adopted. Me and Carbon Paper used to have a groovy thing going. I’d make the words, he would make the duplicates. Then Copy Machine got into the act, but he’s not doing well now either.

Copy Machine: Effing computers.

Dot Matrix Printer: Effing laser and inkjet. Doesn’t anyone else miss tearing off the perforated hole punches on the side of paper? Don’t they miss the feel and smell of that?

Fold-Out Paper Maps: I agree! Isn’t it fun to open up a big map while you’re driving, in hopes of figuring out where you are? Don’t you miss the old days before cars came equipped with GPS and no one ever used that upstart, MapQuest?

CDs: Effing internet. That’s the problem. Instant access to information and entertainment for the whole world. You guys want to talk about pirating and illegal downloads?

(everyone shouts out “no!”)

Moderator: We all read on JA Konrath’s blog that the way to fight piracy is with cost and convenience. Print Industry, are you lowering your prices and making it easier for customers to download your books?

Print Industry: Actually, we just raised prices on our ebooks.

(all-around sighs and head shaking)

Moderator: Well, far be it for you to learn from any of our mistakes. Are you making it easier at least?

Print Industry: Well, we’ve begun windowing titles, releasing them months after the hardcover comes out.

(collective head slapping)

Music Industry: Have you at least tried selling from your own site? I wish I’d done that. But then Apple came along…

Print Industry: Uh… no. We haven’t tried that. In fact, some ebooks–we’ll use JA Konrath as an example since he was mentioned–aren’t even available on all platforms and in all territories.

Moderator: What do you mean? Konrath’s ebooks are available all over the place.

Print Industry: Those are the ones he uploads himself. The ones of his that we sell are missing from several key markets, and have been for years. But it’s okay. We’re paying him much smaller royalties and jacking the prices up high so we can still make a profit. Besides, ebooks are a niche market. Ereading devices are dedicated and expensive.

Arcades: I used to be a thriving industry. Kids dropped millions of quarters in my thousands of locations. But then Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft made home arcade machines, and now people play their videogames on dedicated devices. It’s a multi-billion dollar business now, and I can only compete if I sell pizza and give out plastic trinkets to kids with the most foosball tickets. If people want the media, they buy the expensive device. Period.

Print Industry: None of you are listening to me. Print will always be around.

Newspaper Industry: Yeah! What he said!

Print Industry: Let’s not compare ourselves, okay Newspaper Industry? No offense.

Newspaper Industry: None taken. Hey, maybe we can help each other. I’m selling advertising space for dirt cheap these days, and…

Print Industry: No thanks. No one reads you anymore. People get their news elsewhere.

Moderator: So why won’t people get their novels elsewhere as well?

(Print Industry stands up, pointing a finger around the room.)

Print Industry: Look, this isn’t about me. All of you guys have become irrelevant. Technology marched on, and you didn’t march with it. But that WILL NOT happen to me. There will always be bookstores, and dead tree books. We’ll continue to sell hardcovers at luxury prices, and pay artists 6% to 15% royalties on whatever list price WE deem appropriate. And the masses will buy our books BECAUSE WE SAID SO! WE SHALL NEVER BECOME OBSOLETE!!!

Buggy Whip Industry: Amen, brother! That’s what I keep trying to tell these people!

CDs: (whispering to LPs) I give him six years, tops.

I’m giving away an autographed copy of Reckless through Goodreads.com. For more details on how to enter, please visit the link below:

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/4146-reckless

Please welcome Ava Rose Johnson to the blog, author of Coming Home, Beauty and the Beasts and Lucy’s Neighbors.  Thank you for agreeing to answer my nosy questions and offering a copy of Coming Home to one lucky winner today!
Q: To begin, please share which genre(s) you write in…

A: First of all, thank you so much for having me here today! I write erotic romance in a number of sub-genres including contemporary westerns, paranormal and sci-fi. I love mixing it up, it keeps things interesting!

Q: How long did you write before you received your first contract for publication?

