Marie Sexton

Hop Against Homophobia

Marie Sexton — Thu, 17 May 2012 07:00:20 +0000

Before I get started, let me mention a couple of other things going on today. First of all, I’m part of the Mystic Month of May Blog Hop, brought to you by the Colorado Romance Writers. Today’s stop is here. I’m also a guest today over at Riverina Romantics, which happens to be another stop on the Hop Against Homophobia. I’m giving away a book over there too, so please stop by. For a list of all the stops on the Hop Against Homophobia, click the rainbow badge above. There are nearly 250 participating blogs, all offering prizes. Now, onward…

A couple of years ago my husband and I were out for dinner with our daughter (who was about five at the time) and my parents. My daughter told us how her friends at school liked to chase the boys and kiss them. My mom said, “Don’t you kiss the boys?” My daughter said, “No, I don’t want to kiss boys. The only person I want to kiss is Courtney.”

I’ll never forget the look on my mother’s face, and the way she started to say, “No.” Even after my husband and I cut her off and told our daughter, “That’s fine,” my mother kept trying to tell my daughter how girls should only kiss boys. Luckily, my kiddo was too busy eating her French fries to pay much attention to her grandmother.

Much more recently, I introduced my daughter (now seven) to my female massage therapist and her wife. Afterward, my daughter said to me, “A boy can marry a girl, and a boy can marry a boy, but I didn’t know a girl could marry a girl.” I didn’t go into the legal complications of same-sex marriage. Instead, I simply said, “They love each other. They should be able to get married, right?” She said, “So I can marry a girl when I grow up?” I told her, “If that’s what you want.” (I sure as hell hope it’s legal by then!) She said, “Okay,” and promptly went on to talk about things she considered to be far more important, like whether or not we could stop for ice cream on the way home.

My point here is not to say that my daughter is obviously gay. She’s only a kid, and who knows what will happen with the advent of puberty. My point is this: in her mind, there’s nothing strange or confusing about it at all. Boys can love boys. Girls can love girls. And if people are in love, they can get married. It’s that simple.

I guess I’d just like it to be that way. Why can’t everybody accept this beautifully simple concept with the calm levelheadedness of my kid?

But of course, some people can’t. Some people are threatened by something as simple as two people being in love. And that hatred destroys lives. If at any point anybody should doubt the power of homophobia, we need only be reminded of Matthew Shepard.

If there’s anybody reading this who doesn’t know the story of Matthew Shepard, please go read it. I live in Fort Collins. Our local hospital is where they brought Matthew after he was found bloody and beaten and tied to that fence in Wyoming. Of course, we know now the details of what happened to him, but what I really remember about that day was the confusion. I can remember feeling like my town was reeling, horrified, wondering how such an awful thing could have happened in our own backyard. I remember feeling like all of Fort Collins was pulling for him.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough.

It seems like just about every week, there’s a new story of how homophobia has taken a new victim. One need only read the news to see how bad things can be. I don’t know how to fix it, other than to say, it’s time for it to stop. It’s time for people to stand up for what’s right.

I know there are a lot of contests going on today. I know there are lots of things being given away. What I’d like to ask you is, what can you give? And to that end, I’ve decided to do this:

To enter my contest:

Donate $5 (or more) to the Matthew Shepard Foundation. You’ll received a confirmation email from them.
Forward that email to me at msexton.author@gmail.com. (The email doesn’t contain any of your personal payment information, I promise.)
For every $5 you donate, you’ll be entered in my drawing. That means if you donate $20, you’ll be entered four times.
The contest ends on May 20th. At that point, I will draw a winner.
The winner will receive a Matthew Shepard Pendant (it’s also available on a pink cord), as well as 2 ebooks of their choice from my backlist. I’ll announce the winner here on my blog, and I’ll notify them via email.

Thank you for stopping by. Thank you for donating. Thank you for standing up for what’s right.

Mystic Month of May, Day 1

Marie Sexton — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:13:15 +0000

The first stop on the tour is Jessica Aspen on Helen Hardt’s blog. Go here. Every comment you leave along the way will enter you into a drawing for a $40 gift card from Barnes & Noble. We’ll also have smaller giveaways throughout the tour, so please follow along.

The Mystic Month of May is brought to you by Colorado Romance Writers.

For our complete schedule, go here.

