Category: Uncategorized

A MelanieM Review: Cutting Out by Meredith Shayne

Rating:  4.5 stars out of 5

Cutting Out coverTransplanted Aussie Shane Cooper loves his job as a shearer and the home he’s made for himself in New Zealand.  For over 20 years Shane has climbed to the top to be recognized as one of New Zealand’s premier shearers in the Senior Division where the most experienced of them all compete.  Now 39, Shane has a house, good friends, and a life he loves.  He’s only missing out on having someone to share his passion for shearing and his life.

Lachlan “Lachie” Moore is an up and coming shearer.  Not yet good enough to compete in the Senior Division, he still loves to watch them shear, hoping to pick up on pointers to help him do a better job.  At 24, young, reckless and gay, Lachie spots the hot, older shearer immediately, and its not just for his skills at shearing sheep that catches Lachie’s gaze.  But Shane appears more than content to just look then act on the attraction each feels for the other.

Then the horrific Christchurch earthquake hits, and tragedy strikes Lachie’s family. Lachie deals with his traumatized family and takes up new responsibilities, ones that makes it impossible for Lachie to continue on with his dream of shearing as a profession.  A year later, a new opportunity arises for Lachie to pick up shearing once more if only he can find the confidence in himself that now he has lost.

The new job reunites Shane with Lachie, only now he finds the lad changed and uncertain.  Shane decides to help the struggling Lachie regain his skills and direction and the time together reignites old feelings between them.  But Lachie has secrets he is afraid to share with Shane and Shane’s seems to want more than Lachie can give.  What will it take to break up this barrier Lachie has created so both men can have what they so desperately desire?

I throughly enjoyed Cutting Out by Meredith Shayne.  I seem to be reading quite a few books lately from New Zealand and Australian authors and all of them make me want to get on a plane and go “walk about” down under.  Meredith Shayne’s story deals with professional shearers in New Zealand, a job that requires remarkable precision and care as well as speed if you are to make it to the top.  Handling large squirming animals and a pair of shears at the same time takes a passion and coordination that not every person has and Meredith Shayne takes us into the heart of these men and women and the almost vagabond life they lead going from farm to farm to shear large numbers of sheep at a time.

I particularly enjoyed the insight Shayne gives us into the different levels of shearers, from the junior divisions of shearers just learning their  profession (junior and senior refer not to the shearer’s age but experience) to the top Senior level and the sought after shearers that are asked to shear the top quality and much larger breed Merino sheep.  The author easily slides her information about the profession, from the “shearing teams” that tend to work together over and over again as well as the loosely aggregated bunch assembled at the last minute, into her story making it all feel as natural as their surroundings.  The camaraderie and the close community is strengthened by the bond of the Maori society that hovers like a benign parent over its members and families.

As the characters move from farm to farm and home locations, the reader is brought keenly home into the various cities and places of New Zealand, from Christchurch to Gisbourne, from the Queenstown Hill Time Walk to the Basket of Dreams statue.  I felt she made me really  see these place while also sending me to look up areas and places of interest in each town and park.  And again all this is neatly folded into the narrative in such a way that it enhances rather than impedes the flow of the plot and the character growth.

But those characters!  That’s the heart and joy of this story.  I loved the reticent, introspective Shane, older, more experienced at life and love at 39 he knows what he wants but isn’t sure about where he stands with others.  Shane has many facets to his personality and not all are compatible with the much younger Lachie’s 24 year old outlook that begins at cocky, free wheeling and exuberant.  Something that the devastating impact of the earthquake in Christchurch changes forever.  The author takes her time and theirs for the relationship to begin as a friendship and slowly turn into something deeper.  For some readers, this timeline will feel far too slow and unhurried, but I found it to be in keeping with the characters personalities and background the author has created for them.  And its makes the ending all that  much sweeter.

What did I wish had been enlarged?  Perhaps the Epilogue or the chapter preceding it.  I would have loved a little more of their life at the end and how it all came about.  But perhaps we can have that in another story, one that includes these characters and enlarges on others we meet inside this story.  I loved it enough that I hated to have it all end.  I think you will feel the same.  Looking for a new romance to read?  One with a spectacular setting and hot men to boot? Pick up Cutting Off and enter Meredith Shayne’s world of sheep shearers and their HEAs!  I absolutely recommend this to one and all!