A: Well I’ve been writing since I was a kid, little bits and pieces. I started focusing on writing with the intention of getting published about two years before I received the first contract. It was a wonderful feeling!

Q: Out of all the stories you’ve written, which is your favorite?

A: That’s like asking me to choose between my children!!! I honestly don’t have a favorite, they all have a special meaning to me.

Q: Do you need to be in a specific place or atmosphere before the words flow?

A: I need silence. Peace and quiet really gets my juices flowing. I can just lose myself in the story.

Q: What’s the strangest source of inspiration you’ve found for a story?

A: I have a golden rug in my bedroom that inspired

Q: If you could offer one tidbit of information for new writers, what would it be?

A: Keep going, don’t give up and find a critique partner who you can trust with your work!

Q: Do you have an evil day job or do you write full time?

A:  Ah, the evil day job. It’s a necessity in my life, mainly because the vast majority of my writing gets done at night! If I didn’t have a day job, I’d probably sleep all day and turn into a recluse. Evil as it is, the day job prevents that from happening. J

Q: If you could be intimate with three people (not necessarily all at one time *g*) without getting in trouble with your significant other, who would they be?

A: Oooh, only 3? Okay, Jake Gyllenhaal would be top of the list. Also in there would be the very delicious George Clooney. And a little bit of Robert Pattinson to satisfy the cougar in me!

Q: What’s your favorite comfort food?

A: Ben and Jerry’s Cookie Dough hits the spot every time.

Q: If you don’t mind sharing, would you tell us about your latest work in progress?

A: Well, I’m actually working on a couple of sequels at the moment. The next in the ‘Beauty and the Beasts’ series from Loose Id needs to get finished.  It will tell Rowena’s story and I’m loving it so far! I’m also working on Ethan’s story. He was a character in my book ‘Breaking’ Ground from Ellora’s Cave.

Q: In closing, tell us a bit about your latest release (& share a yummy excerpt for those who aren’t yet familiar with your work)

A: My latest release was actually my very first release with Samhain! Coming Home is about two young men who are brought together by a shared grief. It takes place on a sprawling ranch in west Texas. And one of today’s commenters will win a copy! Hope you all enjoy the excerpt and thanks for having me here!

Excerpt:

He strode out of the kitchen and through the foyer and groaned. On the other side of the screen door stood Cade, a six pack of Bud at his side. Damn.

Summoning all the patience he could muster, he took another step forward and pulled open the door. Cade looked up from where he’d been studying the porch floor and visibly jumped. Brett raised an eyebrow and waited.

“Thought I’d stop by,” Cade finally said, pulling himself together. “Guess we have a few things to talk about.”

“Guess so.” Leaving the door open, Brett headed back into the kitchen and leaned against the kitchen counter-top. He folded his arms across his chest, watching Cade as he followed him in. At least he’d taken the damn suit off. Dressed in blue jeans and a white T-shirt, the kid almost looked like he belonged on a ranch. Even the dark blonde curls that had been perfectly slicked back at the funeral were hanging loose, almost reaching his collar.

Cade held up the beers and then placed them on the table. Without waiting to be asked, he sat on one of the chairs and slung his arm over the back of another. “Busy day?”

“We’re always busy.” Brett glanced at the remains of his sandwich that were sitting in the middle of the table and felt another stab of annoyance. With this guy sitting in his kitchen, he’d lost his appetite.

“Saw Jimmy on my way up here. Looked pretty tired.”

Brett narrowed his eyes. Arrogant son of a bitch. What was he trying to say? That he worked the old man too hard? “Jimmy’s tough as nails,” he bit out. “If he thought I was working him too hard, he’d say so.”

Cade frowned. “Did I say you were working him too hard?”

“Forget it.” He pushed away from the counter and stood in front of Cade. Why did he always have to get so defensive around this guy? As kids they’d always gotten along okay, though they’d moved in different circles. A two-year age gap was a big deal in high school and he hadn’t wanted Cade following him around every second of the day. He still didn’t want that. “Could you get to the point already? I need to take a shower.”