And since you’re here, I’ll share a bit of candy.

Marie Sexton — Wed, 02 May 2012 03:25:47 +0000

You can view my latest newsletter here.

Beat Your Winter Blues Blog Tour: What I’ll Miss About Winter

Marie Sexton — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:00:14 +0000

OMG. Barely home from RT. Absolutely exhausted, but it was SO worth it. I met so many fabulous people – readers, authors, bloggers, RT staff. Each and every person was amazing. I can’t wait to do it again! I’ll post some pictures and updates later this week.

But first…

Sixteen authors are here to do their best to make your winter brighter in January, February, March, and April. (Unless you’re south of the equator, and then we’ll just be jealous of your summer.) Every Wednesday will be a new stop on the tour (see schedule below). Be sure to leave a comment at each stop for up to sixteen chances at the grand prize: a $200 USD gift certificate to the e-retailer of your choice. Also keep an eye out for links to individual authors’ sites on their release dates for a chance to win some free books.

The tour is winding down, but we still have prizes to give away!

Don’t forget to check out:

Legal Tender, by Andrew Grey

Five Star Review, by Lara Brukz

Handle With Care, by Josephine Miles

Also, don’t miss Josephine’s Giveaway here!

The Pirate’s Game, by Heidi Cullinan (available April 24th)

And the giveaway for Heidi’s book here.

Payback, by Clare London (available April 25th)

You can enter to win a copy of Clare’s book here.

***

I know the tour info says we’re doing a getaway today, but I messed things up by changing the theme at the last minute. What we’ll really be talking about today is, “What I Will Miss About Winter.”

Clare London: What I’ll miss about Winter is…. my boots! We don’t have hideously severe winters in London, but there’s a fine snap of cold in the air, and I get the chance to wear my fur-lined, comfy-soled, ankle-hugging boots. I don’t feel the cold very much otherwise, so I’m not a lover of huge padded coats or woolly hats or thick scarves, but there’s nothing like slipping my cold toes into winter boots. They never seem to go out of fashion, they cover all occasions, and I can throw them in the back of the car if I’m travelling somewhere. This is from a gal whose Nana always told her off for going out of the house with wet hair, “I’d catch my death of cold” LOL. And surely this gentleman agrees with me, that if I keep my feet warm, I can’t go wrong with anything else?

Lara Brukz: What I’ll miss about winter is the cooler temperatures. Really so- not-ready for the heat and the humidity which has seemed to hit awful early this year. Last year three months of above 100 degrees here in the south, air conditioners were worked overtime. Heaters not so much. Winter meant not having to work in the yard as well. Ah the good ole days. Now it’s back to trimming the weeds and sweating. So winter will be missed here in the south we get so little of it.

Josephine Myles: Cosy socks, leather boots and winter woollens! Much as I enjoy wearing my summer linen and cottons, there’s something about snuggling up in soft, handknitted woollens that really appeals to me. Plus, when I’ve gone to all the trouble of knitting or crocheting something, I want to be able to wear it all year round. I do feel fabulous in my winter gear, and shall miss my Victorian-style black jacquard coat which always makes me feel a bit steampunk.

I’m also going to miss the convenient excuse that I NEED a “medicinal” glass of brandy because I got chilled outside. That just doesn’t wash in the summer months!

Heidi Cullinan: I’ll miss cuddling up by the fire and watching TV with the family under a million blankets. I like the free-feeling of summer where we’re all over the place, but I love how we all huddle together during the winter months.

Andrew Grey: What will I miss about winter? Nothing. The garden is blooming, I’m ready for warm weather and sunshine, and in a month I get to open the pool.

Kate McMurray: I’m not generally a big fan of winter, so once the warm weather arrives, my feelings are usually, “Good riddance!” But I had a fun and busy winter. A productive winter. A winter in which I wrote a lot and did a lot and had a lot of fun even though I didn’t sleep much. I won’t miss how insanely busy it got at times, but I’m really pleased with everything I accomplished, and I’m finding that laziness is setting in now that the flowers are blooming and I don’t need my wool coat anymore. I kind of just want to go lay in the grass and read a book. So I miss that productivity, I guess. And the good times—the photo is glitter and confetti on a New York City subway platform on New Year’s Eve.

