I haven’t done one of these posts in a while, but after falling into an abyss of ’80s alt pop over the weekend, I figured I’d share. Carey on Twitter (@FanGirlMom) started it all by mentioning dancing monkeys, and, well…
NOW AVAILABLE!
FRINGES is now available!
My new gay erotica scifi short story “Fringes” is out today from Wilde City Press, as part of the Charlie Harding Presents line! Check out what Charlie himself had to say…
Imagine, two horny guys, one small spaceship and exotic planets to explore! Each destination the perfect place for hot sexual fantasies and one on one action… But what happens when someone else catches a glimpse of the erotic play? What kind of show does the man with the sexy voice, watching through the ship’s cameras deserve? These two know exactly what to do and how to show it off for their mysterious third. This one is a voyeur’s ultimate fantasy and an exhibitionist’s wet dream!
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Posted in fringes, m/m, release date, short story
Guest Blog: Tempeste O’Riley’s Designs of Desire
Tempeste O’Riley first novel, Designs of Desire, released on Monday from Dreamspinner Press. She’s here today to share a little about her main character, James, and his favorite spots in his city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She’s also having a contest to win a copy of Designs of Desire, so after you’re done reading, go HERE to enter!
Top Five Places James Loves To Go In Milwaukee
When I sat down to write Designs of Desire I started with the characters and story, but I quickly ran into the problem of needing places in “town” for things like dates or meetings. I didn’t want everything to be “real” but did want some reality for my guys, so where did I pick to set DoD? Milwaukee, WI, of course!
So here are James’s top 5 favorite (inspirational to simply look at…) places in Milwaukee that are real (but in no particular order):
Milwaukee Art Museum
Highlights of the building are the magnificent cathedral-like space of Windhover Hall, with a vaulted a 90-foot-high glass ceiling; the Burke Brise Soleil, a moveable sunscreen with a 217-foot wingspan that unfolds and folds twice daily; and the Reiman Bridge, a pedestrian suspension bridge that connects the Museum to the city. Seriously, what’s not to love? Just watching it from outside is awe inspiring, much less the great works inside!
Milwaukee Art Museum. Image by Cburnett from Wikipeida Commons.
Milwaukee City Hall
The German Renaissance Revival styled building, with a soaring clock tower, held the tallest building title until 1899. It was among the opening scenes of the television sitcom “Laverne and Shirley.” The Milwaukee City Hall is now a National Historic Landmark and was used as the symbol Milwaukee.
Allen-Bradley Clock Tower
It has the distinction of being the world’s largest four-faced clock according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The tower made an appearance on the NASCAR Busch Series race car of Mike Bliss in 2004.
Miller Park
Miller Park is a baseball park that is home to the Milwaukee Brewers and features a fan-shaped convertible roof that can be opened or closed as conditions dictate. It’s fascinating to view as you pass by on I-94.
Miller Park. Image by Greg Hume from Wikipedia Commons.
Basilica of St. Josaphat
The Basilica of St. Josaphat is an opulent minor basilica located in the Lincoln Village section of Milwaukee. The church has one of the largest copper domes in the world.
Basilica of St. Josaphat. Image from Wikipedia Commons.
Sadly, none of these sites made it into the story, but they still inspire and make proud those that live there.
Book Details
Designs of Desire by Tempeste O’Riley
M/M Erotic BDSM/Kink Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: July 29th 2013
Length: Novel / 200 pages
Description: Artist James Bryant has forearm crutches in every color from rainbow for fun to sleek black for business. He even has a pair with more paint splatters than metal. After his family’s rejection and abuse from a man he thought loved him, James only just gets through the day by painting. He lives in constant fear that he’s not worthy of anything, let alone love.
As CEO of his company, Carrington Enterprises, Seth Burns is a take-charge kind of guy, and he is instantly smitten by the artist helping with his newest project. When he witnesses James suffer a panic attack, a protective instinct he never knew he had kicks in. He truly believes nothing is unobtainable—including James—if he’s willing to put in the time and effort.
James is shy and confused by Seth’s interest in him as a person. With Seth’s support, can he work through his fears to finally find the true love he deserves, or will someone finally land the crushing blow he won’t survive?
