Category: Publishers

On Tour with Erica Pike and Black Hurricane (contest)

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Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Erica Pike here today to talk about her latest release, Black Hurricane, hot rockers boys, and all things writing.  She’s brought along a contest to enter and an excerpt to read.  Check them all out,  now on to our interview. Welcome, Erica!

 

STRW: What is your character’s favorite profession?

Erica Pike: Honestly? I love writing characters who cook, and yet the only books I’ve written that contain a professional baker is the Castor Spring series (free, because they were a part of a writing event). However, I love throwing in characters, in my other books, who are amazing cooks even if it’s just a hobby. Musicians are also one of my favorites, because there’s just something about a guy who can make music, be it with his voice or fingers.

STRW: Do you have a favorite age in mind for your characters?

Erica Pike: I mostly write New Adult, which means 18-25ish. I like it because people have to learn so much during those years when they take their first steps into adulthood and everything that comes with it. It’s also the time period where a lot of gay men are finally free to be themselves by moving away from their childhood towns, so they experience life in a whole different way, make new friendships, enter the adult dating pool, and possibly find their first love.

STRW: Contemporary romance or erotica?  How do you see your stories?

Erica Pike: I write gay romances. If I have to choose between the two terms, it’s definitely romance. You can remove the sex scenes and there’s still a romance story. Erotic Romance would be a better way of describing them, since there’s explicit sex in almost all of them, but people tend to think “Erotica” when they see Erotic Romance so I just say “Romance.” The first books I wrote contained a lot of sex scenes, as if often with debut novels in the M/M genre, but I’ve mellowed over time and now there’s more focus on other things. It doesn’t mean that the books have become boring, it just means that the guys don’t jump into bed as quickly.

STRW: Rockers are always hot!  What makes your rockers different?

Erica Pike: Mine are hotter? But, seriously, Black Hurricane is about Jazz who isn’t a professional rocker to begin with. He loves to sing and play guitar, but he’s never been about the fame and never thought about a career in music. When the fame is thrust upon him, he resents it, but the resentment has more to do with the media connecting him to the rocker Dean McQueen, whom Jazz despises with passion.

STRW: Favorite rock band?  Now and growing up?

Erica Pike: My favorite rock band hasn’t changed since I was growing up. Well, I wasn’t much into rock until I was in my teens and I discovered Quarashi, an Icelandic rock-rap band. They broke up in 2004, but announced this year that they’re back together. That’s beyond awesome, because it means more cool music. Quarashi’s “Stick ‘em Up” helped get me in the mood for Black Hurricane’s back alley standoff scene.

STRW: Do you listen to music when you write and if so, what inspires you?

Erica Pike: I don’t. Not while I write, but I may listen to it in between writing. However, during the writing of Black Hurricane, I did listen to some rock music while I wrote, Nine Inch Nails’ Closer, for example. That’s the kind of music that inspires me – great beat and raw lyrics. None of the flowery stuff for me.

STRW: Favorite character of yours?  Or do you have one?

Erica Pike: I have one, and my other characters wouldn’t mind if they actually existed. It’s Eric Wesley. I never mean for him to steal the spotlight in every Boston Boys book, but he does it anyway. I love his brash nature, his way with words, and his spunky attitude.

STRW: Which comes first character or a plot?

Erica Pike: In case of the Boston Boys series, it was definitely the characters. I never meant for it to become a series when I wrote A Life Without You, but five weeks later I had Absolutely Eric in my hands. Since I’d written two, I figured I might as well give the rest of the guys a book. However, when I wrote the College Fun and Gays series, the plots came to me first.

Thank you so much for having me over. It’s been a pleasure.

Book Name: Black Hurricane
Author Name: Erica Pike
Publisher:  MLR Press LLC

Contest:  Rafflecopter Prize: A $50 Amazon Gift Certificate and signed paperbacks of A Life Without You, Hot Hands and The Walls Have Ears. One (international) winner for the lot.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Visit here for the entry form and additional contest details or at the link at the bottom of the post.

Hot Hands 400 x 600A Life Without You 400 X 600The Walls Have Ears 400 x 600

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author Bio: Erica lives in Iceland with her adorable little twin boys. She often says that her real name sounds like Klingon to foreigners. Seriously, if “Eyjafjallajökull” looks like a random strings of characters, it’s nothing in comparison to Erica’s name.
She’s been writing for several years, or ever since reading became an obsession. Aside from a business degree, Erica has taken English courses at the University of Iceland and gulped down anything that might help her in her career as an author. She takes great interest in English, but will break every single grammar rule for the sake of The Voice.