MEET THIS WEEK’S AUTHORS:

Clare took the pen name London from the city where she lives, loves, and writes. A lone, brave female in a frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home, she juggles her writing with the weekly wash, waiting for the far distant day when she can afford to give up her day job as an accountant. She’s written in many genres and across many settings, with novels and short stories published both online and in print. She says she likes variety in her writing while friends say she’s just fickle, but as long as both theories spawn good fiction, she’s happy. Most of her work features male/male romance and drama with a healthy serving of physical passion, as she enjoys both reading and writing about strong, sympathetic and sexy characters. Clare currently has several novels sulking at that tricky chapter 3 stage and plenty of other projects in mind . . . she just has to find out where she left them in that frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home. All the details of her books and free fiction are available at her website and blog.

Lara Brukz is a sassy, smart mouthed Southern redhead who thinks about sex all the time. Lara didn’t dream of growing up to read mountains of books, let alone write. Numbers were always her thing. Then she needed some extreme excitement in her vanilla life. She started reading m/m romance and couldn’t put them down. Her best friend provided the motivation that brought her writing career to life. Now she writes romance beyond limits and loves every tap of the key. Still resides in the same small southern Arkansas town she grew up in. By day she juggles with numbers and by night she fiddles with words and all things male. That includes her luscious husband. Find Lara at larabrukz.com

Ethan Stone is a single father with a wonderful and aggravating teenage son. He’s always loved to write and one point thought journalism was his dream career. He spent several years trying to make himself believe that until he realized he needed to write because he wanted too not because he had to. He just wishes he could’ve figured that out before he earned a sizable debt with school loans. He’s always had plenty of stories in his head and even published several purely erotica shorts on the web. He assumed the stories in his head starring gay men would have to be relegated to the web. And then he discovered the wonderful world of M/M publishing. http://ethanjstone.com/

Damon Suede grew up out-n-proud deep in the anus of right-wing America, and escaped as soon as it was legal. Though new to M/M, Damon has been writing for print, stage, and screen for two decades. He’s won some awards, but counts his blessings more often: his amazing friends, his demented family, his beautiful husband, his loyal fans, and his silly, stern, seductive Muse who keeps whispering in his ear, year after year. Get in touch with him at DamonSuede.com.

English through and through, Josephine Myles is addicted to tea and busy cultivating a reputation for eccentricity. She writes m/m erotica and romance, but finds the erotica keeps cuddling up to the romance and the romance keeps corrupting the erotica. Jo blames her rebellious muse but he never listens to her anyway, no matter how much she threatens him with a big stick. She’s beginning to suspect he enjoys it. Check out Jo’s website and blog at josephinemyles.com

When Kate McMurray is not writing, she works as an editor with a decade of experience in the publishing industry. She has a BA in English lit that she’s still amazed translated into an actual career. Among other things, Kate is crafty (mostly knitting and sewing, but she also wields power tools), she plays the violin, and she is maybe a tiny bit obsessed with baseball. She lives in Brooklyn, NY. Visit her at www.katemcmurray.com.

Heidi Cullinan has always loved a good love story, provided it has a happy ending. She enjoys writing across many genres but loves above all to write happy, romantic endings for LGBT characters because there just aren’t enough of those stories out there. When she isn’t writing, Heidi enjoys knitting, reading, movies, TV shows on DVD, and all kinds of music. She has a husband, a daughter, and too many cats. Find Heidi on the Web: Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, and her website.

Andrew Grey grew up in western Michigan with a father who loved to tell stories and a mother who loved to read them. Since then he has lived throughout the country and traveled throughout the world. He has a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and works in information systems for a large corporation. Andrew’s hobbies include collecting antiques, gardening, and leaving his dirty dishes anywhere but in the sink (particularly when writing) He considers himself blessed with an accepting family, fantastic friends, and the world’s most supportive and loving partner. Andrew currently lives in beautiful, historic Carlisle,, Pennsylvania. You can find out more at www.andrewgreybooks.com , on facebook, twitter, or email him at andrewgrey@comcast.net

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It’s not too late to check out the previous stops!

