Category: Uncategorized

Review: Stranger on the Shore by Josh Lanyon

.Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

Stranger on the Shore coverWhen investigative journalist Griffin Hadley is hired by the patriarch of the wealthy Arlington family to write an account of a long ago family tragedy, Griffin had little idea of the danger he is about to encounter.  Twenty years ago young Brian Arlington, heir to Arlington fortune, was kidnapped for ransom.  Although a man was charged with the kidnapping and jailed, young Brian was never found and is presumed dead.  Brian’s grandfather wants closure before he dies and hires Griffin Hadley to renew the search for answers about his grandson once and for all.

Blocking Griffin’s investigation and efforts to write the story is Pierce Mather, the Arlington family lawyer.  Pierce Mather, cold, handsome, and resolute in his determination that Griffin leave the estate and Arlington tragedy in the past.  Pierce also administers and controls the Arlington billions.But he is not the only one unhappy that Griffin Hadley is about to dig up questions about the decades-old mystery.

As more and more factions line up against Griffin, he begins to wonder if he can figure out what really happened all those years ago.  And when Pierce begins to show that he is attracted to Griffin, Griffin wonders if it is due to passion or something more ominous….

 Stranger on the Shore a welcome return to writing for this author as well as demonstrating just why Josh Lanyon is on so many  readers TBR lists.  A story that is both a romance and a mystery is one of the favorite ploys of this author’s and one he does so well.  For me as a reader, one element I appreciate and look forward to in each of Josh Lanyon’s novels is the  unsettled atmosphere and haunting settings he evokes with his sensual imagery and vivid descriptions of his locations.  In Stranger on the Shore it is the old palatial Arlington estate whose very name conjures up mysteries, secrets, and opulence, that is the setting for the investigation into a young boy’s kidnapping and murder.

Ah, the mystery….well to be honest…the one mystery that looms the largest is also the most easily guessed at.  So it’s not so much the who,  but the why and how that defines the mystery and the investigation.  That is one of the pleasures of this story.  All the threads that have to be pulled together to figure out the larger picture and persons behind it all, and there is a myriad of plot threads to follow.  In Stranger on the Shore it’s the journey not the destination that is the true joy.  It’s the miasma off the waters, the perfectly manicured gardens that beg one to peer behind the hedges,  and the walkways that beckon as they lead into the darkness. It’s the indolent feeling of the old privileged powerful families and the weight of their wealth that slowly gives over to one of suspense and dread. A bubbling up of a malodorous past that Lanyon brings forth so precisely, fraught with clues that the reader cannot help but follow that makes this story sing. the Arlington estate and gardens  comes alive here, so much so it is as much a main character as Griffin and the Arlington family. In Stranger on the Shore we get ambiance, mystery and an alluring location.  All that and the romance too.

Lust in the heat, impulsive sex between lovers who don’t trust or perhaps even like one another, that’s sexy sizzle of desire is another great element of this story.  Pierce Mather, cold, calculating, and what exactly?  Is he loyal family retainer?  Part of the puzzle behind young Brian Arlington’s disappearance?  Controlled yet passionate lover?  He is all that and more as the story unfolds and Griffin Hadley is pulled deeper into the Arlington family history and current scramble for the family fortune. And then there is Griffin.  I wish I had a sense of Griffin as an investigative reporter, that seemed a little lacking here.  A writer yes, reporter no. But so much about Griffin is appealing.  He is vulnerable, unsettled and perhaps too trusting for the role he is to play here.  But he will engage your feelings as he goes about tumbling into the past  and present dangers of the situation he finds himself in.  Griffin and Pierce were perfect foils for each other and I loved their intense arguments as much as their love scenes.

I’m not sure why exactly Josh Lanyon has such a diverse and/or opposite effect on readers.  They absolutely adore him or his writing doesn’t engage them.  It seems to fall one way or the other.  I happen to love him.  I admire his stories even if I find I can predict the outcome or part of the plot before the resolution. His characters have always been able to reach me with their foibles and faults as well as their intelligence.  And as I have stated, his descriptions and imagery is captivating in its ability to pull you into a scene or situation smoothly and decidedly.  I love the emotions he brings forth and the  depth of love and believability he is able to create for his characters.  No, this story’s not perfect, but I found myself still thinking about the plot and characters days later.  That ability to resonate is aspect of good storytelling I require and I found that here.

Josh Lanyon took a sabbatical from writing for over a year and his voice was missed by many.  Now he has returned and I look forward to the stories and characters his inventive mind will create.  Stranger on the Shore is a terrific start.  I loved it and think you will too.   If you are new to Josh Lanyon, there is a huge backlist awaiting you, including many of my favorites such as Fair Game, Come Unto These Yellow Sands , and the Adrien English Mysteries.  Start here and work your way backward.  You have a wonderful journey ahead, get going!  Those of you who are Josh Lanyon fans, well, you probably have already picked this up and started reading.

