News and stuff

Damn I'm good with blog post headlines...

A few things: First of all, I'm in the process of editing one freebie short story (will be out at some point through Dreamspinner Press, I'll keep you posted) and Finnshifters 2 that now has a brand new title!

Finnshifters 2 was supposed to be called, or rather its working title was, Moving On. Then another book named Moving On was released by DSP last month (I think) and I had to come up with a new name for FS2.

The new name is Tiglon by the Tail. I love the name and I wouldn't have come up with it without some help from the editorial department, so thanks! Also, the release date is in September, which day, I don't know yet.

Secondly, I'm going to start the process of having a new website done! It will be easier to update (thank you for everyone who hasn't emailed me about the lack of updates on my current site...) and it will look really good, I bet. Can't wait to see what AngstyG comes up with!

Thirdly, on August 4th, next Saturday, I'll be hosting a Facebook chat on Dreamspinner's Facebook page. Now, a bunch of stuff will be happening there, but there will be giveaways and even a paperback giveaway (signed and delivered to you wherever you live!) So keep an eye out!

Fourthly (this is getting silly...) in September, there will be an event in Brighton called UK GLBTQ Fiction Meet and I'll be attending with plenty of other authors. So in case you're in Brighton on September 15th, please do come meet us!

That's about it for now!

Countdown to Technically Dead, Day 5

Hello, everyone!

I thought, since Technically Dead is out soon (on the 20th), I'd do a little countdown for you all.

I might be mostly talking about the music of Technically Dead, but I will probably share a lot of other things too, like the faces I see when I think of the characters and things that influenced the story.

And on the day of the release, I'll also be giving away one eBook copy of the book, so you might want to keep an eye on this countdown to learn how you're eligible for the "contest", which won't really be contest at all. ^^

So let us begin.

As I said, music. Many of my stories have a song or a few I associate with them or the events, characters or places, even scenes. So far only my novels have playlists, though.

There's a post somewhere in this blog about the playlist of By Any Other Name, in case you're interested. Just follow the tags.

Technically Dead has even a longer soundtrack, an I keep adding to it occasionally. The latest two additions are Bring Me To Life by Evanescence and Shady by Adam Lambert. Here are the videos for you, I won't spoil who or what I associate the songs with, though. You can read the book and figure it out yourself! :)

I thought I'd share some of the other songs too, but these I can tell you more about... ;)
Just as By Any Other Name's "main theme" was Ghosts of Days Gone By by Alter Bridge, there's one "main them" for Technically Dead as well. This is it:

I love Three Days Grace in general, but when I had just started to write Technically Dead, it hit me that Lost in You was the perfect song for the novel.

Of course I may "see" these songs differently than most readers will, but they're still very strongly "Technically Dead's songs".

Hmm... what next? Well, the funniest thing that I can find from the "soundtrack" is this... :)

Trust me, even when I was writing the book and this song came up as an addition to the soundtrack, I aimed a "really?" at Bran. He insisted. So here it is, Teenage Dream by Katy Perry. I think, even though Bran has never said it, that it represents the naive teenager Bran was when he first met Heath.

As I was writing Bran doing everyday mundane things, like walking from one place to another or working in his office, he was whistling this song in my head a lot.

Moves Like Jagger has been my "earworm" for a long time and apparently I gave it to Bran at some point. However, it doesn't annoy him like it annoys me sometimes, go figure. Yes, writers are a bit odd like that... Nobody ever claimed we were sane... ^^

When I poked at Heath in my head and asked him if he liked contemporary music, he said that he didn't mind it, but that he rarely found any that he truly liked. When I pressed on, he managed to come up with one song that he absolutely loves, but the smile that he gave me was a bit sad, and if you listen to this, you'll know why.

That's about it for today! Because there are almost thirty songs in this list of mine, I'll share with you the Spotify-link to it. Click here to see more. If you don't have Spotify and there's interest, I'll write them all down and make a post or you can email me and ask about the songs if you want.

Tomorrow is all about places and faces, I believe... So see you!

