Category: Historical

Back to the Past with Lessons for Idle Tongues from Charlie Cochrane -A Special Interview with Orlando & Jonty (giveaway)

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Lessons for Idle Tongues (Cambridge Fellows #11)
by Charlie Cochrane
Riptide Publishing

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Cover art by Lou Harper

Sales Links: Riptide Publishing

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Charlie Cochrane and her Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, featuring Jonty and Orlando.  It is one of my highly recommended series, and the terrific story, Lessons for Idle Tongues is being published by Riptide Publishing.  And to celebrate, author Charlie Cochrane is here and interviewing those incorrigible and loving duo, Jonty and Orlando.

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Interview with Jonty and Orlando

While reading her favourite mystery, Death at the President’s Lodging, Charlie Cochrane was struck by some particularly “slashy” scenes and wondered why there were no Classic Era mysteries featuring a pair of gay detectives. There were gay men at the time, so couldn’t they have taken up their magnifying glasses and got sleuthing? Frustrated at finding no answer to her conundrum, she set out to write her own stories. Here she interviews her two sleuths.

CC:  Can you tell the readers where you live?

Orlando Coppersmith: Cambridge.
Jonty Stewart: Cambridge in England. There’s another one in America, you know, Orlando.
Orlando: Really? How astonishing.
Jonty: We live here because we’re both based at St. Bride’s College, trying to knock some sense into our students. I teach them about Tudor Literature.
Orlando: And I lecture in Mathematics.
Jonty: Orlando’s worryingly bright.

CC: Did the events of your early life influence you in solving mysteries?

Orlando: Yes. Well. Hm.
Jonty: What Orlando means is that neither of us had that easy a start in life. His family were…not exactly loving. Would that be fair?
Orlando: It would. I’m not as lucky as Jonty, who has an extraordinary family with whom I get on very well.
Jonty: He means I have a very loud mother who’s madly in love with him and a terrifyingly clever father who likes to solves cryptograms with him. He wins all round.
Orlando: Meeting Jonty showed me that all sorts of things in life were possible. Love, friendship, going out and using my brains for something other than mathematics. He changed my life.
Jonty: Daft beggar. Meeting Orlando gave me hope at a time when I was a bit low. I had a rough time of things at school and it came back to haunt me at times. He changed my life, too.

CC:  Do you see yourselves as policemen?

Jonty: Oh I say, Orlando. Steady there. (He whacks his back.) I’m afraid that the police wouldn’t exactly approve of our relationship. Up before the beak and two years hard labour if they knew what we got up to in private.
Orlando: We’re amateur detectives, although we do work alongside the police when need be. That’s how we got started, acting as the eyes and ears for Inspector Wilson of the local force when there was a series of murders in St. Bride’s. (Lessons in Love)
Jonty: We get commissions, too. People ask us to solve crimes, particularly old ones.
Orlando: Sometimes hundreds of years old.
Jonty: Nearly as ancient as you, Orlando.
Orlando: Very funny.

CC: Do people contact you like they contacted Sherlock Holmes?

Jonty: You said the ‘S’ word. Orlando won’t approve. I like Holmes – and Watson, he’s a marvellous bloke – but old grumpy guts here thinks Sherlock’s a bit of a smarty pants.
Orlando: I refuse to comment. And don’t call me “grumpy guts” in public.

CC: What’s been the most outrageous thing you’ve done in the cause of investigation?

Jonty: What about the time you had to pose as a gigolo?
Orlando: I was not a gigolo. I was a professional dancing partner. Next question, please, before my “friend” finds anything else to make fun of me about.

CC: In the course of your investigations, have you encountered important historical figures?

Jonty: Figures from the past, yes. When we solved the Woodville Ward mystery we ran across Richard III, Henry VII and Elizabeth Woodville. Orlando’s almost old enough to remember being dandled at their knees.
Orlando: Don’t forget, I’ve worked out at least three foolproof ways of murdering you without the risk of being caught. Actually, he’s hiding his light under a bushel, again. He’s the one who got dandled at royalty’s knee. The Stewarts are all very pally with the royal family.
Jonty: That’s what got us involved in the gigolo – sorry, dancing partner – case. The king’s old mistress died under mysterious circumstances and they needed someone of discretion and good sense to put into the hotel where it happened. Nobody like that was available, so they asked Orlando.
Orlando: Excuse me while I resort to method number one.

CC:  Presumably you are somewhat familiar with our early 21st century, after conversations with your author. What would you most like to take back to Edwardian times?

