Category: LGBTQ YA Fiction

Gina Harris and Anne Key on Writing, Characters, and their new story Lone Star in Jersey (author guest interview)

Lone Star in Jersey by Gina Harris and Anne Key

Harmony Ink Press

Published April 30th 2019
Cover Artist: Tiferet Design
Sales Links: Harmony Ink Press | Amazon

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Interview with Gina Harris and Anne Key

Has your choice of childhood or teenage reading genres carried into your own choices for writing?

Anne: When I was a teenager, I devoured every horror novel I could find. I grew up in the 70s and 80s when the horror genre was exploding, and there was a foil decorated novel waiting on every corner. I don’t write a lot of horror now (but when I do, it’s SCARY, y’all), but what I learned from all those books is to be true to your voice. Then you can tell the story you need to.

Do you like HFN or HEA? And why?

Anne: I am a HEA girl, all the way. I believe, you know? I believe in miracles and magic and happily ever after and in forever. It’s my job to build a place where other people can believe too.

Is there such a thing as making a main character too “real”?  Do you think you can bring too many faults into a character that eventually it becomes too flawed to become a love interest?

Gina: We’re all human and every one of us is flawed, but no one is too flawed to be loved! I guess a character could seem “too real” but It’s my job as an author to make sure that the reader sees the good in that person. If it’s not obvious, or if they start the story kind of unlikeable, then I have to show their intention or their growth, something so the reader can see they are capable of loving and being loved.

If you could imagine the best possible place for you to write, where would that be and why?

Gina: Take me to the beach! I don’t even need a private getaway, I like people watching on the beach. Just sit me somewhere that I won’t get sand in my laptop and my iced tea won’t get cold and I’ll be good. I’m so inspired by the sound and the energy of the waves and the sunshine. I even love the beach in a storm.

Blurb

Lone Star in Jersey

After his transition, Eli Green is stoked to finally have a body that matches the boy he’s always been. Freshman year was rough, so he’s moving to a new school a town over, where no one has ever known him as Elizabeth.

Samantha Moore has always been one of the bright and beautiful in her Texas high school: varsity cheer and advanced math. But when her momma dies out of the blue, Sammy’s familiar world dies too. Suddenly she’s living in New Jersey with a father she barely knows, thousands of miles from everything she understands.

After running into each other (literally) on the first day of school, Eli is fascinated by Sammy, who sparkles brighter than the bling on her jeans, but as their relationship deepens he knows he has to be honest with her, but he doesn’t know whether he can trust her with his secret. Sammy’s still grieving, the boy she likes is hiding something, and she isn’t sure she gets that. If that’s not enough, secrets her family has kept for years are rising to the surface, and she’s about to lose herself in all the drama.

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About the Authors

Gina Harris: is caffeinated. When she’s not drinking coffee, she is on the beach or in a boat. Occasionally she can even be found writing. Gina holds a Bachelors in Theater Arts from Rutgers University so, as an author, her strength lies in creating relatable, human characters who are flawed, but step up when you need them most. That unassuming but brilliant girl in your math class. The shy boy who is fantastic on his skateboard. The best friend that doesn’t need to ask because he just gets you, and the new friend that wants to be something more.

Gina is the author of I Kiss Girls, a sweet YA romance about a lesbian girl in a small, suburban town whose best friend, a straight guy, always gets the girl — until one day, he doesn’t. Gina lives in the suburbs of New York City with her wife and children.

Anne Key: Anne Key recently left her beloved Texas and now lives with her amazing wife in the New Mexico mountains, spending her time writing the kinds of books she wants to read, playing with her basset hounds, and making stuff that wants to be art when it grows up. She’s been writing and illustrating for decades, exploring media from poetry to sculpture, from romance novels to weaving.

She believes in ghosts, in cowboys, in forgiveness, in happily ever after, in magic, and in love at first sight. Mostly, she believes in experiencing your own personal joy wherever you can.

 

Social media

Gina and Anne share a website at: http://www.eastmeetswestya.com/

Gina

Twitter https://twitter.com/ginaharrisya

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ginaharriswrites

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6438158.Gina_Harris

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ginaharrisya

Tumblr https://eastmeetswestya.tumblr.com/

Anne

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/batortuga

Tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/blog/annekeywrites-blog

A MelanieM Review:To Be Continued (#lovehim #3.5) by S.M. James

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Welcome to Webcon. Where the biggest and brightest internet celebrities come face to face with their fans.

