Category: Publishers

Author Spotlight: Meet Kerry Adrienne, Artist’s Touch Tour & Contest

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ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords welcomes Kerry Adrienne to the blog today to talk about her latest story, Artist’s Touch, first story in her new Guild series.  Kerry has brought with her a copy of her book, Beautiful One, to give away. To enter the contest, leave a comment below and an email address where you can be reached.  Contest ends 3/23.

Kerry Adrienne:Kerry Adrienne photo

My book, Artist’s Touch, is set in an art guild. I’ve always loved the different media in art—from oil painting to photography, sculpture to metalworking. Creating a guild for my characters gives me a world of techniques to research and explore. I’ve tried many of the things I write about and I love to create art, so the guild definitely was an extension of what I would love in my own life.

Artist’s Touch is the first book in the Guild series. The second book centers around a sculptor in the guild (Sculptor’s Desire) and the third is about a guitarist (Guitarist’s Wish).

I’m really enjoying writing this series—especially since the Guild is located in my favorite city in the world—New York City. I travel there several times a year and I love most everything about it. I’m trying to bring in little bits and pieces into the books I write in hopes that readers who haven’t been able to visit NYC will want to. I love the multicultural vibe and the fast-paced excitement of being around so many people.

Artist’s Touch by Kerry Adrienneartiststouch_cover
The Guild, book one
(Sculptor’s Desire and Guitarist’s Wish coming soon!)
ebook, 147 pages
Published February 26th 2014 by Ellora’s Cave

ISBN 1419947621 (ISBN13: 9781419947629)

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Blurb:

Every starlet wants master painter Kenon Alavi to do her portrait…and more. But Kenon prefers firm to soft and sates his desires with the boyfriends of the women he paints, enjoying the diversity of many lovers but shunning any attachments.

Wallace Harte’s English degree isn’t helping him find a job and working at a bar is the closest he’s gotten to being the Second Coming of Faulkner. Something’s gotta give soon or he’ll be out on the street.

Kenon zeroes in on the bartender at an art exhibition, intending to add him to his long list of conquests, but Wally bolts, initiating a heated game of cat and mouse. Kenon delights in the game until he discovers what Wally is writing. Feeling betrayed, Kenon swears off all entanglements until he reads Wally’s story and discovers true love is sometimes between the pages and not the sheets.

Inside Scoop: This book contains hot, sexy scenes of M/M interaction of an artistic nature. Who knew having your portrait painted could be so hot?

A Romantica® gay erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

EXCERPT:
By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 18, please exit this site.
An Excerpt From: ARTIST’S TOUCH
Copyright © KERRY ADRIENNE, 2014
All Rights Reserved, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc

**.
Another day, another drink for those who had dollars. Wally slipped the candied cherry into the Manhattan and handed the glass to the tall brunette leaning against the bar. With barely a nod, the woman slinked away as if on skates, joining one of the clusters of patrons waiting on Kenon Alavi’s arrival. The artist, notorious for being late, probably wouldn’t arrive for another ten minutes at least. Light jazz floated through the air from the ensemble set up in the far corner and spots of colored lights beamed up the walls to the tall ceilings that arched over the studio space. This would make a great setting for a novel, Wally mused. Too bad he didn’t have the plot to go along with it. His creativity had hit an impasse as cliché as the proverbial brick wall.
“Martini. Wet and stirred, no olive, no twist.” The man put his hand on the bar and looked over his shoulder toward the gallery door. “I’m tired of waiting. Don’t care how special Alavi thinks he is, my time’s important too.” He tapped his fingers on the bar. “Annoying bastard. Wouldn’t be here if my wife wasn’t so keen on having him paint her.”
Wally pulled out the glass for the martini, not speaking to the customer. He’d been hired to make drinks, not socialize. The man was just complaining anyway. He wasn’t really expecting a conversation, especially from the bartender. Plus, tonight Wally had to remember all the different highbrow cocktails. He rarely served anything but beer and frozen drinks back at the Cellar Bar. He poured the vermouth into the sloped glass, then stirred the concoction. As long as Mr. Alavi paid his wage, who cared when he actually showed up? His gala, his schedule.
“Told her we could get a portrait done for a lot less but she insists on this guy.” The finger tapping grew more vigorous. “He’s refused her calls for two months now. Arrogant bastard.”
Wally nodded and set the drink in front of the man. Mr. Alavi sounded like a typical snobby artist. Big surprise. “Here you go, sir. Wet and stirred. No olive, no twist.”
“Top shelf?” the man asked, raising an eyebrow. He toyed with the rim of the glass, running his finger around it as if he was checking for chips.
“It’s all we serve,” Wally mumbled, wiping up a few drops of condensation from the top of the bar. Alavi’s guests were snobby too. “Only the best.” Bottles of fine alcohol that could pay off his student loans with cash left over for a few months of rent. He looked out over the room of people. Wealth and privilege as far as he could see, well, except for the musicians in the corner. He smiled. At least they were making a living off their art. One day he would too—if he could ever shed his writer’s block.
The man shrugged and tipped up the glass, finishing off the cocktail in one gulp. He held the glass to the light and examined it, then set it on the bar. “Good thing Alavi has an open bar at this reception. Otherwise, I’d leave right now, no matter what my wife said. I’ll take another, please. The same.” He resumed his tapping.
Wally took out a new glass and prepared the man’s drink. The jazz music was making him sleepy. He’d much prefer something a little more lively. Having spent the previous night out on the town dancing to a club beat didn’t help. But he couldn’t refuse the extra money this bartending gig would put in his pocket. He pushed the glass over to the man and tried not to yawn.
Silence hit the entire room at once, echoing off the vaulted ceiling in thick waves. Someone gasped, then the patrons broke into applause. Mr. Alavi had arrived. The large front doors banged closed and the music softened.
Drink forgotten, the man strode off to join the mass of bodies that now moved as one as they pushed toward the door where Mr. Alavi waited to be greeted. Wally squinted to see what the excitement was but the crowd blocked his sightline. He’d heard the artist put on quite the spectacle and with the number of people and amount of money spent on the reception tonight, he didn’t doubt it for a second.
The crowd parted like the Red Sea in front of Moses and a man walked toward the grand doors that led to the open studio in the back of the room.
Wally stared.
Mr. Alavi’s stopped to shake hands with a tall gentleman and then moved on through the crowd. Light glinted like a beacon off the silver brooch at his throat. Murmurs filled the room—whispers, really. Like a creature of the night, Mr. Alavi was dressed in black from head to toe with a few flashes of silver sparkle sprinkled here and there. God, why did all the handsome men have to be rich and unattainable? Alavi was probably straight too. Life was definitely not fair.
Wally reached for the two martini glasses and bumped one over. He caught the stem of the second one just as the glass bowl shattered against the bar. His heart pounded and blood rushed to his ears. When he looked up, Mr. Alavi was staring at him, looking him right in the eye with a piercing gaze and unreadable expression. Everyone in the room watched. Wally’s face flooded with heat and sweat trickled down the back of his tuxedo shirt. Fuck.
“Sorry,” he stammered to no one in particular.
Before anyone could respond, Mr. Alavi moved in his direction and Wally’s throat tightened. Would he fire him on the spot? He began picking up pieces of glass and dropping them into the bar wastebasket, avoiding Mr. Alavi’s approach. Way to go, Wally, blow your chance to earn some extra cash. The one glass probably cost more than the night’s wages.
He bent to drop a large piece of glass into the trashcan, still holding on to the marble bar with his free hand. He squeezed his eyes closed. He’d get through this. Bile rushed into his throat. Why did he always screw things up? He took a deep breath. What was the worst thing that could happen? He’d been fired before and for worse offences.
A warm hand covered his, sending a wave of fear up his arm. Wally stood, coming face-to-face with Mr. Alavi. Wally wanted to pull his hand away and run but fifty wealthy snobs would stop him before he made it to the front door and onto the New York streets. He was trapped.
“Everything okay?” Mr. Alavi asked, his voice as smooth and dark as his slick black satin shirt.
Wally met the man’s gaze—green eyes lined in kohl, set in warm skin that shimmered in the bar light. Black spiky hair dusted with glitter.