Cover artist is from Mumson Designs.  They did a great job.  I love that cover and it works perfectly for one of the characters.

Note:  Use of Aussie/NZ English used.  There is also a wonderful vocabulary to refer to at the beginning!

Sales Links:  All Romance eBooks (ARe)  amazon    Cutting Out

Book Details:

ebook, 200 pages
Published October 11th 2014 by Bottom Drawer Publications
http://www.bottomdrawerpublications.net

ISBN139780994157232
edition languageEnglish

Down Under Day 16: Meet Meredith Shayne, AUS/NZ Facts of the Day and Contest Info!

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Welcome, Meredith Shayne!

 

Author Meredith Shayne is our Down Under Author of the Day.  Originally from Australia, Meredith now resides in New Zealand, so she’s Down Under times two!  For more about Meredith Shayne, her bio, her books, her interview, and, of course, her giveaway, visit her page coming up shortly.

Now for our Down Under Facts of the Day!

New Zealand Fact of the Day:kiwi and NZ country

Unlike Australia,  there are no dangerous plants or animals of any kind in New Zealand (excluding sharks that is)! The more common ones can create discomfort rather than pain or illness. If you’re tramping or hiking in New Zealand take a few simple precautions and any problems will be minor.  How minor?  Well, according to the official New Zealand animal page, the New Zealand Kea is mentioned.  Why? Check out the Kea!

Kea parrot i New Zealand

This is the New Zealand parrot, found in southern alpine regions of the South Island. This bird is not so much dangerous as a nuisance. It is quite cheeky and will attack your personal belongings if you leave them unattended. However, the biggest damage they cause is to cars. They have a particular taste for the rubber on windscreens, mirrors and car doors and can be quite destructive. They are not a threat to humans, however.

For more information about New Zealand’s wildlife, visit here!

 

 

 

 

AUS flag over countryAustralia Fact of the Day!

AUSTRALIA IS INFAMOUS FOR its dangerous animals, unlike New Zealand. With more deadly snakes than any other country worldwide ( 8 of the 10 most deadly snakes are found here), it isn’t surprising.  Think about the scenes in some of the stories from our  Australian authors,  Can you remember where and in which story some of these animals are mentioned?  I can.

Though sharks, spiders, and snakes get the majority of bad press, it is actually an awesome array of predators and venomous critters that have earned Australia its fearsome reputation.

Top 30 dangerous animals in Australia (This list was developed by the Australian Museum in Sydney. Museum staff rated animals out of 10 based on the threat they pose, combined with the likelihood of encountering one.)  For more information and pictures, visit Australia Geographic!

Danger rating: 10/10

1. Box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri)box-jellyfish_482_600x450

Danger rating: 9/10

2. Honey bee (Apis mellifera)
3. Irukandji (Carukia barnesi)

Danger rating: 8/10

4. Bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas)
5. Eastern brown snake (Pseudonaja textilis)
6. Saltwater or estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus)
7. Sydney funnel web spider (Atrax robustus)

Danger rating: 7/10

8. Blue-ringed octopus (Genus Hapalochlaena)
9. Coastal taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus)
10.Common death adder (Acanthopis antarticus)
11. Cone shells (Conus sp.)
12. Dugite or spotted brown snake (Pseudonaja affinis)
13. Mulga snake (Pseudechis australis)
14. Red-bellied black snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus)
15. Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier)
16. Tiger snake (Notechis scutatus)
17. Great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) (low, yes, low on the list)
18. Yellow-bellied sea snake (Pelamis platurus)

Danger rating: 6/10

19. Bluebottle (Physalia physalis)
20. Common lionfish (Pterois volitans)
21. Collett’s snake (Pseudechis colletti)
22. Highland copperhead (Austrelaps ramsayi) not the same as ours!
23. Inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus)
24. Redback spider (Lactodectus hasselti)
25. Reef stonefish (Synanceia verrucosa)
26. Smooth toadfish (Tetractenos glaber)
27. Blue-bellied black snake (Pseudechis guttatus)

Danger rating: 5/10

28. Australian paralysis tick (Ixodes holocyclus)
29. Bull ant (Myrmercia pilosula)
30. Giant centipede (Ethmostigmus rubripes)

 

I’m having fun delivering these facts to you all, learning tons as I go.  How about you?  What has been the most interesting, unexpected fact from New Zealand and Australia to date?