Brought up in the ‘live for likes’ culture, Digi Lynch has amassed an impressive following. His channel is taking off, and Webcon always delivers a boost in numbers, thanks to his rivalry with ex-vlogging partner, Gram Saito.

Gram is popular, confident, and rising to the kind of fame worthy of a second gen internet sensation. And he’s up to his old tricks.

Digi can’t turn a corner for fear of being pranked and his reaction blasted online. And after one of Gram’s most high scale pranks yet, Digi decides it’s time to get even.

The animosity between Digi and Gram heats up as old feelings resurface, and Digi is forced to decide whether a life in the limelight is worth it …

Before they both go too far.

A YA contemporary novella, To Be Continued is the prequel to Not Gonna Lie and will show you where it all began for Gram and Digi.

To Be Continued (#lovehim #3.5) by S.M. James is the last of the available stories in this author’s must read YA series, a fact that’s making me sigh already.  That it’s ending here, on the “first half” of Digi and Gram’s story? Worse because this is not one of those happy stories.  It’s full of pain, the punch in the gut ways only family and those we care for but have blinders on can deal blows. It’s being young and trying to figure things out.  It’s real, sometimes mean and in every way authentic as S.M James gets under these characters skins and emotions like no other.

You have two boys now teenagers who used to be friends only a year ago, their animosity fueled in part by their mother’s  who are competitive in their online blogs and make sure it carries over to their sons, who have blogs and followers of their own.  A twisty world, a heartbreaking way to grow up online and Digi has had enough.

The strength and pain of his feelings come through so powerfully that we are carried swiftly along through several days of events to an abrupt end.  It will make sense and make us want to grab for the story still out of reach until May.  We need to know what happened to everyone next.  But as James tells us in the title  this is To Be Continued….

If you ask me to pick a couple as a favorite, I probably would have swayed towards Brooks and Damien….but there’s something about Digi and Gram.  Well of of them.  They get to you.  In their struggles to find themselves.  Their sexuality and their path to love.  Each and everyone has a deep place in my heart.   This story is just one more reason why.

But don’t start here.  I listed all the books below.  They are short and incredible.  Read them in the order they are written and then wait with them to see what happens with Digi and Gram.  Is it time yet?  Are we there?

 

Cover art: Story Styling Cover Design.  That’s perfect in a way.  Brands the series and has the tone down.

Sales Link:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 114 pages
Published April 4th 2019 by May Books
ASIN B07P3SMSSR
Series #lovehim #3.5

Series #lovehim

That Feeling When (Archie and Landon)

No Big Deal
No Big Deal (Angus and Tyler) 1.5
To Be Continued(3,5) Digi and Gram
In Real Life(4.5)  Archie and Landon  coming soon, hopefully.

A MelanieM Review:For The Win (#lovehim #2.5) by S.M. James

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

He’s been stood up.

It stings more than it should, considering it wasn’t actually a date. But being stranded at a holiday party alone, is one of the most terrifying things Brooks can imagine.

Then he meets the larger than life Darien. He’s cool, fun, and saves Brooks from a night of lurking awkwardly in the corner.

But before Darien can get too flirty, Brooks lays down the law. They’re hanging out as friends. Just friends.

Because Brooks doesn’t date. Ever.

Even though Darien is gorgeous.

Even though he sees through Brooks’s bullshit.

Even though everything about him screams ‘take a chance’.

Brooks made his choice.

This isn’t a date.

Well, if you’ve been following my reviews of this incredible YA series, then you know that, unfortunately as is my wont, I did not read them in the order they were written.  Bad me.  Mea Culpa.  Because they are so much better that way.  If (insert duoh here) you read them as the author clearly intended,  you pick up on the nuances of each characters back history, their slow to develop relationship with the person they are meant to be with, as well as some of the other personalities that appear throughout the series and in their own stories. More on that below.

But I fell into the #lovehim series by way of that incredibly emotional story In Case You Missed It (#lovehim #3).  That would be the one that first introduced me to this author, series, and proceeded to put my heart through an entire gamut of emotions from heartbreak to hope while making me fall deeply in love with these characters and world the author was building.

For The Win (#lovehim #2.5) by S.M. James is a “beginning” story, the how they meet section of one of the main couples in the series.  It just so happens to be the story I should have read prior to In Case You MIssed It because all the clues, all the “damnit, really” indications are flowing here.  But so are the beautiful writing and relationship dynamics that occur between Brooks and Darien as they meet for the first time.  The dialog, the glances, it’s everything.

