A little tied up

Found these courtesy of the Dishevelled Domina. Whether the men pictured are submitting to a Dom or Domme, I think they're lovely. Nice ropework, too.






I must work that second image into the next Blue Ruin book. Derek would be able to inflict all sorts of delicious torments on Blue in that vulnerable position. As for Blue, well, he doesn't get any say now, does he? (At least that's what Derek likes to think...)

Cheers,
Katrina Strauss
http://www.katrinastrauss.com/

Sherlock

Like many others, I am totally smitten with the BBC's Sherlock. Don't want to get spoilery since season two hasn't aired in the States yet, but if you're new to the show, please enjoy this South Korean promo spot for S1 that illustrates just how delightfully slashy it is.



I highly recommend checking this show out if you haven't!

Ink

New release this week! I don't have a link yet, but on Wednesday, January 25, you'll be able to find my short story Ink at Torquere Press. I know I posted an excerpt a few weeks back, but here's a bit more of a teaser for you.

Cade Tomlin is a tattoo apprentice. His first client is almost more than Cade bargains for...

***

The customer -- whose name was Kip, Cade thought, but he hadn’t been paying attention to much but Graham’s technique -- watched Cade tape a square of plastic over his fresh tattoo. “So, do you tattoo?”

“Not on people. Oranges, pigskin. I’m learning.” Cade taped a corner and didn’t bother to say that he’d tatted himself, too. Then the guy would want to see it, and Cade wasn’t ready for anyone to see the portrait he’d done of his mom on his own thigh. Well, Graham had seen it, because he’d watched and given pointers. But that was different.

Kip nodded. “Cool. How much longer do you have to do that?”

“Until Graham says I’m ready. Couple of months, I guess.” It was getting harder and harder to wait, but Cade trusted Graham, and he knew that most apprenticeships lasted a year or more. The good ones, anyway. Cade had gotten lucky.

“Graham’s pretty good,” Kip said. He stood and stretched a bit from side to side, likely to loosen muscles that had gotten stiff from sitting still for so long. The session had been almost three hours, but Cade thought it had been worth it. Kip now had a beautiful memorial portrait of his brother who had been lost in combat overseas.

Cade looked up from where he’d begun to clean Graham’s station. He meant to reply in the affirmative, but he took his first real look at Kip’s face and forgot what he was going to say.

***

Don't forget to check this out on Wednesday of this week at Torquere Press!

Never Tell Your Boyfriend Your New Year's Resolutions

Last round for the year!

Bad Company
Nate: I will—
Kellan: Hey babe, do you want more paper?
Nate: You're lucky you're so adorable.
Kellan: It's true. I am.

Bad Boyfriend

Eli: Remind me again why I said I'd stop complaining about living in here in the suburbs.
Quinn: Because this also lives here. (Grabs his hand.)
Eli: Now I remember.

Snowpocalypse 2012?

The weather sites for my area are tossing around words like Snowpocalypse and Snowmageddon again. And this time, should the predictions come true, they'll actually be quite accurate. They're saying there could be 14" in 24 hours on Wednesday. Now, bear in mind that a) that would break the current record set in 1969, and b) 4" of snow at the wrong time of day (i.e. afternoon rush hour) can bring my city of hills and bureaucracy (Hm. I typed bureaucrazy first, and that might be a better term.) to a complete cluster-fuck of a stand-still. I'd be fine with this snowy prediction if I weren't supposed to be flying to San Diego on Thursday, but again, should predictions come true, all that snow would be melting by then. What it comes down to is 'Who the hell knows?' Answer: No one. So, I'm looking on the bright side and thinking of fun things to do with snow. Building snowmen is fun. Like these:

Or one could just play in the snow like this fellow:

That looks a little less fun to me, but to each his own.

Or maybe I'll just curl up with a good book. So I'm looking for recommendations! What books keep you warm and cozy on a cold and snow-filled day?

Desktop and back to laptop

At the end of the last year I had to send my main computer - my laptop - out for repair. So from the end of Dec. and at the beginning of January I was left me to use my old desktop. My desktop (aka dinosaur) is over 10 years old so it's extremely slow. It takes 20 minutes or more for any program to move on it. At first it was frustrating. But then after being on the dinosaur for a few days it made me think of all the good times I’ve had using it. So I viewed it more fondly. It has server me well. Time for it to retire with grace. Once I get a new desktop I’ve decided to have a memorial for the dinosaur. A great send-off for all our wonderful times. In a way I’m glad that I was able to use the desktop and get to complete my WIP I was working on when my laptop acted up. As well as start another book.