Josh Lanyon and Stranger on the Shore are recommended author and novel at ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords.

Happy Reading.

Buy Links:   Carina Press         ARe           Amazon

 

Book Details:

ebook, 226 pages
Published May 5th 2014 by Carina Press
original titleStranger on the Shore
ISBN139781426898327
edition languageEnglish

Listen to Books? Finding Release by Silvia Violet is Out in Audio!

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Audio Book:   Finding Release by Silvia Violet

Do you listen to books?  Need a new book to listen to?  Check out Silvia Violet’s Finding Release, the first in her new Wild R Farm series.  As a part of Silvia Violet’s audio book release tour, you have a chance to win an audio copy for yourself.  To enter to win, visit this Rafflecopter link .  To listen to an excerpt, visit Amazon and click on play Sample.

 

 

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FR-audio Finding Release audio coverBook Name: Wild R Farm 1: Finding Release (audio version)
Author Name: Silvia Violet
Book Details:
Audible Audio Edition
Listening Length: 4 hours and 36 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Publisher: Silvia Violet Books
Audible.com Release Date: May 16, 2014
Whispersync for Voice: Ready
Language: English
ASIN: B00KHZB99O
Cover Artist: BitterGrace Art
Amazon Buy Link
url http://silviaviolet.com/book/finding-release/
seriesWild R Farm #1
charactersCole Wilder, Jonah Marks

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Blurb(s): Finding Release (Wild R Farm 1) is now available in audio!

Coleman Wilder is a half-breed werewolf. Some days the tension between his human side and his werewolf instincts threaten to tear him apart. But the challenge of running a horse farm as a gay man in a conservative Tennessee town keeps him focused until he meets horse shifter, Jonah Marks.
Jonah’s family insists that shifting is sinful, but Jonah longs to let his stallion run free. Desperate to escape his family’s judgment, he asks Cole, his secret crush, for a job. Cole turns him down, scared his desire for Jonah will make him lose control. When Jonah’s brother threatens his life, Cole struggles to save him and give them both a second chance at the life they’ve always wanted.

Excerpt: Hear this read at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Release-Wild-Farm-Book/dp/B00KHZB99O) by clicking on Play Sample.

The boy nodded. “I-yes. I’m Jonah. Cole?”

Cole nodded, unable to make his voice work. Soulful chocolate brown eyes. The smell of newly mown hay, orange groves, and clean young man. No wonder Demon seemed familiar.

“You were Demon.” Cole said, finally able to speak.

Jonah nodded.

Cole couldn’t verbalize his racing thoughts. He was shaking, sick at the thought of what Jonah had suffered, stunned, thankful. His knees threatened to give, and he grabbed the stall door to keep himself upright.

Jonah trembled. “My brother… he locked me in horse form. I forgot who I was. Forgot how… how to be h-human.”

Rage, fear, and a fierce need to protect had Cole ready to rip Nathan Marks apart.

Jonah looked lost and confused.

Cole wanted to pull Jonah into his arms and take his fear away, but he was afraid to move. “Tell me what happened.”

“C-can’t, not now. I… need… hold me.”

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FR BadgeTour Dates: June 10th, 2014
Tour Stops: Parker Williams, Kimi-Chan, Iyana Jenna, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Wicked Wolves & Dreaming Dragons, Amanda C. Stone, Love Bytes, MM Good Books, LeAnn’s Book Reviews, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Hearts on Fire

Author Bio:

Silvia Violet writes erotic romance in a variety of genres including paranormal, contemporary, sci fi, and historical. She can be found haunting coffee shops looking for the darkest, strongest cup of coffee she can find. Once equipped with the needed fuel, she can happily sit for hours pounding away at her laptop. Silvia typically leaves home disguised as a suburban stay-at-home-mom, and other coffee shop patrons tend to ask her hilarious questions like “Do you write children’s books?” She loves watching the looks on their faces when they learn what she’s actually up to. When not writing, Silvia enjoys baking sinfully delicious treats, exploring new styles of cooking, and reading to her incorrigible offspring.
Author Links:  Facebook     Twitter      Tumblr 

Contest Details:  Enter to win an audio book of Silvia Violet’s Finding Release.  Visit here to enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway.

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In the Spotlight: David Pratt, author of Looking After Joey (Contest)

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In the Author Spotlight:

Meet David Pratt!