Jonty: The freedom to hold Orlando’s hand in public – at least in Brighton. Not that he’d let me, probably, being a shy old stick, but the opportunity would be nice.
Orlando: I’d welcome the chance of entering into a Civil Partnership with Jonty. An official declaration of how much we mean to each other.
Jonty: I’d like to fly in one of your modern aeroplanes. How wonderful to cover the length of the British isles in little more than an hour. And going to Jersey without resorting to a ship would be good, wouldn’t it, Orlando? He gets sick as a dog when we sail.
Orlando: Hm. In his case it might be an Uncivil Partnership.

CC:  I’m sure you’d never murder anyone, but is there someone, whom you’d like to murder if you could?

Orlando: Owens, from “the college next door”.
Jonty: He’s St. Bride’s arch-enemy and any decent college man would strangle him with his own bicycle clips.
Orlando: I’ve devised two other foolproof and undetectable methods of murder, just for Owens.
Jonty: I said he was frighteningly clever, didn’t I? If he ever took to a life of crime, we’d all be doomed.

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About Lessons for Idle Tongues (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #11)
Cambridge, 1910

Amateur detectives Jonty Stewart and Orlando Coppersmith seem to have nothing more taxing on their plate than locating a missing wooden cat and solving the dilemma of seating thirteen for dinner. But one of the guests brings a conundrum: a young woman has been found dead, and her boyfriend is convinced she was murdered. The trouble is, nobody else agrees.

Investigation reveals that several young people in the local area have died in strange circumstances, and rumours abound of poisonings at the hands of Lord Toothill, a local mysterious recluse. Toothill’s angry, gun-toting gamekeeper isn’t doing anything to quell suspicions, either.

But even with a gun to his head, Jonty can tell there’s more going on in this surprisingly treacherous village than meets the eye. And even Orlando’s vaunted logic is stymied by the baffling inconsistencies they uncover. Together, the Cambridge Fellows must pick their way through gossip and misdirection to discover the truth.

About Author Charlie Cochrane:

As Charlie Cochrane couldn’t be trusted to do any of her jobs of choice—like managing a rugby team—she writes, with titles published by Carina, Samhain, Bold Strokes, MLR and Cheyenne.

Charlie’s Cambridge Fellows Series of Edwardian romantic mysteries was instrumental in her being named Author of the Year 2009 by the review site Speak Its Name. She’s a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Mystery People, International Thriller Writers Inc and is on the organising team for UK Meet for readers/writers of GLBT fiction. She regularly appears with The Deadly Dames.

Connect with Charlie:

Website:http://www.charliecochrane.co.uk/
Blog: charliecochrane.livejournal.com/
Twitter: @charliecochrane
Facebook profile page: facebook.com/charlie.cochrane.18
Goodreads: goodreads.com/goodreadscomcharlie_cochrane
Riptide Publishing’s Author Page

 

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Lessons for Idle Tongues Giveaway:

Cambridge Mysteries bundle

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a title from Charlie Cochrane’s backlist (excluding Lessons for Idle Tongues.) Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on July 4. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Don’t forget to add your email so we can contact you if you win!  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Prizes provided by the author and Riptide Publishing.

Cambridge Fellows Mysteries Bundle Sale!

Get 30% off books 1-8 of the Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, exclusively in a bundle from Samhain!

Cambridge Fellows Mysteries

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If the men of St. Bride’s College knew what Jonty Stewart and Orlando Coppersmith got up to behind closed doors, the scandal would rock early-20th-century Cambridge to its core. But the truth is, when they’re not busy teaching literature and mathematics, the most daring thing about them isn’t their love for each other—it’s their hobby of amateur sleuthing.

Because wherever Jonty and Orlando go, trouble seems to find them. Sunny, genial Jonty and prickly, taciturn Orlando may seem like opposites. But their balance serves them well as they sift through clues to crimes, and sort through their own emotions to grow closer. But at the end of the day, they always find the truth . . . and their way home together.

,[STRW Note: I highly recommend reading them in the order they were written in order to understand the relationship as it builds, the men, and the times.  This is especially true for books starting with Lessons in Trust, All Lessons Learned and Lessons for Survivors which hold huge spoilers and surprises for the previous books]

Publisher Note:Cambridge Fellows mysteries may be read in any order but for those who wish to read in release order, they are:

Lessons in Love (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #1)
Lessons in Desire (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #2)
Lessons in Discovery (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #3)
Lessons in Power (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #4)
Lessons in Temptation (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #5)
Lessons in Seduction (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #6)
Lessons in Trust (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #7)
All Lessons Learned (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #8)
Lessons for Survivors (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #9)
Lessons for Suspicious Minds (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #10)
Lessons for Idle Tongues (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #11)
Lessons for Sleeping Dogs
The first eight books in the series are with Samhain Publishing. You can purchase them wherever ebooks are sold.

– See more at Riptide Publishing’s Cambridge Fellows Mysteries page.

