Roan Parrish's Blog, page 3
November 27, 2017
THE REMAKING OF CORBIN WALE IS AVAILABLE NOW!
i am so happy to get to share my holiday bakery romance with you all! THE REMAKING OF CORBIN WALE is the story of two men who live in different worlds, and how they create a world of their own. it's about holidays and magic and the power of stories. also, did i mention it includes a lot of BAKING. i baked so, so much while writing this.
i hope you love alex and corbin as much as i do!!!
NOTE: amazon is throwing a small fit at the moment and doesn't have the ebook listed yet, but it should be up SOON! you can get it from all other vendors now.
thanks for reading!
xoxo, roan
October 19, 2017
Cover Reveal: THE REMAKING OF CORBIN WALE
holiday magic + baker + weirdo artist = LOVE
CHECK IT OUT!
The Remaking of Corbin Wale
September 28, 2017
Roan Parrish FB group!
Come join for SNEAK PEEKS, BOOK NEWS, WORD CHATS, AND (LEZ BE HONEST) PROBABLY PICS OF MY CAT.
Parrish or Perish:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/parri...
June 3, 2017
SMALL CHANGE IS OUT NOW
http://amzn.to/2ptQ8PD
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
March 16, 2017
New Audio Release!
It's narrated by the amazing Spencer Goss, who also narrated Colin's story in OUT OF NOWHERE. He's done such a beautiful job of capturing Leo's excited vulnerability and Will's brittle snark. I can't wait for people to hear it!
I hope you enjoy!
xo,
Roan
http://amzn.to/2n3b4Q8
September 22, 2016
Sneak Peek of My New Series Available Now!
When I was writing In the Middle of Somewhere, some of the scenes I had the most fun with were the ones that featured Ginger, Daniel’s best friend. In fact, I enjoyed writing them SO much that I wanted to give Ginger her own book. So … I am.
Ginger and Christopher’s story begins soon after Daniel leaves Philadelphia for Michigan and overlaps with the timeline of In the Middle of Somewhere. And, yes, of COURSE Daniel makes an appearance! ;)
In addition to existing in the Middle of Somewhere universe, this book will also be the first in a spinoff series featuring characters who work in Ginger’s tattoo shop. The series will feature m/f and queer romances, and I’ll hit you up with more info as soon as I have it.
Want a free sneak peek at Ginger’s story?
GET IT HERE!
February 4, 2016
Follow Me Into Darkness is OUT NOW!
When I was eleven or twelve, I read Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire for the first time. I found it at the library, back when I took the bus downtown after school and wandered around, getting into various kinds of low-level trouble. Sometimes I went to the library and did what I’d done years earlier when my mom would drop me off there while she went to aerobics classes at the YMCA across the street. I would run my fingertips along the spines of books and wait for one that caught my eye, either because of the title, the colors, or some little frisson of … something. Call it library magic ;)
Interview with the Vampire got me into whole other worlds of trouble than the petty smoking pot or shoplifting I was getting up to outside the library. For one, it made me an intense Anne Rice fan at the age of eleven, which a.) caused many awkward parental conversations at the time, and b.) is a bit embarrassing now. For another, it resulted in a two or three year period in which I wrote wrote sentences with the verb following the adjective like Anne Rice does (“old she was”; “dark it was, and twisty”), which wasn’t pretty. I’M OVER IT, I SWEAR.
But it was a hugely important book too, for all that I cringe a bit when I look at it now. It was sensual and decadent. It was overwrought and baroque. It was indulgent and fantastical. And it was queer as hell. It taught me new words, new histories, introduced me to new places, and showed me new ways of telling stories.
It was also my introduction to New Orleans. And, if I’m totally honest (which I am obviously being, since I just publicly confessed my deep and heartfelt love for Anne Rice), when I moved to New Orleans this past autumn, one of the first things I did was wander through the Lafayette Cemetery #1 and visit the tombs that Anne Rice wrote about in Interview with the Vampire and The Mayfair Witches. And then, yeah, okay, I walked to her old house on First Street.
So when I got involved with Follow Me Into Darkness, a Mardi Gras anthology the release of which would coincide with my first Mardi Gras living in New Orleans, I knew I had to set my story in New Orleans.
“Touched,” is the story of Philippe Rondeau, who sometimes sees people’s future when he touches them. It’s set in Prohibition-era New Orleans, but even then the booze flowed as freely as the jazz. Here’s the blurb:
Sometimes when he touches people Philippe Rondeau sees their future. It’s erratic and inconvenient, but mostly he’s learned to deal with it. Sure he hasn’t found true love yet, but he has friends and lovers, and is kept busy running his family’s jazz club in Prohibition-era New Orleans. But now it’s Mardi Gras and all bets are off. In the space of one night, Philippe falls under the spell of jazz musician Claude and learns a terrible secret about his powers. If Philippe is certain of anything it’s that the future can be tricky, but the chance at love makes it all seem worthwhile.
