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.

Delay and Excerpt

Hi darlins,

Well, due to two looming deadlines for paid work and a monster headache, Mutable is going to have to wait a bit. I'm sorry, I hate to delay this late in the story game, but it's cold and I'm tired and I've got a pile of things to do reminding me they exist.

Instead of Mutable, have some of a story I'm subbing to Dreamspinner at the end of next month. Fight scene for the win!

***

She wrapped her free hand around the back of my neck, then smashed her forehead against my face. I felt my nose break, hot, salty blood gushing over my lips and into my mouth, and my eyes teared up so badly for a moment that I couldn’t see.

Corday followed her elbow up with a vicious knee to the balls, a strike that would have completely incapacitated me if I hadn’t already been reeling back out of her range thanks to the head butt. The impact was still enough to double me over, almost retching with the throbbing pain but not so far out of it that I wasn’t able to grab her leg before she could knee me again.

You wanna play rough? We’ll play rough. Gritting my teeth, I grabbed her behind both knees, lifted her up, and did a high double-leg takedown that put her straight through the glass-topped coffee table.

The noise was intense, way worse than the breaking glass of the door. I was on top now, exposed, not an impossible shot for her sniper to take, and yet no shot came. That meant whoever it was had changed targets, and was probably hunting for Mal. I needed to give him as much time as possible to get away from the hotel, away from both of them. As much as I wanted to turn around and run after him, I had to stay and fight it out.

Corday was stunned, spluttering, but holding onto my hips with her legs. I reared back and began to throw punches, simple, brutal hammerfists, down onto her head. Fuck being a gentleman, this woman was a better, definitely dirtier fighter than me. I needed to end it, fast.

She protected her head well, though, keeping her hands down by her face and leaving her elbows up to deflect my blows. Five strikes in she wrapped up my right arm with her left, looping around it like an eel and drawing me in close, then—crack! She brought her right elbow around for a vicious strike to my face. It hit my cheekbone and not my disaster of a nose, thank fuck, but it was still enough to knock me onto my side.

Glass crunched beneath me, shards glittering like diamonds against the cream-colored carpet, dotted with red splotches from my still-bleeding nose. Corday spun to put her feet between us, seemingly oblivious to the sharp glass beneath her, and lashed out with her foot, kicking me just below the sternum.

I exhaled hard and grabbed ahold of her ankle before she could reel it back in, clutched it to my stomach and twisted, hard, to the left. I wasn’t much of a grappler, never had been, but I was versed enough to know that if you could isolate a limb, it would be that much easier to break. I didn’t want to kill this woman—the thought made me feel sick—but I wouldn’t mind wrenching her tendons out of place so she couldn’t fucking kick me again.

She rolled with the movement of my twist, and ended up flat on her stomach and trying to stand. She was hurt, the plethora of cuts on her back welling with blood, but it wasn’t slowing her down at all. I kept my grip on her foot, got up onto my knees, and jerked her flat just as she was raising her other foot to strike at me.

She hit the floor with a smack, and I took the opportunity to get back onto my feet. I needed a weapon—where had my gun ended up? Hell, her gun would do too.

There. Three feet over, beneath the wall-mounted television. I dropped her foot so I could go after it, saw her hand move out of the corner of my eye—

***

And that's all you get, because I'm MEAN!

New Release: Handle With Care

Hi darlins!

Before any blog posts go up (and yes, there's more Mutable today and it's a crazy one, be prepared) I'm pleased to introduce my newest release, Handle With Care! It's a friends-to-lovers road trip romance that's out as of today. What there isn't: bombs, gunfights, explosions that aren't emotional (I know, whaaaat?). What there is: a delicious slow-burn romance, junkyard car racing, bad strip club etiquette, an uncomfortable wedding reunion.

This is the sweet, fun contemporary novel that I wasn't sure I had the ability to write, and I hope you'll check it out!

A fragile heart needs extra care.


Burned-out social worker Aaron McCoy is on vacation for the first time in years—boss’s orders. Road-tripping to his brother’s wedding with his best friend, Tyler, seems a fun way to spend the mandatory two-week leave, and they set out for Kansas—and a difficult homecoming.


Aaron’s mother was a drug addict, and his adorable younger brother was quickly adopted, while Aaron spent his childhood in foster care. As Aaron mends fences, Tyler hopes to show him that this time, he won’t be left behind to face his problems alone.


Aaron’s opening up to how right it feels to be with Tyler and to the possibility of taking the leap from friends to lovers. But along with the wedding celebration comes a painful reminder of the past. Aaron’s heart is still breakable. Can he put it in Tyler’s hands?


https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/handle-with-care-by-cari-z-9908-b

Handle With Care on Amazon

Handle With Care at Barnes amd Noble

Status Update

Because I don't update my website often enough... (this weekend, swear to god, it'll happen)

What the heck am I doing lately? When are my new releases coming out? What are they, even, and why am I so terrible at promo?

We'll just disregard that last question and move right along.

What I'm working on currently: Redstone, and am having to resist the temptation to jump ahead to the next story in the Bonded universe, which will go back to Cody and Ten and everyone, with a heavy side focus on Jonah. Make of that what you will.

Also, my NaNo project this year is the beginning of my next Samhain project, which is a complicated contemporary that I'm grappling with like the Nemean Lion. Fear not, I will skin this bitch and hang it's wordy carcass on my wall before deadline.