Cade seemed to stiffen in his chair and his blue eyes dropped to Brett’s sweat-covered torso. Brett didn’t know why but he felt a sudden urge to cover himself up.

“Take a shower,” Cade said, his eyes returning to Brett’s. “I can wait.”

He scowled. What could he say to that? Besides, despite the fact that he wanted this kid out of here, they had a lot to figure out first. And he didn’t want to be shirtless and sweating while they did it.

“Fine,” he said, grabbing the remnants of his sandwich and throwing it in the garbage. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

Leaving Cade lounging in his chair, he headed upstairs, unbuckling his belt as he went. He removed his socks and pants in the bathroom and then stepped into the shower. For five minutes, he let the hot water blast the tension from his muscles, but as soon as he turned it off the tension hit back full force.

This was going to be a long night.

Cade didn’t know what he’d expected when he’d rung the Miller doorbell ten minutes ago, but he definitely hadn’t expected to be greeted with the sight of Brett’s naked chest. As he’d stared openly at the expanse of sweat-slick muscle, he’d barely been able to string a sentence together and he could only thank the Lord Brett had been too pissed off to notice the thickening bulge in his pants.

Always the sucker for punishment, Cade glanced at the wooden counter-top where Brett had leaned against minutes before with his arms crossed over his solid chest. The position had made his well-formed biceps bulge and the angle he’d rested his hips against the counter had pushed his pelvis forward, accentuating the lines of muscle that disappeared beneath the waistband of his jeans.

Cade shook his head. The way his mind worked, no wonder he was still hard even though Brett had been out of sight for more than five minutes.

Clamping his left hand over his balls, he reached for the long-neck he’d opened with his right. He brought it to his lips and drank long and deep, letting the cold beer wash down his throat and soothe the burning within him. If he could just pull himself together before Brett came down…

Too late. Brett’s footsteps on the staircase echoed in the foyer. Cade gripped his bottle, focusing on the label as Brett stalked into the kitchen. The clean, soapy scents of shampoo and shower gel swirled around him. Nothing fancy, simple and masculine. A perfect match to Brett’s personality. Cade’s grip on the beer bottle tightened as he held it up and forced a smile.

“Couldn’t help myself.”

---

To learn more about Ava Rose Johnson, please visit her website: www.avarosejohnson.com

Reckless

ISBN: 978-1451588866

Now available at…

 

Amanda Young, best-selling author of gay fiction, brings you two sizzling tales of seduction. Previously available only in electronic format, these erotic novellas have now been combined for a paperback edition! Included are the stories…

Reckless Seduction

When nineteen year old Cody Bradbury gets his hands on an invitation to the hottest party of the year at The Casbah, an exclusive gay men’s club owned by his uncle, he doesn’t plan to let anything stand in his way of attending. With a stolen invitation, fake identification, and a hastily thrown together costume, Cody sneaks into the club during its annual Halloween party with the intention of checking out the action and losing his long-despised cherry.

He can’t believe his good luck when Dante Santiago comes on to him. Cody knows the older man wants his body, but is there any chance Dante might want more than an orgasm? There’s only one way to find out, and Cody plans to make it a night neither of them will ever forget.

Reckless Behavior

After six months with his lover, Cody yearns for monogamy. The threesomes he and Dante engage in are fun, but he needs more from the man he has grown to care about. Although Cody longs to tell Dante how he feels, he fears love and fidelity are two words missing from his older lover’s vocabulary.

Click HERE to read a spicy excerpt!

Summarily fired and ostracized following the appearance of racy pictures online, Max Finnegan is ready to move on and leave the bigoted little town where he grew up. With his bags packed and his truck loaded, only one thing remains to be done. Before he can go, Max needs to reach out to his deeply closeted lover one last time and try to convince him to come along. One way or the other, Max is determined to depart in the morning—with or without the love of his life.

Read an excerpt

or

Buy it now at…

Please welcome Keira Andrews to the blog, author of Voyageurs. Thank you for agreeing to answer my nosy questions and share them with everyone visiting today.