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Black Hurricane 400 X 600Title: Black Hurricane by Erica Pike
Cover Artist: Scarlet Tie Designs
Publisher: MLR Press

Buy Links:    MLR Press            All Romance eBooks (ARe)          Amazon

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Black Hurricane Blurb:

Twenty-three year old Jasper Jones fell in love with Dean McQueen at fourteen, but after a disastrous relationship, Jazz would like nothing better than to see the rock star choke on his own vomit.

After a catastrophic reunion, Dean seems bent on destroying Jazz’s life. It all started when an impromptu bar performance ended up on YouTube and Jazz became an internet sensation overnight. The name “Jazdean” keeps popping up in headlines and the paparazzi stalk his every move. To make matters worse, Jazz is about to end up on the streets for the second time in his life.

In a desperate attempt to keep his home, Jazz signs a deal with Dean’s band, Black Hurricane, to perform at a couple of concerts. It feels like one of Dean’s feeble attempts to get Jazz back, but painted into a corner like he is, Jazz has no choice.

Excerpt:

“Jazz, take pictures!” Eric pokes me hard in the side with his bony elbow.

I wince and raise the camera, clicking a shot.

“Go to the front, like they’re doing.” He points at the photographers running to the front and clicking madly on their cameras.

Heaving a sigh, I drag my ass off the chair to walk forward. I rake my hand through my hair before I glance back at the monstrosity on the platform. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be in this position. Suddenly oil paint and new guitar strings don’t seem all that important. I just wanna get out, but Eric needs these pictures for the magazine and I’d rather die than let one of my friends down.

My heart thuds when I see Dean looking right back at me as I approach. His brow furrows as if he’s trying to place me. Typical. Of course he wouldn’t remember me. Why would he? My heart hammers a fast beat as my body breaks out in sweat. The inside of my throat thickens, stopping half of the oxygen from reaching my lungs. And still, I’m having the hardest time looking away.

Am I nervous under his green-eyed gaze? Or is it just the hate? It’s been years since I last saw him.

Not wanting to give the wrong impression of an adoring fan, I narrow my eyes and spew out all the venom I feel for this man into one, hateful glare, just before I raise the camera and snap my shots.

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Tour Dates/Stops

BlackHurricaneAugust 11: Because Two Men Are Better Than One
August 18: Full Moon Dreaming
August 25: MM Good Book Reviews, Hearts on Fire
September 1: Velvet Panic, Fallen Angel Reviews, Havan Fellows
September 8: Decadent Delights
September 15: Up All Night, Read All Day, Love Bytes
September 22: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Smoocher’s Voice
September 29: Prism Book Alliance
October 6: It’s Raining Men, Michael Mandrake
October 13: Cate Ashwood
October 20: The Novel Approach
October 27: The Hat Party, Dawn’s Reading Nook
November 3: Tara Lain
November 10: My Fiction Nook
November 17: Emotion in Motion, Kimi-Chan
November 24: Amanda C. Stone

 

Rafflecopter Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Welcome to the Belonging Verse! On Tour with Aleksandr Voinov and Rachel Haimowitz’ Stories-Anchored and Counterpunch! (Contest)

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Belonging_150x300Welcome to the “Belonging ’Verse re-release blog tour with Aleksandr Voinov and Rachel Haimowitz! We’re very excited to be bringing you edited second editions of our Belonging stories, Anchored and Counterpunch (in the case of Anchored, very edited, with over ten thousand new words and a completely different beginning and ending!), which are finally under the same roof and back in print after about a year out of circulation.

We’ll be touring for about two weeks, Aleks discussing his slave boxer and the barrister who tries to free him, and Rachel talking about her slave news anchor and the talk show host who covets him, and both of us discussing the world of Belonging at large—which, as you’ve probably guessed, is not a particularly pretty place. But good things can and do happen in this world, and we hope you’ll stick with us to find out what!

Speaking of good things, don’t forget to comment on this post for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the Riptide store! Each new post you comment on earns you an entry into the drawing, so be sure to check out the rest of the tour schedule too!  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

About Anchored by Rachel Haimowitz:

Anchored Riptide CoverNetwork news anchor Daniel Halstrom is at the top of his field, but being at the bottom of the social ladder—being a slave—makes that hard to enjoy. Especially when NewWorld Media, the company that’s owned him since childhood, decides to lease him privately on evenings and weekends to boost their flagging profits.

Daniel’s not stupid; he knows there’s only one reason someone would pay so much for what little free time he has. But dark memories of past sexual service leave him certain he won’t survive it again with his sanity intact.