It was a total delight to join forces with the crew from Lead Me Into Darkness (our Halloween anthology, which is FREE)—Santino Hassell, Kris Ripper, J.C. Lillis, and J.R. Gray.
You can order FOLLOW ME INTO DARKNESS now!
January 16, 2016
Book Reveal: Out of Nowhere (Middle of Somewhere, #2)
,
I’m thrilled that the blurb and release date for the second book in the Middle of Somewhere series, OUT OF NOWHERE, are live! In case you missed it, here’s more info at Binge on Books.
Out of Nowhere releases on February 29th, which is reeeaaally not very long from now at all. It features Colin, Daniel’s brother, whom we met briefly in In the Middle of Somewhere, and I’ve been excited to tell his story from the beginning. Here’s the blurb.
The only thing in Colin Mulligan’s life that makes sense is taking cars apart and putting them back together. In the auto shop where he works with his father and brothers, he tries to get through the day without having a panic attack or flying into a rage. Drinking helps. So do running and lifting weights until he can hardly stand. But none of it can change the fact that he’s gay, a secret he has kept from everyone.
Rafael Guerrera has found ways to live with the past he’s ashamed of. He’s dedicated his life to social justice work and to helping youth who, like him, had very little growing up. He has no time for love. Hell, he barely has time for himself. Somehow, everything about miserable, self-destructive Colin cries out to him. But down that path lie the troubles Rafe has worked so hard to leave behind. And as their relationship intensifies, Rafe and Colin are forced to dredge up secrets that both men would prefer stay buried.
You can ADD Out of Nowhere to your shelf on Goodreads now!
I’ll be sharing the first TEASER from Out of Nowhere exclusively through my NEWSLETTER on January 21st, so sign up now to get the first peek!
Then the COVER REVEAL will be coming January 28th, via Binge on Books, so get ready. (Cover by the amazing AngstyG who killed my first cover so dead it’s the deadest.) This cover is so beautiful, y’all. So. Beautiful.
→ More soon, friends … :)
December 24, 2015
An In the Middle of Somewhere Christmas Story!
On Facebook earlier today, the gauntlet was thrown down! Someone remarked that this video for Steve Grand’s version of “All I Want For Christmas” reminded her of Daniel and Rex. I was then challengéd to write a Christmas short inspired by it. And, like a nine-year-old or a Renaissance gentleman, I could not allow the challenge to stand unanswered!
So. Here is short that takes place right after Daniel and Rex cut down their Christmas tree in In the Middle of Somewhere. I hope you enjoy it.
“So Brightly Everywhere”
An In the Middle of Somewhere Christmas Story
This whole … Christmas tree business has turned into a total production. Well, I mean, I guess it started as a whole production what with cutting down a tree and all. We wrestled the damn thing into the house okay but Marilyn immediately started barking at it like it was going to attack her at any moment. I guess it’s the first tree for both of us. Or, I know we had one for a couple of years before my mom died—one of those fake, from-a-box ones—but I don’t really remember it so I’m deciding it doesn’t count.
Rex disappeared into his workshop after we got the tree propped up without telling me what he was doing, so now I’m lounging on the couch, staring at the thing, half considering reading or putting on music but actually just waiting until I drift off. We got up way too damn early this morning.
I wake to a warm hand sliding under my t-shirt and resting on my stomach, and breath on my neck as Rex kisses me softly. I reach out blindly to pull him to me but get an armful of something decidedly not the cozy, flannel-clad chest of my hot boyfriend. Feels more like hugging a garbage bag.
Oh, because it is a garbage bag.
“You always bring me the nicest things,” I grumble, squinting at the bag and deciding the couch is a better option than whatever Rex has brought from the workshop. Doesn’t take highly attuned powers of deduction to see it’s something that will require way more effort than I want to put forth at the moment. But then Rex hits me with this hopeful, excited look that’s basically my kryptonite and I can tell my minutes on the couch are numbered.
“Found some stuff for our tree,” Rex says. He squats down and starts pulling things out of the bag like the world’s hottest lumberjack Santa. There’s silver and gold tinsel and rolls of those little twinkly lights, all still neatly coiled.
“Found, huh?”
