Home again!
I returned Monday evening from a weekend at Capital City Pride in Des Moines, Iowa with Heidi Cullinan (and because I grew tired of fighting with WordPress, you will have to look at the post below to see photos). It was so much fun. I sold a few books, handed out about a billions cards, got sunburned, rained on, hit on, and eventually returned to Colorado feeling like something that one of Heidi’s cats might have dragged in. Honestly, I can’t wait to do it again!
Strawberries for Dessert is now in the editing stage with Dreamspinner Press. If you haven’t seen it yet, I do have the official blurb now, so check out the SfD page (link on the right). I’ll post cover art as soon as I have it.
My story One More Soldier has been accepted by Silver Publishing. This will be my first published story that is in no way related to my boys from Coda, so it seemed appropriate that it come from a different publisher. I’ll post more info on that too, as I receive it.
I vowed to myself that I was going to tackle Cockaigne upon returning from Iowa, although the truth is, I had a couple of new ideas frolicking around in my head as I drove across Nebraska. Honestly, I have no idea what I’m going to do next. Between getting our house ready for the market, going on vacation, having my daughter’s birthday party and relatives in town, and going to Des Moines, the last six weeks have felt like complete chaos. At the moment, I’m just happy to have my normal life back at last. I think I’ll just sit back and relax for a few days at least, and see which of the voices in my head is most adamant about being heard.
Pictures from Des Moines
Seriously... how cute are they?
Handing out promo material.
We intend to put these lovely young men to work next year.
Home at last!
I just returned from a vacation which included a seven night cruise in the Caribbean with Lynn Flewelling! I can’t tell you how exciting it was for me, meeting Lynn. For those who don’t know, you can read here about how she’s partially to blame for the naughty things I write. 
I think (hope) I managed to not stammer like an idiot upon meeting her. She is one of the most genuine, down-to-Earth people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. We had a great group of people there. The entire experience was absolutely amazing. Here are a couple of pictures:
Playing Black-tie Midnight Drunken Shuffleboard. Which I suck at, by the way.
Writing on the Waves with Lynn Flewelling
Starting at the top: Keenan, Gia, Kim, Thea, Michael, Daniel, Nico, Stephanie, Sharon, Betty Blue, Leslie, Rowan, Janel, Laura, Justine, me, Carter, Joanna, Lynn and Doug Flewelling.
So now, here we are: back home in Colorado. I’m trying to remember what my life is like without the swimming pools and ever-open all-you-can-eat buffets and free childcare.
And without quite so much rum.
Our house is on the market, so we’re trying to keep it in pristine condition at all times (not something that comes naturally to us, by any means). This forced us to unpack right away, rather than having half-full suitcases in the middle of the living room floor for the next eight weeks (which is what we usually do after a vacation). But our lives aren’t quite back to normal yet. Next Sunday is my daughter’s sixth birthday, and I’ll have family in town for that. And then the Friday after that, I’ll be heading to Des Moines to host DSP’s table with Heidi Cullinan at the Des Moines PrideFest. If you’re in the area, make sure you stop by and say hello!
What’s next on the writing front? I know you all just adore Matt and Jared, and Zach and Angelo to some extent. And a few of you (no names, but you know who you are) are completely obsessed with Cole (and his book hasn’t even been published yet!). But the truth is, I think I’m ready to take a break from my Coda boys. Never fear! I’m sure I’ll be back to Coda at some point. Angelo would never let me abandon him, and Cole still has a story on the back burner as well. But for the moment, I’m just dying to do something new. The question is, what?
The day before leaving for our trip, I finished the first draft of a short story which I shamelessly stole from Ethan Stone. It’s called One More Soldier. I’ll have to finish that up at some point. And Lynn’s workshop helped me see where I went astray with Cockaigne. I’m pondering what needs to change there to help me regain my momentum. The world has so much potential. The problem is, “world” is not my thing. Character is. So I have to quit thinking about the planet, and start really focusing on Cricket. Cross your fingers for me that I’ll be able to make it work!
And now, I’m off to the grocery store, because after being gone for ten days, we have absolutely no food in the house. And no free buffet. And nobody offering to bring me a pina colada.
I’m already counting the days to next year’s cruise.
