Category: Harmony Ink YA Press

Russell J. Sanders on the Titanic, Tex-Mex, and his new release ‘Titanic Summer’ (guest blog)

Titanic Summer by Russell J. Sanders
Harmony Ink Press
Cover Artist: Aaron Anderson

Buy Links: Harmony Ink Press |  Amazon

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Russell J. Sanders here  today talking about his latest story Titanic Summers. Welcome, Russell.

♦︎

Titanic Summer: A Li’l Travel, a Li’l Politics, and a Lotta Enchiladas

By Russell Sanders

The best hobbies are those that give you joy, engage your mind, and lead you on a quest. You lose yourself in the research, the acquiring, the sheer happiness of just sitting and staring at your treasures. Oh, how I’ve experienced all that! I can spend hours at the piano, playing and singing for only me. I can peruse cookbooks, looking at variations of a single recipe just to decide how I, the amateur chef, will compose a delicacy. I can lose myself in the vast internet, planning an exotic trip—booking those flights to Bali, choosing the seats for that Broadway show, reading all about the museum in Boston so I’ll savor every moment, drooling over the thought of the Mexican food I’ve found in Bar Harbor of all places. And I can never flip the TV remote past a documentary on the Titanic, that magnificent ship that sank on its maiden voyage.

The story of the Titanic has everything: mystery, majesty, the rich and famous, the downtrodden seeking new lives in a new land, the hubris of designers and ship line magnates declaring the ship unsinkable, and it has Molly Brown, the unsinkable wannabe society dame from Colorado, filthy rich and not afraid to spend it! The tale of the Titanic has everything, and I can’t get enough. Books, movies, TV, exhibits…I’ve read ‘em all, seen ‘em all, visited ‘em all.

So fresh off a pilgrimage to the Titanic graves and the Titanic museum in Halifax, Nova Scotia, ten years ago, I began another journey. I wanted my next novel to feature that Titanic experience in some way.

I write novels intended primarily for teen readers. My ego and my desire want them to be far much more, great works that everyone wants and needs and has to read. So pick up a copy of Titanic Summer. You won’t be disappointed even if you’re sixty-five and still a teen at heart. But I digress. I knew that most teens would not be all that excited about the ship that hit the iceberg. But what if a teen’s dad was? And what if Dad took his son on his pilgrimage? And what if teen got into the whole Titanic thing because he loved his dad?

Ah! Now that’s what stories are made of. With little more than that, I began writing. And writing. And writing. Ten years later, ten zillion revisions later, Titanic Summer became what it is today. The book that Harmony Ink Press decided to take a chance on. Oh—I forgot. Add another revision to it all because even after Harmony Ink accepted the manuscript (and yes, that was only after I did a further revision for them,) the editing process began and that first edit was like re-writing the whole novel. I have never worked so hard on an edit in my life. But it was worth it. Titanic Summer is now as magnificent as the ship it rode in on. Yeah, I know—that’s for the readers to decide. If an author can’t use a little hyperbole, who can?

Somewhere in all those revisions, teen Jake became gay, and in real life, Houston city council passed an equal rights ordinance. That bit of history was ultimately defeated by the voters, and I, a devastated Houston gay man, realized that any poor teenage Houstonian gay would be profoundly affected by it all. And another layer was added to Jake’s story.

Titanic Summer is a travelogue. Readers—I’m talkin’ to you out there because you just gotta read this book!—will journey from Houston to Philadelphia to Boston to Portland, Maine, to Halifax, and back to Philly and Houston. There are lots of sights to be seen.

Titanic Summer is also another kind of journey. A sixteen-year-old boy who knows he’s gay and doesn’t want to accept it. He doesn’t care if anyone else in the world is gay, but he doesn’t want to have anything to do with it for himself. Not because he doesn’t want to be gay; he just doesn’t want anyone to know about him. It’s a roller coaster ride for Jake, folks. Step right up and see the kid try to take the next rise and sudden dip—whoosh! Will he live to ride again, or will he end up tossing his cookies, vowing never to get on that Texas Hurricane again?