Coming Soon: Technically Dead!

Technically Dead is now on Dreamspinner's Coming Soon-page. The release date is July 20th, and I couldn't be happier with the cover. I think it's stunning!

I hope you'll like the book as much as I do!

Birthday stuffs and all the rest

First of all, it's Dreamspinner Press's birthday month extravaganza, and the last few days of it. Until the 31st, you can get my books (and ton of others) with 20% off at the website. So go check my stuff here.

Second, my own birthday is coming up on the 29th. Happy Birthday to me, I suppose. :)

Thirdly, I'm taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo in June, so basically I'll be writing like a maniac for the month. My first project for the first two weeks will be the third part of Finnshifters-series. Now, that said, it's ALMOST time for the first part of the series, Chuffed, to be out. Not long now!

That's about it, for now. Have a nice early summer, everyone!

Finnshifters book one, Chuffed -- Coming Soon!

And here it is, on the Coming Soon page. :)

Finnshifters 1 - Chuffed.

Contest Winners!

I promised to post about who won the contest I held at the Dreamspinner Blog.

I've contacted the winners and they've selected their prizes. :) If you didn't get an email, sorry, you didn't win this time.

BUT! There will be other contest this summer and in the autumn, so don't worry, you'll have your chance!

Thank you so much, everyone who participated. I loved to read your answers. :)

Once again, congratulations Jessie, Monica, Judi and Sabrina, I hope you enjoy your prizes!

Have a nice springtime!

Heads Up!

Okay, since I have so many stories coming up like right now or soon, I'm planning on holding a little contest this spring.

Actually it might be a big contest, since it will have some nice prizes, after all. And I totally mean nice on my scale. I'm talking about free ebooks of my three releases (Lucky, Something New, and Thank My Lucky Scars), maybe a small gift card for an eBook store of your choice, some swag... That sort of thing.

So, keep your eyes glued to this space, people! Soon enough you'll have some information and possibly some neat prizes!

That said, Something New is out today and you can already find it from the Dreamspinner Press store and at least All Romance Ebooks and later from Amazon and all the other places DSP novellas usually are sold.

Release day!!

So, today on January 25th, my new short story Lucky will be available from Dreamspinner Press.

Here's the blurb and a link for you.

Sloane would've given anything to have been born with the right body, but he hadn't. He’d have given anything to have his family back, but his father insisted that until Sloane was ready to become his heterosexual daughter again, he wanted nothing to do with him. So Sloane dealt with the challenges of living transgendered as best he could. Luckily, his best friend Jace was there with him every step of the way. Jace is the best man Sloane has ever met, but Jace is gay and Sloane still doesn’t have the right parts – until Jace proves that he loves Sloane just the way he is.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2738

 As you can tell, this is a story about a transgender main character. It's a intimate little love story and above all, a story about finding acceptance.

I will be doing a little giveaway of this story at some point, so keep your eyes open. :) I've been blogging about it elsewhere, so just wait, there will be links for that too at some point.

I hope you enjoy this little story. :)

The Weirdly Miraculous 2011

Everyone is doing these end of the year-posts, so I decided to look back a little too. Yeah, I'm a regular sheep following the herd...

This time last year I was waiting anxiously to hear from Dreamspinner Press about my anthology submission. It was nervewrecking, mainly because I loved the story, Auld Lang Syne, and it was my first foray into what I knew I wanted to write: original M/M-fiction.

As some of you know by now, the story didn't make it into the anthology, instead Dreamspinner wanted it separately, and the novella is out there on it's own. I still remember the feeling of getting that email, by the way, early in 2011, saying they wanted it. It was all so worth it...

Incidentally my first published work was a M/M/F-short story for another publisher, Summerhouse Publishing. An online acquaintance had founded a publishing company and I had a story. It ended up published, and even though I've since fallen out with Summerhouse, I don't regret sending them The Double Ds.