Mr. Alavi squeezed his hand and Wally shivered.
“I said, is everything okay?”
“Y-y-yes,” Wally stammered. Even from over the bar, he could tell that Mr. Alavi was tall, well over six feet. His shoulders broadened and then tapered to trim hips. Wally’s mouth filled with saliva. The man was hot. Even if he was about to fire him for breaking the barware.
Avoiding eye contact, Wally studied the black leather jacket Mr. Alavi wore. It was no rental but made to slip around his body like water, hugging the right places, with a few silver studs and spikes on one shoulder. Designer-made, no doubt. In place of a tie, he wore a silver serpent brooch pinned at the neck, its eyes made of tiny rubies and its forked tongue licking out.
Wally gulped and his already-warm face burned. The man must think he was an idiot, drooling and fumbling like a fool. The crowd had gone back to chattering and mumbling but a few people still glared toward the bar, probably annoyed that Wally had taken the artist’s attention away. Mr. Alavi lifted his hand and pulled Wally farther down the bar, away from the rest of the broken glass. The artist looked out at the crowd. Wally didn’t see the look he gave them but anyone staring suddenly turned away and ignored the scene at the bar. The man had the power, no question about it. This was his scene and his alone. Wally’s pulse quickened. At least he wouldn’t be totally humiliated by stares when Alavi fired him.
“What’s your name?” Alavi asked, squeezing Wally’s hand.
“W-w-wall…Wallace Harte, sir. I’m sorry I broke the glass.”
He brushed away Wally’s comment with his free hand. “Ah. An unusual name. Wally for short?”
Wally nodded and gulped down the panic in his throat.
“Call me Kenon,” the artist said, stretching out his name in a French-sounding accent. He ran his thumb over Wally’s knuckles in a slow circular motion and Wally closed his eyes.
The scant hairs on his arm stood erect and he hoped Kenon couldn’t feel how damp his palm was beneath his grasp or how his pulse beat a frantic escape rhythm. From the corner, the music started playing again and the low murmur of the crowd drowned the silence in his ears. Deep breath.
“Thank you, sir,” Wally said. He opened his eyes and met Kenon’s gaze. For a moment, he stared into Kenon’s green eyes, pausing to fully examine them. Enhanced with dark eyeliner, the artist’s eyes almost glowed with feral sparkle. Predatory. Waiting. Wally looked down, not daring to move his hand. Mr. Alavi must be quite the lady-killer. Who wouldn’t want to be with him?
“Time to open the show, Mr. Alavi,” a gallery aide said, sidling up to Kenon at the edge of the bar. “Everyone’s getting impatient.” Wally had seen the aides milling around, making sure things stayed perfect. It must cost a fortune to produce an event like this.
“This is my show. Let them wait,” Kenon growled and clamped down on Wally’s hand.
The aide looked at Wally and smirked. “I’m sure the bartender won’t mind talking to you after the show.” He emphasized the word “bartender” as if it were a dirty word.
Kenon snapped his head and turned to the man. “I said I’m busy.” This growl was louder and deeper and the aide’s eyes widened and his shoulders tensed.
“Yes, sir,” he said and backed away, hands up.
Wally began to shake. He tried to tell himself it was from the air-conditioning but he knew it was from a mixture of fear and longing to be near this mysterious man. The artist must always have a rapt audience. Despite his growling, everyone seemed to be taken in by his charm. Kenon milked Wally’s finger in a stroking rhythm and Wally clenched his thighs together, willing his dick to be still. Kenon was too close and it was a good thing the bar was between them or things could get embarrassing.
“Now,” Kenon said. He tugged Wally’s hand close to his chest, tightening his grip once again. “Lean in so I can whisper what I have to tell you. Privacy you know.” He smiled, a tight line of control.
Wally leaned toward Kenon, drawing in a deep breath of what was likely the most expensive cologne he’d ever smell, combined with a fresh scent that could have been makeup or fine-milled soap. Underlying everything was an all-male scent of danger combined with sex and power. The bar was cold against his chest but the man’s breath was hot in his ear. “Yes?” he asked, voice trembling. “I’m sorry I broke the glass.”
“I said I’m not worried about the glass.”
“What, then?” Wally squeaked out.
“Why are you shaking?” Kenon touched his nose to Wally’s earlobe and Wally tensed. “Am I too close?”
“I…I…don’t know,” Wally said, his breath stuttering in his throat. Why was he shaking? He’d not had a boyfriend in ages but had never responded to man’s presence so strongly and so urgently before. Especially a straight man. At least not while he was sober.
Kenon pressed closer and his warmth radiated over Wally’s neck and face. Wally stood statue-still under the assault of heat. “I want to see you after the show,” Kenon whispered. “Will you stay around? To…talk…”
Wally nodded. Was he in trouble?
“Goooood,” Kenon blew. “See you then.” His lips brushed Wally’s ear and then he nipped it gently, holding on to the lobe for a second before releasing it. Wally shuddered as heat jolted straight to his groin. Why was Kenon flirting? Wasn’t he straight? And why was he so close? Wally squirmed as his pants tightened and his dick disobeyed the order to stand down. The ruby eyes of the serpent brooch glinted as Kenon pulled away.
Viper.
Just as quickly as Kenon had latched on to Wally’s hand, he dropped it. Turning, he sauntered off as if he were strolling along a promenade without a care. The crowd, cued into his movement, followed him through the open doors to the main exhibit hall. Wally stared after him, watching the people meander into the larger room where Kenon’s latest paintings would be unveiled.
What had just happened? And why had he agreed to meet Kenon after the show? He knew better than to tempt fate with an employer, especially one he was so attracted to and who was so out of his league. He always screwed things up. He adjusted himself and sighed. What did he have to lose?
Add Artist’s Touch to your Goodreads’ shelf HERE.