Titanic Summer is Tex-Mex. Oh, it is Tex-Mex. Believe me, if you don’t finish this wanting some nachos, some enchiladas, some chips, some salsa, some guac, then you seriously are not a Houstonian. But we can make you one real fast. Dive in, the water’s fine (make that a Margarita; that is, if you’re legal—we don’t advocate underage drinking, y’all.) Search Yelp and find the nearest Tex Mex near you, jump on your pony, and head out to the feeding trough. And better yet, if there’s a Chuy’s near you, that’s the place to go. If you’re a novice, start with the Panchos. Then graduate to the Classic Tex Mex enchiladas. After that, you’re good to go. Do like me. Find you some Mexican food wherever you travel. It might turn out to be great (Jakarta, Indonesia) or might turn out to be rather strange (Rome, Italy) but it’s always an adventure. And if you’re not craving chips and salsa after reading Titanic Summer, I’ve not done my job. By the way, I am NOT a paid spokesperson for Chuy’s Restaurants. But if I got a little rebate from each time I’ve eaten there, I’d be a wealthy man.

So there you have it—the lowdown on Titanic Summer. Part Canada, part New England, part Houston, and all heart. And Tex-Mex. Don’t forget the Tex-Mex.

Blurb—Titanic Summer

It’s 2015, and teenage Jake Hardy is hiding something. During a summer trip to the Titanic Mecca of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Jake’s father makes a confession, and though Jake feels upset and confused, he also wants to be understanding. But he feels deceived—much like he’s deceiving those he cares about. Jake is gay, just not ready to tell the world.

Jake and his father are far from alone in their secrets, as Jake discovers back in Texas, where the fight for and against the Equal Rights Ordinance rages. He’s surprised to learn how much the outcome will affect his friends, and he’s torn between standing with them and the wishes of his religious fanatic mother. Being true to himself won’t be easy or painless, and it will come with sacrifices—and rewards.

About the Author

Russell J. Sanders is a lifelong devotee of the theater. He’s a singer, actor, and director, winning awards for his acting roles and shows he has directed. As a teacher, he has taught theater arts to hundreds of students, plus he’s also taught literature and writing to thousands of others. Russell has also traveled the world, visiting Indonesia, Japan, India, Canada, the Caribbean, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Florence, and Venice—and almost all the US states. His friends think he’s crazy, but wherever he goes, he seeks out Mexican restaurants. The Mexican food in Tokyo was great, he says; in Rome, not so good. Texans cut their teeth on barbecue and Mexican food. Russell’s love for enchiladas led him on a quest to try them wherever he can find them, and he has found them in some very out-of-the-way places. And good or bad, he’s delighted to sample his favorite food. Most importantly, Russell is an out-and-proud gay man, living in Houston with his husband, a relatively recent marriage but a relationship that started twenty years ago. He hopes that his novels inspire confidence and instill pride in his young gay fans, and he also hopes others learn from his work, as well.

Website: www.russelljsanders.weebly.com   

Facebook: www.facebook.com/russell.sanders.14

Visit my website: www.russelljsanders.weebly.com

Follow me on Facebook at Russell J. Sanders, author: https://www.facebook.com/Russell-J-Sanders-author-514666448554674/

Follow me on Twitter: @russelljsanders

Visit my author page on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Russell-Sanders/e/B00AVXOY80/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

View my about me page:  https://about.me/russell.sanders

View my book trailers:  (all book trailers use free use public domain images and music)

Thirteen Therapists: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH-zdafR2c8&feature=youtu.be

Special Effect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrVphGxgXqc&feature=youtu.be

The Book of Ethan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6IBm1CBINg

Colors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwkLr2TTpcI

All You Need Is Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsQUwQUoUzs&feature=youtu.be

Titanic Summer: https://youtu.be/tVqWvlOP-PQ

Annabelle Jay Daddy Issues in Luminosity: Book Five in the Sun Dragon Series (guest post and excerpt)

Luminosity (The Sun Dragon #5) by Annabelle Jay
Harmony Ink Press
Cover Artist: Stef Masciandaro

Buy Links: Harmony Ink Press | Amazon

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Annabelle Jay here today on her tour for Luminosity, the last in The Sun Dragon series.  Welcome, Annabelle.

✒︎

Daddy Issues in Luminosity: Book Five in the Sun Dragon Series

by Annabelle Jay

A lot of young adults have complicated relationships with their parents, especially when one of them has been gone for years. For Luke, a transgender teenager obsessed with astronomy and theories about magical worlds, her complicated relationship gets a whole lot more complicated when she finds out that her absent father is actually an incubus.

Luke’s father attacks at the worst time: during a study session with a girl that Luke has a crush on. Little does Luke know that Egret is half Igreefee, a group of magical people with environmental powers, and that her people have dealt with Incubi like Luke’s father before. After a narrow escape, Egret explains why Luke’s dad is so bent on finding her: Luke is the universe’s last Artist, a person with the ability to draw things into existence. 