About the Author: Tempeste O’Riley is an out and proud omnisexual / bi-woman whose best friend growing up had the courage to do what she couldn’t–defy the hate and come out. He has been her hero ever since. Tempe is a hopeless romantic that loves strong relationships and happily-ever-afters. Though new to writing M/M, she has done many things in her life, though writing has always drawn her back–no matter what else life has thrown her way. She counts her friends, family, and Muse as her greatest blessings in life. She lives in Wisconsin with her children, reading, writing, and enjoying life.
Posted in author, guest blog, Tempest O'Riley
Best Laid Plans and You-Never-Knows
So, I’d been planning to try to finish the novel I’m currently working on before Dragon Con, which is Labor Day weekend. Since I’m over halfway through, that should be doable, right? It’s a month away, after all.
Well, Dragon Con came calling early this year. Starting this weekend, I’m helping the publications director with the bazillion things she has to do to get the program book, pocket program, and other con publications out to the printer in time to make it to the con. I’ll still be doing my regular on-site job (or my boss, Eugie Foster, would kill someone and/or die on the spot), but the pre-con editing and such will be filling up a lot of my time before then.
This isn’t a bad thing, you understand. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do. But it does cut into my time, which means the writing needs to take a backseat temporarily. I have edits for two stories that are still in production, so those will get done, but the WIPs will just have to wait their turn.
OTOH, I’ll probably get some writing time during Dragon Con, so that’s always a bonus. 🙂
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Posted in dragon con, real life, works in progress, writing
Guest Blog: Jamie Mayfield and Waiting for Forever
YA author Jamie Mayfield is celebrating the release of the Waiting for Forever series with a 12-week blog tour and giveaway. View the full tour schedule HERE. Comment on any blog tour post or tweet using hashtag #WaitingForForever to enter to win a Kindle! Drawing will be held on 8/15/2013. You must be 18 to enter and have a valid US mailing address.
Here’s an interview with Mike and Alex from the Waiting for Forever series. It was originally posted for the Little Boy Lost blog tour with Joyfully Jay.
Posted in author, guest blog, jamie mayfield
RWA Plans and Schedule
This week is the Romance Writers of America national convention here in Atlanta. I’ll be heading down to the host hotel on Wednesday (after picking my roomie J.P. Barnaby up at the airport!), and over the next few days, I’ll be trying to cram in as much as I can manage without killing myself (or my brain). I have an agenda of workshops laid out, and I’m hoping to meet lots of people I’ve gotten to know via social media these past few months. 🙂
My (very general) schedule:
Tuesday: Dinner with M/M author friends
Wednesday: Literacy Autographing, then the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books mustache party
Thursday: Workshops, workshops, workshops, and possibly the Georgia Romance Writers party
Friday: Workshops, workshops, workshops
Saturday: Workshops, workshops, oh yeah, and moderating a workshop (A Nose for Love: A Romance Writer’s Guide to Smell and Taste, 3:15–4:15, M303/M304). If I feel up to it after all that, then the RITAs. (Maybe.)
Otherwise, I’ll be hanging out in the atrium bar some of the time, and hiding in my room other times, because it’s gonna be a heck of a lot of information and people. Decompression time will be a must!
If you see me wandering or sitting around, please feel free to accost me… er, come up and introduce yourself. Especially if you give good hugs. 😉
Posted in appearances
Celebrate Freedom with Wilde City
I’ll be spending part of my long holiday weekend (YAY!) on edits for my first story with Wilde City Press, but while you wait for “Fringes” to get all polished up for release, you can check out some of this new publisher’s other great offerings. Today through Sunday, July 4 through 7, take 25% everything at the Wilde City website with the code WILDEFREEDOM.
Wilde City also has a fun blog post up with several authors, including me, talking about our favorite summer memories and where we’d love to run off to for vacation. Read all about it right here!
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Posted in Uncategorized
Life and Other Complications
As those of you who follow me on social media may have noticed, I’ve been off my feet for the past few days after dropping a flute case on my foot from a height of about six feet. (Protip: put on shoes before you start a whirlwind cleaning effort.) Nothing is broken, but I didn’t stay off it for the first few days after it happened, so now I’m on day three of doctor’s orders to do so. Thankfully, it’s much better now, which is good, since I have three days in the office at the EDJ starting tomorrow, and that entails a walk of about a quarter mile from parking deck to cubicle.
