"The Next Big Thing" Blog Hop

Every author loves the idea that their book will be the next "must read" of the decade. We write hard, edit hard, and promote hard with that ambition. But sometimes we spent so much time focusing on this steps that we forget the fourth and fifth steps of the process, which are: Pray for luck, and form every alliance you can. Most readers don't choose between authors, they want them both. Period. So in this effort, we are banding together to promote each other in The Next Big Thing Blog Hop!

In the words of Tabatha Heart, "This blog hop is like a game of tag. One author posts and tags five other authors who link back to their website the next week and tag five new authors. If you follow the blog hop long enough, you’re bound to find some books you’ll love! Maybe you’ll even discover a book that ends up being the Next Big Thing."

I was tagged by her, so to learn more about her and/or her book, Visions in Stone, check out her website!

And so, without farther ado, the questions for this blog hop . . .

1: What is the working title of your book? The Six Sides of Love (The Chosen Family Chronicles- Volume One)

2: Where did the idea come from for the book? The first short I wrote for the "Love is Always Write" queue from my Goodreads group.

3: What genre does your book fall under? Contemp GLBT fiction, Drama

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? I'll be blogging about this in the future, because the book has 18 characters, all of which are featured.

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Dealing with everything from breast cancer, sex changes, and weight issues, these six stories show the importance of having a strong chosen family.

6: Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? I have several presses in mind to publish with, so here's hoping.

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? It's still working, I'm hoping to finish it by the end of January

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? I'm not really sure, but open to suggestions after you read it.

9: Who or What inspired you to write this book? I am inspired by everything, including my chosen family who are all characters in their own rite.

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? With this one book having so many characters, everyone can relate to someone in this book, if not several someones. Also it's written in short story format, with all the shorts making one larger story arc.

Here is a list of authors who will be joining the hop for week 27 on December 26th. I hope you’ll visit their blogs next week and learn more about their books. Maybe one of them will become your new favorite author! And with that . . . Tag . . . YOU'RE IT! . . . .

K C Wells     Stephen Osborne     John Simpson                               Sedonia Guillone
         J P Barnaby  and  Poppy Dennison

HOPping Along, Two More Books, and FREE STUFF!!!

This is my second entry for the TRR GLBT Madness Hop! This hop will last four days, from the 27th to the 30th. Please join us in supporting all the blogs that are included! As for Just Write and SO Gay, today we are focusing on Books of the Next Gen! And just for commenting on this blog hop, you could recieve a copy of my first story, which has never been published! Exercising His Options is a story of a closed minded man named Enver Mann who takes a journey that blows his mind, and opens up his options.This story is so hot you will not want to read it in public. And you can WIN YOUR FREE COPY before the masses get it! ***CLICK ON THE LINK AT THE END OF ARTICLE TO GO TO THE NEXT BLOG INCLUDED IN THIS HOP***

     Yesterday on the blog I wrote about exploring the M/M catergory and how excited I was to find so many different authors to read. Today's entry is about the exact opposite. I've had a passion for YA Lit (Young Adult Literature) since I learned how to read. I think I went from preschool books to YA books and got stuck there. But it was a stuck that I loved. With ADD and possible ADHD, YA was always a great mix, because of the pace and energy of the storytelling. So, I wore out R L Stine, Bruce Coville, and yes, even J K Rowling and Stephenie Meyer.

      But when I dived into M/M reading, I found out quickly, the well was pretty dry. There were some authors who ventured into writing YA, but they did it under different names and houses (understandably so) so that the younglings wouldn't associate the hot erotic writings with their more youthful yearnings. But still, finding books where the GLBT wasn't represented as the sassy gay friend (The House of Night series) or the generic relative (Bruce Coville's Skull of Truth) was difficult. So, I stopped looking for a while.
    
     Then at OutlantaCon earlier this year, I was introduced to two of the best books that I have read this year: Hollowstone by Denny Upkins and Changing Jamie by Dakota Chase. I had the opportunity to listen to panels with both of these authors and decided to give these books a try. I was incrediblly happy I did. So, I want to take a moment to introduce you to each of these books.

     Hollowstone by Denny Upkins is a story about a boy, Noah Scott, and his journey through life and death situations while still facing the perils of simply growing up. When I began the book, I was a little confused. I thought I was going to be reading about a lead gay character, but instead I was pleasantly surprised that Upkins chose the unconventional route. Instead of preaching about homophobia, stereotyping, and social elitism, he lets his lead character (who is African American)speak of the issues and weaves characters and situations around this character to show his thoughts on these subjects. It doesn't come from a place of anger, but rather righteous indignation of having to live through it all. And come out the better.