He finds himself in the home of Carl Whitman, a talk show host whose words fail him when it comes to ordering Daniel into his bed. Carl can’t seem to take what he must want, and Daniel’s not willing to give it freely. His recalcitrance costs him dearly, but with patience and some hard-won understanding, affection just might flourish over fear and pain. Carl holds the power to be an anchor in Daniel’s turbulent life, but if he isn’t careful, he’ll end up the weight that sinks his slave for good.

Sales Link at Riptide Publishing. Read an excerpt and buy it here.

About Counterpunch by Aleksandr Voinov:

Counterpunch Riptide CoverFight like a man, or die like a slave.

Two years ago, Brooklyn Marshall was a happily married London policeman and amateur boxer with a promising future. Then he accidentally killed a rioter whose powerful father had him convicted of murder. To ease the burden on the prison system, the state sold Brooklyn into slavery. Now he’s the “Mean Machine,” competing on the slave prizefighting circuit for the entertainment of freemen, and being rented out for sexual service to his wealthier fans.

When barrister Nathaniel Bishop purchases Brooklyn’s services for a night, Brooklyn braces himself for yet another round of humiliation and pain. But the pair form an unexpected bond that grows into something more. Brooklyn hesitates to call it love—such feelings can’t truly exist between freemen and slaves—but when Nathaniel reveals that he wants to get Brooklyn’s conviction overturned, Brooklyn dares to hope.

Until an accident in the ring sends Brooklyn on the run, jeopardizing everything he’s worked so hard for. With the law on his tail and Nathaniel in his corner, he must prepare for the most important fight of his life: the fight for his freedom.

Sales link at Riptide Publishing.  Read an excerpt and buy it here.

About the Authors:

Rachel Haimowitz is an M/M erotic romance author and the Publisher of Riptide Publishing. She’s also a sadist with a pesky conscience, shamelessly silly, and quite proudly pervish. Fortunately, all those things make writing a lot more fun for her . . . if not so much for her characters.

When she’s not writing about hot guys getting it on (or just plain getting it; her characters rarely escape a story unscathed), she loves to read, hike, camp, sing, perform in community theater, and glue captions to cats. She also has a particular fondness for her very needy dog, her even needier cat, and shouting at kids to get off her lawn.

Aleksandr Voinov has been published for twenty years, both in print and ebook. He has ten years’ experience as a writing coach, book doctor, and writing teacher, and until recently worked as an editor in financial services.

After co-authoring the M/M military cult classic Special Forces, Aleksandr embarked on a quest to write gritty, edgy, sometimes literary M/M and gay fiction (much of which is romance/erotica)—the only way he can use his American Literature degree these days.

  • He’s been published with Heyne/Random House, Carina Press, Samhain Publishing, and others, and is an EPIC Awards winner and a Lambda Awards finalist. You can connect with Aleks at:
    Website,
    Blog,
    Twitter:@aleksandrvoinov,
    Goodreads

A MelanieM Review: Lukos Heat (Heart of Fire #1) by Megan Derr

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

Lukos Heat coverDragon Najlah is on the hunt with his fellow shifters in the Royal Shifter Corp.  His quarry? The court assassin who just tried to kill the King and his brother in the process. So far the mage has eluded them, but now Najlah and his battle brothers have chased the betrayer to the snowy Shide Mountains where few would dare venture, including themselves.  The cold is beyond frigid and the peaks fearsome in their height and ruggedness.  The Shide territory controlled by the Lukos,  the wild wolf shifters.  And it is the Lukos who meet them as they enter the range on their hunt.  The feral wolves hate interlopers but agree to help in the search for the mage, if for no other reason than to get the hunters out of their territory.

Barkus, the head of the Lukos pack that intercepts the King’s Shifters is amazed to see a dragon among them.  Dragons are so rare in the Shide that they are assumed to be folklore, beings used to scare small kits.  But there roaring and unhappy in the cold, appears Najlah and Barkus is intrigued.  Najlah returns his interest but first the race is on to find the mage and navigate the treacherous conditions they find themselves in.   When a fight turns deadly, Najlah and Barkus must use every advantage they have to survive, including one that just might bind them together forever.

Lukos Heat is another intriguing start to a new series by Megan Derr.  Heart of Fire’s first story, Lukos Heat introduces us to the Kingdom of Restuel, its Rulers, and the non humans among them.  At the top of the group are the Dragons, not dragon shifters but dragons who can assume a somewhat human form but remain always dragons in mindset and action.  Derr starts laying out her universe and beings almost immediately.