Kerry Adrienne photoAbout the Author:
Kerry writes about love in its many forms, and enjoys exploring the dynamics of relationships and the quandaries people get themselves into. She lives in suburbia, but is making plans to escape to the ocean and NYC, as both places hold a piece of her heart.

You can connect with Kerry here:
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Pinterest

You can purchase Artist’s Touch here:
Ellora’s Cave

Contest:  Leave a comment and an email address to be entered to win a ebook copy (Kindle, PDF, or Nook) of Beautiful One by Kerry Adrienne.  See book details below.

Beautiful One coverBeautiful One (Available from Ellora’s Cave  )

Kallistos, a shy playwright, has been chosen to compete at the Great Dionysia festival in Athens. His plays are strong, but he faces Sophocles, the man who has won almost every contest. Kallistos, the beautiful one, has eschewed intimacy—yet the dark Alexios pierces his armor with philosophies he’s never considered, and he falls hard.

Alexios, a shepherd, aspires to be an actor in Athens. His trip plunges him into a plot of deceit and lies when Sophocles hires him to sabotage his competition. Sophocles promises money and a part on stage—but challenges Alexios’ beliefs and honour.

Though uncomfortable with the lies, Alexios woos Kallistos, finding himself deeply drawn to the man. As the performances near, Alexios must decide which he wants more—his lover, or his lifelong dream of fame and a career. While Kallistos faces issues of trust and forgiveness, and must ponder where life is truly lived—on stage or in reality.

Review: To the Very Last Inch (The Professor’s Rule #5) by Heidi Belleau and Amelia C. Gormley

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

To The Very Last InchJamie Sheridan was furious  when he found out that Professor Carson had “words” with his boyfriend Satish Malhotra, in effect warning him off any relationship with him. That lead to an ugly confrontation between them and a final break or so Jamie thought. But Satish thinks that there was something other than head games behind his encounter with the Professor, that maybe he and Jamie had misinterpreted Evander’s actions.   Satish realizes that the Professor gives Jamie something that Satish can’t, at least right now.  So Satish sets out to do what would have been recently unthinkable, he is going to try to salvage Jamie and Evander’s relationship, even if it means he loses out once and for all.

After a confrontation with his former lover and pupil, Professor Evander Carson realizes the extent of his miscalculations and misunderstanding of the past events in his and Jamie’s relationship.  And even though  the break up is tearing him apart, Evander is determined to stay away from Jamie, for Jamie’s sake.  Nothing prepares him for the sight of Satish at his door or for what Satish offers to him….a possible relationship with Jamie as well as Satish.

But will Jamie be able to trust Evander again? And will a renewed relationship between Jamie and his Professor leave Satish out in the cold?

To the Very Last Inch is a wonderful culmination to a hot, sexy and ultimately very sweet love story. Through five books, Heidi Belleau and Amelia C. Gormley have built a relationship between  three very different men.

The first character is the wounded James Sheridan, whose drug habits drove him into poor life choices, including whoring himself out for drugs and money. Only through submission can Jamie successfully control his anxiety and need to relapse into his drug habit.  The man who taught him control through his submission is the complex Professor Evander Carson.  Older, dominant, and in love with Jamie, Evander misunderstood several key elements in their relationship that caused the first break up and threatens to destroy any future they might have.  He is also unsure that a relationship with a man his age is something Jamie would want.  And finally, the last man to enter into the picture, Satish Malhotra.  Satish met Jamie during one of Jamie and Evander’s sexual games where he was an unwitting participant.  That initial encounter almost ruined any chances of any type of relationship between Jamie and Satish as Satish viewed the D/s roles with distain and no little anger over what he thought of as physical abuse of Jamie.  Three fascinating and complex men, all brought to life and made utterly relatable through four stories leading up to this….the conclusion of The Professor’s Rule and the resolution to all the issues raised in the preceding stories.

One of the aspects of this series I so appreciate is the ability of these authors to let the reader into the mindset of someone who lives or needs to live a D/s lifestyle, people like Jamie and Evander.  One, Evander Carson, a dominant or Master. The other, Jamie Sheridan, a submissive. As the authors show us, without that element in his life, Jamie becomes a very different person.  Being a submissive fills a hole in Jamie that nothing else can and without it Jamie feels incomplete.  As I said before, the character of Satish  Malhotra becomes that channel through which the reader can begin to understand what a D/s relationship can entail and what exactly how such a lifestyle can impact and benefit those that live it.  The whole bdsm aspect of this story is folded seamlessly into the narrative.  It is informative and it is certainly hot!

Belleau and Gormley force these men to face the misunderstandings and challenges that a realistic relationship between all three of them will offer. The manner in which Jamie, Satish and Evander work through their issues feel as real and authentic as all the other elements here.  Miscommunications arise, no matter the age of the person involved.  And events can be viewed through very different lenses, depending upon perspective and past histories.  All that and more is crammed into 56 pages and its wonderful.

Did I wish that we had  been given a little more of a glimpse into their lives down the road? Of course, but the little we did see was revealing and totally satisfying.  Kudos to the authors for such a wonderful series finale and for the men that we came to love through it all.

Cover art by LC Chase is perfect for this story and the entire series.