At the end of the year 2011, I have met the goal I set myself way back in ancient history: I have had a novel published. By Any Other Name is a decent first try and I know many people have liked, even loved it. It's not my favorite thing of what I've written and I see faults in it, but it is a decent book with a LOT of things in it that I still managed to make mine. I wanted to write a different book about abuse and a menage-relationship, and I think those boys pulled it off just fine.

I'm also pretty happy with the other things I have out there by now, all of which you can see on my Goodreads page in case you're wondering. :)

All the while I've been writing, all through 2011, I've been also battling some personal issues, the main one has been depression, the "friend" that has been following me for most of my adult life.

During 2011 I've made a lot of new friends, resurrected some old friendships (to a point) and I've certainly erased some people from my life (some of them repeatedly, because I'm a sucker for punishment...). I've learned that your time is limited, you'll not life forever, and so you should try to surround yourself with people you actually like. If someone makes you feel bad or evokes negative feelings, they should go, no matter who they are. Nobody is worth making you feel bad.

All in all, 2011 has been a decent year. I feel like I can maybe learn from my mistakes and failures or things I perceive as either, like selling my beloved stallion who was stressing me out and going to waste being a yard ornament, or having a person I once considered a friend make me feel like crap all the time because of their social inaptitude and general obliviousness to other people's feelings. Oh and never mind the so called gay porn "star" and his antics, that was "fun" too.

Getting into those situations and letting them bother me as much as they did were failures and mistakes for sure. But I think I've learned from them. Now I'm tougher. Again.

The positive of 2011 is that I'm an author now. If I die tomorrow, the people left behind can call me an author. That's what matters to me. This is what I always wanted to be, This is what I didn't think would happen, or at least I needed a miracle. Well guess what. Miracles do happen. ;)

I think that my usual "I will not make New Year's resolutions!"-mantra will be effective this year too, but at least my first thought when the year is changing won't be "I will survive one more year." like it has been for so many years. I have some living to do, surviving won't cut it anymore.

Happy New Year and have a much better 2012, everyone!

(Oh and keep your eyes open, because there will be more stories out there from yours truly soon enough, starting from January 25th. I'm not going anywhere.)

Dreamspinner has some nice things going on!

Hi, everyone!

I thought I'd let you know that Dreamspinner has a We Are Thankful Sale going on through Nov. 30th. That means everything on the DSP-website is 20% off! Now is a good time to go and shop for the holidays!

If you use Facebook, you should definitely go and like Dreamspinner, because there's a code on their FB page that gives 15% off on ONE order of ANY SIZE over the next year! That's awesome!

Also, every purchase you make before Nov. 30th enters you into a drawing for a Kindle Fire! So go do some shopping already!! :)

Free Stories!!

Dreamspinner Press has a Halloween thing running for this month.

There are 31 stories hidden on author pages, product pages, series pages...you name it, if it has something to do with the author who wrote the freebie, it might be there...

Gary the Gargoyle marks each story and I have a little bit called The Maze hidden on one of my product pages. So go look and download it, it's free! :)

A little update

So, I've been writing and writing and reading and reading....aaand signing contracts!

I am happy to report that at the moment, the first half of 2012 brings you at least three stories by yours truly, all published by Dreamspinner Press.

One is a short story called Lucky. The genre is contemporary M/M, though one of the main characters is FtM transsexual.

Second one is called Something New, it's a novella, and revolves around a YA writer called Frank, who makes decisions about his life and ends up moving, finding a new life and a new love (a hunky, younger fireman called Conner). This is essentially a family story.

Third one, which I call "that Twitter story" in my head, is another novella. It's  the story of Matt, a bicycle messenger in London. He collides with a "rich guy's Mercedes" and as a result ends up spending a lot of time online while he heals. On Twitter, he begins to stalk his favorite gay porn star aaand...the rest you have to read yourself. ;)

I'll update when I have more news about current submissions and other stuffs.

I should be writing, but...

Okay, a proper status update is in order, I think. Not right now, but I was writing and my brain got shuffled like a deck of cards and here I am, updating my blog. Praise the ADHD.