January 11: How We Beat the Winter Blues (hosted by Coffee & Porn in the Morning)

January 18: Favorite Wintertime Activities (hosted by Josephine Myles)

January 25: Join us for a January getaway (hosted by Andrew Grey)

February 1: Winter in My Backyard (hosted by Lou Harper)

February 8: “If I could get away right now, I’d go to…” (hosted by Ellis Carrington)

February 15: Valentine’s Day (hosted by J.L. Merrow)

February 22: Authors by the Fireside (hosted by Kate McMurray)

February 29: Join us for a February getaway (hosted by Z.A. Maxfield)

March 7: Things to Do in a Blizzard (hosted by S.A. Meade)

March 14: St. Patrick’s Day (hosted by Clare London)

March 21: Spring Break (hosted by Blaine Arden)

March 28: Join us for a March Getaway (hosted by Tales from the Writing Cave)

April 4: Favorite Winter Movies (hosted byStumbling Over Chaos)

April 11: Signs of Spring (hosted by J.P. Barnaby)

April 18: Join us for an April Getaway (hosted by Marie Sexton)

April 25: Farewell (hosted by Joyfully Jay)

April 30: Grand Prize Announcement (hosted by Heidi Cullinan)

Update and Upcoming Events

Marie Sexton — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 19:24:23 +0000

Oestend sequel: This book (which may or may not be called Saviours of Oestend) is done and in the hands of my editor. No word yet on if/when it will be published, but my guess is that it will be available late in 2012. This is definitely a sequel, not a stand-alone. It’s a bit shorter than the first Oestend book, but not by much. It was hard as hell to write, but hopefully worth it.

Online events: I’ll be hosting a chat on Tuesday, March 13th at the LRC Yahoo group, 12:00-5:00 EST. I’ll also be part of a huge Amber Quill Press chat on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th) at the Amber Heat Reader Group. Lots of authors. Lots of prizes. It’s going on all day, so please stop by. Also, the Beat Your Winter Blues Blog Hop is still going on. Prizes there too, so please check it out.

Real life events I’ll be attending (hope to see you there!):

RT Booklover’s Convention in Chicago, April 11-15
RomCon 2012 in Denver, June 22-24
RWA 2012 in Anaheim, CA, July 25-28
GayRomLit in Albuquerque, October 18-21

Other stuff: I’m still waiting for news on when Blind Space will be available in paperback.

Next up is another loosely-connected contemporary series, which I’m working on in conjunction with another author. That’s all I’m giving you for now, but I’m very excited about it. I hope to have more news in the next couple of months.

I think that’s it for now. As usual, I’ll leave you with something lovely. This picture inspired Emanuel, one of the two characters in my current WIP.

Guest Blogger: JM Cartwright

Marie Sexton — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:00:30 +0000

What to blog about? Well, I could certainly bore you with current events, or the presidential campaign. Yuck. We get enough of that watching the news every night, yes? How about something more interesting and fun?

Do you know that February is National Heart Month? It isn’t because of Valentine’s Day, though that is a happy coincidence. It’s to promote good heart health – and I have a way to do that. Read romance books! (Especially mine, but we’ll get into that in a minute.)

You heard me right. Read a good love story. Doesn’t that always make your heart better? It’s my holistic method for helping your heart to feel happy, which has to make it stronger. At least, that’s my unscientific opinion. The brain is a strange and wonderful machine, and when it’s engaged and the endorphins are running, the heart has to go along for the ride. Doesn’t it? *shrugs good-naturedly*

I’ve got a few books out that might make you smile, make you laugh, get your heart racing – ooh, watch that one! My funniest book, in my humble opinion, is a FREE read at Goodreads. You can also find it at my website. It’s called Appearing Knightly, and it’s an homage to The Dark Knight. It was written as part of the Goodreads Hot Summer Days Anthology. Authors were challenged by members of the M/M Romance Group to match stories to pictures. I fell in love with the shot of Batman holding a beautiful, naked guy, and the rest is history.

Another one that will make you laugh — and keep your heart happy — is The Trouble With Angel. Angel Vargas is a piece of work, he’s high maintenance, he’s very much an urban animal, and he’s been secretly lusting after one of his boss’ clients for the last three years. The problem is, Brandon Halvorsen is straight. Or is he? Angel’s boss has him roped into helping Brandon, who has a special problem. Brandon’s life has just turned upside down. He’s a major league baseball pitcher, whose new problem has nothing to do with baseball. Two little kids have invaded his life. Uh-oh.