I recently read a story called Looking After Joey and immediately had to get to know the author behind this marvelous novel.  So I invited David Pratt to ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords today to talk about Looking After Joey, his inspirations, his muse, his favorite porn stars and whatever else came to mind.  What a great interview it turned out to be.  Here is a photograph of David Pratt at a reading.  Copies of the cover and model Nicholas Gorham can be found at the end of the interview.  Don’t miss out on those!

Contest:  David has brought with him a copy of Looking After Joey to giveaway.  To enter to win, leave a comment and an email address where you can be reached.  Contest ends June 18th at midnight.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.David Pratt reading

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STRW:. How did this idea (Looking After Joey) come to you?

David Pratt: Part One, “Calvin Gets Sucked In” comes from a short story I wrote. But I forget where the idea for that came from. Once I had it, though, it seemed natural to wonder, what if Joey took Calvin up on his offer and came into this world? I thought, that’s not a story. That’s a novel! A novel about what really matters to us — and what doesn’t. A novel that could be very funny. Half the stuff Joey encounters inspires existential wonder or panic. The other half inspires flat-out mockery! Some things inspire both.

STRW:  Is there a porn star out there you would like to see step out of a video?

David Pratt: I love watching Peto Coast. You can look for his videos on ice-gay.com. Now, I’m not sure about him stepping out of the TV. He is an extremely aggressive top. I can bottom, for sure, but he might be too much in person. In the Goofy Kid category, I like Paul Canon of Broke Straight Boys. I like Gino and Chase on Spanking Central, and I like this guy Kenny who’s on Sean Cody.He could step out of the TV for me! As could some of the guys from the Fraternity X website. But really, I did most of my porn watching in the 1980s, so I fondly remember Rod Garreto, Eric Manchester and Ted Cox from that era. I’d love it if Garreto stepped out of the TV! He was my fave.Rod Garetto porn star

STRW:. The Native American character was a terrific element, where did he come from and will we see him again in another story?

David Pratt: In the original short story, he was a joke, because of his name. In the book he acquires dimension because he reappears and we find out what he thinks of the “real world.” The decision he made shocked even me. I, of course, have experienced times when all arrows pointed to something in my work, but rarely does a character take a significant action that totally takes me by surprise. But Jake did, and I had to go with it. His presence signals a change for the other four. They can no longer think their world is all about wine bars and video nights. In the second half of the book there is an undoing of the cozy world of the first half. Everyone is growing up and moving on. Jake makes them think about who they are and what they are doing. Will we see Jake again? You never know. The whole gang of “Joey” characters could be revisited. I mean, tell me you don’t want to hear from Stuart again. In moderation, of course. And Desmond, hmmmm?

STRW:. That porn world was hysterical with all the elements most people see in a typical porn DVD, the delivery guys, the pizza, the gym etc. Do you think you will revisit this world and a certain character in it again?

David Pratt: Like Calvin, I learned two things about porn:  1.) it is rich with possibilities; and 2.) you run through those possibilities pretty quickly. Stuff starts to repeat. Which is kind of the point, isn’t it? There is just one character from that world that I’d be curious to follow up with. But I am not saying which one. I suppose I don’t want to be held to it. And writers never give away what they are thinking about that has yet to be written down. Or they shouldn’t.

STRW: . I found the pathos and angst surprising and it added layers of dimension that really made this story work. Had you planned on that happening or did the story take an unexpected direction once you started writing?

David Pratt: There was more pathos and angst in the original story, though there was comedy, too. In the novel,  Calvin and Peachy effectively become parents, so there has to be angst and pathos! Parents know, it’s a joyful but dangerous world out there. And it all starts with Calvin being lonely. His relationship with Joey springs out of loneliness and lack of confidence. For Joey there is angst and pathos in being introduced to time and the suggestion, which at first he barely understands, of death. That was just there. I had to include it. Think how completely different this world is from the world presented in porn.

Calvin compares Joey to an immigrant. The opera singer Teresa Stratas tells how, when her family emigrated to Canada from Greece, her father could not adjust. He sat and stared at the wall all day. Vietnamese dancer/choreographer Ea Sola freaked out when she came to France as a very young woman; her first performances consisted of standing still staring in the street, basically having a breakdown. Her audiences thought it was art; to her it was just what she did. My partner emigrated from Brazil. When he first came here, coincidentally, he delivered pizza. One day he stopped in the middle of the street in the rain and for a long moment couldn’t go on. This kind of paralyzing moment happens to Joey a couple of times. He’s immobilized by fear when he notices his fingernails growing — even after he’s cut them once! He can’t look at pictures of Calvin as a child. I think there is also a natural pathos as well as humor in, for example, Joey seeing what disabled people or people of different ethnicities look like. This is a rough world! But Calvin and Peachy and Doug teach Joey that there is love in it, and loyalty. And these defy time.

STRW: Do you have a favorite genre and a least favorite one? And why?

