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In a couple of hours, anyone who’s pre-ordered Outside the Lines from Riptide will be able to download it two days before it comes out on the 18th!

There’s going to be a big old blog tour, coordinated by Riptide, too. Excerpts and posts and a chance to win a gift card, so check it out!

I’m really pleased with Outside the Lines. It was so much fun to write and I really wanted to branch out and show other types of HEAs. It’s already gotten some great reviews, including a starred review from Publishers Weekly, but…

…but book releases are scary, yo! Because once a book is out, it’s out. In reality, it’s been out for a while with ARCs and such, but now it’ll be OUT.

And you’ll get to meet Ian, Simon and Lydia and watch them build an interesting loving family through trials and tribulations and some foolishness on both Ian and Simon’s part.

It’s also slightly bittersweet for me, because Outside the Lines is also the second to last book in the Bluewater Bay series. Be sure to check out the very last book, New Hand by LA Witt, out on the same day.

But as series end, new series begin, and I have a new series coming! It’s called Twisted Wishes, and it follows the careers and love lives of the member of the up-and-coming rock band, Twisted Wishes.

The first book, Syncopation, will be released April 9, 2018. I don’t have a cover yet, but I do have a blurb! And preorder links!

Twisted Wishes front man Ray Van Zeller is in one hell of a tight spot. After a heated confrontation with his bandmate goes viral, Ray is hit with a PR nightmare the fledgling band so doesn’t need. But his problems only multiply when they snag a talented new drummer—insufferably sexy Zavier Demos, the high school crush Ray barely survived.

Zavier’s kept a casual eye on Twisted Wishes for years, and lately, he likes what he sees. What he doesn’t like is how out of control Ray seems—something Zavier’s aching to correct after their first pulse-pounding encounter. If Ray’s up for the challenge.

Despite the prospect of a glorious sexual encore, Ray is reluctant to trust Zavier with his band—or his heart. And Zavier has always had big dreams; this gig was supposed to be temporary. But touring together has opened their eyes to new passions and new possibilities, making them rethink their commitments, both to the band and to each other.

You can pre-order it here: Amazon / B&N / iBooks

I’m hard at work on the second book, Counterpoint, which should come out in September.

In between now and then? Well, a certain fae couple is going to finally get a sequel. Be on the look out for No Quarter Given in July.

I wish you light and contentment at the closing of the year!

Man, I haven’t posted in ages! I should remedy that, because LOTS has happened.

But I wanted to post a quick update that my erotic paranormal romance Close Quarter is currently free on Amazon for October 31 & November 1!

I also re-released Slow Waltz, the fun erotic short that follows Close Quarter. It’s on Amazon and in KU.

Yes, yes, yes, there will be a sequel! It should be out in the summer of 2018.

One of the things I’ve been trying to do this year is read. Reading is one of the activities that fills the creative well for me. Diving into books, or getting pulled in, makes my head turn around my own stories.

So, what have I been reading? Well, my GoodReads challenge list is here. It, of course, doesn’t have the seven books I read for the RITAs or the works I’ve beta-read for others, so I’ve actually read a bunch more than that.

I’m going to point out a few from there. Up first is a series that unexpectedly pulled me in and grabbed me by the collar and made me keep reading: Layla Reyne’s Agents Irish and Whiskey series. They’re not standalone, so you do need to read them in order, and read all three. The relationship arcs over the trilogy.

It hit me in all the right ways. It’s romantic suspense that keeps you on the edge of your seat. It’s hurt/comfort with a lot of both. It’s really smart men being emotionally venerable. It’s got great secondary characters. It’s got an internal conflict you can see coming like a train in a dark tunnel and you know it’s gonna crush you when it hits. And then it does and the resolution is wonderful and painful and perfect.

And it’s got Jamie, the most cinnamon roll of cinnamon rolls.

Another book I adored was Cass Lennox’s Blank Spaces.

It’s a lovely book about a loving but very queer relationship that develops into something that is just as loving and HEA as your typical monogamous (i.e, socially accepted) relationship.  Both Vaughn and Jonah are lovely men, trying to find what they need in a world that has pretty rigid ideas of what “relationship” and “love” means. Vaughn isn’t interested in sex but craves connections. Jonah can’t live without sex but doesn’t understand relationships at all. They find something wonderful in the spaces between them…all while investigating art thefts at the gallery in which Vaughn works.

Next up are two of Cat Sebastian’s historicals, The Soldier’s Scoundrel and The Lawrence Brown Affair. (I have yet to read Ruin of a Rake. It’s next on my TBR.)