As if things couldn’t get any worse, it turns out that incubi want their offspring in order to eat them and gain power. The blood of one’s offspring is the strongest of all, which puts Luke in grave danger. In the scene below, Egret must get her to the infamous Merlin’s house and under his protection without Luke’s father capturing her. However, as Luke is soon to discover, sometimes parental motivations are more complicated than they seem.

***

With a carved wooden stick in one hand and Egret’s bird feathers in the other, I sailed away from the Igreefee camp as suddenly as I’d entered it. Even though I’d only spent a few hours there, the forest dwelling had already begun to feel like home—especially because the Igreefee weren’t afraid to tell me the truth, something my own mother seemed incapable of.

“So… Grace…,” I said to start a conversation after what felt like an hour of silence had passed. “She seems nice.”

You’re a terrible liar. She’s an annoying know-it-all, but you have to admit, she’s hot.

I couldn’t argue with that.

How about you? Egret asked. Did you have a special someone or two back at your old school?

“Never.”

I didn’t mention Lacey; I wasn’t even sure she counted. Lacey had loved me, and she’d told me as much, but the Luke that Lacey loved was not the one I wanted to be. Sure, there had been a few awkward moments between us when dancing at junior prom had led to something more or a spin the bottle game that had gotten out of control, but to me, those didn’t count. I’d felt like an actor in a play, a Romeo kissing his Juliet, but after the curtain closed, I wanted to take off the costume and be myself again.

That’s a shame. Those pretty blue eyes and that long blond hair deserve some appreciation. Wait, you are into girls, aren’t you?

“Quite interested.”

Before she could question me further, a pair of red eyes appeared in the clouds on our right—and then another, and another.

“Incubi are everywhere!” I yelled, as though Egret couldn’t see them with her own eyes. “What should we do?”

Use the staff, she instructed. Just press the engraved circle in the middle and aim.

I found the circle and pressed. A beam of green light flashed like a camera, and then the incubus closest to us flew backward several feet.

Good. We’re only about ten minutes from Merlin’s house, so just keep pressing that button whenever they get close. The sorcerer will have his own protection spell in place.

I did as she commanded. Most of the incubi realized what was going on and retreated, but one incubus in particular kept coming back. Like a wild dog, he bared his white teeth and flew at us, and the staff was the only thing able to hold him back each time. The incubus tried to lunge around the circle of light, and even to swim through its force.

“You don’t think…?”

Your father? Could be, by the way your blood is making him crazy, or perhaps an uncle? I guess I can see the family resemblance. Now hold on!

Egret plunged downward toward a small city on another floating piece of rock and then, by swooping left, adjusted her course to a small pinprick of light on the outskirts.

Almost there.

She strained to move faster and faster, while the incubi threw their bodies down at us like hail by tucking their legs into their torsos. The most persistent incubus somehow got through the light and onto Egret’s wing, and no amount of shaking could release his grip.

Get him off! she yelled, or he’ll stop us from entering Merlin’s house.

I poked the incubus with the staff, then hit him with it. Stubbornly, he clung to a fistful of feathers and pulled, sending us into a barrel roll that turned my stomach. Finally, using the other side of the staff, I aimed directly for his red eyes.

Bingo.

 Blurb

As the epic saga of the Sun Dragon series draws to a close, transgender teenager Luke must face her destiny to decide the fate of her world. Not only is Luke a girl born into the wrong body, she is the universe’s last Artist: a person with the ability to draw things into existence. When she comes face-to-face with an incubus who might be her father, she learns it falls to her—along with allies from the wizard’s Council and the dragon clan leaders—to prevent the incubi from destroying the world. If that isn’t enough, she needs to find a way out of a relationship with her girlfriend that she never intended, go after the Igreefee royal she really wants to be with, and decide if the time is right to transition physically into the girl she’s always been inside.

The journey that began with Allanah’s first Sun Dragon is coming to its thrilling conclusion. The dragons, wizards, sorceresses, and birds you’ve come to know and love will reunite for their biggest battle yet—one that will decide their destiny at last.

About the Author

If there’s one thing author Annabelle Jay believes with all her heart, it’s that there is no such thing as too many dragons in a book. As fantasy writer with few other hobbies—does being bribed to run with her partner or dancing awkwardly in the kitchen count?—she spends every day following her imagination wherever it leads her.

A hippie born in the wrong decade, Annabelle has a peace sign tattoo and a penchant for hugging trees. Occasionally she takes breaks from her novels to play with her pets: Jon Snow, the albino rabbit who is constantly trying to escape; Stevie, the crested gecko that climbs glass with the hairs on its toes; and Luigi, the green tree python that lives at the foot of her bed despite her best efforts to talk her partner out of the idea.