Reading my books you’ll see that I like to laugh, I like to enjoy life, and my characters do too. Sometimes, all we need to do is sit in a quiet corner for a couple of hours and read a great love story/comedy/heartwarmer. I’d like to think that if you give my books a try, you’d experience that very thing. And I wasn’t kidding about National Heart Month. I was kidding about how to keep your heart healthy – at least a little. More women die of heart disease than any other killer. Be sure to watch fat intake, limit your cholesterol and sodium/sugar intake, and keep moving! Here’s a link to get all the info you need on symptoms of a heart attack — and what you should do if you experience them. Don’t take your heart’s health for granted – keep it healthy, and happy.

Today, instead of worrying about whether your sweetie or somebody special is going to get you candy, or a gift, or take you to dinner, think about yourself… and what makes you happy. What gives you fulfillment as a person? As a mother, sister, wife, co-worker, human being? That’s what each of us should celebrate this Valentine’s Day. When we’re happy, fulfilled and doing what we love, we make a huge difference in this world. When we walk around with a smiling face, it impacts people who might be grumpy, scared, or indifferent. And maybe, just maybe, reach out to someone you don’t know today — with a smile, a word of kindness, a friendly gesture. You might not know what a difference you make, but I guarantee the other person will remember. And he might just pass it on.

You can find me at www.jmcartwright.com, and also my Goodreads blog. Join me, and make your heart smile.

BYWBBT Winner

Marie Sexton — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 02:33:41 +0000

The winner is Judi! Judi, I’ll contact you via email. Everybody else, thanks so much for entering, and I hope you’ll continue to follow the Beat Your Winter Blues Blog Tour!

Cinder

Marie Sexton — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:26:32 +0000

Available now!

It’s all fun and games until somebody loses a shoe…

Free Short Story

Marie Sexton — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:03:54 +0000

Chapter Five and the Axe-Wielding Maniac, my contribution to the Coffee and Porn in the Morning birthday bash, can be found here.

B-Movie Breakdown: Piranha 3D

Marie Sexton — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:57:23 +0000

This is a tough movie to review. I suppose whether or not it’s a good B-movie depends greatly on what exactly you want out of your cheesetastic entertainment. If the answer is, “BOOBS!” then this movie is for you.

Feasibility Factor: An underwater earthquake opens up a rift which allows a massive swarm of bloodthirsty piranha to take over a lake. Granted, prehistoric piranha rising from the depths is pretty far-fetched. However, beyond that, there’s not really enough of a plot to be infeasible. In this category, the lower the score, the better. I give Piranha 3D a three.

Hilarity Quotient: I give it a four. While there are a couple of funny scenes, a lot of the hilarity is ruined by other things (usually boobs and/or the extreme overuse of 3D technology).

Re-Watchability: Honestly, if there were a made for TV version, I’d probably give it a high re-watchability rating, but this version? Probably not.

Other Randomness:

Star factor: If this movie has a saving grace, it’s the actors: Elizabeth Shue is damn good in it! There’s also Christopher Lloyd (playing the same mumbling, befuddled guy he plays in every movie), Richard Dreyfuss (in a cameo), Ving Rhames, and Jerry O’Connell.
Eye Candy: If you like boys, there’s almost none at all. Steven R. McQueen is cute if you like baby-faced kids, but other than him, a disembodied penis being regurgitated by killer fish is all we get. I thought this was the era of equal-opportunity gratuitousness, so it’s rather disappointing. If you like girls, however, there’s boobs. Boobs, boobs, and more boobs. All of them silicone. Most of them nude. Some of them being shaken 3D-style right in your face. Lots and lots and lots of boobs. The made for TV version will be at least twenty minutes shorter, just due to lack of boob.
Gore: Some of the fun of a good B-movie is the gore, and this movie definitely delivers in that category. The “Everybody panic!” scene at the end is B-movie gold. It was fun and perfectly over-the-top. The problem is, so many of the shots were obviously contrived just to allow for some 3D silliness, which I find annoying. Also, BOOBS. God forbid an actress die without showing us her boobs first.

Extra Credit: Not too much for the title, but I do give it extra credit for the last two seconds of the film. Best laugh I had all movie.

Bottom Line: Top grade a B-movie can get is a B+. I give this movie a D-. Personally, I’d rather see a lot more humor and a lot less boob.