One, the writing of these is just SO DAMN GOOD. Even if you’re not into regency romances. I think one of the aspects I loved about these books is that the angst revolves more around class differences and social structure than around men loving men. Also, The Lawrence Brown affair deals with science and anxiety and family.  The Soldier’s Scoundrel features a thief with a heart of gold and a wounded lord. These books are pure catnip. I want to roll around in them for days.

I also beta-read an early draft of a manuscript for Cat, and OMG people, it’s a wonderful book and SO queer. I’ll be yelling about that book as soon as it’s announced.

Last but not least, I just finished the first of Kris Ripper’s Scientific Method Universe books.

And I’m in love with this series. One book, and I want to read them alllll. They’re not so much a romance as books about friendships and family and love and sex and kink and relationships and finding the unexpected. This is another book where the relationships are just so queer that they make my heart sing.

The first book is about Will Derrie discovering he’s kinky and…not nearly as straight as he thought he was. It’s also about Hugh Reynolds discovering he can let people in. And about Truman Jennings discovering that sometimes boyfriends come with extra bonuses.

So that’s a little about what I’ve been reading! If any of these seem up your ally (or you want to branch out a little) give them a try!

Tomorrow, I head of to Orlando for the RWA Annual Conference. It’s four days of workshops, panels, signings, awards, and parties.

If you’re there, you can catch me around I’ll be at a number of places.

You can definitely find me:

• Thursday, I’ll be at the Carina Press Open House from 4 to 4:45 PM! My first event with my new publisher!
• Friday, I’ll be signing with Berkley Books on Friday at 2:30 PM. There will be print copies of one of my books… I’m not sure which, though! I suspect either Takeover or Daily Grind.

I’m also going to try my best to hit as many of the #RWChat events as possible:

If you see me, please say hi! I’ll be the person with short platinum blond hair, likely wearing a tie. I’m a little awkward, sometimes, but I’m pretty darn friendly.

I have two, two books up for pre-order!

The first is a brand new book, Outside the Lines, which will be released on October 16th. It’s up for pre-order at Riptide publishing. (There will also be a cover reveal soooooon. And the cover is lovely.)

If you’ll be at GayRomLit, I’m pretty sure Riptide will have paper copies for sale there.

Here’s the Blurb:

Outside the Lines is part of Riptide Publishing’s Bluewater Bay series, (and some favorite characters show up) but it can be read as a standalone with no issues whatsoever. It’s fun and campy and geeky and sweet and really hot, kinda all rolled into one. I had a lot of fun writing the book and I really hope people enjoy it. It’s a little different of a take on what “happy ever after” means, but it’s one that’s true for a lot of people.

The second pre-order is the re-release of my erotic paranormal romance Close Quarter! I’m releasing that on August 15th.

You can pre-order the new version in Amazon.

I’m in the process of setting up a paperback copy, but I’ll need to order a proof and all that, so I’m not sure when that’ll go live, but I should have copies in time for GayRomLit, too!

Hey all! I have a new cover for you all to see!

I’m going to be re-releasing my first published novel, Close Quarter, on August 15^th. Close Quarter is an erotic paranormal romance that features a fae vampire hunter, a literal boat full of vampires, magic swords, and a grieving sculptor who’s had his world turned upside down.

But before we get to the reveal, I want to talk about how the book came about.

Before I wrote Close Quarter, I’d spent three years working on my MFA, which involved writing a novel. I wrote a 100,000 word mashup between epic and urban fantasy, set on a non-earth world. Then I wrote most of a prequel to that. By the time I graduated, I wanted to write something different and fun and sexy and hot and lighthearted.

So I started this story about a fae who hunted vampires and the dude he meets on a transatlantic cruise. Then I went on a cruise. A good portion of Close Quarter was written on the deck of a ship cruising around the Mediterranean sea.

The story was all the things I wanted it to be, except perhaps lighthearted.

It’s definitely an erotic romance. If you’ve read the Takeover books…I actually think there’s more sex in Close Quarter, if you can believe that. It’s also quite dark in places, since the vampires in this book are monsters. They’re not misunderstood. They want to consume you, blood, flesh, soul, in the most agonizing way possible. If you like vampire heroes… you’re not going to find them in this book.

But if you like something a little different when it comes to paranormal, maybe come on a cruise with Rhys and Silas…

On a transatlantic cruise to New York, sculptor Rhys Matherton struggles to piece his life back together after losing his mother, inheriting a fortune, and finding out his father isn’t his father after all. He spills a tray of drinks on a handsome stranger, then he finds himself up against a wall getting the best hand-job he’s ever had. And for the first time in his life, he feels whole.