After that, though, I have a long weekend for Independence Day, so I’ll be able to rest up more. I can even watch fireworks right from the comfort of my sofa! LOL
I’ll also be able to spend the long weekend writing. I’m working on two main projects right now. One is a best-friends-to-lovers story about high school football players. It would be the first in a trilogy to take them through their senior year of college. All three books are generally planned out, so now all I have to do is write them. The easy part, right? HA. In an attempt to focus, though, I’ve set an initial deadline of July 15 to have a rough draft of book one, so I’ll have something to talk about (if not actually pitch) at RWA. It will probably be VERY rough, but at least it’s something!
The other story is an erotic novella based around fetish play. So since the trilogy is a sweet romance, this is pretty much a 180-degree shift. It’s based on some observations from my trip to IML in Chicago last month, but since it’s not my kink, I’ll definitely be running it by some friends who are involved in that kind of play. (I wrote the first sex scene yesterday, and boy, that thousand words went by FAST.)
Unlike a lot of authors, I always have two (occasionally more) projects going at a time. I just get too bogged down trying to work on one at a time. I try to mix things up, though—in theme, length, style, content, etc.—so they work like palate cleansers for each other. My last two submissions were a sweet contemporary romance novella and an erotic scifi short story, written mostly at the same time.
Speaking of which, those stories are both in the editing/production pipeline. The short is due out later this summer from Wilde City Press, as part of their Charlie Harding Presents line. The novella will be part of a baseball-themed anthology with Kate McMurray, Marguerite Labbe, and Kerry Freeman, coming in the fall from Dreamspinner.
As far as longer-term planning, in addition to RWA, I’ll be in attendance at Dragon*Con (of course) and GayRomLit here in Atlanta, and I plan to be at both North Georgia/Marietta Pride (last weekend in July) and Atlanta Pride (second weekend in October). I’m also on the case for 2014 already, signed up as an author for RainbowCon in Tampa and with a hotel reservation for the RT Booklovers Convention in New Orleans next May. I haven’t decided for sure about RT, but it looks very likely at this point. The dates for Outlantacon aren’t final yet, so I’m hoping for no conflicts!
(Speaking of which, I had planned to go to the Folsom Street Fair against this year, because I had an amazing time in 2012. However, a family event may fall on that weekend, so it looks like I might have to miss it.)
Otherwise, well, life goes on. The EDJ is still there (and really, not particularly evil, except as jobs generally are). Family is doing well. Friends visited last weekend and we had a wonderful time. The weather is hot. Our apartment still needs work. My to-read list is extensive, and my book spending too high (not that that’s going to stop me). And it’s the last day of the quarter, so go out and buy stuff from your favorite authors so their royalty checks will be nice and fat, and they’ll keep on writing. 🙂
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Posted in anthology, appearances, conventions, dragon con, dreamspinner, fringes, gayromlit, home field advantage, musings, novella, outlantacon, playing ball, pride, publishers, real life, short story, Wilde City, works in progress, writing
New Contract: Playing Ball Anthology
I’m happy to announce that three writer/baseball-fan friends and I have signed contracts with Dreamspinner Press for a new anthology of baseball-themed stories. Playing Ball features novellas from me, Kerry Freeman, Marguerite Labbe, and Kate McMurray. The tentative publication date will be late September. To say we’re excited is an understatement! 🙂
Brief descriptions of the stories are after the cut.
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Posted in anthology, contracts, dreamspinner, fiction, home field advantage, kate mcmurray, kerry freeman, m/m, marguerite labbe, novella, playing ball, romance
Hop Against Homophobia: It’s Personal
I let time get away from me and wasn’t able to sign up for the Hop Against Homophobia this year, so instead, here’s a link to last years post. It still applies. Well, except the giveaway parts, sorry. 🙂
(Also sorry about the old logo. Should’ve fixed that before I reblogged. I haven’t had my coffee yet!)
Hi there! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I’m happy to be participating in the Hop Against Homophobia, and I’m even happier that you’re taking the time to check out my contribution. I’m going to address the serious part of why I’m here first, and then I’ll get to the fun stuff. 🙂
When I started thinking about what I wanted to say in this post, I kept coming back to the same beginning point: Christianity. I’m not trying to start a deep, philosophical discussion. I’m just making a public statement about my personal beliefs.
I’m Christian.
No, wait, don’t leave! That’s the biggest problem I see: as soon as I mention being Christian, a lot of people tune me out, or don’t believe me. Not that I can blame them, but the truth is that I’m Christian, I write same-sex romance, I support marriage equality, and I don’t…
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Posted in Uncategorized
shaeconnorwrites 