I think I might have mumbled something about the author giving enough information that you could read the other story as a stand alone.  After reading this, I was an idiot.  Don’t do that.  For The Win is the foundation that In Case You Missed It needs.  Just as I have come to realize that this is a pattern the author uses with her other couples.  We get a glimpse into their past lives and first meet or section taken from their relationship.  Then we get a story that will fast forward it to a “present day” to see where that relationship stands and how the young men are doing in their lives. And, folded in among the real life relationship drama of the current main couple, we get an idea of what our other couples are doing as well.

What can I say?  I love this series and characters!  It’s realistic in its situations, the characters have depth and remain true to their age and histories.  Where needed, and yes, it’s really needed with some of the people here, the author has done the research to make everything feel authentic and believable.  So easy to fall in love with all of them and I did.

I have listed all the stories below.  Only a couple left to review before I’m out and waiting for the May release.  I don’t think I want to be deprived of this series even for a month’s time.   So yes, I highly recommend this story and series.  Please start with the first one and work your way through.  It’s the only way to go.

I will be waiting for the next story to release!

Cover art:  Story Styling Cover Designs.   Cute, and the  tone, style fits and brands the series.

Sales Link: Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 40 pages
Published November 28th 2018 by May Books
ASINB07HFVVJSG
Series #lovehim #2.5

Series #lovehim

That Feeling When (Archie and Landon)

No Big Deal
No Big Deal (Angus and Tyler) 1.5
To Be Continued(3,5) Digi and Gram
In Real Life(4.5)  Archie and Landon  coming soon, hopefully.

A MelanieM Release Day Review: Royal Rescue by A. Alex Logan

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

 

At age eighteen, when they become marriageable, all royal children in the Thousand Kingdoms must either go questing to rescue another royal or be hidden away to await rescue themselves. Some go the traditional route of princes rescuing princesses, but not all princes want to be rescuers…and some would rather rescue other princes.

Then there’s Prince Gerald, who has no interest in getting married at all. When he refuses to choose a role as either rescuer or rescuee, his royal parents choose for him and have him magicked away to a distant tower to await a spouse.

Gerald, however, is having none of it. He recruits his guardian dragon and a would-be rescuer and soon the trio is dashing to all corners of the united kingdoms on a quest to overturn the entire system.

Well, I just love this story!  New author and new fantasy story all in one.  Love it when that happens.  Especially when the author manages to take several standard fantasy elements and give them their own take.  Here Logan uses the familiar knight quest/damsel in distress/rescue as a major element, along with the dragon that guards the tower.  And promptly turns all said elements on their narrative heads to my total entertainment and joy.

It starts with Prince Gerald, who’s mothers, the Queens want him to get married.  That’s right the Queens.  In this world, the many kingdoms have apparently long come accustomed to various sexualities and their pairings.  Marriages made between men, women, gender fluid people…like Princex…all good and accepted.  But there’s one last huge area not understood or even thought of….that of being asexual.  That is Gerald and his current problem because he doesn’t want to get married and can’t seem to get anyone to listen to him to understand exactly why this is so deeply affecting him.  He doesn’t feel the way they do.  He doesn’t understand everyone being a “sexual” being nor does he want a sexual marriage and that’s want is being forced on him and whoever he marries.

Logan, using Gerald as our point of view, brings us into his heart, mind, and frustration over the lack of empathy and the poignancy of his situation.  Which only gets worse.  Then unexpectedly through Gerald’s kindness and intelligence, gets better.  For not only himself, but for several species that had been forced into servitude, including dragons, and wholes generations of new young royals coming of age.  In other words, Gerald and a small group of friends become heroes.

And it will start by Gerald saving himself.  Really, doesn’t get any better than that.

Logan does a superb job of world building, crafting the characters and creating the rigid political structures that have led to the situation all have found themselves in.  I found myself totally invested in every aspect of this story.  I was rooting for them all to succeed while admiring different aspects of the author’s storytelling.

There is a small group of royal friends and a sapient dragon, several quests of their own making, and a remarkable ending.  Yes, this is a character and troop of characters to root for.  Especially as I thought the author did an excellent job with bringing Gerald’s pain and frustration over his asexuality to light to those around him, including the readers.  What hurt and was perhaps realistic was still a matter of total understanding from those closest to Gerald at the end of his asexuality.  That he might not ever get all the approval or total acceptance he was hoping for.  That it would have to be enough…for now.

And it was.  You have to read the book to understand that.  There’s hope and Gerald was leaving to go where he wanted, on a path of his own making.  Sort of perfect.  Just like this story.