David Pratt: I tend to like “literary” fiction (see my New England background, below), but I have become open to anything. I never thought I’d go for erotica, until I encountered Erastes, Dale Chase and Ellis Carrington. I did not pay much attention to paranormal or fantasy until I read Felice Picano’s “Tales from a Distant Planet.” I had no interest in “spiritual” fiction until I stumbled on Cathryn McIntyre’s weird memoir/fiction mash-up “Honor in Concord.”

STRW:. What author or story has influenced your writing the most?

David Pratt: As a child I loved the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. They’re a direct influence on “Joey.” Chelsea is the Hundred Acre Wood. Calvin is Pooh, Joey is Piglet, and Peachy is Rabbit—or he’s Owl on speed! The House at Pooh Corner has one of the great endings ever: “Promise you won’t forget me, ever. Not even when I’m a hundred.” That could be the ending of “Joey,” too. In terms of the off-the-wall, what-the-hell feel of the book, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was probably an influence. I read everything by him when I was sixteen, though today I am not so interested. And as I come from New England, there’s all that transcendence and all that symbolism, though not so focused on the natural world. Emily Dickinson heard a fly buzz. Calvin hears a taxi. Melville had his white whale. Calvin and Peachy have Bunce van den Troell!

Finally, some more images are attached. Reading photo at Hotel Monteleone, credit it J. Stephen Young. All other photos,(c) 2014 Eva Mueller. Joey cover design, Adrian Nicholas, (c) 2014 Wilde City Press. Bob cover design, Peachy Boy Design and Distillery, (c) 2010 Chelsea Station Editions.

Thanks again so much for the great review and for your interest and the blogging opportunity. Let me know anything else you need.

Best,
David

STRW:  Thanks, David, for stopping by for such a wonderful interview and for generously donating a copy of Looking After Joey to give away.

Book:  Looking After Joey by David Pratt

Blurb: 

From the author of Bob the Book comes a funny, fast-paced, touching tale of love, laughter, family of choice and fabulousness!

Wouldn’t it be great if a character from a porn movie stepped right out of your TV, into your life? Well, be careful what you wish for. Because that’s how Calvin and Peachy end up looking after Joey. Then Peachy decides to make Joey the center of in a social-climbing scheme that will take them all from Chelsea to Park Avenue to Fire Island and will entangle a rogues’ gallery of eccentric Manhattanites, including portly, perspiring publicist Bunce van den Troell; theatrical investor Sir Desmond Norma; studly thespian Clive Tidwell-Smidgin; and evil lubricant king Fred Pflester and his mysterious nephew, Jeffrey. Tender, wise, witty and utterly deranged, Looking After Joey will make you wish you, too, had a porn character sitting at your kitchen table, pointing at the toast and asking, “What’s this called again?”

Details: ebook, 255 pages
Published April 2nd 2014 by Wilde City Press

Highly Recommended by ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords

Buy Links:   Wilde City  Amazon   ARe

Contest:  Leave a comment, your email address where you can be reached below.  Contests ends 6/18 at midnight.  

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All photo credits are Eva Mueller. The cover model is Nicholas Gorham.

Photograph and book covers are credited to the following:

Reading photo at Hotel Monteleone, credit it J. Stephen Young. All other photos,(c) 2014 Eva Mueller. Joey cover design, Adrian Nicholas, (c) 2014 Wilde City Press. Bob cover design, Peachy Boy Design and Distillery, (c) 2010 Chelsea Station Editions.

Review: Apollo’s Curse by Brad Vance

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

Apollo's Curse coverDane Gale has had one goal in life. That was to write and be a successful author.  But his only published novel lies languishing on the shelves with little to no takers.  When he joins a romance book club, he gets more than he bargained for.  His new friends Rose and Sherry and Dale find themselves critiquing the novels they are reading and finding that they believe that they could write one as well.   Soon an author is born. “Pamela Clarice,” self-published romance novelist, consisting of the three of them, and quickly they find they have published their first romance to some success.  And for each of their novels, Dane chooses a popular model to use for their covers, a man he can’t get out of his mind.

The model Dane is obsessing over is Paul Musegetes. Paul is the world’s most popular romance cover model, but hardly anything is known about him, other than only one photographer is allowed to take his pictures. When Dane, Rose, and Sherry attend the Romance Writers’ Ball on the Summer Solstice, Dane meets Paul  and connects for one night of passion that will change his life forever…

After that night with Paul, Dane finds his muse has ignited a storm of inspiration and he starts writing one successful novel after another.  And that’s all Dane does….he writes to the exclusion of all else.  Paul is a Muse who comes with a curse as well as the writers Midas touch.  The writer he anoints on the Summer Solstice has but one year of phenomenal success and then will never be able to write again.

