Olympic Fever!

We're into the 2012 Summer Olympics and I can pretty much give up on being productive until the games are over. I mean, the swimmers, the divers, and the water polo players, the rowers, the beach volleyball players... ::drool:: ... Uh... What was I saying?

Oh! I should do a quick follow-up on my last post and my trip to OSF in Ashland, OR. Well... I was disappointed in Troilus & Cressida, which I was really looking forward to. My favourite Elizabethan/Ancient Greek m/m pair were sorely under-served. I can't recall the last time I saw a director play against the text like that. Oh wait, yes I can, but that doesn't make it okay. Frankly, the director did a few things right, but in more ways failed to make strong enough choices. Performances were strong; directing was so-so. Such a shame.

And now back to your Olympic coverage. I think there's more swimming on this evening...

Well, Torquere Press is having its ninth (ninth!) anniversary in September, so I decided to bite the bullet and finish up a story in hopes of having it released during anniversary month. If you remember Chris and Morgan from the Tinder series, this will be the third installment of their story. I kind of went a different route and began writing it from Morgan's POV, which was a switch for me, but it seems to be working out well. I'm learning a lot about him, in any case. So funny to find out things I didn't know about my own characters.

I hope to have this done in time. It won't be a novel, but hopefully a bit meatier than just a short story. I guess we'll all know by September, won't we?

And How Are All of Your Folks?

Wow. I don’t know how the rest of you have been doing, but here in my latitude and longitude it’s been freaking HOT. I never thought I would miss going outside, but I was starting to get used to my outdoor office on my teeny little deck. Soon I’ll be heading to Southern California—where I hear it never rains (or so the song says) and it’s sunny, but it should be at least 20 degrees cooler.

While in those sunny yet reasonably temperate climes, I’ll be at the Romance Writers of America National Conference in Anaheim. If you’re in that area, I’m doing a book signing in the Anaheim Convention Center on Wednesday, July 25 from 5:30 to 8. Proceeds benefit literacy (yay, more readers!). I’m at table 804, but there are only about 400 other authors so…They tell me there’s a map. I’ll have snacks to sustain you on the treasure hunt. And my wife says she’s getting letter balloons to spell out S-E-X. She’s a middle school teacher. She knows how to get the attention of everyone.

Meanwhile—oh crap, this is sounding like one of those holiday newsletters from your cousin that you want to burn as soon as you open it but instead you read it aloud and mock every little update. I’ll try to have something better next time…like maybe a story tease.  So anyway, no annoying family photos, but meanwhile, I’ve been working on another Baltimore book. I hear it’s so hot there the pavement is running down the street and airplanes are sinking into the tarmac, but you can’t believe everything you see in pictures these days. It’s called Bad Attitude and it features Jamie, Quinn’s ex-Marine friend, who if you remember, has one. A bad attitude, that is. It’s been fun hanging with Quinn and Eli and even seeing Kellan and Nate again—though they haven’t been on the page, just in a phone conversation. Quinn called Nate Mr. Holier-Than-Thou, but Eli explained that he just goes by Nate now.

I believe I’ve newslettered at you enough. Aren’t you glad you don’t get one from me at Christmas? Where ever you may be on the globe, I hope the weather is treating you mildly, but that your reading material is hot.

Vacation Time!

I'm super excited because this week the hubby and I are taking a trip to The Oregon Shakespeare Festival for the first time in six years. We're seeing three shows, one original and two of The Bard's works. You probably won't remember, but back in 2008 I posted about Shakespeare's Gay Boys. Those being Achilles and Patroclus in Troilus & Cressida, in case you didn't know. A friend recently described this play as two acts of a three act play, only the third act never got written. I totally agree. I would add to that, though, that Shakespeare would have had a better script if he'd said to hell with the title characters and instead written a love/hate triangle involving Achilles, Patroclus, and Hector. What's my point? My point is that I'm going to see this show in Ashland this coming Sunday and I am stoked! It'll be the third production I've seen of it, and I can't wait to find out how this director has handled the relationships. I have an affinity for this play (obviously) and even wrote a steampunk short story based off of it. It wasn't accepted to the anthology that put out the original call, but one of these days I'll self-pub it so geeks like me can read it and, I hope, get a kick out of it.