      Very similarly, Changing Jamie by Dakota Chase is a simple story of growing love in which one of the characters, mainly Billy the best friend, both create and propogate the drama, but the story does not proselytize to the audience. The main attraction to this book was the fact that it's subject is one that many both inside and out of the GLBT community won't talk about, much less write about. "Bug chasing" was and is one of the least talked about subjects even within the HIV/AIDS community. So to read this brilliantly written, deeply insightful book that has lovable characters and a sweet plot, it does exactly what I hope a great YA book would do: teach or reteach an important lesson, wrapped in a fast paced story, so that the audience comes out more knowledgable, and maybe even, enlightened.

      These two books have changed the way I view YA Lit, especially YA with GLBT characters, and they give me hope that there is a whole new generation of youth that will be taught by ingenious books without even realizing they've been changed for the better. And they have taught me what I want to strive for when I write YA Lit. Thank you to Denny Upkins and Dakota Chase for those lessons.

Do the Hop, Get FREE Stuff, and Learn About First Loves!

This is my first entry for the TRR GLBT Madness Hop! This hop will last four days, from the 27th to the 30th. Please join us in supporting all the blogs that are included! As for Just Write and SO Gay, today we are focusing on our First Loves of Book! And just for commenting on this blog, you could recieve a copy of my first story, which has never been published! Exercising His Options is a story of a closed minded man named Enver Mann who takes a journey that blows his mind, and opens up his options.This story is so hot you will not want to read it in public. And you can WIN YOUR FREE COPY before the masses get it!  ***CLICK ON THE LINK AT THE END OF ARTICLE TO GO TO THE NEXT BLOG INCLUDED IN THIS HOP***

 

       So today, on my blog I thought I would talk about first loves. Not in humans, because that would take a novel (hey, cool idea, huh?). i want to talk about first loves in books. Two years ago, I didn't know that there was a M/M catergory. I was searching quite desparately in all the books I was reading to find GLBT characters, trying to read between the lines and see if Ron was really in love with Harry (the Dumbledore secret, WHAT?) and hoping and praying Jacob was really in love with any of his pack rather than Bella (I think that would have made the story more interesting), and so forth. I was almost hard up enough to start digging through Fan Fic to find the kind of stuff that I really wanted to read.         

     And then a friend suggested I attend GRL Gay Rom Lit, and at first, I blew it off thinking I didn't need another convention to add to my roster. I was already going to 6 or 7 a year. However, I went to their website and read about it. I was hooked. I registered within a week, but I could see one small problem: of the hundred and seventy-ish authors that were attending, I was familar with one or two of the names. And I mean, familar as in I had seen, but never read. So, I did what any rational bibliophile would do: I made a list of ALL the authors and started stalking them.

     I wore out Facebook, GoodReads, and google search finding every story that this group had published. I would describe this experience as a step toward Heaven. Finding so many authors that wrote what I wanted to read, OMG many times over. And we won't even talk about how much money went into this venture.  I am still exploring many of these authors a year later. And I've added tons of authors to my list. But one name stands out above and beyond all the others. Because it was my first love. Now I have loved many authors since then, but one's first love always holds a special place.  Any one who knows me knows this is the first author I recommend to any one looking to explore this genre. That author, whom I adore above all others, is J P Barnaby. 

      I began my exploration of Barnaby's Little Boy Lost series with Enlightened, the first of the six book series. This book started with "My name is Brian Patrick McAllister, and I am going to hell." And caught me immediately. I grew up in the south, Tennessee, so I understood being condemned by the church. But reading Brian's story, he gave me hope. Not because his story is so unlike mine, but because his story was exactly mine. Finding love, and having that love become your salvation. Now, I don't want to spoil these books for anyone who hasn't read them, but they take the reader on a journey unlike anything I've read before or since. The plots may be somewhat predictable, but the emotions are not. They are the most realistic fiction I've ever read.  Now keep in mind with your first love, you don't notice the imperfections you just see the overall arc of the relationship.  And this describes my relationship with this book.

     Unlike most books where I have felt sympathy for the character, this book and all the others that follow it I felt with the characters. (Spoiler) When Jamie is "gay bashed" in the second book, his road to recovery is realistic and heartfelt and inspirational to me. He fights and falls down with such truth that following his journey is better than watching an edisode of Queer as Folk or Noah's Ark. I loved the characters in these books, not for their strengths but for their obvious humanity. As the third book and Brian's journey continues, the audience gets to see a big city from a small town's point of view. Even through fear of the unknown, we get to see the search for true love prevail and meet new characters that are fleshed out and idealistic but grounded.

     Whether the reader has never read M/M before, or has read tons, this series will open up a newness to the genre that is much needed. I have given copies of these books to my wife to read as well. Because in my humble opinion one hasn't read M/M done well until they have read these books. Thank you to J P Barnaby and the Little Boy Lost series for setting an incredible standard of impecible fiction.  And for being my first love. I will always remember you.