Heartbroken at the price he never knew he would have to pay, Dane vows to track down Paul and break the curse.  But how to find a man who doesn’t seem to exist outside of a photograph?  All the clues lead to Venice and Paul’s photographer Jackson da Vinci…

What a great concept for a story!  The idea that a popular cover model, you know, the ones you see over and over again, is actually a Greek Muse, who with one night of supernatural sex, anoints an author to become the world’s most prolific and successful writer?  I love it!  And it works beautifully here as a means to explain the writing process and as a raison de etre for Dane , who has to travel not only to Venice but to Greece itself in order to find his answers and a way to break the curse.

Dane Gale is a character that has to grow on a reader.  At the beginning, he seems very self-involved and so sure he has written the “great American novel” that no one can appreciate as demonstrated by its poor sales.  But it’s what Paul is lacking that is the source of his writing woes and inability to understand love and romance.  Vance gives us the key to Dane early on when he introduces the women that will become not only Dane’s writing partners but his friends too.  Rose and Sherry open Dane up emotionally as each has a different talent to bring to their novels.  What does it say about Dane that his talent is editing,research,  formating and such?  As the three of them work on stories and ideas, it becomes clear to them all where Dane deficiencies lie.  Until he sees a picture of Paul Musegetes when searching for a cover model for their romances.  Then Dane becomes able to write not only steamy and believable sex scenes but frame out entire stories around Paul’s pictures.

Brad Vance does a great job here in relating the publishing world as it exists today with all the new avenues and formats of self publishing ebooks.  He goes into details about all the various ways in which an author can’t only publish their own stories but track their success and sales as well.  This element of the story teeters on almost too much information.  It is practically a “how to publish” pamphlet on its own.  Interesting but a little overwhelming although I understand why he wanted us to “watch” Dane’s excitement grow as his success climbs exponentially upward.

The women in this story are terrific characters and I wish we had as much of them towards the last section of the story as we did at the beginning.  We become invested in these women only to have them disappear halfway through the story.  Understandable, necessary, but their absence is definitely felt. Jackson da Vinci is a character to love the more you know about him.  He too needs enlightenment and only through his search with Dane does the end result of his own choices become apparent.

One of my most favorite aspects of Apollo’s Curse is the Greek island of Kos and its inhabitants.  Such wonders await the readers there, including bits of storytelling and characters worth the price of this novel alone.  It’s magical and poignant and I never wanted Dane and Jackson to leave. But of course, that was never possible….  But clearly Brad Vance knows and loves his Greek mythology as well as the islands.  Venice too ripples authentically off the pages of the story as the enchanting city it is.

Apollo’s Curse is a book that continued to grow on me even after I had finished.  The more its scenes and  characters came back to me, the greater my enjoyment in the world and story that Vance created.  It’s really a lovely romance as well as a cautionary tale of getting exactly what you asked for.  Steamy, hot, sex?  Not really, although perhaps you might anticipate that from the cover and the half dressed model.  Who is that model?  Why the photographer! His name is  Francesco Cura.  And Vance didn’t find out that he was the photographer until afterwards.  Now that’s a great surprise.

At the moment, Vance has said in his interview with me that this is a stand alone novel.  I hope not.  I want to know what happens to Jackson and Dane next.  Also Rose and Sherry who arrive at the end.  There is so much more to tell and I would love to see where Vance takes his characters and their Muse next.  Consider this story and author highly recommended.

Cover artist and model not credited.

Buy Links:   Amazon  Amazon UK       ARe          Barnes & Noble  Smashwords

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 280 pages
Published May 4th 2014 (first published May 1st 2014)
ASINB00K4FXL8O
edition languageEnglish

Apollo’s Curse Book Tour: An Interview with Brad Vance (Contest Incl.)

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Brad Vance has stopped by ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords today to talk about his latest release Apollo’s Curse and share some of his thoughts on writing.  He has also brought 10 copies of Apollo’s Curse to giveaway during his tour.  To enter to win an eBook copy of Apollo’s Curse, visit here, a Rafflecopter site.   Contest ends 6/13.

Brad Vance was nice enough to answer a few questions from me about the story, his own muse, and writing in general.  Here’s the interview:

STRW: This story has both a curse and a muse. What was your inspiration for the story?

BV: “Paul,” the model who’s featured on the cover, really was the inspiration. Every time I go to create a cover for a book, it’s almost always his picture that leaps off the screen at me.
His name is actually Francesco Cura, but I refused to find that out until I was done with the book. Imagine my delight when I found out he was not only the model, but also the photographer! I felt this rush of joy, of validation – I was right to pick him over and over, right to choose him as a muse, he was so much more than just a pretty face after all.