Book Details:

ebook, 56 pages
Published March 3rd 2014 by Riptide Publishing (first published March 1st 2014)
original title To the Very Last Inch (The Professor’s Rule, #5)
ISBN13 9781626491281
edition language English

Book in The Professor’s Rule series.  It helps to read them in order to understand Jamie and all the relationships within.

Giving an Inch (The Professor’s Rule, #1) currently free where sold (Amazon, ARe)
An Inch at a Time (The Professor’s Rule, #2)
Inch by Inch (The Professor’s Rule, #3)
Every Inch of the Way (The Professor’s Rule, #4)
To the Very Last Inch (The Professor’s Rule, #5)

Winner Announcement

update

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Congratulations to Emily.  Emily was chosen to receive a copy of E.E. Ottoman’s Song of the Spring Moon Waning. Song of the Spring Moon Waning cover  Thank you to all who left comments.  I hope you all will read this wonderful story.

As soon as more information is received about the sequels and the dates of their release, I will post that information here!

Again, my thanks to E.E. Ottoman and the Less Than Three Press for their participation and the giveaway copy of the book.

Review: Every Inch of the Way (The Professor’s Rule #4) by Heidi Belleau and Amelia C. Gormley

Rating: 4. 5 stars out of 5

Every Inch of the Way coverOne email has brought the mysterious Professor Carson back into his former student’s life and the consequences for Jamie Sheridan has just added to the confusion and unhappiness that is his life.  Jamie has two men in his life and needs very different things from each of them.  And neither of them appear to want to share Jamie with the other. Or if one is willing to do so, it must be on his terms…as always.

Satish Malhotra is crazy for Jamie Sheridan.  Jamie is sweet and intelligent and gorgeous.  But the welts on Jamie’s back and the reappearance of Jamie’s former Professor has forced Satish to make a decision as to whether he can keep Jamie in his life.  He doesn’t understand what drives Jamie’s submission and he is not sure that he can fulfill all of Jamie’s needs.

With the Professor and Satish vying for Jamie’s affections and attention, Jamie is divided between his need for love and his need for submission.  Will Jamie have to choose or will Satish make the choice for him?

Every Inch of the Way is the penultimate story in The Professor’s Rule series that has followed the story of Jamie  Sheridan and his Professor Evander Carson through college and graduation.  A test message reunited Jamie Sheridan with Professor Carson after several years break.  Old games that the Professor had introduced prior in their relationship instigated a meeting and hot sexual encounter with clothier Satish Malhotra.  But Satish’s discovery of Professor Carson and his connection to Jamie served to demolish the fragile feelings that had been developing between the two of them.

Every Inch of the Way focuses on the emotions and feelings of Satish and Jamie as they try to pick up the threads of their relationship and see if a future is going to be possible between them.  Belleau and Gormley have done a terrific job in conveying the emotional minefield that was the result of events in Inch by Inch (The Professor’s Rule #3) for each man.  Both Satish and Jamie are coming from very different perspectives.  Satish’s idea of a sexual and emotionally satisfying romance does not extend to bdsm and a Dom/sub relationship.  Satish doesn’t understand it no matter how hard he tries.  Jamie, on the other hand, has certain needs that can only be fulfilled through his submission and the games involved in  a D/s partnership.  Normally,  they would part and go their separate ways and that, as they say, would be that.

But Satish and Jamie have an emotional connection that neither man is willing to give up.   And these authors make us not only see that connection but make it come alive for the reader to the point that we want these characters to find a way to make it work…even if we don’t understand it ourselves.

I have always believed that having a bdsm element in a story requires an extra effort from the author, in this case two authors, to help the reader understand what defines a bdsm lifestyle and also help provide an explanation as to why a particular character(s) need to have it in their lives.  The Professor’s Rule series allows the reader to achieve a certain understanding of that choice through Jamie Sheridan and the emotional journey he makes throughout the series.  The authors have constructed a history for Jamie (his drug use and more) that allows the reader access to his emotional state and the reasons why his submission and his need for a Master is so important to him.  And it delivers also in making Jamie’s Master, Professor Carson, more accessible by finally giving us his point of view about his own feelings as well as emotions about Jamie and their complicated relationship.  Although that does not fully spring to light until the final story, To The Very Last Inch (The Professor’s Rule #5).

In addition to these very complex men, authors Belleau and Gormley deliver Satish Malhotra, a character who might very well stand in for most readers because of the manner in which he views Jamie’s relationship with  his Professor and his lack of understanding of Jamie’s need for submission.  By giving the readers a character most can identify with, it then helps to bring the reader along with Satish  as he slowly starts to understand Jamie, the Professor, and the layers that a relationship with Jamie holds.  It feels utterly authentic to watch Satish wrestle with his emotions and thoughts as he juggles his affection and physical attraction towards Jamie with his rejection of what he initially sees as physical abuse, the welts on Jamie’s back raising Satish’s objections and vague disgust to go along with his concern.