 

While exploring our Down Under Authors and their books this month, don’t forget to visit the Down Under Author Showcase Page on the menu for Bottom Drawer Publications contest and link!

 

Now on to Meredith Shayne!  Have you read Cutting Out yet?

STRW Reviews of Lisa Henry Books

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Book Reviews of Lisa Henry!

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words has read and reviewed so many Lisa Henry stories that I am linking some of them below.

No matter the reviewer, her stories, whether written alone or as a co author, always make an emotional impact and lasting impression.  My review of When All The World Sleeps is being reposted today.  Myself and so many others considered it one of the Best Books of 2014.Best Books of 2014

 

Here are some of her finest stories (in our opinion) and in no particular order:

Bliss (A Barb the Zany Old Lady review) by Lisa Henry

King of Dublin (A MelanieM Review)

The Two Gentlemen of Altoona (A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review)

The Merchant of Death (A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review) written with J.A. Rock, a long time co author

ARC fullcoverBlissTwoGentlemenOfAltona_400x600The merchant of Death cover

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have a favorite Lisa Henry book?  Which one and why?

 

Lisa Henry is one of STRW Down Under Showcase Authors.

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A Sammy Review: A Clean Break (Gay Amish Romance #2) by Keira Andrews

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

A sense of power flowed through him. Isaac was splayed out—so trusting and vulnerable—and David wanted to keep him safe always. They may be sinners, but Isaac was still a gift from God.

A Clean Break coverA Clean Break picks up where A Forbidden Rumspringa left off. Isaac and David have fled from Zebulon, left behind the plain ways and entered a world completely new and different. It’s amazing and freeing, but somehow so constraining all at the same time.

They thought they knew what they were getting into, but life outside their small community in Minnesota is far more complicated than either of them imagined. More than that, they still have to deal with the guilt that comes with leaving behind not only your family and the only life you’ve ever known, but also turning your back to God.

San Francisco may be their destination, but they still have a long way to go.

The thought of having a workshop again—the scratch of pencil on pad as he sketched, the grind of sandpaper, and the resistance of the lumber as he sawed and shaped it to his will—it filled the spaces in him like water around rocks. Yet when he imagined it now, working alone somewhere in the maze of the city, he ached.

A Clean Break is told from David’s point of view, providing a deeply saddening view into what comes with the freedom of an English world. Keira Andrews does a great job of conveying the doubts that linger and the guilt that continues to fester within David, as well as balancing a small sense of hope that this new life with Isaac is somehow all going to work out.

A lot of the story, to me, was about trying to find yourself when everything is so completely foreign. It was a journey for David, and it struck me how alone he felt at times, even when surrounded by people. It’s easy for people to say that this is a great thing – the boys leaving the Amish lifestyle and coming to San Francisco, but there’s so much more to it, and that’s what this is all about.

I really appreciated that the transition was made to be realistic. There was no super smooth, easy fix. I think it also helped that things were different for David and Isaac. Isaac dealt with things in his own ways, and David his. They had to find their own ways – together.

I did miss a bit of the strengthening of the relationship, or growth in general, but I think we began to get more of it toward the middle/end. I felt like David was keeping so much of himself from Isaac and it made me a bit uncomfortable to know all those things, like I was invading some private space.

I also loved the brief bits with Anna and June. It was great that we weren’t just left to wonder what was happening back at Zebulon, we got some answers.

There was just a special spark that existed in the first book and seemed to be a bit dimmer here. Still, it was a great book and I really (no, really) can’t wait for the next.

The cover art by Dar Albert is quite lovely. I’m glad that it includes the water and the bridge, which both seem symbolic to me in this story – a sign of freedom, but also the journey yet to come.

Sales Links:   All Romance (ARe)        Amazon        Buy it here

Book Details:

ebook, 245 pages
Expected publication: February 3rd 2015 by KA Books
ISBN139780993859861
seriesGay Amish Romance #2

Series Includes in the order they were written and should be read:

Review: When All the World Sleeps by Lisa Henry and J.A. Rock

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

WhenAllTheWorldSleeps_500x750_0Daniel Whitlock is back in his hometown of Logan, South Carolina, after serving time in prison for killing a man. The man Daniel killed was another local boy, Kenny Cooper, someone who savagely beat Daniel because he was gay.   The problem is that Daniel doesn’t remember burning down Kenny’s house with Kenny in it.  Daniel is a sleepwalker and has been since he was a child but no one believed him when Daniel told everyone that he had been asleep when he burned Kenny’s house to the ground. Convicted with time served, now Daniel has returned home to a town that hates him and a family that won’t speak to him.  Isolated in a cabin in the woods, Daniel chains himself to the bed each night in hopes that he can sleep.  Sometimes it works, mostly it doesn’t.