Anyway. My first novel, By Any Other Name has been out for almost a month now. It's doing really well, better than I expected, actually. So I'm quite happy. I know the issues the book has and some reader reviews have stated those, so I don't really disagree with the "not-so-good" reviews this time.

I have two submissions in at Dreamspinner right at this moment. They're both contemporary and I like both of the stories. Not too angsty, but still not too fluffy romance either. I like both of them and we'll see if DSP picks them up or if someone else might.

There are two release dates you might want to know about. The first is a Halloween-story for Summerhouse publishing. It's called Finding Eternity, and it's a F/F-short story with vampires and blood and angst and all the good stuff. The release date is October 28th.

The second one is a short story with a trans-theme. It's called Lucky and it will be published by Dreamspinner Press in January 2012. I'll keep you posted for the exact date when I get it.

I'm working on a short story for one of the DSP's anthology calls, who knows if it will end up there or not, but I'm working on it anyways. It's about men and...trout. Don't ask. ;)

There's also another, longer story in my WIP-folder, it's BDSMey and good, I hope. This story is on hold right now though. We'll see when I get back to it.

Aaand then last but not least, I'm going for two new things soon-ish. One is a three story-series about shifters, and we'll see about what happens with it. It would have M/M, F/F and M/F/M-stories in it.

The second new thing is my plans for this year's NaNoWriMo. That one is a vampire story, very dark and angsty. At least that's my plan for NaNo anyways. Who knows where the muses will go...

Oh, and on yet another piece of news, my swag is ready and will get to me at some point in the next few weeks I think. So then I'll be sending them to some contest winners etc. And I might just hold another contest eventually. :)

That's about it. Back to the writing now!

On a more positive note

During September the second half of September, AllRomanceEbooks has a Dreamspinner Press-rebate going on. You might want to go there and take a look yourself to see how it works. Lots of great DSP-stories to pick from!

Big News!!

So I got an email today from Dreamspinner Press. They're contracting my first novel, By Any Other Name!!

It will be out around August/September and I couldn't be happier! Also, since BAON was written during the 2010 NaNoWriMo, then I'm thinking maybe this year I'll write the sequel?

We shall see. :) Anyway, I'm going to go outside to the warm, light summer night and do another happy dance!

Promo weekend!

This weekend I'll be joining some other Dreamspinner Press-authors for a chat about this June's Daily Dose, First Time for Everything, at the Literary Nymphs' yahoo group.

My short story, called Unwind, is included in the Daily Dose and will be on sale June 1st.

I'm planning on a few other promo-things, interviews and stuff, so I'll keep you posted about them as well.

It's been a while...

but I'm still here! Promise!

We're getting closer to release dates, I'm also working on stories (like a sequel to the novella coming out in July) and such... Busy. Well, most of the being busy is actually spring and the ton of work around the yard one has to do while living on a tiny little farm. There's loads to do, and time for writing is a luxury.

Anyway, I have someone working on a proper website for me, and I'm hoping it will be done sometime soon. Once it is, there will be teasers and freebies and whatnot posted there.

I mentioned Piece of Tales-blog last time I actually updated mine... I'm a guest-blogger-person there every other Wednesday these days, I try to review or something. I wouldn't call what I do review, but like...something? Anyway, there's another post tomorrow in case you're interested.

While waiting for my thingums to be released, I'm having to look into promoting and all that. Somehow it seems weird, having to do that. I mean writing is work in itself now, adding to that seems...almost too much. I know it sounds silly, but it takes a while to get used to living what you've dreamed of for a long time.

Other than trying to find time for writing, I've actually played PC-games a bit. Some WoW, which is an all time favorite, but also my beloved, pre-ordered The Witcher 2, which was out today. So that's what I've been doing today while it rained and my muses were being annoying bitches. Good game, that one. Very difficult, but still, very good as well.

I've read some, right now I'm reading J.L. Langley's My Fair Captain which has been recommended ti me by a few separate people and it's so good so far I'm happy I finally got into reading it. I almost wish I could pull off writing something like that... Maybe one day, eh?