Q: To begin, please share which genre(s) you write in…
A: I write m/m romance.

Q: How long did you write before you received your first contract for publication?
A: I’ve been writing since I was a kid, but had never really considered being published a possibility. However, after being laid off from a hated job (a blessing in disguise to be sure!) I took some time and decided to write a novel. That was Love Match, which was published by Loose Id. It was my first submission and I was thrilled when it was accepted.

Q: Out of all the stories you’ve written, which is your favorite?
A: Hmm. That’s a tough one! I love all my stories for different reasons. If I had to go with just one, I think it would be Daybreak. Writing it was a challenge that I really enjoyed.

Q: Do you need to be in a specific place or atmosphere before the words flow?
A: Yes, I generally need to be alone. Ideas will come to me anytime and I’ll jot them down in a notebook I always carry in my purse. But to sit down and write, I need peace and quiet.

Q: Do you have an evil day job or do you write full time?
A: I do have a day job, but it’s thankfully not evil. I’m a writer for a charity, and it’s very rewarding work.

Q: What’s your favorite dirty word?
A: Hmm. Probably “cock” because there’s just something satisfying about it. Saying it, I mean! Although it’s certainly satisfying in other ways, too.

Q: If you won the lottery tomorrow, what would you spend the money on?
A: Travel! Without a doubt. I have a huge list of places to visit.

Q: Which household chore do you abhor and why?
A: Doing the dishes. I hate it because it’s the eternal chore. At least you only have to vacuum once a week! Dishes are every day.

Q: What’s your favorite comfort food?
A: Probably what we Canadians call “Kraft Dinner,” otherwise known as macaroni and cheese.

Q: In closing, tell us a bit about your latest release (& share a yummy excerpt for those who aren’t yet familiar with your work)
A: My latest book is called Voyageurs and is a historical tale about two men from different worlds who have to work together as they canoe a thousand miles through the harsh Canadian wilderness. This was my first historical and it was great fun to do the research. It definitely won’t be my last.

Here’s an excerpt:

There would be no fire that night, so they quickly ate a cold dinner. Jack couldn’t wait to reach Grand Portage and have proper meals again. When he returned from relieving himself in the woods, he saw that Christian had pulled the canoe farther up the riverbank. One end of the overturned canoe was perched on a low rock. Christian unrolled a large, oilskin tarp over it. He glanced over at Jack. “This will keep the rain off.”
Jack’s heart skipped a beat. “We’re sleeping under there? Both of us?”
Christian’s expression hardened. “I’m not sleeping out in the rain.”
“Oh, no! I wasn’t suggesting you should.” Jack felt so flustered and dim-witted. “It just looks… small.” He was always saying the wrong thing. The thought of sleeping next to Christian in such close quarters set his pulse racing. They’d slept under the stars until this point, with plenty of ground between them.
Christian grunted a response and disappeared into the forest. The rain had slackened a bit, but Jack was still eager to take cover. He crawled under the tarp and the canoe. Although the ground was sodden, it was a relief to be out of the elements.
A few minutes later, he heard Christian’s approach. Jack couldn’t see much under the shelter, and he tried to squeeze himself over to one side. Christian shimmied in beside him, and although Jack had been practicing a deep breathing technique he’d picked up in India, his body still reacted. Christian was mere inches away and it was as if Jack could feel the heat of Christian’s body.
Jack took a ragged breath. Christian’s voice was loud in their little shelter. “Are you ill?”
After clearing his throat, Jack replied, his voice shaky. “No, no. I’m fine. Thank you.”
Christian rolled over, his broad back so close to Jack. If Jack shifted only a tiny bit, his shoulder would press into Christian. He wondered if Christian would move away. Soon Christian snored lightly, and Jack reminded himself that he needed to rest. He was exhausted, and yet sleep refused to come. He listened to the rain on the tarp and Christian’s deep, steady breathing. He could reach out so easily…

---

To learn more about Keira Andrews, please visit www.keiraandrews.com.