When Daniel is found causing trouble at the local bar, its up to Logan cop Joe Belman to break up the fight and take Daniel home.  Like everyone else in town Bel has never believed Daniel’s defense of sleepwalking.  But now faced with the reality of a Daniel who doesn’t remember the fight at the bar, Bel’s attitude towards Daniel starts to change. When Kenny’s friends retaliate against Daniel, Bel agrees to watch over him, to keep Daniel safe by any means…including tying him up and handcuffs.

Watching over Daniel, dominating him to protect him, brings out a side of Bel he never knew existed.  And as he slips into a relationship with Daniel, one that deepens by the day, Bel finds himself looking at his hometown and its citizens in a new and harsh light.  It’s not only the town that won’t leave Daniel alone but his own fears and demons too.  Only with Bel does he find any measure of peace…now if only he can let himself believes he deserves it and that Bel will stick with him no matter what.

Not many books these days leave me speechless, let alone exceed any expectations I might have had from the blurb given.  But When All the World Sleeps is that treasure of a book that leapt over my perceptions and conjectures into a triumph of storytelling.

Truthfully, it’s the characters first that surprised me. I was unprepared for damaged Daniel Whitlock and his somnambulism.  And how deeply this character would affect me.  His pain and anguish over the past, and not just Kenny, is so profoundly real that I could swear I saw Daniel’s blood and tears wash over the Kindle’s screen as certain scenes unfolded.  He is steeped in guilt and confusion.  By returning to Logan, all the memories and problems that Daniel carries with him just intensifies for him and the reader on an almost hourly basis.  There is little mercy to be found in this small town with its almost biblical memory and cemented social judgements, whether it be against gays or convicts or those that happen to live outside the town’s proscribed idea of normal.  And oh the danger if someone just happens to be all of those.  That is a marked man, whether it be open taunts or concealed hatred.

Joe Belman, or Bel as he is called is another remarkable character in a sea of them.  Bel is someone we watch grow emotionally throughout the story.  He starts off as just another typical Logan citizen, holding much the same viewpoints and values as all the other close-knit family members and small town denizens.  Logan is so central to who Bel thinks he is that it would never occur to Bel to live anywhere else, so strongly does Bel identify with the town and his family and friends. But all that starts to change when Daniel reappears in Bel’s life.  There is a fundamental change that has to happen before Bel can see Daniel as someone other than a liar and killer, and that change happens slowly and with great realism.  Henry and Rock achieve something remarkable here with Bel.  His changeover in attitude and feelings towards Daniel feels so authentic in his doubt, stubborness, and finally acceptance that the authors pull the readers along with Bel’s introspection and emotional discoveries about himself and Daniel.  It’s intimate, it’s a ground swell of emotion that never stops breaking and its breathtaking in its accomplishment in making me, and all the readers so vested in these characters and their delicate relationship that any swerve off the path for them is as painful for us as it is devastating for them.  Bel is that singular voice in the night, the one that stands out in the sea of small town secrets and listening to him soon becomes as addictive as it is necessary.

Lisa Henry and J.A. Rock certainly understand the small Southern town mentality, one I am familiar with myself.  There is a delicate emotional balance that is necessary to achieve for appreciating and comprehending the complexities of life lived within its confines.   My father escaped it as early as possible, his brother never did.  The pull of a small hometown can sometimes be so strong in its depth of history (familial and otherwise), of its deep cultural and societal roots that establish themselves within a person never to  relinquish their hold, that some people never leave its jurisdiction, whether that be physical or emotional.  Henry and Rock get that and have made it come alive here within the pages of When All the World Sleeps.  The good, the bad, the indifference to the sufferings of those the town cannot abide or understand…its all there, laid out for the reader who has no idea of the charms and pitfalls that exist in such an atmosphere and makes it accessible.