“Yeah. Well.” Rex looks at the tree and I slide next to him and reach into the bag. There are more rolls of lights and some simple ornaments in different colors, neatly boxed, seals unbroken. “Um …”
I kiss him so he doesn’t have to say anything. Kiss him so he doesn’t have to explain how much this clearly means to him. Kiss him until I can feel him smile and he squeezes me tight.
“Okay so how do we do this? Is there, like, a procedure?”
Rex raises an eyebrow at me in that half amused way he has that also says Where did you come from?
“Just asking,” I mumble, and start to pick at the tape sealing the lights.
Once we start, Rex is all action: unboxing the ornaments, unrolling the tinsel, turning the tree so its best side is showing (don’t ask me). Then, as suddenly as he began, he stops and ducks his head.
“What’s wrong?”
“I thought maybe I’d put on some … music?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Some … um, Christmas music?” Rex’s voice actually goes up about an octave at the end of that sentence. And rightly so because who in the ever-loving hell would voluntarily listen to Christmas music. We’re not at the mall. He must be kidding. No? Or, think it’s funny? No …
“Oh my god. You really like Christmas. Like, actually, sincerely, fundamentally are into Christmas.”
Rex says something that I can only decipher as “Ermp,” and ducks his head again. I start to laugh, but it’s mostly at how sheepish he is about it.
“You love Christmas! You’re a Christmas maniac! You want to live in that town from The Nightmare Before Christmas where it’s Christmas all the time!”
“No,” Rex says weakly, but he’s inching toward my laptop like it’s the gun he’s just knocked from my hand and I’m going to make a move for it any second. With only a few clicks, Christmas carols pour from the computer.
“Did you make a Christmas playlist on my Spotify!?” He grins. “Monster!”
Rex walks toward me with a grin so big it’s frankly alarming, “Oh Holy Night” heralding his arrival. Hands on my shoulders, he draws me close, swaying to the music. And, okay, it’s way better than hugging the garbage bag. He hums along and I just shake my head. He’s ridiculous. But so, so happy.
“All I’m saying is there better not be any of that Mariah Carey-ass shit on this playlist, okay?” Rex just chuckles and pulls me over to the tree. That was not reassuring.
“Here, you do the lights,” Rex says, picking up where he left off with the tinsel. He’s delicate with it, twining the metallic strands around the boughs of the tree as if he can picture exactly how he wants it to look. See, I knew there was some kind of procedure here.
I unspool the lights, thinking I’ll just follow the pattern of the tinsel. Yeah, good plan. It is really pretty, though. The tinsel. It shines against the deep green of the pine needles. And the tree smells really good, sharp and woodsy—a little like Rex so I can’t help but sniff it.
One year, I asked my dad if we could have a tree for Christmas. It was a few years after Mom died, maybe, and I had heard some of the kids from school talking about all the things their families did for the holidays. Baked cookies, made specific meals, watched certain movies, decorated the tree together. It seemed nice. Like maybe it was one of those things that make you a family: your own set of traditions.
I brought it up tentatively to my dad, but my older brother Colin overheard and he lit into me, saying that baking cookies was for girls and Christmas trees were for rich Rittenhouse Square assholes. I’d seen the trees in Rittenhouse Square, though, and thought they were pretty nice. Plush velvet bows and a latticework of lights draping their branches. Needless to say, I didn’t mention it again.
I smell the tree’s branches again, enjoying the clean spiciness, and shake my head to banish the ghosts of shitty Christmasses past.
While I was distracted I strung the lights so they won’t reach the outlet to plug them in, so I start to adjust them, vaguely aware that Rex is watching me. But he’s the one who wouldn’t tell me the plan, so I guess he can just live with however I do it. I try and shift the lights, but since they’re encircling the tree I can’t do it without pulling it over. So I wrap the lights around my arms to keep them from getting tangled and try to walk around the tree to see where I should start them.
The strand snags on a branch and I reach up and lift it down so it doesn’t ruin Rex’s tinsel placement. But then I have to kind of spin around to get between the tree and the wall. Then I drop a loop of lights and have to scoop it up so they won’t get all messed up. And then … um … yeah, then I’m completely tangled in Christmas lights like a ridiculous child or some America’s Funniest Home Videos reel of the family cat. Jesus.
I look up slowly, hoping that maybe Rex has gone to mess with his cheesy Christmas carols playlist or, better yet, gone to the kitchen to make sandwiches or something. But, no. He’s definitely standing right there, looking at me. This is the you-are-ridiculous look, but fortunately it’s leavened with a hearty serving of you-are-adorable so I don’t have to kick Rex’s ass. Which would, um, be difficult because I—yeah, I actually can’t move or I will pull this whole tree down on us.