Release day jitters

I ‘m excited to have a new release today and as usual I have the jitters that come with a book being published. It is an exhilarating yet scary feeling when a new book comes out. *blowing out a breath then grinning* Don’t get me wrong I love release day and look forward to it…but I just feel nervous in a good way.

Anyway Opposing Rhythms (Impressions - #3) is now available at Total E Bound here. Niall and Roarke welcome to the world. (grin) Here is the blurb for the book.

Opposing Rhythms
By: Talia Carmichael
Total E Bound
Release. Date: July 2012
ISBN: 978-1-78184-045-0
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Impressions - Book 3
Format: E-Book
Length: Novel
Buy here

When a man who makes interesting objects from the CD’s of a musician he cannot abide the rhythm for meets him - the sparks are going to fly.

Niall Hilton cringes whenever he hears music from a group that used to be his favorite until after their second album. In his opinion Roarke McBride - the bands lead singer and songwriter – is to blame for the loss of rhythm that had made the band great. When a friend brings the singer into his home Niall is irritated by the intrusion and lets Roarke know his opinion on his music. The singer surprises him with a performance of his latest hits, which to Niall’s shock he actually enjoys. He’s stumped as to why. Although Niall plans not to see Roarke again the musician is determined to change his mind. As he gets to know him Niall is drawn beyond the persona of Roarke the superstar to the man – who is interesting and aggravating.

Roarke McBride is used to some people not enjoying his music and is usually able to shrug it off. Niall’s creations from his CD’s make him laugh thinking it’s a trick until Niall opens his mouth and insults him. Instead of taking it in stride as his norm Roarke is furious, at first. By the next day his thoughts are clear - Niall might hate his music but Roarke is determined to make the stunning man his. Niall was snarky, rude and blunt but as he gets to know him Roarke sees he would stand by his side and weather anything with him. In order for Niall and he to meld they will need to combine their…Opposing Rhythms.

Buy here from Total-E-Bound / Read excerpt

Artist challenges Author (Reese Dante & me)

(Apologies for posting what's still Thursday night - in the UK, it's 30 minutes to midnight.)


Just as I was wondering what to write about - I had a cool conversation on Twitter with Reese Dante, my cover artist of Scorpion and all-round awesome person. She's even part of the inspiration behind my current release, Incursion. (If you feel tempted to learn about that, there's a huge excerpt up on the page, and I talk a bit more about the story and the inspiration during my blog tour that's still going on).


So, with the nearly mandatory plug out of the way, what transpired between Reese and me?

I can't work out how to show the whole twitter conversation, but it went something like this:

Reese: "Hey, Aleks, what's you favourite hair colour for lead characters?"

Aleks: "Right now, it's blond, but that's because my next novel's main love interest is blond." (Note: that changes a lot and depends on the book and the taste of the *other* main character.)

Reese: "Great, thanks."

Aleks: "Okay, but it begs the question whyyyyy?"

Reese: "*evil grin* cause I'm doing something which is hopefully...inspirational. LOL"

Aleks: "You keep doing that! Did we ever talk about what you want me to write?"

Reese: ":) rather than think of a storyline, I thought about making up a cover and seeing if that inspires a story in itself."

Aleks: "Ok, deal!"


Which is how quickly I'm committed to starting a new project (yes, it's really that easy and quick). The interesting/intriguing bit is that it's usually the other way round. The onus/duty is most often on the cover artist to produce a cover that fits a brief (written by the author), and translating words into images is really hard work. It's a skill that's extremely important for cover artists, and I have a huge amount of respect for that.

With this, it'll be different. I've tried before to work to a cover, but it fizzled out (and I got distracted by something cooler), so this can still go terribly wrong. But I really like Reese's work, and I love a good challenge. And reversing the usual roles of author/artist is a cool experiment for me. Also, I have no doubt that Reese's cover will start the process in my brain. They usually do. I'll just have to relax and allow it to happen and let the Muse work on it.

I'll keep you guys updated how it goes.

Giveaway!

Come on over to my blog to enter to win a free copy of my new book with Leta Blake -- Earthly Desires. Good luck!