When there is a bdsm content in a story, especially where it is a major element in a main character’s emotional makeup, I always wonder how its treatment will let me relate to the story and the character(s) involved.  Again, Henry and Rock take a multitude of difficult subject matters and by combining them, make us understand the demons that haunt Daniel and the methods chosen to help him deal with them.  Its another outstanding accomplishment that such methods seem utterly reasonable and necessary for both men, including Bel who is new to the whole idea of domination and submission.  Bel does his homework on the subject, researching and having open discussions, well as open as is possible with Daniel, on the toys and tools to be used to make Daniel feels safe enough to sleep. There is a natural progression from ignorance to total participation as a dominant and partner from Bel.  As there is an answering growth and recovery from Daniel at the end of the story.

With all the hatred that floats throughout this story, the self hatred, the hostility and animosity from the town, the pain and rejection that seems to be a matter of course for  several of the inhabitants here, there are also scenes of incredible tenderness and raw sexuality.  There is a moment with body markers so memorable in its tenderness and awkward eroticism that I didn’t know how to respond… then it gets to the end and I what my response should be…cheering for the bravery that is both Daniel and Bel, celebrating their almost impossible union and the milestones they have reached.  Hard not to reach for a tissue after that.

But the authors are not through with us or Bel and Daniel.  They are carefully constructing their plot, laying out the foundation and then the rest of the plot building blocks with the same attention to detail they did with the facts about sleepwalking and therapy.  Daniel is a superb artist, drawing both day and night and remembering only by seeing the results on paper when he awakes. The chills brought forth from the drawings ups the level of rising anxiety as events start to rush towards a climax.  And while the events speed towards a resolution, the plot never feels rushed or incomplete.  This is a narrative that leaves nothing to chance or is weighed down by extraneous or inconsequential elements.  The book is 405 pages long yet it never felt that way to me.

This story is so complete that I don’t feel a need for a sequel.  It ends as it should.  I think this is one of the finest books of 2014.

Cover Art by Amber Shah.  Again this will be on my Best Covers list.  The tones and the atmosphere achieved here are perfect for the story and characters within.

Sales Links:   Riptide Publishing       All Romance (ARe)        Amazon   Buy it here

Book Details:

405 pages
Published March 24th 2014 by Riptide Publishing (first published March 22nd 2014)
ISBN 1626490791 (ISBN13: 9781626490796)
edition languageEnglish
review posted back in 2014

Down Under Showcase Author: Lisa Henry

 STRW down Under Banner sm Hearts

Down Under Showcase Author of the Day

Lisa Henry Icon

Meet Lisa Henry

Lisa Henry is the author of Sweetwater, When All the World Sleeps, Bliss, King of Dublin and so many others listed below.

To get to know Lisa Henry a little better, she agreed to an interview. Look for the interview below and the Down Under Scavenger Hunt word found somewhere within.

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Author Bio 1

Lisa likes to tell stories, mostly with hot guys and happily ever afters.

Lisa lives in tropical North Queensland, Australia. She doesn’t know why, because she hates the heat, but she suspects she’s too lazy to move. She spends half her time slaving away as a government minion, and the other half plotting her escape.

She attended university at sixteen, not because she was a child prodigy or anything, but because of a mix-up between international school systems early in life. She studied History and English, neither of them very thoroughly.

She shares her house with too many cats, a green tree frog that swims in the toilet, and as many possums as can break in every night. This is not how she imagined life as a grown-up.

Author Contacts

Contacts/Follow at :
Twitter https://twitter.com/LisaHenryOnline
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5050492.Lisa_Henry
Website http://www.lisahenryonline.com
Blog http://lisahenryonline.blogspot.com.au
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lisa.henry.1441

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Author Books Stories Down Under1 copy

Your Books:

Sweetwater_400x600BlissThe Two Gentlemen of Altona by coverWhenAllTheWorldSleeps_500x750_0

 

 

 

 

The Two Gentleman of Altona (Playing the Fool #1), with J.A. Rock
Fall on Your Knees, with J.A Rock – part of the Rated: XXXmas Anthology
Sweetwater
Bliss, with Heidi Belleau
Another Man’s Treasure, with J.A. Rock
When All The World Sleeps, with J.A. RockBest Books of 2014
The King of Dublin, with Heidi Belleau

 

Mark Cooper versus America coverBrandon Millsverse the V card The Good Boy coverARC fullcover

 

 

 

 

Mark Cooper versus America (Prescott College #1), with J.A. Rock.
Brandon Mills versus the V-Card (Prescott College #2), with J.A. Rock
The Good Boy (The Boy #1), with J.A. Rock
The Naughty Boy (The Boy #1.5), with J.A. Rock
The Boy Who Belonged (The Boy #2), with J.A. Rock
Dark Space
He Is Worthy
The Island
Tribute
The Dreams You Made in the Dirt – a free short.
Falling Away – a free short.
The Last Rebellion – a free short.