There are 3 types of dragons.  Najlah is a hornless black scale, the most fearsome warriors.  His brother Fayth?  Huge, horned and a protector who just happened to have married a human who is royalty.  And then there are the Bitches, the awe-inspiring female dragons who live in the caves, have the young and are basically the rulers in dragon society. Najlah’s home is inside a volcano where the fires sooth and refresh him.  I expect more dragon natural history to appear along with more stories.  What Derr gives us is fascinating while provoking more questions.

By royal marriage and agreements set between their rulers, dragons have come to live in Restuel, along with bird and cat shifters.  The wolves?  They are a feral group that lives apart in the Shide territories, content to remain aloof and isolated by choice and geographical and meteorological  conditions.  But a war is brewing and the attempt on the King’s life is just the start of the attacks.  Who is behind it and how will they stop it?  More questions pop up then are answered here.

This short story is all about the hunt for the poisoner and the meeting between wolf and dragon.  Each is a fierce warrior, courageous, loyal, and impulsive in their actions.  Both Najlah and Barkus recognize like souls immediately and how they pull together is the charm of this story.  I love the descriptions that let us know that Najlah retains his poisonous claws, scales and even fangs in his human like form, fangs so long that he is unable to talk but communicates through growls and hisses.   Barkus is as entertaining as he is savage and able.  The two make an aggressively attractive pair. I can’t wait to see where Derr takes them and this series.

I recommend this story and will be waiting along with the rest of you to see what happens next to our dangerous duo and the Kingdom of Restuel.  I can imagine the battles and snark now, and that’s just the courtship between wolf and dragon!  Whatever it turns out to be, I am sure it will be entertaining,  inventive and a must  story for all lovers of dragons and fantasy!

Cover art by Julie Wright.  Love that cover, works perfectly for Najlah.

Sales Links:   Less Than Three Press (preorder)

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: October 22nd 2014 by Less Than Three Press LLC
(first published May 17th 2013)
original title”Lukos Heat” published in Dracones
ISBN139781620044438
edition languageEnglish
series:  Heart of Fire

A MelanieM Review: Midsummer’s Moon (Midsummer #1) by Megan Derr

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Midsummer MoonHomeless, lonely, and starving, werewolf Lowell has heard of a town and doctor that can cure his lycanthropy.  Lowell can remember little of his upbringing outside of foster homes and abandonment.  All he knows is that being a werewolf brings nothing but pain to himself and to others.  And he wants to be free of his curse.

Lowell is hitchhiking to the  small town of Midsummer’s Night where he thinks the doctor and cure might be residing.  But when a kindly stranger picks Lowell up in the middle of a storm, Lowell gets far more than just a ride to Midsummer’s Night, he finds a wild town made up of supernatural beings who enjoy who and what they are, beings who are ready to accept Lowell into their midst if only he can begin to accept himself and his past.

I love it when a short story feels so much bigger in scope than it is in length.  In Midsummer’s Moon Megan Derr invents a town full of wildly imaginative supernatural beings, each more over the top than the other.  From a doctor with secrets to a vampire with a love for baking cookies and colorful clothing, this is a town that the reader and Lowell need to get familiar with.

Ah, Lowell.  What a sad, little were he starts out being.  Bereft of past, he lacks even the basics to get by in the present, and he hopes to change his future in Midsummer’s Moon.  He does but not in the way he expects.  Derr gives us a character that experiences growth and maturity while outlining the basis for future  stories from this intriguing little town.

As always, Derr brings a few new twists and turns to familiar werewolf lore and introduces us to new supernatural beings and their society that are sure to pop up as the series continues.  Megan Derr is a must read for me and this new series is no exception.  It’s lively, twisty, and fun.  Pick it up and begin your introduction to Midsummer’s Moon, a town you will want to visit again and again.

Cover art: Unsure.  Dark  but works for the story.

Sales Links:    Less Than Three Press             Amazon        Midsummer’s Moon

 

Book Details:

ebook, 63 pages
Published January 2010 by Less Than Three Press
ISBN139781936202119
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.lessthanthreepress.com/ebooks/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66&products_id=187
seriesMidsummer #1

 

Books in the Midsummer series will have audio books out shortly:

Midsummer’s Moon
Midsummer Curse (Midsummer, #2)
Midsummer Law (Midsummer, #3)
Midsummer Baker
Midsummer Days: Tales of Midsummer’s Night

 

A MelanieM Review: Pulling Leather (Pickup Men #3) by L.C. Chase

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

 The toughest ride of his life is all in his head.