In the Book Spotlight: Sword of the Gladiatrix by Faith L. Justice (author interview and giveaway)

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Sword of the Gladiatrix by Faith L. Justice
Release Date: May, 2015

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Goodreads Link
Publisher: Raggedy Moon Books
Cover Artist: Todd Engle

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Sales Links: 

Amazon.com Worldwide (US, UK, Canada)
BarnesandNoble.com 
CreateSpace (print only)
iBooks (ebook only)
Kobo (ebook only)
Smashwords (ebooks–all formats)

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My Interview with Faith L. Justice…

Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Faith L. Justice, author of Sword of the Gladiatrix. Hi Faith, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.

Thanks so much for having me here at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words. I’m a science geek and history junkie and have been all my life. I knocked around a bit and worked as a lifeguard, paralegal, systems analyst, human resources executive, and college professor before settling into full-time writing. I live in Brooklyn with my family and the required gaggle of cats. For fun, I like to dig in the dirt—my garden and various archaeological sites.

My current book is an action adventure, lesbian romance set during Nero’s reign. A departure for me. I usually write novels based on real historical women—ones who should be in the history books but aren’t. Sword of the Gladiatrix features two fictional characters from the far ends of the Roman Empire: Afra, scout and beast master to the Queen of Kush; and Cinnia, warrior-bard and companion to Queen Boudica of the British Iceni. Both try to replace lost friendship and love in each other’s arms, but fate intervenes. Before they complete their journeys, I toss in a pair of trained hunting cheetahs, a nasty snake dancing bitch, a natural disaster or two, a neurotic emperor, and several gladiator fights.

Whenever I pitched Sword of the Gladiatrix as my “lesbian gladiator novel,” I encountered raised eyebrows and skeptical snorts. The first question everyone asked: “Were there really lesbian gladiators?” My answer: “Of course!” We know there were females fighting in arenas for a couple of centuries, although far fewer than men. Some had to be lesbian. What really surprised people was the fact of female gladiators. They rarely appear in popular culture. Despite the popularity of Xena Warrior Princess and the myths of the Amazons, they don’t come to mind in the media-soaked imaginings of brutal, bloody, gladiatorial games. Women warriors? Maybe. Women gladiators? No. Yet they are there in classical literature, art, grave markers, and archaeology. All you have to do is look.
• Was there a basis for your story? A previous experience or something else?

I love museums (see science geek and history junkie above). I spend days wondering around and reading all the labels. When I visited the British Museum several years ago, I came across a stone carving, from the first or second century, found in Turkey. It showed two women named Achilla and Amazon fighting with swords and shields, their helmets on the ground. Female gladiators! At that time, I didn’t know they existed. I researched the topic and found that females (in small numbers) fought regularly over a two hundred year period

The image of those two women haunted me. They were real women who lived and died centuries ago. Who were they? Where did they come from? How did they feel about their lives? That’s when I decided to tell their story. Well, not their story precisely—no one knows their background or fates. So I created Afra and Cinnia to stand in for those two women carved on the stone.
• What skills do you think a writer needs?

Writing is a craft and can be taught. There are aisles full of good how-to books on writing in bookstores and libraries, but the one thing any writer—fiction or non-fiction—needs to master is storytelling. How do you develop your characters, plot, and setting in such a way that it draws the reader in and keeps them turning the pages. A good storyteller can get away without sparkling prose, but the opposite isn’t true.

Also persistence and a thick skin help. I’ve known several people over the years who (I felt) were wonderful writers with original voices and compelling stories, but they gave up after getting a couple of rejections. Write your story or novel to the best of your ability, put it out there, and move on to the next. All writing is practice and useful. Someone once said you need to write one million words before you get good. Rewriting the same sixty thousand over and over doesn’t count.

Oh, and either a deep understanding of English grammar or a crack copy editor. I loved your rant: Win a Celery Stalks At Midnight Can A Balled Bare Bear Bee Far Behind?: Vocabulary Goes Bad with Homonyms! I haven’t laughed so hard in ages. I recently caught a blooper in one of my draft blog posts where I talked about “navel battles”—belly button wars! Glad I caught it before I posted it, but if it made it into a book, shame on me and my editor.

• What for you is the perfect book hero?

I like complicated and flawed. If s/he is perfect, everything comes too easily, there’s no conflict or risk—boring! I’m also partial to the underdog and the odd one out like Tyrion from Game of Thrones. A hero has to make mistakes and overcome the consequences, not just overcome external obstacles; otherwise there is no growth or emotional throughline. They also have to learn from their mistakes. In my first book, Selene of Alexandria, my protagonist is an impulsive young woman who—like most young people—suffers from a feeling of invincibility. She learns her rashness has consequences—sometimes deadly—but also understands that her impulsiveness comes from a deep need to do good and make the world a better place. Some actions she regrets, others she doesn’t.

• Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

No so much the craft. My challenges go back to persistence: getting my butt in chair and fingers on keyboard. In today’s connected world, it is so easy to get distracted and fritter the day away on the internet. Working at home doesn’t help. Stuck on a scene? Oh, there’s laundry! Or cats to play with. Or…you name it. I schedule a minimum of three hours—preferably in the morning before I look at email/Facebook/Twitter—that is dedicated to new writing (not rewriting!) I take my ancient laptop to the couch in the parlor (no TV, no Wi-Fi) and sit staring. Sometimes the words flow and I’m “in the zone.” Other times it’s like pulling teeth, but I sit there until I write one word, then the next, then the next. Each word gets easier.

• Tell us about your favorite childhood book.

Mrs. Coverlet’s Magicians by Mary Nash (1962, Little, Brown & Co.). My parents signed me up for a book-of-the-month club and this was one. The story is simple: Three siblings on their own because their parents are on a trip, their housekeeper won a cooking contest, and their substitute babysitter is in bed under a voodoo spell that the youngest child Theodore (Toad) put on her. Malcom and Molly, the oldest two children, work hard to keep the house going and make it a nice Christmas for their younger brother, but things keep getting weirder and weirder. Chaos, hilarity, and an impossible snowstorm ensue.

It’s not great literature. The dialog sucks and the gender stereotypes are…1962, but I read this to my little sister every year at Christmas till she could read it herself. It wasn’t Christmas until we read Mrs. Coverlet’s Magicians. I found my old hardback copy with the battered dust jacket a few years ago and gave it to my sister. Best Christmas present ever! Sweet memories of a lovely time.

Thanks again for letting me visit your site. Many hours of great reading to you all!

STRW Author BookSynopsis

From the far edges of the Empire, two women come to battle on the hot sands of the arena in Nero’s Rome. They seek to replace lost friendship, love, and family in each other’s arms; but the Roman arena offers only two futures: the Gate of Life for the victors or the Gate of Death for the losers.

Pages or Words: 260 pages, 75,000 words

Categories: Fiction, Gay Fiction, Historical, Lesbian Romance, Action/Adventure

STRW Spotlight Book Excerpt

A slave wraps my lower legs with felted wool and straps a gilded greave to my left shin, because I fight as myrmilla. He smells of sour sweat, as do I. I’ve already fought once today, tested fate, and won. The gold sand that Nero favors in the arena still crusts my hair and rasps the skin under my sweat-soaked breast band. I will go again before the ravenous crowds to satisfy their bloodlust. For what? An emperor’s whim? The crowd’s passing fancy? A sacrifice to their gods?

I swallow the bitter gall that surges into my mouth.

Across the room, another slave straps armor on Cinnia, my beloved. She looks at me with pride in her eyes and a brief smile on her lips. We said our goodbyes last night, clasped breast to breast, thigh to thigh, a stolen moment before being sent to our lonely cells. My heart beats an irregular rhythm.

My love. Light to my dark. Fire to my ice. ‘

Cinnia is goddess-given to me; from a land of mists and forests, so different from my country of desert and blistering sun. Without her, I would be dead. Without me, so would she. We have suffered, struggled, lived, and loved. Now we go out upon the sands of the great arena to die. One by her lover’s hands, the other by her own.

It is not the life or death I chose for myself, but it is the one the gods gave me.

STRW Author Bio and Contacts

About the author:

FAITH L. JUSTICE writes award-winning novels, short stories, and articles in Brooklyn, New York. Her work has appeared in Salon.com, Writer’s Digest, The Copperfield Review, the Circles in the Hair anthology, and many more. She is a frequent contributor to Strange Horizons, Associate Editor for Space and Time Magazine, and co-founded a writer’s workshop many more years ago than she likes to admit. For fun, she digs in the dirt—her garden and various archaeological sites.

Where to find the author:

Facebook: https://facebook.com/faith.justice.7
Twitter: https://twitter@faithljustice
Author website: https://www.faithljustice.com
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/profile/view?id=64543293

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Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions. Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: Copy of ‘Sword of the Gladiatrix’ by Faith L. Justice

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Tour Dates & Stops:
15-Jun
The Hat Party

16-Jun
Hearts on Fire
7-Jun
Love Bytes
18-Jun
All I Want and More Books
Amanda C. Stone
19-Jun
Bayou Book Junkie
22-Jun
Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
23-Jun
Bike Book Reviews
24-Jun
Prism Book Alliance
25-Jun
Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews
26-Jun
Inked Rainbow Reads

In the Spotlight: Bound with Love (Regency Reimagined) by Megan Mulry (excerpt and giveaway)

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Bound with Love (Regency Reimagined) by Megan Mulry
Published by Riptide Publishing
Cover Artist: L.C. Chase

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Release Date:  June 8, 2015
Sales Link:   Riptide Publishing

STRW Author BookSynopsis

A perfect life—until one letter threatens to unravel it all…

Lady Vanessa Cambury, Marchioness of Camburton, adores her life of bucolic contentment with her partner, acclaimed portrait painter Nora White. Together, they have raised two children from Vanessa’s first marriage and built a home filled with purpose, ease, happiness, and passion—always passion.

