About bullies and bitches

I'm the first person to tell you that I'm a bitch. Yes, I am also just and fair and honest to a fault, but there's a bitch within me that occasionally bubbles out and does damage to the deserving, mostly.

Yesterday was a really odd day for me. I tried to correct someone's phrasing on Twitter, because frankly it made them sound racist and that just doesn't fly, and they totally blew up on my face. If you follow me on Twitter, you know who exactly I'm talking about, and possibly know the carnage that happened after he got ticked off at me and the world and then took it out on certain individuals and finally groups of people who were his fans. WERE. Past tense, I assume, after the rant and bullying and offensive language he used against fans who frankly pay his bills. He alienated quite a few of those fans by calling them, us, names, being a misogynistic, raging man who very obviously has even more problems that most of us ever thought he had.

Not that anything about that was truly a surprise, after all he had been abusive, as most of us who follow the world of gay porn know. What I never ever expected, was to be called stupid by someone online, someone who has a certain profile to maintain and who, in a sense, caters to his fans. More than anything, I never expected to be called names in such a mean way by someone I have never met or talked to in person.

I tend to try and see the good in people, but after being bullied and attacked over something so trivial as suggesting re-phrasing in a sensitive issue, the bitch in me comes out. Yes, was I truly bitchy and did I say things about the man, hours later than it all started (for me personally) as I watched him insult people that I now call online friends and acquaintances.

Should I have kept my mouth shut? Obviously, but the bitchy side in me that was born twenty years ago after being bullied in school and decided that she would NEVER be bullied again kind of snapped.

He was being sad, pathetic and in those ways, extremely amusing, showing his true colors for everyone to see. Like his ex states in this interview (that deals with the aftermath of that abusive relationship and tells the story of an extremely brave young man who survived it all), a zebra is never free of his stripes. No matter how he tries to hide them, they will be out there for everyone to see, eventually.

Also, Devon Hunter wrote a blog post, as did JP Barnaby (who did that interview with the said young man) and if you're interested in seeing more of what took place, do click on the links. Like JP states, internet is forever, and despite the tweets not being there in this person's timeline (he deleted the worst of it at some point) most of them are surely saved on several hard drives all over the world, because that's how the modern (internet) world works.

Win some swag from yours truly!

Hello, everyone!


I'm running a bit of a swag giveaway. You can find the details here, at The Romance Studio's Party-site. 

About respect and writing

I vented about this on Twitter last night, but it didn't leave me alone like I thought it would.

When we write, and by we, I mean us females who write M/M-romance, we get so much prejudice, so much "You can't do that" thrown our way it feels that much worse, when we get it from another writer.

Now, I'm thinking the issue is mostly "girls can't write guy/guy"-stuff. Bullshit. Anyone who is creative, has the words and the emotions, can write what ever they want. It's just about being a good writer.

We also have people who write to aspire being The Great M/M-romance Writer, and then we have people like yours truly, who wants to write for people who like to read for the entertainment value. I don't CARE if I'm the next big thing out there, but I do respect those who actually are. I'm not ambitious like that, I write because I have no choice.

Now, then there are people who look down on us poor beings who write entertainment. And I'm looking at one certain male author at the moment, singling him out because he singled us out first. I read his "how to write M/M-romance"-guide, and it came across terribly prejudiced and condescending. There was no respect what so ever for us who like to write things he doesn't write.

In fact, this gentleman takes it as far as making this prejudice and disrespect part of his own books. There is a series of his that I liked a lot, that didn't contain this as much as the NEXT series did. The next series... Let's just say, the main character is a writer who dislikes and mocks everything he doesn't like. This, incidentally, is exactly what the author of the series does not write.

So when did he turn his writing, which by the way is pretty good all the time, award-winning even, into a tool for disrespecting the people who don't write the kind of books he does? I don't know, and I frankly don't care. He's talented, he is, but when he works something like this into his books, I just throw my hands up and wonder what the hell did he and/or his editor see in this next quote.

She was a big girl. A very, very big girl. One of those very big girls who you fear won’t live to see forty if they don’t take action now.

Is this how he sees all women that are "big"? Is this just how he sees "big" women that are writers (as the character referred to in the quote just happens to be)?

Whatever the reason of this sort of politically very incorrect sh—stuff being published by someone who is supposed to be an author for us to look up to, I only have one thing to say; I quit.

I quit reading his books, and I'll hold my chubby head up high and keep writing stuff that I and my readers find entertaining. They might never be the next big thing that wins awards, but hey, at least I did my best?

Been a while again

Sorry!

But I do have some lovely news.

The old url to this blog now takes you to my website. Yes, it's finally done!

Also, I'm happy to tell you all that my first novel, By Any Other Name will be out in a week, so do keep an eye out for the book on Dreamspinner Press website. :)

I need to go get a cup of tea and finish watching a movie, but I just thought I'd update the blog before I forget. :)

I'll try to update some more soon, tell you a bit about my WIPs etc. Just bear with me here.

It's summertime alright...

I'm melting. Like...almost literally. And not because I saw something cute. It's WAY TOO HOT in here! I'm one of those people who are most content around 23-24C (roughly low seventies in Fahrenheit). Today, and for the last few days, it's been around 27-33C (eighties in F). I can't...just...no. At least I have a fan to keep me cool during the night. (Instead of a fan who would make the nights hotter... now that's a thought...)

I really have been a bad author with this blogging-thing. There are a few positive things though, that I'd like to mention.

I have my July novella's release date. Auld Lang Syne will be out July 20th, so that's SOON. Yay! It's also on Goodreads already and on Dreamspinner's Coming Soon-page.

My nerdy self is absolutely delighted over my new Bazinga!- t shirt (you get cookie points for knowing this reference).

I've been reading more than I've been writing, though a plot bunny swept me away yesterday and made me write about 1k words down before I forgot them. I still have two other stories as WIPs and much more started. Trying to work on those two first.

Oh! There's the Hot July Days-event in the Goodreads M/M Romance-group and it's already in progress! My story, Hawk's Sparrow, will be up eventually, so go join the group and take a look of the wonderful stories already posted! :)

That's about it! Until next time,

- Tia

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!

Latest News!

I've been doing some promo-stuff and I've been featured in two lovely blogs and there's more to come too.

Here's the first one, the lovely Sue Brown had me over at her blog, and here's another one, First Timer Friday at Naughty in the Backseat-blog.

Oh and I also got the blurb for my cowboy-novella and I LOVED it... I'll share it with you guys later when I have a cover and a release date.