During her day job as a professor of English, Annabelle is often assumed to be a fellow student playing a prank on the class—that is, until she hands out the syllabus. When people stop mistaking her for a recent high school graduate, she will probably be very sad.

Author’s Website: www.annabellejay.com

Twitter: @AnnabelleAuthor

Instagram: @AnnabelleAuthor

Publisher’s book page: https://www.harmonyinkpress.com/books/luminosity-by-annabelle-jay-529-b

Goodreads author page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14191901.Annabelle_Jay

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Annabelle-Jay-376249719245415

Release Blitz for Sounds of Silence by Mia Kerick and Raine O’Tierney (excerpt and giveaway)

 

Title: Sound of Silence
Authors: Mia Kerick and Raine O’Tierney
Release Date: January 23rd 2018
Genre: MM Contemporary Romance

BLURB

Renzy Callen exists on the periphery of life, and not just because of the horrific childhood event that robbed him of the ability to speak. Walling himself off from the rest of the world as a means of protection, he occupies his time with art, music, and an obsession with self-help groups—whether he needs them or not. His isolation protects him, and he’s immune to drama and emotional games… or so he believes. Everything changes when he meets Seven and Morning Moreaux-Maddox, the wealthy, jet-setting siblings who move from a life of sophistication in Europe to humdrum Redcliff Hills, Missouri.

Both Seven and his sister are impossibly beautiful and elegant, like the stars in magazines and high-fashion models on the runway. When Renzy is pulled into their push-and-pull of affection and rejection, he realizes there is more to both haunted Morning and cold, diamond-sharp Seven than meets the eye.

The three teens embark on a quest to learn the reason behind Renzy’s selective mutism, and something more than friendship blossoms between Renzy and Seven. It’s during this trip of a lifetime that the three realize the truth they seek might be found in the sound of silence.

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Harmony Ink | iBooks

Find Sound of Silence on Goodreads

EXCERPT

Seven

I don’t go straight to class. First off , I don’t give a shit if I’m late to Physics for the Curious, which actually is the class’s laughable name. More importantly, though, is this: I dropped the ball with Morning last year in Paris, and she’s paid a high price for my lax behavior. I’ve sworn on all things holy and unholy that I will not drop the ball again. Therefore, I’m required to lurk in the hallways when I’m supposed to be in class, sizing up our new environment so that I will be ready to protect her.

This is what I’m doing when I notice him—the very same dark- haired imp I saw running out of the Take Back Our Power meeting. I’m not comfortable with this—catching sight of the same boy two times in one day in such close proximity to my sister. I consider it my duty to study him, to memorize his face, to do what I should have done for Morning last year, at which I failed so miserably.

So I scrutinize each feature as if my plan is to sculpt his face out of clay, with no reference point but my memory. Despite the rage that scorches my eyelids with every goddamned blink, I like what I see.

 

Giveaway

GIVEAWAY: Win $15 Amazon Gift Card!!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/391d73bd90/” 

About the Authors

Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—a daughter in law school, another in dance school, a third studying at Mia’s alma mater, Boston College, and her lone son still in high school. She writes LGBTQ romance when not editing National Honor Society essays, offering opinions on college and law school applications, helping to create dance bios, and reviewing English papers. Her husband of twenty-four years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about this, as it is a sensitive subject.

Mia focuses her stories on emotional growth in turbulent relationships. As she has a great affinity for the tortured hero, there is, at minimum, one in each book. As a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with tales of said tortured heroes (most of whom happened to strongly resemble lead vocalists of 1980s big-hair bands) and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to Dreamspinner Press and Harmony Ink Press for providing alternate places to stash her stories.

Her books have won a Best YA Lesbian Rainbow Award, a Reader Views’ Book by Book Publicity Literary Award, the Jack Eadon Award for Best Book in Contemporary Drama, an Indie Fab Award, and a Royal Dragonfly Award for Cultural Diversity, among other awards.

Mia is a Progressive, a little bit too obsessed by politics, and cheers for each and every victory in the name of human rights. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology.

Contact Mia at miakerick@gmail.com. Visit her website for updates on what is going on in Mia’s world, rants, music, parties, and pictures, and maybe even a little bit of inspiration.

Links: Facebook | Twitter

Raine O’Tierney loves writing about first loves and friendship. She believes the best thing we can do in this life is be kind to one another, and hopes her stories always reflect that. Raine loves encouraging people to write and has been known to repeat the phrase “I believe everyone has a story to tell” endlessly, until she breaks down even the most stubborn non-writer!