I have my laptop back and have started looking for a new desktop. I'm also thinking of what I will do as a send-off for my old desktop. :)

Talia Carmichael
http://taliacarmichael.com/
Fill Your Cravings

Blog: http://taliacarmichael.com/blog
Newsletter:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/taliacarmichael


Buy Sparks here

Bringing the herd home - finishing Dark Soul

I've been writers' blocked pretty much through November and December (thanks to the major kerfuffle in our tiny waterglass of an industry, and fanned by certain individuals harassing trans* writers), which brought my on-going Dark Soul series to a grinding, painful halt. It also renewed my desire to step outside this particular genre, so my next books will go first to big agencies, which means a huge lag in publication, but, basically, my partner has won the moral argument of what I should attempt to achieve in terms of my writing career. I'm not saying that with any bitterness or anger, BTW, it's just one of many realisations I've had.

I'll continue to do what I'm doing, but it's going to be slower. I'll move from one-track writer to dual-track writer. Which means an overall slowing down and longer (much longer) waits for new releases. That's OK, I have plenty of sequels and prequels and spin-offs to write which will go faster.

The kerfuffle and the ensuing writers' block, however, not only made me reconsider my whole career plan (as little of a plan I have), but also stopped Dark Soul dead. Now that I've overcome the block, I can say that, yes, absolutely, Dark Soul was at risk to never get finished. Authors in a personal crisis of any kind always hurry to say "but I won't affect my current obligations". That's nonsense; we're lying. We're doing damage control. We don't want to have our readers freak out - it's enough that WE are freaking out, we really can't deal with five hundred emails asking "But what about X!!!???".

There were other things going on in my personal life at the same time, which I kept under wraps.

But I'm back on track. I've completed Dark Soul 4 and am working on Dark Soul 5 (which is the final installment), and expect to wrap that up this month, so maybe I'll write the next blog post here reporting completion.

With the huge gaping hole between DS3 and DS4, I did lose part of the story in my head, though. I did lose the initial energy that, under normal circumstances, would have carried me all the way through the book. The energy was the same as during Scorpion, and Counterpunch. A glorious rush where things just happen and all I have to do is type.

I lost the flow in the middle, and while I'm reasonably sure that post-edits, nobody will be able to tell that some of those pages were a pure slog to write while I was battling fears and insecurities - it's a lot like returning to an extreme sport after an injury, things get really tentative once you understand you're not unkillable - the worry is there that I lost something as I passed through that black hole.

However, I can finish this and I know what's going to happen. It's just harder work, making sure I get the voice right (Stefano is softening a lot during the storyline, but that's intentional, so I'm not too worried), making sure I'm not misrepresenting the characters, or putting in contradictions.

What I do like very much about publishing an episodic novel like that (where episodes are structured like short stories) is that readers are trusting me. I keep reading reviews where people say "no idea where this is going, but I'm loving the ride." My readers don't know what exactly they are reading (is it a mafia tragedy, a crime story, a character study, or is it a Romance?) - they don't know whether the main characters will survive, even, or end up together. Some seem to expect I'll kill either Silvio or Stefano or both, and absolutely, it's always a possibility. If the story demands it, I'll do it, regardless of expectations. I'm being "experimental" here, not for the sake of it, but mostly because the story demands it.

Right now, Dark Soul can be a romance, or maybe it's not, but people seem to agree that it's very romantic. I think I'm pretty cool with that. I'm even more cool with the fact that, while everything but a "category romance" and everything but a "typical m/m romance", Dear Author, which focuses largely on romance, added it to its recommended reads with a great review.

There are people out there who trust me to bring the herd home (my expression for coralling all plot threads - or most of them and making a good, satisfying ending). People are waiting for the story to finish - regardless of what it is, in the end. They just trust me to entertain them and to give them a satisfying read. I think that's a terrific place to be for me, since I'm not really made to be a category writer or an author who writes "conventional" romance (I admire those who can do that - it's a hard job).

So, thank you for your trust, and, if you look outside the window there - that huge dust cloud? That's me, bringing the herd home for you.

Let It Snow

We're having our first real snow day in what's been a mild Midwest winter so far. I Googled "sexy snowman" for the heck of it. After sifting through a few snow-women with sizable breasts, I finally found what I had in mind courtesy of artist Isaiah Shackelford:

Copyright 2006 Isaiah Shackelford

I couldn't seem to track down a homepage for Shackelford, but to see more of his beautifully-drawn men, view his flickr gallery here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36098847@N08/sets/72157624216875822/with/4675829414/

Hope the above warms everyone up a bit on this cold winter day.