But when Nora receives word that the child she lost twenty years ago is alive and in England, ancient heartache threatens to destroy their idyll.

To salvage their love, they must come to a deeper understanding of who they are—in the world, and to one another.  Nora must learn to overcome the dark shadows of her past. Vanessa must learn to put others’ needs before her own. And Nora’s stubborn daughter must find it in her heart to forgive the mother she thought abandoned her. This unconventional family must rely on the powerful links of love and mercy to bind them back together.

To read an excerpt, visit Riptide Publishing’s Bound With Love page

Book Details:

ebook, 136 pages
Published June 8th 2015 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN139781626492639
edition languageEnglish
series Regency Reimagined

STRW Author Bio and Contacts

Megan Mulry writes sexy, stylish, romantic fiction. Her first book, A Royal Pain, was an NPR Best Book of 2012 and USA Today bestseller. Before discovering her passion for romance novels, she worked in magazine publishing and finance. After many years in New York, Boston, London, and Chicago, she now lives with her family in Florida.

Connect with Megan:

Website:  http://meganmulry.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4123439.Megan_Mulry
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/meganmulry
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/meganmulrybooks/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/MeganMulry
Email:mailto:megan@meganmulry.com

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Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a $15 Riptide store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on June 13. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Don’t forget to add your email so we can contact you if you win! Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Prizes provided by Riptide Publishing and the author.

Regency Reimagined invites you to enter a sensual realm that defies the rules of polite society, where convent girls are more than curious, and dukes and earls are eager to oblige them—and each other. Pull back the curtain . . . and step into a passionate world that knows no traditional bounds. – See more at Riptide Publishing’s Regency Reimagined Page.

Books in the Regency Reimagined Universe are:

  • Bound to Be A Groom): female/female, female/male, male/male, menage, multiple partners –
  • Bound with Love (A Regency Reimagined Story) female/female, female/male, male/male, menage, multiple partners
  • Bound with Passion (A Regency Reimagined Novel) – same pairing as above
  • Bound with Honor (A Regency Reimagined Novel)- same pairings as above

Dean Pace-Frech’s “Disappear With Me” Spotlight Post & Giveaway

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Disappear With Me by Dean Pace-Frech
Publisher:  Amber Quill Press

Buy Links:   Amber Quill Press  – All Romance eBooks

I am happy to announce that the Second Edition of Disappear With Me is available from Amber Quill Press!

About Disappear With Me…

Love is greater than hope or faith, but can Reverend Leander Norris convince a jury that the love he shares with another man is natural?

In 1910, the United Kingdom was in turmoil. King Edward died after only nine years on the throne. The social class system that upheld British society for centuries was being chipped away by social, political, and economic unrest across the Commonwealth. Amidst this backdrop, Reverend Leander Norris is accused of sodomy. After discovering his own self-worth and unconditional love, Leander finds the courage to stand up for what he believes is right and pleads not guilty to the charges. Throughout the trial, Leander’s past is revealed, including the temptations that bring the accusations against him. By the end of the trail, Leander is once again reunited with a romantic interest from the past, but it may be too late to rekindle any love that might remain, given the circumstances of the era and Leander’s likely sentence.

Excerpt:

“Are you not a scholar?” Weeks asked. “Do you not know the Bible that you preach from each Sunday?”

“I know it very well,” Leander answered. “But the Bible has many interpretations. I think you can guess that mine might be a little less than conventional.”

Weeks reclined back in his chair. He made a steeple with his fingers and rested them on his pursed lips. “You’re actually sitting here telling me that, as a man of God, you’re all right with buggery and feel you’ve done nothing wrong?”

“Mr. Weeks, do you realize you keep asking me the same question over again, using different words?”

“As your counsel, I need to be sure that I understand your position, the one you expect me to defend.”

“You sound shocked that I would suggest such a thing. I can’t have you defending me if you don’t believe it yourself.”

“Reverend, my beliefs about the situation are irrelevant; it doesn’t matter what I believe. I need to be able to defend our position in court and hope our defense can refute what the prosecution will present.”

“I have to have conviction in my sermons each Sunday morning. I think you also know you need to have conviction when defending your clients.”