Yes, I definitely recommend this story for YA fantasy lovers or just lovers of fantasy.  There is no heat level as you can imagine.  But lots of adventure and plenty to cheer about.  Dragons and heroes or every sort!

Cover art: Natasha Snow.  I think Natasha Snow is just nailing her covers including this one.  Perfect from the dragon to the setting. Love it.

Sales links:  NineStar Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: April 8th 2019 by NineStar Press
ISBN 139781950412419
Edition Language English

Check Out the New Book Release for The Soulstealers by Jacqueline Rohrbach (excerpt and giveaway)

Title: The Soulstealers

Author: Jacqueline Rohrbach

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: April 1, 2019

Heat Level: 1 – No Sex

Pairing: Female/Female

Length: 90100

Genre: Fantasy YA, LGBT, Magic, soldiers, power struggle, spirits, Penumbra, slow burn

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Synopsis

Arnaka Skytree grew up believing she was chosen to bring new magic to the world. As the heir to the cult of druids responsible for keeping their floating palace habitable for the wealthy aristocracy, she’s expected to wield her power as those before her did: by culling the souls of peasant women.

But when Arnaka learns more about the source of her magic, and that her best friend’s soul will be harvested, she embarks on a journey to end the barbarous practice and to restore a long-forgotten harmonious system of magic practiced by the original druids. Along the way, she discovers she’s not the only girl chosen to restore balance to their world—many others have powerful magic inside, and with them, she will tear the floating palace from the sky so everyone can live in the sun—out of the shadow of the eclipse.

Excerpt

Soulstealers
Jacqueline Rohrbach © 2019
All Rights Reserved

Chapter 1
The Choosing

Flowers bloomed around Arnaka Skytree. Tiger lilies tickled her feet while orchids pried open one eye. Rose, the pricklier of the three, stuck her with one of its thorns. She puffed some air up in its direction, fluttering petals and her bangs. Late for her Choosing, Arnaka forced the insistent garden out of her mind, to focus on the currents of air traveling around her, picking out the magic radiating from the flowers the way her older brother picked out soldiers to die for him—delicately, decidedly.

Strong magic ran in her family. The ritual she had to go to was nothing but a mere formality. She would be a druid like all the other women in her family before her, down to the original matriarch—Arnaka the Creator—whose name she shouldered. She was bound to it the way her magic was bound to living things. Soon, it would be the last tattoo burned by magical fire into her skin.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she pressed her finger deep into the sifted dirt around her, begging the world to swallow her whole. The flowers, sensing her sadness, bowed their heads, but they couldn’t give her what she wanted. Destiny’s feet were too heavy for soft petals.

“Lady Arnaka? Are you here?”

Nara, one of her maids, stumbled into the conservatory. Arnaka felt the young woman’s life force before she opened her eyes to watch the bony girl blunder over the flowers, which recoiled from her steps, lifting their leafy underparts to avoid a trampling. Arnaka gave Nara’s approach a small, fond smile.

When she finally saw Arnaka, Nara jumped as if surprised. Her brown eyes widened, giving her the appearance of a deer about to be speared. “Lady Arnaka. Your mother wants you in the hall for the ceremony.”

“I know.”

“She sent me here to get you.”

“I assumed.”

“Lady Arnaka…” the poor girl prompted her.

Arnaka sighed. Nara, who was brought here as a servant and lived on the daily whims of her captors, had no choice but to play her role in today’s events. She wasn’t trying to drag Arnaka to the ceremony out of spite, avarice, or revenge. Doing her job without getting hurt was her only goal.

Pity softened Arnaka’s voice. “Of course. Tell Mother I’ll be right there.”

Nara hopped from one foot to the other. Voice barely above a whisper, she said, “I’m supposed to escort you, Lady Arnaka.”

Arnaka lifted her head and glowered at the servant, hoping the severe expression might be enough to send her on her way. Having company on the long trek toward the hall forced Arnaka to be strong. Really, all she wanted to do was run, hide, vanish.

You promised, she reminded herself. You promised you’d go through with this, and that you’d keep it from happening to anyone else.

With a wince, the servant tried again. “My lady, please. Your mother. She’ll—”

“Very well. Come on,” Arnaka interjected before Nara completed the statement with “punish me.” Hearing about her mother’s temper coupled with her propensity to harshly correct servants for slight failures would only twist Arnaka’s already knotted emotions.

“Thank you, Lady Arnaka.”

Said as if she had a choice. “You’re welcome.”