Don’t Tell Your Boyfriend Your New Year’s Resolutions (Part II)

I did this a few books back and now I have new characters who want to play.

No Souvenirs

Shane: Convince Jay to bottom just once.
Kim: Not going to happen. However, considering the autocracy of that…position, I supposed I could see where an agreement to get that need met elsewhere would be acceptable.
Shane: Gee. Way to take the fun out of it, Jay. Would you even give a shit?
Kim: I didn’t say I would want to hear the details.
Shane: Hmph.
Kim: Threeway?
Shane: Did I ever tell you how sexy your brain is?

Life, Over Easy

Simon and Tyler: Get K.A. off her ass and get her to write our damned book.
Mason and John: You? Get in line. She didn’t exactly leave us on solid ground.
K.A.: The four of you could actually give me more to work with.
Simon, Tyler, Mason and John: That’s your job, lady.

Not Knowing Jack

Tony: 1.Do laundry more than once a week.
2. Keep a straight face while telling Brandon about the dangers of drinking and drugs.
3. Do not buy every single thing that I think would look cute on Sarah.
4. Try to sell Bravo a Desperate Gay Househusbands: Amherst reality show.
Jack: What are you mumbling?
Tony: My New Year’s resolutions.
Jack: Most people write them down.
Tony: Can’t risk them falling into the wrong hands.
Jack: Because then you’d be accountable?
Tony: Bite me. What are yours?
Jack: Number one: give more head. Num--
Tony: Fuck writing it down. Engrave it in stone, lock the door and get the hell over here.

Hmmm. I think I can milk this for another post! I’ll do the bad Baltimore boys next time.

2012 is upon us

 Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great holiday season! Of course, if you did, it makes getting back to "normal" that much harder. In my case, the hardest part this year is the jet-lag. Not usually a New Year's issue for me, but this wasn't a usual New Year's Eve. It was spent in the snowy madness of Rekjavik, Iceland. I know, I know. I went where for the winter holiday season? Sensible people go to Hawaii, or Australia, or Belize in December. I am clearly not sensible people. But it was fun. It was different. It was a blast, in fact. :-D And I got absolutely no writing done the entire vacation. :-( So, back to the grind. As soon as I can keep my eyes open for more than an hour at a time. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

2012, Day One

It was just a random thing that I end up being on the schedule today, the first day of 2012. Despite it being a mere coincidence that the first Sunday of the month is also January first, I suppose I should write something about resolutions, or time, or past and current goals.

Yeah right. That's not me.

Those of you who followed me here from my personal blog already know the one New Year's resolution that I've been able to keep is to not attempt them anymore. A year is simply too long for me to plan.

Okay, not entirely true. I am, after all, married, and I intend to keep my darling around for a long time. I am also a home owner, and even if the market hadn't crapped out, crashing values, I'd already decided to keep this house for several years. See, years… yeah, I can do it.

However, when it comes to New Year's resolutions, I tend to start strong, and then veer off on a life tangent. As an example – I had planned to have the sequel to Man Whore finished in 2011. (It wasn't a resolution, just a hope, a vague goal… a pipe dream.) I might've added one chapter to that manuscript all year. The excuses aren't important. It simply didn't get done.

On the other hand, I did publish two novels, two short stories, 40ish chapters of an online series, and one novelette, so writing wasn’t a lost cause. I can't really complain about letting the Man Whore sequel languish when I've had an otherwise acceptable year. I say "acceptable" because I know I could've done more if not for the whole broken foot not running thing that I've already used to beat a dead horse.

So, 2012? What does it have in store for me?

I honestly have no idea.

Okay, okay, some theories…

I'd like to submit a story I've sketched out to Loose Id's "Coming Out" call. I'd like to finish two shorts for Silver Publishing's calls. I'd like to get my winter-lazy butt outside to snowshoe this winter . (Just waiting for the snow.  It was raining yesterday. I'm pretty sure I still live in New Hampshire, but the weather is making me doubt that.) I'd like to run a couple of 5k road races and, body willing, my first 10k this fall.

Those are my "general" goals, but as for resolutions, I plan to renew a game I played not so long ago. The Monthly Resolutions. In the past, I discovered that breaking down a bigger goal into shorter, more manageable bits – say, monthly -- was much more practical. And, in turn, I managed more success. It worked for a while… until I started slacking on actually making those monthly resolutions.

