Oh Hey, Publishing Drama!

Sometimes you just have to...

Lately it feels like the MM romance world can't go a freaking week without more publishing bullshit. The culprit for a while now has been Dreamspinner Press, with whom I've published numerous stories, from shorts for anthologies to novellas to full-on novels.

Dreamspinner has done, and continues to do, some very shady stuff with their accounting. I'm uncomfortable and unhappy with them on both a personal and professional level at the moment, but I'm also not really comfortable yanking all my content from them.

Why? First and foremost, because back when they were less shitty about paying people, I got an advance for a new novel set to be published in November. I don't know what happens to that money if I pull my book, but my sense is that I'm going to have to pay it back to get my rights back. I'm in grad school, I'm caring for a toddler, and I don't have a lot of disposable cash. That money has been spent.

I'm worried that new book is going to be dead on arrival now. I'm worried that no one will want to buy it through Dreamspinner because they're being shady about paying authors what they owe, so it won't make any money. Most of my back list with them isn't making a lot of money anyway, but my new releases used to do pretty well. But after all this? *sigh* There's three solid months of writing down the drain.

I'm going to write them and see about retrieving most of my other stuff, but re-releasing those stories means a lot of time and effort in formatting and re-covering and promoting that I can't necessarily muster right now. I'm juggling as much as I can all at once, but some things are of a necessity going to get dropped for a while. There are a lot of wonderful people in the community doing all they can to help though, which is awesome.

So, that's where things stand for me right now. Friendly Fire, originally released through Riptide, will be back up soon. You see how far behind I am?

Thanks for your understanding and your love. I appreciate every single person who's taken a chance on my work, and I'm going to get it out there for you again.

Eventually.

Tempest is live on Amazon!

Hi darlins!

My Rainbow Award-winning m/m fantasy novel Tempest is now up on Amazon! You can find it here: Tempest

Love can change a soul. But can it save one life?

Colm Weathercliff is a simple fisherman with an uncanny some might say preternatural knack for his trade. He thought leaving his small village to take his father s ashes to the capital city of Caithmor for a proper burial would be the grandest adventure of his life.

At first, all his hopes seem to be fulfilled. He finds a home where he s accepted without question, the freedom to use his talent to its fullest effect, and love with Nichol, a man with a longing for the sea as powerful as Colm s.

But Caithmor holds as many dangers as it does attractions. Colm s greatest secret turns out to be a dark revelation that gets him and his family shunned and changes everything he thought he knew about himself.

The truth about his parentage, his gift, even his physical form could poison his chance for love. And doom both him and Nichol to a gruesome, inescapable fate.



This is the second edition of the book, with a different cover, but it's the same story. If you've already bought it, thank you! No need to do so again, you're not missing anything.

If you're following it in Wattpad, never fear! I will continue to post chapters there until the whole thing is up. But if you want to know what happens next faster (and after this next chapter, you totally will) then here's your chance.

You might be wondering, what's the point of putting it up for sale if you're just going to give it away for free? Well, I've been thinking about that a lot lately, and I'll write a blog post about it later this weekend.

In the meantime, enjoy, and happy Friday!

New Release: Wanting More + bonus story (OMG!!!)

Hi guys!

So this is very exciting.  Today I finally managed (after months of prevaricating) to actually get to the publishing part of my first self-publishing venture.  I got the rights back to two stories published in some older anthologies, re-edited them, was gifted a cover by the awesome P.D. Singer and put them together to become Wanting More.  The stories are about the same couple, they're contemporary, there's a little BDSM splashed in there, and there's a rentboy theme.  Sounds fun?

I think so!  Want some more information?

Wanting More:  After a late-night rendezvous is interrupted by the partner of the man who hired him, stripper and high-end escort Alex Kidman can't get James Fitzgerald out of his head. So when James comes to watch him dance a few weeks later, Alex knows it's time to make his move--but James isn't comfortable with him if he isn't paying for his time. 

This short story also appeared in the Dreamspinner Press anthology Sindustry II.

Favorite Dish:  With his lover James away on business for three weeks, Alex does his best to distract himself by keeping busy with his work as a chef, but not even the most elaborate meals can keep him occupied when all he wants to do is cook for two.  Fortunately James has the same problem, and can’t resist coming home early to satisfy his hunger for Alex.

This short story also appeared in the Torquere Press anthology Pour Some Sugar On It.

Update: now available on Amazon here! Wanting More.

So far it's only available at All Romance Ebooks, but I'll have the links here for Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Kobo within the next day.  I'm really excited about this, it's a new step for me.  Eventually I'll get longer works out there, including my Literotica and blog stories (edited, lengthened and not taken down from the original sites, because I love you all).  

RMFW 2013, or What I Did This Weekend!

Hi guys!

I spent all weekend, including Friday, at the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer's conference.  There were panels and master classes and workshops, as well as the opportunity to pitch to agents and get critiques of the first parts of stories.  I learned a lot of interesting things, including how to prepare a manuscript and turn it into an epub and mobi document, which means I'll be able to produce my own ebooks.  This is important because I also made contacts who work as freelance editors, including one lady who is an erotica editor for Changeling Press.  Now I have people to go to to get quality editing so that when I finally do put out my own ebooks, you the reader will get something professional, and not something that looks homemade.

When I say finally I actually mean pretty damn soon, hopefully before the holidays, because I want to get my older stuff revised and rolling.  I'm going to start with The Captain and see how that goes.  Right now I don't have plans to get rid of the free versions on Literotica, so there won't be any yelling and screaming and gnashing of teeth.  The new version will be professionally edited, will bring all three parts together, will have cover art and be very reasonably priced, but there should still be options for people who just can't bring themselves to pay for me or who have no other way of accessing my work.  I want to be a professional writer, but I also get that this habit can get expensive.

I also learned about Chinese ghost lore (so awesome), fantasy fundamentals (thanks Carol Berg, now I have so much more work to do), rewriting and revising (thanks for the same reason, Cindi Meyers), I got to sit in on panels with Rob Thurman (urban fantasy) and Ron Malfi (thriller/horror) and Margaret George (historical fiction) and I met a ton of fantastic people in addition to all the other stuff I can't remember but have written down.  I attended this conference last year for the first time and loved it, and this year was different but still very good.  When it comes to improving the craft of writing, making connections and scaring the fuck out of yourself by pitching your story to an agent who couldn't be bothered to stop texting for the first few minutes of your meeting with her, I highly recommend a conference like this.

Bit by bit, I'm getting there.  Anyway, there should be Love Letters on Tuesday and a beginning to my Cody story later in the week, as long as no more natural disasters befall us.  Have a lovely Sunday, darlins.


PS--Rob Thurman (of Cal and Niko Leandros fame, check it out here) critiqued my mainstream UF novel and gave me such a nice response! Of course, this is the novel I'm shelving for now, but still...huzzah for being told I write at a professional level!  How lovely, considering I'm trying to actually be a professional.