Zach's interview…
In the spirit of the last few Wednesdays, I have one more character interview for you. Max, the star of Julie Lynn Hayes‘ novel To the Max, has interviewed Zach here. Check it out. Also, be sure to check out Anime Radius, which Julie is (at least partly) responsible for.
International Day Against Homophobia
In 76 countries in the world homosexuality is still illegal. Five countries punish homosexuality with the death penalty. Even here, in our ‘enlightened’ country, most gay men and women still can’t marry the person they love. In honor of International Day Against Homophobia, I wanted to post this gorgeous picture, and encourage you to check out the Fearless exhibit by Jeff Sheng. Click here or here.
Just yesterday, I was doing research for a new story, and read this article from the October 31, 1969 edition of Time magazine. I found it interesting, and a little bit sad to see how far our country HASN’T come in the past forty years.
Here’s hoping the next forty years is better.
The Letter Z is now available!
When Scarlett and I realized our release dates were only a week apart, we started brainstorming all the ways we could celebrate. What we came up with was interviews. Not author interviews – who wants to read about us? – but character interviews!
So, when Long Time Coming was released last Wednesday, Scarlett sent her character Leo my way. Or, I should say, Cole’s way. Except that Leo doesn’t really go Cole’s way, if you know what I mean. But Cole isn’t one to be easily discouraged, especially by something as mundane as Leo’s heterosexuality. In case you missed that interview, you can still read it here.
That being said, it’s now my release day! The Letter Z is available from Dreamspinner Press here. And to celebrate, I sent Angelo over to Scarlett’s blog for an interview of his own with Piper Holt. Now, you all know Angelo. He can be a little abrasive when he has his guard up (which is most of the time). Scarlett and I didn’t really know what would happen when we tossed these two temperamental characters into a room together, but suffice it say, Angelo and Piper will probably never agree to such an arrangement again. Scarlett and I were happy to get our characters back without any blood having been shed.
Intrigued? You should be! Piper’s interview of Angelo can be read here.
And at some point, I’ll also be posting a link to an interview of Zach by Julie Lynn Hayes‘ character Max Montague. Zach being who he is – which is to say, much less volatile than Angelo – his interview is bound to be a little bit deeper. And significantly less hostile.
Three things: A guest post by Angelo
Yeah, I know you all want Cole. But he’s not here, and I am. So I guess you’re stuck with me. Marie says that with The Letter Z bein’ released only four days from now, I gotta make myself more visible. What the fuck ever. She at least took pity on me and gave me a nice little list of shit I’m s’posed to tell you.
First: Congratulations to Marie’s good friend Ethan Stone. Haven’t heard of Ethan? That’s ’cause he’s not published yet. But just last week, Dreamspinner Press accepted a short story of his, plus his very first novel. Both of ‘em will be available sometime this summer. So Marie says, congrats to Ethan. Ethan, if you’re readin’ this: I know you, man. And I know you got the hots for Zach. So just keep your hands to yourself and nobody has to get hurt. Got it?
Pretty sure Marie didn’t want me threatenin’ her friend while I was here, so…
Second: For those of you dyin’ to see more of Cole (yeah, Scarlett, I got your number too!), Strawberries for Dessert will be released by DSP sometime this summer. Probably in July. Marie’ll post cover art and an official release date as soon as they’re available.
Speakin’ of release dates, that brings me to the third thing: this Wednesday, May 12, is the release of The Letter Z. Marie says she’s got somethin’ fun lined up for you. I gotta tell you, I didn’t really like the look in her eyes when she said it, either. I’m pretty sure whatever it is, I’m not gonna like it. But Marie calls the shots ’round here, and she says, make sure you check back here on Wednesday. You’re not gonna want to miss it. That’s what she says.
What the fuck ever.
Long Time Coming release party!
As of today, our good friend Scarlett Parrish is officially a published novelist! Her novel, Long Time Coming (and honey, she assures me that is a euphemism) is now available from Carnal Passions. Despite the fact that Scarlett has done the unthinkable and written a naughty book containing a woman, we’re terribly excited for her and wanted to see what we could do to help promote her book. I thought certainly she and Marie would take care of it on their own, but then Marie told me I’d be doing an interview here of some chap named Leo. Well, I suppose I can’t say no to my two favorite women (Scarlett darling, I know what you’re thinking, and I can still say no to that, although I’m flattered, really).
So here I am to do an interview. I’m like Barbara Walters, only way more fun!
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