So help me out, dear Readers. Do you achieve your New Year's Resolutions? Do you need something a bit more viable? Try out a monthly resolution or two with me!

For January: I will submit my still untitled punk rocker story to my editor. I promise not to fiddle until the month has passed me by. Efficiency, damn it! Make better use of that precious free time! I will finish this round of revisions and kick it out before month's end. (Hopefully before mid-month, but let's not get crazy on the first month out of the gate!)

For January: I will stop complaining about how boring the treadmill is and be grateful that I'm running at all. (Okay, I'm already doing that, but now that I can jog a half to a full mile, that treadmill boredom is bound to hit at any moment. I refuse to allow it to take residence in the place of my motivation. I will keep running through the winter this year!)

For January: I promise to eat the fruit I bring to work, and stop using it as two-day paperweights first. This one, for some reason, will be the hardest resolution. I get busy and forget to eat. Or, I get busy, and a messy piece of fruit is a pain in the paperwork to eat.

What resolutions will you make for January? Share them with me, dear Readers, and we'll meet here on the first Sunday of February to celebrate our successes.

Wishing you a fun, happy, and productive 2012!

Ciao,
Pia Veleno

PS. As promised, Freedom's Souvenir is finally available as a free download from Smashwords. 

A lifetime in the closet is a hard habit to break, but so is a lifetime out of it.

The crystal blue ocean can't hold a candle to the hard abs and cocky smile of Nick Boden, but Tad Eglington has spent his entire adult life reinforcing the walls of his closet, while Nick has never put anything but clothes in his.

The ship is called Freedom, but will her message be heard on the open ocean?

Click HERE for more information, and to download.

PSS. Fallen is now available in audio format HERE.

I got nothing...

...but it looks like the hottie below's got something. My scheduled blog day sort of snuck up on me. A picture is worth a thousand words, so consider this my thousand-word contribution to Slash & Burn for the day:



Here's hoping everyone has a Happy New Year!

Cheers,
Katrina Strauss
Romance, erotica, and a little yaoi, too.
http://www.katrinastrauss.com/

It's Christmas! I am actually all alone today for several reasons. My husband is working, my family doesn't celebrate the religious aspects of Christmas, and we all got together last night for Christmas Eve/5th night of Hanukkah. There was much food, many presents, and a good time had by all.

Being Jewish on Christmas is a strange thing sometimes. We're usually invited to spend Christmas dinner with family friends, but they're not in town this year. I don't attend church today, obviously. If my husband were home, we'd hang out together and maybe go see a movie, but alas. Firemen don't get holidays off.

I'm okay with this, however! I have lots of gifts to sort through and put away and plenty of TV shows on the DVR. And the seasonal treats on the counter, ha. I hope you are having the least-stressful holiday possible today, folks. Take some time out to be good to yourself.

See you in 2012!

Since a Little Christmas Humor Never Hurts

A Little Something Underneath the Tree

I want to put sparkling lights and ribbons on everything right now!

I'm so thrilled about the reception readers gave Eli and Quinn. Thanks so much. I really had fun with that story. I'm sure I'll be back to Baltimore soon. Jamie—for all his commitment phobic ways—is just waiting for me to come up with the right man to prove him wrong. And I'm thinking that Eli and Quinn might want to tell me how their spending this first holiday together—without the drama of the Laurents messing things up.

Mel and Bryce seemed to amuse people too. It was a lot of fun writing in first person—especially for a character as sarcastic as Mel. As much as I tried to crack Bryce's noggin, it didn't seem to work. I understood him, but couldn't make him talk to me—except through divas of disco.

So since everything is so bright and shiny, I want to leave you a few presents. These are three videos that have made my days brighter. I can't embed them, because I lack the skills, but I promise they're worth a click. Only number three is NSFW.

First up, this was so sweet it brought tears to my eyes. (And a plot bunny to nibble on my brain.) I spotted it at Towelroad, a great blog for gay news and media.

Then this might not be as coy and playful as when Kurt and Blaine sang it on Glee but I loved both their voices and the more grown-up vibe in their version.

Finally, if you haven't discovered Jonny McGovern, you're missing out on some fun. This is his latest song and video. Not only are the lyrics definitely NSFW, I warn you that the song can be an earworm. Yeah, go ahead and start singing "Dickmatized" while finishing up the shopping at K-mart. That should at least get you through some traffic.

I hope everyone's year is ending with light and love. And maybe I'll have a little piece of fic here for you when I'm back in two weeks.