Banter wasn’t something Arnaka lavished on the silly, sweet girl. The walk down the hall was silent. Nara didn’t seem to mind the quiet, or notice. Newly employed, she occupied a world where magic was still magical. The diamond archways casting rainbows to the reflective surface beneath their feet dazzled. Gold shone. Ruby and sapphire mosaics sparked her brown eyes to flame. Tiredly, Arnaka grabbed the gawking servant, who tripped over her own feet as she ogled the spectacle, by the upper arm to drag her inside the transport.

“Ceremonial hall.”

In moments, they arrived. In front of them, the entire court gathered. Thousands of nobles, maybe more, in their best attire.

Her mother broke from the crowd and rushed over. “Arnaka, my daughter. You are radiant today.”

Both of them had black skin that always seemed moonlit and black hair that grew in thick waves. Her mother’s was always swept up into elaborate twists. Arnaka cut hers rebelliously short, letting her curly bangs cover her golden eyes, the pride of her family line. Look into your future mirror, the elder druids always liked to say, you are the spitting image of your mother.

Although her mother was undeniably beautiful with her high cheekbones and angular features, Arnaka’s pleasure in hearing about their resemblance waned. She didn’t want to be kin to a monster.

The swirl of Mother’s elaborate gown extended a foot or two in each direction. Mercurial as the woman herself, its folds, bows, frills, and ruffles shifted on whim in color and in style until she settled on a deep royal purple with a long ivory lace train that fluttered in the air like a cobweb in the breeze.

“Wasteful as always, Mother.” Arnaka pointed to the dress, to which she still made minor adjustments. Meanwhile, the living gathered around her looked wary. Druid magic required life, willing or not. “Glad you settled on something before the whole assembly was depleted.”

A few of the nobles glanced at their feet and cleared their throats but did not comment on the awkward exchange. Her brother puffed his chest. “Sister,” he bellowed, not unlike a braying goat. “We have waited for this moment your whole life.”

Lacking the refinement of magic, Escan’s features looked blunt and staggered as though whoever carved him had jittered uncontrollably during the process. Only his eyes, the color of golden flame that was his family’s legacy, rendered him attractive. Every girl wanted babies with ladder-climbing genes and nothing said advancement quite like the bloodline of old aristocracy. Otherwise, her brother lacked figurative magic as well as literal. He was doing his best to steal the moment despite it.

Arnaka looked at the assembly of aristocrats before her. Like her mother, they wanted all the religion with none of the sacrifice religion required. Servants were there to pay the life price for their magic. In a pinch, merchants would do. Who better to understand there was a cost to doing business? This was probably the first time in centuries any of them felt the intrusive pull of magic’s touch at their own doorstep.

Resigned to what was to be, Arnaka raised her voice to carry across the room. “I am here to bring new magic.”

Applause broke out. Arnaka winced away from it, hating the fact they clapped for her, for the evil thing they were about to do. You promised her, Arnaka had to remind herself again. You looked her in the eye and said you’d go through with this, then you’d keep it from happening to anyone else.

She’d been so focused on remembering her vow that she forgot the ceremony. The pain from the burning as her final tattoo, a small circle on her forehead, seared her skin surprised her. More than any of the other tattoos branded into her arms and back, it hurt with pain beyond the smell of her own flesh, beyond the residual throb of the wound. It foretold what was to come after.

As the smoke around her cleared, a young woman a few years older than her was escorted forward. Unnamed at birth, she existed to be Arnaka’s spirit sister until she became a soul familiar, forever bound to serve as an instant source of magic. But Arnaka knew her name, a deep secret between them that she’d sworn to keep. She held onto it even as the knife plunged into the young woman’s throat. She thought it when the soul heeled at her side—Hannah. Again when she went to bed with the thing looming over her shoulder—Hannah. Only once more after that.

Purchase

NineStar Press | Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Meet the Author

Jacqueline Rohrbach is a 36-year-old creative writer living in windy central Washington. When she isn’t writing strange books about bloodsucking magical werewolves, she’s baking sweets, or walking her two dogs, Nibbler and Mulder. She also loves cheesy ghost shows, especially when the hosts call out the ghost out like he wants to brawl with it in a bar. You know, “Come out here, you coward! You like to haunt little kids. Haunt me!” Jackee laughs at this EVERY time.

She’s also a hopeless World of Warcraft addict. In her heyday, she was a top parsing disc priest. She became a paladin to fight Deathwing, she went back to a priest to cuddle pandas, and then she went to a shaman because I guess she thought it would be fun to spend an entire expansion underpowered and frustrated. Boomchicken for Legion! Follow Jacqueline on Twitter.

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