Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Loved You Once - includes free short story - Regency romance





Two sweet gay Regency romance stories:
Loved You Once (novella of ~16,000 words)

Boyhood friends are separated and grow up apart. When they meet again, Sander is shocked to discover his friend Paul still has feelings for males—and acts on his feelings. Sander is disturbed and unnerved; he's never allowed himself to think those sorts of things, much less act on them. The punishment would be death, after all. But he doesn't want to lose Paul again, no matter what. Perhaps his friendship can be enough; perhaps Sander won't be jealous of more….


Laurent St. Claire (short story of ~6,000 words)

When Laurent St. Claire discovers the handsome singer he's been seducing is a virgin, he breaks things off cruelly between them. He doesn't want a hesitant lover—and he doesn't want matters of the heart to enter into it. Or so he thought….


Total length for both stories:
~22,000 words

Heat level: low

Categories: sweet gay romance, Regency romance, historical / English romance

Friday, September 20, 2013

Newsletter Special - free book for joining



For the next few days (September 20-23), anybody on my newsletter, or who joins my newsletter, has the choice of one free ebook of mine.  Just tell me what book and what format you want.  I'll try to send the ebooks within 24 hours, but I don't know what kind of response I'm going to get, so please be patient if it takes me a little longer!  :)

No strings attached, except joining my mailing list (and if you find it irritates you, you can always un-join at any later date).  The only restriction I have is that for my Dreamspinner Press title, "Adrian's Librarian," only the first five people who request that will get it.  Other that that, have at it!  :)

Here are my titles: http://www.amazon.com/Hollis-Shiloh/e/B00BPXIMWO

This is a new thing for me, and I'm excited and a little scared.  (What if only three people participate?  What if three hundred people join and I get overwhelmed and fall behind on sending them ebooks??)  Depending on how this goes, I might try it again sometime, or end up telling myself, "Never again!!"

Anyway, if you want to help me with this experiment, please just email me, tell me what you'd like to read that I wrote, and what format works for you.

P.S. The only thing I use my mailing list for is telling you about new releases or special deals.  I promise not to bombard you with messages or share your email address with anyone who wants to buy it, or anything like that!

Cheers!

Oh, my email address is at the right, or written on this little green leaf:


Monday, September 16, 2013

Reading

So these are some stories that I'm into:





Scrap Metal, by Harper Fox

I read this book months ago now, but it's still stuck with me.  The atmosphere, the mystery, the strong narrative voice, the setting, the emotion.  I keep thinking I'll reread this but getting busy with other things.  But I remember it very clearly; it made a big impression on me.  I think about it often, and I wish I could write with as much emotion as Ms. Fox!




I really enjoyed "Seeing Red," by E. L. Esch.  A lot.  Like, a lot.  I feel like I like the sweet stuff most of the time, but this was a hot read that I also found sweet.  It stuck with me.  I wish this author had more books like this out.  I found the characters very appealing 




How many books hold my attention well enough to read them in one day, laughing almost every page, sometimes twice a page or more?  That was this book for me. It had it all, mystery, humor, "Englishness," and that indefinably wonderful characteristic of charm in the narrator.  I'm looking forward to reading the sequel when it's published.  I enjoyed this book so much I went out and bought almost everything else the author had written afterwards.  This one's still my fave, though.



There are lots of other stories I've enjoyed and will enjoy.  These are just three of my top reads off the...er...top of my head.  :)

It's official

My selkie romance will be published by Dreamspinner Press!  :D

The title is "A Wizard's Shelter" (yes, there's a wizard in it!), and the contract says it's slated for publication in March or April of 2014.

In other news, I've finished the first draft of a short romance set in post-War England, still unnamed.

And I'm hoping to really, seriously get to work on getting my novel, "Songs by Heart," edited and published.

Oh, and I have a short Regency I hope to have out soon.  But I've got to be sure it's up to snuff first.  What a weird phrase that is!

New possibilities for AIDS vaccine?


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/science/new-hope-for-hiv-vaccine.html?_r=0

Okay, I understood about one word in three, but it sounds hopeful, right!

Here's hoping we're a step closer to a cure for this plague on humanity (not just gay humanity, either!).

new releases




Mark & Spence


Mark is a cynical, too pretty, slight man working as an elf for the Christmas season at a department store. He also hasn't been in a relationship since his manipulative and abusive ex left him.

Spence is a tall, handsome, strong man who works as a reindeer helping 'Santa' at the same department store. The two share a special chemistry, but it's hard for Mark to trust anyone, even this gentle man.

They both have secrets that could -- perhaps should -- keep them apart. Gentle, caring Spence keeps getting past Mark's barriers...but will Mark be able to handle it when he finds out why Spence is really here?

Contains a Christmas theme, reindeer shifters, elves, abusive relationship aftermath, angst, and a happy ending.

14,000 + words gay romance

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EZ61SFQ




Design by the Sea



Rudy is excited to be working for his old friend, the shy, bewildered, terminally handsome Wes, who's inherited a bunch of antiques and a mandate to turn a mansion overlooking the sea into a museum housing them. As an interior designer, Rudy is confident he can help. But he doesn't expect the trouble that comes from a possibly-cursed crown, a jealous Roman antiquities expert... or the possibility of falling in love.

Length: 14,700 words
Heat level: Sweet

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F12P6M4/