Dark Space cover
Genre(s):

I write m/m and I can’t really narrow it down any more than that. I’ve written contemporary, historical and sci-fi.

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Contests and Giveaways:

1. Today’s Giveaway (thank you, Lisa Henry) is an eBook copy of Mark Cooper versus America. Enter using this Rafflecopter link here. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rafflecopter Link: a Rafflecopter giveaway

2. Down Under Scavenger Hunt – find Lisa Henry’s Hunt “Word” in bold green. Collect all the words from each author and submit the list in writing no later than midnight on February 1st. Make sure you include an email address where you can be reached. Prizes will be given to 5 people selected, from 1st place to 5th! Happy Hunting.

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Author Qand A

 

Hi! I mean, g’day. It’s great to be here at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words. Today I’m offering an ebook copy of Mark Cooper versus America, a book I co-wrote with the awesome J.A. Rock, to one lucky commenter! Weirdly, I think it’s the most Australian of my books, even though it’s set in Pennsylvania and has snow and bears in it. I mean, we have snow here too, allegedly. I’ve only seen it once though.

Also today, I’m sharing a recipe with you. It’s simple enough that even I can follow it, I promise. The recipe is for Anzac biscuits, and no, you can’t call them cookies. Anzac biscuits are a century old this year. They are named for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, called the ANZACs, and were the biscuits of choice for families sending gift packages overseas to the troops during the First World War because, being egg-free, they wouldn’t spoil.

Anzac Biscuits Recipeanzac biscuits

Here is what you need:

125g butter, chopped coarsely
2 tablespoons golden syrup – you can substitute with treacle
¾ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon water
1 cup (90g) rolled oats
1 cup (90g) desiccated coconut
1 cup (150g) plain flour
¾ cup (165g) brown sugar
And this is what you do:

Preheat oven to 160° Celsius or 140° Celsius fan-forced. That’s 320° Fahrenheit or 285° Fahrenheit fan-forced.

Combine butter and syrup in a small saucepan. Heat gently until butter and syrup melt.

Combine bicarbonate of soda and water in a small bowl and stir into butter mixture.

Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Pour over warm butter mixture and stir well to combine.

Roll rounded teaspoons of mixture into balls. Place about 4 cm apart on baking paper lined baking trays and flatten slightly.

Bake in preheated oven 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes on baking trays; transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

They’re yummy! Enjoy! And now onto some questions:

Were you a reader as a child?

Absolutely. I spent several years in Papua New Guinea as a child, and we had no television there. I’m sure that has a lot to do with my very early love of reading – having no other options. We had movies some weeks at the local club, but our main entertainment was reading and storytelling. There was also no bookshop in the town we lived, so my mum encouraged my sister and me to make up our own stories. Some of the first stories I “wrote” were written down by my mum because I hadn’t learned to write yet.

Title or characters or plot? Which comes first?

Characters, always. Everything else comes after I figure out who my main players are, and what their dynamic is, because that’s always going to be the heart of any story that I write. It doesn’t matter if it’s set in the future in space or in nineteenth century Wyoming (I’ve written both!), the characters are always the first thing I focus on and I build everything else around them.

Do you have a favorite character that you have written?

That’s a hard one! I think maybe Brady from Dark Space. It was so much fun to write in his voice, and be in his head. He’s sarcastic, and defiant, and always gets in trouble because he just can’t shut his mouth, but it’s mostly just a front because he’s so scared of being stuck in space where he knows he’s going to die. And I think I really love Brady so much because I was so worried that readers would hate him—a lot of times he’s selfish and immature and says hurtful things to the few people who care about him—but most readers love him too, which was fantastic. It’s totally a secret of mine that both Brady and Cam are also Aussie characters, even if it’s from an unrecogniSable future Australia. I think probably the only think that gives it away is that Brady mentions cockatoos. Otherwise, it could be anywhere.