Upcoming releases: I've got a coauthored short story with Caitlin Ricci called Worth the Wait in this year's Dreamspinner Advent Calendar, available in December: Advent Calendar

The whole collection is on sale right now, so if you're interested, it's a good time to jump on it. Our story is sweet and feel-good and involves freezing your ass off in line in front of a bookstore to get what you want, a feeling I know I'm not alone in.

On January 13th my novella Dangerous Territory will be re-released through Less Than Three Press: Dangerous Territory

It's an m/m, alt history, shapeshifting adventure story that was originally published in Storm Moon Press' Forgotten Menagerie anthology, but has since been re-edited and given a beautiful new cover. I want to be up front: this is a re-release, folks, so if you read it in the original antho, don't expect anything drastically new here.

In February I've got Shadows and Light coming out with Pride Publishing, formerly Totally Bound. This is one that I first published on Literotica years ago, and has been edited to within an inch of its life, is getting beautiful cover art I can't show off yet, and released as a 70k novel. I'm pretty sure if you've read my stuff for years (which some of you have--crazy, I love you) you've read this one, but I'm pleased to be releasing it as a real, grown-up book. I mean, magical pseudo-vampires and BDSM. What's not to love?

In April Tempest comes out with Samhain, which is ridiculously exciting because they're an amazing company and this, honestly, is a pretty epic book. My longest publication to date, a dark fantasy that nevertheless pulls it out at the end, I'm so excited for this one. Cover soon! I also get to go to the Romantic Times conference in Vegas in April, so this is looking to be a good month.

Last thing I know for sure: Panopolis #3 will come out with Riptide in May. No cover or link yet (I'm still doing edits, pray for my soul) but I'm really, really happy with how this one came out. I think it'll surprise people. More info for you when I have it.

That's all I know, on the writing front. Personally, my honey and I are going to travel to Cambodia at some point next year to visit my darling MIL, who is working with the Peace Corps there. Japan this year, Cambodia next year: I know a lot of fucking awesome, travelsome people. I'm lucky to be able to go and visit them on their adventures.

So! My calendar for the forseeable future. ;)

New and Refurbished

Hey darlins!  I have two new releases this week.  Lets discuss, shall we?

The first one is my short story Having A Ball in the Dreamspinner Press anthology Animal Magnetism.  The ball refers to a ball...python.  Yes, I went for the obvious porn angle, but can you blame me?  Animals are the theme, am I going to pick a fluffy kitty?  A flopsy bunny?  Hell no!  Pythons all the way!  That being said, the story is more sweet than anything else, and I think you're going to like it.  Find the anthology here:

Animal Magnetism Anthology

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Whether it's a dog, cat, or something more exotic, the animals in this collection of romantic m/m stories serve as the catalyst for bringing lovers together. No matter how the encounter begins, by the end of each story, with a little help from their finned, furred, or feathered friends, our heroes have discovered some animal magnetism of their own.

The other new release is actually a compilation of my Treasured series, with Daniel and Reese.  It's called Pursued (thanks to Tiffany for the title:) and includes all three novellas, and while I didn't have the time to edit them into one solid, cohesive novel, it's still a nice way to get all three stories at once, and a good introduction for people who haven't read about these guys before.  Which is a shame, because they're awesome, and you should!  Now is your chance.  Carpe diem!  You can find Pursued at Pink Petal Books, here: 

Pursued

What began as a chance encounter in a museum for Daniel Hart and Rhys Daveth blossomed, sometimes painfully, into a romance that spanned continents, endured secrets and defied danger. The pair of men couldn't be more different; one a scholar, dedicated to preserving the past, and the other a shape-shifting thief bent on stealing history for his own gain. Their road together was never easy, but in the end love proved too strong for their warring inclinations to conquer. This is their story.



Scooooore!!!

I received a contract offer from Dreamspinner Press today for my almost-long-enough-to-be-a-novel-but-not-quite novella A Blinded Mind.  This is a story that I wrote for NaNoWriMo, and it's really pretty dark considering my usual fare, but also much more structurally complex.  Which is not to say I'm shooting for the Pulitzer of erotica here, but I'm really happy it's going to be published.

Of course, I did end it with something of a cliffhanger.  Which means I'll have to do a sequel eventually if it sells.  Which, as my regular visitors know, is not my strong suit.  I can write good sequels, but writing them in good time...yeah, I tend to fall down on that front.  So why do I do this to myself, leave plots and characters hanging?  Poor planning, latent love and inspiration for improvement.  And alliteration, I get a huge kick out of that:) Anyway, more soon about the release.

In other areas of my life, it looks like my darling man will have not just a job but a good, tecnhologically and creatively interesting job when we get back to America, if, y'know, congress passes a budget.  So, um...what's the hold-up?  C'mon, Congress!  You can do it!  Pass that budget! Yeah!

I swear, I haven't been drinking.

Myths and Magic

I have another short story coming out in an anthology with Dreamspinner Press on the 15th.  The antho is Myths and Magic, the story is The Wild Hunt.  Let me link you.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2007

I'll add cover art once my connection stops being a little bitch.  This story takes place in Colorado (and technically in an Otherworld with a portal in Wales) and writing it made me homesick.  There's going to be a release party on the 16th through Dreamspinner, and I'll hopefully have a post or two up there.  Written in advance, naturally.  I will respond to you if you comment, though.  I get back to people, people.  Just ask Tiffany.

In other fun news, I'm going to be published with Total E-Bound.  Woot!  The novella comes out at the end of January 2011, is called Surviving the Change and will be utterly beautiful, because their books always are.  Oh, and it's well-written and entertaining and completely hot thanks to my editor, who made me increase the heat until it was up to their standards.  More sex to write, such a heavy burden...