“And I can assure you that I have that same conviction to make sure that you receive a fair trial. I will do my best—”
“Do your best to what? Go through the motions and make sure that the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed so it looks like I’ve been given a good defense?”

Weeks didn’t answer and that was all the answer that Leander needed. After a moment, Weeks tried to start again. “Look, Reverend, I am your assigned counsel for this trial. I am on your side. I want to see you get a fair trial, but you must understand what we’re up against is quite overwhelming.”

“I know; I’ve never done anything the simple way.”

“Sir, you must understand that we are going up against laws that are rooted in two thousand years of Christian tradition and about as many years of British attitude.”

“Mr. Weeks, do you love your wife?”

Weeks let out an impatient sigh. “Of course, but here you go asking intimate questions about me that have no bearing on my defending your case.”

“Humor me, sir. Do you love your wife?”

“Yes, I very much love my wife and family.”

“What if you woke up tomorrow and a constable showed up on your doorstep and arrested you because they said the love you share with your wife was illegal?”

Weeks didn’t answer him. Instead, in a quiet voice, he said, “You know you and I are just two people. We’re not going to change these laws overnight.”

 

Search “Disappear With Me” or “Dean Pace-Frech” on your other favorite sites to purchase romance books, Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, iTunes, etc.

About Dean Pace-Frech

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With inspiration from historical tourism sites, the love of reading, and a desire to write a novel, Dean started crafting his debut novel, A Place to Call Their Own, in 2008. After four years of writing and polishing the manuscript, it was accepted and originally published 2013. His second novel, Disappear With Me, set in Edwardian England was published later that same year. Both novels were re-released in May 2015.

Dean lives in Kansas City, Missouri with his husband, Thomas (legally as of February 14, 2015), and our two cats. They are involved in their church and enjoy watching movies, outdoor activities in the warmer weather and spending time together with friends and family. In addition to writing, Dean’s hobbies include reading and patio gardening.

Dean is currently working a standalone title, Need Your Love, set in 1966, and The Higher Law, a continuation of the story of Frank and Gregory’s family set in the 1930s.

Connect with Dean Pace-Frech
Email deanfrech@aol.com
Blog: Dean’s Web Site
Facebook: Dean Pace-Frech, Author page or send a friend request Dean Pace-Frech.
Twitter: @deanpacefrech
Google+: +deanpacefrech
Goodreads: Dean Pace-Frech
Pinterest: Dean Pace-Frech

Giveaway

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In celebration of the wide release of Disappear With Me, I will be giving away 3 Ecopies of my first novel, A Place to Call Their Own, which is available from JMS Books.  Comment, follow me on Twitter, visit my author page, etc. to enter to win!  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Link and prize provided by the author.

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Check Out Mythologically Torqued, Volume 1 (anthology) (giveaway)

Mythologically Torqued, Volume 1 (anthology)
Published by Torquere Books

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Release Date: May 13, 2015

 

Author Names: Leigh Ellwood, L.J. Hamlin, Eva Lefoy, V.L. Locey, Jacey Mills, Alisha Monroe, Shiloh Sadler, Alyx Shaw, Delilah Storm, T. Strange, Carol Tierney, Angelique Voison, Max Wilde, Salome Wilde, Logan Zachary

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Love a legend, or myth or more?  Check out this latest anthology from Torquere Books.  It’s huge and has something for everyone.

Blurb(s):

Torquere’s largest anthology to date features a total of 15 authors please to bring you 15 unique tales from when gods and goddesses ruled the world. This collection features both m/m and f/f content for your reading pleasure. Dare you enter this realm of Mythologically Torqued fantasy? Be on the lookout for Volume 2 summer 2015.

Mythologies from around the globe receive a happy little twist in this first volume of Mythologically Torqued. A Scottish kelpie, Greek gods and goddesses, a Japanese princess, and demons delight and intrigue in these stories, each containing LGBT elements.

OR…

Whether it’s Greco-Roman gods and goddesses or heroes from tales around the globe, Mythologically Torqued, volume 1 brings together not-so-classic lovers with a Torquere twist.