Rhys enjoys the company of Silas Quint, but for the eerie way no one pays attention to them even while they kiss in a crowded bar. Silas explains he’s a forest fae able to glamor the room around them—and more importantly, that he’s on the cruise to hunt vampires. Rhys thinks Silas is full of it, until he discovers vampires are real, and he’s part of their main course.

Silas Quint can’t be distracted by a human lover, even one as lovely as Rhys. Stuck in the middle of the ocean, he has barely enough of energy to hunt the vampires he’s been sent to destroy. Rhys is full of the one thing Silas needs needs most—the element of living plants. Only sucking energy from Rhys would make Silas as soulless as the creatures he hunts. How can he keep Rhys safe, without becoming like the very monsters he hunts?

And now for the lovely new Garrett Leigh cover! I wanted something a bit more dark, but also sexy AF.

Let me know what you think!

Well hello there. It’s been forever since I updated my blog. *hangs head in shame*

Daily Grind, the 4th Takeover book, has been out for about three months, and I am grateful for all the reviews and love the book has gotten! I’m so happy folks have enjoyed Brian and Rob’s story!

Folks have been asking if there will be more Takeover stories, and yes, eventually. But I’m going to be taking a little break from Sam Anderson and his crew to work on two new books. And I can finally talk about them! Here’s the announcement from Publisher’s Marketplace:

I sold two rock star novels to Carina Press! The first one is Syncopation, and it, as the announcement says, follows the lead singer of a band on the rocks as he attempts to salvage his career and manage his feelings for the band’s new drummer — who happens to be his unattainable high school crush.

Basically, it’s a reunited, unrequited enemies to lovers with snark, kink, attitude, a queer rock band, and a lot of self-discovery. I’m so looking forward to introducing you to Ray Van Zeller, a singer with too much anxiety and the weight of the world on his shoulders, and to Zavier Demos, a drummer who really is that good at beating skin.

Counterpoint is the second book of the series, which which will follow the lead guitarist as he navigates his public and private life, which he’s managed to keep separate, until they run straight into each other.

They should both be out next year.

But what about this year?? Well, October should see the release of a Bluewater Bay book I wrote for Ripetide: Outside the Lines, which is the poly romance I’ve been talking a little bit on twitter about.

I owe you all a Takeover short story, so I’ll be releasing one that’s basically Eli and Justin’s hosting Thanksgiving dinner for Eli’s relatives. Justin’s cooking. (Be afraid.) Look for that, hopefully, in early to mid November.

Last but not least, I’ll be re-releasing my paranormal romance Close Quarter, probably in July. I have a lovely new cover by Garrett Leigh, too. Wait until you see it!

More on that later.

Daily Grind is out in the world today! I’m so excited to share Brain and Rob’s story with you. It’s available in both ebook and audio book, and all the buy links, plus the first chapter are here.

In the meantime, I’m on tour! I’ll be updating this page with my blog tour stops. Stop by my stops for some guest posts, and some excerpts.

Feb 20: An author of the week interview at Scandalicious

Feb 20: Character Profiles of Brian and Rob + Giveaway at Alpha Book Club

Feb 21: A little bit about Brian and Bisexuality at Two Chicks Obsessed

Feb 21: My trouble with playlists over at Gay Book Reviews

Feb 21: Researching the city in which I live over at The Novel Approach

Feb 22: My romance with Coffee at From Top to Bottom Reviews

Feb 23: The writing Process of Daily Grind over at Wicked Little Pixie

Feb 25: Excerpt over at Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews

Feb 25: Interview over at JL Gribble’s Blog

Feb 27: A little about Coffee Shop AUs and a recipe at Back Porch Reader

Feb 28: El interviews me over at Just Love Reviews

Mar 1: I talk about what’s next with Takeover over at Prism Book Alliance

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If it’s Tuesday, it must be Spain!

That is, it’s Valentine’s Day, I’m a week out from the release of Daily Grind, and I’m sitting in my PJs on a couch in a villa in Spain. Yesterday, I visited the Alhambra, which is a pretty magical place. And yes, I had coffee from the cafe there. The coffee here is nice and reminds me of the coffee in Italy.

It seems to be a thing with me and traveling right before a book release. I was flying home from London the day Takeover came out, and I’ll be heading home from Spain the day before Daily Grind releases.

There’s already been some very nice reviews of Daily Grind, and I’m so happy people are connecting with the book. All my books are special to me, but this one in particular is probably the most me of my books. It’s also the most Pittsburgh. But I’ll end up covering that during the blog tour

Ah yes, there’s going to be a blog tour for Daily Grind! I’ll be posting links to those posts when I have them. If you want to read the first chapter, I’ve posted that on the book page for Daily Grind. You’ll also find links to the places you can pre-order the book.

Oh! It’ll also be coming out in audio at the same time, so if you’d prefer the audio book, you can pre-order from Audible, too.

That’s it from me for now. I’ll leave you with a view of Granada from the gardens above the Alhambra.

As I look back on the year, 2016 was both good and hard for me.

There’s been far more good than hard, though.

Good things:

I turned in two books: Due Diligence and Daily Grind, proving to myself that I could write two books in a year’s time.

Due Diligence came out in July and I’m really proud of that book. I know Just Business is more of a favorite for most people, but lovely, screwed up Fazil and his issues with self-worth are near and dear to my heart. As is the exploration of how we view our pasts and what we did, especially when we find out that maybe things weren’t quite what we thought.

I finally wrote my epilogue to Takeover. I still have a bunch of other Takeover shorts to write, but that was one I’d been wanting to get done for a while.

I contracted to write a poly romance for Riptide Publishing’s Bluewater Bay series. It should come out in October of 2017, and is tentatively titled Outside the Lines.

I blurbed a book! That was wicked cool! I ended up being ask to blurb Lilah Pace’s His Royal Secret and wow, what a good duology.

I went to New York and met C.S. Pacat (of Captive Prince fame) and hung out with Elyse Springer in May. The most magical thing of all was that El and me saw Hamilton because I somehow miraculously won the lottery. I still can’t believe it!

I started reading again, because I realized I hadn’t been and I missed it. It’s like a brain cleanse that helps me with my writing. I read a lot of paranormal m/m. I read all of KJ Charles’s Charm of Magpie books, and I’m working my way through both Jordan L Hawk’s Whyborne and Griffen books and Jordan Castillo Price’s PsyCop books. They’ve all made me want to get back to my own paranormal world of Close Quarter. Yes. I promise.

And because of that, I resurrected an urban fantasy I’d been working on, spruced up the six chapters I’d written, wrote a synopsis and gave it to my agent to see if I should stick it back in the trunk or not. It’s set in the same world as Close Quarter, but different characters and no romance. It stars one of the first characters my head ever came up with.

I came out as bi and genderfluid to my family. It went well. I’m all over the place on pronouns, though I do know I really hate Ms. And Ma’am. But other than that, I’m fine. I actually have different pronouns listed in different spaces, so whatever. When/if I settle, I’ll let yinz know.

I lost ten pounds this year and am pretty much where I want to be weight-wise now. It feels like I lost lot more, but I think it’s mainly because all my fat shifted around or vanished. People kept asking me if I was okay, because my face suddenly got much thinner and I dropped from a size 12 woman’s to a loose 10 (I’m 30 x 32 men’s) and I guess they were afraid I was sick…but I’m not much lighter than I was? It’s weird

I bought my first suit. I’ve also been wearing masc close to work, which has been wonderful. I finally feel more like me.

Things that were rough:

Daily Grind’s release got pushed back from December to February. Not my fault. Just something that happens, but it was still a blow.

I’ve been more up and down emotionally. It’s perimenopause, basically. No one says it’s kind of like reverse puberty, but it’s kind of like reverse puberty and it sucks. I’m doing a lot more self-care and I’ve been going to a councilor. My mom says I’ll feel a lot better once I’m on the other side of it.

I ended up at the ER twice, once for a bad reaction to a medicine (that I am no longer taking) and once because of weird heart palpitations, but the upshot is that I’m fine. I just need to be less stressed. (See also self-care and councilor.)

I’m still figuring out the whole genderqueer thing and what it means (like, the sudden realization that I’m trans was a shock). I’m still trying to find my way around me sometimes. It’s complex. I’m happy, though.

Goals for 2017:

I said this on Twitter, but I really only have two goals for next year:

• Finish three books.
• Stop comparing my career to anyone else’s.

The first will require me writing a lot, but I can do it.

The second is so much harder, but I really really need to accomplish it for my own mental well-being. I can’t be anyone other than myself and holding myself up to other people’s successes isn’t useful.

There’s always going to be someone who sells more. Is better at promo. Is on every list ever put out there, etc. It’s something I learned while driving—there’s always someone driving faster than you. Safest thing is to let ‘em pass and find their own way.

So that’s my major goal for next year. Drive my career and stop worrying about the people who are seemingly zipping past me. Because you know what? I’ve done really well for myself.

My books are good. People like them. And honestly, that’s what matters. I want to write more books that people like and get ‘em into your hands.

Happy 2017. May it kick 2016 in the ass.

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