Having said that, I’ve also got a total soft spot for Mark Cooper, from Mark Cooper versus America, for being a proud Aussie boy at an American college and refusing to give into peer pressure and use the word “ass”. Mark is fighting the good fight! Mark was written specifically because J.A. Rock and I spent so much time arguing about Australian English (which we all know is correct) and American English (which makes no sense and is wrong). So that gave me a chance to address most of my issues with American English, and will hopefully help explain to Americans why we giggle when you ask us which team we root for. Root does not mean what you think it means.

If you were a tour guide, what would you like a visitor to see and what impression would you want them to take away with them when they leave?

I was actually a bit of a tour guide last year when J.A. Rock came to visit. I made it my mission to take her to a wildlife sanctuary so she could see crocodiles, cassowaries, koalas, dingoes, wombats and the whole shebang. We were mobbed by kangaroos, and saw one of them punch a duck. It was hilarious.

So, the wildlife, definitely. Everyone should pet a wombat and hold a koala at least once in their lives. And see a duck get punched by a kangaroo.

Down Under Day 15: Author Lisa Henry, and our Australia and New Zealand Facts of the Day!

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Welcome, Lisa Henry!

Its Down Under Day 15 and our featured writer today is Australian author Lisa Henry!  Today, Lisa is sharing her recipe for Anzac biscuits and talking about her books and characters.  It’s another wonderful day Down Under so don’t miss out on a word of it, including Lisa Henry’s wonderful book giveaway and the Down Under Scavenger word of the day.

Australia Fact of the Day!

Because Lisa Henry lives in North Queensland, here are a few facts about Queensland and North Queensland in particular:

270px-Queensland_far_north_mapQueensland is the second largest state in Australia and covers over 22% of the total Australian continent an area of 1,730,648 square kilometres (1,075,378 miles). The coastline of mainland Queensland is 4,333 miles in length. Queensland has an extravagantly diverse landscape that is dominated by its extensive coastline

Far North Queensland is the location of the first amber fossils to be found in Australia. The four million-year-old fossils were found on a beach in Cape York Peninsula but were probably washed ashore after drifting with the currents for about 125 miles.

For interesting facts about North Queensland’s Animals, visit here!

 

New Zealand Fact of the Day!

What does Kaikoura mean? Well Kai means food and koura is Maori for crayfish. So one of the perfect places to seal and bird watch while eating a mound of fresh crayfish is Kaikoura, a place where the mountains meet the sea and an Ecotourism destination. With a population of approximately 3,800 residents, the Kaikoura township is located on a rocky peninsula, protruding from lush farmland beneath the mountains. In the waters off the peninsula, a complex marine system provides an abundantly rich habitat for marine mammals and seabirds making it an ideal place for getting ‘close to nature’.Kaikoura

mountain view of Kaikoura

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now onto Lisa Henry’s Down Under Author page, today’s contests and don’t forget to check out that Anzac Biscuit  recipe! 

Heat up your Heart with The Burnt Toast B&B Tour by Heidi Belleau and Rachel Haimowitz (Book tour and contest)

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Hi, and welcome to the Burnt Toast B&B blog tour! We’re Heidi Belleau and Rachel Haimowitz, the authors of the book, and we’re so thankful to have you along for the ride, and thankful to our hosts, Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words, for having us here today!

Normally on a blog tour, we like to share all kinds of behind the scenes goodies to do with the book: inspiration images, glimpses into research and plotting, deleted scenes, conversations about our process, character bios, etc. For this tour, though, we’re doing something a little different, but we hope you’ll still find it worth your while.

When Heidi first pitched The Burnt Toast B&B, it was as an opposites-attract story centring around the world’s worst B&B . . . and an M/M romcom where one of the lead guys just happened to be transgender. Writing solo, she’d done a trans book before, but that was very much a Trans Book, all about exploring gender identity, defining who you are, and coming out to your friends and loved ones. This book . . . isn’t that. It’s the story of an optimistic hipster stuntman and a pessimistic lumberjack who learn to make espresso, fix up a failing B&B, and generally butt heads in between loads of laundry.