STRW: Do you have a Muse?

See above 🙂 I’d say that my favorite writers are my Muses as well. For erotica, I look to gay writers Andrew Holleran and Edmund White as role models – they’re far more literary than I am, but it’s that sensual aspect to their work that I love. One day I’ll write something as languorous and steamy as Holleran’s “Dancer From The Dance.” That book reeks of sex…but I was astonished to discover when I reread it last year that there isn’t a single sex scene in it. How did he do that! I want to do that!

STRW: What drew you to write M/M Romance?

BV:  Well, like Dane, I wasn’t having a great success writing mainstream fic. Aubrey Watt (AKA Aubrey Rose), a very talented writer, did an Ask Me Anything on Reddit about being a “smut writer.” I thought, I have a dirty mind – I bet I can do that! I sent her a sample and she was very encouraging. So I wrote erotica until the Epic Cockblocking purges at Kobo and Amazon killed the market for that. Then I moved into erotic romance, where I have a bigger canvas than just sex to write about (though there’s plenty of that in every book save “Apollo”).

STRW: Best line you ever wrote?

BV:  One I haven’t written yet.

STRW:  Is there any genre you wouldn’t write in?

BV:  Oh, sure. I can’t see myself writing, for instance, Amish romance. Hmm. Unless it featured some of those hot Amish gangsters getting it on in the barn…there’s an idea! I gotta go now!

STRW:  Favorite romance, book and/or movie?

BV:  For some reason, the movie that pops into mind isn’t really a romance, but it is – “About A Boy.” I love the complicated relationships in that story, and the “bromance” that ends with a HEA. Remember, you gotta have a backup!

STRW: How do you feel about HEA in stories? Necessary or not?

BV: I want closure when I read a book. I want to be satisfied. If one of the lovers dies, that’s not a HEA but it’s closure. So I’m okay with that – But of course I’d rather have the HEA.

STRW:  Is this a standalone novel or the beginning of a series?

BV:  Well. It’s a standalone. But. What happens to Dane later? Does he write again? Does he become a muse to someone else? I have no idea now. But there’s room for another story, if the ideas come to me. I won’t force it, but it’s possible.

Now let’s get up close and personal with Brad’s book…

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Apollo's Curse coverBook Name: Apollo’s Curse
Author Name: Brad Vance
Cover Artist: Brad Vance
Publisher: Brad Vance Erotica
Blurb(s):

All Dane Gale ever wanted was to be a successful writer. After a few sessions with his new friends Rose and Sherry at a romance book club, well, the more romances they read, the more they’re convinced they can do better. And do they ever! They join their creative forces to become “Pamela Clarice,” self-published romance novelist. When they look for a cover model for their first book, Dane sees the photos that will change his life.

Paul Musegetes is the world’s most popular romance cover model, and the most secretive. Dane soon finds himself obsessed with this supernaturally handsome man, and when he meets Paul at the Romance Writers’ Ball on the Summer Solstice, he and Paul connect for one night of passion…

After that night, Dane’s a writing machine. He can’t stop writing romances, and every story he touches turns to gold. But he also finds that he can’t write anything but romances. And soon he’s spending every waking moment of every day writing another after another…

Then Dane finds out that this Midas touch has a heavy price. After the next Summer Solstice, he’ll never write again. Not a romance, not a serious novel. Nothing. Not even a grocery list. And that leaves him with only one option – find Paul, and get him to break the curse. But before he can do that, he’ll have to track down Paul’s equally mysterious photographer, Jackson da Vinci…

Excerpt:
It wasn’t hard to find Paul again.  And to find the “other images with this model” link.  And click.  And click.  And blow up my browser window to 200%, so that when I zoomed the photos, his face, then his eyes, filled my screen.

And what surprised me was that there were not only so many images of him, but that he could be so many different men in so many different pictures, different settings – he was the tender lover with the rose, the snarling Viking, the cool guy in a band, the Miami Beach tool, the shifter/werewolf, the business man, the college kid, the gym rat, the outdoorsman, the poet, the drill sergeant, the soccer player, the swimmer…  As I looked at each picture, I was totally convinced that I was looking at the real man, that that was who he really was…until I looked at the next.

And yet, always, he was clearly recognizably himself – Paul.  It was those eyes, reminding you that he was in there, somewhere, behind the image, and you’d never know which one he really was, he was all of them, he was whoever you wanted him to be…

Buy Links for Apollo’s Curse :     AmazonUK    Amazon  ARe     Barnes&Noble     Smashwords

Author Bio:

Brad Vance is a popular author of gay romances, including the best selling novel, “Given the Circumstances.”