Anyway, this was a rambling thing, just to tell you I'm still breathing. Oh and next weekend, there's a promo-thing at Literary Nymphs I'm online-attending with a bunch of other Dreamspinner Press-authors, so I shall give you links then. Hoping to have my website up by then but if not, I'll try to be more patient. ;)

In case someone was wondering, haven't sold the stallion yet, no good enough homes have come forward asking about him. Meh. We shall see.

<3 - Tia

Dreamspinner Press' Daily Dose for June!

Alrighty, my short story Unwind is in DSP's Daily Dose for June. If you don't know what the Daily Dose is about, here's some information of this particular Daily Dose:

First Time for Everything
From true love's first innocent kiss to finally getting down and dirty on the kitchen floor, there's a first time for every sort of cherry to be popped. Whether discovering the ravenous thrill of sex or the heartwarming power of romance, these men are going to take the plunge and try something new—something romantic or kinky, daring or safe, passionate or relaxed, even comforting or scary—all in the name of love. The First Time for Everything Daily Dose package delivers 30 M/M stories about all kinds of first times.
Summer reading fun! A story delivered automatically to your bookshelf each day in June. Over 1,500 pages of fiction selling individually for a total $81.20. Buy the package early and save:

April - $39.99     May - $49.99*
*Sale of packages for daily delivery ends May 25.
Beginning June 1, stories will be available individually as priced or as a bulk package for $54.99.

Now, my story will be for sale beginning June 1st and it will be $1.49, but I do suggest you take up this opportunity to buy the whole package in the discount price.

The blurb for my story, Unwind:

Pub owner Sam and detective Jared have been together long enough to know each other through and through, so when the usually wordy Jared sends a clipped text message to Sam saying he’ll be late, Sam knows something’s wrong. If Jared is in a foul mood and wrapped up in a case that’s gone to court, he’ll be insufferable for who knows how long! Without some serious unwinding, their upcoming anniversary celebration might be ruined, so Sam plans something completely different for the evening: a foray that will take their lovemaking farther than ever before. With some luck and a little gentle coaxing, Jared should be unwound in no time.

 Here's the link for where you can check out all the 30 blurbs in the collection. 

On with the latest news!

So, a few pieces of news and links and stuff.

Here's the link for my Dreamspinner Press author bio. I'm SO excited to see it there! :)

My first short story that I posted the cover art for a while back has now its own page on the Summerhouse Publishing-website. You can see the information, including the summary for the story on The Double Ds product-page.

Also, there's some news on my first full length novel sometime soon... Stay tuned. :)

It's mid March already??

This just hit me today. March 15th. That's like...wow. Two and a half months of 2011 gone already? How did that happen??

In some weird way, despite the depression and other struggles I've had this year, everything seems to be quite okay. For one, I'm writing. I'm writing quite a bit.

What's up with that, you ask?

• A novella, working title Auld Lang Syne, will be coming out in June. It is going to be published by Dreamspinner Press.
• I have other submissions in on other publishers as well, there's M/M, M/M/F and soon a whole novel of M/M/M that has some interest from a publisher already. 
• Currently I'm writing a shifter-story, because it just wants to get out of my head... Should be interesting enough, I hope. At least the general idea is a bit different and hey, my shifters will have actual packs with pups and all, not just packs that consist of a handful of gay males... Where do the new wolves come from in those stories?? Not everyone is gay, people.

I'm getting back to the routine of writing every day, making myself write despite producing a ton of utter crap that way. At least I'm writing, the editing comes later...

I'm also reading a lot, right now I'm greatly enjoying the novel Red Skies by Joanne Kells. You can find the book in the Dreamspinner Press website/store. Very good, detailed (but not too detailed), complex story with interesting characters that are actual guys and cowboys, not "girls in guy's clothes", like quite a few male characters seem to be in M/M-fiction.

Other than reading and writing, I've been trying to will my new piece of ink to heal fast. I love my tattoos and always want more, but the healing can be annoying at times.

I'm also gathering strength to start making a website for myself but can't see that happening, just not into that so much anymore.

That's about it this time, folks.