Ginsberg, our hipster, is much like many of our other favourite M/M heroes: he’s funny, resilient, romantic, and sexy as hell. He’s also transgender; secure in his identity, his body, and his sexuality; and working in a career he loves. But his life isn’t without hardships. Ginsberg made his own family after his biological one turned out to be too toxic to live with. He scrimped and saved and borrowed to pay for the medical care he needed to be happy and healthy. He found a roof over his head as a “considerate couchsurfer,” living with friends and acquaintances on a temporary basis when money got tight. In Derrick and his failing B&B, Ginsberg finally finds an opportunity to have a real home, if only he can convince Derrick to keep the place open.

Ginsberg’s background of financial hardship and lack of family support is all too common among many people who, like him, are trans and trying to live happy, fulfilling lives as their true selves. As such, we the authors, our publisher Riptide, and our generous blog tour hosts will be using the next few days to highlight the personal fundraisers of real trans people in need. We hope that if you’ve got a little extra money this month, you’ll consider donating, and if money’s tight, maybe you can help by spreading the word, too.

For our part, Rachel, Heidi, and Riptide will be giving donors a $5 Riptide credit code for every $10 in donations you make (up to $50 in codes per person, up to $5,000 in codes overall)–just email your donation receipt(s) to info@riptidepublishing.com with the subject line “Burnt Toast Tour Donation,” and Riptide will send out all $5 codes a week after the tour ends. (It’s totally cool, by the way, to spread your donations across multiple fundraisers if you’d like; we’ll add up all your receipts sent in a single email and base your credit vouchers on the grand total.)

We’re also hosting a special contest for people who donate: every dollar in donations to any of these fundraisers will earn you an entry into a drawing for a full paperback set of Riptide’s current Bluewater Bay lineup, OR two signed paperback copies of The Burnt Toast B&B. We’ll draw one week after the blog tour ends. Every dollar helps, and every dollar counts!

Lastly, we’ll randomly select three commenters from all the tour stops and donate $50 apiece in each winner’s name to the trans charity or fundraiser of their choice. (Please be sure to leave a way for us to contact you if you win!)
Today’s featured fundraiser is for Reid, a young Canadian trans man struggling to make ends meet because of employment discrimination. You can find it at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/transman-needs-a-little-help. And here’s Reid 🙂

As a trans man in “the armpit of Canada,” Reid has been unable to secure long term employment, and is thus in need of emergency living expenses, as well as funds to help him purchase items like safe binders and packers to help him be safe and secure in his body. As a thank-you to those who donate, Reid is offering a number of reawrds, including original fiction, original music, and handwritten letters of gratitude. You can learn more about Reid and help this young man to get his feet beneath him at his fundraiser page, https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/transman-needs-a-little-help.

Thank you so much for following our (slightly unconventional) blog tour! Be sure to leave a comment on this or any of our other tour stops for a chance to have $50 donated in your name to a trans-related fundraiser/charity of your choice. And if you choose to donate to any of the fundraisers we’ve highlighted over the course of the tour, don’t forget to forward proof of your donation to info@riptidepublishing.com with the subject line “Burnt Toast Tour Donation” to claim your $5 coupon(s) and enter your name in the extra special drawing!

Lastly, if you or someone you love is transgender and going through a difficult time, please check out the Trans Lifeline, http://www.translifeline.org/. This crisis helpline is staffed entirely by trans volunteers and runs at least twelve hours a day, seven days a week, in the US and Canada. If you’re in crisis, please call them. If you’d like to support this nonprofit, please visit http://www.gofundme.com/translifeline.

About The Burnt Toast B&B:

The Burnt Toast B & B coverAfter breaking his arm on set, Wolf’s Landing stuntman Ginsberg Sloan finds himself temporarily out of work. Luckily, Bluewater Bay’s worst B&B has cheap long-term rates, and Ginsberg’s not too proud to take advantage of them.

Derrick Richards, a grizzled laid-off logger, inherited the B&B after his parents’ untimely deaths. Making beds and cooking sunny-side-up eggs is hardly Derrick’s idea of a man’s way to make a living, but just as he’s decided to shut the place down, Ginsberg shows up on his doorstep, pitiful and soaking wet, and Derrick can hardly send him packing.

Not outright, at least.

The plan? Carry on the B&B’s tradition of terrible customer service and even worse food until the pampered city boy leaves voluntarily. What Derrick doesn’t count on, though, is that the lousier he gets at hosting, the more he convinces bored, busybody Ginsberg to try to get the B&B back on track. And he definitely doesn’t count on the growing attraction between them, or how much more he learns from Ginsberg than how to put out kitchen fires.

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