Raine lives outside of Kansas City, Missouri, with her husband, fellow M/M author Siôn O’Tierney. When she’s not writing, she’s either playing video games or fighting the good fight for intellectual freedom at her library day job.

Contact her if you’re interested in talking about point-and-click adventure games or about which dachshunds are the best kinds of dachshunds!

Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter

Tour: Sound of Silence by Mia Kerick and Raine O’Tierney (excerpt and giveaway)

 

Title: Sound of Silence
Authors: Mia Kerick and Raine O’Tierney
Release Date: January 23rd 2018
Genre: MM Contemporary Romance

BLURB

Renzy Callen exists on the periphery of life, and not just because of the horrific childhood event that robbed him of the ability to speak. Walling himself off from the rest of the world as a means of protection, he occupies his time with art, music, and an obsession with self-help groups—whether he needs them or not. His isolation protects him, and he’s immune to drama and emotional games… or so he believes. Everything changes when he meets Seven and Morning Moreaux-Maddox, the wealthy, jet-setting siblings who move from a life of sophistication in Europe to humdrum Redcliff Hills, Missouri.

Both Seven and his sister are impossibly beautiful and elegant, like the stars in magazines and high-fashion models on the runway. When Renzy is pulled into their push-and-pull of affection and rejection, he realizes there is more to both haunted Morning and cold, diamond-sharp Seven than meets the eye.

The three teens embark on a quest to learn the reason behind Renzy’s selective mutism, and something more than friendship blossoms between Renzy and Seven. It’s during this trip of a lifetime that the three realize the truth they seek might be found in the sound of silence.

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Harmony Ink | iBooks

Find Sound of Silence on Goodreads

EXCERPT

Seven

I don’t go straight to class. First off , I don’t give a shit if I’m late to Physics for the Curious, which actually is the class’s laughable name. More importantly, though, is this: I dropped the ball with Morning last year in Paris, and she’s paid a high price for my lax behavior. I’ve sworn on all things holy and unholy that I will not drop the ball again. Therefore, I’m required to lurk in the hallways when I’m supposed to be in class, sizing up our new environment so that I will be ready to protect her.

This is what I’m doing when I notice him—the very same dark- haired imp I saw running out of the Take Back Our Power meeting. I’m not comfortable with this—catching sight of the same boy two times in one day in such close proximity to my sister. I consider it my duty to study him, to memorize his face, to do what I should have done for Morning last year, at which I failed so miserably.

So I scrutinize each feature as if my plan is to sculpt his face out of clay, with no reference point but my memory. Despite the rage that scorches my eyelids with every goddamned blink, I like what I see.

GIVEAWAY: Win $15 Amazon Gift Card!!

“http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/391d73bd90/“

About the Authors

Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—a daughter in law school, another in dance school, a third studying at Mia’s alma mater, Boston College, and her lone son still in high school. She writes LGBTQ romance when not editing National Honor Society essays, offering opinions on college and law school applications, helping to create dance bios, and reviewing English papers. Her husband of twenty-four years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about this, as it is a sensitive subject.

Mia focuses her stories on emotional growth in turbulent relationships. As she has a great affinity for the tortured hero, there is, at minimum, one in each book. As a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with tales of said tortured heroes (most of whom happened to strongly resemble lead vocalists of 1980s big-hair bands) and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to Dreamspinner Press and Harmony Ink Press for providing alternate places to stash her stories.

Her books have won a Best YA Lesbian Rainbow Award, a Reader Views’ Book by Book Publicity Literary Award, the Jack Eadon Award for Best Book in Contemporary Drama, an Indie Fab Award, and a Royal Dragonfly Award for Cultural Diversity, among other awards.

Mia is a Progressive, a little bit too obsessed by politics, and cheers for each and every victory in the name of human rights. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology.

Contact Mia at miakerick@gmail.com. Visit her website for updates on what is going on in Mia’s world, rants, music, parties, and pictures, and maybe even a little bit of inspiration.

Links: Facebook | Twitter

Raine O’Tierney loves writing about first loves and friendship. She believes the best thing we can do in this life is be kind to one another, and hopes her stories always reflect that. Raine loves encouraging people to write and has been known to repeat the phrase “I believe everyone has a story to tell” endlessly, until she breaks down even the most stubborn non-writer!

Raine lives outside of Kansas City, Missouri, with her husband, fellow M/M author Siôn O’Tierney. When she’s not writing, she’s either playing video games or fighting the good fight for intellectual freedom at her library day job.

Contact her if you’re interested in talking about point-and-click adventure games or about which dachshunds are the best kinds of dachshunds!

Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter