Wow, I sort of blipped off the map there for a while, huh? Life, why are you so time-consuming? *g*

Anyway, I'm excited to say that there's a virtual release party for the new Necking anthology going on over at the Dreamspinner Press blog.



In this anthology, it's all threesomes all the time! Today, authors will be posting excerpts from their stories, as well as thoughts on the challenges in writing a three-way relationship. There are some great stories by fantastic authors. Check it out if you're in the mood for some man-on-man-on-man action! The anthology will be released in paperback and ebook formats on Monday.

Here's some info on my story, An American in Seville:

( Blurb )

( Excerpt )

A big thank you goes to my friend barely_bean who inspired this story with the anecdote she shared from her vacation in Spain of a beautiful flamenco dancer and the bowled over American tourist who couldn't stop staring at him.

ETA: Forgot to say that there's contest over at the virtual release party to get a free copy of the book. So head over and enter to win!

Someone sent me a link to this post that brings up an issue about All's Fair in Love and Advertising. I decided that I didn't want to engage in that conversation, but I do want to address one thing here that's very important to me.

In my story, the main character Max considers himself a "recently converted gay man." For the record, I do not believe that people choose their sexuality. I am completely aware that right-wing groups use that line of reasoning to try to deny gay people rights. I do not support that and am very sorry if my story has been unclear in ways that make it seem as if I do.

Max is an unreliable narrator. He thinks people are all out to get him, and they're not. He thinks he's the only one in the room with a good idea, and he's not. He thinks he's suddenly turned gay when actually he's undergone a process of self-discovery. In an earlier draft, I had Max thinking back to times in the past when he's been attracted to men, but it felt as if I was trying too hard to establish his bisexual credentials, so I took that out of the final draft. I thought, hoped, that the last scene he has with his therapist showed Max starting to realize the truth, starting to see who he is, who he's always been. There was only so explicit I felt I could make this revelation since the story is told very tightly from Max's POV and he's so unaware, but perhaps I should have made it more clear.

To any gay men who have read the story and felt hurt by it, to you I say that I am very sorry, and I do take this as a learning experience to carry forward into future work.

Happy Valentine's Day to all! Here's a little something to celebrate the day.

Title: The Hostage Heir
Summary: Christopher Lucas is hired for the summer to provide security for Jason Keller, heir to the vast Keller fortune. But all is not what it seems. (Loosely based on the fairy tale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses.")

( The Hostage Heir )

In celebration of Valentine's Day weekend, I thought it would be fun to count down my top 5 favorite gay romance movies. Be warned that there are some spoilers here.

( #5 )

( #4 )

( #3 )

( #2 )

( #1 )

So what are your favorite gay romance movies?

I've got a bunch of stories coming out this week. My new novella (about 17,000 words) was released today from Dreamspinner Press. Best friends who become boyfriends!

( Rules Were Made To Be Broken )

I've got two stories coming out on Valentine's Day.

The first is a 4,700-word story for the I DO TWO anthology to benefit Lambda Legal Fund.

( Ganymede )

The other story is 5,800 words for the Torquere Press SHOT THROUGH THE HEART Valentine's Day Taste Test (a collection of three stories).

( Better Than Cupcakes )

I'm also planning to post a free story to celebrate V-Day on my original writing LJ lenorejblack. It's a modern, male/male riff on "The Twelve Dancing Princesses."

( The Hostage Heir )

Stop by on Valentine's Day to read the story!


I'm also very excited that Anne Brooke will be reviewing All's Fair In Love And Advertising tomorrow on Vulpes Libris. Thanks, Anne!

February is shaping up to be a busy month. The "I Do Two" anthology is well underway and will be released on Valentine's Day. It's a great bunch of people involved in this project, and I really think the book is going to be something very special. I'm so honored to be part of it.

Just got word on Friday that my short story "Better Than Cupcakes" has been accepted for Torquere's "Shot Through The Heart" Valentine's Day Taste Test.

And I have a cover and publication date for my new novella!



It's due out February 10.

Here's the blurb:
( Rules blurb )

I finished a draft of a menage story for an upcoming Dreamspinner anthology, but it needs some serious editing. And I've actually been working on a het story idea lately. So, go figure! :)

I'm very happy to say that my story "Ganymede" was selected to be in I DO TWO, an anthology to help support the cause of marriage equality. The stories are donated by the authors, and all profits go to the Lamdba Legal Fund.

It's really going to be a great book with stories from some amazing authors. Here's the lineup:

Aim Higher by JL Merrow
Cakewalk by Nathan Burgoine
Elephants In Her Tea by Julia Rios
Even Guys Cry by D.C. Juris
Ganymede by Lenore Black
Hitched by Michael Gouda
Home Cooking by Brian Holliday
Honolulu Hula by Neil S. Plakcy
Inner Truth by Alex Beecroft
Mallory’s Gift by L-J Baker
Mister Right by Rob Rosen
Morbidly Obese by Rick Reed
Mountain Ash by Ruth Sims
No Queens on Pickett Street by Martha Miller
Ships that Pass by Jamie Freeman
Stripes by Nigel Puerasch
The Song Inside by Nexis Pas
The Uneven Chance by Charlie Cochrane
Touche by James Buchanan
Turnabout by Lee Rowan
Two Men: A Fugue by Sophia Deri-Bowen
Under the Shadow of Your Wings by Jill Palmer
Work Experience by Bruin Fisher

The anthology will be available early in 2010.

Today my first novella, All's Fair in Love and Advertising, was released from Dreamspinner Press.



( Blurb )

My deepest thanks to pun, chaneen and mindyfromohio for all your help with the story. You guys are the best!

Also, now available is my story for the Dreamspinner Mistletoe Madness Advent Calendar, Spam! It's What's for Christmas.



( Blurb )

Many thanks to chaneen for all her help with it!

So, I've had a few exciting developments lately.

--My first novella All's Fair in Love and Advertising has a publication date! It's due out on December 2nd.

( Cover Art )

( Blurb )

It's up on the Dreamspinner Coming Soon page. It has an actual ISBN number. That just makes me giddy!

--I've had a second novella accepted for publication by DreamSpinner, called Rules Were Made to Be Broken, about a guy who's a little bit of a control freak and is so desperate not to let his best friend find out he's in love with him that he comes up with all these rules for hiding the truth. The only problem? His best friend has never met a rule he didn't want to break!

--Bedknobs and Beanstalks, the anthology of m/m fairy tales, got a great review from Rainbow Reviews, which I would link to, but the site appears to be down at the moment.

As for upcoming stuff, I just sent off a Valentine's Day story, and I'm working on a story for the I Do Two anthology. Plus, I have what I think will be a novel-length story underway. There's also a ton of good stuff out there that I want to read. Why are there not more hours in the day???

Bedknobs and Beanstalks, a collection of m/m fairytales edited by EM Lynley from Ravenous Romance, is now available in various ebook formats.




Here's a description of it:

( Synopsis )

Here's the lineup of stories, including mine:

( List of stories )

Check it out!