And all this takes place in 42 pages.  Yes, there are 3 books that precede this one but I think you can read this story and still gather enough information about the events prior to understand and appreciate this story.  Does it help to have read them? Yes, but not definitively so.   Every Inch of the Way ends a bit unresolved so you will want to go quickly on to the next story.

The final story in the series is already out, To the Very Last Inch (The Professor’s Rule #5).   Follow me there to see how it all shakes out.  For those of you new to this series, decide for yourself whether to start at the beginning or continue on from here.  Either way, this is a delicious series, full of well written characters, sexy hot scenes and a fast paced narrative that moves all the events along concisely.  They come complete with covers guaranteed to draw you in!  Enjoy.

Book Details:

ebook, 42 pages
Published March 3rd 2014 by Riptide Publishing (first published March 1st 2014)
original title Every Inch of the Way (The Professor’s Rule, #4)
ISBN13 9781626491274
edition language English
Book in The Professor’s Rule series.  It helps to read them in order to understand Jamie and all the relationships within.
Giving an Inch (The Professor’s Rule, #1) currently free where sold (Amazon, ARe)
An Inch at a Time (The Professor’s Rule, #2)
Inch by Inch (The Professor’s Rule, #3)
Every Inch of the Way (The Professor’s Rule, #4)
To the Very Last Inch (The Professor’s Rule, #5)

Go “To The Very Last Inch” with Heidi Belleau & Amelia C. Gormley on The Professor’s Rule Tour & Contest

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Hi! We’re Heidi Belleau and Amelia C. Gormley, and we’re here to let you know that our kinky series The Professor’s Rule is coming to an end. The last two novelettes–Every Inch of the Way and To the Very Last Inch–are out now from Riptide TPR5_150x300Publishing, and to celebrate, we’re touring the web with a contest and a free bonus short. You’ll have to follow the whole tour to read the short in its entirety, but since every comment you make along the tour gets you an entry in our contest, there’s plenty of reasons to tag along.

If you haven’t yet heard of The Professor’s Rule, here’s a quick crash course (see what we did there?)

School is back in session.

When undergrad student James Sheridan set out to seduce his way into a better grade, he had no idea what he was signing on for. Professor Evander Carson wasn’t about to trade a good grade for sexual favors, but he was definitely willing to tutor his wayward pupil in far more than history.
By the end of their tumultuous relationship, James not only excelled academically, his sexual horizons had expanded to include pleasures—and agonies—the likes of which he’d never dreamed. But enough was more than enough, and James fled from his Professor, unsure of where his limits lay or if he had the wherewithal to set boundaries.

Two years later, a chance misdial puts James back in contact with his former instructor and brings all his old cravings back in force, leaving him yearning to kneel once again at his Professor’s feet. But James has a new life now, with new sexual and romantic prospects—most notably the charming menswear salesman Satish Malhotra. Still, the pull to return to Professor Carson is a powerful thing. Can James give in to it without giving up his newfound confidence and budding romance?

The complete collection is on sale now for 40% off, and if you’d like to try before you buy, Giving an Inch (The Professor’s Rule #1) is free wherever ebooks are sold!

To the Very Last Inch (The Professor’s Rule #5)

To The Very Last InchJust days after their scorching reunion, Professor Evander Carson has kicked his one-time pupil James Sheridan to the curb—and tried to sabotage James’s new relationship with Satish Malhotra. Something isn’t right here, but James isn’t sure he should bother trying to figure out what. Carson isn’t good for him and will never change. He needs to accept that and move on.

Satish knows something is up, too, but he thinks the relationship between Carson and James is worth saving. To do the right thing, Satish will have to make James and Carson confront the secrets they’ve hidden for years and help them to overcome the pain and mistrust they’ve caused.

But if Satish succeeds, where will that leave him and his intensifying romance with James? Will the three of them be able to find the right balance, or will James be forced to choose between the pain and submission he craves with Carson, and the sweet, vanilla stability he’s found with Satish?

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Book Details:

ebook, 56 pages
Published March 3rd 2014 by Riptide Publishing (first published March 1st 2014)
original title To the Very Last Inch (The Professor’s Rule, #5)
ISBN13 9781626491281
edition language English

About the Authors

Amelia C. Gormley may seem like anyone else. But the truth is she sings in the shower, dances doing laundry, and writes blisteringly hot m/m erotic romance while her son is at school. When she’s not writing in her Pacific Northwest home, Amelia single-handedly juggles her husband, her son, their home, and the obstacles of life by turning into an everyday superhero. And that, she supposes, is just like anyone else.
Her self-published novel-in-three-parts, Impulse (Inertia, Book One; Acceleration, Book Two; and Velocity, Book Three) can be found at most major online book retailers, and be sure to check Riptide for her latest releases, including her Highland historical, The Laird’s Forbidden Lover, the The Professor’s Rule series of erotic novelettes (co-written with Heidi Belleau), the post-apocalyptic romance, Strain, and her upcoming, New Adult contemporary, Saugatuck Summer, available for pre-order now.