You can follow Brad at:

Tour Dates: 6/2 – 6/13

Tour Stops:
ApollosCurseBadgeJune 2: Prism Book Alliance, Dawn’s Reading Nook
June 3: Kimi-Chan
June 4: Elisa Rolle, Nephylim, Up All Night, Read All Day
June 5: Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves
June 6: MM Good Books, Jane Wallace-Knight
June 9: Parker Williams, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
June 10: Amanda C. Stone, Fallen Angel Reviews
June 11: Gay Guy Reading, Jade Crystal, My Fiction Nook, Talon SO
June 12: Love Bytes, It’s Raining Men
June 13: The Novel Approach, The Hat Party

Rafflecopter Prize: 10 copies of ‘Apollo’s Curse’ ebook
Rafflecopter Code: WillPride

More Winner Announcements….and the Week ahead At ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords

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Places to go, things to do.  Busy, busy, busy.  so short and sweet this week.

I have some winner announcements to make.  All the winners have been notified.  Congratulations go out to:

  • The Winner of Leona Carver’s giveaway for No Oceans Too Deep is Hannah B!
  • *Winners of Shira Antony’s Into the Wind Tour are as follows:

Entry #992Lori P.
Entry #853Carolyn
Entry #44Shorty C.
Entry #493Chase P.
Entry #664Renee S.

  • The winner from my blog of an ebook copy of Stealing the Wind is Gabrielle Jones.
  • The Winner of John Inman’s Spirit is Joe.

 

The week ahead is full of book tours, audio book releases, reviews and contests.  Don’t miss out on a day of it.  The week ahead at ScatteredThoughts looks something like this:

  • Monday, June 9 – am:     On Tour with Brad Vance and his release, Apollo’s Curse
  • Monday, June 9 – pm:     Review:    Apollo’s Curse by Brad Vance
  • Tuesday, June 10 – am:     In the Author Spotlight with David Pratt of Looking After Joey (interview/contest)
  • Tuesday, June 10  – pm      Audio Book Tour:  Finding Release by Silvia Violet
  • Wed., June 11 – am            Stranger on the Shore by Josh Lanyon
  • Wed., June 11 – pm           Audio Book Tour:  Brokenhearted by Cate Ashwood
  • Thurs., June 12 – am         On Tour with E.M. Lynley and Out of the Gate
  • Thurs., June 12 – pm        Review: Out of the Gate by E.M. Lynley
  • Friday,  June 13- am        Quickstop Tour/Contest with Daisy Harris and Nothing But Smoke
  • Friday, June 13 – pm        On Tour with Angel Martinez and Finn (Endangered Fae #1) Contest
  • Sat., June 14 –                      Nothing But Smoke by Daisy Harris

 

 

On Tour with D.T. Peterson and The Cove (Contest)

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D.T. Peterson is here at ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords today with an excerpt from The Cove, Peterson’s latest release and a contest to enter to win the Rafflecopter Prize of a.pdf copy of The Cove.  Visit here to enter.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

Welcome, D. T.!  That’s such a great cover.  Can we talk a little about your writing, The Cove, and things?

STRW: The setting for your story moves from one side of the country to another. Did you research both locations?

D.T.   I’ve been driven since an early age to travel and explore, to see what’s around the next bend in the road. I didn’t need to do a lot of research as far as the settings were concerned, I’ve been to all of them several times.

STRW:   What prompted you to write this story?

D.T.  I started writing ‘The Cove’ reflecting on my past and the relationships that defined me, and the friends that influenced my life. There were always a few tender, intense relationships that I’ve always wondered about and I decided to explore how things might have ended differently.

STRW:   How do you go about developing your characters?
 D.T.:  We are all drawn to what’s familiar, so I begin with people and friends that I have known. They do have a strange habit of taking on a life of their own. I tend to write as I feel it, and as the story progresses so do the characters.

STRW:   What is the favorite story you have written or do you have one?

D.T.   I’ve just finished writing my 2nd novel, but ‘The Cove’ will always be my favorite.
STRW:   How do you go about picking the names of your characters?

D.T.   Good question, other than being correct for the period, I like names which seem to mesh with the characters. It’s just a personal preference.
STRW:   How long did it take to write this story? Was it something you had been thinking about for some time? Or just spontaneously jump into your mind?

D.T.:  I’ve thought about writing this story for a LONG time. Of course, it was the ‘secret’ that I’ve carried with me throughout the decades. I spent well over a year writing it.

STRW: What is your favorite thing about writing?

D.T.:  Writing allows me to look deep into myself and reflect, It also allows me to escape and enjoy disconnecting from the pressures of life.

STRW:  : What is the worst thing about the writing process?
D.T. :Without a shadow of a doubt…editing!