OR…

  • Eros finds his soul mate in the arms of a demigod friend in L.J. Hamlin’s In Love with Zeus’ Son.
  • In Shiloh Sadler’s Clipped Wings, two men on a plantation find love under the most unusual circumstances in 1842 Missouri.
  • V.L. Locey’s Back to the Garden, Pan hits up Woodstock with the sun god Apollo—sex, drugs, and rock and roll take on a whole new meaning.
  • In Brísingamen, Carol Tierney offers us the story of a magical necklace, and the payment goddess Freyja delivered to four dwarven sisters for it’s creation.
  • Delphinos, by T. Strange, is a modern-age retelling of Dionysus’ creation of dolphins.
  • In Angelique Voison’s version of the Japanese Moon Princess myth, Reiko is tasked with bringing the Emperor’s future bride, the fabled Moon Princess to court, and complications arise when Reiko falls head over heels for Kaguya.
  • Charged with ensuring Sisyphus fails, Hercules is conflicted by his feelings for the former ruler in Angelique Voison’s How Hercules Got His Bruise.
  • In Leah Ellwood’s Styx and Stone, Ferrying souls across the Styx is a lonely business, but Charon doesn’t mind—newly arrived Stone is more than willing to keep him company.
  • No one believes in the Greek gods anymore, and Apollo is in a rut, Ganymede—cupbearer to the gods— tries to get Apollo to see what’s in front of him in Jacey Mills’ Another Night at the End of the World.
  • Salome Wilde’s Eternal Grind offers a corporate take on Christian Hell, populated with horned and hoofed demons inspired by medieval monks’ fertile imaginations, which follows a pair of lesbian demon baristas, determined to find their own happily-ever-after.
  • In the distant past, Ero was the god of desire, but in present day, he looks for love with Psy—a peerlessly gorgeous mortal man—and needs to keep a secret, in Alisha Monroe’s The Myth of Ero and Psy.
  • Bound by chains and defenseless, Thor is being held captive by Garrick, a young man also forced to service until demands are met in Logan Zachary’s Bound by Desire. Together, attraction ignites between Thor and Garrick—can love grow if it is bound by desire?
  • In Delilah Storm’s The Golden Balls, true love’s kiss is powerful, and Jasper’s sexuality awakens—will Anur be able to keep Jasper in this sleepy little kingdom?
  • A spurned lover, mythical horse, and a public official walk into a pub—murder, mayhem, and everlasting love result in Alyx Shaw’s The Kelpie.

Pages or Words: 106,600 words

Categories: Alternate universe, BDSM, Bisexual, Contemporary, Erotica, Fantasy, Fiction, Gay Fiction, Historical, Humor, Lesbian Romance, M/M Romance, Menage/Poly, Paranormal, Romance, *Trans

*****Please remember: As an anthology, not all stories will use all categories*****

 

Publisher: Torquere Press
Cover Artist: BSClay

Sales Links:  Torquere Books

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Tour Dates & Stops: May 6, 2015
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Contest:

Contest:  Enter to a Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of ‘Mythologically Torqued’.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Link and prizes provided by Torquere and Pride Promotions.
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A MelanieM Review: Baby’s On Fire by A. F. Henley

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Babys on Fire CoverIn 1974 Gerry Faun gets the break of his life—an opportunity to meet gorgeous, openly bisexual, glam-rock idol Mark Devon. Mark’s world is new, exciting, and Gerry finally gets to explore the side of his sexuality that he’s kept hidden. But the press is everywhere, and when Gerry’s father gets wind of what’s going on behind his back, Gerry ends up on the street. Mark offers to let Gerry come along with the tour and Gerry jumps at the chance. The tour is a never-ending party—and the start of what seems to be a perfect relationship for him and Mark. Until Mark’s manager decides Gerry isn’t worth the trouble he’s stirring up.

In 1994 Gerry is finally coming out of some tough times—he has a job that pays the bills, a car that hasn’t quite broken down, and a small rental in Jersey City. After a decade of barely getting by, if life was as good as it was going to get, Gerry figures he’ll manage just fine. It would be easier if he wasn’t still haunted by the man the media won’t let him forget, the man who stole his heart and then broke it… the man that’s shown up pleading for a second chance

In Baby’s On Fire by A. F. Henley, the author charts the rocky, troubled path to love for a rock ‘n roll singer and the young man who fell in love with him.  It’s a journey that swings back and forth between eras, the swinging drug-filled raucous years that were the 70’s and then forward to the 90’s, the present time frame for Gerry and Mark.

I have always admired Henley’s ability to capture the mood and character of each era she has chosen to write about, even if sometimes it is embodied only by a car (“Roadtrip“). In Baby’s On Fire, Henley tackles the 70’s, an era of contradictions and overindulgence.  It was the end of the innocence and hope of the 60’s while still continued that decade’s trajectory of drug use and music that pushed known boundaries.  There was soft rock, Hard Rock, Glam Rock which was also called Glitter Rock, personified by glam rocker Gary Glitter who sang Rock and Roll on his album “Glitter“, David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust  (how I still love him) and so many others.  It  was the time of Studio 54 and the out of control New York club life that so many stars and singers got caught up in. Excess thy name is the 70’s!  And its all here inside the page of this often heartbreaking story.