Best Price Ever

A belated Happy Canada Day, a current Happy Fourth of July and an early Happy Bastille Day should wrap up all the July independence celebrations I know of. And now I can do one of those annoying car commercial things and say "You can declare yourself free from paying for Collision Course on Kindle, nook, and iTunes--at least until July 14."

There's a reason why it's free. Because August 21 Dylan's book, But My Boyfriend Is, will be available. And if you haven't met him in Collision Course, here's your chance to do that now. If you have, what better way to introduce me  him to a friend than to gift them with a free book. It's the best price ever. It's also great for people who've switched devices and want to restock.

Also appearing at the best price ever will be a very short piece featuring Joey and Aaron, showing what they were doing when they got the call that goes out at the beginning of But My Boyfriend Is. Look for a link to that in early August.

And now, I just want to share with you my favorite thing ever from Collision Course. I can't even remember writing it because the character's voices were so strong in my head. It's from their first time together and I think it sums up Joey and Aaron better than anything every could.


Joey squeezed his eyes shut, hands turning to fists against the cabinet. He felt so good he couldn’t stand it, couldn’t take it for another second, but if it stopped he was pretty sure his heart would stop right along with it. “There, right there, please, harder.”


Aaron slowed, and if Joey wasn’t bent over the stretcher, he’d have kicked the bastard.

“Thanks, but I really don’t need directions. I have done this before, sweetheart.”

That was it.

“Are you always this much of an arrogant prick?”

“Pretty much. Want me to stop?”

Without the good slam deep inside, Joey could make a coherent sentence, although he could only manage one word per stroke. “Being. An. Arrogant. Prick?”

“Sorry.” But Aaron sped up again and his words weren’t any less strained than Joey’s had been. “Not. Gonna. Happen.”

Hey, did I mention FREE? 

New interview + Pride

My recent interview with Top 2 Bottom Reviews went live yesterday. You can read it here. Watch me trying to be thoughtful and tactful without coming across as a complete dork. I'll leave it to you to decide whether or not I was successful.

I hope everyone enjoyed Pride Month and its festivities! Pride was a little more political than usual here this month. We're still fighting for marriage equality, you see. Our governor signed it into law, but a small group of haters have forced us to vote on it this November. So this year's Pride events were focused on getting out the word: Yes on Referendum 74! Voting yes will approve the law that legalizes same-sex marriage in the state. Here's hoping we, as voters, will do the right thing *again* and finally shut the haters up for good.

On a cheerier and less political note, there are so many great images from our local Pride Parade that I can't pick a favorite. The little kid with the balloon underneath the enormous rainbow flag? The Episcopal minister smiling and blessing the crowd? The mostly naked Batman with rainbow sleeves and thigh-highs? The rainbow Stormtrooper? The naked cyclists who apparently couldn't get enough of cycling in naked the previous weekend at the Solstice Parade? I just can't decide! Here's a link to a local paper with a great gallery of images to enjoy. Wherever you are, I hope your month was colorful. :-D

What do you like?

The first Sunday of the month ambushed me yet again. It seems mid-month I can think of plenty of blog topics, but then when my turn comes around, my mind is a perfect void. Ah, but it was a beautiful non-writing day today. I went hiking with the Hubby, and then we lounged out on the back porch, reading, until the mosquitos drove us back indoors. So yes, my mind is on other things besides fiction, blogs, or even this computer.

Instead of sifting through my list of potential blog topics tonight, I’m going to put it to you, the readers of this blog. What do you like to read about? Do you prefer topics to be strictly books? Do you like glimpses into the personal lives of your favorite authors? Do you like random thoughts and ideas? Do read this at all?

I’m curious, dear Readers, because I can’t compare my own habits of reading blogs of authors I like because, well, I’m very, very behind.

Let me know what you look for an enjoy, and in turn, I’ll pick one lucky commenter to win a copy of my latest release, Hounded By Love. The one disclaimer is this: Since I’m only on Slash & Burn once a month, I’ll be posting the winner on my own site (piaveleno.com) and as usual, the winner must contact me with his or her preferred format. It has surprised me in the past, how many people put their names in for a raffle, but don’t check back to claim a prize. That means those of you who do have a much better shot at winning. If not on the first draw, eventually.

Have a great Fourth, and stay safe. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

Ciao,
Pia Veleno