Six Sentence Sunday: Under the Lights

Posted on March 11, 2012 | Comments Off on Six Sentence Sunday: Under the Lights

I’ve been spending most of my writing time recently on football teammates Josh and Derrick. Derrick’s just gotten sick during a game and got a fun little trip to the ER for his trouble. As Josh is leaving…

“I’ll let you get some rest,” Josh said. “Call me tomorrow, okay? I’ll come over and watch one of those dumb movies you love so much if you feel up to it.”

Derrick opened one eye and rolled it. “I’ve got a migraine, man,” he drawled. “It’s not terminal.”

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Posted in six sentence sunday, works in progress

Serena Yates at QMO Books Reviews Accidental Love

Posted on March 9, 2012 | Comments Off on Serena Yates at QMO Books Reviews Accidental Love

Another lovely review! Serena Yates is doing a great job with QMO Books, keeping the book review section of the former Queer Magazine Online going, and she had some very nice things to say about Accidental Love. A snippet:

Not all the issues get solved by the end of the story. There are some real issues remaining, mainly for Greg, who is scared of falling back into old habits. But I liked the way they decide to face whatever comes their way together–that’s the whole point about a working relationship.

Thanks, Serena!

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Posted in accidental love, novella, qmo books, reviews

Jenre Reviews Accidental Love

Posted on March 7, 2012 | Comments Off on Jenre Reviews Accidental Love

Jenre gave my college-roommates novella Accidental Love a very lovely review today! A snippet:

There’s lots of emotion, yes, but the tone of the story, thanks the breezy writing and lighthearted feel, remains easy to read and not at all overwhelming. … It’s high on the emotional content with lots of simmering lust in the background. Great stuff and a recommended read with a grade of ‘Excellent’.

Thanks, Jenre! 🙂

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Posted in accidental love, reviews

2012 Event Schedule

Posted on March 7, 2012 | Comments Off on 2012 Event Schedule

Always subject to change, but here’s what’s on the slate so far:

March 24—Rainbow Book Fair, New York, NY
I’ll be at the Dreamspinner Press table for part of the time, probably wandering around for the rest. 🙂

May 4–6—Outlantacon, Atlanta, GA
I’ll be an official guest for the first time! Panel schedules are still being worked out, but I’ll be on at least a couple.

August 31–September 3—Dragon*Con, Atlanta, GA
On staff, as usual. No official events yet, but we may put together another M/M author meetup like we did for last year.

October 18–21—GayRomLit, Albuquerque, NM
I’ll be there as an author this time around, yee-haw! 🙂

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Posted in appearances, dragon con, gayromlit, outlantacon

Rationalization Expert

Posted on March 6, 2012 | Comments Off on Rationalization Expert

I tell myself adding WIP word counts and upcoming appearances to the sidebar here is a way to keep myself more accountable.

Truth is, it’s just another way to procrastinate.

Sigh.

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Posted in appearances, musings, writing

Monday Music: Livin’ In Reseda

Posted on March 5, 2012 | Comments Off on Monday Music: Livin’ In Reseda

Funnily enough, I actually have a friend who lives in Reseda.

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Posted in monday music

Friday Feedbag: Penzeys Spices

Posted on March 2, 2012 | Comments Off on Friday Feedbag: Penzeys Spices

I haven’t done a Friday food post in a while, so I thought I’d share one I wrote for Cup o’Porn a while back about Penzeys. 🙂

Continue reading →

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Posted in friday feedbag

Six Sentence Sunday: Learning Curve

Posted on February 26, 2012 | 3 comments

I haven’t done one of these in a while. Here’s a steamy little snippet from a story I’m currently finalizing for submission:

David moaned against Ben’s neck, and he felt the jolt that went through Ben at the sound. He opened his mouth and ran his lips along Ben’s skin, and Ben shuddered.

The next thing David knew, Ben’s hands were tight on his ass, and the grinding of their hips was no longer an accident. David dug his fingertips into Ben’s back and held on for the ride. He sucked at the pulse point in the curve of Ben’s neck, more than likely leaving behind evidence of their encounter, but he’d moved beyond caring. He’d been good for so long, and this felt so fucking good, and no one would ever—

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Posted in six sentence sunday, works in progress

Dirty Little Secret

Posted on February 25, 2012 | 2 comments

A couple of discussions recently have centered around fanfiction writers who’ve moved into the original publishing world. That in itself isn’t frowned upon—unless they bring any stories along with them. Taking a story that was originally written as fanfiction and converting it into a story that stands on its own is… cheating, I guess?

I say “I guess” because I don’t get it. I understand it if the resulting story doesn’t stand alone. When copyrighted source material is reused, that’s not okay. The vast majority of fanfiction, assuming it’s well done at all, is much too closely tied to the source material for the author to have any prayer of prying it loose completely. It’s a bad idea to even try. And if you do, you piss people off, and you make other fanfiction authors look bad. And that’s also not okay.

But if the source material is completely left behind, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with converting a fanfiction story into original fiction. If you take only the original parts of the story, parts that did not come from the source material, and rebuild the rest of it from scratch, then you can end up with something that’s totally original and completely yours. (And if the original source isn’t copyrighted, you’ve got even more latitude. Derivative fiction is a time-honored literary tradition. How many different variations on Romeo and Juliet are floating around out there by now?)

The disclaimer here, of course, is that I’ve converted fanfiction into original fiction. The fanfiction stories in question were “alternate universe,” so they had little in common with the source material to start with. I stripped out the parts that came from the original source and used the remaining shell to rebuild a completely original story. And trust me: that involved a hell of a lot more than just changing names. Imagine those house-flipping shows where they tear a house down to the bare frame and rebuild it from there. That’s what it’s like.

To be perfectly clear: everything I’ve published is my original work, and I stand by it. If admitting that I’ve reused parts of a few of my fanfiction stories loses me readers, well, so be it. You can’t please everyone.

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Posted in musings, writing