Appropriately enough, the story begins in October 1994 and we’re dumped into the present reality of Gerry Faun.  He’s middle aged, and life hasn’t exactly been very kind to him.  In fact, its been a very real struggle to make ends meet.  He’s alone but finally has a job that will pay his bills and that he is good at.  But all it takes is a song on the radio to turn back time….for Gerry and the reader.

Ever  had a crush on a singer when you were a preteen or teenager?  Remember those times of utter devotion and yes, a little obsession?  Even if you don’t, all you have to do is look at (insert name of any boy band or Justin Bieber) and fans to get an idea. Its along those lines that this story takes hold, when Gerry Faun is taking his sister and friends to a concert by Maxx Starlight and his band.  It’s June 1974, and everyone is giddy over the fact that they will be seeing Maxx in person and listening to him sing.  Especially young Gerry who’s trying to be the cool older brother while being even more ridiculously excited than his younger sis.  Gerry is aware that he is gay but keeping it a secret, a smart move when his conservative father is already calling the rock ‘n roll star slurs (“f…..t”) as the small group walks out the door into a night that will  permanently change them all.

In a scene charged with energy and a drug/alcohol induced wildness, Gerry ends up backstage and meets his idol, Maxx Starlight aka Mark Devon and the dance between them begins as the narrative starts to switch back and forth between the turbulent excesses and confusion that is the life Mark and Gerry live in the 70’s to the discontent and emptiness of Gerry’s life in the 90’s.  I thought Henley’s authentic, “spot on” descriptions of a popular rocker’s lifestyle works at every level.  It’s too bright, too over the top, too much of everything from sex ‘n drugs “living on the edge” as well as the mindless adoration of hundreds of thousands of fans.  And we get to see and feel its impact on the jaded Mark/Maxx and the innocent Gerry, whose Bambi like nature gives him the nickname “The Faun”.

A dramatic scene from Gerry’s youth brings on a change in decade and we move forward to the man he’s become…unhappy, alone and forever caught in the past, no matter how much he denies it.  He’s stored his youth and his ability to love in with all his keepsakes in a box in the back of his closet, likewise his memories and emotions have been shunted to the back of his mind, not to be taken out and examined too carefully.  What happens to break up this stalemate is the arrival of Mark, back after over 20 years absence with the intent of getting back together with Gerry.

The return of Mark brings the 90’s section of the story and Gerry to life.  The 90’s narrative has been one of a certain grayness and enervation.   With the return of Mark, it’s the anger, pain, and emotion that comes roaring back to life in Gerry that starts to be a match for all the action, decadence, overindulgence, and high emotion of the 70’s scenes and events.  That anger, pain, and rage  propels Gerry into action making the connection between the readers and the storyline snap firmly in place for the duration of the story.

I thought Henley’s characterizations worked extremely well,  no matter what time frame they happened to be in at the moment.  Young Gerry aka the Faun’s very youth and actions ooze innocence and new passion, and its that unformed outlook on life that get’s schooled in the most raw, blinding manner possible by the man he loves.  Mark aka Maxx’s character works well as the over indulged rockstar losing himself to the persona he and the manager have created.  The 70’s characterization of Mark works so believably because we see so much of him and his actions through the relationship dynamics with Gerry and the “support/hangers on” that surround them.

Unfortunately, when Mark disappears from Gerry’s story, his lack of presence for most of the 90’s section reduces our knowledge of the older Mark to the detriment of the novel.  We are “told” what happened to him, and that manner of narrative distances the reader from Mark as well as reduces our connection to him and his reunion with Gerry.  To make the love between Mark and Gerry sing with all the vibrancy and passion of their youth, the readers needs more of the grownup Mark and his journey towards adulthood and responsibility for himself and his actions.   We get that with Gerry and for balance  and to make this story feel whole, we needed it for Mark as well.  Telling is never any substitute for “doing” or action and that is demonstrated in Baby’s On Fire.

That issue aside, I thought Baby’s On Fire by A.F. Henley a wonderful story and one I recommend.  The emotional journey to love and a HEA for Gerry and Mark brought back to life an era I lived through, sent me running back to pull up Youtube vids of Ziggy Stardust, glitter, and a sexy rock god in all his glory as well as all the fallout and maturation needed to make it through to the 90’s for so many.

Love a rock’n’roll love story?  Need a little more glitter and glam in your life to go along with the romance?  Pick up Baby’s On Fire by AF Henley and make this lovely indulgence your own.

Cover art by Raphael works but yes, I wanted a little more glitter.  Go here for images of David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust.

Sales Links:      Less Than Three Press      All Romance (ARe)     Amazon     Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: May 6th 2015 by Less Than Three Press
original titleBaby’s on Fire
ISBN139781620045398
edition languageEnglish