STRW:  *laughs*  I think that most writers feel that way.  This was wonderful.  Thanks for stopping by ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords for a little book talk.  D.T. Peterson’s The Cove is now out.  The buy links are listed below.   And don’t forget, everyone, to enter to win a pdf copy of The Cove at the links indicated!

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TheCove CoverBook Name: The Cove

Author Name: D.T. Peterson
Author Bio: Writing is a passion of mine, not a full time job. I live comfortably in Suburbia on the east coast.
Author Links: https://www.facebook.com/authorDTpeterson
Cover Artist: B.K. Wright
Publisher: Beau to Beau

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Blurb: Young and idealistic, Jon and Dave meet by chance, their friendship growing stronger and leading them to a place neither has been before. Though theirs is a love forbidden, which few understand, they journey across the country together and settle in San Francisco, where they are finally free to be together as they were meant to be. When life takes an unexpected turn, however, the two young lovers are torn apart by a secret which, if unveiled, threatens to bring great shame to the family of one determined to keep them on the straight and narrow.

 

 

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Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 324 pages
Published April 9th 2014 by Beau to Beau Publishing
ASINB00JLJFK3I
edition languageEnglish

Buy Links:               Amazon                         ARe

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Excerpt:

“Do you ever think about doing it again?” he asked me tentatively.
“Kissing you?”
“Yea.”
“All the time now,” I replied. I couldn’t lie to him, I did.
“Really?”
“Yea, what about you?” I asked.
“I do, I think about it all the time too.”
“So, why haven’t we, if we both want too?” He asked me
“I dunno, because we are afraid?”
“Yea, I know. But what are we afraid of?”
“I guess where it might end up.”
“Where it might end?”
“Yea”
“Dave,” he said, “Where are we going to end up? I need to know.”
“Fucked if I know.”
“We’ve been together all summer, and we’ve been through a lot.”
“It’s been perfect.”
“I’ve got to know,” he said, drawing closer to me.
“What?” I asked.
“Do you REALLY love me?”
I didn’t have to think about it.
“Jon, I love you more than anyone else. More than I ever thought that I could love someone.”
“And I love you too Dave. I can’t imagine ever being without you again.”
“I’d do anything for you.”
“I know, and I’d do anything with you.”
He laid there, next to me, staring into my eyes, as I fell hopelessly into his, both of us finally, realizing.
“Hey,” he said, as he ran his fingers through my hair, and he gently drew me closer, “I have to tell you something…”
“What?” I said, putting my arm around him, caressing him, and reassuring him.
“I’m not afraid anymore,” he whispered into my ear.
“You know,” I replied, softly, our lips barely separated, “neither am I. Not anymore.”
“So, it doesn’t matter?”
“No, it doesn’t matter.”
“Well, watcha waiting for?”
I wanted to kiss him again for a long time now. And finally I could, and the fear, and the worrying, were gone. I had too, I couldn’t not kiss him any longer.
We drew closer, slowly. It was awkward and we laughed a little. Finally, I pressed my lips against his; the spark was instantaneous. I could feel the pent up passion rising from deep within. It was unstoppable, and soon we were tight in each other’s arms, kissing passionately.
I looked deeply into his eyes, our lips barely separated, and I whispered to him gently, tenderly, “I love you”
Pulling me closer, and tighter, he caressed my face.
He replied, in between tender kisses, “I love you more.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked him.
“I can’t imagine not doing this,” he replied.
“Yea, I know exactly what you mean.”
Our lives, and everything that we had been through and done together, the thoughts that we shared and the emotions that we expressed, were a mere dress rehearsal, leading to this moment. The paths that we had chosen, and the decisions that we had made together, led us into each other’s arms and souls.

Tour Dates: 5/26/14 – 6/20/14WillPrideTourBadge
Tour Stops:
May 26: Kimi-Chan
May 27: Cate Ashwood
May 28: My Fiction Nook
May 29: MM Good Books
May 30: Michael Mandrake, LeAnn’s Book Reviews
June 2: Prism Book Alliance
June 3: Jade Crystal
June 4: Amanda C. Stone
June 5: Lee Brazil
June 6: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
June 9: Iyana Jenna
June 10: It’s Raining Men, Parker Williams
June 11: Love Bytes
June 12: 3 Chicks After Dark
June 13: Night Owl Reviews , SA McAuley
Jun 16: The Blogger Girls
June 17: Book Reviews and More by Kathy, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Hearts on Fire, Two Men Are Better Than One
June 18: Velvet Panic
June 19: Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves, Angel Martinez, Fallen Angel Reviews
June 20: MM Good Books

Contest Rules and Details:  Visit Rafflecopter to enter to win D.T. Peterson’s Rafflecopter Prize: A .pdf copy of The Cove.  Must be 18 years of age or older. Contest ends 6/20.