PullingLeather_500x750Bull rider Scott Gillard has been fighting all his life, only to have it culminate in a horrific act of hate committed upon someone who used to be one of his closest friends.  While Scott didn’t himself commit the crime, Scott was both the impetus and accelerant for his friends actions and it has cost him everything.

After the brutal beating that cost Tripp Colby his career and almost his life, Scott has left the professional  bull rider circuit  behind.  His past actions and anger have cost him his sponsorships and his career as a bull rider is all but over.  But the past two years have been Scott try to become a better man who is responsible for his actions and more accepting of the sexuality he has always denied.   Scott is trying to change and make amends but will the other rodeo riders and professionals forgive him and let him come back?

Pickup man Cory Ackerson has never backed away from who he is, even if it meant constant harassment and bigoted attacks.  He’s confident in his skills, whether it is acting to save a bull rider on the circuit or putting on his eye liner.  A constant on the gay rodeo circuit, Cory is intrigued when Scott Gillard shows up at one of their rodeos looking to make amends and searching to see if there is a place for Scott somewhere in the rodeo scene.

Cory reaches out to Scott when Scott’s entrance is met with anger and Scott’s only action of one of quiet defense and pain.   Slowly the two form an unlikely friendship between one who is so flamboyantly gay and one who is still struggling to come out of the closet and find acceptance.  When friendship turns to love, Scott must finally decide which path he will take, the one that leads out of the closet or the one that lets fear lead the way away from the one man he loves.

I think that Pulling Leather is absolutely the best so far of the Pick Up Men series by L.C. Chase.  Scott Gillard was a creature of fear and hate in the previous stories.  And while we may have guessed at the secrets he was hiding, he never completely rose above a shallow portrait of a bigot.  Now L. C. Chase gives Scott Gillard his story of redemption and love and pulls the readers along each step of the way.

The prologue offers a glimpse into the action two years prior that caused all the anguish and shattered lives in the process.  When Pulling Leather finally begins Scott is coming off two years of intensive therapy and self reflection.  Now his friend and therapist thinks it is time for Scott to confront his feelings, make amends for his past actions and abuse, and take those first shaky steps out of the closet.  Thankfully, this is a realistic portrait of a man still in need of support, and work.  Scott Gillard is uncertain, apprehensive, and emotionally fragile.  That all that is hidden behind a large, gruff exterior makes his acceptance and turnabout harder for others to accept.  I think L.C. Chase has made Scott such a believable, “rough around the edges” sort of cowboy.  His background is especially painful and it is revealed slowly over the length of the story as Scott gains enough confidence in Cory to reveal parts of himself and his upbringing known only to his therapist.

Cory Ackerson is such an appealing character.  It will be easy for the reader to connect with such a strong character who is unapologetically, flamboyantly gay!  He’s open, non-judgmental yet not without flaws.  I appreciated the fact that Chase didn’t make Cory Scott’s salvation as only Scott could do that for himself.  But Cory and the manner in which he lives his life works to be a lovely example of life lived outside the closet and not only for Scott.

Some readers may find Scott’s progress too slow but I thought that was one of the most authentic touches here.  Scott has a ton of anger and denial to overcome and that is never a swift journey.  Other aspects of this story draw on Chase’s strengths as an author.  Her rodeo universes, both straight and gay, are realistically portrayed as are the people who participate in them.  I believed in this story and her characters because you can almost smell the sawdust from the arena as well as the smell of sweat covered leather from all the rodeo professionals here, male or female, straight or gay. Chase does a terrific job in making all her bull riders and pick up men credible and down to earth.  Loved that.

I am not sure how many stories she has planned for this series but I do know it keeps getting better and better with each installment.  I hope she continues it because its obvious there are so many more stories in this universe that need telling.  Consider this highly recommended but don’t start the series here.  Check out the list below and start at the beginning with Pick Up Men!  If you love cowboys and the rodeo circuit, this is a series for you!

Cover art by L.C. Chase.  That cover is so perfect for the character and story.Love that cover! One of the best of the month.

Sales Links:    Riptide Press      All Romance eBooks (ARe)   Amazon Pulling Leather

Book Details:

ebook, 177 pages
Published September 1st 2014 by Riptide Publishing
original titlePulling Leather
ISBN139781626491618
edition languageEnglish
seriesPickup Men #3

The books in the Pick Up Men series in the order they were written and should be read are:

Pick Up Men by L.C. Chase
Let it Ride (Pickup Men, #2)
Pulling Leather (Pickup Men #3)