You can contact Amelia on

Heidi Belleau was born and raised in small town New Brunswick, Canada. She now lives in the rugged oil-patch frontier of Northern BC with her husband, an Irish ex-pat whose long work hours in the trades leave her plenty of quiet time to write. She has a degree in history from Simon Fraser University with a concentration in British and Irish studies; much of her work centered on popular culture, oral folklore, and sexuality, but she was known to perplex her professors with papers on the historical roots of modern romance novel tropes. (Ask her about Highlanders!) Her writing reflects everything she loves: diverse casts of characters, a sense of history and place, equal parts witty and filthy dialogue, the occasional mythological twist, and most of all, love—in all its weird and wonderful forms.

She also writes queer-flavoured M/F as Heloise Belleau.

Contest

Contest Rules: Win an ebook copy of An Inch at a Time (The Professor’s Rule #2) in your choice of formats! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post with a way for us to contact you (email address–posted in comment field, twitter handle, goodreads or facebook account), and you’ll be entered to win! Every comment counts for another entry, so be sure to follow the whole tour

Author Guest E.E. Ottoman on Song of Spring Moon Waning, Story Inspiration and Book Contest

ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords is happy to have author E.E. Ottoman here today.  Ottoman’s recent release Song of the Spring Moon Waning was recently reviewed and is one of my highly recommended stories.Song of the Spring Moon Waning cover

Book Giveaway: To go along with  E.E. Ottoman’s guest blog, we are giving away one copy of Song of Spring Moon Waning.  To enter, just leave a comment, as well as your email address or method of contacting you in the body of the email.  By leaving a comment and entering, you are agreeing that you are over 18 years of age. Contest ends 3/15.

I asked E.E. Ottoman to talk a little bit about the inspiration for this  magical story, and the ancient Chinese setting because I felt that it came across not only as authentic but artistic as well.

E.E. Ottoman:

I wrote Song of the Spring Moon Waning in the winter of 2012-2013. When I started I had it in my head that I was going to write a fairy tale. Not a retelling of a fairy tale, although I love those, but a story in the style of a fairy tale with all the imagery, and motifs of a fairy tale where the protagonist learned something about his or herself by the end. I debated where and when to set it but the only thing that felt right was Medieval China.

Now for full discloser, I study history. When I was writing this I was in graduate school for history. I don’t though study Chinese history. I study Asian American history, and although I focus on the Chinese immigrant community I only look at that community in the United States and then in the late 19th century or early 20th.

Song Dynasty China, which is what Song of the Spring Moon Waning is based on, is not only a totally different country from the one I study, but also many hundreds of years too early. I had taken some classes on Chinese history though and for one of them written a research paper on same-sex relationships in Chinese history. I had also done significant research into the lives and roles of palace eunuchs for another project before I started working on Song of the Spring Moon Waning. So the ground work for that was already laid out.

Still having done one or two research projects in no way made me qualified or ready to portray an entire society and time period.Which meant that in order to write Song of the Spring Moon Waning I had to do a lot of additional research.

Lucky for me studying history at a major university did give me the upper hand in doing historical research. I had access to academic databases, I could and did check lots of books out of the university library. Plus my advisor at the time WAS a historian of China and even more lucky for me focused on the Imperial examination system.

A lot of the research I did was pure factual: how did the examination system work in the Song era, what did people wear, what did houses look like, how where dreams thought of and interpreted, was there a Song Dynasty equivalent of fast food?
I did my best to find the answers to all these questions and any other details that came up while I was writing. I tried to do as much fact checking as I could using the resources I had.

That meant I did a lot of research up front, but also as I wrote I was constantly stopping to check details. A large part of my editing was also fact checking, although I’m sure from a straight up history perspective the story is a long way from being error-free.

Song of the Spring Moon Waning isn’t just a historical though it’s also a fantasy story. So in order to better understand how fantasy elements could be combined with a historical Chinese setting I started watching loads of wuxia tv shows and movies.

For those of you who don’t know wuxia is a genre of art and fiction that revolved around a chivalrous martial artist figure. According to Wikipedia:

“Modern wuxia stories are largely set in ancient or premodern China. The historical setting can range from being quite specific and important to the story, to being vaguely-defined, anachronistic, or is only used as a backdrop for the action. Fantasy elements, ranging from fantastic martial arts to ghosts and monsters, are common elements of a wuxia story but not a prerequisite. However, the martial arts element is a definite part of a wuxia tale, as its characters must know some form of martial arts. Themes of romance are also strongly featured in some wuxia tales.”

Song of the Spring Moon Waning is not a wuxia story since neither of the main characters are martial artists. It does combined a premodern Chinese setting, fantasy elements and a strong romance. Also learning about modern wuxia stories allowed me to better understand the way Chinese history and fantasy are combined in Chinese media itself.