Rex comes toward me slowly, like he’s savoring the moment. Thank god neither of us have smart phones because if he took a picture of me right now they would never find the body.
“Um,” I say.
Rex grins and plucks at the lights with one finger. “Kinky.”
I roll my eyes, but smile at him. Rex bends over to kneel at my feet and I prepare to make some version of a “now who’s kinky” comment as he untangles me. Except he doesn’t untangle me. He—
“Rex, god damn it!”
Because suddenly the tree and I are both twinkling with white lights. Rex snorts with laughter. Huh, I guess they would’ve reached the outlet after all.
“Rex!”
Rex stands up and tugs on the lights that encircle me, the glow illuminating my t-shirt and his sweater. I look up at him expectantly, but he just wraps an arm around my waist and chuckles. I sigh and drop my head onto his chest. The lights do look kind of pretty against the wool of Rex’s sweater, like candle flames burning in the snow. Okay, I guess this is nice—this whole … tree … Christmas … thing.
Then, from my computer comes a familiar horrible sound. “I don’t want a lot for Christmas,” Mariah Carey croons.
“Rex, no! God damn it!”
Rex starts cracking up. I struggle away from him, trying to get the lights off of me so I can go mute the hellacious sound. But Rex grabs my arms so I can’t move. I push him away, but now the tempo change has happened and it’s a done deal—the damn song will be stuck in my head for the next thousand hours. I groan.
“Come on,” Rex says, still laughing. He hugs me tight and kind of rocks us back and forth until I give up and slump into him, rolling my eyes and sighing to make damn sure that Rex knows exactly how painful it is that he’s pouring poison into my ears.
After a minute, the feel of Rex’s body next to mine works its usual magic and I slide my arms around his waist, the strand of lights slithering down to coil around my feet. Okay, he smells way better than the tree.
“You know,” Rex says, “the tree is great.” I nod absently, paying more attention to Rex’s soft stubble against my cheek and wondering if I can distract him from this whole decorating thing. He leans back a little and looks at me. “But all I want for Christmas really is you.”
“Oh my god,” I groan. “Cheeseball!” But he’s looking at me with the warmth of a hundred Christmas trees lit up bright. He shrugs and nods sheepishly, but as the music changes to the celestial sound of a boys choir, he kisses me. I can’t move to either side or I’ll crush these damn lights underfoot. I can’t move backward because there’s a huge tree there. So all I can really do is hold onto Rex—feel his arms around me and his mouth on mine.
I guess there are worse ways to spend a day.
December 22, 2015
In the Middle of Somewhere Playlist & Puzzles!
Soooooo, lately I have been totally brain dead in the evenings and have lain in bed listening to podcasts and, um, doing jigsaw puzzles on the internet. Did you know you can do jigsaw puzzles on the internet? Or, I suppose there’s no jigsaw involved because internet. Jigsaw-esque puzzles. On the internet. Ahem. Anyway that is a thing that has been happening.
Most of the puzzles, however, are … not really to my taste. They tend toward the sunflowers-crocheting-santa type images. But you can upload images and the site will turn them into puzzles. So, I’ve been uploading pictures from my Instagram feed of … well okay OF CAKE MOSTLY IF YOU MUST KNOW. And macarons. And sometimes of snowy winter scenes because it is winter, I am told, but I now live in a land of nosnow. And remember how I said I listened to podcasts while doing them? That sounded all well-rounded and shit, right? But sometimes I actually just listen to old Tegan & Sara records. And put together pretty pretty pictures of cake.
Point is, IT IS DELIGHTFUL! So, for the holidays, I have combined these two things for your lounging pleasure: music and puzzles.
I finally put together a playlist of the music mentioned in In the Middle of Somewhere ! Here ya go.
I made you some puzzles I’ve uploaded so that you too can lie in bed and do jigsaw-esque puzzles while you listen to the In the Middle of Somewhere playlist. One of them may or may not be of the book cover (by the amazing AngstyG). There are also some puzzles of In the Middle of Somewhere-related thingz, such as can be found on my extremely hardcore Pinterest board ;)
Puzzles:
a. cover of In the Middle of Somewhere
c. a street like you might find in Holiday, Michigan
d. my fave building in Philadelphia, City Hall
e. an inspiration for Daniel (yes, you could actually do a PUZZLE OF BEN WHISHAW YOU ARE WELCOME)
f. and an inspiration for Rex (yeah, these are not yo mama’s puzzles)
This dose of nerdiness is brought to you from the middle my bed where I am quite possibly listening to Tegan & Sara and about to do nine thousand puzzles.
Happy Holidays!