China — especially premodern China — can often be portrayed in US media as a mystical or magical place but it is almost always in a distinctly Orientalist and therefore racist way. Because of this, I very much did not want to base my own story only on Western representations of Medieval China or Chinese fantasy.

Actually I’d say Hollywood is a really bad place to start for anyone who wants to write any sort of story based on any Asian culture. The faster you can forget any movie made or popularized in the US the better off you are. Luckily we lived in the computer age and it is easy to find good movies and shows made in China for a Chinese audience, even with English subtitles. That being said :: puts my historian hat on:: movies and tv is never a substitute for actual historical research ::takes my historian hat off::

I also read a lot of Chinese folk tales and tried to soak up the way that Chinese fairy tales are constructed and the kind of imagery that is used in them. I also can’t emphasize how amazing my friend Ginger was. Having grown up in China, she knew all different versions of various folk tales and kindly told me every single one in detail and let me ask questions about them. At the end of the day I took all this and combined it into a story that also had my own unique style and voice.

Song of the Spring Moon Waning, for all the fantasy elements, is very much a story about Wen Yu, about his struggles and insecurities and about his relationships with Liu Yi, how that relationships changes him and makes him look at the world in different ways.

I hate stories that tie everything up in the end and much prefer my fantasy and fairy tales to have the heroes going off to take part in more adventures. So that was exactly how I ended Song of the Spring Moon Waning. Wen Yu has learned to make his own decisions and live with the consequences of those decisions. Now he and Liu Yi are ready to face more adventures together.
Song of the Spring Moon Waning is part of the Jade Mountain series which also include Zi Yong and the Collector of Secrets, also published by Less Than Three Press. You can see more about it here. The third book in the series will pick up where Song of the Spring Moon Waning leaves off.

I am excited about it and I hope you all are too.

Thank you so much to Melanie for having me on her blog.

STRW:  And my thanks to E.E. Ottoman for a fascinating look at the inspiration behind this remarkable book.  I can’t wait for the next story to arrive.  Remember, to enter the contest to win a eBook copy of  Song of Spring Moon Waning, leave a comment below and an email address to I can contact you.  The contest ends March 15th.  Good luck everyone!

I leave you with a picture of the Snow Dragon Jade Mountain in China.JadeDragonMountain12

Song of the Spring Moon Waning coverBook Details:

ebook, 32,000 words
Published January 15th 2014 by Less Than Three Press LLC
ISBN13 9781620043004
edition language English
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You can follow E.E. Ottoman on:

Guest Authors, Contests and The Week Ahead in Reviews

Giveaway Alert

While March is deciding whether to be winter or spring, new books are popping up like crocuses, just waiting to be discovered and read.  I have a wonderful group of authors and stories waiting for you this week along with a number of book giveaways and author contests for everyone to enter.

Book with Glasses grey scale

Monday will start off with the sequel to The Fall, a novel by Kate Sherwood.  Tuesday is a 2 book review day with of some of the Pulp Friction 2014 stories.  This year’s series is very different in tone and characters from last years, but just as absorbing.  A new author for me, E.E. Ottoman, is visiting on Wednesday to talk about E.E.’s release, Song of the Spring Moon Waning, a story I think everyone should read.  A copy of that book will be given away as part of E.E. Ottoman’s guest blog.  Thursday is the return of those marvelous group of authors whose stories comprise the Pulp Friction 2014 series.  Laura Harner, Lee Brazil, Havan Fellows and Tom Webb will be stopping by to talk about this year’s series and will give away a $25 gift card from All Romance eBooks!  Friday Heidi Belleau and Amelia C. Gormley continue on their book tour with To The Very Last Inch, The Professor’s Rule #5 (contest also).  And finally, ScatteredThoughts is finishing up the week with another new author for me, Liz Boreno. Liz Boreno will be here talking about her Angel series, Angel’s Hero (The Angel #1) and Angel’s Truth (The Angel#2), reviews of which will follow.  And there will be a book giveaway to go with her spotlight guest blog as well.Frog Reading

Whew!  What a packed and wonderful week in store!  All those great authors and contests too.  Don’t miss out, stay with me all week long.  Now off to whack some bushes just to feel all gardenery and such….

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  • Monday, March 10:           Riding Tall by Kate Sherwood
  • Tuesday, March 11:           Firestorm by Laura Harner, Cold Snap by Lee Brazil
  • Wed., March 12:                 E.E. Ottoman Author Spotlight and Contest
  • Thursday, March 13:        Pulp Friction 2014 Authors & Series Spotlight/Contest
  • Friday, March 14:              To The Very Last Inch Book Tour/Contest w/ Heidi Belleau & Amelia C. Gormley
  • Saturday, March 15:         Take Flight with Liz Boreno, Author Spotlight, Contest
  • Review: Angel’s Hero by Liz Boreno